Please help me plan my agenda

[Triton]

Hi <IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused"> ,

I am staying at the Swan in May and I have alloted 2 days for me, my wife and my 3 yr old daughter to see IOA and US.

I have only seen US in the past so I'd like to see all as much as possible but since our daughter is young we will probably skip most of the coasters and since we have been to the studios before we figured we would spend a morning there to see Men in Black (babyswap) and Barney for her.

I understood they have a 2 day park swapper pass, so I guess we will get that.

My questions is how would you experienced visitors recommend I do this ?

I figure we will tour from 8am to about 3 pm both days. What are the best theme restaurants to visit, I care about theming more than food. I think I have to book Confisco's for the character lunch at least one day. Are there any other character meals ? I also really want to see Portofino Bay hotel. If I go there for breakfast at or before the park opens will I have to move my car to get to the parks ? I am probably going to skip most of the coasters at IOA but will babyswap for Spider Man and Jurrassic Park. I am thinking 1 full day at IOA and 1/2 of the other at US and 1/2 at IOA.

Any advice anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.



Matt

 

[Robinrs]

Hi, Matt:

Sorry, but this got bumped to the second page.

Sounds to me like you've got your itinerary down pat. I agree with the full day at IOA and splitting the second 50/50. If your daughter were older I think she'd fight you about leaving the Curious George area too early, though. And she will LOVE the Barney show!

To answer your question about character meals, Confisco's has the only one. It is a great one, by the way, my son and I never miss it.

I will be staying at the Dolphin in May and booked two days at the Hard Rock just BECAUSE... <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz"> When will you be there?

-------------------------

MOM
Mother of Michael
Proverbs 3:5-6

<font color=purple>Co-Moderator of the Community and Universal/IOA Boards</font color=purple>

 

[robsmom]

Your plan to go early is a good one. If possible you should also use the universal express passes to minimize the wait for your child. The babyswap for MIB is really great. The room has windows and overlooks the loading area, so ds could look at mom/dad get on the ride. Back to the future also had great babyswap. We did the early entry day at Universal and were able to do MIB, Back to the future, and ET between 8 and 9 and then focus on things that my son could do. I would allow plenty of time for Barney. The show is wonderful and the playarea was a great way to let the little guy burn off some steam. We actually did the whole thing twice in one day. I am lucky to have a kid who really does sleep in the stroller, so we had several hours of nap time later to baby swap and do some adult attractions. I was suprised how much my little guy was able to do at US. He especially liked ET. We took him on king kong, earthquake, jaws and twister!! He laughed and didn't get scared by anything!!. The only thing that you really need to avoid is terminator.

Someone on this side recommended the tratorria at Portofino and we tried it for dinner. They had a nice very kid friendly buffet (you know they welcome kids when you see pb&j sandwiches on the buffet). The have charactors on Monday. We saw Scooby.

offsite Feb, 1975
offsite Feb, 1976
Disney Vacation Villas, 1992 (now the institute?)
Marriott, 1994
Timeshare 1997

 

[Triton]

I will be going May 5 thru 13th. I am counting the days.

I didn't realize there were early entry days, I read that the 2 day park hopper will allow you early entry. What days are they ?

Do they allow you in to any restaurants before the park opens like Disney does with the character breakfasts ?

I'm not really a big fun of USF but I'm very excited to see IOA and the Portofino.

Thanks so much for the help, everyone.

Matt

 

[BarryHom]

Early entry is for onsite guests only.

As for breakfast, generally the only places that have breakfast at the parks are Croissant Moon Bakery, Green Eggs and Ham Cafe, and Circus McGurkus at IOA, and Beverly Hills Boulergie at USF. No restaurants are usually open before the official park opening. You may be able to enter the Port of Entry at IOA and the Hollywood area at USF before 9 am, but you cannot get past the roped area. If that is the case, then you can only get breakfast at the Croissant Moon Bakery and Beverly Hills Boulergie.

You can also have breakfast at the onsite hotels.

Barry Hom
The moderator formerly known as Barry aka usagi
Moderator, Universal and Sea World Boards


"If you were me, you'd be good looking."