So not into going to US/IOA...

[mbb]

but the kids are

We promised them that next trip, we would go....and I really don't want to plan anything for it....don't want to find out about tickets, accomodations..zip, zero, zilch.

I know, I'm a terrible mom...Just having a hard time getting excited about a trip that will be less WDW than *I'd* like!! (ed'td to add - but I'm still happy to be going)

Tell me I'm going to WDW...no problem. I'll read pages about stuff I've already seen!LOL

Anyone want to help?

 

[robvia]

Wow.

Everyone is here to help, that's what this board is for.

You need to plan, otherwise you'll have a terrible trip and blame the parks, when in fact, it's your own fault.
Like if you show up at 11am each day, you'll hate the place, because that's when the crowd hits. But if you get there at 8am, you'll have a great time.

 

[cocowum]

Or stay on site and you'll really love it!!!!!

 

[mbb]

Wow.

Everyone is here to help, that's what this board is for.

You need to plan, otherwise you'll have a terrible trip and blame the parks, when in fact, it's your own fault.
Like if you show up at 11am each day, you'll hate the place, because that's when the crowd hits. But if you get there at 8am, you'll have a great time.

Ooops. Maybe my post came across a little less "tongue in cheek" than I had intended.

Just hoping for some suggestions for park touring, tickets, and the like

We'll be heading back in January...is there really a need to stay on site for FOTL, or purchasing Express pass? Or would we be ok staying offsite, and getting there early, departing by lunch?

How many days should we plan on - for two kids, both 7 yrs old, and not thrill ride fans...??

Any tips would be most appreciated

 

[damo]

No you don't need an express pass but it is more fun to stay on site. Then you can enjoy a different atmosphere altogether and walk to the parks and citywalk and actually make it a total Universal experience instead of an I don't really want to be here but I'll do it for you experience. I'm sure Walt will forgive you if you venture off for a few days.
My advice is not to rush it but take your time and let the kids explore. There are many great areas for kids that people just ignore because they feel they are wasting their time at Universal. Your boys will love the Jurassic Park playground as well as the Discovery Centre at IOA. They will love eating at Mythos and spending time chatting with the talking fountain. They will want to watch the Sinbad show and ride the Unicorn Coaster. They will definitely want to ride the Pteranadon Flyers and watch the Dueling Dragons duel. Poseidan's Fury has some really neat special effects that will amaze them. It is always fun to watch the big splash on Jurassic Park River Adventure and then wander over and do Spiderman and perhaps Storm Force. It is neat to watch the Hulk Coaster and also great to ride Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish and perhaps play in their play area. It might be too cold to do the water rides but the three rides are tons of fun. It is also fun to squirt people!!! Me Ship the Olive might be closed while you are there, but it is a neat play area as well. Get their faces painted like their favourite superhero. Those painters do an amazing job. Make sure you watch the parade!!!

Universal Studios is full of great things for 7 year old boys. Actually, I think they would enjoy every single ride. Make sure you go on Men in Black several times because it is basically an immersed video game and they will want to try to get more points than their parents. They will love Terminator, Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, Twister, Earthquake, the Fear Factor Show, the Animal Planet Show, ET, the kiddie coaster and the play area surrounding it. Don't forget the Horror Make-up Show, they will laugh their heads off!!!

You see, you need to give it a chance. It is not Disney, but it is great. Stay on site, eat at the Nascar or NBA restaurant or even Margaritaville. The kids will love it and who knows, you might enjoy yourself a tiny, little bit.

 

[Sandyincanada]

Awww, Mbb if you go in with that attitude, your not going to let yourself enjoy it. USF/IOA are wonderful parks, soooo much fun. You need to plan as you would Disney but not as much because the crowds are abit thinner and thier fast pass system is better because they offer you a choice of 2 times. The park is cleaner especially the washrooms ( epcot was gross the other day) and its easier to get around as there aren't so many strollers to dodge, lol. We stay offsite because we go to all the parks and hate hotel hopping, hasn't been an issue if your there early. Your kids are still young but you still need a full day at each park. You and the kids will love Shrek, Spiderman, Suess LAnding, Jaws (corny but a classic, lol), Sinbad (not to be missed), and everything else Damo mentioned.

If you read some of the posts, you'll see how many people were surprised how much they loved these parks.

We went to Busch Gardens today (first time) and we now have added it to our must do list....loved it.

In Jan, its quiet but the least you should do is get familar with the rides and sorta plan out the big ones.

Sandy

 

[maggiew]

We went to Universal this last trip to try it out. My family loved it!!! (But we are Disney lovers too.) But we had a much more relaxing time at Universal. The Front of the Line access was PRICELESS!!!!! I would definitely recommend staying on site for that!! You could probably get away with just using the express passes, but our trip was so much better with FOTL!

My family really wants to do Universal again. It was different there - but in a good way. We love Disney but we also love Universal.

I found you don't really need to plan much at Universal with FOTL (my experience only). With Disney I had touring plans, etc. (Example - get Fast Pass for Space Moutain. See wait time on Buzz. If long wait, go on Tomorrowland Transit authority and see Carousel of Progress until space mountain time. etc.. You get the picture.) At Universal we just winged it.

Maggie

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I think you need about 3 days for Universal. One day to see each park in its entirety, and then one day to hit your favorites again and tour citywalk. I assume you are joking about leaving by lunch. When I've done Universal I usually don't do Disney...there are a lot of things to see in Orlando other than WDW and a Universal focused trip is a great time to do that.

