Help me plan and choose - first time with kids

[thor369]

Hello,

I am trying to plan and book our first Universal Orlando trip and I have so many questions. Please excuse some of the dumb questions.

• We are from the east coast and kids are 4 and 7, trying to see if we should go in Feb or March? will it be cold/chilly?
• We are flexible of dates, but would like to use the pools and the water park. don't want to go during easter break as it will be very crowded.
• How are the crowds in feb/march? also want to make sure that we can still enjoy the pools?
• Which hotel is kid/family friendly and have nice pools?
• Should we book directly through Universal? or we have membership through costs as well. Worried about cancellation etc. (do they have flexible refund policy?)
• Should we rent a car? Last time this forum helped with Disney planning and suggested using uber fro moving around and uber eats for food, which was very convenient
• Which hotel should we select? pros/cons? we want something that is most convenient, so we can come back in the afternoon for kids naps etc.
• Our kids are not old enough for all rides, so is 3 days enough? they do love the characters
• Any other tips tricks would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

 

[ExcessiveIdling]

• We are from the east coast and kids are 4 and 7, trying to see if we should go in Feb or March? will it be cold/chilly?
  as per weather.com looks like average temperature is low to mid 70's in feb
• We are flexible of dates, but would like to use the pools and the water park. don't want to go during easter break as it will be very crowded.
  I would go closer to march as I believe volcano bay(water park) is closed most of february
• How are the crowds in feb/march? also want to make sure that we can still enjoy the pools?
  not sure but keep in mind most/all of Feb to early march is Mardi Gras
• Which hotel is kid/family friendly and have nice pools?
  I would suggest cabana bay for their pools AND lazy river (yes, the lazy river is inside the resort). Also it is close to cabana bay if you go when its open
• Should we book directly through Universal? or we have membership through costs as well. Worried about cancellation etc. (do they have flexible refund policy?)
  not sure. I personally booked through Universal directly
• Should we rent a car? Last time this forum helped with Disney planning and suggested using uber fro moving around and uber eats for food, which was very convenient
  If you're not planning on leaving the resorts/parks I would suggest against renting a car as you'll have to pay for parking for the car.
• Which hotel should we select? pros/cons? we want something that is most convenient, so we can come back in the afternoon for kids naps etc.
  A premier(Royal Pacific, Portifino Bay, Hard Rock) resort would be closest and probably easiest to go back to rooms for naps. Also with the premier resorts you get unlimited express pass throughout your stay at the resort but also most costly. However, from what I've heard the bus transportation to and from parks is exceptional
• Our kids are not old enough for all rides, so is 3 days enough? they do love the characters
  I would say 3 days is the minimum especially if you intend to go to the water park. If you stay at one of the premier resorts and use the unlimited express pass that should make it easier
• Any other tips tricks would be greatly appreciated.
  trying to plan anything in February, especially with Mardi Gras, may be rough as it would appear a good portion of the hotels are full (especially the premier). Watch various trip videos on youtube. I'm not sure if we're allowed to mention specific youtube vloggers so I shall refrain but there are many out there with good tips.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Universal hotels booked through Universal are refundable up to 5 days out. Check out the stickies for some specifics about each resort. Cabana Bay is the most kid-oriented, and also easiest access to Volcano Bay. It has bus transportation - which is very convenient for what it is, the buses are crazy frequent. However the more expensive hotels do have boat transportation which is a much closer drop off point & avoids the main security hub in City Walk.

What are your priorities? Which dates?

Weekdays will be less busy than weekends. Late Feb or the earlier in March the better from a crowd perspective.

No need for a car at Universal.

 

[AJA]

Look at a crowd calendar and historic crowds. I believe the middle of March is prime spring break and will be VERY crowded, maybe more crowded than the week that falls completely after the Easter holiday later in April. (we went that week last year and it wasn't bad through the week but the weekends were crowded.
Crowds start coming in mid February as Spring Break starts for southern schools around mid Feb and just get more crowded building up to the March prime spring break weeks.

If you can, stay at a deluxe resort and you wont have to worry so much about the crowds as you would have express passes.

For your kids ages three days would be perfect. Plenty of time for the parks and the hotel pool.

