Staying at Universal Orlando alone

[Harry Potter]

Hello everybody. New to these forums, but have lurked for a long time. I am a huge fan of Universal Orlando, in particular IOA (and not just since WWoHP, either).

Last summer I travelled alone from the UK for a 4 night stay at Universal Orlando at the Royal Pacific during the soft opening week of WWoHP for resort guests (before the grand opening). I had a bit of business to attend to (well, research for a thesis, actually) hence the decision to go alone.

It was the greatest 4 nights I have spent overseas! The only regret was that it was over too soon.

However, this summer I have once again planned to come to Universal Orlando's RPR - this time for 7 nights. Orlando cannot really be described as a lads' holiday (so I cannot get any friends to pay £2000 just to visit a theme park or two) and I am not in the position to have a "romantic getaway", either.

So unfortunately I am coming alone again, only this time with no 'research' to keep me occupied when at the hotel.

I just wanted your honest opinions, how sad does it look when you see somebody like me either in a queue on his own, or ruining your family on-ride photo (like me in the back seat of Ripsaw Falls)?

Obviously the term 'Single-Rider' is now a cool buzzword, especially for the popular rides like Forbidden Journey, or even Spider-man on busy days so I don't have any shame or embarrassment for that kind of thing. But the notion of checking into a hotel for 7 nights as a 'Single-Roomer'?

One day I will pride in taking my family/kids to Universal Orlando. But at the moment I only have myself.

 

[IdesOmarch]

Don't be worried in the least about what other people may think. Number one, they won't think at all, about you. People are too busy keeping up with their kids, significant others etc., to worry about a single person. Plus no one will wonder any of those things because anytime someone sees someone alone, they may just as well think, that guy's family didn't want to ride the ride with him, or he is checking in the hotel and his other will check in later, or whatever. People really don't have the time or inclination to "worry" about someone else like that.

Been here done that, the only thing I would say is these types of trips can be lonely, I've done them. And true they are more fun when you have friends or family to do them with. But I have been in your situation before, so what I can say is your 7 day trip to Universal is definitely better than no trip at all. Don't worry about anything just have fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ditto to what Ides said.

 

[rpbert1]

I would not worry, as everyone is there for a good time, wether on your own or not.
As for pictures, there is only DW DD and myself, so we usually have a 3rd person in our picture, never bothers us [ we just cut them out with scissors when we get home[ only joking.

 

[Metro West]

I go to the parks at Universal and Disney alone all the time...it doesn't bother me a bit.

 

[DOOM1001]

Many,Many people (including myself) go to the theme parks alone every day,it's just a very common thing.

 

[Yoshi]

While I have never gone to Orlando theme parks alone, 90%+ of my trips to local theme park are solo trips because my friends just aren't interested in roller coasters and even if they were, no one would want to go at least once a week like I do now (if this offseason would ever end!)

I try to pick slow days to go so I am not standing in line for a long time but once in a while people will start a conversation with me (I wear coaster shirts to parks sometimes so that helps start conversations).

 

[nytimez]

It's pathetic and you should be ashamed of yourself. And don't you dare disgrace my photo or ruin my queue experience with your solo-ness!


Seriously... have fun and don't look back. However, you might want to plan a few other things -- I think 7 days is a bit long for Universal Studios.

 

[Armadillo4]

I'll echo what many others have already posted. Don't worry about it! I've made many solo trips to WDW, Universal, and the local parks here in California. All the other tourists and guests are too busy to think about you. Or they'll assume the rest of your party decided to skip that particular ride or are somewhere else in the park.

Have fun on your trip!!

 

[ldmilton]

I agree with what has already been posted. I usually travel with my husband, but have no problem traveling solo. One of my best trips was to Orlando for 5 days by myself. I do not mind eating in restaurants alone and enjoy the quiet, sometimes indulgent time spent in the parks doing things I want to do and at my own pace. While I was alone for 5 days, I was never lonely.

