I have never strayed over here before- but I wanna go to Universal!

[Mermaid02]

I never even considered Universal until the ad for Harry Potter last night... I went to their website and found it VERY confusing. So I thought I'd get feedback from you guys.

It's Me (42) Dh (41) and ds (13) I want to stay "onsite". Now, how expensive would 7 nights be- best estimate. Is there enough to do for 7 days? What are crowds like compared to WDW- when do you like to go? What hotel do you like best? How are the restaurants?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Purseval]

If you go to the hotel forum there is a date and rate thread, that will give you an idea of what people have been paying. For instance I am paying $239 for one night in March at the Hard Rock Hotel. A 7 day stay would qualify you for a supersaver rate and it would drop the price down considerably.

Crowds aren't much of an issue because your room key gives you front of the line access to just about every ride so you don't even have to worry about that.

There is no such thing as a bad Universal hotel, only the theming is different. The Royal Pacific is generally the least expensive of the three but not so much. That $239 room at Hard Rock would have cost $199 for the same night at RP.

Unless you are going top of the line (Victoria and Albert's in the Grand Floridian is considered to be the best restaurant in Orlando) the food at Universal is better than
WDW.

 

[damo]

Just to clarify that when Purseval says "front of the line", he means express line access. It will get you into the "fastpass" line but not actually to the front of the line.

Take your time to explore the www.universalorlando.com website. It is actually excellent. You can check prices by going into the hotels section and checking rates. It will give you the rates for your dates at all three hotels. http://www.loewshotels.com/en/booking/newbooking.aspx?h=UEPBH,UEHRH,UERPR&sk=uo

 

[Coach81]

Welcome to the dark side!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Welcome to the Dark Side, OP! We go to WDW almost every year, but we have been to Universal several times pre-kids and once with our kids. We are going again in July (they are 10 and 7).

We have stayed onsite at Royal Pacific, and it is a beautiful resort with a short walk to the parks. We are staying at Portofino Bay in July - it is a bit more expensive, but the rooms are larger and there is a slide at the pool (although Universal hotels allow pool-hopping, unlike Disney hotels). We have also stayed offsite before we knew any better. The onsite hotels are all gorgeous, and we always had great service at RPR as well as the other hotel restaurants. The resorts are probably a bit nicer than most of the Disney deluxe hotels, at a lower price.

Our room at Portofino is 258 per night for three nights. We were originally booked for 6 nights and it was 228 per night.

Staying onsite, you will not have to wait in lines very long for most of the rides. You will have the Universal version of a Fastpass for almost all the rides, so you will be able to get a lot done. You won't need seven days to do the Universal parks, unless you want to, but the resorts are very relaxing and are enjoyable destinations by themselves. We enjoy spending a few hours in the parks in the morning, coming back to the resort to swim and relax, then going back in the evening. It is a totally different pace than a Disney vacation. It will be a bit more hectic this summer because of Harry Potter, but it will be worth the extra crowds.

We've had some great meals and some not-so-great meals at Universal, but I agree with the PP that Universal has more excellent choices than Disney.

 

[pixeegrl]

Also if you are a member of AAA, SOME of the offices still carry the cheap 7 day tickets so go by and check. From what I have read they are no longer at AAA online. If you have a Kroger anywhere near by (not sure if they are that far up north) check in the Gift card section for the 89.99 7 day passes. They will have Spiderman on them and are blue.

 

[Mermaid02]

Thanks guys! Their website still makes my head spin.... I can't figure out if I keep picking the right tickets or not.... I can't figure out their dining plan..... I feel like a total idiot.

 

[damo]

Thanks guys! Their website still makes my head spin.... I can't figure out if I keep picking the right tickets or not.... I can't figure out their dining plan..... I feel like a total idiot.

Ignore the dining plan. It is counter service and doesn't allow you to experience the great restaurants that are there.

 

[myramann]

Also if you are a member of AAA, SOME of the offices still carry the cheap 7 day tickets so go by and check. From what I have read they are no longer at AAA online. If you have a Kroger anywhere near by (not sure if they are that far up north) check in the Gift card section for the 89.99 7 day passes. They will have Spiderman on them and are blue.

The tix at Kroger are not any good now. I bought some over the weekend and then they could not be activated. They also tried a couple more times to activate another set of cards with not luck. These cards should be pulled from the shelves. They are no good...

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Thanks guys! Their website still makes my head spin.... I can't figure out if I keep picking the right tickets or not.... I can't figure out their dining plan..... I feel like a total idiot.

Like Damo mentioned...The meal deal is prob not worth it. It may be for the kid if they eat a lot. But the pick for kids meal is like PBnJ and I believe 2 other things. The selection is very limited. But generally you would need to eat 3 times in the park to make the price worth it. In usually a 6 hr timespan depending on when you go.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Tickets/tickets_2.aspx?ComponentId=11423&SourcePageId=7805#13

There is the link for the ticket page. If it were me I would save the $10 and get the 1 park each day so you could pick a day to do a park and do it that way w/o the hopper. But I am cheap.

The hotels are nice...They are all 4 stars so its not a huge difference on which to stay in. I don't believe I have stayed at Portofino before but the other 2 are great. Mom booked one night in May last night and for some reason HRH was cheaper then RPR...Never seen it that way before.

But I think Super Saver rate is prob your best bet for that length of time. Also if you are going to have a car keep in mind its pretty expensive for parking. $15 a night ish iirc.

As for if there is enough to do for 7 days?....Well imo you could do it shorter time. Its great park and the Potter will def draw in some crowds but I think 4-5 is sufficient to see everything you would like to see. Esp with only one kid.