 

[thor369]

• We are from the east coast and kids are 4 and 7, trying to see if we should go in Feb or March? will it be cold/chilly?
  as per weather.com looks like average temperature is low to mid 70's in feb
• We are flexible of dates, but would like to use the pools and the water park. don't want to go during easter break as it will be very crowded.
  I would go closer to march as I believe volcano bay(water park) is closed most of february
• How are the crowds in feb/march? also want to make sure that we can still enjoy the pools?
  not sure but keep in mind most/all of Feb to early march is Mardi Gras
• Which hotel is kid/family friendly and have nice pools?
  I would suggest cabana bay for their pools AND lazy river (yes, the lazy river is inside the resort). Also it is close to cabana bay if you go when its open
• Should we book directly through Universal? or we have membership through costs as well. Worried about cancellation etc. (do they have flexible refund policy?)
  not sure. I personally booked through Universal directly
• Should we rent a car? Last time this forum helped with Disney planning and suggested using uber fro moving around and uber eats for food, which was very convenient
  If you're not planning on leaving the resorts/parks I would suggest against renting a car as you'll have to pay for parking for the car.
• Which hotel should we select? pros/cons? we want something that is most convenient, so we can come back in the afternoon for kids naps etc.
  A premier(Royal Pacific, Portifino Bay, Hard Rock) resort would be closest and probably easiest to go back to rooms for naps. Also with the premier resorts you get unlimited express pass throughout your stay at the resort but also most costly. However, from what I've heard the bus transportation to and from parks is exceptional
• Our kids are not old enough for all rides, so is 3 days enough? they do love the characters
  I would say 3 days is the minimum especially if you intend to go to the water park. If you stay at one of the premier resorts and use the unlimited express pass that should make it easier
• Any other tips tricks would be greatly appreciated.
  trying to plan anything in February, especially with Mardi Gras, may be rough as it would appear a good portion of the hotels are full (especially the premier). Watch various trip videos on youtube. I'm not sure if we're allowed to mention specific youtube vloggers so I shall refrain but there are many out there with good tips.

Universal hotels booked through Universal are refundable up to 5 days out. Check out the stickies for some specifics about each resort. Cabana Bay is the most kid-oriented, and also easiest access to Volcano Bay. It has bus transportation - which is very convenient for what it is, the buses are crazy frequent. However the more expensive hotels do have boat transportation which is a much closer drop off point & avoids the main security hub in City Walk.

What are your priorities? Which dates?

Weekdays will be less busy than weekends. Late Feb or the earlier in March the better from a crowd perspective.

No need for a car at Universal.

Look at a crowd calendar and historic crowds. I believe the middle of March is prime spring break and will be VERY crowded, maybe more crowded than the week that falls completely after the Easter holiday later in April. (we went that week last year and it wasn't bad through the week but the weekends were crowded.
Crowds start coming in mid February as Spring Break starts for southern schools around mid Feb and just get more crowded building up to the March prime spring break weeks.

If you can, stay at a deluxe resort and you wont have to worry so much about the crowds as you would have express passes.

For your kids ages three days would be perfect. Plenty of time for the parks and the hotel pool.

Thanks for the responses. Our eater break will be mid April and will do something else and hence wanted to escape the northeast winter in Feb/march but looks like its prime time for spring break and more crowds. The other option is in June, but then we ra talking about it being too hot and schools being out.

I see buy 3 days ticket and get 2 extra days free, quite tempting but would add the overall cost.

I do like the idea of staying at a deluxe hotel for express passes, but will it matter for our kids age group?

Are there any offsite Hotels you would recommend? or onsite is always better? Do they allow, uber eats to be delivered to the hotels?

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

If your 4 year old is at least 40 or 42 inches express pass could be useful, but make sure to look at the height requirements for rides ahead of time since there's a lot your 4 year old (and even your 7 year old) can't ride. Same for Volcano Bay, your 4 year old might get frustrated seeing all of the slides and the Fearless River that they can't go on due to their height if they are under 42 inches. The premeir resort rates have skyrocketed recently, so the value of those resorts for the benefit of 'free' express pass is no longer as clear cut as it once was. I think 2 or 3 days at the parks is plenty for that age group, especially considering the height limitations.

Our youngest is 7 and on the shorter side (just reached 48 inches last month) and our trip during the summer was a bit disappointing to him since there was so much he couldn't ride. Thankfully, we have 2 trips coming up in the next few months so he will have a chance to ride everything except for Velocicoaster and Hulk.

Other than the ride from the airport to Universal you don't need a car. Some resorts offer boat transportation, a walkway and a bus (Sapphire Falls and the premier resorts), another group offers a longer walkway and a bus (Cabana Bay and Aventura) and the last group only has bus transportation (Endless Summer). Any of those resorts gets you in an hour early to a specific park each day when crowds and wait times are really low, but check to see the rides and areas that are open during that time.

If your kids like the show Camp Cretaceous (the kid friendly-er version of Jurassic Park) they will love the JP Discovery Center. They have 'scientists' roaming around with fossils kids can interact with. Every hour or so a scientists shows a velociraptor egg hatching and there are large lifesize dinosaurs inside to play around. Camp Jurassic is an outside play area (next to Pteranydon Flyers) where there's lots to climb and explore. Seuss Landing is cute as is the Kidzone but wait times are usually pretty low in those areas compared to the rest of the park so it doesn't take long to go through them. If your kids are familiar with Harry Potter, you could spend hours exploring in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.