***OI Meetup*** Winter dates announced

[Lilias]

Back in December 2020 (last time we went), they gave meal cards, which were reaaaally annoying to use and we were limited in what we could get with them. I'm glad that now it's just a gift card! I bet that's waaaaaaay easier to use.

I might finally try one of those crepes Or get stuff from the dessert cases!

Or the cool treats from the tribute store! Wheeee

 

[only hope]

Back in December 2020 (last time we went), they gave meal cards, which were reaaaally annoying to use and we were limited in what we could get with them. I'm glad that now it's just a gift card! I bet that's waaaaaaay easier to use.

I might finally try one of those crepes Or get stuff from the dessert cases!

Or the cool stuff from the tribute store! Wheeee

They can’t do the meal cards anymore because Universal stopped selling them. I don’t think the food gift card works in gift stores. It’ll work at the crepe stand though.

 

[pinkxray]

I finally decided to get tickets for DH and I for Dec. 2. Mostly for us to ride velocicoaster together. I don’t think we have been on a coaster together since DD17 was born. Since then we’ve been splitting up to ride with the kids.

We will probably also go on Hulk one last time for me. I went with DD17 last year and felt it rattled my brain too much so I might just be too old for Hulk. However, DH and I used to love riding Hulk together when we first got married so I said I would take the brain rattling one last time.

Of course, I paid for the tickets before I called the kids club at Hard Rock for DS and Dd.I assumed since it was listed online it was open. They aren’t…. I emailed Kids night out, so hopefully that works out.

Not sure what else to do. Either DS7 uses Dh’s ticket if they allow it or I buy both kids tickets but that is a big waste for them plus again DH and I are split up.

Fingers crossed Kids Nite out has availability.

 

[Lilias]

I know what you mean about getting too old for rides! I can't ride RRR for that reason. I rode Hulk one time and it was...FINE, but I don't think I'll do it again. It was borderline brain-rattling for me and that was 3 years ago, haha. The last time I rode the Mummy wasn't that great, either, and it's one of my favorites I'm hoping the refurbishment makes it smooth again, but I heard a rumor that they were just redoing the control room, so maybe not.

I've heard that velocicoaster is terrifying, but smooth, so I'll try that once and see how it goes

Good luck with the kids club situation! Maybe another onsite hotel has it?

 

[Chiasgirl]

I finally decided to get tickets for DH and I for Dec. 2. Mostly for us to ride velocicoaster together. I don’t think we have been on a coaster together since DD17 was born. Since then we’ve been splitting up to ride with the kids.

We will probably also go on Hulk one last time for me. I went with DD17 last year and felt it rattled my brain too much so I might just be too old for Hulk. However, DH and I used to love riding Hulk together when we first got married so I said I would take the brain rattling one last time.

Of course, I paid for the tickets before I called the kids club at Hard Rock for DS and Dd.I assumed since it was listed online it was open. They aren’t…. I emailed Kids night out, so hopefully that works out.

Not sure what else to do. Either DS7 uses Dh’s ticket if they allow it or I buy both kids tickets but that is a big waste for them plus again DH and I are split up.

Fingers crossed Kids Nite out has availability.

Can DD17 watch DS7?

 

[pinkxray]

Can DD17 watch DS7?

DD17 starts college this month so she isn’t coming. I’ve contacted two agencies I’ve heard that come to hotel. If that doesn’t work out DH said he would stay back with DD5 and I could just take DD8. He turns 8 the day before so it would be a fun way to celebrate his bday.
Fingers crossed kids night out works out though.

 

[KaitorTot]

Going Dec 2&3 and staying at Sapphire Falls - so excited!!

Does anyone know if in previous years holiday specific treats were included in the event? Or should we plan to try anything we want with the $15 voucher ahead of the event?

 

[Krisshay13]

Whoo Hoo!! Just took the plunge & decided to do both nights in Nov again. Our 1st ever Universal trip was last year for Nov Meetup. We then went in June. And now for our 3rd Meetup!!
Going to be strange when we go in Oct & no meetup..lol

So excited!!!

 

[maverik85]

Going Dec 2&3 and staying at Sapphire Falls - so excited!!

Does anyone know if in previous years holiday specific treats were included in the event? Or should we plan to try anything we want with the $15 voucher ahead of the event?

I know last fall when we went, we were not able to use them at the holiday stands in CityWalk at least. Not sure if they could be used at the Tribute Store for the treats in there. Toothsome did have a special holiday shake we used them for though.

 

[karmacats]

Going Dec 2&3 and staying at Sapphire Falls - so excited!!

Does anyone know if in previous years holiday specific treats were included in the event? Or should we plan to try anything we want with the $15 voucher ahead of the event?

We were there in dec 2020 and 2021 and i don't recall any holiday specific treats being included. I'd get anything holiday themed beforehand. There are plenty of treats available, just not holiday ones.

