Universal / Islands of Adventure Newbie Here...Some quick questions

[Katie Count]

Hi everyone!
We are going to add in one day at Universal/IOA on December 9th during our Disney World trip. We're all so excited about this, but I have a few questions for a group that has only one day to do both parks. We have Express Pass with unlimited rides so that should help with ride wait times.

1. What time to get there? I would expect that City Walk would open an hour earlier than the first park opens, just based on current park hours. Is it worth getting to City Walk when it opens, maybe grab breakfast and then be towards the front of the line to get in? We will have to get our Express Pass tickets from the kiosk or will-call area since we purchased them through UT. Some people have mentioned going to Guest Services / Will-Call and getting printed park tickets too so that it is easier for both tickets to fit in the lanyards. Is this something worth doing?

2. Does Universal supply guests with free water at Quick Service locations like WDW? My husband drinks water like a camel so we usually bring our filtered water bottles to WDW, but it looks like they would be a little bit more unfriendly to have at Universal due to the lockers. If the QS locations supply free ice water, then we might just buy a bottled water to start the day for each of us and just keep filling that to take up less space in the lockers.

3. Does anyone expect the hours for December 9th to close later than the 5pm/6pm time that is showing during most weekdays now? What time will the sun be going down in Florida around then? I think it would be dark, but just for the last 1/2 hour to hour of the parks being open. I would love to see both Harry Potter areas during the dark. Do you think that will be possible to do?

Any other tips you have?

 

[khrystid]

I can only answer the water question. I take a medicine that requires me to drink 4 liters of water, so I was concerned about access to water and water intake. I ended up taking a Contigo insulated water bottle, I had read online that you could ask for cups of water at any place that sold food, but that wasn't entirely accurate. I was only able to get the cups of water from restaurants/Starbucks locations. In the end we ended up bringing an additional 2 Ozarka 16.9 oz. bottles to refill the Contigo, in addition to the free cups of water.

I never had any problem finding a locker to put my Contigo and crossbody bag that I wore in the park. The lockers are indeed small, but it wasn't an issue for me, nor did it take very long to drop/pick up my items from the locker area. I am a cheapskate and wasn't about to buy many bottles of water while touring the park. We paid $5 for a bottle of water at a sandwich shop in CityWalk when we first arrived and I wasn't about to pay that much for each bottle of water that I would need to drink while touring. I believe the bottles of water were cheaper inside the parks, but it was still too expensive for me!

We did stay at Royal Pacific so it was easy for us to return to the room to replenish with cold water bottles when needed, so this suggestion might not work well for you and your family. We visited in mid-October and it wasn't too busy while we were there, so your experience might be different since you're going in December and the parks might have a higher attendance rate.

 

[disneyseniors]

OP you need to check out the dedicated Universal site on here. It is great and can answer your questions for you. That site has alot of wonderful people on there who give great advice. I know you will love Universal!

 

[nkereina]

I would not expect park hours to be extended the first week of December. Park hours are limited right now and that's about what time the parks were closing when we were there two weeks ago.

 

[bchbetha]

It would be really, really smart to go over to the Universal are one of the nights prior to your day trip there. Head over, get your tickets (highly doubtful there will be long ticket lines at night), grab some food and just scope things out. It'll be a lot less stressful to be ready to hit the parks ASAP on your park day than to chance possibly lengthy waits in line. That system has worked well for us when visiting any amusement park, if we have the opportunity. Parking is free after 6 at Citywalk.

 

[cschaaf]

We don't find that there is a ton of options for breakfast either in City Walk or the parks themselves. They are getting better, but it's still a bit of a blind spot, I think. I'm sure there are others, but in City Walk, all I can think of for breakfast would be Cinnabon, Voodoo Donuts, and Starbucks (? not even sure if there is one in CW, but I think so??).

