Opinions Needed! Ticket and park questions.

[vcgirl925]

We are taking our first non-disney trip to Orlando in late September. My husband and I went to Universal/IOA before we had kids. But it was probably 10 years ago.

From skimming through this board i've come to realize that a three day, two park ticket should be enough time to get through both parks. Especially since we are going at a slower time of year and we'll be staying onsite with FOTL access and early entrance to WWOHP. Would everyone agree that three days with three kids is sufficient?

We originally thought we'd rent a car from the hotel and make the drive to legoland for the day. But i checked the ticket prices for legoland and they are not cheap. Wondering if this is just going to be too costly and too much of a pain to actually try. Our next idea is to buy one of those multi park (universal/IOA/Seaworld/aquatica) tickets for our length of stay and just do those parks. We've never been to any of them as a family and my husband and I have never been to Seaworld or Aquatica.

Any thoughts on the legoland vs. seaworld/aquatica?

Adding one more question to this thread. Can you all tell me your absolute MUST see's at Universal/IOA. More like the shows or little hidden gems?

 

[wilma-bride]

Firstly, do you mean you are staying onsite?

As far as Legoland, you know that they are currently doing a buy 1 adult, get 1 child free if that makes it any cheaper for you. If you haven't got a particular preference, we like both Busch Gardens and Sea World. Busch are currently doing apromotion (for US residents only), where you get the all-day dining plan for an extrta $10 when you purchase tickets directly through their site.

How many 'free' days do you have. If you have enough time, then I would buy a multi-day ticket for all 3 aprks (Busch, Sea World and Aquatica) and do 1 day at each. If you only have enough time for one, then Busch would be my personal preference. If your kids are too young/small for the bigger rides, then Sea World might be a better option.

As far as 'not to be missed' in both parks, it really depends on the ages of your children and their likes/dislikes.

For us, in IOA, it is WWOHP, Dragons Challenge, Spiderman and One Fish, Two Fish (my favourite kids' ride)

In Universal, it is Men in Black, Rip Ride Rockit, Blues Brothers, Revenge of the Mummy and the Horror Make-up Show.

There are many more amazing rides/shows but those are some of our favourites/must dos.

 

[vcgirl925]

Firstly, do you mean you are staying onsite? Yes! Sorry, i'll edit that. We are staying on site. At the very least for the three days at universal/IOA. Then we might move offsite.

As far as Legoland, you know that they are currently doing a buy 1 adult, get 1 child free if that makes it any cheaper for you. I didn't know that, i'll have to check the site and get the info.If you haven't got a particular preference, we like both Busch Gardens and Sea World. Busch are currently doing apromotion (for US residents only), where you get the all-day dining plan for an extrta $10 when you purchase tickets directly through their site.Never even considered Busch Gardens, probably because we have one closer in Virginia. But it's another great option.

How many 'free' days do you have. If you have enough time, then I would buy a multi-day ticket for all 3 aprks (Busch, Sea World and Aquatica) and do 1 day at each. If you only have enough time for one, then Busch would be my personal preference. If your kids are too young/small for the bigger rides, then Sea World might be a better option.We will have 7 or 8 full days in Orlando. Three for universal/IOA and then the rest is TBD

As far as 'not to be missed' in both parks, it really depends on the ages of your children and their likes/dislikes.

For us, in IOA, it is WWOHP, Dragons Challenge, Spiderman and One Fish, Two Fish (my favourite kids' ride)

In Universal, it is Men in Black, Rip Ride Rockit, Blues Brothers, Revenge of the Mummy and the Horror Make-up Show.

There are many more amazing rides/shows but those are some of our favourites/must dos.

Thanks for your input!

 

[mesaboy2]

From skimming through this board i've come to realize that a three day, two park ticket should be enough time to get through both parks. Especially since we are going at a slower time of year and we'll be staying onsite with FOTL access and early entrance to WWOHP. Would everyone agree that three days with three kids is sufficient?

I'll take the softball question: yes.

 

[jebobak]

Myself, wife and 9 year old son just returned from Universal, and it was a blast! We did everything in two days, and rode our favorite rides multiple times. We also stayed onsite, and were able to walk straight onto almost all of the rides using our ExpressPass. It was definitely worth the cost of staying onsite, not to mention the hotel (Royal Pacific) was very nice as well. There were always lots of kids at the pool in the afternoon/night, they have organized games during the day, and they show a movie in the pool every night at 8:30.

As for the parks, my son loved the Superhero Island and got his picture taken with Spiderman, Wolverine, Captain America, Storm & Rogue and Cyclops. Our favorite rides were the Simpson's Ride, all of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (the Forbidden Journey ride was awesome), Spiderman, Dudley Do-Right's Riptide Falls, MIB...we really enjoyed all the rides and shows!

The Mummy, Forbidden Journey and Twister! rides might be a bit much for the younger kids, but the Disaster 'ride' was a lot of fun. Jurassic Park is a bit intense as well, but you're not closed in and it's a water ride.

Three days should be the perfect length to visit USF...while we rode/saw everything and didn't necessarily feel rushed, it would have been nice to have a little extra time. The convenience of being within a short walking distance of the resorts is really great...you don't feel "locked in" like you do at Disney when you know it's a 10 minute wait for a bus, 20 minute ride back, 5-10 walk to your room, then do it all again in reverse to get back to the parks.

The other thing I would strongly advise you look into is the Dining Plan! It's like $21 per adult/day for a one-park pass, and $10 for kids. Unlike Disney, there is no limit to what you can eat...you go through the line as many times as you want! Officially, you get an entree (with sides as included) and a dessert, but the people at the register said you can basically get whatever you want (just get two sides instead of an entree, just get dessert, etc.).

