Spent 2 days, not a fan

[cmd]

We are flying to Orlando this week really JUST to see Harry Potter world this week. Now i'm not sure if i should buy a 2 day package (vs. the 1 day ticket for IOA) and do Universal Studios the 2nd day (we're there 2 1/2 days total) or should we just hang at the Royal Pacific resort (pool, etc) on the 2nd day and chill. My kids (ages 10, 9, 6) are HP fanatics but not big roller coaster or rides kids so not sure we NEED to do the 2nd day at Universal Studios, but don't want to be bored on Saturday esp. if it's a bit cool for swimming (72 degress is the predicition)? If I order online it's an additional $150 to buy tix to Univ Studios on top of my IOA tix. If i wait till we get there and decide we should do US on Saturday, it will cost me another $430!! help!!

 

[brenda1966]

There's a lot of fun stuff over at US -- Men in Black, Mummy, Despicable Me, Simpsons, E.T.. My DD loves rides and being in the parks. I think I'd go for the tickets for $150 and try US at least once.

 

[macraven]

We are flying to Orlando this week really JUST to see Harry Potter world this week. Now i'm not sure if i should buy a 2 day package (vs. the 1 day ticket for IOA) and do Universal Studios the 2nd day (we're there 2 1/2 days total) or should we just hang at the Royal Pacific resort (pool, etc) on the 2nd day and chill. My kids (ages 10, 9, 6) are HP fanatics but not big roller coaster or rides kids so not sure we NEED to do the 2nd day at Universal Studios, but don't want to be bored on Saturday esp. if it's a bit cool for swimming (72 degress is the predicition)? If I order online it's an additional $150 to buy tix to Univ Studios on top of my IOA tix. If i wait till we get there and decide we should do US on Saturday, it will cost me another $430!! help!!

if you can't decide before you go, you can upgrade your one day ticket to a two day ticket while at the park that day.

do the upgrade before the park closes on the day you go.
if you wait until the next day to add another ticket, it wouldn't work as the one day ticket will have expired.


or, you could upgrade the one day one park ticket to a park to park ticket for that day.

 

[cmd]

I had no idea about the upgrade option once we get there and see how we feel after spending day at IOA - Thanks very much for the info - sounds like the best way to go. Appreciate it

 

[Metro West]

I had no idea about the upgrade option once we get there and see how we feel after spending day at IOA - Thanks very much for the info - sounds like the best way to go. Appreciate it

Just make sure you upgrade before leaving the park for the day.

 

[HolidayRose]

Count me in the loves Universal and Disney camp. Last June we spent 5 days at WDW and 5 at Universal and enjoyed every minute. We found the Universal employees to be just as pleasant and warm as those at WDW. I think IOA is the most visually stunning amusement park I have ever been to. Construction was well under way in Universal Studios while we were there and still enjoyed the park immensely.

 

[tlinus]

I love them both. The two (Disney and Universal) are apples and oranges, you can't compare them. Totally different experiences. Once we got into that mindset our Universal trips became more fun.

 

[DawnM]

We ended up not going at all.

We got so sick (flu) while in Orlando that we didn't even use all of our Disney days! Sigh.

Thankfully our tickets are good until 2015.

14, 12, and 8.

We have decided to go on Tuesday of next week. Hopefully it won't be too crowded.

Dawn

 

[damo]

We ended up not going at all.

We got so sick (flu) while in Orlando that we didn't even use all of our Disney days! Sigh.

Thankfully our tickets are good until 2015.

Oh no!!! It is awful being sick while on vacation!

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

We always visit WDW/UO when in Orlando, but in January we have a cruise in the middle of a two week holiday, and only our two year old will be with us this time instead of the teens, so maybe UO will be cut in favour of WDW. That said Universal is far better value than WDW. We can get 14 days for around $150, and by visiting in January we very rarely queue for any ride or attraction (and if there was a queue like HP we just went in the single rider line and walked straight on), in fact around an hour before park closing we seemed to be able to hit an incredible number of rides as the park had virtually emptied. I still think WDW is far better for younger children, but for ages of 8 years and up UO is a bargain.

 

[PoohJen]

To the OP - your experience pretty much summed up my family's experience. We were there last year for 2 days (one night at Uni hotel - just for their fast pass/early open option!). I have 3 teen boys, who at the time were 14-18 - we spent a half day at the hotel pool! (which the boys really had enjoyed; big contrast to our usual "park commando" pace).

It was summer. The parks were crowded (well, IOS mostly), the staff VERY FRIENDLY but a bit discoordinated re: crowd control. We did all the rides and rollercoasters, but as we walked thru US on the second day, one of my teens asked with sincere wonder, "This was fun but, how do they get people to come back?" I think his point was "ok, can check this one off the list", whereas we are big Disney fans, and my kids' vacation of choice is a Disney cruise. (they haven't been to wdw in years - perhaps at this age they'd feel the same about those parks). (ouch, I know, Blasphemy!!!).

We are also HUGE Harry Potter fans, and really did love the Hogswart/Hogsmeade ambiance. I hope they expand that portion of the park.

 

[macraven]

To the OP - your experience pretty much summed up my family's experience. We were there last year for 2 days (one night at Uni hotel - just for their fast pass/early open option!). I have 3 teen boys, who at the time were 14-18 - we spent a half day at the hotel pool! (which the boys really had enjoyed; big contrast to our usual "park commando" pace).

It was summer. The parks were crowded (well, IOS mostly), the staff VERY FRIENDLY but a bit discoordinated re: crowd control. We did all the rides and rollercoasters, but as we walked thru US on the second day, one of my teens asked with sincere wonder, "This was fun but, how do they get people to come back?" I think his point was "ok, can check this one off the list", whereas we are big Disney fans, and my kids' vacation of choice is a Disney cruise. (they haven't been to wdw in years - perhaps at this age they'd feel the same about those parks). (ouch, I know, Blasphemy!!!).

We are also HUGE Harry Potter fans, and really did love the Hogswart/Hogsmeade ambiance. I hope they expand that portion of the park.

with the expansions for parry hotter that are in the works, i'm sure you will love going back to enjoy it in the future.