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

[babesboo99]

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


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!


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!



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.



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?

I guess I will pack some pop tarts for the night. We figure since we are going to OI for 2 nights we will get alot of food there.

 

[RocketCityMama]

I guess I will pack some pop tarts for the night. We figure since we are going to OI for 2 nights we will get alot of food there.

yes I thinking packing something would be smart! How long is your flight? I would def make sure you eat a filling dinner if possible so you might just want a snack!



Well we now have 68 days left! Hopefully in the next 8 days or so we’ll start getting more info! Maybe about the “perk” of whatever has only been at one other meetup! Maybe the water rides being open again, since it summer like last year. Maybe it is a speak easy, maybe it is…. Who knows lol I need to know what other things have happened in the past to even try and make a guess!

I really need to book a hotel for our drive down. I like to drive to the valdosta or tifton area and rest and have a few hrs left the next morning. Then I am actually able to be rested and enjoy the parks. We have drive straight thru many times but I am so exhausted after the 10-12 hrs with stops I don’t have energy the next day!

Has anyone made reservations yet for any restaurants? I need to get on that, we will def go back to toothsomes, we enjoyed both our meals there. Also Finnegans, they are a family favorite. We may try Antijitos (spelling lol) again, we liked it okay, chorizo was good, food avg, but I think we will try again. Oh and Margaritaville, we always enjoy. Other than that we will prob just hit quick service.

W

 

[babesboo99]

yes I thinking packing something would be smart! How long is your flight? I would def make sure you eat a filling dinner if possible so you might just want a snack!



Well we now have 68 days left! Hopefully in the next 8 days or so we’ll start getting more info! Maybe about the “perk” of whatever has only been at one other meetup! Maybe the water rides being open again, since it summer like last year. Maybe it is a speak easy, maybe it is…. Who knows lol I need to know what other things have happened in the past to even try and make a guess!

I really need to book a hotel for our drive down. I like to drive to the valdosta or tifton area and rest and have a few hrs left the next morning. Then I am actually able to be rested and enjoy the parks. We have drive straight thru many times but I am so exhausted after the 10-12 hrs with stops I don’t have energy the next day!

Has anyone made reservations yet for any restaurants? I need to get on that, we will def go back to toothsomes, we enjoyed both our meals there. Also Finnegans, they are a family favorite. We may try Antijitos (spelling lol) again, we liked it okay, chorizo was good, food avg, but I think we will try again. Oh and Margaritaville, we always enjoy. Other than that we will prob just hit quick service.

W

We usually drive BUT since it's just me and my daughter this time I dont want to drive alone so we are flying. We will be back in the fall as well maybe we will drive then since there will be 2 drivers. We are coming from Albany NY and flying out of Syracuse. Our flight at the most is 3 hrs. So our arrival now is about 1130 pm give or take. We will just take a cab or Uber to surfside inn 1st time staying g there so I'm excited.

 

[Darrah]

Has anyone made reservations yet for any restaurants? I need to get on that, we will def go back to toothsomes, we enjoyed both our meals there. Also Finnegans, they are a family favorite. We may try Antijitos (spelling lol) again, we liked it okay, chorizo was good, food avg, but I think we will try again. Oh and Margaritaville, we always enjoy. Other than that we will prob just hit quick service.

I made reservations for Toothsome for Thursday night and for the breakfast buffet at Islands Sunday AM, but that's it so far. We've only eaten at Toothsome once and the food was fine enough, but I mostly go for the atmosphere and dessert. LOL Mythos has been on our list to try for a while now, but it's so hard to know when we'll feel like eating in the parks. Last year we tried Cowfish for the first time and enjoyed it quite a bit. The Margaritaville nachos are a thing of beauty, so that might be on our list too. I'm honestly not sure what else to book right now. We like to play it by ear food-wise because sometimes we're ravenous and sometimes we're not--or we're not sure what type of food we'll be hungry for--and we don't have set times we plan to be in the parks aside from the meetup times. I'd hate to have to drag everyone to the park or City Walk just to eat if we're all exhausted. I guess I should be thinking about when/where we might want to use our meetup gift cards.

For the gift cards: They're good anywhere in the parks or City Walk, right? Or is it just select restaurants?

