***OI Meetup*** June 3-4, 2022

[Krisshay13]

77 days!! really?? OMG, I need to get to walking, too..LOL

We missed seeing the Blues Brothers when we came so, I really want to see them this time. We really enjoyed the Frog Choir & the Beat Builders!!!

Glad you trip was nice!! Love just having family time. We've been to Gatlinburg so much, there are times we don't leave the cabin.......and it's actually nice....just family time!!!

 

[RocketCityMama]

77 days!! really?? OMG, I need to get to walking, too..LOL

We missed seeing the Blues Brothers when we came so, I really want to see them this time. We really enjoyed the Frog Choir & the Beat Builders!!!

Glad you trip was nice!! Love just having family time. We've been to Gatlinburg so much, there are times we don't leave the cabin.......and it's actually nice....just family time!!!

Yes it's going by really fast right now! I need to get out and do more walking in general, so now that the weather is trying to be nicer lol we'll start walking at home more.

The Blues Brother's Christmas show was soo good! I need to watch their regular set in June, I am sure I'll love it just the same. They are just so fun to watch! I love Gatlinburg as well, dh and I stayed in a cabin for a weekend, just us and it was glorious! I do love when the cabins have things to do, like pool, air hockey, etc for the kids and a hot tub of course then we never leave lol

 

[RocketCityMama]

Just saw this from Taylor with OI: There's a special addition that hasn't been announced yet and has only been at one Orlando Informer Meetup ever.

Wonder what that could be????

 

[Krisshay13]

Just saw this from Taylor with OI: There's a special addition that hasn't been announced yet and has only been at one Orlando Informer Meetup ever.

Wonder what that could be????

FUN!! love surprises...
I could not even attempt to guess since until last Nov, my 1st OI Meetup, I had never heard of this. But, sure can't wait to hear!!!

 

[Darrah]

Well, he certainly knows how to tease us, doesn't he? I haven't been to enough meetups to even hazard a guess. I hope we'll find out soon--I'm excited for ANY details at this point.

The kids have only one quarter of school left, and if past years are any indication it will fly by. Between upcoming holidays, birthdays, and other random events, the end of May will be here before we know it!!

 

[babesboo99]

Just got a cancellation from the 3rd to the 5th at Surfside Inn. I might just have to buy Saturday tickets now..lol

 

[Krisshay13]

Just got a cancellation from the 3rd to the 5th at Surfside Inn. I might just have to buy Saturday tickets now..lol

sounds like you need to!!!

Last Nov was our 1st meetup (actually 1st Universal trip) & I felt the 1st night, I was a little lost so, I was so glad we had a 2nd OI Meetup night!!! It rained some the 1st night so, they made our plans feel off, too.

Hoping for great weather this time!!! but, will pack my ponchos this time, for sure.

 

[Krisshay13]

I decided to change from Dockside Standard to Surfside 2 BR Suite for our last 3 days!! Thought I would like to have extra room!!
Reserved our transportation from/to the airport!!!
Counting down the days!!!

So...tell me about the buses. Is it a long walk to them like Disney is??? Normally, we go budget hotels there & they are the last buses & take forever to get to. Is it the same with Universal?
I know I will miss staying at Royal Pacific & Hard Rock.......love taking the boat. But, saving over $800 will be worth it.

 

[RocketCityMama]

FUN!! love surprises...
I could not even attempt to guess since until last Nov, my 1st OI Meetup, I had never heard of this. But, sure can't wait to hear!!!

I love surprises too but so ready for some info! I have been to 2 so far, and my only guess is maybe a speakeasy, they had one before and people keep guessing that, so maybe?? lol We'll find out soon I am sure!

Well, he certainly knows how to tease us, doesn't he? I haven't been to enough meetups to even hazard a guess. I hope we'll find out soon--I'm excited for ANY details at this point.

The kids have only one quarter of school left, and if past years are any indication it will fly by. Between upcoming holidays, birthdays, and other random events, the end of May will be here before we know it!!

Yes he does! Me either lol, just waiting not so patiently for info This year has flown by for sure! we are on the last 9 weeks of school. I am a full time sub, and just took over a 1st grade class for their last 12 weeks and phew, I am so tired! I was so happy and relaxed during spring break, but now we are back to the grindstone! lol

Just got a cancellation from the 3rd to the 5th at Surfside Inn. I might just have to buy Saturday tickets now..lol

We are bad influences here lol always do two nights! when it's said and done most people regret not doing both, so I say if you can afford it, do it! lol

sounds like you need to!!!

