Universal Questions...

[TimeWarp]

!. Where should I be searching for discount tickets for Nov.?

2. Will there be Christmas lights Thanksgiving week?

3. Has anyone done the $20 extra per ticket - for a quick pass on the attractions?

4. What is the best way to travel there from a Disney resort?

 

[leslieh]

We just got back from a week in orlando, stayed near disney and went to UV most of the time, Bought Power Passes. The express pass option was $25.00 per day per park I believe, we had hotel FOTL passes, stayed the first night at Royal Pacific to get the passes. The wait was never more than 10 minutes, great deal. Only if your at the park at busy times, holidays/summer, etc. We had a rental car, it took about 10 minutes each way on I-4. Easy drive. Parking is $8.00 a day.

 

[propchick]

If you've never been there before, read about the attractions in each park carefully before you decide if it's worth paying the extra money. (Mom, nephew and I were completely finished, and disgusted with, Universal Studios within two hours, so we would have been mad if we had paid extra.)

 

[TimeWarp]

Ok, tell me what happened and can I avoid it.

 

[sln88]

We went to Universal for 3 days last year(it was a pay for 2 get 3 ticket).
There were some fun rides and great attractions there. It all depends on what you like.

I think there is a Universal board where you could get more info.

 

[CPM]

www.usoinfo.com

Plenty to read on the Universal board.

 

[spiceycat]

http://tickets.universalstudios.com/USRG/us_store_secure.jsp?merchant=KISSIMMEEBP

this is still a good deal

 

[ChrisFL]

Originally posted by propchick
If you've never been there before, read about the attractions in each park carefully before you decide if it's worth paying the extra money. (Mom, nephew and I were completely finished, and disgusted with, Universal Studios within two hours, so we would have been mad if we had paid extra.)

Disgusted with? geez, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before. What exactly was wrong?

 

[leslieh]

We just got back last week from a week at disney and UV. We havent been to IA or UV for a couple of years, Was really pleased with IA, they did a great job on the park, we spent about 4 days a few hours each, did all the rides, even without the express passes. We got on single riders line in 10-15 minutes. The studios was the same, except Shrek, MIB and a couple of new things, but it was worth a day again.

 

[propchick]

We went to Universal Studios for the day, and it really was horrible. There don't seem to be any actual rides there, just simulators (which make us all sick). The attitudes of the employees was pretty bad that day, too. They were all p---y, and very unprofessional. (It reminded us of how Six Flags used to be before they pulled themselves together.)

My nephew's favorite attraction was the Jimmy Neutron thing, where they have benches in front if you don't want to sit in the simulators. (And the seater at the front of the line made it seem like such a huge bother, considering all he had to do was point us to the last boarding row.) So for $50-whatever dollars a person the kid's favorite attraction was sitting on a bench, watching a movie? We could have gone to the Festival Bay Cinemark for $4.50 each instead!

We spent an hour eating lunch in a noisy, dirty cafeteria type place, and two hours wandering around the park, looking for rides. When we found ourselves back at the entrance gate, and realized we had walked the entire park, we decided to give up and leave.

Not at all what we were hoping for.

 

[Cindy B]

Last time I checked Men In Black was not a simulator, same with Barney Show, Fievel Playground, JAWS, Earthquake, Terminator II, Shrek doesn't seem so bad either. The only really rough simulator is Back to the Future. ET is a beautiful, fun gentle ride, that my kids really enjoyed.

The shows are Wild West, funny! Beetlejuice seems like fun, and the Makeup Show is one of the best in the park. The animal show is really cute, my kids loved it.

We are Men in Black addicts. Thats a shame... you didn't enjoy it. There is a lot to explore if you give i

 

[TimeWarp]

Hmmm...A lot of mixed review here. It makes me think twice about buying the multi-day ticket. I don't like the idea of the park workers being compared to Six Flags employees who could care less about the pleasing the family. I'm sure we will miss the magic of Disney on our hop over BUT when I asked the Family, "What did you wish you had done on our last Disney trip that you didn't get to do?" They(DH & 2DS) said Universal and IOA. So...not being frequent Orlando visitors we will give it a try. I will however not pay the extra $20 for the ride pass until I check out the park & lines.

 

[ChrisFL]

Originally posted by TimeWarp
Hmmm...A lot of mixed review here. It makes me think twice about buying the multi-day ticket. I don't like the idea of the park workers being compared to Six Flags employees who could care less about the pleasing the family. I'm sure we will miss the magic of Disney on our hop over BUT when I asked the Family, "What did you wish you had done on our last Disney trip that you didn't get to do?" They(DH & 2DS) said Universal and IOA. So...not being frequent Orlando visitors we will give it a try. I will however not pay the extra $20 for the ride pass until I check out the park & lines.

You should read the Universal Trip reports board and see what most people have to say. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

And Universal DEFINITELY isn't all simulators, only 2 rides are

 

[Robinrs]

Well, being the moderator of two Universal boards would give you the impression that I am NOT biased... ... but I became the moderator only because of my love and devotion to all things Universal.

