Universal IOA in summer

[daisylove]

Maybe someone can give me their opinion. We are HUGE DW fans and have already been there 3 times this year. We have the Fla Resident seasonal passes that black-out in June. I am thinking of getting the 2 for 1 year deal for US and IOA. What is it like in the summer? I know hot because I live in Miami but how are the crowds? Is it worth it to bring a 5 year old and my DH for their first visit to these parks in the summer or am I just going to make sure they are hot and miserable and see nothing? We would not be staying on property so no express pass advantage. This has to be good enough experience to make the 5 year old forget we are thisclose to DW since we cannot bail out and go to DW on our blacked out passes. Help??? Thanks!!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

It will be very crowded. The only way I would do it with a 5 yr old would be to stay onsite & get FOTL. I go in the summer (same as you during the WDW Blackout) but my kids are older & we will do singles only lines to save time...but with yours you cannot do that. If you stay onsite for only 2 nights, you will get more done than going for 5 nights off-site!

 

[Brianhog]

We go to WDW and Universal/IOA ever year the end of May and first week of June. It is going to be hot and crowded. I probably have gotten spoiled since they opened the onsite hotels but I will not do Universal now without staying onsite. In your case I would think that is especially true if you want to make sure your five year old has a good time. Otherwise you will likely find yourself waiting in alot of long lines.

 

[daisylove]

So it looks like I need to find some onsite hotel deals. Anyone know of anything off the top of their heads?

 

[ajksmom]

I'm planning our first us/ioa on-site stay also. I've found alot of info on the us/ioa resort forum. I think you'll find that very helpful. Have a AAA card, Entertainment Card, FAN Club Card??When checking availability you can key the codes in individually and see what discount that will give you.(AAA,ENT,FAN)Check both the Loew's Hotel and Universal Orlando web site with those codes. You can also call and check with them both as I have read of many not finding what they were looking for and after calling they found that the phone #s had other discounts not reflected on the web site. If you have AAA you can book through them either on the web, phone, or at your local office. If you are a FL resident or plan on visiting again soon you should look into the annual passholder (APH) deal. I don't know alot about that because I only come down every 3 yrs or so and I've never been to us/ioa before. Ticket deals that I know of are mastercard buy 4 get 1 free of the 5 day bonus passes. There is also a Kraft cheese discount however I've read that expired on 4/14. Also depending on when and how long there are some package deals that sound good-Stay 4 and play for free, 4 night required and recieve 2 length of stay passes. hope this helps get you started Good Luck

 

[SpideyHulk24]

If you get the 2 for one deal, you are entitled to annual pass discounts and they are great!

 

[RescueRanger]

You can call 1-800-BE-A-STAR and ask for rates. I believe they offer Florida resident discounts as well so be sure to let them know you are a resident.

 

[daisylove]

Wow, thanks everyone!

 

[ksdave]

I found that this year the Annual Passholder rates were the best deal they quoted me. They were about $10-20/night lower than the Entertainment rate and significantly lower than AAA and Fan Club. You can save almost the entire cost of Preferred Annual Passes for the three of you just on the hotel discounts you get.