Thoughts on Bayliner Diner? We've never been to Cabana Bay, and I wouldn't mind checking it out sometime since I do love retro theming. I know we wouldn't need reservations for that, but didn't know if it was worth a trip for a quick meal. We hope to do a little pool hopping this trip, probably on Saturday, and I'm debating between CB and HRH.

 

[Krisshay13]

I made reservations in Nov then canceled about 2 weeks before the trip. Since we had never been, I didn't want to be tied to any schedule for eating. We did manage to eat at Hard Rock, Antojitos & Bigfire......without reservations. But, Antojitos, they sat us outside.... it was chilly & wind blowing (will never do that again). We also ate at 3 Broomsticks & Leaky Cauldron.
In fact, we jumped in line at 3 Broomsticks the 2nd night of the meetup.....about 30 min before they opened. Grabbed some butterbear to drink in line!!! It was so worth the wait!!! Line grew pretty fast. Not sure I will do that this time but, glad we did once.

I need to start looking.....we may set some reservations this time.

 

[babesboo99]

I have a question. I ordered both nights will I get both night tickets on Friday OR do they give Friday out on Friday and Saturday out on Saturday?

 

[Darrah]

I have a question. I ordered both nights will I get both night tickets on Friday OR do they give Friday out on Friday and Saturday out on Saturday?

I think last June we had to check in separately both nights, but only the purchaser of the tix (name on the order) has to be there and can get all the credentials for everyone in your party.

 

[Krisshay13]

I think last June we had to check in separately both nights, but only the purchaser of the tix (name on the order) has to be there and can get all the credentials for everyone in your party.

yes, that's how it was in Nov

 

[only hope]

For those who went to the last meetup, are the crowds low enough to social distance in lines and on the rides if you want to? I’ve read a lot of reviews that say almost everything is a walkon, so would TM honor social distancing requests during the event? I wouldn’t be going on Hagrids or the VelociCoaster, which I figure will have lines during the event. I know Universal dropped all Covid safety precautions ages ago, which is part of why I let my AP expire just over a year ago. But if the crowds are low enough to not be right next to people during this event then I just might go…

 

[Chiasgirl]

For those who went to the last meetup, are the crowds low enough to social distance in lines and on the rides if you want to? I’ve read a lot of reviews that say almost everything is a walkon, so would TM honor social distancing requests during the event? I wouldn’t be going on Hagrids or the VelociCoaster, which I figure will have lines during the event. I know Universal dropped all Covid safety precautions ages ago, which is part of why I let my AP expire just over a year ago. But if the crowds are low enough to not be right next to people during this event then I just might go…

Hi there. I completely understand and respect someone’s desire to maintain social distance. However, I do not think you can expect to do that at Universal at this time. Others will come close to you in ride lines, when eating, checking in for the event, etc. Universal packs people into pre-show areas (such as at Gringott’s, including in the elevator). Also, very few people will be wearing masks and they do no longer routinely wipe down rides etc.

 

[only hope]

During normal operating hours, yes, it’s packed with no precautions possible. But I’m wondering about during the OI event after the day crowd has left and there aren’t many people there. I wouldn’t be eating inside during the event; I’d find a distanced spout outside. I just don’t want to be right next to people inside and was wondering if the OI event has a low enough attendance for that to be possible.

 

[Michele&Jessica]

Taylor just sent a text out announcing they will be having the Speakeasy at the June meetup complete with live band and characters.

 

[Darrah]

During normal operating hours, yes, it’s packed with no precautions possible. But I’m wondering about during the OI event after the day crowd has left and there aren’t many people there. I wouldn’t be eating inside during the event; I’d find a distanced spout outside. I just don’t want to be right next to people inside and was wondering if the OI event has a low enough attendance for that to be possible.

I'm not a meetup expert (have only attended one, last June), but I would say depending on the ride you might have better luck keeping distance from other people. I remember most were no line/walk on and you could probably easily ask for your own car in some cases. Other rides had a short wait, so you might be next to another group in the queue. You could probably stay back from the group in front of you while you wait, but no telling if the group behind you would give you space. In some queues, as you know, you're sort of jammed into a little hallway before loading and that's where it could get tricky. Unfortunately, you'll never know for sure until you're in the queue. That probably doesn't help much, but I think it's impossible to guarantee you'll never be in close proximity to another group at some point in the evening. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Darrah]

Taylor just sent a text out announcing they will be having the Speakeasy at the June meetup complete with live band and characters.

