New Lockers- standard size now $2

[Sparkly]

This has me worried about my upcoming trip. As the planner of the group, how should I tell people to pack for the day? Will a pair of shoes fit in the new lockers? I thought about us taking a change of clothes or at least shoes for the water rides. What rides do they force you to use the locker for EVERYTHING including cell phones other than Hulk, RRR, and FJ? I think those were the only 3 I remember ever having to use. I usually go bagless. I really do feel like having to use lockers is a big negative compared to Disney, and now that they are charging for it it's even worse. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing, but this just seems so much more complicated than planning for the day than I'm used to.

Are you staying onsite, would it be convenient/worth it to do the water rides all in one go and then return to the hotel so you don't need to lug around dry clothes? I presume Universal also offer free iced water so no need to carry around huge water bottles. And buying food there, true, at extra expense, but it'll save you not having to lug a lunch around either. Maybe try and pare down the stuff you take with you to just essentials? Obviously if you need medical supplies with you it's different.

I guess when I return, I'll be carrying as little as humanly possible. I don't even carry a ton around Disney either, now that my phone acts as my camera and portable fastpass kiosk and my MB sits neatly on my wrist with my park tickets, dining credits if on the DDP and room key all together.

 

[schumigirl]

Lockers for the water rides have always been optional and for a fee. No one is forced to use a locker on the water rides, and those that want to will have to pay for one which is how its always been. To my knowledge, these lockers haven't been changed and a large enough to hold a backpack with shoes or a change of clothes. They can also rent a locker (for a fee) at the front of the park to store those things in for the day so they don't have to carry them around.



Hulk and RRR have metal detectors and you are not permitted to have anything on your person except for a lanyard. Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Mummy, and Men in Black do not have metal detectors so you can have items in your pocket but you are not permitted to bring a bag on. The only exception to that is if the bag has a three prong clasp, such as a fanny pack.


Personally, I don't think there's much to worry about. If someone has enough stuff that they can't fit it in the small locker, the worst case scenario is that they'll have to pay $20 for an all day rental. Less if they don't need it all day. Frankly, I think its easier than schlepping that stuff all over the park with you.

plus one!!!

That about sums it up......

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

This has me worried about my upcoming trip. As the planner of the group, how should I tell people to pack for the day? Will a pair of shoes fit in the new lockers? I thought about us taking a change of clothes or at least shoes for the water rides. What rides do they force you to use the locker for EVERYTHING including cell phones other than Hulk, RRR, and FJ? I think those were the only 3 I remember ever having to use. I usually go bagless. I really do feel like having to use lockers is a big negative compared to Disney, and now that they are charging for it it's even worse. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing, but this just seems so much more complicated than planning for the day than I'm used to.

Your biggest issue there would be shoes but you may be able to smoosh them down rough to fit. Basically, if you don't want to have lockers at the front or want to pay for the larger ride lockers, pack into smaller bags that have room to smush down. Don't pack everything into one giant bag. Don't take anything that has to stay vertical. I think for most people it'll mean having more people on their party have smaller bags and then everyone has to go into the locker area and get their own locker. I haven't seen any reports of those areas being more congested than usual last week which seems like a good sign.

 

[wareagle57]

Are you staying onsite, would it be convenient/worth it to do the water rides all in one go and then return to the hotel so you don't need to lug around dry clothes? I presume Universal also offer free iced water so no need to carry around huge water bottles. And buying food there, true, at extra expense, but it'll save you not having to lug a lunch around either. Maybe try and pare down the stuff you take with you to just essentials? Obviously if you need medical supplies with you it's different.

I guess when I return, I'll be carrying as little as humanly possible. I don't even carry a ton around Disney either, now that my phone acts as my camera and portable fastpass kiosk and my MB sits neatly on my wrist with my park tickets, dining credits if on the DDP and room key all together.

