Universal for just 1 day

[Princess Tess]

We will be in WDW in 3 weeks and have decided to try out Universal for a day. We've never been there and to be honest we don't know too much about it. There are 2 parks? If I get a 1 day pass I can only go to one park? Where is Emeril's? Hubby is a huge fan and I think it is a must to go to his place while there.Do I have to go to a certain park to get there? Kids are 13 and 15 so I'm not sure which park will be better for them.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
TIA,
PT

 

[gschmerl]

Emeril's is in CityWalk which is not a park. You will definitely need a reservation to get into Emeril's for dinner. CALL NOW!

 

[BarryHom]

Moving this to the Universal discussion board.

 

[PartyofSix]

Could'nt pass up the chance to give an opinon on Emerils. Mine is walk in buy a souvier and bolt for the door. It will save you time and $$ take a left to the Port of Entry to IOA and hang a right keep walking till you see MYTHOS and there you can spend your money wisely have a great lunch and senery is awesome. Emerils is highly overrated and overpriced. I will say the service is wonderful and unique to watch them but the food is way to over dressed and to many foods mixed and it extermly exp. For lunch two soups, two entrees and cokes it was 82 bucks. It sucked I was so dissappointed that was the highlight meal of our trip and I was so dissappointed. If you decide you have to try it please make other ressies to another place and don't count on this being your big spurlge. I hope you like it but you have to have an extermly complicated palatte to enjoy anything there.

 

[Greg K.]

...re Emeril's...

My wife and I popped over there during our recent trip to WDW, and loved every expensive bite.

The gumbo was to die for, and the pumpkin creme brulee desert --what can I say? My tongue thought it had died and gone to heaven. And the service was, as mentioned, sublime. Very attentive, friendly, accomodating. (Example. My wife had some picky requests -- could the chef do this, not do that, and put this on the side? -- which they had never tried before, and the chef evidently was in a good mood, because he did everything she asked. And the wait staff was enthralled with the result: "You've created a new dish!," one woman cooed. "That looks amazing." Of course, now I can't for the LIFE of me remember what it was. But my wife loved it.)

I'm sure Emeril's is not to everyone's taste. But if you watch him on TV, you have a good idea of the kind of wild stew he throws together.

Can you say, "Bam"? I can. And I'll be back to "bam" again!

 

[ksdave]

Tess;
If you have only one day and don't want to buy two-day passes to get into both parks (the second day never expires), I would recommend Islands of Adventure. With your kids' ages, that would probably be the best bet. Spiderman is the best attraction/ride in the world, the two big coasters (Hulk and Dueling Dragons) are first rate, and there are alot of other attractions that outdo anything at WDW. If you want to see some pictures, try my webpage listed below, or go to IOAcentral.com. Hope you have a blast!

 

[Princess Tess]

Thanks for the heads up on Emeril's, hubby has a culinary degree so I don't think we could NOT go. I'm not too keen on some of the things he whips up but we don't neccessarily have to have a full meal there. Sounds like that will save our wallet too. Can anyone give a brief description on the difference between Universal's 2 parks?
Thanks,
PT

 

[danicaw]

On our Sept. trip hubby found some multi-day pass that don't expire and we picked those up. Since we had done IOA before we knew we would someday come back.
We had no problem seeing both parks in one day. We done some reading on them and knew what we wanted to see at each. Even with a late start we got though IOA by noonish and headed for US. We lunched and started on attractions.

Depending on what you want to see will depend on which park you want to visit. You may not want to even attempt both if you are going during a high season.

We didn't spend any time at CityWalk, etc.

Anyway, just our experience.

 

[Princess Tess]

Danicaw,
I thought we were going when it wouldn't be crowded? Before Xmas, am I wrong? I thought we were beating the Xmas rush?!

 

[Aisling]

Dave, I just looked at your pictures and boy did they bring back memories! Great pics

 

[sweetieRN]

Princess Tess here is a breakdown in a "nut shell".
Regardless of which park you want to do you park in the same garage area and walk or take the moving sidewalks to City Walk. Here is where the restaurants are: Nascar Cafe, Emerils, Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville etc.
Then you decide which park you want to go to. IOA to the left has more thrill rides, great coasters, Jurassic park ride, Superhero Island has Spider-Man a 3D ride action ride.
On the other hand US has a more behind the scenes of a movie feel to it. Like they say you get to "Ride the Movies".
You get to feel what it is like to be in a Twister or an Earthquake.
Take a boat ride and see the real Jaws. Terminator 2 is a 3D action experience. It's kind of like MGM.
Given the ages of your children I think they would like both. I guess it just depends if you want more action, thrill rides and a Theme park pick IOA. If you want to experience what it's like to be part of the movies pick US.
You can leave any park to eat at City Walk just have hand stamped etc.
Unfortunately I don't know of any 1 day tix that allow entry to both parks. If you opt for the 2 day tix and use only 1 day hitting both parks I would have a plan in mind as to what you want to see. It could be too much especially if you have not been to either park before.

Hope this helps!

P.S. The Grinch & Grinchmas are at IOA