The only limitation is you can only use it at designated restaurants. However, there are three restaurants at each park, and there is a good selection of food and it's quite good.

Oh yeah, almost forgot...everyone in your group does not have to get the dining plan! You can buy it for whoever you want the day you get to the park at any of the designated restaurants.

 

[vcgirl925]

Three days should be the perfect length to visit USF...while we rode/saw everything and didn't necessarily feel rushed, it would have been nice to have a little extra time. The convenience of being within a short walking distance of the resorts is really great...you don't feel "locked in" like you do at Disney when you know it's a 10 minute wait for a bus, 20 minute ride back, 5-10 walk to your room, then do it all again in reverse to get back to the parks. Thank you! This was our thought, one full day at each park, then a 3rd day to go back and see our favorites again or anything we may have missed.

The other thing I would strongly advise you look into is the Dining Plan! It's like $21 per adult/day for a one-park pass, and $10 for kids. Unlike Disney, there is no limit to what you can eat...you go through the line as many times as you want! Officially, you get an entree (with sides as included) and a dessert, but the people at the register said you can basically get whatever you want (just get two sides instead of an entree, just get dessert, etc.).

The only limitation is you can only use it at designated restaurants. However, there are three restaurants at each park, and there is a good selection of food and it's quite good.So you used the food plan then? For both days? Did it end up being worth your while? It's very inexpensive to do a one day meal plan. But the two day is more than if i were to buy 2-1 day meal plans. Not sure why that is? It would be about 157 for 2 adults and 2 children for both days. So approx $20 per person per day.

Oh yeah, almost forgot...everyone in your group does not have to get the dining plan! You can buy it for whoever you want the day you get to the park at any of the designated restaurants.

Thanks! It sounds like our son's have similar tastes. I remember doing spider man 10 years ago and it was fantastic then. I'm sure he'll enjoy all the super hero stuff. My 6 year old will love dr. seuss and barney. I'M going to love WWOHP!

 

[jebobak]

I'm not sure why the two-day plan would be more per day, unless it is a two-day two-park plan. If you just get the one-park/day plan, it is $21. To have the option of eating at both parks in one day, it is $25.

For whatever reason, when I originally looked at the Universal Dining Plan when planning our trip, I thought it looked too expensive and never thought about it. So, on our first day at IOA, we didn't use it, and ended up spending probably $30 total on food...but we only got lunch (a HUGE Dagwood sandwich which we split between the three of us) and some snacks. We would have eaten more, but were trying to save money, and the park closed at 6PM for some grad thing.

When we went to USF, I went early by myself and let the family have an extra hour. They have Dining Plan stuff posted all over, and I finally actually looked at it. I couldn't believe how cheap it was, especially since it was unlimited. If you ate a light breakfast in your room, then ate everything else at the parks - a snack, lunch, another snack, maybe a dessert when it gets really hot, dinner...it would definitely be easy to get your moneys worth, as one entree and dessert would be about $10.

There is a good variety of choices, and dessert can be something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie (we ended up taking a bunch home...as well as some pizza and pasta, which we ate later that night and in the morning).

The other thing I failed to mention was the unlimited souvenir cup for $9...but they have two plans. This is where you need to make a choice.
The first option is to buy a cup from any vendor at either park for $9, and you can get refills for $.89 from any vendor in the park. This is what we did the first day. The second option is to buy a similar cup with your meal deal, also for $9. The difference is the meal deal cup gets free refills, but only from the participating restaurants. We liked the convenience of filling ours anywhere, but we purchased it before knowing about the other deal.

Finally, unlike Disney, you don't have to buy a cup for everyone in your group! So, while I wouldn't normally recommend sharing, in this case nobody really seemed to care. We shared one cup for both days. It says on the cup it is good for the day of purchase only, but I asked several vendors, and they all said you could use it for your entire stay. So, I guess that is one of the things they don't care to enforce.

Actually, when going through the food lines, I would have my stuff, my wife's and my son's food, and the person at checkout never even asked to see proof that I had a family. They always just looked at the band on my wrist (this is how the identify meal plan users), and just motioned me through. It was very easy.

 

[macraven]

We originally thought we'd rent a car from the hotel and make the drive to legoland for the day. But i checked the ticket prices for legoland and they are not cheap. Wondering if this is just going to be too costly and too much of a pain to actually try. Our next idea is to buy one of those multi park (universal/IOA/Seaworld/aquatica) tickets for our length of stay and just do those parks. We've never been to any of them as a family and my husband and I have never been to Seaworld or Aquatica.

Any thoughts on the legoland vs. seaworld/aquatica?

guests that stay onsite can use the free rt transportation to seaworld and aquatica and wet and wild.
for $10 pp and rt, you can use the luxury bus from your hotel to Busch Gardens.

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

If you have young boys who like legos, I think legoland is superior to sea world. Google that coupon mentioned above to get two kids tickets free to save money.

However, sea world is fun and is just right there if you need a more relaxing time of it without having to travel over to legoland, or you get a good deal on tickets there. Car rentals aren't cheap.

My kids really enjoyed two particular show, Animal Actors at Universal, and Sinbad at IOA. There is also a sales pitch magic show that they recruit you to come to. My kids enjoyed it, and it wasn't too much of a sales pitch.

They also love the talking fountain near Sinbad.

Lots of fun in the play area at US. They have a giant room where you fire foam balls from cannons.