 

[elizagust]

So as the time gets closer(105 days for me!) I am starting to worry about the fact that we only have tickets for the Meet up(December 2-3). We decided not to get regular tickets. There are 4 of us, all of us have been there before(one may have been too young to remember though). Do you think we need to "splurge" for a one day ticket to make sure we get the full experience? We are staying the first night at Cabana Bay and the next two at HRH. That means we have express pass to use when we are first allowed entry into the park so i figured that may help get us on more in the short time we have before the actual event starts. Give me your thoughts please!

 

[only hope]

So as the time gets closer(105 days for me!) I am starting to worry about the fact that we only have tickets for the Meet up(December 2-3). We decided not to get regular tickets. There are 4 of us, all of us have been there before(one may have been too young to remember though). Do you think we need to "splurge" for a one day ticket to make sure we get the full experience? We are staying the first night at Cabana Bay and the next two at HRH. That means we have express pass to use when we are first allowed entry into the park so i figured that may help get us on more in the short time we have before the actual event starts. Give me your thoughts please!

Is there any reason to buy in advance? I haven’t heard of the main parks hitting capacity for over a year. Capacity is back to normal so probably will only be an issue maybe during Christmas break. I’d wait til Sunday to decide. If y’all feel like going back, just buy tickets that day. Since you have express which includes nearly every attraction, it doesn’t matter if you miss the early park hours with the shorter lines.

 

[Lilias]

The last time we went in 2020 they let people in as soon as they checked in (much earlier than the advertised time), but the parks were so overcrowded that we hated it the entire time until the Meetup officially started!

 

[only hope]

The last time we went in 2020 they let people in as soon as they checked in (much earlier than the advertised time), but the parks were so overcrowded that we hated it the entire time until the Meetup officially started!

From what I’ve read on the FB group, the extra early entry was a one time occurrence because the previous meetup had been canceled. I went to the June meetup and managed to mostly avoid crowds by sticking to shows and shopping the first few hours at Studios. I had to use a wheelchair so that helped with being able to sit in a non-crowded area for the makeup show, otherwise we would’ve been shoulder to shoulder with strangers, no thanks.

 

[maverik85]

From what I’ve read on the FB group, the extra early entry was a one time occurrence because the previous meetup had been canceled. I went to the June meetup and managed to mostly avoid crowds by sticking to shows and shopping the first few hours at Studios. I had to use a wheelchair so that helped with being able to sit in a non-crowded area for the makeup show, otherwise we would’ve been shoulder to shoulder with strangers, no thanks.

We did the same as most of the shows and things were not going during the Meetup. First day we had reservations at Mythos so that took most of the "open" time, but night 2 we used that time to watch the Christmas parade and Grinchmas show. If we had the time we would have used it for Bourne (was not open for Meetup during ours but I know it was this summer, so might be an option during event) and Monster Make Up.
This also allows you to get shows that will take time away from rides and foods out of the way during the day and you are more open during the night as well.

 

[pinkxray]

We will be at Universal Dec. 1-4. We added the 3rd after our original booking. We have been booked at HRH for the first two nights in a standard view for months. I have been unable to add on a night at Hard Rock for months despite stalking the regular site and Orlando informer site all summer.
I finally got a room today on the Orlando Informer site! Unfortunately, it’s a different view so we’ll have to switch rooms but we will be at the parks most of the day so hopefully it won’t be bad.

 

[Lilias]

We extended our trip by two days as it looked like original dates just wouldn't be affordable flightwise (even with extra hotels the extended trip is cheaper than the shorter trip, haha), so had to add two one-night stays at Cabana Bay and Dockside bookending our trip.

I've never stayed at CB or Dockside, so it'll be fun to try them out! Even though it'll be annoying to move around so much

I might switch the one day at Dockside to CB again just for convenience, but the rooms at Dockside look so nice!

 

[LaDonna]

We extended our trip by two days as it looked like original dates just wouldn't be affordable flightwise (even with extra hotels the extended trip is cheaper than the shorter trip, haha), so had to add two one-night stays at Cabana Bay and Dockside bookending our trip.

I've never stayed at CB or Dockside, so it'll be fun to try them out! Even though it'll be annoying to move around so much

I might switch the one day at Dockside to CB again just for convenience, but the rooms at Dockside look so nice!

We love dockside! We love CB too though
We needed to add a night at the beginning of our trip and instead of booking 2rooms another night at Aventura we opted to save a lot of money and just do that extra night at dockside got six of us staying with parking around $150 you can’t beat that

 

[Lilias]

We love dockside! We love CB too though
We needed to add a night at the beginning of our trip and instead of booking 2rooms another night at Aventura we opted to save a lot of money and just do that extra night at dockside got six of us staying with parking around $150 you can’t beat that

It's crazy!! I'm getting a two bedroom suite for like $115 and it's just me and my sister-in-law! When we switch to Sapphire Falls she's gonna be like "wait a minute..."

 

[Chiasgirl]

We just cancelled two rooms at Cabana Bay for the November meetup. We also had Royal Pacific booked and were waiting to finalize our travel party and plans. If anyone is still looking, those days are now back in the inventory.
We also dropped our Sunday night rooms at Royal Pacific as we are now moving to Art of Animation that day. We decided to book the Christmas party and it makes more sense to us to move hotels than travel back to Universal after the Christmas party.
.