***OI Meetup***June 2-3, 2023

[dez1978]

The 1st time I went to Disney in June, I swore I would never do that again. I am terrible with heat.
Last year, we went to the June Meetup and honestly, I don't remember it being bad. Yes, during the day, it was. We make sure to rope drop, take a long mid day break.....and normally close the park. The Meet Up wasn't bad at all.

We don't plan on doing anything during the day besides the pool. We don't have APs so just planning on the meetup. Also my kids are still young-ish, they will be 9 and just a month shy of 12 (that month is important apparently lol) so if I am going to keep them up 3-4 hrs past their bedtime, they need to sleep in.

 

[RocketCityMama]

I’m a planner so I’m trying to figure out a good game plan.

Going to check in close to 3:00, grab food at CityWalk and be ready to go in at 5:00.

I read somewhere they assign you a park of entry. Any tips for having the best time?

Definitely hit the new Jurassic roller coaster.

I am too, so very much a type a lol but good thing with USO is you don't plan like you do at Disney. I will say the lines right at 3 for check in are LONG, I mean people start lining up SUPER early to be one of the first ones. I find that we go closer to 4:30-5 and it's not much of a line. I would plan maybe to eat around 3, then head to the line for checkin and entry. We ate lunch one day around 1 pm and people were in line by 2. We just go later now and it's quick and easy. Have your id and your qr code handy on the phone when you get to the check in desks.

They do "assign" you a park to enter, but you can enter either one. If you go during the check in time frame ( I think they go through til 7 or so) you can enter the back way and choose a park. You'll see either lighthouse or globe usually on the email, but it won't really matter.

Tips:
-Know you won't get it all done, (esp if one night) but it's OKAY! Come to another!
-Be prepared to be surprised at how empty the parks are once it's closed to the public.
-Sometimes the restaurants will start serving a little earlier than the expected time, so keep an eye on that if you are wanting to eat early.
-Share food with family, you will want to eat and sample throughout the park, and this way you can eat all the things without a. wasting and b. getting to full you can't eat anything else or want to ride!
-Slow down and enjoy the atmosphere, look around at things you normally rush by. Esp in the WWoHP, my fav time is close to the end of the meetup- grab that one last butterbeer and just enjoy the ambiance.
-Ride the big coasters early to make sure you get on, they do close earlier due to sound ordinances.
-Stay hydrated with water, don't get stuck on free sodas and butterbeer.

I am sure I'll think of more, but that's my starter list

 

[RocketCityMama]

We don't plan on doing anything during the day besides the pool. We don't have APs so just planning on the meetup. Also my kids are still young-ish, they will be 9 and just a month shy of 12 (that month is important apparently lol) so if I am going to keep them up 3-4 hrs past their bedtime, they need to sleep in.

Sounds like a good plan, sleep is important! I find that my youngest, who has done several meetups, just needs her sleep. She can make it but is a little whiny the later it gets LOL she will be 13 when we go this time.

 

[Krisshay13]

My older dd LOVES velocicoaster, rides it as much and as often as she can! That's here in front with her hands up lol she's a bit obsessed.

what a great picture!!! Velocicoaster is my favorite ride there. Last meetup, Friday night was walk on........Sat night had a wait but not much of one.

Tips:
-Know you won't get it all done, (esp if one night) but it's OKAY! Come to another!
-Be prepared to be surprised at how empty the parks are once it's closed to the public.
-Sometimes the restaurants will start serving a little earlier than the expected time, so keep an eye on that if you are wanting to eat early.
-Share food with family, you will want to eat and sample throughout the park, and this way you can eat all the things without a. wasting and b. getting to full you can't eat anything else or want to ride!
-Slow down and enjoy the atmosphere, look around at things you normally rush by. Esp in the WWoHP, my fav time is close to the end of the meetup- grab that one last butterbeer and just enjoy the ambiance.
-Ride the big coasters early to make sure you get on, they do close earlier due to sound ordinances.
-Stay hydrated with water, don't get stuck on free sodas and butterbeer.

Great tips!!.......things I make sure we do....
-Take a 2-3hr nap before going
-Don't eat big during the day

Totally agree with going to WWoHP later in the night.....so empty!! Bring your interactive wand. Below photos of Friday night meetup June 2022.

