Universal/adventure island newbie...need help!!

[AthenaBolina]

You seem (sounds?) like a huge hp fan...

So diagon alley is in both parks? And I understand if you opt for the single rider line, you'll miss many of the "exhibits" that you'll see as you meander thru the lines. How do I do the castle tour you speak of? Is that extra? Where would I go to book it, if I'm interested..
I know our dss would absolutely love to see all those theming while waiting in line...

Diagon Alley is in USF, and you can get to it (if you want) via the Hogwarts express which runs between both parks.
You don't book the castle tour, nor does it cost extra. From my understanding. you just tell a ride attendant you want to do the tour. However I have never done that, so I don't know where to do that.

 

[macraven]

You seem (sounds?) like a huge hp fan...

So diagon alley is in both parks? And I understand if you opt for the single rider line, you'll miss many of the "exhibits" that you'll see as you meander thru the lines. How do I do the castle tour you speak of? Is that extra? Where would I go to book it, if I'm interested..
I know our dss would absolutely love to see all those theming while waiting in line...

no extra charges once inside the park for the rides/shows.

castle tour is popular for first timers as they want to see everything at least once on what they have read about.
many take lots of pictures during it.

i book by calling.
i always ask what discounts are available and the TM goes through the list of what is available during my dates.
and i compare AP rates to SMSM on the phone with the TM.
i put in my requests when i book and then i'm all set until to check in the onsite hotel.

each park has a potter section.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I did the castle tour last time. It doesn't go through the whole queue - you miss some great stuff. However, I was able to really take my time and take all the pictures I wanted without worrying about slowing other people down. You can just ask the first attendant after the lockers, and they will point you to the right line.

 

[rsjj]

no extra charges once inside the park for the rides/shows.

castle tour is popular for first timers as they want to see everything at least once on what they have read about.
many take lots of pictures during it.

i book by calling.
i always ask what discounts are available and the TM goes through the list of what is available during my dates.
and i compare AP rates to SMSM on the phone with the TM.
i put in my requests when i book and then i'm all set until to check in the onsite hotel.

each park has a potter section.

Once again...I'm stumped by the acrynoms. I apologize for my lack of knowledge...but what's tm? And smsm?

And who would I call to reserve this castle tour? Or is this only limited to people staying onsite?

Again...thank you all for all your help!!! So appreciate it!!

 

[rsjj]

I did the castle tour last time. It doesn't go through the whole queue - you miss some great stuff. However, I was able to really take my time and take all the pictures I wanted without worrying about slowing other people down. You can just ask the first attendant after the lockers, and they will point you to the right line.

So you still need to get in a "general line" for the castle tour...and once you get close enough (where the attendant is), you just tell him/her? Is this open only to their resort guests? Like do you show your room key? B/c we are/will not be universal resort guests...

 

[macraven]

Once again...I'm stumped by the acrynoms. I apologize for my lack of knowledge...but what's tm? And smsm?

And who would I call to reserve this castle tour? Or is this only limited to people staying onsite?

Again...thank you all for all your help!!! So appreciate it!!

once you start reading the threads at the darkside forums, you will catch on to the acrynoms.
TM
Team Member
employee at universal

smsm
stay more save more
general code anyone can use for booking a discounted room onsite.

 

[rsjj]

once you start reading the threads at the darkside forums, you will catch on to the acrynoms.
TM
Team Member
employee at universal

smsm
stay more save more
general code anyone can use for booking a discounted room onsite.

Thank you!!! Dark side...lol!!

 

[johde]

So you still need to get in a "general line" for the castle tour...and once you get close enough (where the attendant is), you just tell him/her? Is this open only to their resort guests? Like do you show your room key? B/c we are/will not be universal resort guests...

No, if you are just doing the castle tour, you can head straight into the castle. It is not a tour like a Disney tour. It's a self guided "tour" through what some day may be the express line for the attraction. It is open to everyone.

 

[travelfearlessly]

We did both HP theme parks in one day but really for a first time visitor you'd need 2 days just for those areas alone. I'd visit IOA first because Hogsmeade has VERY little shade and when the sun is beating down on you then everyone is crowded under the little areas of shade or inside the Three Broomsticks. Diagon Alley has tall buildings and plenty of shade. We made the mistake of going to Diagon Alley first. The Gringotts ride was 75 minutes long 15 minutes after the park opened but in the evening around dinnertime it was only about 20 minutes long. If you plan to buy an interactive wand and visit all the locations associated with that then that will eat up a couple hours of your day as well. And try to see a few of the performances! There's the Frog Choir at Hogsmeade, Celestina Warbeck and Tales of Beedle the Bard at Diagon Alley. ALL of them are great but the Diagon Alley stage is in a nice shady spot

 

[hpfan100]

We are staying at a disney resort. So there are no early entry into universal/adventure island. We plan to go to universal for 3 days. Have the park to park (park hopper?) tix.

