newbie to all things universal

[dgagnon519]

We just booked offsite near universal for 07/23-08/06. We will be a party of 4 definitely possibly 6. Right now it is 2 adults and 2 children ages 11 girl and 8 boy. We will have the flex ticket to do us iao sw ww and aq. have more questions... i am so nervous i am almost ready to cancel and go back to disney lol. i am a planner and love how disney can be planned.
Can universal be planned out the way disney is?
Is there universal websites to help like how disney has allears and mouseforless and those kind of sites?
Is there a menu site for universal restaurants?
can you make reservations for us, ioa, seaworld restaurants?
is there anything like photopass at the us parks?
is there any touring plans available for us, ioa or sw?
i noticed only one character meal? is there alot of characters walking around? is there alot of photo ops?

 

[christophfam]

The best advice I would offer to a Disney "planner" would be to purchase the most recent copy of the Universal Orlando book by Kelly Monaghan. There aren't all the websites available for Universal like there are for Disney, but you'll find all of your questions answered in the book. I've been in your shoes and really the book is your best bet plus keeping an eye on these boards.

BTW, your kids are at the perfect age for a trip over to the darkside! That is around the age we first started taking our kids and now we do Universal way more often than Disney.

 

[Hockeyman]

First off . . . breath lol. No need to get to crazy or stress yourself. Get to the parks at opening and just enjoy your days.

I know at Universal and IOA there arent many places to make ressies. Mythos may be the only one. Sea World has a few, Dine with Shamu and the Shark Encounter dinner. I have done both and both are awesome. Double check with the Shamu one since i know they stopped after the trainer accident and not sure if they started it back up. At City Walk you have a bunch of places but there can be a wait depending on how crowded and what time you eat. You can call both Sea World and Universal to make reservations over the phone, not sure about on the web.

I always see characters walking around both Universal and IOA, sometimes more so than what i have seen at Disney. Also check park maps for the meet and greets that are all around.

Universals photo guys give you a ticket to bring to the front shop o check out your photos. I dont think they have the photopass deal like Disneys.

 

[Metro West]

We just booked offsite near universal for 07/23-08/06. We will be a party of 4 definitely possibly 6. Right now it is 2 adults and 2 children ages 11 girl and 8 boy. We will have the flex ticket to do us iao sw ww and aq. have more questions... i am so nervous i am almost ready to cancel and go back to disney lol. i am a planner and love how disney can be planned.
Can universal be planned out the way disney is? There's really no need. You'll see how easy it is to get around at Universal as opposed to Disney.
Is there universal websites to help like how disney has allears and mouseforless and those kind of sites? What kind of help are you looking for? Most questions can be answered by the fine people who frequent this board.
Is there a menu site for universal restaurants? The only one I've seen is the Allears site and that's out of date. But you could use it to get an idea of the food choices.
can you make reservations for us, ioa, seaworld restaurants? You can...either by calling Universal directly or using OpenTable.com. I don't know anything about the SW restaurants. But here's a little tidbit for you...most of the time you won't need to make reservations at Universal.
is there anything like photopass at the us parks? Kinda but it's not very good.
is there any touring plans available for us, ioa or sw? Not that I know of other than Kelly's book. It's full of great information.
i noticed only one character meal? There is only one official character meal at Confisco Grille but characters show up at the hotels on different nights.
is there alot of characters walking around? Yes...you will see lots of characters walking around...moreso in the Studios but IOA has the superheroes and others.
is there alot of photo ops? Yes...the lines aren't usually as bad as they are at Disney so there are plenty of opportunities for pictures.

My answers above:

 

[dgagnon519]

I feel better. This trip is not in need of as much planning as Disney so I will relax. I did order the books by Kelly so those will help me too I am sure. Thanks for the recommendation.