I like @bchbetha 's suggestion of the scouting trip. I do recommend getting a printed ticket at the parks and using lanyards for your Express Passes. At the turnstiles, we often see people struggling to scan their home printed tickets. It's a "looks like we picked the wrong line" moment when a group in front of us pulls out their home printed tickets. lol

We've asked for water at food kiosks and have always received it. A water bottle isn't a bad idea, either. The smaller lockers are 'free while you ride' and I used to fit my laptop backpack in them (as long as it wasn't stuffed). It took some shoving and properly angling things, but it fit. I switched to a smaller Osprey Talon, which has a spot for a water bladder (but I've never even investigated what kind of bulk that might add), and that fits easily. You can get multiple smaller lockers if that helps (you just scan a different ticket for each).

 

[Katie Count]

Thanks for all of the tips!

We fly in on December 6 and I was planning on going to Disney Springs for dinner. Maybe we take an Uber to City Walk instead so we can grab some food, shop and get our printed tickets and express pass tickets ahead of our park day on December 9th. I'm sure my husband and daughter wouldn't mind the little bit of extra time over there too.

We're all so excited for this US/IOA day!

 

[cartydog]

I’m pretty sure you can use the coke freestyle machines to get water. And they were pretty much everywhere. Not 100% sure though

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I’m pretty sure you can use the coke freestyle machines to get water. And they were pretty much everywhere. Not 100% sure though

You can.

 

[Katie Count]

You can.

Do you need to purchase one of the coke freestyle cups for the water or can you fill any container?

 

[cschaaf]

We had refillable cups on our trip in October and had activation issues with them each day. When the activation wasn’t working and we tried to get water, it wouldn’t dispense. That led us to assume that you cant get free water. Years ago, you could, then they shut it off. I think it’s still off.

It’s possible that the deactivated cup ‘confused’ the machines, but I’d think if water didn’tneed an activated cup, it would work with a deactivated cup.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

It worked for me with random disposable cups at Cabana Bay and US. Just select water and it dispenses.

 

[bchbetha]

Thanks for all of the tips!

We fly in on December 6 and I was planning on going to Disney Springs for dinner. Maybe we take an Uber to City Walk instead so we can grab some food, shop and get our printed tickets and express pass tickets ahead of our park day on December 9th. I'm sure my husband and daughter wouldn't mind the little bit of extra time over there too.

We're all so excited for this US/IOA day!

You can even hit the gift shop for some fun Universal lanyards for your tickets too. I swear by this strategy. It's really nice to have all the logistics sorted before your park visit. One less wildcard to worry about. Have fun!

 

[snoopboop]

I had read online that you could ask for cups of water at any place that sold food, but that wasn't entirely accurate. I was only able to get the cups of water from restaurants/Starbucks locations.

You can get free cups of water at any place that sells fountain soda. If they don’t have a fountain soda dispenser, they have no way to give you a cup of water. But without exception, if you see a fountain soda dispenser, they’ll give you a free cup of water.

 

[khrystid]

Do you need to purchase one of the coke freestyle cups for the water or can you fill any container?

I tried doing that at the refill station by Jurassic Park or Kong (can't remember exactly) and it would not let me refill my personal cup. It may work at other locations, but we didn't try it again.

 

[khrystid]

You can get free cups of water at any place that sells fountain soda. If they don’t have a fountain soda dispenser, they have no way to give you a cup of water. But without exception, if you see a fountain soda dispenser, they’ll give you a free cup of water.

That could have very well been the case, since I don't remember exactly where we asked when purchasing snacks. I'll have to try that next time. Thanks!

 

[cschaaf]

I tried doing that at the refill station by Jurassic Park or Kong (can't remember exactly) and it would not let me refill my personal cup. It may work at other locations, but we didn't try it again.

Ah, that’s where we tried, too. It was a small quick service location in JP. We walked across the path to a cart (it was morning and the quick serve wasn’t open) to get the cups reactivated. Then we were able to get water at the stations where it hadn’t worked moments before.

We had the same experience at the stations at the crepe place.