Please help with recommendations for resort and park tickets

[5forDis]

We are Disney experts but our upcoming trip (April 22-May 1) will be a chance to go to Universal for he first time. We are huge Harry Potter fans so we definitely want to stay on- site at a Universal resort our first night to get the benefit of front of the line pass & one day of early admission to HP. April 23-30 we will stay at our time share.

There are 5 of us (hubby-who wishes we were only staying with Disney, me---huge Harry Potter nerd, son---age 11 who is so thrilled to get more thrill rides, daughter--age 10 who thinks she is Hermione and has read the books at least 7 times each, and daughter age 7---goes with the flow.

Where to stay with 3 kids for 1 night (April 22-23)? I am not concerned with bring crowded in the room as it is only one night and we will be in the parks most of the time. Kids have food allergies so we are not interested in the Club level.

April 22: Arrive in Orlando at 8:30 AM. Rent car. Drive to Universal resort (???? Which one). Head over to Universal Studios park---explore the park, do thrill rides and then to WWOHP in the evening.
April 23: check out of our resort (but can we still keep our car at the hotel? ) .
Go to WWOHP early (7-7:30)? Spend the day at Island of Adventures. Go back to resort and get our car. Head to condo.
April 24: SeaWorld (7 yr old's request)
April 25: Aquatica in the AM (?) & WWoHP in the afternoon/evening
April 26: Port Canaveral for our cruise until April 29th
April 29: relax, resort pool
April 30: Magic Kingdom

Disney tickets are already purchased.

I am wondering what tickets to buy for Universal/SeaWorld. We will not be back within a year. Best place to purchase?

Best Universal Resort for 2 adults, 3 children? Can I book it for 2 adults/2 children or does everyone need to be on reservation?

I went on AAA's site and didn't see a discount. Do I need to call Universal directly to book this?

Thanks for any help you can share from your experiences at Universal. This is a whole new world...I mean Universe...for us.

 

[RACEFAN9]

My family is a big fan of Universal.After our first trip there my kids dont ever want to go to Disney again.Staying onsite your room key is your front of the line pass,you have a seperate line with nowait or maybe 3-5 min.top.By your day planner looks like you are only doing Islands of Adventure and not Universal Studios which has some cool rides like the Mummy,Jaws,Simpsons,Rip-ride rocket.Looks like you will need a 3 day pass which you can buy from the Universal website.Seaworld website has where you can buy Seaworld&Aquatica tickets for 119.99adults and 111.99 kids.We always buy them online and pick them up when we get to the park so theres no shipping charge.Royal Pacific would be the best since you are only staying one night.It's the cheapest but still a deluxe hotel.Parking is 15 plus tax a day.

 

[5forDis]

Thanks Racefan! I guess I wasn't clear...we are going to Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure. My oldest child is really looking forward the rides in Universal Studios.

 

[christophfam]

Where to stay with 3 kids for 1 night (April 22-23)? I am not concerned with bring crowded in the room as it is only one night and we will be in the parks most of the time. We've stayed 5 in a room at RPR and it is tight, but doable. We love RPR so much we have not tried any of the others. It is also usually the least expensive. I'd just look at the pics and prices and go with whichever resort looks the best to you. You really can't go wrong with any of them.

April 22: Arrive in Orlando at 8:30 AM. Rent car. Drive to Universal resort (???? Which one). Head over to Universal Studios park---explore the park, do thrill rides and then to WWOHP in the evening. Looks like a good plan although if the kids are really potter nerds it may be very hard to keep them from IOA upon arrival.
April 23: check out of our resort (but can we still keep our car at the hotel? ) . Yes you can keep the car at the resort and you can also leave your bags with the bell hop if you like.
Go to WWOHP early (7-7:30)? I'd go for the full hour of early entry. It will be one hour before regular hours. Spend the day at Island of Adventures. Go back to resort and get our car. Head to condo.
April 24: SeaWorld (7 yr old's request)
April 25: Aquatica in the AM (?) & WWoHP in the afternoon/evening
April 26: Port Canaveral for our cruise until April 29th
April 29: relax, resort pool
April 30: Magic Kingdom

Disney tickets are already purchased.

I am wondering what tickets to buy for Universal/SeaWorld. We will not be back within a year. Best place to purchase? Not sure about this. Costco does have a great 3 day pass that would allow you to use the 3rd day sometime before 2014 if you don't make it back after Aquatica.
Best Universal Resort for 2 adults, 3 children? Answered above .Can I book it for 2 adults/2 children or does everyone need to be on reservation? Everyone needs to be on the reservation to receive the express pass and early entry. Loews does not charge extra for 3 children in the room anyway. Only 3 adults would you receive an extra charge.

I went on AAA's site and didn't see a discount. Do I need to call Universal directly to book this? Someone else will have to chime in on AAA although it may just be too early. I'm an APH so I never use AAA.
Thanks for any help you can share from your experiences at Universal. This is a whole new world...I mean Universe...for us.

I think I answered most of your questions above in red. Hope it helps!

One other thing ... you may find that you get through the parks at amazing speeds with your express pass. One of the things we love about staying onsite is not having to rush around all day long. When at Disney we never take afternoon pool breaks, it is just too hard with buses and fastpasses and just way too time consuming. At Universal we always take pool breaks. The resorts are SO close and are very easy to get back and forth to. You may find you have time in the afternoons for pool breaks also. Not to mention the pools are awesome! My kids LOVE hanging at the RPR pool. You'd have access to the pool both days and there is an area to shower/change if you've already checked out.

 

[Melanie230]

Hi 5forDis...just wanted to add that if you stay one night at RPR you get 2 days of FOTL passes. So keep that in mind when you buy tickets. You get FOTL on the day of check in and the day you check out!