But 7 days does seem a bit long for just Universal so maybe plan Seaworld or a Disney day or two. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time!

 

[macraven]

gee, i must be weird as i never thought twice about going solo to orlando....




been going solo for the last 6 years, stay 2 weeks and never get bored.
i love it................


many times i have met up with other homies that love the darkside for a meal or time in the park together.


but for the most part, i am alone.
i eat alone, do the rides alone and sometimes talk to myself about all the fun i am having..



all the pictures i take end of up with strangers in them.
i call them my extended family to anyone who asks, "who is that?".....


go solo and enjoy yourself.
you will have an awesome time!

and if you go in early october, i'll join you at mib and beat your score...

 

[Tink2Day]

While I went with someone else, I was on my own quite a bit because the other person was in seminars and meetings.
I'm kind of reserved and shy but apparently have a friendly face because any number of people struck up conversations with me. On one ride at AK a couple asked to sit with me and we visited with each other (not to worry, no one else was on the ride so we didn't disturb).

At IOA, while I was with my travel mate they didn't want to go back on the FJ so I went alone several times and again had a family visiting with me. Being an older person they may have wondered a bit, but we got around to that explanation and had a fun time talking about HP in the queue and noticing the various things.

While I waited as my sister went on a ride, people would come up and speak to me. So I'd say go, have fun and enjoy.

Lots of people do things alone all the time, I do. In fact I enjoy not having to worry where the grands are or whether someone is getting too tired etc.

Just take life by the horns, smile be happy and you'll be surprised how many people will be drawn to you! The best thing for me is the freedom to do what I want, speak to people if I want or have some solitary enjoyment of the adventure I'm on. So just live life and ENJOY!!!


p.s. I'd say the OP being Harry Potter after all and having been to US would know if 7 days is too much.
Thats one problem with going solo, people try to plan your trip for you

I could easily have spent 7 days there, not feeling rushed and getting to see everything and do everything with down time and relaxation would have been nice.

 

[Best Aunt]

OP, if you're a Harry Potter fan and you want to go to Universal Orlando this summer, have you considered Leakycon 2011?

http://www.leakycon.com/

 

[Harry Potter]

OP, if you're a Harry Potter fan and you want to go to Universal Orlando this summer, have you considered Leakycon 2011?

That was a great idea, but I checked the dates and I will be there 5 weeks earlier. Mind you, I am sure the WWoHP will be JAMPACKED during the Deathly Hallows final film release.

 

[Harry Potter]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys.

However, I wanted to share one little story which kind of ruined my experience last year.

As a single rider, I rode the Forbidden Journey many times in my 5 day stay, two dozen times I think (and it wasn't even open on the first day). Yet on the very last time I rode it, one of the ride ops who had been noticing me over the past few days, decided to make a remark about how I was always on the ride: "omg, like you're always here!". And he said it in a disparaging way, not a jokey way. I doubt he would have made such a comment about riding so much if I had my mates with me, or if I was with my girlfriend or whatnot. It was pretty obvious he said it out of discrimination because I was always on my own. Other ride ops were near him as he said it, and they stared at me disrespectfully too.


1. I am a big Harry Potter fan, I made my expensive trip from ENGLAND (despite being a poor student lol) primarily to ride The Forbidden Journey. That might sound a little sad, but if you're a theme park fan AND a HP fan, well it's a no-brainer.

2. Obviously rhere are hundreds of thousands of people who want to ride Forbidden Journey, it is arguably the finest theme park ride in existence...the queues are testament to that (7 hrs last July?). So the single-rider queue is ultimately the way to go. Everybody knows that. Chances are, ride ops see a lot of people 'riding solo' simply to avoid queuing for hours - so why did he feel the need to pick on me?

Very unprofessional. This ruined my confidence of going on that ride again because I didn't want to bump into him again.

 

[Rahel]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys.

However, I wanted to share one little story which kind of ruined my experience last year.

