Universal ?s

[catherine]

We were not planning on going to Universal during our Nov trip but now one of my DDs wants to go to see the HP stuff. We have 18 nights booked at OKW and are wondering about booking a night at one of the Universal hotels for the extra hour at HP and the FOLP. My questions are do you think it's worth the extra money for the room or should we just go over to Universal from OKW and not bother about the FOLP and if you think we should book a night at a Universal hotel can you please let me know who the best co. is to book it with.

TIA

 

[Claire L]

I love staying at Universal for one night the FOTL access is great and the Citywalk area is fab at night As for prices I always book direct and then keep checking to see if a cheaper rate comes out and you can then change to that rate

 

[darthtatty]

this event is happening in November-so may be worth planning around it. If youre there during those dates

http://celebration.virginholidays.c...tall_celebration&utm_campaign=homepage_promos


weve booked 1 night at universals hard rock hotel-via Universals site. they were the cheapest.
Dont forget if you book a night at universal you can get 2 days fotl pass.
you can check in before you visit the park-you probably wont get your room until later in the day but can get your card for fotl access. you can leave your luggage at the hotel too.
you then would get the early entry the next day and fotl pass too. again you can leave your luggage there and collect after the park

 

[MrsSparrow..]

The only thing I'd add about FOTL, is that the main HP attraction 'Forbidden Journey' does not currently have FOTL access. So if your main priority was to use FOTL for Harry Potter, I'd advise against it. However, if you are going to spend a couple of days at the resorts, go for it! I'm told people love it. We stay off-site and have never used express, but I've heard nothing but raves about staying on-site at Universal and the FOTL pass.

 

[fuse04]

yes it is worth it we did this last year. 18 nights at OKW but also booked a night at HRH; in effect we paid for two rooms that night (OKW and HRH) but for us we thought it was worth it because of the FOTL access, we didn't rent a car and were planning to go to universal for two days, therefore we saved $90 on cabs.

 

[catherine]

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice. I think that we'll go ahead and book one night and go for two days. We're thinking of going on the 15th and 16th, so we're hoping that people who've been there for the HP celebrations will be going home on the Mon!

 

[zippy99]

We went to Universal twice on our last trip.

We walked onto every ride - our longest queue was HP Forbidden Journey and that was 25 mins - which flew by with the themed queue. It was busier earlier on but we went around 3pm.

On our first visit we did the Studios first - and did ET, Jaws, Men in Black, Mummy, Shrek, Simpsons & Twister (RipRocket was closed) we then went over to Island of Adventure and did Forbidden Journey in one day.

On our second outing we headed straight for Island of Adventure.
Rode Hulk several times in a row (and saw Jedward!?), Spider Man, Ripsaw Falls, Jurassic Park, Bluto Barges (twice), Kids did Pterandon Flyers, Forbidden Journey twice , Hippogriff and Poseiden's Fury.

We went 27th October and on 2nd November and to be honest and there really was no need for fast access to any attractions - we made the mistake of buying express passes on a 2009 trip for Busch Gardens - complete waste of money the park was dead - no queues for anything.

Unless you are hitting thanks-giving time at the end of November I would question whether it is worth the extra cost. Incidently we were staying at OKW last trip - the taxi ride from there to Universal was around $35 each way (with tip)