New to Universal How many full days do I need?

[jgperkin]

Hi Everyone,


We are Disney goers but we need to do a Harry Potter trip! How many days / nights do I need at universal. We will probably do disney with this trip as well, so I just need to know what I can get done at a nice pace. THANKS!

 

[RMulieri]

one full day at each park is a good start

 

[jgperkin]

We are looking at august..wpuld you do the 18-21 or 18-20?

 

[macraven]

if you are staying onsite, crowds in august won't be an issue.


if you are staying offsite, the end of august would have less crowds.

 

[damo]

If you are not staying onsite, I would recommend 3 days if you are going after the new Harry Potter addition opens. Crowds are going to be very large this summer.

 

[jgperkin]

We were looking at royal pacific onsite...

 

[bumbershoot]

Are you a family that likes finding favorites and riding again and again? Or are you a "been there done that, moving on" group?

We're a family of re-riders, so even our first trip was 4 days at the Universal parks. We're getting ready for 8 nights onsite at the end of January.

But if you like doing it the other way, you'll be happy with a shorter trip.

 

[macraven]

We were looking at royal pacific onsite...

book now so you know you will have a room.
you pay a one night deposit on your room.
remainder due is paid when you check out.


you can modify later if discount rates come out after you book.
any surplus you have on your credit will be applied to the rest of your stay.


some are doing that now and booking way in advance due to parry hotter new section opening this summer.

august will still have crowds due to this new addition at the studios.


i adore rph.
for me, that hotel is wonderful and suits my every need.

if you need to do more searching and deciding, i can understand that.
not many book far out as i do.

but, once the date is announced when HP2 opens up, there will be many booking their onsite stays then.

if you book 2 nights on site, you will receive 3 days of the hotel perks.
the ones most guests enjoy is the one hour early entry to the park before the official opening time.
(you use a marked designated line to enter early)

you also are allowed unlimited usage of the express lines for rides and shows.

you also receive priority seating at city walk eateries with the exception of 2 restaurants.

the perks are start when you check into the hotel and at park closing when you check out of the hotel.

 

[jgperkin]

Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate the feed back.... I can't believe how educated I am about Disney but so confused about Universal. I think we are going to do Aug. 17 - 20 at Universal. We like to ride but we don't need to ride over and over again. Once or twice works when it is a new experience. I hope this will work out for us. If there is anything else I need to know, please feel free to fill me in! I could use all the help I can get. I will book through the loews website and watch for any additional discounts. THANKS!

 

[RainK]

Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate the feed back.... I can't believe how educated I am about Disney but so confused about Universal. I think we are going to do Aug. 17 - 20 at Universal. We like to ride but we don't need to ride over and over again. Once or twice works when it is a new experience. I hope this will work out for us. If there is anything else I need to know, please feel free to fill me in! I could use all the help I can get. I will book through the loews website and watch for any additional discounts. THANKS![/QUOTE

I totally feel the same way you do about feeling uneducated. I know all the disney parks like the back of my hand....but this trip we are staying offsite and only going to only MK and planning on hitting both US and IOA. I know nothing about these parks.
We bought the 2 day single park with the 3rd day free. I am pretty sure we won't use the 3 rd day, but it's nice to have ....just in case.
Since this is a quick trip this time, we only have 4 full days...and am hoping we love US and IOA as much as disney.
Is there any MUST see rides besides Harry potter? I love roller coasters, but DH does not.

 

[macraven]

Thank you so much everyone! I really appreciate the feed back.... I can't believe how educated I am about Disney but so confused about Universal. I think we are going to do Aug. 17 - 20 at Universal. We like to ride but we don't need to ride over and over again. Once or twice works when it is a new experience. I hope this will work out for us. If there is anything else I need to know, please feel free to fill me in! I could use all the help I can get. I will book through the loews website and watch for any additional discounts. THANKS![/QUOTE

I totally feel the same way you do about feeling uneducated. I know all the disney parks like the back of my hand....but this trip we are staying offsite and only going to only MK and planning on hitting both US and IOA. I know nothing about these parks.
We bought the 2 day single park with the 3rd day free. I am pretty sure we won't use the 3 rd day, but it's nice to have ....just in case.
Since this is a quick trip this time, we only have 4 full days...and am hoping we love US and IOA as much as disney.
Is there any MUST see rides besides Harry potter? I love roller coasters, but DH does not.

we all like different things.
i know when i post what i love in the parks, others will post how much they don't like them.

suggest you look thru what the parks has to offer on the website.
www.universalorlando.com

get an idea of the park layout and rides, shows, eateries inside each park.

you can google different rides on youtube to get a better visual if you are not sure it is something you want to try.

i have tried all the rides/shows once.
that way i have an idea of what it is all about.

there are some eateries that really are not that good in the parks.
but, there are some places that are favorites of many there.

look at damo's thread that is a stickie, menu/food, etc, and see what the concenses was back in the spring of homie's favorites.

i stay onsite and do the early entry.
each time i try to do a different ride by using the regular ride line.
the story line is detailed for some of them.
by doing that, you get a better feel of what the ride is about.

once the regular lines get lengthy waits, i use the express lines.
dr doom makes more sense if you use the regular line first time you do the ride.
for the mummy, the regular line enhances the ride.
using the express lines, takes away of the background info for some rides.


i really enjoy the viewing of the monitors in the regular lines for despicable me and for shrek.
if you only use the ep, you miss that entertainment.

so, i do repeat rides in order to catch those above items.
regular line and express.

 

[Serialjoker86]

I'd recommend 2 days. One for each park. Don't forget to check out citywalk!