First UO trip booked (last minute decision!)

[Pete and Tina]

We are going on our first trip to UO Aug 13-18. We literally just decided to change our vacation plans around so that we can go to UO so just a few minutes ago I booked RPR using the APH discount. I have been scanning these boards for a few weeks to prepare for what I thought was going to be a February trip. So any tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated. We will have our own car but it does not seem like we need it to drive to the parks.
Should I plan on buying APs when we get there or pre purchase? Any favorite restaurants in the parks or CityWalk? Are there character meals? Anyone know if the park sit down/counter service restaurants accommodate food allergies? HP is a must do for us so we will take advantage of early entry.We are also taking one day to go to LegoLand - we have a 7 year old.Thank you

 

[bumbershoot]

. We will have our own car but it does not seem like we need it to drive to the parks.
Should I plan on buying APs when we get there or pre purchase?

No, you should not drive to the parks. While I've never parked at the main parks parking (which is at Citywalk), it seems that it would end up being just as long of a walk from the garage to the parks as it would be from the hotels. Just walk, take a pedi-cab, or take the boats.

You likely only need one AP for the rate (assuming it's just the one room?), so you might only need to buy one AP (at first, at least...might budget a bit extra for everyone to upgrade in case your family is hit with the Universal fever like my family was) for the hotel rate.

I bought mine online at universalorlando.com, not long before our trip. Then I went to a kiosk at Islands of Adventure and got it from the machine, with my name on it and everything. I hear they have kiosks for this at the hotels, too, but that's not what I did.


Since you have a car, just in case you missed discussions here or mentions on the website, there is a parking charge at the hotels. With the AP (oh, and Preferred or Premium is what you need for the hotel discount) you get free *parks* parking, but not free hotel parking. Parks parking isn't so helpful when you only stay onsite at Universal, but if you ever stay offsite and still have that AP, that's when it would be helpful.

 

[Metro West]

Should I plan on buying APs when we get there or pre purchase? Any favorite restaurants in the parks or CityWalk? Are there character meals? Anyone know if the park sit down/counter service restaurants accommodate food allergies? HP is a must do for us so we will take advantage of early entry.We are also taking one day to go to LegoLand - we have a 7 year old.Thank you

Since you have several general questions, you should spend some time on the Universal website to get an idea of where everything is and then read through the different sticky threads for posters' personal experiences. It's invaluable information.

 

[-Hope-]

First of all, congrats on your trip!

There's a shuttle to LegoLand that picks up on Vineland Avenue. We'll have a car as well but it was still cheaper for our family of four to take the shuttle than to pay for gas and parking. It has to be booked in advance through the LLF website.

I'd also suggest looking through the Photo Connect thread. It's MUCH cheaper than Photopass and seems like a great deal.

There's a WWoHP scavenger hunt thread as well so if you're Potterheads you might want to check that out.

I'm a UO noob myself so I can't really help with a lot of your questions but, as MW already mentioned, there is a ton of great info already posted here and everyone here is pretty helpful as well.

 

[Pete and Tina]

Thanks for the tips! Sounds like a good plan to buy one AP and upgrade the other 2 if we love it and want to see the expansion if it's done within a year. I use the DisBoards App on my phone so I've only been seeing the latest threads- I will search for the others you mentioned. Yay! We are surprising our 7 year old - just can't wait.