New to Universal -- where and how long to stay with teens?

[tasha99]

We are doing our first Universal trip this year, too. We booked Universal first because our vacation spans the end of August, beginning of September. I wanted to minimize our total time in line by using Universal's FOTL pass at the end of August, and then going to WDW in September. Disney crowds drop a lot over that week. We opted for 3 nights in HRH--we used Cheaptickets, so I'm hoping we can get connecting rooms but not counting on it. Can't wait!

 

[nkereina]

We did Universal second but would have no qualms about doing it first if it worked better for us. We prefer doing it second because we find we can move at a slower pace at Uni, and its a nice break from the constant on the go (and buses) at WDW. We like RPR best - quick and easy walk to the parks - never even used the water taxi. Great pool. Least expensive of the three deluxe resorts. Had a tropical vibe, which we preferred over the classy vibe of HRH and Euro vibe of PBH.

As far as how much time to spend there, we arrived around 4pm on a Wednesday and just did City Walk that night. We spent all day at Uni on Thursday, all day at IOA on Friday, and then revisited our favorite things at both parks on Saturday before leaving for the airport around 6pm. I will say we were a little bored by Saturday afternoon. We finished the first round of IOA by lunch time on Friday and we left Uni early on Thursday to go swimming, yet we still did just about everything. Next trip is this Fall, and we will only spend two nights and two park days at Uni.

 

[glocon]

We have stayed at HRH, RPR and CB. My son would pick HRH if given the choice. (He is 18 now). The vibe is cool, the lobby is cool, the pool is cool, lots of teens (read "girls"), and so close to the parks. I know lots of people here don't like the way the rooms look, but we always have, and that is before the rehab.

How many parks days depends on how you like to spend time in parks. My son- who brings a friend- likes to re-ride. Like ride the Mummy 10 times in a row using the ep (hence the need to bring a friend). So it might take longer for us to get through a park since we are big into re-riding. My husband likes to take frequent breaks (bad back), and I like to slowly peruse every little detail of the theming. So how many days in parks depends on what you like to do in the parks.

Staying on-site at Universal makes for a very different trip, so you can tour differently there than how you tour at WDW. The ep's change everything. You can tour leisurely, re-ride as many times as you like, walk back to your very close resort and relax or swim if you like for a break then quickly and easily get back to parks, and for most part not wait in long lines (except for some of the HP stuff).

My suggestion would be to try to take advantage of touring UO style. Leisurely and with as many repeats as you like- because you can.