Universal at Christmas time

[natenapril]

I know it's early but planning is part of the fun!!
So how is Christmas at US/IOA? Pictures are great! Anything I shouldn't miss? We will have 3 kiddos with us (12,7,4 ). Due to the age difference in our children we will need to make sure we get a little of everything in. My oldest DD is more interested in Jurassic park and the Simpsons but my younger two think they look scary and want to hit up Dr Seuss! So any tips on how to see it all?
Also I am so confused on where to stay! On site looks great but a little pricey. We are bringing my Dad so there will be 6 of us. I was thinking of maybe getting a suite at the Nick Hotel.
My Dad mostly comes on vacation for the food so any favorite resturaunts that an "older guy" would like?
I NEED to have this trip be great so I can sweet talk my DH into coming back for Harry Potter

 

[macraven]

you wouldn't be able to stay on site at the Loews hotels with 6 in a room.
you would have to book 2 rooms.
If you have the AAA card, that can cut down the cost of rooms for onsite and offsite places.

not sure about off site hotels and the fire regulations they have on the number of occupants per room.


i have read some of the trippies where homies have stayed at Nick Hotel.
It sounds like fun there but you would need a car to get to the UO parks based on what posters have said.

 

[tink too]

Last time we spent Christmas in Florida was back in 2004, so things may have changed quite a bit. If your younger children are looking forward to visiting Suess Landing, they'll love the Christmas decorations there. Our DD (3 y.o. at the time) loved meeting the Grinch in his lair and seeing the Who's of Whoville.

 

[pixeegrl]

editing to add DH moved our pics so they are not in the TR but here is a link to the album....I hope...http://picasaweb.google.com/grumpy.walker/OrlandoVacation2008#

We just got back from this past Christmas...here is my partial trip report, yes I know I need to finish...http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2041188 prices can start off high for onsite and yes you would have to book two rooms but I checked nearly every other day to see when my rate changed and I started with AAA $259 in March APH $226 to in october they released SS rates for only $126 a night!!!! It doesn't cost anything to change your rate reservation so I suggest booking early. Are you talking about Christmas week? That is when we went and the crowds were big however the 26th they were even bigger! I wouldn't go without staying onsite and having FOTL if at all possible. Even if you only spend one night onsite and the rest off it will give you 2 full days of FOTL. What ever questions you have just ask away! Everyone also seems to recomend Breakfst with the Grinch but we never got around to it. You can you tube it and see some great videos, really good character interaction.

 

[Metro West]

i have read some of the trippies where homies have stayed at Nick Hotel.
It sounds like fun there but you would need a car to get to the UO parks based on what posters have said.

Yes...the Nick hotel is quite a ways from Universal.

 

[Dervishian]

We visited Universal and stayed at PBH arriving on 12/26 and staying through 1/2. We had a fabulous time. Our girls are 15 and 16, and enjoyed every aspect of both parks, including Dr. Seuss land. We had a buffet breakfast with the Grinch, which was very entertaining. All places were still decorated for Christmas, and at our resort, each night they had a Christmas tree lighting with an opera singer on the terrace in front of the harbor. Crowds weren't bad at all, I don't think, but we did have the FOTL card from the hotel which got us through the rides faster, but even the restaurants at City Walk, we never waited more than 15 minutes for a table. New Year's at Universal was a total blast, lots of entertainment, live band and fireworks. Not sure how to post pictures to this thread. I have to agree that onsite is pricey, but we drove to Florida so did not have to pay for airfare. We thought about the Nick hotel but we had two dogs as well and onsite was the only good option for us. Good luck!

 

[Laurabearz]

I love Christmas as US/IOA. Seuss Landing is just divine!!

Grinchmas is also a must do

 

[stwyatt]

you really need to tell us when you are planning to go around xmas. as it makes a huge difference in what to recommend. if you're not going between xmas/new yrs. staying at the nick hotel might not be too bad as traffic probably wouldn't be too bad. and as the other posters have said--if it's between xmas/new years staying onsite to get fotl is highly recommended. as far as restaurants, mythos at ioa is popular. we always do texas de brazil( pricey) and dixie crossroads(for seafood). on past trips we've had charleys steakhouse( very good but expensive), bubbas bodacious bbq( very good, not expensive, no special ambience at all) and we've had flippers pizza delivered(very good). most folks will go to the hard rock cafe if they go to UO. and for breakfast we always go to citiwalk before parks open and split a piece of breakfast pizza at pastamore while kid eats a cinnabon. finally(i know i'm rambling but i'm just throwing info out!) get to parks early and be sure and do Pterantydon flyers ride early--it doesn't have fotl perks and gets backed up fast--it's a younger kid ride at IOA in jurassic park. i thought xmas time at UO was great especially seuss landing

 

[natenapril]

you wouldn't be able to stay on site at the Loews hotels with 6 in a room.
you would have to book 2 rooms.
I
If you have the AAA card, that can cut down the cost of rooms for onsite and offsite places.

not sure about off site hotels and the fire regulations they have on the number of occupants per room.


i have read some of the trippies where homies have stayed at Nick Hotel.
It sounds like fun there but you would need a car to get to the UO parks based on what posters have said.

