Help! First time US and IOA

[Luv2trav]

We have been to Disney many many times. We are planning a 3 day 2 night visit next spring. I am trying to plan a trip for 2 families of 4. 4 children ages 9,8,7,6.

Can someone help me with the following questions?

-Does Universal hotels offer discounts? How can find them if they do?
-What Universal hotel would you recommend?
-Does FOL option really matter by staying on site? Does it make that much of a difference? I assume it does.
-Is there any must sees besides HP?
-Dining?? I have no clue on how their dining works. Is it like WDW where you need to make reservations 6 months in advance? What are the best places to eat?

We plan on doing WDW for 8 nights would you do Universal before after Disney?

Oh my am I clueless on Universal. Thank you for any advice you can give me. I am a big time WDW planner and not used to being the fish out of water.

Thanks

 

[GingerJay]

Hi! We visited Universal and IoA in March, so maybe I can help




-Does Universal hotels offer discounts? How can find them if they do?
We were able to save about $40/night using our AAA discount- not sure if you have it or not, but it may be worth checking in. You can also call the hotel directly and ask for their best rate. They will usually sell the room for about the same as you would get on travel sites.

-What Universal hotel would you recommend?
We stayed at the Pacific Royal which was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! The rooms were immaculate and the hotel was breathtaking. Its kind of like the Poly at WDW, and is one of the main reasons I chose it. It's also the cheaper of the three onsite

-Does FOL option really matter by staying on site? Does it make that much of a difference? I assume it does.
Absolutely!! Especially if you're going to HP- you can rush to visit that part of the park and then take your time to see everything else. Your room key gets you through the "fastpass" line and you can tour at your leisure.

-Is there any must sees besides HP?
Universal has great rides, especially if you're a thrill seeker. Even if you're not, there is a lot to do and if you stay onsite you can ride your favorites again and again using your room key

-Dining?? I have no clue on how their dining works. Is it like WDW where you need to make reservations 6 months in advance? What are the best places to eat?
I think for the most part you can make your reservations the day of or the day before. There is really no need to plan out your meals like you have to at WDW

We plan on doing WDW for 8 nights would you do Universal before after Disney?
I would do Disney first- at Universal you can get spoiled by not having to wait in lines. It kind of feels more "easy going" than Disney, and you can say "goodbye" to WDW but still not leave FL. I guess its just psychology


I hope you have fun! Universal really is great and we had loooootttss of fun there!