Trip is sneaking up and I am not ready.. please help

[october4mom]

Would love advice on possible plans for our time at Universal as well as the best resource other than this board for getting acclimated with universal before you arrive. This is our first time to universal, but before visiting disney I felt so educated about my game plan. Looking for the same.

We will be visiting Universal with park to park 2 or 3 day tickets (not sure as yet, we may head to disney for 1 day). We are staying on site so from what I have read we will have early entry and express pass. We are going for everything, but definitely want to hit all the Harry Potter areas and the thrill rides. IT will be 2 adults and a 10 year old who loves thrill rides and is 55".
TIA for any and all ideas.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

Well, you have pretty much done all of the planning you need already - you are staying onsite and that is half the battle, well, more than half to be honest. Personally, I think your best bet is to check out the Universal Orlando website and get comfortable with the park maps. Islands of Adventure is a big circle with a lake in the middle, so you don't want to be caught doing Hogsmeade, then Spiderman, then Jurassic Park, then Seussland - no good for the feet and a five minute look at the map will make this sentence make sense. Universal Orlando is a little more difficult to navigate, and that could end up putting miles on your feet unnecessarily. So, things like taking in Springfield and Men in Back in the same venture to that side of the park is a good idea. There is Harry Potter stuff in both parks. So, know the maps!!!

After you are comfortable with the geography, take on the food aspect. There is great food throughout Universal (and there is also some meh options), and you will need to pick and choose on the length of visit you have. There is great dining in the parks (HP counter service have really cool theming), in City Walk, and at the resorts. There is a great food sticky on this site that helps tremendously with menus and budgeting.

Most suggest that you hit Harry Potter during early entry or later in the day. You will want a lanyard most likely for park tickets and Express passes. You need to get your express pass at your hotel near/in the lobby, it's a little kiosk that takes a very bad picture of you, but is oh so helpful! Universal encourages pool hopping, and with express, you will have pool time, so take advantage. Don't compare to Disney, it's different, some like it more, some not, some appreciate both for what they are. Keep an open mind and enjoy!!!

 

[wookiebeck]

Don't fret too much. It is not like a WDW trip. You have the basics down, get the express pass, enter either park, and have fun.

I will say that doing Despicable Me early as you can (even with EP) is the closest I have ever needed to a touring plan.

 

[hdnwaters]

I went on the Universal Studios website and read about all the rides and attractions. I made a list of all the things that were a must do and then listed extras if time permitted. I did a 2 day Park to Park ticket. I had a list for US and list for IOA. The first day I scheduled IOA and dressed to get wet! My daughter and I headed straight to Hogsmeade and hopped on Forbidden Journey. What an experience!!!! After FJ we did the circle around IOA, doing the attractions as we came to them. We actually finished IOA around 3pm and rode the Hogwarts Express over to US. (glad we purchased the Park to Park tickets) We visited Diagon Alley and rode Escape to Gringotts.....then hit The Mummy on the way out. Our second day we started at US.....headed to the back of the park, rode MIB and a second trip on Gringotts, then a second trip on The Mummy! We did kinda bounce around US. Not as easy to navigate as IOA as someone mentioned above. Minions was always crowded. We did hit it later in the day with a 35 min wait. We also rode Transformers twice....second time we did single rider. To end the day, we went back to IOA! Did single rider on Forbidden Journey and ended up sitting side by side! We did not purchase an Express Pass. Our IOA day was a weekday so not as busy. We did US on Saturday. We has a great time and were only in the parks around 8 hours each day.

 

[PantherPete]

Like most of the other posters said, you don't have to do much planning. The lines will be short with express pass and if you time it right, the HP areas that don't take EP, won't be too ridiculously busy. Day of dinner reservations are easy to get and usually not even needed (your on-site package should include priority stand by seating at most of the City Walk places).

My best piece of advice (and it isn't any sort of secret, many people do this) is get a lanyard for your park ticket and express pass. The tickets and express passes are a medium stock paper. The lanyard will keep them dry (zip lock pouch) and easily accessible so that you can show them at the express pass line. They sell these at many places in and around the parks.