 

[ChisJo]

I must admit that i didn't really enjoy my first trip to Universal. Why? Because I went in with the attitude that the park just couldn't compare to Disney. Last year, I went again, and seemed more excited about it because I was finally going to go to IOA. I stayed onsite at HRH and just couldn't believe how much fun I had. The location of the hotel just cannot be beat, the FOTL was more amazing than I can even explain, the cast members were so fabulous and obviously enjoying their jobs, and the rides were so much more geared for me then Disney. I have to admit that I love Universal now that I have seen the other side. I was so dedicated to Disney that I couldn't let go of that desire to only please that relationship, but now that I cheated on Disney, I will not be faithful anymore. Give it a fair shot and really enjoy yourself. The kids will appreciate it more than you know.
Jo

 

[Universal FReak]

i went to WDW today
biggest waste of time for me

universal is the only place for me........maybe its because i go every other day.....well thats not the point
universal and IOA have updated rides that have really good story lines and the IOA is full of thrills

i couldn't believe that people waited to go on splash mountain(its only 50 feet tall) jurassic park never has a long wait because it unloads so many people
also it has an 85 foot drop

maybe disney is good for kids but not for me at all
just to prove how much i loved universal i had all of my universal and ROTM stuff on
also please dont hate me(the following is was just my opinion....if disney is good for you great but it doesn't cut it for me as a thrill seeker)

 

[highlander447]

Ok I think mbb was joking and only kidding that its only the kids that want to go to the parks as for staying onsite in January its not needed the rides and shows are very manageable use the free express passes as well though
u will love the parks the rides and shows are great do not miss the horror make up show its well worth the visit

 

[Corporal_Radar]

i went to WDW today
biggest waste of time for me

universal is the only place for me........maybe its because i go every other day.....well thats not the point
universal and IOA have updated rides that have really good story lines and the IOA is full of thrills

i couldn't believe that people waited to go on splash mountain(its only 50 feet tall) jurassic park never has a long wait because it unloads so many people
also it has an 85 foot drop

(the following is was just my opinion....if disney is good for you great but it doesn't cut it for me as a thrill seeker)

i am just the same way... my x-boyfriend would drag me to disney... and he would be like
'woooht! lets do that again!!!!!' and i would say
'woooht!!!! hows about not!!! i am sick of space mountain... and all this other crap!!!! take me home!!!!!((or at least to universal!))' he would get angry with me and then i would go home without a hug from him or anything...
plus, i like to go to disney with all of my universal back to the future pins, shirts and ponchos....^___^ then when we are at universal.. i like to count the people who wear disney stuff to universal... and we end up with alot throughout the day...


however, i would never go on jp again...that ride scarred me so much... i never get scared of rides... and universal did a good job of that...

^___^ mmmmm but i love the hulk...

 

[mbb]

I really didn't mean to read like I didn't want to do US/IOA
But it did..I apologize.

I am hoping, though, that like maggiew, highlander447 and SandyinCanada suggested, I won't have to "plan" so much, and just wing it a little more. I think we're going to try for a good rate a RPR for two nights (Thursday and Friday, maybe..?)...use FOTL if we have to, and enjoy the pool in the afternoon. (sorry, doubletrouble_vb we're parked out by lunch in all our trips to WDW, we've missed the afternoon parades in favour of pool/nap time)

Damo, thanks for taking the time to post all those great suggestions for us And ChrisJo, thanks for your honesty about your first trip. And CorporalRadar and UniversalFreak...I think my kids will get to the point of "Nooooo more WDW this trip!! Take us to US!! It's more FUN!!!!!"

...and maybe I'm not ready for them to "grow up" so fast... LOL!!

Thanks again, all

 

[highlander447]

If u can afford the $$ then onsite is great the RPR is a very good hotel and great pool area allows u to relax in the afternoon at the pool while doing the parks in the am

 

[SplashMom]

Hi mbb--I can relate to what you are saying! I love Disney and was reluctant to try US/IOA but my family convinced me to be "open to new things." We are going in March and we have added three nights at the HRH to the end of our Disney stay. I have been researching through these boards and now I am looking forward to US/IOA as much as my kids are!! We have a pool view room at Hard Rock and a cabana booked for Friday night dive-in movie. Front of the line passes look fabulous. It is Mardi Gras on the Saturday night we are there--I'm sure we are going to have a blast!! Hopefully, you will as well!

 

[kaceyisme]

It took us many many years to tear ourselves away from just doing Disney. I was so scared that I would have a terrible time and miss Disney the whole time I was there. I mean, how could you possibly be in Orlando and not go to Disney? My relatives and neighbors both went to Universal and came back raving, and then we saw the Portofino on Great Hotels, and that was it for us. We booked a stay last June, and wouldn't you know it, we went back again in October. We just loved it! The Portofino is just gorgeous, and the parks are wonderful, especially with FOTL. We are going back again in October. If you can swing it, try a stay at the Portofino. It's definitely my new favorite hotel. We are going to Disney in August (and on the Disney Cruise), but we'll be back in Universal in October!

 

[powellrj]

we were HUGE planners on our Disney trips. We would chart out our day and get there before they opened go commando style until early afternoon and then go back to the hotel and die. We didn't have to do this with our Universal trip. We stayed at the RPR club level and acually relaxed this trip. We would get up and have breakfast in the club lounge. Then we would swim or the kids would watch a movie while we sat and read the newspapers. We would go over to citywalk at lunch time and have a nice lunch before we hit the parks. We would hit the parks all afternoon and then go back to the hotel and swim and enjoy the evening and relax. It was the best vacation we had ever had because we really came home relaxed and refreshed!! FOTL was the greatest!!!! And the water taxis were an added bonus!!