As for the restaurants...I enjoy Margaritaville in Citywalk. Lots will tell you Mythos is great. I wasn't a fan, not my type of food. But the atmosphere is rly cool.

Crowds in comparison to Disney would be tough to call atm. Seeing as Potter should bring in the crowds. With Express you should be able to get on any ride within 30m though w/o a prob. Except maybe the new one.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Hot...s.aspx?ComponentId=10976&SourcePageId=10651#5

Hotel deals...Stay 7 nights for the price of 4. In Aug for 7 nights I got a deal of about $153 a night for RPR...So $1071 in total.

Anyway enjoy your trip...Hope my info helps. Good luck.

 

[Mermaid02]

Like Damo mentioned...The meal deal is prob not worth it. It may be for the kid if they eat a lot. But the pick for kids meal is like PBnJ and I believe 2 other things. The selection is very limited. But generally you would need to eat 3 times in the park to make the price worth it. In usually a 6 hr timespan depending on when you go.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Tickets/tickets_2.aspx?ComponentId=11423&SourcePageId=7805#13

There is the link for the ticket page. If it were me I would save the $10 and get the 1 park each day so you could pick a day to do a park and do it that way w/o the hopper. But I am cheap.

The hotels are nice...They are all 4 stars so its not a huge difference on which to stay in. I don't believe I have stayed at Portofino before but the other 2 are great. Mom booked one night in May last night and for some reason HRH was cheaper then RPR...Never seen it that way before.

But I think Super Saver rate is prob your best bet for that length of time. Also if you are going to have a car keep in mind its pretty expensive for parking. $15 a night ish iirc.

As for if there is enough to do for 7 days?....Well imo you could do it shorter time. Its great park and the Potter will def draw in some crowds but I think 4-5 is sufficient to see everything you would like to see. Esp with only one kid.

As for the restaurants...I enjoy Margaritaville in Citywalk. Lots will tell you Mythos is great. I wasn't a fan, not my type of food. But the atmosphere is rly cool.

Crowds in comparison to Disney would be tough to call atm. Seeing as Potter should bring in the crowds. With Express you should be able to get on any ride within 30m though w/o a prob. Except maybe the new one.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Hot...s.aspx?ComponentId=10976&SourcePageId=10651#5

Hotel deals...Stay 7 nights for the price of 4. In Aug for 7 nights I got a deal of about $153 a night for RPR...So $1071 in total.

Anyway enjoy your trip...Hope my info helps. Good luck.

It helped very much! Thank You!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Thanks guys! Their website still makes my head spin.... I can't figure out if I keep picking the right tickets or not.... I can't figure out their dining plan..... I feel like a total idiot.

I agree - don't worry about the "dining plan" ... it's not at all like Disney's. The Meal Deal only gives you counter service food at 6 select restaurants in US/IOA. There are so many more restaurants available. Plus you can't forget about all the restaurants at City Walk.

You also don't need to make ADR's 180 days in advance with Universal. If you'd feel better making a reservation, you can do that - even the same day - by either calling reservations at 407-224-4012 (for restaurants at IOA) or 407-224-3613 (for restaurants at US), or by stopping at the reservations booth near the escalator in CityWalk.

 

[donaldduck352]

Thats the great thing about Universal,you don't need to plan anything.Go play and do the parks at your pace,It's A very relaxing vacation!!

 

[cieslack]

If you are a AAA member, I just got an email from them stating that Feb. is Universal month and they are offering specials and Universal cash if you book through them. I don't know if their rates are better than other sites.

 

[diskids2]

FOTL or express line ... whatever it is called is making me feel like I have an unlimited GAD or birthday fastpass voucher!

OP, I share your enthusiasm...we are going for the first time this summer and I can't wait!

 

[CPanther95]

What are crowds like compared to WDW-

The crowds consist of a much higher class of people that are far less annoying.

 

[Metro West]

The crowds consist of a much higher class of people that are far less annoying.

 

[asmit4]

The crowds consist of a much higher class of people that are far less annoying.

This is hysterical! It is a good question though-I'm wondering if you don't pay for FOTL passes, and you don't stay onsite- what kind of waits can you expect?
Seems to me that if you had these passes you could finish both parks in 2 days. Is this true? How long are the waits generally speaking if you stay on site? When we do FP at DW the waits are either walk on or no more than 15 minutes. Can we expect the same with the upgraded passes?

 

[Metro West]

This is hysterical! It is a good question though-I'm wondering if you don't pay for FOTL passes, and you don't stay onsite- what kind of waits can you expect?
Seems to me that if you had these passes you could finish both parks in 2 days. Is this true? How long are the waits generally speaking if you stay on site? When we do FP at DW the waits are either walk on or no more than 15 minutes. Can we expect the same with the upgraded passes?

After Harry Potter opens it's anyone's guess as to the wait times but the Express lines will be considerably shorter than the standby lines. You would definitely be better off staying onsite since you would get unlimited Express for all participating attractions...excludes Rockit coaster, Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey and the Pteranodon Flyers at IOA.

 

[ckay87]

FOTL or express line ... whatever it is called is making me feel like I have an unlimited GAD or birthday fastpass voucher!

OP, I share your enthusiasm...we are going for the first time this summer and I can't wait!

That's exactly what it is. I was just trying to explain FOTL to my sister. It's not that you walk on every ride, it's just like having an unlimited FastPass.

Last time we did Universal onsite was maybe 2 weeks after The Simpsons opened. We walked on it every time. Now, that is nothing compared to what Potter will be, I admit.

I just remember seeing lots and lots of crowds but not caring if you can imagine that.