Too much time at US/IOA??

[MassMom94]

We are going to US/IOA in February for 4 nights/5 days, booked at the HRH. We have stayed at the HRH twice before and loved it. Those trips always seemed a bit rushed, though, as we only stayed two nights before moving on to WDW.

I decided to do US/IOA only this trip because (1) I liked the idea of going only one place and not moving, (2) I thought if we had more time here we could slow down and relax (and having FOTL, making rope drop every day isn't necessary), (3) the HRH is awesome, and in the past we really hadn't had the time to take full advantage of it (e.g., more pool time), (4) I could get $85 tickets to US/IOA as opposed to over $275 at Disney.

So tonight DH shares that he is concerned "there's not enough to do at Universal for all this time." So for all of you that have stayed 5+ days, can you give me some stories/comebacks for this? What all have you done here during an extended stay? Thanks!!

 

[ky07]

We are going to US/IOA in February for 4 nights/5 days, booked at the HRH. We have stayed at the HRH twice before and loved it. Those trips always seemed a bit rushed, though, as we only stayed two nights before moving on to WDW.

I decided to do US/IOA only this trip because (1) I liked the idea of going only one place and not moving, (2) I thought if we had more time here we could slow down and relax (and having FOTL, making rope drop every day isn't necessary), (3) the HRH is awesome, and in the past we really hadn't had the time to take full advantage of it (e.g., more pool time), (4) I could get $85 tickets to US/IOA as opposed to over $275 at Disney.

So tonight DH shares that he is concerned "there's not enough to do at Universal for all this time." So for all of you that have stayed 5+ days, can you give me some stories/comebacks for this? What all have you done here during an extended stay? Thanks!!

think Dh is right cause you will be able to get it all done in one day with fotl and I think I would go ahead and do both parks cause you can always do half a day and the rest at the pool cause we did it in june and stayed offsite and still managed to do it all.

 

[t-and-a]

We did 5 days staying onsite in 2006 and are planning it again for 2008. There are enough rides and shows that we LOVE that we can spend 5 days and never get bored!!!

 

[Catrinabeach]

We are leaving Tues for 5 nights/6 days at Universal. I do not think we will be bored at all. Having FOTL will make it so we can go on the rides we like as many times as we want. Plus we will have time to check out the pools at both RPR (where we are staying this time) and HRH ! And we plan to eat off site some evenings too.

I think it will be a nice relaxed way to do the parks and not feel like you are missing everything if you don't rush from one thing to another.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

My parents, me, and my best friend stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort for 5 days/4 nights in July-August this year. Definately, 5 days is perfect! We saw everything that we wanted, and had time to relax. We spent one day out of the parks (my birthday!), and we still were able to fit everything in (some things, several times). My TR is under the TR boards

 

[damo]

We've stayed for a week, 3 times. We do other things like go shopping, hang out at the pool and maybe even go to another park for a day. It is a perfect vacation.

 

[Coach81]

Go to all the shows that you are interested in. Ride your favorite rides several times. Visit all of the many different stores. Throw in the awesome pools at the hotel and I promise you, there is plenty enough to do at a relaxed pace in 5 days at both parks & your hotel.

Have a great time!

 

[patster734]

A couple of additional options that I haven't seen mentioned:

1. Watch a movie at the Loew's theater, located in Citywalk.
2. Tour the other hotels. Check out their lobbies, restaurants, pools and other areas.

 

[goofy!]

Just got back from 5 nights/6 days. And this was our shortest stay at Universal yet.

We rode MIB

We slept in. The only thing we "had" to do was make it to breakfast in the club lounge before they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30.

We rode MIB

We swam. Rent a cabana for a change of pace.

Did I mention we rode MIB? DS17 was bound and determined to max out that week (Got close - 992 and change). So we rode over and over and over. It was actually great fun trying to get better and better.