Not onsite unfortunately. We only have one day. It's a bachelor party and most in the group have never been or rarely been to a Disney/Universal type park. So I'd like to make it as smooth as possible for everyone. Are the exact dimension available anywhere? I could just wear water shoes and carry an extra pair of socks. Does Universal allow outside water bottles? If so then I assume we could just bring an empty water bottle and the screw on cap would keep any liquid in.

 

[skylock]

Not onsite unfortunately. We only have one day. It's a bachelor party and most in the group have never been or rarely been to a Disney/Universal type park. So I'd like to make it as smooth as possible for everyone. Are the exact dimension available anywhere? I could just wear water shoes and carry an extra pair of socks. Does Universal allow outside water bottles? If so then I assume we could just bring an empty water bottle and the screw on cap would keep any liquid in.

You can bring water bottles.

I think your groups best bet would be to just figure on using the larger lockers and pay the $2 and be done with it. More than one person could use the larger locker.

We don't carry much, but we used to fit everything we had in our group in one larger locker. As it is now, each person can use one of the smaller lockers without an issue.

Or another idea is bring or rent a stroller (or wheelchair) and put everything there. I guess it will depend on how much stuff you will have.

 

[123SA]

Well...this sucks. Last year this small locker was only at the Mummy. My bag did fit in the small locker, but only if I partially emptied it. Also, my daughter had to get a separate locker. This means it takes longer for me to get in and out of the locker area and we take two lockers at least, instead of one. I don't see how this makes things any better as far as people flow in the locker area.

In addition, on the days we plan to ride the water rides, we usually change out of our sneakers and into flip flops. We all know how wet you get on those rides. It's really fun...but hell on your sneakers. On the days we are carrying extra shoes, we'll need extra lockers. I guess three lockers instead of one.

 

[RJstanis]

We were a stuff the backpack for all contingencies family most of the time (especially after we ditched the stroller a few years ago). On our trip last month we improvised for the first time and used my kids backpack that an adult can wear and just packed minimally and we we're fine with the small lockers. We had cheap throwaway ponchos instead of reusable ones, interactive wands w/boxes, a water bottle from home that could fit horizontally, occasional wizard robes my kids didnt want to wear/and then wanted to wear again, my phone powerbar backup, and the souvenir popcorn bucket. I could cram it all in one locker. I had to take out the wand boxes and bucket out of backpack before stuffing but it all fit into one free locker. The popcorn bucket had to be empty and had to be convinced a bit to squeeze in there, but it held up.

In Sept we brought a change of clothes for the water rides and without the locker changes I won't do that again when staying on property. Too much crap to lug around. I agree with previous post, that I'd prob bring small flip flops to change into and either get multiple free lockers, or just splurge on one big one to toss shoes in. I'd rather forgo making a fashion statement for one morning, and just wear clothes I don't care walking around wet in that morning, ride all the water rides back to back, and then semi dry myself walking back to resort/bus/boats and then change into my fashion statement for the rest of the day when back in my room.

 

[stitchloversith]

Just came back from Universal with the new locker policy in place. Here are a couple of valuable takeaways that my party had. Pack light and forget about having the Coke Freestyle cup, unless you have a member of the party not riding the attractions that require loose articles to be stowed. I was part of a party of two and had not noticed this thread prior to our visit so the locker policy was a shock. I had been there Thanksgiving with the old policy in place. A small backpack with no large items in it can fit into the free lockers, we would rent a second free locker to hold the items that could not stay in the backpack and the Coke Freestyle cup that I did not even bother to activate. Both members of my party have food allergies and restrictions so need to carry our own food into the parks. The small lockers were OKish for this, anything that squishes easily think PB and J will be an absolute mess by the time you are hungry for it. With the food, we split it up into the multiple small lockers. Originally we had planned to spend the whole day in the two parks, due to the stress of the lockers and super long wait times on all the rides starting at about 10 am we left the park and did not return.