Also, if you plan to ride the water rides (and you should as they are well themed and a lot of fun), you will want to prepare to be soaked. And when I say soaked, I don't mean Splash Mountain wet. I mean dripping like you jumped into a pool fully clothed. They are awesome, provided that you are either prepared to walk around wet, brought a change of clothes, or wear a poncho (and what fun is that - you don't go on a water ride to not get wet).

Last piece of advice - get the photo pass. It includes on ride photos and a few character meet and greets. They don't have quite as many photographers as Disney does, it is still well worth it.

 

[october4mom]

Thanks for the thoughts. I was getting worried, but it sounds as if we will be plenty prepared. I have reviewed maps of the parks, read ride reviews and am going to make a list of our must do's.

Is it feasible to get everything done at an enjoyable speed in 2 days or should we plan for 3, taking into account it will be over a weekend. Park hours are listed as 9a-7p. Does this mean that we will be able to go in at 8am since we are staying onsite? Is it specific to a park / certain rides?

TIA

 

[KiniShakenBake]

I found Universal to be dramatically lower-key than Disney. You definitely need a plan of attack to make sure you don't waste all your time standing in lines for buses, but Universal is ridiculously low-key. "That looks good for dinner." "Okay." Definitely have the butterbeer ice cream. No reservations required.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

We do two types of Orlando vacations - Universal immersive (onsite 5-8 days, never leave), or a Discovery Cove based vacation (Sea World and Aquatica come with the tickets) where we are offsite but book one night at a Universal onsite hotel to get the two days of Express Pass. Based on your question of 2 or 3 days, I will focus on the latter.

Because we have done everything over the years, two days gives us just enough of a fix, but we always want more. We definitely ride all of the major attractions multiple times, have some good eats, just a little pool time, and Blue Man Group. And that is in 2 days - but we usually have to give up on things like Horror Makeup show, Animals in Action, Beetlejuice, the Magic Fountain, etc. That is why we just have to have a full immersive visit every couple of years, to see "everything".

So, to answer your question - it really depends on you and your style. Personally, I could watch the Blues Brother show on a daily basis and still love it, other can walk on past and never look back. We loved the Beetlejuice show, and hope it finds its way back. The magic fountain could provide hours of enjoyment, or you could walk by and not know it is there. Also, we love CityWalk and the hotel pools, and we like to sleep in on vacation, so early entry is not for us. We love the breakfast buffets, followed by a few hours at the parks, an afternoon swim, and evenings at the park/Blue Man/CityWalk. Great, fun days, balanced with some relaxation - that is the beauty of Universal to us.

What is your style? 9a-7p both days with express pass and possible early entry, eating in parks (which can still be very, very good)? Or 4-5 hours in the parks balanced with some resort time? Somewhere in between? You will find people on the boards who can go for 2 weeks plus and still love it, while others will say it is a one day two park destination and everything in between - and they are almost always correct - it boils down to style and expectations.

Hope you have a fabulous time and I am sure you will love any and all of the days you choose!

 

[PantherPete]

Is it feasible to get everything done at an enjoyable speed in 2 days or should we plan for 3, taking into account it will be over a weekend. Park hours are listed as 9a-7p. Does this mean that we will be able to go in at 8am since we are staying onsite? Is it specific to a park / certain rides?

TIA

I think it is. You may have to sacrifice a couple of things and may not get to reride everything you want. But overall, 2 days is enough. 3, of course, would be better because it will give you a chance to reride things and catch stuff that you forgot to do.

 

[october4mom]

Plan is official and we will be sacrificing a little time, but we are going to do Universal for 2 full days and then the 3rd day we plan to be in the park from 8 until around 1 or 2. This allows a small amount of downtime and we are surprising our daughter with the MVMCP on the last night in Orlando. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Chaitali]

Park hours are listed as 9a-7p. Does this mean that we will be able to go in at 8am since we are staying onsite? Is it specific to a park / certain rides?

TIA

I didn't see that anyone had answered this so I just wanted to chime in that the early hour can vary which park it's at. When we were there, it was during HHN so the early hour was at Universal Studios both days and not at IOA. Double check when you get to your hotel so you know which park has the early admission on which days.