SW, Universal, or OC Beach Bus tour

[Magalex]

We are taking our first DL/SOCal trip in July (7/9 to 7/16). We have one day free to pick a day activity. We have one 12 yr old DS. We do visit Orlando but we haven't been to Sea World Orlando for years(way too HOT in the FL. heat). I have read that the OC Beach Bus tour is not too reliable & they have cancelled at last minute. Any feedback on these tours would be great. We are staying at BW Stovall's Inn & no rental car. So which would be the easier tour?

 

[pigby]

We were staying at HoJo's a couple of years ago - exactly the same time you are going, incidentally and also without a rental car -when we booked a couple of trips - one to Universal and another the OC Beach woody bus tour.

Booked Universal via Grayline - they take you from your hotel to the central Grayline depot - not far away (still in Anaheim) and then from there you take your tour bus to Unibersal, Seaworld or whereever you want to go. All the buses leave at 9am - so as Universal only opened at 10am the day we were going, this worked out pretty well - they brought us back (dropped us off at our hotel) after the park closed - we choose an optional whistlestop evening tour of LA afterwards but you could come right back if you wanted to.

Booked the OC Bus tour direct - all seemed good except the evening before, the guy rang us to cancel and rebooked us for a couple of days later (the weather wasn't so great on that day so didnt have the best of times as too chilly for the beach - beware temperatures on the coast often are a good 10 degrees cooler). Afterwards, after telling us what time he would come and get us, there was no sign after an hour - in the end another driver picked us up (although to be fair, the traffic was bad on the way back).

We didnt choose Seaworld as we had just been to the one in Orlando but also because the Grayline bus left at 9am and it would take a couple of hours to get there which we thought would be way after the park opened (did that when we caught the Busch Gardens Express from Orlando - got there at 11am 2 hours after park opening and the bus left at 5pm and hour before it closed )

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

We are taking our first DL/SOCal trip in July (7/9 to 7/16). We have one day free to pick a day activity. We have one 12 yr old DS. We do visit Orlando but we haven't been to Sea World Orlando for years(way too HOT in the FL. heat). I have read that the OC Beach Bus tour is not too reliable & they have cancelled at last minute. Any feedback on these tours would be great. We are staying at BW Stovall's Inn & no rental car. So which would be the easier tour?

I have never done the OC Beach Bus tour so I cant confirm anything there, but I have done Sea World and Universal. Of the two I would pick Universal over Sea World. Our trip to Sea World in April 2012 was a let down from the trip we took there just 3 years earlier. And the Sea World in San Diego is nothing at all like Sea World in Orlando. Orlando is much better.

Universal would be my suggestion.

 

[Magalex]

Thanks so much for the feedback. It was very helpful. Even tho we just visited Universal Orlando in June 2012, we can consider Universal Hollywood just for the fact that the bus time would be shorter & I read good things about their backlot tour & I think our DS would be interested in the Transformers ride. I still have time to make our final decision. How far in advance should I make a bus tour reservation for either park?

 

[pigby]

Thanks so much for the feedback. It was very helpful. Even tho we just visited Universal Orlando in June 2012, we can consider Universal Hollywood just for the fact that the bus time would be shorter & I read good things about their backlot tour & I think our DS would be interested in the Transformers ride. I still have time to make our final decision. How far in advance should I make a bus tour reservation for either park?

I think we booked the Universal trip a month before online - our bus was full on the day we went so I am not sure how long we could have left it.

BTW We also went to US Orlando in June 2012. In Hollywood we love the Horror maze - not sure how that would work for your 12yo. This coming September we are staying in Hollywood first so it's going to be really easy for us to visit Universal on the Metro - only one stop from where we are staying

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

Thanks so much for the feedback. It was very helpful. Even tho we just visited Universal Orlando in June 2012, we can consider Universal Hollywood just for the fact that the bus time would be shorter & I read good things about their backlot tour & I think our DS would be interested in the Transformers ride. I still have time to make our final decision. How far in advance should I make a bus tour reservation for either park?

The backlot tour is fantastic. The King Kong in 3D is on that tour, and it looks like hes right there getting ready to tear you up, great effects. If you go to US make sure and do the Backlot Tour first as the line just gets longer and longer as the day goes on. If your there at opening everyone makes a beeline for the backlot tour, but it goes down real fast at first, then it starts backing up and that ride does close early in the day.

I can speak for the Transformer ride too. We were there in April before the ride actually opened but the day we were there they had a soft opening and we got to ride it and it was a fantastic ride.