Never been to Universal....

[Melora]

I have never been to Universal in Florida (I lived directly next door to Universal Hollywood and had annual passes many years in a row but I know that the two parks are not comparable).
We just got back from an 8 day trip to WDW and while we had a really great time, the whole Genie system was such a mess and the crowds were so bad it kind of put a damper on the trip.
Nevertheless, everyone wants to go back in September but I am thinking maybe we can do a side trip to Universal as well.
We will have a 5-year-old and 2 young adult guys who surprisingly enough are not *huge* roller coaster fans (they'll go on them but probably not the biggest ones) but will have 2 others who will love anything.
How long is a good length of stay to get the basics done?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Kit Jackson]

3 days if you are rope drop to close everyday. 4-5 days if you want to take breaks, hang out at the hotel, go at a relaxed pace, and make sure you have the time to do all of the rides, shows, and food you want (some even multiple times). There is plenty to do at Universal for non-coaster fans, as long as they can tolerate screen based motion simulator rides.

 

[AJA]

I agree that 3 days in September is plenty of time.

Keep HHN in mind when making plans. Even in September it will draw crowds especially Friday-Sunday.

 

[RamblingMad]

3 days is good at Universal Orlando. It's setup a lot like Disneyland/DCA.

My ideal approach is 3 days at DL/DCA and 3 days at Universal Orlando. I like Universal better in Orlando than California.

 

[starlionblue]

I'm not trying to push one park over the other but "slow days" at Universal are probably over. A LOT of Disney fans are being priced out the door. Sadly, quite a few have gotten sticker shock after a plane trip and the steep prices have ruined their plans to go to Disney. As a result, they do only one day at Disney and go to Universal. Even two and a half years ago I saw this happening. I went in the first week of January, which is a very sleepy time of the year. Everything was easy to get onto. Waiting time never hit one hour. I was exhausted and walked back to Diagon Alley. If you see Hagrid's motorcyle, there is a tall staircase behind it going up to a false back alley. I sat halfway up the steps to rest. It was very cold and windy. I found it hilarious that a line was forming in Fortescue's (ice cream parlor - WHAT?! In this freezing weather?!) to the left of Gringott's Bank. Then, over the next half hour, several tidal waves of people just poured into the hidden entrance. My jaw basically hit the floor. I forgot what time it was but a tourist website warned me that parking fees and meters are shut off after a certain time so the locals took advantage of this. Diagon Alley was packed to the walls and right before my eyes, the wait time for Escape from Gringotts shot up from 48 minutes to waaaayyyyy over 2 hours! I drank a hot butterbeer in a lame attempt to warm up and left. I am not a claustrophobic person, I just wanted to avoid pickpockets as that would be a very tempting target for such criminals. After my flight back home, I visited several comments sections on Universal videos on Youtube and learned the hard way that Disney is driving its customers out the door. They're so angry over the nonstop price increases that they're flocking to rival Universal in massive numbers. No wonder Diagon Alley had insane crowds. I was willing to bet Hogsmeade was just as crazy. Remember, this was over two years ago!

 

[Kit Jackson]

I found it hilarious that a line was forming in Fortescue's (ice cream parlor - WHAT?! In this freezing weather?!) to the left of Gringott's Bank.

There are people who will eat ice-cream in cold weather. Also, Fortescue's ice-cream is really good and has flavors that you are probably not going to find in your neighborhood scoop-shop. It makes perfect sense to me.

 

[melificent]

I am a long-time WDW AP holder and we just got back from our inaugural Universal trip with our 7yo and 9yo. We did a five day trip, but only did four days in the park. We used one full day for hanging out at the resort pools. We split stayed and so did full park days while we had Express Passes and then just went over for a couple hours in the morning and/or evening the days we didn't. One of those days we dedicated almost entirely to exploring Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. There were plenty of things I thought Universal did better than WDW and vice versa, but we really had a wonderful time.