Helpful hints for first family trip

[hermie]

Hi. We are a family of four (DH, DS-16, DD-7) taking our first trip to Universal June 22-27! We are staying at Portifino Bay and have 4 day park to park tickets. I understand the benefits of early entry and unlimited front of the line pass by staying on site.

I know it will be busy as the new Harry Potter section should be open, but I am hoping to get hints to help with this adventure! My daughter and I do not do alot of the motion rides and the family will split up part of the days. Would love tips for restaurants and the City Walk as well as I think we will spend our first night after check-in there and hit the parks the next day.

I have been reading on the boards since January reading the posts and finally decided to ask my own questions! Thanks in advance!

 

[mjohnson96]

You will love PBH, we will be staying there again at the end of June for 4 nights and can't wait. The pools at all the hotels are pretty great so we always try to make room for half day to go pool hop and check out the other hotels when we stay each summer.

For Citywalk, the kids love Margaritaville and this trip we are going to try to do some mini golf.

We love the EP you get with the onsite stay and were there for the Grand Opening of WWOHP and I tell you it made a huge difference having that and early entry. PBH has a great pizza resturant Sal's that makes awesome pizza and we always stop there for lunch at least once, and once got a large to take back to the room one night.

I also search online to get coupons for discounts at the Citywalk resturants. You can get some $5 off coupons as well as free items, etc if you look around. Then if you have AAA or an AP you also get a discount at the resturants as well there, just make sure to ask ( I always forget)

 

[pixeegrl]

Definitely check out Margarittaville. Try and plan to go around 6 or be there by 5:30....at 6 they have stilt walkers that come out and interact with the tables and make balloon sculptures...we've had a sword, turtle, viking helmet, flowers.....and more. They are a lot of fun. Don't forget to tip them Oh, and try the Volcano Nachos there!!!! We haven't been since they added the mini golf area in City Walk but it looks like a lot of fun. If you have AAA be sure and ask if they take a discount. Some of the stores in City Walk do as well.

 

[hermie]

These are wonderful suggestions and thanks for the AAA tip!!! Margaritaville was a restaurant we were thinking about checking out and sounds like a perfect way to start our vacation.

 

[startingtopanic]

I would recommend reservations for Margaritaville. I really wanted to eat there, but every time we went past -- the wait was 45 mintues to 1 hour 45 minutes. By then we were starving and no one was willing to wait.

 

[pixeegrl]

I would recommend reservations for Margaritaville. I really wanted to eat there, but every time we went past -- the wait was 45 mintues to 1 hour 45 minutes. By then we were starving and no one was willing to wait.

You can use Open Table for Margaritaville, just checked

 

[macraven]

going to M'ville on a saturday night, reservations are a must

 

[hermie]

Thanks about the Open Table tip!! We will be at Universal during a Sunday through Friday. DH and DS cannot wait for the Harry Potter sections. I am a little overwhelmed by reading through the Harry Potter thread though. Any tips for navigating through that area? I know a plan may change with the opening of the other HP section.

 

[Seeker615]

The mini golf at Citywalk was a lot of fun. If you have a chance check it out. On the Universal Website there is actually a dine and Golf package where you get a round of golf and dinner at Citywalk. It was a great price.

Over at IOA there is a great little Marvel character meet and greet. They come riding in on ATV's. It's fun and the characters are fun to interact with.

Over at Universal there is a slew of great characters. We never had a problem meeting any of them. I think the longest line was for the minions and Dru.

 

[pixeegrl]

There is a shortcut to HP through Seuss here's the link to the thread about it http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2919195&highlight=shortcut