Last Nov was our 1st meetup (actually 1st Universal trip) & I felt the 1st night, I was a little lost so, I was so glad we had a 2nd OI Meetup night!!! It rained some the 1st night so, they made our plans feel off, too.

Hoping for great weather this time!!! but, will pack my ponchos this time, for sure.

Last June was our first and we were lost a bit too the first night and the rain didn't help for sure! The second night was much better and this past Nov was amazing! I am stoked for June coming up since we'll have even a better idea of how to plan our times

I decided to change from Dockside Standard to Surfside 2 BR Suite for our last 3 days!! Thought I would like to have extra room!!
Reserved our transportation from/to the airport!!!
Counting down the days!!!

So...tell me about the buses. Is it a long walk to them like Disney is??? Normally, we go budget hotels there & they are the last buses & take forever to get to. Is it the same with Universal?
I know I will miss staying at Royal Pacific & Hard Rock.......love taking the boat. But, saving over $800 will be worth it.

We stayed in Dockside 2 bedroom in June last year and it was nice to have the space, 2 rooms so to speak, the parent bedroom with a door (small room, not much else but a bed lol) and the kids in the "living room space lol" with 2 beds and the kitchen. We enjoyed having that extra space for sure.

So the buses for DS/SS are not far at all from the "parks security" entry area. So you basically go up/down the escalator (near elevator) that is at the exit area when you leave city walk and the bus stop is right there basically at the bottom of the escalator. We were surprised how close it was truly because we thought it would be super far, but it's not.

 

[babesboo99]

I not only changed my dates to June 2nd to June 5th. I bought Saturday tickets as well so I will be going both nights now. I can't wait .

 

[Krisshay13]

(small room, not much else but a bed

yes, it looks small........I watched a couple of youtube tours. I just think, with 2 teenage girls, it will be worth it to be in a different room. The days we will be there, we won't be spending the whole day in the park...we'll have to nap to get ready for the meetup. I just felt it would be nice to be in my own room. Hey, can't beat the price on those!!!

 

[Krisshay13]

I not only changed my dates to June 2nd to June 5th. I bought Saturday tickets as well so I will be going both nights now. I can't wait .

AWESOME!!! You will be happy you did!!!

 

[Krisshay13]

So the buses for DS/SS are not far at all from the "parks security" entry area. So you basically go up/down the escalator (near elevator) that is at the exit area when you leave city walk and the bus stop is right there basically at the bottom of the escalator. We were surprised how close it was truly because we thought it would be super far, but it's not.

thanks...makes me feel better. I know I hate the walk to Disney's buses. I actually toyed with the idea of staying the whole trip at RPR but, since we plan on napping those meetup days, that price just can't talk me into it..LOL.

 

[babesboo99]

thanks...makes me feel better. I know I hate the walk to Disney's buses. I actually toyed with the idea of staying the whole trip at RPR but, since we plan on napping those meetup days, that price just can't talk me into it..LOL.

We are staying at Surfside inn and suites. Would like to stay at RP as well but saving that much money I just can't pass that up. Besides it will be a new hotel for me .

 

[Krisshay13]

We are staying at Surfside inn and suites. Would like to stay at RP as well but saving that much money I just can't pass that up. Besides it will be a new hotel for me .

I totally understand that!! All the hotels will be new to me since we've only been to Universal once. We stayed at Hard Rock & loved it!! Mainly for the location. It was so nice not taking a bus.
But, to save close to $900, I'll do a split stay & ride that bus for a few days!!! I'm also excited about trying new places. The 3 days at RPR is mainly for the express pass. But, the OI Meetup days, I don't think we'll be at the parks long enough to warrant paying the RPR rate.
Can't wait!!

 

[babesboo99]

I totally understand that!! All the hotels will be new to me since we've only been to Universal once. We stayed at Hard Rock & loved it!! Mainly for the location. It was so nice not taking a bus.
But, to save close to $900, I'll do a split stay & ride that bus for a few days!!! I'm also excited about trying new places. The 3 days at RPR is mainly for the express pass. But, the OI Meetup days, I don't think we'll be at the parks long enough to warrant paying the RPR rate.
Can't wait!!

Thats exactly how I feel as well. We stay at RP or HR for the passes and since we are not going to the parks during the day we are just going to OI we feel it wasn't worth the money.

 

[Darrah]

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but for you experienced two-night Meetup attendees, what is your plan of attack? Do you stay in one park one night and move to the other park the next night? Do one night where you focus on food and less on rides and then do the other night the other way (rides over food)? Try to visit both parks and do rides and food evenly across both nights?