 

[LaDonna]

Hi everyone this will be my second meet up. Last November, the whole family and my husband’s friend from work went to Orlando in November and we spent the rest of the week at Seaworld so my husband had bought two night tickets for three people. My oldest son went one night, and I went the other night while my husband and his friend went both nights…..this worked out nice because we paid the two night price…..we have a 8 and 5 yr old so we took turns babysitting
We just started going to Universal in 2021 when we bought season passes and really fell in love with universal ! wish we had started going a lot sooner! Our passes expired and we were wanting to go back so we thought we’ll try to meet up and we loved it

so my husband surprised me and said let’s try to go to the June meet up and find a sitter for the kids back home……. so it’ll be me, my husband and his friend from work again( poor guy He loves the amusement parks and can’t never find anybody to go with him I guess Lol)

We are going to go up on the 31st go to Seaworld on Thursday because we have fun passes and then the meet up Friday and Saturday night leaving Sunday. So a quick short trip but it’ll be an easier trip without kids lol We are staying at dockside so we can share one room. I love that they have one bedroom with its own space/ door.

 

[MamaKate]

The other day I was just checking, and Royal Pacific had openings for June 4-8, so I hopped on it! I am still hoping to get Hard Rock (my personal fav) for the earlier part or the whole trip, but will also take Royal for the earlier part. I don't love moving the Sunday after the meetup, but I will love having the express pass for the better price!
.

You're welcome . We originally booked RPR for 6/1-6/8 with the OI meetup rate, but I modified it to 6/1-6/4 later on because we will be doing other stuff the last part of the trip and don't really need Express Pass. So my 6/4-6/8 dates became yours lol.

We are only doing the Meetup on Saturday 6/3 and look forward to it .

 

[LaDonna]

Good Morning friends!

A few weeks ago I saw a post from Taylor at OI that this June meetup would have something that they have never done before and he thinks that a lot of people will be excited about it. I am super curious and anxious to find out!

Any guesses??

My first thoughts: express passes for the enter time to park close (but that would not be a benefit to those staying at premiers). Then I thought maybe $20 gift card instead of $15, or the best an all day entry ticket!

Funny thing was that was my first thought was about Xpress passes….. but maybe that’s because I really want them lol we are staying at Dockside. Maybe just like one Ruby pass!

 

[RocketCityMama]

Hi everyone this will be my second meet up. Last November, the whole family and my husband’s friend from work went to Orlando in November and we spent the rest of the week at Seaworld so my husband had bought two night tickets for three people. My oldest son went one night, and I went the other night while my husband and his friend went both nights…..this worked out nice because we paid the two night price…..we have a 8 and 5 yr old so we took turns babysitting
We just started going to Universal in 2021 when we bought season passes and really fell in love with universal ! wish we had started going a lot sooner! Our passes expired and we were wanting to go back so we thought we’ll try to meet up and we loved it

so my husband surprised me and said let’s try to go to the June meet up and find a sitter for the kids back home……. so it’ll be me, my husband and his friend from work again( poor guy He loves the amusement parks and can’t never find anybody to go with him I guess Lol)

We are going to go up on the 31st go to Seaworld on Thursday because we have fun passes and then the meet up Friday and Saturday night leaving Sunday. So a quick short trip but it’ll be an easier trip without kids lol We are staying at dockside so we can share one room. I love that they have one bedroom with its own space/ door.

Hi LaDonna and welcome! We went in Nov 21 and it was fantastic, we really wanted to go again this past fall but too much going on with my kids school shows. The weather was so nice, and the meetup days/nights were fun! This is number 4 for us, and I could totally do this at least once a year lol but it's a little far and we have a lot of expenses coming up between now and next summer. We are huge Disney fans, but the changes over there in the last couple of years, ehh, so we stick to USO for now, plus my kids love the thrill rides more than the "family" rides lol One day we'll make it back to Mickey's house. I have never been to Seaworld, it's on my one day list.

So jealous you get to come without your kids this time! In a few years we'll be able to do it, but this trip is my dd's grad trip so I guess we kinda had to include her. Aww your poor third wheel friend LOL he needs to find a buddy to go with! Dockside is a good choice for a suite, no doubt.

You're welcome . We originally booked RPR for 6/1-6/8 with the OI meetup rate, but I modified it to 6/1-6/4 later on because we will be doing other stuff the last part of the trip and don't really need Express Pass. So my 6/4-6/8 dates became yours lol.

We are only doing the Meetup on Saturday 6/3 and look forward to it .

Ahhh lol thanks! We really hope to get a room for the early part now, I keep checking obsessively but if not we'll make it work!

