Please help out a Universal Newbie

[Momof4DisneyLuvrs]

We're planning a trip to Florida in June. Our kids will be 18, 14, 7, 5, and 3. Grandma is coming too. We are staying offsite-thinking Floridays. Here is my thoughts-6-7 nights at Floridays. I was going to get the SeaWorld/Aquatica combo ticket and they have a free food deal at both if we stay at Floridays. I was thinking of purchasing a 3 day base ticket at Universal without the park-to-park option. I don't think we'll use it staying off-site.

Is 3 days enough at Universal? My Mom, husband, and 18 year old are huge Harry Potter fans.

Is not getting the park-to-park option a good idea?

What about the Express line option? It's a lot of money for all of us. Should I just get it for the big kids? Purchase it when we get there?

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!!!

 

[keishashadow]

Hi

We've found June less crowded overall than late.

Re the SW/Aquatica tix, not sure how much you're paying but I bought ours thru entertainment (the monthly pay as you go version). It's a buy SW get Aquatica free adults $79.99 + tax

No experience with Floridays but I priced out the free food pkg last October at the hotels nearest SW and the free food/tix equated to paying rack rate++__. Make sure to look for discounted rates and price it out both ways.

If offsite have you looked into lastminutetravel? There are ways to determine what hotel you are buying, google or check out the offsite resort thread here. The Sheraton Vistana usually has a good deal on 1 & 2 BR units, we liked the Cascade section.

re U tickets: If there is a huge difference in park to park, since you're big HP fans and allocating 3 days, I'd skip it for budgetary reasons.

Have fun planning your trip.

 

[patster734]

3 days should be enough, but get the park-to-park option. Unlike Disney, the parks are adjacent to each other and it's a short walk between the two.

 

[mesaboy2]

I think three days without park-to-park is enough for you. True, the parks are right next to each other and you might miss the ability to go to the other one if crowds are bad, but that's about it.

I would recommend doing one park the first day, the other park the second day, and then choose your favorite for the third. If the oldest ones are big HP fans, I'm guessing IoA will be your repeat day.

As for the Express option, there is no reason to purchase it in advance. You can only make an intelligent decision whether it's worth it once you've seen the crowds there that day. You never know when a brief rainstorm might clear out the parks for you for free. A big downside to purchasing it in advance is that is non-refundable and date-specific. For those reasons the conventional wisdom is to wait until there to decide.

There are a number of rides that offer a single-rider queue, including the signature attraction (Forbidden Journey) in WWoHP. That costs nothing and can significantly reduce your wait time also. SR is not important on FJ as you can't see your ridemates anyway.

 

[Badge]

Keep in mind that if express is something you what to purchase, you might want to just stay onsite. Your room key acts as an unlimited express pass so you can ride whatever ride you want over and over. The one you purchase in the parks is only good once per ride for that day. The cost of the offsite room with a purchase of the express is normally more expensive (sometimes more than $100) than just staying onsite. So you could stay at the offsite hotel for Seaworld and stuff, and then just stay onsite for your Universal part of the trip.

However like others have said, I really suggest getting park to park. The parks are within minutes from each other walking. Both parks have some great rides that you will want to do more than once. Also, the parks normally don't close at the same time. So when the Studios closes, you can head over to IOA and get a ride or two in and pick up another butterbeer