Please help a US newbie

[lisatx04]

We will be down in Orlando in 10 days, going to Disney. My kids, who are teens, wanted to go to US, which we have never been to. So we are leaving Disney and staying 1 night/2 days at the Royal Pacific Hotel, arriving on a Wed. I am staying onsite so I can get and use the Express Pass.

Here are my questions...

We will not be there when the park opens. Getting 3 teens up is difficult but we will be there by mid morning. After checking in, we will head right over to the park. Which park do you suggest we go to first? We will have park to park tickets.

On Thursday, we will be there when the park opens, but since we are staying onsite, do we get in an hour early? I was thinking of using this time to go over to IOA to WWOHP. What do you suggest? I am getting myself all confused and just want to maximize our time there. As of now, I plan on closing the parks on day one and depending on how day 2 goes, possibly closing the park on day 2 as well.

Also, I did not think about food. I figured we could just eat as we go, although I did look at Mel's and thought that looked like a neat place to sit and cool off. Is it any good? I will have to go back and see where it is located as I have forgotten already.

I also read no backpacks on the rides. I need to find something to carry my stuff in so That I can go on the rides without worrying about a locker. Any suggestions?

Thank you all for your help! Looking forward to a great time at US!!

 

[helenb]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the flexibility of Universal!

Other than the Harry Potter areas, with Universal Express you can tour the parks at whatever time you want, in whatever order you want, and never have to wait more than a few minutes for anything. Your teens will have a blast with this! So the answer to your first question is: it does not matter which park you go to first. You can hop back and forth and do both parks if you want. You are completely flexible with Universal Express.

However the Harry Potter areas are a different ballgame, since they do not have Universal Express (on the main rides) and are extremely popular. If you will only do one early entry (and you should take advantage of the early entry) I would recommend using it to see the new Diagon Alley area. Then swing by the Wizarding World in Islands of Adventure one evening an hour or two before the park closes, when crowds are somewhat lower.

For food, Mythos is *the* place to eat: a great atmosphere, wide variety of food, and reasonable (for a theme park) prices! We also enjoy Confisco Grille. A lot of people recommend Finnegan's, if you like 'Irish' food. Mels is fun too. Citywalk has a bunch of great places you will likely enjoy. You can make reservations on Opentable about a month before.

We never carry bags into Universal. It is too much of a pain. My husband wears cargo shorts that hold his cell phone and wallet. I wear a lanyard with a small pouch on the end to hold cards, a little money, etc. I slip it underneath my shirt when we go on rides. Some people swear by fanny packs.

 

[damo]

In 10 days, the new Diagon Alley might be open. Be prepared for large crowds.

There is a food sticky with dining ideas up at the top of this forum.

I suggest you avoid Mel's.

The only acceptable bag is a fanny pack with a 3 pronged fastener.

 

[helenb]

Oh goodness, I missed the 'in 10 days' part! We're arriving at Universal in 10 days too! We'll be at the Hard Rock. We're crossing our fingers that Diagon Alley will be in soft openings...

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

If you would prefer to carry a bag, the locker system at Universal is free and really easy to use. I would send one teen in each time to find a locker and put everyone's stuff away so that you don't have 4 people blocking everyone else.

If you have Harry Potter fans, I would advise going on the main castle ride once as a group, going through the full queue, but after that, if you want to ride it again (it is so worth riding over and over), use the single rider line. The entrance isn't well marked - it is a set of stairs next to the cast member immediately after you leave the locker area. DD and I are huge HP fans, and we probably rode 100 times over a 5 day period. We went first thing in the morning each day and rode for a while, and then we went back each evening when the lines began getting shorter. I don't know if the Gringotts ride will have a single rider line, but I would do the same thing with it - once through the whole queue, then the single rider line after that. FWIW, most of the rides that don't take the Express Pass do have a single rider line.

For food, we ate at the Three Broomsticks a number of times. Again, being HP fans, the setting was really fun for us. Honestly, none of the counter service meals we ate outside of that were really memorable.