Leaving soon and have some questions.

[M&E]

My husband surprised myself and my son (12 years old) with tickets to Orlando leaving this Saturday! I was able to book one night at Portofino and purchased 1 day park to park tickets for this coming Monday. I haven't been to Universal in probably 5 years? I think Kong was the new ride when I last went. Normally when I go on trips I have months to research and plan! If you could help answer some questions, I would be so thankful.

1. I usually wear a cross body bag in parks at WDW. Are there rides that this will not be allowed on? If I were to wear a fanny pack would I be allowed on more rides? Which rides will I need to use a locker?

2. It looks like the hours are 8:00- 10:00 on Saturday with US closing at 9:00. Since we are staying at Portofino does that mean we can get in at 7:00 am? If yes, what time should be be at the gates waiting? Or better yet, what time should we be walking out the door at Portofino?

3. Which park is best to start at? Ideally we would get to ride the Hogwarts express both ways and do everything. But we only have one day and it's the week before Christmas, so... where do we start? Is there a ride we rush to first, second, etc?

4. I have no dining reservations and I'm fine with that. We will just grab food when it's quick and convenient. Do they have mobile ordering like Disney?

5. There are a couple rides that our Express Pass won't work on. What are they? Maybe those are the rides we go to first?

6. What can you tell me about the visual queues? Which rides have it? From what I have read the new Hagrid ride uses it sometimes?

Any other tips you can offer would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

[skramer100]

My husband surprised myself and my son (12 years old) with tickets to Orlando leaving this Saturday! I was able to book one night at Portofino and purchased 1 day park to park tickets for this coming Monday. I haven't been to Universal in probably 5 years? I think Kong was the new ride when I last went. Normally when I go on trips I have months to research and plan! If you could help answer some questions, I would be so thankful.

1. I usually wear a cross body bag in parks at WDW. Are there rides that this will not be allowed on? If I were to wear a fanny pack would I be allowed on more rides? Which rides will I need to use a locker?

2. It looks like the hours are 8:00- 10:00 on Saturday with US closing at 9:00. Since we are staying at Portofino does that mean we can get in at 7:00 am? If yes, what time should be be at the gates waiting? Or better yet, what time should we be walking out the door at Portofino?

3. Which park is best to start at? Ideally we would get to ride the Hogwarts express both ways and do everything. But we only have one day and it's the week before Christmas, so... where do we start? Is there a ride we rush to first, second, etc?

4. I have no dining reservations and I'm fine with that. We will just grab food when it's quick and convenient. Do they have mobile ordering like Disney?

5. There are a couple rides that our Express Pass won't work on. What are they? Maybe those are the rides we go to first?

6. What can you tell me about the visual queues? Which rides have it? From what I have read the new Hagrid ride uses it sometimes?

Any other tips you can offer would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!

Not a pro, but my answers:
1)No idea really, but I know you can't wear anything on Velicicoaster. Free lockers on ride.

2)If early hours are 7 then yes. I would be at gates by 6:45

3)Depends on what you like. If you like coasters, then IOA. Velicoaster doesn't accept Express pass, same with Hagrid. You will want to both multiple times.

4)I am not sure about mobile, but reservations are not as big a deal in Universal. We had 1reservation for dinner but never waited for anything.

5)Velicicaoster and Hagrid

6)Hagrid is all from my experience.

Advice enjoy it, express makes it easy to do the whole park and catch everything.

 

[TommyJK]

I'll do my best to help answer:

1. I usually wear a cross body bag in parks at WDW. Are there rides that this will not be allowed on? If I were to wear a fanny pack would I be allowed on more rides? Which rides will I need to use a locker?
- A fanny pack with 3 pronged clasp will get you on the most without having to use a locker. Rides that MUST use a locker (you go through metal detectors and the only thing you can have is your lanyard tucked into your shirt) are (IOA) Hulk and Velocicoaster (USF) Rip Ride Rockit

2. It looks like the hours are 8:00- 10:00 on Saturday with US closing at 9:00. Since we are staying at Portofino does that mean we can get in at 7:00 am? If yes, what time should be be at the gates waiting? Or better yet, what time should we be walking out the door at Portofino?
- Just to be clear, you mentioned your park day is Monday (and not Saturday), but either way when I look the Park hours are the same. And yes, that means early entry is at 7:00. Now a quick look at the app it's showing me that BOTH parks have early entry (which is rare). So my advice would be to do Early Entry at Islands of Adventure, since both Hagrids and Velocicoaster do not accept Express Pass. And since Hagrid might go to virtual queue after regular entry, go straight to Hagrids for minimal wait and no VQ to have to deal with. I would recco to get there 30 min early to get a good jump on the crowds.

3. Which park is best to start at? Ideally we would get to ride the Hogwarts express both ways and do everything. But we only have one day and it's the week before Christmas, so... where do we start? Is there a ride we rush to first, second, etc?
- Answered in the above question

4. I have no dining reservations and I'm fine with that. We will just grab food when it's quick and convenient. Do they have mobile ordering like Disney?
- They do have mobile ordering and you can find more info on it here: https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/mobile-food-ordering I don't believe it's mandatory anymore (like it was during covid restrictions) but I *might* be wrong on that. Perhaps someone else can confirm.

