How to plan for Univ? Touring plans, etc?

[JJsmama]

We are doing Universal at Spring Break (Easter week!!) I know pretty much nothing about Universal. We are staying onsite so we will get early entry and Express Pass. Other than vague Harry Potter notions, I don't know anything that is there or what to run to/ what to skip... Strange feeling for me after being a Disney 'expert' for many years.

Should I subscribe to Touring Plans or another site? Should I just wing it? Is there a great site for research? what does anyone recommend?

 

[TommyJK]

How many days will you have in the parks? If it's 2 or more, and you have express pass, IMO you can just wing it with the following 2 tips:

• Use early entry and head straight to the given Harry Potter locale of the park you're entering early. Express Pass is not valid for the Potter rides so you will want to do these first during early entry
• Just get a good feel of the park layouts by looking at the maps of the parks and ear marking the attractions you think you want to try.

Other than that, you can easily wing it with Express Pass and don't need to crazy plan like one would for a Disney visit.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Information above is spot on! I would add to it by saying that since you are staying on site, you should definitely take advantage of the one hour early opening and go straight to Harry Potter in whichever park is the one opening early.

The parks are fairly spread out, so I would just ride what you walk by next. The express pass makes a big difference, no stress! Also, be aware that the water rides in Islands Of Adventure for the most part get you drenched, not just wet! Either take a plastic poncho or be prepared to walk around wet

 

[angryduck71]

Despicable Me, even with Express Pass, can get busy too.
Also, I always plan a "water afternoon" and then head back to the room to change.
orlandoinformer.com is a great source for plans for Harry Potter and other plans. But, you don't have to plan TOO much like you do Disney!

 

[Tattylou]

Not to hijack this, but I'm going to Universal for one day that same week in April (Easter week). I'm also a disney expert who has no clue about Universal. What would you recommend for a one day visitor, keeping in mind Harry Potter is the main reason we are going there for the day. Thx

 

[keishashadow]

Several good guidebooks out there for great overview (Unofficial Guide, etc.) to get a lay of the land. Undercover tourist has concise info. Reading thru threads here is invaluable

The above, armed with onsite FOTL, = the biggest edge to a great experience even during holiday.

HP doesn't have FOTL, do early entry to beat the bulk of guests.

 

[bchbetha]

What do you do when you visit non-Disney parks? Handle a visit to Universal that way. Nothing tricky. .
Orlando Informer has great suggestions though.

 

[JJsmama]

Thanks!

 

[havoc315]

We are doing Universal at Spring Break (Easter week!!) I know pretty much nothing about Universal. We are staying onsite so we will get early entry and Express Pass. Other than vague Harry Potter notions, I don't know anything that is there or what to run to/ what to skip... Strange feeling for me after being a Disney 'expert' for many years.

Should I subscribe to Touring Plans or another site? Should I just wing it? Is there a great site for research? what does anyone recommend?

I've done many trips to Disney, I'm an expert on going through touringplans, booking fastpasses, booking dining, creating a schedule.
Then I did a few days at Universal this past July 4th weekend... Had early entry and express pass...

Guess what --- You don't need more than a vague plan. It's not Disney.

Just get a general sense of what rides and shows you want to see, and do them.

Use early entry or late evening for the Harry Potter stuff. Despicable Me could also benefit from being done in Early Entry.
Otherwise, just do the rides and activities you want, in the order you want to do them, with some common sense. Common sense being that the park will be more crowded from 11am to 5pm. Even with express pass, may want to plan your rides around mornings and evenings, just like Disney.

Dining? Never found the need for an advanced reservation.

Everything else said here is right on. The water rides are VERY wet. And if it's hot, the lines can be long even with express pass during the mid-day. But late morning, they will be fine with express pass.

Harry Potter is best done during early entry, BUT... make sure you spend time in Diagon Alley at night. It really looks amazing at night. And in the hour before park close, the lines at the Harry Potter rides are pretty reasonable.

Compared to planning for Disney, Universal is easy.

 

[Squirlz]

Touring plans is great, along with the Unofficial Guide. With their free Lines app you can check real time wait times and search menus by restaurant or by whatever food you want. Looking for lobster? It will tell you all the places with lobster.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Not to hijack this, but I'm going to Universal for one day that same week in April (Easter week). I'm also a disney expert who has no clue about Universal. What would you recommend for a one day visitor, keeping in mind Harry Potter is the main reason we are going there for the day. Thx

We were exactly in your situation when we went in November, went for one day (a long day!) with granddaughters and Harry Potter was the main reason. Many Disney trips under our best but knew very little about Universal To see all of the Harry Potter attractions in one day you must have a park to park ticket. Also, I hope you are staying on site and if you are at a resort like Royal Pacific that offers the Express pass included, this really helps. If you are staying on site, then by all means take advantage of the one hour early opening for guests of the Universal resorts!!

Go right to Harry Potter area in whichever park is open early, ride either Gringotts or Forbidden Journey, then enjoy the area and then take the Hogwarts Express over to the other park's Harry Potter area. Then after doing that enjoy the rest of the parks. If you have the express pass, this is where it comes in handy. Our family prefers for the most part the other rides in US, and as far as the Harry Potter the girls wanted to spend more time in Diagon Alley which is in US. The girls loved Diagon Alley at night with the dragon and riding Gringotts again after crowds thinned out.