I visited Orlando so far, six times this year and went to USO maybe 30 times total. My last visit I asked myself if I'd ever tire of this place and my answer was NO.

My love for USF comes from my love for theatre and comic books, two things I've loved all my life. IOA was my first Orlando park. The Spiderman ride totally BLEW my mind and still does. I didn't venture on the Hulk till two years later and it is by far, the BEST coaster, and the smoooothest, I've ever ridden. The shows at IOA are incredible, I LOVE Toon Lagoon, MYTHOs Restaurant has the best park food I've ever eaten, and Jurassic Park requires MANY visits to explore and respect the vision Steven Spielberg recreated there.

Universal Studios' theme is "Ride the Movies" and that's exactly what it's about. Whether you've seen the movies the rides are about or not, you can enjoy them anyway. Jaws gives you a boat tour that experiences a "shark attack", T2 is a theatrical experience like none other, MIB gives you a chance to build points and truly LIVE a video game, ET is pleasurable and sweet, you can get wet and have a ball at the Curious George area, little ones adore the Barney area, Earthquake and Twister are learning vehicles in the way movies are made. Animal Planet's show is an interactive, FUNNY animal show that my son and I never tire of, Beetlejuice is as good as and better than some Broadway shows I've seen, and if your stomach can handle it, the Monster Makeup show will teach you just how they do the gory effects in scary movies.

You can go to USF over and over and never do the same thing twice. You can go clueless by not reading the way to tour the parks on the USF boards and have a terrible time, not read the restaurant reviews and go to the ones even the diehard fans NEVER venture into (I know them ALL!) or go and enjoy IF it's what you want. Like anything else, nothing is everyone's cup of tea.

I have stayed at all three resorts and they are AMAZING. Loews works VERY hard to make their customers feel special and I've never been disappointed. The FOTL is amazing. You can go at any time of the day, a boat ride from the Portofino and the Royal Pacific or a 5 min walk from the Hard Rock and you're there. The convenience is priceless. If you choose to stay offsite, as we did on our last trip, the $20/high season and the $10/low season Express Passes allow you to bypass the lines all day long. Well worth the price and when my son and I got on lines with a 75 minute wait in 5 minutes in the HEAT of July, well, you know the deal!

BTW, I cannot stomach simulators myself, I let my son go on Back to the Future by himself. Other than that I have no problems with the others.

My company gives me free tickets to Six Flags and I STILL don't go. Yet I go to USf almost every month, no comparison whatsoever.

I will get off my podium now and invite ANYONE with questions about Universal to join our Forum Here. I'm sure you'll get MORE than your share of answers there because the people who frequent that board are more than just "tourists" they are "experts", workers, executives and one even wrote the definitive tour guide for Universal. They're experiences and advice will save you lots of money and time.

Thanks and Hope that Help!!

 

[Cindy B]

I acutally had better CM's interaction at Universal than at Disney.

We had a problem and we got instant and I meant instant gratification and resolution of our problem. The cast members and management went out of their way to make sure everything was satisified!

Problem was in Men in black we were all lining inside by the break room.. there are four of us, one being my smaller four year old daughter. One guy, decided she was going to slow and touched her and moved her so he could get by...

NOBODY TOCHES MY BABY! Boy did my husband get ticked! He wound up exchanging some words with this guy about it.

We had management and ride ops there in a heartbeat. He (the toucher) was escorted out. Management had us explain what happened, and really did right for us.

First they aplogized. And then they told our kids they could have free stuffed animals in the gift shop (actually they were aliens)
Then they got our statement of what happened. I guess they weren't sure if he was just rude or a pedophile.. who knows?

Then the management says we are giving you backstage access to all rides today (this happened early). Backstage acces was amazing, we went through all back doors, and secret entrances. The manager of Universal (the big cheese), wrote us a card, and he told us to give to all the attractions. We were really treated special. He made sure that we weren't upset anymore.

We weren't looking for freebies, we just wanted that guy to stay away from our daughter.. it just creeped us out. (Actualy it really creeped me out!)

So that evening we drop off a comment card to Guest Relations saying thank you, you didn't have to do this, etc.. That next morning we get to MIB, (the ride operators recognize us now) said thanks for that very nice card and comments. They must have gotten them earlier that morning. (Usually the comment cards sit in a pile, this one went right to the top that day!). The ride operators were very kind, and made sure no one went near our daughter. The lead operator, made us go backstage again, meet with her boss (a lady in a suit!), and we said thank you and she just wanted to make sure everything was all right. Then the ride op went on a ride with us, and her boss comped us the ride photo. (we weren't expecting that!)

We wrote another wonderful letter about this incident and how it was handled when we returned.

 

[TimeWarp]

It's amazing how a few positive reports can put you back in the groove. Honestly, my two DS (10 & 11) cannot wait to ride Spiderman and Hulk. When I told them we were taking 2 days out of our Disney trip for Universal and IOA they were thrilled. I said first you ride Peter Pan with me and walk with me to see Minnie's house and then we'll do Spiderman. We are there! I'll be sure and check out the Universal Boards to post my questions.