5. There are a couple rides that our Express Pass won't work on. What are they? Maybe those are the rides we go to first?
- mentioned this in #2.

6. What can you tell me about the visual queues? Which rides have it? From what I have read the new Hagrid ride uses it sometimes?
- As noted in #2, only Hagrids does virtual queue and it's variable depending on how big the line gets as to if they use it or not. But as I noted in #2 it's best to rope-drop it during early entry

 

[cschaaf]

I'd recommend getting to the IOA gate at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled early opening. 45 minutes early would be better. In our experience, when the parks are busy, 45 minutes early gets you within about a dozen people from the turnstiles. 30 minutes early puts you back behind the ticket booths.

They often open the gates 10-15 minutes prior to the posted opening.

From there, I'd head directly to Hagrid's. Starting around the 'regular' park opening, start to check the Virtual Line site https://vltest.universalorlando.com/# to see if Hagrid's is switching to a VL. If they switch to VL, grab one if you want to ride again.

The Mummy has also started to use the VL again. I'm not sure if you can hold VLs for both rides simultaneously or not.

After Hagrid's, ride Velocicoaster. Those are the two big rides that don't have Express lines. Once you've completed those, use your Express to ride whatever you want.

Others have answered the fanny pack question. I'd say that the lockers aren't a big deal and to take whatever bag you are comfortable carrying for the day (as long as it's not a large bag). To use the lockers, you will scan a bar code (your park pass, your Express Pass, etc.) and you can use the small lockers for free while you ride that ride.

For reference, I use an Osprey Talon 11 and my wife has a Kavu sling bag. Each of them will fit into their own small locker.

4. I have no dining reservations and I'm fine with that. We will just grab food when it's quick and convenient. Do they have mobile ordering like Disney?
- They do have mobile ordering and you can find more info on it here: https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/mobile-food-ordering I don't believe it's mandatory anymore (like it was during covid restrictions) but I *might* be wrong on that. Perhaps someone else can confirm.

We went twice during COVID (July and October '21) and only used mobile ordering twice that I remember. In July, we went to dinner at Red Oven. They seated you, then had you use the mobile app to order. When we went back in October, it was back to normal

In October, we used mobile ordering at Voodoo Donuts just to save a ton of time.

 

[Skywalker3]

Woohoo, what a great surprise!
We like to get to turnstiles, about 45 mins before opening, even if it's early entry. On a busy holiday week, even 1 hour early. We walked from Portofino the first morning of our Oct trip, and I think it was about 10-15 mins, kinda brisk walking,. So leave hotel several mins before 6. we've never been at Christmas time, but would expect it to be crazy. The more you can do in the AM/rope drop, the better.
This advice is assuming y'all want to do the thrill rides/coasters. I'd go to Hagrid's. first as It can go virtual, but if you're in line in the AM, before it goes to VQ, I think you're allowed to ride. Then hit VC. those are the 2 w/o express. Do some research on what rides you think everyone will enjoy. Like my kids love Dr Doom, even though it's the type of ride that you can do somewhere else. But this last trip, we totally skipped Minions, Shrek, ET, water rides, most of Dr Seues. We eat at off times, and with it being a holiday week, definitely don't try to do noon. Maybe 10:30, or 11 at the latest, even for QS, We did not use Mobile order while there. The one time I tried it at louie's, it didn't work right. We did use it at Voodoo donuts though (with issues...) but most report success with MO at Voodoo.
I carry a regular sized backpack and used the lockers w/o issue. But fanny packs are usually ok on rides, except on VC, Rip ride, and Hulk, not sure about Hagrid's, as we used the lockers.
also, discuss backup plans. The morning we rope dropped VC, it was down, so needed to make a choice...ride something else, and just come back to longer lines later, or wait. So in case your first choice is not working, already have an idea of what to do. Sometimes times are inflated, like when my son did ride VC later that day, it was posted 90 mins, and he waited just over 60, but generally we found Universal posted times were closer to actual, than the inflated times at Disney. Later evening was good for riding also. that same day, my husband only waited about 25-30 mins for VC.
With express, there was still some wait at Rip Ride and the Hogwarts express from Diagon to Hogsmeade. But mostly express got you on very quickly, unless ride had issues.
Have a fabulous time!!!! The holiday time is such a wonderful time to visit. All the decorations are awesome!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If more rides go to Virtual Queue during your visit, you can use your express passes in lieu of getting a VQ time. You'd only need to worry about Hagrids.

 

[cschaaf]

If more rides go to Virtual Queue during your visit, you can use your express passes in lieu of getting a VQ time. You'd only need to worry about Hagrids.

Great point! I forgot that Mummy keeps EP even when using VLs for standby.

 

[M&E]

Thanks for all the tips! We are so excited.