We watched Horror Makeup show at least once a day. Great fun to see the different ad-libbing needed to respond to different audience reactions. One sucker (volunteer) from Columbia picked up one of the knives on the tray and brandished it when they were going to cut her arm. Great fun in jokes about "you really are from Columbia", etc.

We played stupid carnival games - ones we usually just walk by.

warning to all... NEVER let your children, especially if they are a physics whiz, play the ring the bottle game. Otherwise, this is what you have to take back on the plane:

Just take your time and explore the nooks and crannies of Universal that you can't do when you are in a rush.

 

[ky07]

Just got back from 5 nights/6 days. And this was our shortest stay at Universal yet.

We rode MIB

We slept in. The only thing we "had" to do was make it to breakfast in the club lounge before they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30.

We rode MIB

We swam. Rent a cabana for a change of pace.

Did I mention we rode MIB? DS17 was bound and determined to max out that week (Got close - 992 and change). So we rode over and over and over. It was actually great fun trying to get better and better.

We watched Horror Makeup show at least once a day. Great fun to see the different ad-libbing needed to respond to different audience reactions. One sucker (volunteer) from Columbia picked up one of the knives on the tray and brandished it when they were going to cut her arm. Great fun in jokes about "you really are from Columbia", etc.

We played stupid carnival games - ones we usually just walk by.

warning to all... NEVER let your children, especially if they are a physics whiz, play the ring the bottle game. Otherwise, this is what you have to take back on the plane:

Just take your time and explore the nooks and crannies of Universal that you can't do when you are in a rush.

I agree that if you have enough time explore cause we went in june for our second time and this time we did 5 days and explored and seen and done things we never done and now we are universal junkies and all my dw and ds's keep asking is how long it will be before we can go back.

 

[Disneygirl26]

I don't think 5 days is to much we did 7 days in Oct and we went to Universal 4 days and Disney 1 day and my kids said next time they didn't need to go to disney. I say if you get bored or run out of things to do, don't forget to look at other attractioins outside of the park, I think a lot of people overlook them because They're always in the park. This year we went to Wonder Works and the magic show and it was very fun the kids had a blast and said they couldn't wait to go back

 

[MassMom94]

Thanks so much to everyone who replied! You gave me a lot of great ideas - I really appreciate it!: And yeah - no ring the bottle games for my kids!

 

[Darcy03231]

We were in Orlando for 16 days this summer (stayed off-site) and spent 6 of those days at US/IOA. I wouldn't have any trouble staying there on-site for 5 days. My kids and I had a great time. I didn't feel rushed and hurried through our vacation, we were able to see everything at least once and some of the favorites more than once. (I think the kids must have ridden the Mummy, MIB, Hulk and Spiderman at least 20-30 times). By staying on-site and having the FOTL perk you don't have to get up early and be there for park opening, you can check out the other resorts and pools, catch a movie, do something off-site if you want a change of pace (we also did Seaworld and Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum which the kids all liked).

 

[englishteacha]

We spent 7 days in Orlando this summer with 3 at US/IOA. I think if we were staying onsite, we'd have relaxed a bit more. We didn't encounter any huge waits for rides even without FOTL, but we were always moving. If you decide that you'd like to do something else, there are lots of great non-WDW attractions in the area. DH and I loved Busch Gardens and SeaWorld, too.

 

[believen]

We did 6 days in May. Loved it! We were able to sleep in, ride everything as much as we wanted, swim. If someone-ahem, 3 teens- wanted to sleep later, we just let them and met up later! I loved how close everything was. It did get expensive feeding all of us, we ate at almost every restaurant, just to try them all! One of the best things, was riding all the water rides, getting totally drenched and not caring, because we just returned to our room, changed and headed back out to do something else. We went to the parks each day, but even relaxed some. We rarely do that on vacation! We didn't have a car, but made a stop to buy Dr. Pepper and water to keep in the room.(we were having withdrawals from no Dr.Pepper at Disney) We would do it again!

