Universal Studios/IoA?

[lobmcf]

I'm sure at least some of you on this board have visited Universal and/or Islands of Adventure at some point in time.

Recently, we were informed that my DH won an award and we would be flown to Orlando for the ceremony/awards thing-a-ling at the end of next month! We will have 1.5 days to ourselves, and I think we are leaning towards checking out Universal/IoA instead of trying to cram 4 Disney parks into 1.5 days (although it's not like that wasn't suggested).

I'm nervous about visiting the park with my DSLR because I'm sure there are some attractions that I won't be able to bring my camera on with me. I know some more renown parks have 'lockers' at the loading/unloading stations that are organized by aisles/rows of the ride cars and are manned by staff on the ride, but that still makes me a little uneasy. I carry my camera and a few lenses in a big messenger bag, and could probably wrap everything them up in a hoodie, so maybe I can hide them in that way? It all just makes me nervous, and I want to necessarily be 'held back' because I brought my DSLR with me.

What have been your experiences, or what are your opinions/suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[SrisonS]

Universal/IOA has lockers you can put your stuff in before you get in the line. They are ones that actually lock and you use your fingerprint to retrieve your stuff. The lockers are free to use, but their duration is about the time length of the ride's line wait, plus some additional time.

But one key piece of info I have to mention is that the lockers aren't all that big. I don't see a messenger bag with a camera and few lenses fitting (I could be wrong though). I know my lowepro pro runner 200AW just barely fits.

If anything, maybe just take one other lens in addition to the one on the camera. They are also very strict on not letting you take your dslr on some rides (mainly the coasters). You'd even have to put your p&s in your pocket.