Help. We are new to Universal

[monica9]

Hi. We will be tacking on the first two days of our WDW vacation and staying at Universal. Most likely Friday night , October 29 until Sunday night, October 31 unless I can talk my husband into letting our daughter take another day off from school which in that case we would get in on Thursday night and have all day Friday, Saturday and then until late afternoon on Sunday.

We will be staying at Portofino Bay Hotel which I believe is one of the hotels that will give us some perks? My problem is that Halloween Horror Nights will be on those days. What happens then? Do both parks close early? Is it worth us staying at Universal for the 2/3 nights if we have to leave super early or should we just visit during mid week for one day when HHN is not on? Also, we can only do 2/3 nights at most because we will be meeting friends at WDW for the rest of the week. We will most likely get in late Friday enough to eat and walk around our resort and then hit the parks as much as possible on saturday and swim or head to city walk at night to eat and then wake up early Sunday and hit the second park as early as possible. I know going for only two days is going to be rushed as it is but I want to make it worth it without having to leave because of HHN.

Here's the other thing. We have a 4 year old who can't go to it but our DD13 would love to go especially to see the stranger things haunted house. Myself and DD13 are the only ones who ride the rollercoasters so then I was thinking that we hang at the resort and swim all morning and go to city walk during the afternoon Saturday with whole family and then DD13 and I hit HHN at night while DH and DD4 stay back at hotel and then we all go to the parks Sunday until late afternoon and do all the non thrill rides with whole family.
Please help me with the best advice you got and most details you have to offer to make this work. Thank you!!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

HI! So this fall will be my family's first time staying on UOR property as well but we have done UOR and HHN multiple times. HHN only takes up The Universal Studios side however who knows with the pandemic if things will change. Also as of right now the only house announced is Beetlejuice. In years prior some of the scare zones in my opinion would be deemed to scary for even a teenager like your child but then again I can't watch horror films yet I go into haunts and scare zones haha.
In terms of perks I actually asked about how express pass works and because you are staying at Portofino you will be given a separate card for express pass which gets you on rides quicker.

In terms of food my family and I love Leaky Cauldron for breakfast and dinner and have always enjoyed the Simpsons area. Florean Fortescues in Diagon Alley has amazing ice cream. There are also quick service snack stands like Auntie Anne's pretzels that are great standbys. If the games are open I recommend them as they have some great deals on passes. Also have singles for lockers because if for some reason you all go on a ride its more than likely your belongings will have to go in a locker.
Also some 4D rides have areas in the front to sit if you get motion sickness.

Regardless, you and your family will have a great time. My family and I love both Disney and Universal equally. We have places and rides we often go to in both parks. Enjoy it

 

[macraven]

During hhn period, the studios close to the public at 5:00
You could switch to IOA ( the other park) and enjoy both rest of your evening.
If you buy park to park tickets it would be cheaper than buying tickets separately.

hhn brings in the crowds at the end of their season
I assume your time period will see crowds.

 

[bchbetha]

I would recommend getting park to park tickets, if you weren't already. I couldn't tell based on what you wrote. Just treat it as one big park and hop around.

 

[monica9]

During hhn period, the studios close to the public at 5:00
You could switch to IOA ( the other park) and enjoy both rest of your evening.
If you buy park to park tickets it would be cheaper than buying tickets separately.

hhn brings in the crowds at the end of their season
I assume your time period will see crowds.

Do you think this is doable for Halloween weekend and only 1 3/4 days? Is it worth it? Since they have the buy 2 get 2 days free maybe we can get to IOA Friday night. Yes, we’d get the park to park tickets. Do we get early access to the studios with our resort or just front of the line perks? Do you get front of the line perks for most rides or just a few?

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Do you think this is doable for Halloween weekend and only 1 3/4 days? Is it worth it? Since they have the buy 2 get 2 days free maybe we can get to IOA Friday night. Yes, we’d get the park to park tickets. Do we get early access to the studios with our resort or just front of the line perks? Do you get front of the line perks for most rides or just a few?

My family and I don't do all the rides so 1 3/4 days is enough for us and if you have express pass it definitely will be.

 

[macraven]

Your park to park tickets would be fine
You can hop to both parks during their hours they are opened

but those tickets would not be valid for hhn
It is a separate ticket due to a special event

you would need to buy the hhn park admission ticket for UO studios
On hhn dates, the studios closes at 5.
Re-entry into the park usually is about 6 or near to it

The onsite room key card is not valid for rides etc
during hhn
But you can buy the express add on ticket for hhn
That would allow you a one time usage for rides and houses for the dedicated express line

if you skip hhn, your room key is valid at IOA for express entry as they will be open to regular closing time

 

[monica9]

So it sounds like if we did park open to 5pm on at the studies and then headed to IOA at night then woke up and did a little of each for Studies and IOA on Sunday and be headed out by 3pm we will have seen enough with our express entry?

 

[macraven]

Take a look at our stickies
Believe I have a park map in one of them

if not, Google the UO park maps and read a description about the rides, stores, eateries, street entertainment, etc

get an idea of what you want to cover in the parks
Have a loose plan on the must do lists

if you feel you can cover everything in 1.5 days, go for it!

Don’t over look City Walk as they do have entertainment, food, shops, etc

I hesitate to say you can see it all on a Saturday
Weekends brings a lot to the parks.
That’s the one time period many locals hit UO

Yes, you can get a lot done in the parks on a weekend
Just plan on eating/ shopping at off times and use the UO app to check on rides and shows wait times

 

[cfoxga]

Do you think this is doable for Halloween weekend and only 1 3/4 days? Is it worth it? Since they have the buy 2 get 2 days free maybe we can get to IOA Friday night. Yes, we’d get the park to park tickets. Do we get early access to the studios with our resort or just front of the line perks? Do you get front of the line perks for most rides or just a few?

You can also look at Annual Passes. The Seasonal Passes are only a little more than 2-day park-to-park tickets. If you buy at least one, the you can probably save a couple hundred dollars by booking your room at the APH rate. For Oct 29-31, it looks like the Seasonal Rate at PHB is $450 for the cheapest room. APH should bring that down to around $250, but the rates won't come out for a bit.