Ticket Question -- Universal Newbie

[thewelts]

Our family of 3 (9 year old son) plan to visit Universal for the first time in December 22-24.

At this point we plan to spend 2 nights... We will arrive on the afternoon of the 22nd. We will check into our hotel by 4 PM. Should we plan to go into the park that night? Can we go to Blue Man without a park ticket?

On December 23 we plan to be in the park all day.
On December 24, we check out at 11 AM and head to the airport.

Question... Is it worth it to purchase a 3-day park-to-park ticket since we will only be in the park a few hours on days 1 and 3?

Should we buy a 2-day, if so, should we use it for day 1 & 2 or day 2 & 3? Final option, should we just do everything in 1 day?

I would love your advice... At Disneyland we always get a 4-day hopper for our 3 night visit and we are grateful for every minute in the park. I'm not sure Universal is the same.

p.s. We are conflicted between spending $500/night for an on-site hotel vs. $130/night at the Hyatt across the street.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[jasonflk]

First be aware that the parks will be crowded and therefore this reduces your chances of completing everything. You can help yourselves by getting Express passes which will more than make up the price difference between onsite an off site, add early opening for harry potter and location i think if you can afford go for it.

USF is open till 8am and IOA till 9pm, so that gives you at least 5 hours on your first day to get somethings under your belt. I would do the Blueman group on the second day as you will stating early 8am IOA opens for onsite guests so you will need to relax at the end of the day. Blueman group is in City walk so no need for park entry tickets to get there.

Do you do the 24th probably not only because expect it to be busy and you will have a max of 3 hours in the park, however if you wish to extend to the third day remember to do it before the end of the day for the 23rd.

 

[Metro West]

If you purchase the two day ticket and wanted to upgrade, you could do that at Guest Services.

BMG is a separate show that does not require park admission.

 

[Lisa0806]

They just posted on universal website today 3 day tickets for the price of two. So you can go ahead and get the 3 days and not feel bad if you only get a few hours in on one of the days

 

[kimf503]

Our family of 3 (9 year old son) plan to visit Universal for the first time in December 22-24.

At this point we plan to spend 2 nights... We will arrive on the afternoon of the 22nd. We will check into our hotel by 4 PM. Should we plan to go into the park that night? Can we go to Blue Man without a park ticket?

On December 23 we plan to be in the park all day.
On December 24, we check out at 11 AM and head to the airport.

Question... Is it worth it to purchase a 3-day park-to-park ticket since we will only be in the park a few hours on days 1 and 3?

Should we buy a 2-day, if so, should we use it for day 1 & 2 or day 2 & 3? Final option, should we just do everything in 1 day?

I would love your advice... At Disneyland we always get a 4-day hopper for our 3 night visit and we are grateful for every minute in the park. I'm not sure Universal is the same.

p.s. We are conflicted between spending $500/night for an on-site hotel vs. $130/night at the Hyatt across the street.

Thanks for your advice!

Oh my, the 2 weeks over Christmas are the worst weeks to come all year!