Universal - Almost Complete Newbie Questions

[TinkSassy]

Hi - I haven't done Universal in many years but plan to do a couple of days first of November. I'm having trouble with formulating days and strategy. I'm in Orlando 6 days total and want to do 1 or 2 at Universal (thinking probably 2 as I only did one last time and that covered all things Potter but there are new rides since then).

How do you know what days have early entry for the hotels - it looks like for October Studios is open early every day but IoA doesn't have any - does that seem right?

Also, I love night shows but only see Dark Arts through Halloween. Any information on if/what night shows might be offered in November?

Any help is appreciated as I'm trying to figure out days at WDW as well....

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi - I haven't done Universal in many years but plan to do a couple of days first of November. I'm having trouble with formulating days and strategy. I'm in Orlando 6 days total and want to do 1 or 2 at Universal (thinking probably 2 as I only did one last time and that covered all things Potter but there are new rides since then).

How do you know what days have early entry for the hotels - it looks like for October Studios is open early every day but IoA doesn't have any - does that seem right?

Also, I love night shows but only see Dark Arts through Halloween. Any information on if/what night shows might be offered in November?

Any help is appreciated as I'm trying to figure out days at WDW as well....

Hi! So just got back from a split stay at UOR and WDW. Early entry changes parks depending on the day. I recommend doing early entry for Studios as opposed to islands and making reservations for Leaky Cauldron breakfast. Literllay ride gringotts then eat and then continue about your day. We had a 3 day park hopper (purchased from third party). Spent 1.5 days in Studios/Islands, 1 Day at Volcano Bay, two nights at Cuty Walk (one of which was after HHN. Now I believe Volcano Bay closes for the winter but I’m not sure when. You can do Islands and Studios in one day but it’s going to be a bit crazy. If you can do Volcano Bag I highly recommend renting a cabana.You need the park hopper to ride the Hogwarts express regardless.
My family and I really like the Photo Package they did. While not as abundantly seen as WDW photopass, we still got some awesome photos at the entrances, on rides, at HHN and with donkey and Fiona.
In terms of shipping stuff home: City Walk shops can, but I don’t know about in the parks. I’d make sure you watch what you buy because Disney doesn’t ship non Disney

Some favorite rides of my family:
STUDIOS: Gringotts, MIB, Simpsons, ET, Despicable Me, Mummy
ISLANDS: Forbidden Journey, Hippogriff, Cat in the Hat, Spider-Man, Dudley Do Right and Jurassic Park.

Favorite places to eat:
STUDIOS: Moes Fast Food Boulevard, Leaky Cauldron, Florean Fortescues Ice Cream (I highly recommend the Granny Smith apple or the Earl grey and lavender)
ISLANDS: Three Broomsticks
CITYWALK: Big Fire, Antojitos, the pub whose name is escaping me, Voodoo Doughnuts

Also they do have refillable popcorn and drink stations as well


We didn’t have a great experience staying on property but we still love the parks and CityWalk. I hope this helps.

 

[cschaaf]

Hi - I haven't done Universal in many years but plan to do a couple of days first of November. I'm having trouble with formulating days and strategy. I'm in Orlando 6 days total and want to do 1 or 2 at Universal (thinking probably 2 as I only did one last time and that covered all things Potter but there are new rides since then).

How do you know what days have early entry for the hotels - it looks like for October Studios is open early every day but IoA doesn't have any - does that seem right?

Also, I love night shows but only see Dark Arts through Halloween. Any information on if/what night shows might be offered in November?

Any help is appreciated as I'm trying to figure out days at WDW as well....

The Early Park Admission schedule is posted to their site about a month in advance, so I'd expect November's schedule to be up soon. Typically, it's only at one park.

 

[kbelle8995]

You can find the information for early entry on the website. you can also find it on their APP. This is great because many of the quick services are doing mobile and Universal's is very easy to use

 

[TommyJK]

Other than super buys times (Christmas, height of summer) Early Entry is typically only for one park, and typically they announce which park it is in the middle of the previous month. As all of Sept and October have been Studios (due to most nights closing early for Halloween Horror Nights) my guess is that for Novermber it's likely to be IOA (but that's only a guess).

As for night-time shows, I'm not sure that the projection show on Hogwarts will switch back from the Dark Arts version so quickly. It might be not running for a bit as they change the show back to it's regular version (or prep it for a Christmas version). That being said, the regular night-time spectacular on the Studios side should be up and running since Halloween Horror Nights will be done.

 

[Jrb1979]

Hi! So just got back from a split stay at UOR and WDW. Early entry changes parks depending on the day. I recommend doing early entry for Studios as opposed to islands and making reservations for Leaky Cauldron breakfast. Literllay ride gringotts then eat and then continue about your day. We had a 3 day park hopper (purchased from third party). Spent 1.5 days in Studios/Islands, 1 Day at Volcano Bay, two nights at Cuty Walk (one of which was after HHN. Now I believe Volcano Bay closes for the winter but I’m not sure when. You can do Islands and Studios in one day but it’s going to be a bit crazy. If you can do Volcano Bag I highly recommend renting a cabana.You need the park hopper to ride the Hogwarts express regardless.
My family and I really like the Photo Package they did. While not as abundantly seen as WDW photopass, we still got some awesome photos at the entrances, on rides, at HHN and with donkey and Fiona.
In terms of shipping stuff home: City Walk shops can, but I don’t know about in the parks. I’d make sure you watch what you buy because Disney doesn’t ship non Disney

Some favorite rides of my family:
STUDIOS: Gringotts, MIB, Simpsons, ET, Despicable Me, Mummy
ISLANDS: Forbidden Journey, Hippogriff, Cat in the Hat, Spider-Man, Dudley Do Right and Jurassic Park.

Favorite places to eat:
STUDIOS: Moes Fast Food Boulevard, Leaky Cauldron, Florean Fortescues Ice Cream (I highly recommend the Granny Smith apple or the Earl grey and lavender)
ISLANDS: Three Broomsticks
CITYWALK: Big Fire, Antojitos, the pub whose name is escaping me, Voodoo Doughnuts

Also they do have refillable popcorn and drink stations as well


We didn’t have a great experience staying on property but we still love the parks and CityWalk. I hope this helps.

No love for Velocicoaster?

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

No love for Velocicoaster?

Never got the chance to ride it. Same with Hagrids (Tho I have ridden Verbolten which for the most part is Hagrids)

 

[Jrb1979]

Never got the chance to ride it. Same with Hagrids (Tho I have ridden Verbolten which for the most part is Hagrids)

That's too bad. Hulk is another good ride at Universal.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

That's too bad. Hulk is another good ride at Universal.

Never had the desire for hulk. Then again first time I even went to universal I got a horrible cold and took one look at it and was like “nope”