Need Help Finalizing Details for October Trip

[ElleTR]

We're less than a month away from our trip!

Me, my husband, my sister and parents will be going to Universal over Columbus Day weekend. We arrive Friday evening and leave Tuesday (my parents/sister that morning, my husband and I that afternoon).

We've never been to US. Our main priority is to see all the HP attractions. My husband, sister and I have 3 day passes, my parents have 2 day. We're staying at Hard Rock. I have a few questions on how to best achieve everything:

1) For the passes--do we have to use those days consecutively? So if we went to the parks Saturday morning, my parents would have to use theirs the next day as well? Or could they skip Sunday and go back Monday?

2) Where do you recommend starting? I understand there are 2 parts to US.

3) If we do the HHN, it'll just be the "kids" (if you can call two 30 year olds and a 26 year old 'kids'). Should we buy tickets in advance?

4) Should we get a rental car? My husband and I arrive mid afternoon Friday and the rest of the group later Friday night (flying in from 2 different cities).

5) I am a gigantic space nerd and want to go to Kennedy Space Center as well (hence the questions about car rental and splitting up the park pass days). Is that doable in the time we're there? Essentially we're looking at 2 full park days and a "spare" day I was thinking we would use for KSC/going back to parks to check out favorites or anything we may have missed. Has anyone done KSC as part of their trip? Any tips? Buy tickets early? Take a shuttle? The car appeals to me because we can make our own schedule.

I think that's all I have right now...any tips or anything I may be overlooking is appreciated. We're so excited. My sister and I have been snapchatting a countdown for the last month.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

IIRC you have a week (?) to use your park tix. It appears the Gringots explosion has died down and thankfully brought the wait times down with it, but if it were me (and it will be in a couple of weeks... YAYness) I would use the early entry for anything HP and just take your leisurely time exploring the parks the rest of the day. We always use our 3rd day as our go back for favs & shopping day.

I always buy our HHN tickets in advance, and wouldn't be a good Dark Sider if I didn't recommend getting the EP too. You wouldn't want to miss any of that scary goodness

As for the rental car, I'd say it's a good idea at the very least for your Space day. We drive and our Land Shark never moves until we head out for the beach at the end of our trip.

 

[macraven]

yes to what sharky said.

you have 7 days to use the ticket pases up.

the studios closes at 5 that friday, ioa should be open to 7.
check the website for the park hours as that might have changed since i last viewed it for ioa.

for the night you are doing HHN, do the rides during the day and concentrate on the houses and scare zones during the evening event.

i bought my ticket the day the ap rates were out for the hhn event.
you can buy them on friday at guest services outside the park or in advance.


columbus day weekend will have more crowds so go to the park early on saturday.
onsite guests can enter the park one hour before the official opening at IOA.

probably start with the studios and then switch to IOA for the afternoon.
saturday and sunday crowds could begin in the later afternoon after 2:00
those that come for the hhn event, like to get rides in before the park closes for the hard ticket event.

the past 3 mondays/columbus day, have increased crowdwise in the afternoon when i have been there.
maybe it is just the parks i am in at that time, and the other one is fine crowd wise.

if it rains, all bets off on which days will have more peeps in the parks.

if you rent a car prior to arriving at the hotel, you will be paying $20 +tax per night you have it parked at the hotel.
figure out if you would come out ahead by renting a car one day for your offsite day + transportation costs to and from mco to the hotel compared to renting a car from MCO.

 

[keishashadow]

We're less than a month away from our trip!

Me, my husband, my sister and parents will be going to Universal over Columbus Day weekend. We arrive Friday evening and leave Tuesday (my parents/sister that morning, my husband and I that afternoon).

We've never been to US. Our main priority is to see all the HP attractions. My husband, sister and I have 3 day passes, my parents have 2 day. We're staying at Hard Rock. I have a few questions on how to best achieve everything:

1) For the passes--do we have to use those days consecutively? So if we went to the parks Saturday morning, my parents would have to use theirs the next day as well? Or could they skip Sunday and go back Monday?

2) Where do you recommend starting? I understand there are 2 parts to US.

3) If we do the HHN, it'll just be the "kids" (if you can call two 30 year olds and a 26 year old 'kids'). Should we buy tickets in advance?

4) Should we get a rental car? My husband and I arrive mid afternoon Friday and the rest of the group later Friday night (flying in from 2 different cities).

5) I am a gigantic space nerd and want to go to Kennedy Space Center as well (hence the questions about car rental and splitting up the park pass days). Is that doable in the time we're there? Essentially we're looking at 2 full park days and a "spare" day I was thinking we would use for KSC/going back to parks to check out favorites or anything we may have missed. Has anyone done KSC as part of their trip? Any tips? Buy tickets early? Take a shuttle? The car appeals to me because we can make our own schedule.

I think that's all I have right now...any tips or anything I may be overlooking is appreciated. We're so excited. My sister and I have been snapchatting a countdown for the last month.

What a great way to visit the US for your first trip!

As to doing KSC & the parks one day: I haven't looked at the park schedules, would pick the day with the latest stated closure time. I'd pick a date when HHN isn't scheduled i.e. opportunity for longer park hours in both parks.

I admit to being a space nerd too. KSC is amazing, I am never ready to leave at the end of the day there. Make sure to arrive as early as possible to get ahead of the crowd, even if you have purchased your tickets in advance. their security to enter the facility is more thorough than most and they will examine most bags. f you have any camera equipment be prepared to power it on for exam.

we purchase our tix in advance, including tours. A bus tour is included in the price of admission, However, consider booking one of the expanded bus tours

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/tours.aspx

 

[ElleTR]

What a great way to visit the US for your first trip!

Oops--it is our first trip to Universal, not the US . I wasn't clear.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll look into a one day car rental for the KSC so that we don't pay a ton in parking. Then I'll figure out the best way to get from MCO to Hard Rock.

 

[keishashadow]

Oops--it is our first trip to Universal, not the US . I wasn't clear.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll look into a one day car rental for the KSC so that we don't pay a ton in parking. Then I'll figure out the best way to get from MCO to Hard Rock.

haha, regardless here's to a great first trip