What kind of "plans" should I have in place?

Our plan is to get there first thing when it opens, and do hp mostly..that's about it, as far as our "plan" goes...

I will look into the various attractions and see what are our "must do"s...since we are from so cal, and we've been to our universal (Hollywood) several times, we can skip some of the attractions, b/c I assume they are the same.

Would you recommend going to one park first over the other? Or maybe it really doesn't matter?

If your priority is the Harry potter areas then I would go to universal studios first. Spend one morning heading straight to diagon alley to ride gringotts, visit money exchange, check out shops, enjoy a butter beer and ride hog warts express. You can use the single rider line at gringotts for a second ride if you want after your first ride. Another option is to skip it first thing in the am and return early afternoon or evening. After that head to what strikes your fancy and use single rider lines if needed for select attractions.

On the next day start at islands of adventure and enjoy the hogsmeade area. Then enjoy whatever strikes your fancy.

On your third day pick whichever park you enjoyed most or has rides you skipped due to waits. With the three days, arriving early and park hopping you should have no trouble seeing all the sights.

You seem (sounds?) like a huge hp fan...

So diagon alley is in both parks? And I understand if you opt for the single rider line, you'll miss many of the "exhibits" that you'll see as you meander thru the lines. How do I do the castle tour you speak of? Is that extra? Where would I go to book it, if I'm interested..
I know our dss would absolutely love to see all those theming while waiting in line...

Diagon alley is I universal studios. Hogsmeade village and the hog warts castle are in islands of adventure. The hog warts express train connects both parks. You do not want to use the single rider lines for gringotts and forbidden journey on your first ride but they are great for re-rides. The line areas are exceptional for these two attractions and well worth the time. The castle tour is a separate line at the hog warts castle that is free to all guests. It allows you to see most of the interior of the castle at your leisure...great for photos.



As a big potter fan, these are my must dos in the HP areas....gringotts, forbidden journey, at least the line areas for hippo griff and dragon challenge, frog choir, triwizard champions, puppet show, butter beer frozen, ollivanders, hog warts express both ways, money exchange, ice cream shop, eating at either leaky cauldron or three broomsticks, browsing the shops and listening to moaning myrtle in the ladies room.

Other rides and attractions I enjoy and recommend....
Islands- Spider-Man, cat I the hat, Seuss trolley train, Jurassic park ride
Universal studios- men in black, Simpsons area ( I skip the ride due to lotion sickness), transformers, mummy coaster


There are plenty of other goodies to enjoy but those are just some thoughts.

 

[cschaaf]

I don't know if it's cool or not to post other sites here, so I won't... but there are better places to find more information on Universal.

Do a Google search for Universal Orlando Tips or something, you should be able to find plenty of information, touring plans, blogs, forums specific to Uni, etc.

You'll get great answers here, as you already have, but if you don't know to ask, we won't know to answer. If you find a good resource, you'll get a lot of answers and will come up with more specific questions to ask here.

Our favorite rides are:
At Islands of Adventure:
- Hulk
- Spiderman
- Dragon Challenge (half of us like that)
- Forbidden Journey (a different half like that)

On the Universal side:
- Mummy (our favorite overall)
- Simpsons
- Men In Black (we can do this one over and over)
- Transformers

The Makeup Horror Show is kind of fun if you have the time and want to sit in a cool theater for a bit.

 

[macraven]

I don't know if it's cool or not to post other sites here, so I won't... but there are better places to find more information on Universal.

.

quite a few peeps will post other places/sources where they gain info about the darkside.
some have been very good sites that many of us have looked at.

 

[rsjj]

Thank you, everyone for all your help!!!

Another question...where is the best place to buy butter beer? Or is it beer butter? Heard the frozen kind is better? And there's an alcoholic version and a non alcoholic version?

 

[macraven]

Thank you, everyone for all your help!!!

Another question...where is the best place to buy butter beer? Or is it beer butter? Heard the frozen kind is better? And there's an alcoholic version and a non alcoholic version?

i love it when peeps create new words.
my type of people....

beer butter.........

it's called butter beer.
comes in hot, cool (like how a soda has a cool taste and frozen

i've tried them all and like frozen the best.
the regular/cool one was fine but frozen i do repeats on them.
the hot was a novelty for me and it was fine also but i'm just hooked on the frozen.
i think it is the whipped type of topping that sells me on it for the frozen.

all non alcoholic unless you bring something in with you to flavor it up.....lol

i buy my bb inside the shops, restaurants as they allow the ap discount for it.
if you buy from the carts at IOA in the pottsville land, those lines are long and no discounts.
hogshead, the back entrance is the easiest place at ioa to grab a bb.

at the studios/DA, the shop next to the ice cream place has bb
just follow the line inside to the counter.
also at the restaurant.

