Question?

[DisneyDreamer04]

I need to start off by saying this is our first time to Universal. We are a family of five, teens and up. I am currently looking at booking a dockside room, just cause I hear it will be most comfortable for our stay. Here come the questions.. I am trying to decide if I should get the B3G2 park to park that includes volcano bay, or just get the 2 park pass, rent a throwaway room( I think that is what y’all call it) for the express passes, and take the fam to sea world, because of all the time we will be saving with express passes. We are not crowd people, we don’t normally take vacations when its crowded, we travel in off seasons. Just so you guys have an idea of where we are coming from. I understand there are lines, but I have heard get em, and you don’t need them. I have looked at crowd calendars and its 5/10 except our 1st day and last..
We just decided to go, and are wanting to book today, for trip headed down mothers day. Is that enough time to plan? I keep hearing it isn’t at all like WDW, which took a ton of timing to plan. So, I am trying to figure a lot out in a short amount of time.
Last question.. I keep hearing about dinner reservations how do I go about doing that? Do I need to have tickets purchased before I can book those?

Any 1st timer tips?

Thank you guys so much in advance!

 

[Dawn Peterson]

The answers to your questions probably depend on some preferences. We always choose express pass hotel and stay because we love the quick walks/boat. We have been several times though so we may start hitting up Aventura. For a 5/10 you may not need express passes if you are early morning people. From our experiences, parks are busiest 11am-3pm. We go early and always take pool/lunch breaks and go back in. Very similar to Disney in that respect.

Express pass will not help you on Hagrids or Velocicoaster. Hagrids will probably be your longest wait or a virtual line. I don’t think EP helps that much on the other rides either. Without them you will probably wait 30 min per ride vs 15 min. Unless you are trying during a Busy time. If you have at least 3 days in the parks you are probably fine.

You don’t have to plan, but be aware of hours, which park has early morning and a rough idea of what rides you don’t want to miss.

To book dining just go to the Universal Website, check out the individual restaurant page and there will be a link to “online reservations”. Very easy. Reservations can be full on weekends but availability is pretty good. Exceptions are usually Bigfire and Toothsome. Book those first probably. You don’t need tickets. You can get into CityWalk without a ticket just to shop and eat. Like Disney Springs but with security.

We are going in May before FL schools get out and I’m afraid crowds are going to be busier than we have seen. The crowd calendars seem off lately. So if you want to get everything done and move onto Seaworld you might need the EP/throw away room. My recommendation would be to take the time in Universal though. There is a bunch of fun stuff to see and do and we find it to be more relaxing than Disney.

 

[Kit Jackson]

@DisneyDreamer04-How many days is your trip? How many days are you planning in Universal? That will help me answer your questions.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

@DisneyDreamer04-How many days is your trip? How many days are you planning in Universal? That will help me answer your questions.

We have 5 day pass to all three park to park. Thanks!

 

[Kit Jackson]

We have 5 day pass to all three park to park. Thanks!

If you don't like crowds and have 5 days, I would reccomend spending time in the parks all five days, but not always staying rope drope to close. Consider leaving the parks for an hour or two during the afternoon if it gets crowded and spend some at your hotel, especially poolside. With five days you will have more than enough time to do all of the rides, food, shows and shopping you want without having to rush.

 

[theFoof]

Since it is your first time to Universal I'd say you definitely need more than one day even with express to really get the most out of it. That being said you probably don't need a full 5 days for Universal either, 2-3 is the sweet spot for me.

I'd get the premier throwaway room for one night (those hotels are nice to be throwing away but I get the inconvenience in having to move your stuff etc). That one night gets you unlimited express for check-in and check out day. Express works for most things except Hagrid's/Velocicoaster. Velocicoaster has a pretty manageable wait anyway for the most part, even if it says it's over an hour it's usually like 45 minutes. That way if there is some ride you all really end up liking you can ride as much as you want without having to worry about time too much.

On Sea World it is a fun day, just don't pay full price they are always running ticket deals. One day is also plenty there. Just make sure you know what shows you want to see, and what time they are. Mako is one of the best coasters around.

I can't speak on Volcano Bay because I'm not a water park kind of guy.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

More days will let you explore more - both because of more actual time, but also not feeling like you have to just do rides or else you're "wasting" Express Pass time.

With teens and up, you can use the single rider lines to great advantage so you still get lots of rides in. For rides with back stories (esp Gringotts) it is ideal to use the regular line first time through.