Help! Planning a trip....

[momminnie]

Hi, I was thinking about planning a trip to Universal, IOA and SeaWorld. Need some tips. I am use to planning for Disney know all about that. Don't know much about these parks. Need a pro's advice. For 3-4 nights. Best place to stay with a good breakfast and reasonable rate. The must do's in the parks. Is there a photopass like Disney? If so how much and do they give you a card in the park?Most reasonable places but fun places to eat. I need all your secrets to an affordable,fun, short visit. Thanks so much

 

[damo]

If you want the best vacation I would recommend staying onsite. Check prices here... www.loewshotels.com

 

[LMichelleee]

My best tips

-Stay onsite! Express pass and early entry was well worth it!
-Breakfast onsite was super expensive so we split breakfast meals at three broomsticks. The pancake breakfast was perfect for sharing, just ask for an extra plate.
-Our favorite lunch was three broomsticks too, rotisserie chicken, roasted corn and delicious potatoes! And only about $10 bucks!
-There is an unlimited photo pass for all the rides that is $40. It's good at both parks and up to 5 days I believe. The only rides excluded are RRR and Forbidden Journey.
-We ate a lot at Citywalk. Pastamore cafe had a salad & pizza combo that was great. Also Moe's is really good!
-Look at the sticky that lists all the restaurants and menus. That helped me a lot!
-Another thing that helped was doing a grocery stop and eating breakfast and little snacks that way.

 

[Planogirl]

If you stay offsite, consider the Hyatt Place (they had a decent breakfast). The Doubletree is popular but we haven't been there yet. Both are well located.

As for decent food, we like Thunder Falls Terrace for counter service and Confisco Grille for table service. Both are in IOA. In Universal, we prefer to walk to Citywalk but I do make it a point to go to Starbucks. If you don't feel like walking, Louie's has pretty good pizza and gelato and the Monster Cafe has wonderful theming but I don't recommend the food there.

As for must-do's I would read up on the attractions and go from there. You definitely want to get to Harry Potter and Despicable Me early. I think that the Mummy's Revenge, Spiderman and Men in Black can't be beat.

 

[justme88]

As for must-do's I would read up on the attractions and go from there. You definitely want to get to Harry Potter and Despicable Me early. I think that the Mummy's Revenge, Spiderman and Men in Black can't be beat.

^^I second this. The Mummy is my favorite ride in either park. We just got back from our trip last week..our first since Despicable Me opened. You do want to get their early for that one. Our first time riding it was a 25 minute wait, probably around 5pm or so, but that was the lowest I saw it for practically the whole trip. (We were there 4 days)

Also, if you're a coaster fan you MUST do Rip Ride Rockit... So much fun. We rode it 7 times . If you can, ride it in the dark/ at night, I think it really gives it that extra oomph!