 

[rsjj]

i love it when peeps create new words.
my type of people....

beer butter.........

it's called butter beer.
comes in hot, cool (like how a soda has a cool taste and frozen

i've tried them all and like frozen the best.
the regular/cool one was fine but frozen i do repeats on them.
the hot was a novelty for me and it was fine also but i'm just hooked on the frozen.
i think it is the whipped type of topping that sells me on it for the frozen.

all non alcoholic unless you bring something in with you to flavor it up.....lol

i buy my bb inside the shops, restaurants as they allow the ap discount for it.
if you buy from the carts at IOA in the pottsville land, those lines are long and no discounts.
hogshead, the back entrance is the easiest place at ioa to grab a bb.

at the studios/DA, the shop next to the ice cream place has bb
just follow the line inside to the counter.
also at the restaurant.

Haha...I do it all the time! I'm sorry if I offended you..my dds get so upset when I goof up anything hp...

Thank you for all the inside tip on butter beer!

Good news!!! I finished watching all the movies!! Now...some of the names of the rides, I get them now! Lol!!

 

[schumigirl]

Haha...I do it all the time! I'm sorry if I offended you..my dds get so upset when I goof up anything hp...

Thank you for all the inside tip on butter beer!

Good news!!! I finished watching all the movies!! Now...some of the names of the rides, I get them now! Lol!!

Nobody gets offended here with word mix ups.......hope you enjoyed the movies.

We always say you don't need to know Potter to enjoy and marvel at what has been done with it.......but if you know the story and plots it does help enhance your visit

 

[PantherPete]

Not a money saving tip, but if you plan to ride the water rides at IOA (JP, Popeye, Dudley), wear swimming trunks and crocs or flip flops. These aren't your typical amusement park water rides. These are super soakers. If you ride all three in a row, you will be dripping wet. If your trip package allows early entry (this isn't limited to on site guests, but you would have had to book a special off site package to get it), take advantage of it. Also, both HP lands get less busy in the evening. You may get lucky and only have to wait about 20 minutes for FJ and Gringotts.

If you are going to be a the park for a few days, get the amazing picture card thing. It works like disney's photo pass. There aren't as many photographers, but it does include pixs on many of the rides.

If you eat at the City Walk, give Red Oven Pizza a try. Reasonably priced (similar to what you'd pay for pizza in the park), but much better than any pizza you'll get anywhere else in or near Universal.

 

[Bluer101]

Sal's market deli at PBH has some of the best pizza in Universal resort.

 

[schumigirl]

Sal's market deli at PBH has some of the best pizza in Universal resort.

I would definitely agree with that......we make at least one visit every trip to PBH just for the pizza in Sal's.

Jakes pizza is pretty good too........but Sal's is better

 

[rsjj]

Nobody gets offended here with word mix ups.......hope you enjoyed the movies.

We always say you don't need to know Potter to enjoy and marvel at what has been done with it.......but if you know the story and plots it does help enhance your visit

Thanx! And yes, I did enjoy the movies!! Now, I feel like I can somewhat keep up w/dds' conversations while there...especially when they go thru the hp areas, and shriek w/excitement like "oh...remember in the movies..this and that, or oh...remember when Harry did this in the castle...or oh...that's where they..." I can totally picture my boys carrying on like that!

Not a money saving tip, but if you plan to ride the water rides at IOA (JP, Popeye, Dudley), wear swimming trunks and crocs or flip flops. These aren't your typical amusement park water rides. These are super soakers. If you ride all three in a row, you will be dripping wet. If your trip package allows early entry (this isn't limited to on site guests, but you would have had to book a special off site package to get it), take advantage of it. Also, both HP lands get less busy in the evening. You may get lucky and only have to wait about 20 minutes for FJ and Gringotts.

If you are going to be a the park for a few days, get the amazing picture card thing. It works like disney's photo pass. There aren't as many photographers, but it does include pixs on many of the rides.

If you eat at the City Walk, give Red Oven Pizza a try. Reasonably priced (similar to what you'd pay for pizza in the park), but much better than any pizza you'll get anywhere else in or near Universal.

Thank you for the tips!!

Sal's market deli at PBH has some of the best pizza in Universal resort.

I would definitely agree with that......we make at least one visit every trip to PBH just for the pizza in Sal's.

Jakes pizza is pretty good too........but Sal's is better

I'm being stumped again...pbh? A hotel w/in the entire resort area?