Got it too. Anyone who was at the previous speakeasy want to share their experience with it? We are not big alcohol drinkers in the parks (liquor and roller coasters don't mix in my world), and with two minors in our party, I'm wondering if it's worth finding? I assume there are other fun things there: food, swag?

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

Taylor just sent a text out announcing they will be having the Speakeasy at the June meetup complete with live band and characters.

We have tix for the Friday Meetup. How do you get the texts?

 

[Krisshay13]

We have tix for the Friday Meetup. How do you get the texts?

Mine came in an email....didn't get a text.

 

[Michele&Jessica]

We have tix for the Friday Meetup. How do you get the texts?

Here is Taylor's cell number. 1-407-214-5735. Send him a text to be added to his group texts.

 

[Michele&Jessica]

Meetup is now two months away. Anyone interested in a pre meet up Thursday night at Lone Palm Airport Bar?

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

Here is Taylor's cell number. 1-407-214-5735. Send him a text to be added to his group texts.

Super - thank you!

 

[RocketCityMama]

I made reservations in Nov then canceled about 2 weeks before the trip. Since we had never been, I didn't want to be tied to any schedule for eating. We did manage to eat at Hard Rock, Antojitos & BigfireI without reservations. But, Antojitos, they sat us outside.... it was chilly & wind blowing (will never do that again). We also ate at 3 Broomsticks & Leaky Cauldron.
In fact, we jumped in line at 3 Broomsticks the 2nd night of the meetup.....about 30 min before they opened. Grabbed some butterbear to drink in line!!! It was so worth the wait!!! Line grew pretty fast. Not sure I will do that this time but, glad we did once.

I need to start looking.....we may set some reservations this time.

LOL I always make a ton and then cancel some closer to time! I really need to sit down and look at our dates and figure out at least one meal a day. That's our goal usually is one sit down meal usually dinner, but sometimes a late lunch LOL

I have a question. I ordered both nights will I get both night tickets on Friday OR do they give Friday out on Friday and Saturday out on Saturday?

You check in separate both nights but the lines move fairly fast! Since we have AP's I don't get in line when they open up for picking them up. I wait til about an hour or so after the lines open and then it's been nearly walk up. In Nov, I went about 4:30 or so and there was no line, walked straight up, got tickets, shirts and walked back to our hotel and met dh and kids who went straight there from the parks and they had only been there for like 2 mins or so before me LOL They were like, how did you get back so fast?

For those who went to the last meetup, are the crowds low enough to social distance in lines and on the rides if you want to? I’ve read a lot of reviews that say almost everything is a walkon, so would TM honor social distancing requests during the event? I wouldn’t be going on Hagrids or the VelociCoaster, which I figure will have lines during the event. I know Universal dropped all Covid safety precautions ages ago, which is part of why I let my AP expire just over a year ago. But if the crowds are low enough to not be right next to people during this event then I just might go…

So in my opinion there really isn't much social distancing going on, HOWEVER, there is really no lines during the meetup, they move continuously and for the most part you aren't stuck standing and waiting, except at the loading area. When we did MIB for instance the preshow, there were so few of us in the elevator, you could easily spread out. I am sure if you asked to skip a load line, they would do it. You'll be surprised how empty most things feel during the meetup. I will try to load some pics of the areas in another post below. My big suggestion is to bring your own sanitizer, I found most empty at ride exits. We just bought a huge bottle and refill our small hanging ones daily and attach to our lanyard or purse or backpack.

Got it too. Anyone who was at the previous speakeasy want to share their experience with it? We are not big alcohol drinkers in the parks (liquor and roller coasters don't mix in my world), and with two minors in our party, I'm wondering if it's worth finding? I assume there are other fun things there: food, swag?

If you go on youtube and search for meetup speakeasy 2019 I think it is, you'll find some vlogs from some of the youtubers that go often. My favs are SuperEnthused, she usually does a pretty good job of showing and talking about the events.