We are going back in February with a different granddaughter and are again staying at Royal Pacific. For us, this resort was worth every penny with the early admission and included express pass, plus it is beautiful. We have two days in the parks this trip!

 

[Tattylou]

We were exactly in your situation when we went in November, went for one day (a long day!) with granddaughters and Harry Potter was the main reason. To see all of the Harry Potter attractions in one day you must have a park to park ticket. Also, I hope you are staying on site and if you are at a resort like Royal Pacific that offers the Express pass included, this really helps. The express pass does not apply or the two big Harry Potter rides but If you are on site, then by all means take advantage of the one hour early opening for guests of the Universal resorts!!

Go right to Harry Potter area in whichever park is open early, ride either Gringotts or Forbidden Journey, then enjoy the area and then take the Hogwarts Express over to the other park's Harry Potter area. Then after doing that enjoy the rest of the parks. If you have the express pass, this is where it comes in handy. Our family prefers for the most part the other rides in US, and as far as the Harry Potter the girls wanted to spend more time in Diagon Alley which is in US. The girls loved Diagon Alley at night with the dragon and riding Gringotts again after crowds thinned out.

We are going back in February with a different granddaughter and are again staying at Royal Pacific. For us, this resort was worth every penny with the early admission and included express pass, plus it is beautiful. We have two days in the parks this trip!

Thank you. Unfortunately we aren't staying on site bc we are actually on a "beach vacation", staying close to 2 hours away in St Petersburg in a gorgeous Condo right on the beach. However, the beach vacation is morphing into a day at Legoland, a day at Busch Gardens, a day at Universal. Lol. The plan is to leave at the Crack of dawn and be there for rope drop, but early entry isn't an option. We are going to get the 2 park pass. I've done disney at Easter week so I'm prepared for the worst, but based on everyone's replies it seems Universal is easier to manage.

 

[bchbetha]

Thank you. Unfortunately we aren't staying on site bc we are actually on a "beach vacation", staying close to 2 hours away in St Petersburg in a gorgeous Condo right on the beach. However, the beach vacation is morphing into a day at Legoland, a day at Busch Gardens, a day at Universal. Lol. The plan is to leave at the Crack of dawn and be there for rope drop, but early entry isn't an option. We are going to get the 2 park pass. I've done disney at Easter week so I'm prepared for the worst, but based on everyone's replies it seems Universal is easier to manage.

If you can swing it, drive up the night before and stay onsite. That's our new strategy when traveling to amusement parks. It's great to already be there in the AM. In the case of Universal you can also get those perks.

 

[Tattylou]

If you can swing it, drive up the night before and stay onsite. That's our new strategy when traveling to amusement parks. It's great to already be there in the AM. In the case of Universal you can also get those perks.

I just had that exact conversation with my parents and DH. Think that's what we are going to do - leave the beach condo on Weds, check in at Universal hotel, use their pool, eat dinner at their disney Springs are (citywalk?) And then get early entry the next morning, stay all day, and head back to St Petersburg condo that night. Like a vacation inside a vacation...bc we just want to give florida all our money! Ha ha

 

[soniam]

I like Touring Plans and have used it for every trip. We use it for WDW though too. However, I don't like it for Universal as much as WDW. I think it's not quite as accurate. We tend to be behind a bit with it for Universal vs WDW plans.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

I just had that exact conversation with my parents and DH. Think that's what we are going to do - leave the beach condo on Weds, check in at Universal hotel, use their pool, eat dinner at their disney Springs are (citywalk?) And then get early entry the next morning, stay all day, and head back to St Petersburg condo that night. Like a vacation inside a vacation...bc we just want to give florida all our money! Ha ha

That's a bunch of money imo. You could technically have a hotel room for a week during off peak time for what you're paying for one night in Universal property and you're only taking advantage of that ONE day with express instead of the two days that you technically should take advantage of. If you're going that route I'd suggest doing 2 days at Universal with using the express for both day(Check in day and check out day)....That would give you more bang for your buck.

Otherwise....Enjoy a lot of time in both Potter zones and on the other rides(If there is time)use the single rider line to finish those up.

 

[tzolkin]

Not to hijack this, but I'm going to Universal for one day that same week in April (Easter week). I'm also a disney expert who has no clue about Universal. What would you recommend for a one day visitor, keeping in mind Harry Potter is the main reason we are going there for the day. Thx

We were at Universal (stayed onsite) for 5 days last week. We found that the Harry Potter areas really emptied out at night. So, my suggestion would be to head straight to a HP section first thing in the morning, do the other areas of the park during the busy afternoon (when you can barely walk through the streets in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade), and then go back to the HP areas at night.

We were able to ride the HP attractions with almost no wait later in the evenings and our family was the only one in line for the little show in Ollivanders, so both of my children were chosen to participate with the wands. During the day there was a huge queue for this in both parks every time we walked by.