For my party, the new locker policy makes it harder to justify going to a Universal Park. We are UAP members that are in the process of talking about if we are going to renew in June. Overall my impression of the new lockers is not positive, the locker areas were way more crowded because each person within a party was getting their own personal locker. Getting a locker for my party took three times as long because we had to unpack the backpack then repack it at each of the big attractions. I decided not to spend the money to get the Freestyle cup for the day because the plan was to ride the big rides and I due to a medical condition need to drink a lot, would have to dump out the sup at each new attraction we went to. Then once we were done at an attraction I would then need to find a Freestyle machine and refill the drink to repeat the process 6-8 throughout the course of the day. I would not have as big an issue with this new change if the lockers could hold the Freestyle cups upright, or if there was a perk for UAP members on the large lockers. During the winter the cup issue is not as big for me but come summer when I have refilled 15-20 over the course of a day, it will become harder to justify the extra time spent not enjoying the attractions. This change has already changed how my party visits the parks and while it meant that there were two fewer people in the lines Universal also missed the revenue from our Freestyle cups and any snacks we may have purchased to supplement our packed food.

There are many people who are not affected to the extent that my party was and will continue to be so each person will need to make the choices for themselves. I choose to email GR with a few suggestions that would make the locker situation better. I cannot say today what I will ultimately decide to do about my UAP but this experience has shaped what may be like all the super positive experiences before.

 

[skylock]

The only draw back I have on the new lockers is the freestyle cup issue. Someone in charge of the project was not a park user as I spotted the problem the minute I saw the new lockers.

We don't carry much, but most usually have a cup. If something doesn't change by the next time I am there, I think the solution we will use is just not to fill the cup completely up like they usually do. I hate waste, even if it is just extra drink.

 

[soniam]

Just came back from Universal with the new locker policy in place. Here are a couple of valuable takeaways that my party had. Pack light and forget about having the Coke Freestyle cup, unless you have a member of the party not riding the attractions that require loose articles to be stowed. I was part of a party of two and had not noticed this thread prior to our visit so the locker policy was a shock. I had been there Thanksgiving with the old policy in place. A small backpack with no large items in it can fit into the free lockers, we would rent a second free locker to hold the items that could not stay in the backpack and the Coke Freestyle cup that I did not even bother to activate. Both members of my party have food allergies and restrictions so need to carry our own food into the parks. The small lockers were OKish for this, anything that squishes easily think PB and J will be an absolute mess by the time you are hungry for it. With the food, we split it up into the multiple small lockers. Originally we had planned to spend the whole day in the two parks, due to the stress of the lockers and super long wait times on all the rides starting at about 10 am we left the park and did not return.

For my party, the new locker policy makes it harder to justify going to a Universal Park. We are UAP members that are in the process of talking about if we are going to renew in June. Overall my impression of the new lockers is not positive, the locker areas were way more crowded because each person within a party was getting their own personal locker. Getting a locker for my party took three times as long because we had to unpack the backpack then repack it at each of the big attractions. I decided not to spend the money to get the Freestyle cup for the day because the plan was to ride the big rides and I due to a medical condition need to drink a lot, would have to dump out the sup at each new attraction we went to. Then once we were done at an attraction I would then need to find a Freestyle machine and refill the drink to repeat the process 6-8 throughout the course of the day. I would not have as big an issue with this new change if the lockers could hold the Freestyle cups upright, or if there was a perk for UAP members on the large lockers. During the winter the cup issue is not as big for me but come summer when I have refilled 15-20 over the course of a day, it will become harder to justify the extra time spent not enjoying the attractions. This change has already changed how my party visits the parks and while it meant that there were two fewer people in the lines Universal also missed the revenue from our Freestyle cups and any snacks we may have purchased to supplement our packed food.

There are many people who are not affected to the extent that my party was and will continue to be so each person will need to make the choices for themselves. I choose to email GR with a few suggestions that would make the locker situation better. I cannot say today what I will ultimately decide to do about my UAP but this experience has shaped what may be like all the super positive experiences before.

