havent been to universal for 18 years!

[rrobin3051]

We havent been to Universal in 18 years! We are going june 26 through july 7th. We are staying off site and have 5 day passes. I know Disney like the back of my hand and have been trying to read what i can on universal. We have 12 people going. Myself (46), Hubby (50), Son 1(26), son 2 (23), grandson 1(12), grandson 2(9), granddaughter 1(7), granddaughter 2(5), Sister in law (55) brother in law (55), nephew (21) and niece(31). Everyone is pretty adventurous. If anyone has pointers that would be great. WE are trying to save as much money as possible so that means we will eat breakfast at the house and probably pack a picnic lunch to leave in the car. Eat dinner out. Im not sure how long the drive will take us back to the house. We are staying in davenport i believe. I heard parking after 6 is free, but now sure if only for florida residents and how picky they are on that. Buying fast passes are out because our group is just too big and 8 belong to me. IM so out of my comfort zone in this. Last time we went to universal it was part of our disney trip and we took 2 days out for Universal. This time NO DISNEY!! We do not have volcano bay passes and dont plan to get them. Again any tips would be welcomed...any simple directions on what to do first type of thing. Thank you Robin

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I am overlapping with you. I will be there from June 27th to July 2. We are staying on site at Portofino. We have been going the last few years at this time and in late July early August. Davenport is about 40 minutes from Orlando so that is not to bad. I don't know about parking at Citywalk we always stay on site and take their transportation.

I am assuming you are planning on seeing HP worlds, we find early morning or early to later evening is less crowded. The two lands get very busy between like 11:00 and 7:00. I would do Gringotts first if you go to Diagon Alley one morning. I don't use single rider lines but I hear a lot of people use this and it works good.

If you go to the studios early one morning I would do Minion Mayhem first this ride is consistently busy all day. If you are interested in Jimmy Fallon or Fast and Furious I would pick up a virtual wait time at the entrance. It is basically like Disney's Fast Pass plus. These are the only two rides that use this system. I would do Mummy and Rip Ride Rocket after Mimnion Mayhem. The others you can check throughout the day.

If you go to IOA in the morning I like to start with Hulk and work our way around to Dr. Doom, Spiderman and then Kong. Kong can get busy so try and get that done early or early evening. I don't do the water rides so I have no advice for them except I hear you can get very wet on 1 or 2 of them.

If you will have park to park take the Hogwarts Express both ways it is a different experience.

There is a light show in Hogsmeade so I hear it is a little busier there in the evenings right now. I am not sure how the rides are. We will be checking it out one night also.

It sounds like you will have a nice family outing!

 

[macraven]

(February 2017)
This was the news about City Walk parking:

Universal Orlando is dropping the fee for its parking garages for all visitors who arrive after 6 p.m., the resort announced Wednesday.

Through the years, the evening pricing has varied at Universal, although the most recent version offered free parking to Florida residents after 6 p.m.



On the UO website it is currently listed:
Free self-parking after 6 pm for all guests.
(Not valid during Halloween Horror Nights)

 

[pattyw]

Sounds like a fun trip!! Your grandchildren will enjoy the Dr. Seuss area in Islands of Adventure and the kids area near ET in the Studios! There are also many character greetings in the parks. UO has a photo package like Disney photopass. You can purchase it for a number of days and it will include all pictures taken by their photographers as well as all ride photos that have a picture. We have this and do enjoy having photos of our family together and the ride photos.

For the roller coasters and those rides that the children cannot or do not want to ride, go with single rider lines- you'll cut down on your wait times. As Bobbie said, use the virtual lines for F&F and Fallon.

Hit the headliners either first thing in the morning or later in the day before close for the shortest lines- especially the Harry Potter areas.

Just walking around the Harry Potter areas is fun! So much to see!

The best part of Universal is that you don't need to plan much ahead of time!! Maybe look at a park map online to acquaint yourself with the park and rides. Have fun!

 

[GoldmanTrust]

If it is 3-park pass you should absolutely do atleast a day at Volcano Bay. It is probably my favorite park out of the three. Love the vibes in there.

Parking was 20 dollars last time i stayed off site (2016). Saving 20 dollars and coming in after 6pm makes little sense in my mind, since you have all paid a lot for each ticket.

I have never done UO with such a large group. But my suggestion is always to just go with the flow!

 

[rrobin3051]

Thank you for all the tips and advice...we bought our tickets through undercover tourist and its a 3 day park to park pass and get 2 days free...no volcano bay...sad i know. The only reason i was asking about the after 6 was because this group will not want to get up early all 5 days. I thought maybe 3 all day starting out early and 2 just evening after dinner.

 

[Wild4Walt]

Your plan sounds like a good one. ( 3 early days - 2 later ). Spiderman ( IOA ) is one of my favorite rides ever - if you have Marvel fans this one is a must try. Lots of good photo ops at IOA. I've been on Forbidden Journey ( IOA ) but not Gringotts ( US ). Both are sort of simulator but better ( same with Spiderman ). You're not just sitting in a room and having the floor shake. The ride moves with the story.

Bilge Rat Barge ( IOA ) you will get soaked - they have a sign posted and they are not kidding. Ripsaw, we were so wet from Bilge I couldn't tell how wet the ride was. Jurassic Park - this is the least wet I've experienced of the 3. Depending on where your sitting. Front row gets the onslaught but the middle gets splashed but not soaked ( at least that's how it was when I rode it a few years back ).

If you like Buzz at MK, you will also like Men in Black at US. Very similar ride - again with alittle extra thrown. Simpsons at US is also a lot of fun but this one was one of the roughest ( jerky ) simulators I've been on. It made Star Tours seem like it barely moved.

Both parks have a lot of offer so enjoy!