Last year was our first meetup and I feel like we were pretty helter-skelter and probably didn't maximize our time and food options. I don't really want to over-schedule our night, but I feel like we should have some sort of game plan to do as much as we can! We do have daytime tix Thursday-Sunday and EPs through RPR, so rides could probably take a backseat to food if need be.

 

[Krisshay13]

I would love to hear this too!! Just different ways everyone plans........

We've only been the 1x & the rain threw us off that Fri night. I felt we did not utilize our time very well.
Since it was our 1st time at Universal, we had that "deer in the headlight" look those 2 nights. This trip, we will know our way around so, should be better!!!

We have EP for Tues-Thurs so, I think for us, we'll make sure to do a lot of food both nights. And just enjoying the streets with lower crowds. We may do 1 park per night.

 

[babesboo99]

We are going to OI on Friday and Saturday, we were suppose to arrive in the afternoon on Thursday. but now our flights got changed to arriving at 1130 pm my question is by the time we arrive at Surfside inn and suites will there be a food place opened anywhere

 

[RocketCityMama]

I not only changed my dates to June 2nd to June 5th. I bought Saturday tickets as well so I will be going both nights now. I can't wait .

Whooo hoooo! You'll be glad you did! One night is great but if you can do two, it's much better!

yes, it looks small........I watched a couple of youtube tours. I just think, with 2 teenage girls, it will be worth it to be in a different room. The days we will be there, we won't be spending the whole day in the park...we'll have to nap to get ready for the meetup. I just felt it would be nice to be in my own room. Hey, can't beat the price on those!!!

It is, I mean it's plenty big enough for the bed, you can walk around the bed and there is a small closet and the tv area, but that's it lol You'll be glad to have your own bed/space to nap and rest for the meetup!

thanks...makes me feel better. I know I hate the walk to Disney's buses. I actually toyed with the idea of staying the whole trip at RPR but, since we plan on napping those meetup days, that price just can't talk me into it..LOL.

Same but I rather ride the Disney bus than drive and park! We went in 2018 for my oldest dd's grad trip 2 weeks - one week onsite at Riverside (which btw we absolutely LOVED) and the next week offsite at my father in laws time share and the park and tram situation was a nightmare! We didn't enjoy it at all and were tired already lol we wished we had done the 2nd week at USO instead, offsite, because their parking is so much better! I don't blame you on the price at all, it makes sense!

Meetup attendees, what is your plan of attack? Do you stay in one park one night and move to the other park the next night? Do one night where you focus on food and less on rides and then do the other night the other way (rides over food)? Try to visit both parks and do rides and food evenly across both nights?

I would love to hear this too!! Just different ways everyone plans........
We've only been the 1x & the rain threw us off that Fri night. I felt we did not utilize our time very well.
Since it was our 1st time at Universal, we had that "deer in the headlight" look those 2 nights. This trip, we will know our way around so, should be better!!!
We have EP for Tues-Thurs so, I think for us, we'll make sure to do a lot of food both nights. And just enjoying the streets with lower crowds. We may do 1 park per night.

So far we have pretty much done one park each night, that way we can focus on the rides and food in each easier. It's not hard to get back and forth, since you can use the cut through and make it quickly or ride HE over if you wanna I just found it easier to manage one each night. The rain did put a damper on the start of June last year, we started in IOA, ate, then hit HE over to USF and had a blast there and hit IOA the next night. We did pretty well eating, riding, eating, riding lol because the lines are non existent, you can do a bunch of rides in an hour, then hit some snacks, and then ride more etc. November was much better for us for the weather, and we did the same one park each night, well okay the kids rode more, we ate more and took in the sights and shows for the holidays We plan to do similar this June, one park each night. Some like to start one and bounce to the other halfway and flip the next one.
I will say that we tend to go the park that closes to the public earlier than the other, since it's "less" busy than the one that is open an hour later to the public.

We are going to OI on Friday and Saturday, we were suppose to arrive in the afternoon on Thursday. but now our flights got changed to arriving at 1130 pm my question is by the time we arrive at Surfside inn and suites will there be a food place opened anywhere

YUCK! That's not fun, I don't think any of the onsite food court/services are open that late, but you might can get something maybe at CityWalk but I'd probably not want to go there that late, but they are open late, so it might be a good option. I'd look at the USO website and check them and see if any are open late that night. You might could get pizza delivery?