As a single rider, I rode the Forbidden Journey many times in my 5 day stay, two dozen times I think (and it wasn't even open on the first day). Yet on the very last time I rode it, one of the ride ops who had been noticing me over the past few days, decided to make a remark about how I was always on the ride: "omg, like you're always here!". And he said it in a disparaging way, not a jokey way. I doubt he would have made such a comment about riding so much if I had my mates with me, or if I was with my girlfriend or whatnot. It was pretty obvious he said it out of discrimination because I was always on my own. Other ride ops were near him as he said it, and they stared at me disrespectfully too.


1. I am a big Harry Potter fan, I made my expensive trip from ENGLAND (despite being a poor student lol) primarily to ride The Forbidden Journey. That might sound a little sad, but if you're a theme park fan AND a HP fan, well it's a no-brainer.

2. Obviously rhere are hundreds of thousands of people who want to ride Forbidden Journey, it is arguably the finest theme park ride in existence...the queues are testament to that (7 hrs last July?). So the single-rider queue is ultimately the way to go. Everybody knows that. Chances are, ride ops see a lot of people 'riding solo' simply to avoid queuing for hours - so why did he feel the need to pick on me?

Very unprofessional. This ruined my confidence of going on that ride again because I didn't want to bump into him again.

I'm very sorry to hear you had that experience. He definitely should not have made you feel unwelcome at all. However, I wouldn't let that discourage you. As I local I go to the parks all the time, sometimes solo. Most people won't glance twice at you or even realize you are alone. I say just go and have a good time, enjoy the parks. The vast majority of people there won't even notice you're there solo.

 

[Tecbot]

I go to the parks by myself all the time its great you can gogogo or just relax if you want. Never thought about what other people thought don't really care either i don't know them and since I'm from a different country the odds of seeing them again or actually remembering someone you saw earlier in a busy park is really slim there is nothing to worry about.

I normally do a ride about 10 times then move to next one if i like it and am having fun on it and wait times are non-existant i have done a ride 20+ times in a row, I go during slow season so wait times are usually 5-10 minutes anyway the Cm or whatever at MIB ride noticed i was walking around every time and told me to use the child swap area so i didn't have to walk around every time to get to the single rider line, I would wait till the sr line cleared and normal line cleared and was good to go again and again till a new lady came in on shift change and acted like I stole her life savings by gunpoint, i just went back to walking around and around while she was there it wasn't a big deal no one was waiting every time i went up the ramp anyway but its policy i guess, she ended up smiling every time i came up ramp and saying you again. you see that person for such little time that there opinion really doesn't matter and if you are having fun you forget about them in about 10 seconds anyway, you could of just joked with him about how much more you are going to be there and make him look like a ******* in front of everyone then kept riding and riding at will but i guess everyone has a different feeling about what others think and this did ruin your day of sr lining this ride or normally which sucks.

 

[mtblujeans]

Hello everybody. New to these forums, but have lurked for a long time. I am a huge fan of Universal Orlando, in particular IOA (and not just since WWoHP, either)....

I just wanted your honest opinions, how sad does it look when you see somebody like me either in a queue on his own, or ruining your family on-ride photo (like me in the back seat of Ripsaw Falls)?

Obviously the term 'Single-Rider' is now a cool buzzword, especially for the popular rides like Forbidden Journey, or even Spider-man on busy days so I don't have any shame or embarrassment for that kind of thing. But the notion of checking into a hotel for 7 nights as a 'Single-Roomer'?

One day I will pride in taking my family/kids to Universal Orlando. But at the moment I only have myself.

My husband and I will be heading to Universal the end of March. If you see us in front of you on any given ride, would you please hold your fingers up in a 'V' shape behind our heads when the ride approaches the cameras so we have something good in our picture? We're tired of the same old photos of us looking terrified as we approach the waterfalls/drop/dark pit!

We love the Men In Black ride and we will ride it overandoverandover no matter what anyone thinks. One time we had a couple of young girls from Europe ride with us and they joined us in the repeated loop for about 1/2 an hour!

Enjoy your trip!