I have never been to Universal ....

[POF]

We are planning an Orlando trip in Sept / Oct 2009 and plan to stay for 9 orr 10 days. This trip the boys are old enough to appreciate Universal. We will be renting a house in Windsor Hills.

I am thinking that we could start our trip at Universal and stay 1 or 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel. We typically arrive on a Friday.

With the FOTL pass - will we be OK to see Universal and IOA on Friday afternoon and then finish up on Saturday ? Are weekends so crazy at Univ and IOA that we might be better off to just go mid week. We's then have to either purchase FOTL or take a chance and wait in line.

Any thoughts / suggestions ?

 

[damo]

It is nice to have two full days for the parks. If you have your hotel FOTL, front of the line with give your boys lots of time to reride their favourites.

 

[donaldduck352]

It is nice to have two full days for the parks. If you have your hotel FOTL, front of the line with give your boys lots of time to reride their favourites.

 

[FayeW]

We are planning an Orlando trip in Sept / Oct 2009 and plan to stay for 9 orr 10 days. This trip the boys are old enough to appreciate Universal. We will be renting a house in Windsor Hills.

I am thinking that we could start our trip at Universal and stay 1 or 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel. We typically arrive on a Friday.

With the FOTL pass - will we be OK to see Universal and IOA on Friday afternoon and then finish up on Saturday ? Are weekends so crazy at Univ and IOA that we might be better off to just go mid week. We's then have to either purchase FOTL or take a chance and wait in line.

Any thoughts / suggestions ?

I'd go mid-week, it is a lot quieter. That way you can play it by ear as to whether you want to buy the FOTL pass or not. We've been to US/IOA 3 times, going for 3-5 days each time. We never stay onsite and we never buy the Express passes. We've been there the last week of Oct (busy with many folks from the UK as they get a 3 week school break in the fall) and the first week of Dec.

 

[Metro West]

We are planning an Orlando trip in Sept / Oct 2009 and plan to stay for 9 orr 10 days. This trip the boys are old enough to appreciate Universal. We will be renting a house in Windsor Hills.

I am thinking that we could start our trip at Universal and stay 1 or 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel. We typically arrive on a Friday.

With the FOTL pass - will we be OK to see Universal and IOA on Friday afternoon and then finish up on Saturday ? Are weekends so crazy at Univ and IOA that we might be better off to just go mid week. We's then have to either purchase FOTL or take a chance and wait in line.

Any thoughts / suggestions ?

If you stay onsite, you won't have to worry about the lines since you'll have unlimited Express access. The lines aren't terribly long during the fall anyway. Depending on what time of day you arrive one the first day, you may not be able to do much since the parks close between 6-7pm in the fall. If you devote two full days you will definately see everything and going midweek will help you even further.

 

[SLK1]

Me and my friends go to Universal all the time and we all have 2-park passes, but one of my buddies only gets free 1-day 2-park passes because he's got connections with folks who work there--So, we try to make the best of that one day. If you're staying at a hotel, you'll get in the front of every line and ride everything at Universal AND IOA (if the operating hours are until 8 or 9) several times. If not, singles is a great option--we can do every major ride at Universal and IOA a couple times, we just don't ride together. Also, these little day trips are usually only from about 11 to 3 on a weekend--imagine what you could do in a full day!!! If you're staying at an outside hotel with no benefits, though, and you want to experience EVERYTHING (shows, attractions, and ALL rides) as a family, then spend one day at each park. You can get on each ride many times if you spend the whole day at one park, even if you don't have Express passes...which can be very expensive at peak season!

Hope that helps you out.

 

[LilMommyBug]

We did Universal in 2 days with the on site Express pass & didnt feel like we missed anything we really cared about doing..