We are looking at 2 rooms. Love my Dad but need the space too I was worried about the Nick hotel being too far away.

Last time we spent Christmas in Florida was back in 2004, so things may have changed quite a bit. If your younger children are looking forward to visiting Suess Landing, they'll love the Christmas decorations there. Our DD (3 y.o. at the time) loved meeting the Grinch in his lair and seeing the Who's of Whoville.

Thanks!! My younger 2 are really looking forward to meeting the Grinch!

editing to add DH moved our pics so they are not in the TR but here is a link to the album....I hope...http://picasaweb.google.com/grumpy.walker/OrlandoVacation2008#

We just got back from this past Christmas...here is my partial trip report, yes I know I need to finish...http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2041188 prices can start off high for onsite and yes you would have to book two rooms but I checked nearly every other day to see when my rate changed and I started with AAA $259 in March APH $226 to in october they released SS rates for only $126 a night!!!! It doesn't cost anything to change your rate reservation so I suggest booking early. Are you talking about Christmas week? That is when we went and the crowds were big however the 26th they were even bigger! I wouldn't go without staying onsite and having FOTL if at all possible. Even if you only spend one night onsite and the rest off it will give you 2 full days of FOTL. What ever questions you have just ask away! Everyone also seems to recomend Breakfst with the Grinch but we never got around to it. You can you tube it and see some great videos, really good character interaction.

Just what I was looking for! Off to read

Yes...the Nick hotel is quite a ways from Universal.

This would be a problem.

We visited Universal and stayed at PBH arriving on 12/26 and staying through 1/2. We had a fabulous time. Our girls are 15 and 16, and enjoyed every aspect of both parks, including Dr. Seuss land. We had a buffet breakfast with the Grinch, which was very entertaining. All places were still decorated for Christmas, and at our resort, each night they had a Christmas tree lighting with an opera singer on the terrace in front of the harbor. Crowds weren't bad at all, I don't think, but we did have the FOTL card from the hotel which got us through the rides faster, but even the restaurants at City Walk, we never waited more than 15 minutes for a table. New Year's at Universal was a total blast, lots of entertainment, live band and fireworks. Not sure how to post pictures to this thread. I have to agree that onsite is pricey, but we drove to Florida so did not have to pay for airfare. We thought about the Nick hotel but we had two dogs as well and onsite was the only good option for us. Good luck!

Breakfast with the Grinch sounds perfect! How far in advance did you book?

I love Christmas as US/IOA. Seuss Landing is just divine!!

Grinchmas is also a must do

Yeah

you really need to tell us when you are planning to go around xmas. as it makes a huge difference in what to recommend. c . i thought xmas time at UO was great especially seuss landing

We are going the 16th and 17th of December. We only have 2 days so we need to pack in as much as we can.

 

[stwyatt]

we have been to UO 2x during xmas season--never during the busy xmas/new year week. we have never had a problem with crowds. the first time we went, fotl did not exist(or if it did we didn't know about it!) and we easily did everything we wanted to on the first day, leaving whatever our favorite things were on the second. your dates are a wed. and thurs. and i just can't see you having a problem with crowds. the last time we went during xmas, we stayed onsite, but moved offsite to the crowne plaza universal for the last 2 nights. i was able to get a rate of 59/nt thru hotwire. if you look at reviews, it is a great, clean hotel and its on less busy universal blvd. a mile from the parks. hope this helps.

 

[natenapril]

we have been to UO 2x during xmas season--never during the busy xmas/new year week. we have never had a problem with crowds. the first time we went, fotl did not exist(or if it did we didn't know about it!) and we easily did everything we wanted to on the first day, leaving whatever our favorite things were on the second. your dates are a wed. and thurs. and i just can't see you having a problem with crowds. the last time we went during xmas, we stayed onsite, but moved offsite to the crowne plaza universal for the last 2 nights. i was able to get a rate of 59/nt thru hotwire. if you look at reviews, it is a great, clean hotel and its on less busy universal blvd. a mile from the parks. hope this helps.

Thanks for the hotel recommendation. I will look into that one.