Definitely communicate your issues with guest relations. I am sure you are not alone in the effect these lockers have had. At Thanksgiving, the lockers were still free, so we used a big one for our camera bag and water bottles and a small one for my bag with wands and a hat. The charge for large lockers will probably encourage us to not bring our big camera everyday, and we will have to use the non-spout/leakproof lids for our Hydroflasks. I drink a lot of water, so I can't just get a cup of free water and drink that all the time.

 

[EveDallas]

I just don't get the reasoning behind this, other than a money grab for Universal. If the point was to create more lockers, they missed the mark because now instead of families using one locker for their stuff, they'll get 2 or 3 to fit the same amount of stuff.

 

[nkereina]

I just don't get the reasoning behind this, other than a money grab for Universal.

Its always about $$. It forces people who need larger lockers to pay for them. Or it forces people to bring less into the parks so they don't have to pay for the lockers, which means they now may need to pay for more drinks and meals in-park.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Its always about $$. It forces people who need larger lockers to pay for them. Or it forces people to bring less into the parks so they don't have to pay for the lockers, which means they now may need to pay for more drinks and meals in-park.

In theory but they missed the mark there too. Many people are now going to change how they pack to fit in the small lockers and the first thing to go is going to be those free style cups. I suspect any gains from the lockers are going to be offset by a loss in cups. So all they've really done is annoy people. It fails as a money grab. Although, it could be step one in the plan with step two being to raise the prices on both locker sizes.

 

[nkereina]

In theory but they missed the mark there too. Many people are now going to change how they pack to fit in the small lockers and the first thing to go is going to be those free style cups. I suspect any gains from the lockers are going to be offset by a loss in cups. So all they've really done is annoy people. It fails as a money grab. Although, it could be step one in the plan with step two being to raise the prices on both locker sizes.

True, but I'm sure the powers that be have a plan for that. Perhaps they think any gain in locker sales will offset any loss in cup sales, making it worthwhile to them. Or if it truly was poor planning and they missed this, then I'm sure something will be done to remedy it.

 

[soniam]

I don't think it was about money. If it were, they would charge for all lockers period. I think the large lockers were getting full by people who didn't really need them. I know at Thanksgiving, before they started charging, there would often only be 1 or 2 large lockers left and a ton of the small ones. I think the $2 is a token amount in their view to reserve those large lockers for people who really need them. I do dislike the little lockers though. I totally could have dealt with it more if they had been vertical instead of horizontal

 

[DisneyMom93]

This was a very interesting read. Thanks for all the info.

Thankfully I use the disposable ponchos for water rides, and I don't think shoes will be an issue.

Interesting about the refillable cups and popcorn buckets. Seems they didn't think that through. I can't see buying a refillable cup or bucket to save money on refills just to spend the money on a larger locker to hold them.

 

[tinkerbell1112]

That is definitely an exaggeration.

We used the free lockers with my DD stuffed Hogwarts express backpack all day without issue until the very last ride of the day-when she had a mug, spiderman piggy bank and lots of other purchases, plus some spare clothes (water rides) stuffed in. Only time it wouldn't squish enough to fit.

Sounds like a typical day... The more you have the less it fits into one locker I guess the good thing about 9 of us is 9 lockers if we have to

 

[shanew21]

This prevents me from bringing my photography backpack into the parks, which really irks me. Photography is a big reason (not the only reason, but a big one) I even go to Universal/Disney, so Universal is making it difficult.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

This prevents me from bringing my photography backpack into the parks, which really irks me. Photography is a big reason (not the only reason, but a big one) I even go to Universal/Disney, so Universal is making it difficult.

This has got to be one of the biggest reasons this poorly thought out. People with really good cameras posting to social media is free advertising for them. In my opinion, this was penny wise pound foolish.