Help with quick 2 day trip First timers ????'s

[goldengirl71]

Here are the details........DH works for airline so flying down for a quick 1 day overnight trip. Bought 1 day tickets with coke points. Our son is 12 yrs old and has been wanting to go to Universal. We have never been, love rollercoasters. Doing only one park this time. (I am sure we will hit the other park on next trip) Which park should we do for our first trip? Any hotel reccomendations within walking distance to the park that has an airport shuttle? Flying standby we may have to catch early flight out of Atlanta on Tuesday, Feb 17th hang out at hotel/area on arrival day go to park Wed Feb 18th try to catch flight out at 7:30 pm (have to leave park at 5:30) If that flight is full we will have to catch early flight out on Thursday. Free flying is not all the greatness that it sounds to be LOL. You have no plan and just go with the flow. Can I make this work??? Would it be worth staying at a Universal hotel? BTW, We did this last month taking our 5 yr old to Disney but I have been to Disney several times and kindave knew the ropes. More nervous about this trip and not knowing much about the parks. Any ideas/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA

 

[Metro West]

I think since you only have a single day for the parks, I would concentrate on IOA since you are roller coaster fans. You could stay onsite but I doubt it would be worth it this time and I don't believe they offer any type of airport transportation. There are several places within walking distance of Universal. I'll let the other posters recommend those since I don't stay overnight. If you decide not to stay onsite, get there as early as you can to enjoy the whole day. I think the waits should be minimal this time of year.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Here are the details........DH works for airline so flying down for a quick 1 day overnight trip. Bought 1 day tickets with coke points. Our son is 12 yrs old and has been wanting to go to Universal. We have never been, love rollercoasters. Doing only one park this time. (I am sure we will hit the other park on next trip) Which park should we do for our first trip? Any hotel reccomendations within walking distance to the park that has an airport shuttle? Flying standby we may have to catch early flight out of Atlanta on Tuesday, Feb 17th hang out at hotel/area on arrival day go to park Wed Feb 18th try to catch flight out at 7:30 pm (have to leave park at 5:30) If that flight is full we will have to catch early flight out on Thursday. Free flying is not all the greatness that it sounds to be LOL. You have no plan and just go with the flow. Can I make this work??? Would it be worth staying at a Universal hotel? BTW, We did this last month taking our 5 yr old to Disney but I have been to Disney several times and kindave knew the ropes. More nervous about this trip and not knowing much about the parks. Any ideas/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Well IOA has the 2 and a half inverted coasters and US has the kid coaster and the mummy. I dont know when you will going so not sure if onsite is necessary but if its in budget its a nice hotel and the perk of express is nice especially with only 1 day. Other coaster may be up also before you go but it sounds like you may go soon so prob not. Both are great parks so it rly depends on what interests you more. Any questions about the rides can let us know but I would say if you want to do inverted coasters then do IOA.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

My vote would be to do IOA. My kids are coaster/thrill ride kind of guys & they prefer IOA for that very reason.

We've only stayed on-site, so don't know the answer to your other questions. I will say that we loved the FOTL access that you get when you stay on site. We were there in the summer, so that helped us out in a big way. We also liked the quickness & ease of getting to the parks from the resort.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[goldengirl71]

Thanks for the replies *** UPDATE*** I booked the Four points Sheraton for $39.00 through Priceline. In reading reviews it sounds like it is under rehab and I need to request a new room. People seem happy with the hotel. I did book for the 17th and 18th of Feb. Looks like park is open 9-6 Any thoughts on crowds for Wed the 18th? I know it is Presidents week and Disney is a little more crowded so I assume the same for IOA. Do you think we can get everything done in that one day? Looks like the front of line passes are at lowest price

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Thanks for the replies *** UPDATE*** I booked the Four points Sheraton for $39.00 through Priceline. In reading reviews it sounds like it is under rehab and I need to request a new room. People seem happy with the hotel. I did book for the 17th and 18th of Feb. Looks like park is open 9-6 Any thoughts on crowds for Wed the 18th? I know it is Presidents week and Disney is a little more crowded so I assume the same for IOA. Do you think we can get everything done in that one day? Looks like the front of line passes are at lowest price

Since they are lowest price they expect crowds to be low. Nice deal on that hotel! You can probably get everything done in one day.

 

[donaldduck352]

Thanks for the replies *** UPDATE*** I booked the Four points Sheraton for $39.00 through Priceline. In reading reviews it sounds like it is under rehab and I need to request a new room. People seem happy with the hotel. I did book for the 17th and 18th of Feb. Looks like park is open 9-6 Any thoughts on crowds for Wed the 18th? I know it is Presidents week and Disney is a little more crowded so I assume the same for IOA. Do you think we can get everything done in that one day? Looks like the front of line passes are at lowest price

That is a good rate!!

Feb is kinda slow,but when you get in the park(IOA) look at the sign that shows wait time..If they are under 20min for say Spidy then you will have no problem seeing the whole park..(not every nook and cranny)But all the major rides and a good lunch!!



hint-mytho's or thunder falls

 

[goldengirl71]

Leaving out in the morning Looks like the day/weather will be nice on Wed. Hope the crowd level is low. With the warm weather we want to do the water rides. I'm excited to be going!! Thanks for all your replies and info