 

[StoweFoSho]

My wife and I are excited to attend our first OI meetup and will be attending both days!

We chaperoned a school trip for a day in Jan 2022. I felt like the lines were insanely long for that time of year. We ended up waiting 2.5 hours for Hagrid’s. I’m looking forward to much lower waits and the food and snacks look awesome!

 

[RocketCityMama]

My wife and I are excited to attend our first OI meetup and will be attending both days!

We chaperoned a school trip for a day in Jan 2022. I felt like the lines were insanely long for that time of year. We ended up waiting 2.5 hours for Hagrid’s. I’m looking forward to much lower waits and the food and snacks look awesome!

Welcome to our meetup thread and yay on your 1st meetup! We've been a few times to USO without the meetup and have loved it but really do enjoy the night time meetup events. Wait times for us have been almost non existant minus a few of the bigger coasters, but still no where near the day time waits. Often it would take us longer to walk thru the queue line than to actually get on the ride lol like for Transformers, it's long walk lol but you walk right on. Same with Kong and Spiderman lol just walk and walk and then ride Let us know if you have any questions!

 

[Beep]

Hi! We’ll be at the meet on the Friday and I have a quick question if anyone can help?
Can you go on the rides unlimited times or is it just once?
Thanks.

 

[RocketCityMama]

Hi! We’ll be at the meet on the Friday and I have a quick question if anyone can help?
Can you go on the rides unlimited times or is it just once?
Thanks.

Unlimited times during the meetup! Sometimes you can stay on, depending on ride lol we rode hippogriff twice without getting off.

 

[Beep]

Unlimited times during the meetup! Sometimes you can stay on, depending on ride lol we rode hippogriff twice without getting off.

Excellent! Even better! Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[hockey mom]

Hello…we just heard about these meet ups and booked rooms for the dec 2 meetup
do you have any idea when they sell the tickets for that time frame. We want the 2 day ticket …so excited !

 

[Krisshay13]

Checking in after our Highschool Band trip these past few days. Got back at 4:30AM this morning on 3 buses. OMG, left in the heat.......and came back to the freeze...brrr.
Won't give long story but, the kids were great, the trip was great.......and yes, that was me, with tears flowing when I see my DGD marching down the streets of Universal. When we started visiting, I had no idea 1 day she would be marching there .........oh, & to end the trip with a Mardi Gras Parade!!! perfect!!

We started our trips with OI Meetups back in Nov '21....this will be our 4th. Like Frances, I "was" a Disney nut but, have chosen to skip there, for now. Also, I do love my thrill rides.....totally love Velocicoaster.
I also agree, sometimes the long walk to the ride is the hardest part. It is so true.......you weave in & out, expecting to catch up to the line.....and never do, you stop at the ride!!!
Lines were horrible this trip so, I am so excited to be going back for the June Meetup!!
For 1st timers.....you will love it!!!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Hello…we just heard about these meet ups and booked rooms for the dec 2 meetup
do you have any idea when they sell the tickets for that time frame. We want the 2 day ticket …so excited !

Last year they put the tickets on sale for all 3 winter meetup weekends in early May. But they'll announce it in advance on the website. Be prepared to buy the tickets right when they go on sale, and make sure you have a login already for Orlando Informer. Last year the 2 night tickets sold out within a minute or two for the 2nd Dec weekend, then another minute after that for the 1st Dec weekend, so we ended up with Nov which was not our preference.

You can then book rooms at the Meetup rate. Keep whatever room you've already booked until you secure a Meetup rate, those also go fast especially for the Premier hotels. Though availability does open back up for certain room types, but more for the non-Premier hotels.

 

[LaDonna]

Last November was our first meetup….we heard they sale out quickly especially for the 2night combo, and we bought right away
So it has surpriseyme that this June meetup still has 2 night combo tickets

 

[RocketCityMama]

Hello…we just heard about these meet ups and booked rooms for the dec 2 meetup
do you have any idea when they sell the tickets for that time frame. We want the 2 day ticket …so excited !

Hi there! Welcome to the meetup crew! You'll love it, and Dec is fabulous! Be sure to try and get a room at the discounted rate when they come out I think they typically go on sale late spring to early summer? I have only bought November ones and it's been a minute lol so I can't remember sorry! Be sure to sign up for OI's texting or emails and you'll get notification of when they will go on sale in plenty of time!