 

[msr709]

The onsite hotels also have free shuttles to SeaWorld and Wet N' Wild, they could be an alternative for a day. We love SW, and this year they are opening a new waterpark Aquatica, that should be fun. We are staying for 2 days at the hotel across the street from SW before we visit HRH this summer just to go to SW and Aquatica, they are offering special tickets $79 for both parks for 7 days online you can find that at the SW website. HTH

 

[apparition]

The longest I've ever stayed is a week and I never get bored. Aside from the parks, you can go swimming at all of the pools at all three resorts. So if you've never been to Royal Pacific or Portofino, you can take a walk or boat ride over there and check out their pools and restaurants. If you want to spend the extra money, you could go to Wet 'n' Wild right down the street, there's a free shuttle and tickets aren't too expensive. I usually go to the movie theater on Citywalk at least twice while I'm there. I love their theaters, they're huge. The best thing about being there long is that you don't have to rush anything. You don't really have to plan your day because you have plenty of time.

 

[giords406]

How often do the shuttles run to SW and wet & wild?

 

[MyManGoofy!]

We are going to US/IOA in February for 4 nights/5 days, booked at the HRH. We have stayed at the HRH twice before and loved it. Those trips always seemed a bit rushed, though, as we only stayed two nights before moving on to WDW.

I decided to do US/IOA only this trip because (1) I liked the idea of going only one place and not moving, (2) I thought if we had more time here we could slow down and relax (and having FOTL, making rope drop every day isn't necessary), (3) the HRH is awesome, and in the past we really hadn't had the time to take full advantage of it (e.g., more pool time), (4) I could get $85 tickets to US/IOA as opposed to over $275 at Disney.

So tonight DH shares that he is concerned "there's not enough to do at Universal for all this time." So for all of you that have stayed 5+ days, can you give me some stories/comebacks for this? What all have you done here during an extended stay? Thanks!!

Do your dates include a Saturday? Because if they do - don't forget Mardi Gras!

http://www.universalorlando.com/mardigras/index.html#mardigras

 

[CPanther95]

We've been going 7 nights each year (Sunday to Sunday) and never get bored. And we typically go during a slower part of the season (early-mid May), so it isn't as if we need that time because of the crowds.

You can do quite a bit with FOTL, but when you have plenty of time and FOTL, the experience is completely different - it is completely relaxing and you start to remember what a "vacation" truly is all about. Hint: it isn't about cramming your family into as many activities/rides as possible before you get back in the car and head home. Our rough itinerary this year (remarkably similar, with only a few modifications from last year) looks like this:

Sunday: Arrive about 3pm and drop off luggage at PBH. Head to IOA, get hard copy of our e-tickets and go ride Spiderman - twice. Pick a place for dinner - eat, drink and be merry.

Monday: Do the Studios. Lunch at Finnegans. Done by about 2 pm. Will have time to do almost all the rides and some of the shows. We don't worry about planning when to be at Make-up, Fear Factor, etc. shows since we will be back. If we are in the area when a show is about to start, we'll catch it. Blue Man Group at night

Tuesday: Do IOA. Lunch at Mythos. Done by about 2 pm. Luau at PBH at night for dinner.

Wednesday: Do Studios. Re-ride the key favorite rides about 4 or 5 times (Mummy, MIB). Catch the shows we missed on Monday. Done by lunch - head to City Walk restaurant.

Thursday: Do IOA again. Re-ride the key favorite rides about 4 or 5 times (Hulk, Spiderman, Ripsaw Falls - and wife's favorite once or twice, Cat in the Hat ) Done by lunch - head to City Walk restaurant. Sleuth's Mystery Dinner.

Friday: Hit key things at both parks.

Saturday: Cabana at Beach Pool for swim day. Hit any favorites for the last time.

Sunday: Leave.

All "dead" time is filled by swimming, City Walk, etc. Kids can go back in afternoon or night if they want more rides than wife and I want. When we leave, we are completely recharged and starting to plan the next trip.

Most people leave exhausted, not recharged - that's not what I want from a vacation.