Checking in after our Highschool Band trip these past few days. Got back at 4:30AM this morning on 3 buses. OMG, left in the heat.......and came back to the freeze...brrr.
Won't give long story but, the kids were great, the trip was great.......and yes, that was me, with tears flowing when I see my DGD marching down the streets of Universal. When we started visiting, I had no idea 1 day she would be marching there .........oh, & to end the trip with a Mardi Gras Parade!!! perfect!!

We started our trips with OI Meetups back in Nov '21....this will be our 4th. Like Frances, I "was" a Disney nut but, have chosen to skip there, for now. Also, I do love my thrill rides.....totally love Velocicoaster.
I also agree, sometimes the long walk to the ride is the hardest part. It is so true.......you weave in & out, expecting to catch up to the line.....and never do, you stop at the ride!!!
Lines were horrible this trip so, I am so excited to be going back for the June Meetup!!
For 1st timers.....you will love it!!!

Welcome back!!! I am sure you were exhausted, but had a great time! I imagine if I saw my kiddos performing I would cry too! My middle had dreams of performing at USO or Disney but she's kinda switched gears to the tech side of theatre now, but who knows. She has performed for 9 years now, but enjoys behind the scenes too, gives her various skills for future jobs.

Last year they put the tickets on sale for all 3 winter meetup weekends in early May. But they'll announce it in advance on the website. Be prepared to buy the tickets right when they go on sale, and make sure you have a login already for Orlando Informer. Last year the 2 night tickets sold out within a minute or two for the 2nd Dec weekend, then another minute after that for the 1st Dec weekend, so we ended up with Nov which was not our preference.

You can then book rooms at the Meetup rate. Keep whatever room you've already booked until you secure a Meetup rate, those also go fast especially for the Premier hotels. Though availability does open back up for certain room types, but more for the non-Premier hotels.

Oh yay, I thought maybe May but really could not remember. I guess I could have tried to find my old email fro 2021 lol

Last November was our first meetup….we heard they sale out quickly especially for the 2night combo, and we bought right away
So it has surpriseyme that this June meetup still has 2 night combo tickets

June and Nov do not sell out as fast as Dec. I am sure June has sold out but not until much closer to the dates, but you just never know. The hotels book super fast. We got Nov ones no problem, but I heard Dec was insanity as far as trying to buy tickets and it was timing out etc. June will have 2 nights for while longer I suspect, a lot of people are just not fans of the heat, though really at night it's not bad at all. Some just like the holiday decorations more as well. I've done both and love both for various reasons! Any Meetup is a GOOD meetup!

 

[RocketCityMama]

Latest and greatest!

Something spine-chilling is coming to the Orlando Informer Meetup​

Enter a hidden, tropical oasis where the undead spend the summer. This June-exclusive offering features never-before-seen entertainment, special cocktails available for purchase, and to-die-for fun.

As a guest of the OI Meetup, this addition is yours to enjoy – on top of after-hours access, little-to-no waits at 25+ attractions, unlimited food, and more at Universal Orlando Resort.

Get your tickets now before some of our lowest prices go away March 24 at 11:59 PM ET. Families of four saved up to $170 on tickets by purchasing early for our most recent OI Meetup, so don’t let this deal pass you by!

There’s something for all ages at this tropical retreat! Whether quenching your thirst with the unique alcoholic drinks available for purchase or interacting with enchanting entertainment in an eerie atmosphere, you’ll have a blast with the summery spirits of our new spot.

 

[MsWeaverDream02]

Latest and greatest!

Something spine-chilling is coming to the Orlando Informer Meetup​

Enter a hidden, tropical oasis where the undead spend the summer. This June-exclusive offering features never-before-seen entertainment, special cocktails available for purchase, and to-die-for fun.

As a guest of the OI Meetup, this addition is yours to enjoy – on top of after-hours access, little-to-no waits at 25+ attractions, unlimited food, and more at Universal Orlando Resort.

Get your tickets now before some of our lowest prices go away March 24 at 11:59 PM ET. Families of four saved up to $170 on tickets by purchasing early for our most recent OI Meetup, so don’t let this deal pass you by!

There’s something for all ages at this tropical retreat! Whether quenching your thirst with the unique alcoholic drinks available for purchase or interacting with enchanting entertainment in an eerie atmosphere, you’ll have a blast with the summery spirits of our new spot.

Is this similar to the OI Speakeasy from previous meetups (maybe with a summer HHN twist?)?