Will we be bored???

[3mousehouse]

We are die hard Disney fans going on our first trip to Universal from April 6 - 12. We are staying at PBH and are coming in by noon on the 6th. This gives us 6 days at Universal. Now, after reading some posts that say 2 days is plenty of time for US/IOA, I am starting to wonder if we will be bored or out of things to do by mid-week.

Anyone with any ideas about what else to do or ways to pace our vacation so we stay busy? I was thinking about a day at Seaworld but what aout things to do at the resorts? Is a "cabana day" at the pool something to try? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Our crew includes myself, DH, DS 11, DD 9 and DD 6 (daredevil! ). TIA

 

[Metro West]

We are die hard Disney fans going on our first trip to Universal from April 6 - 12. We are staying at PBH and are coming in by noon on the 6th. This gives us 6 days at Universal. Now, after reading some posts that say 2 days is plenty of time for US/IOA, I am starting to wonder if we will be bored or out of things to do by mid-week.

Anyone with any ideas about what else to do or ways to pace our vacation so we stay busy? I was thinking about a day at Seaworld but what aout things to do at the resorts? Is a "cabana day" at the pool something to try? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Our crew includes myself, DH, DS 11, DD 9 and DD 6 (daredevil! ).

Since you're coming in mid-day, I would use the rest of the day to get settled and rest up...maybe hit the pool. Then I would spend the next couple of days at the parks. I imagine your kids will want to do some things over and over. Since you'll have FOTL during your stay, you should be good as far as lines go.

I would take a day and go to Sea World...your kids will love the animal shows and kid's sections.

We used to take a day to just relax and lay by the pool...nothing wrong with that.

Just play it by ear and take your time. You don't have to rush through things or go commando like at Disney.

 

[peel]

Maybe you can spend a day at Aquatica, that new water park near Sea World.

 

[emile]

If it fits in your budget, you can try Discovery Cove. Price of admission includes 7 days of Seaworld or Bush Gardens.

 

[rwdavis]

3 days should handle US/IOA with no problems. You can even hit the highlights of both parks in a single day. Maybe get a 2 day pass to Disney as well?
Bob

 

[lindalinda]

I always stay a week at least. Yes you can do it in two or three days, but why would you rush it if you dont have to? Kids love to do the rides and shows over and over. You cant get good at MIB doing it just once!

We are never bored, we are relaxed!

You can take a side trip to seaworld or aquatica or epcot if you want, but dont fell that you need to .....you will love this vacation! Heck theres even a spa at PBH!

 

[patster734]

Several other suggestions besides those mentioned above:

1. See a movie at the theater in Citywalk. We've seen a couple movies there over the past several years and will be seeing the new Narnia movie there this May.

2. Tour the other 2 hotels. The HRH is next to the PBH and within walking distance. You can also walk to the RPR by passing through Citywalk, but two alternatives is to either take the boat to Citywalk and then switch to the RPR boat, or take the bus that travels between all three hotels.

3. Poolhop. If you like swimming, feel free to use the other hotels' swimming pools. Poolhopping is allowed at Universal.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Take a day or two to just sit by the pool and relax
Walk around the parks and look at the unique, individual themeing in the lands/islands
Go to Wet N' Wild (it's across the highway/street!)
Go to HRH and RPR (Hard Rock Hotel/Royal Pacific Resort) and look at the theming there, check out pools, etc

And,

Have fun!

NOT TO MISS ATTRACTIONS:
*Revenge of the Mummy (USO)
*Men In Black (USO)
*Horror Make-Up Show (USO)
*Hulk (IoA)
*Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges (IoA)
*Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls (IoA)
*Spiderman (DO NOT MISS!!! IoA)
*Check out the Lost Continent in IoA--beautiful!
*Meander through Suess Landing in IoA
*Jurassic Park River Adventure (IoA)

 

[Hug the Mouse]

We just returned from 2 night/3 days at RPR and to be honest, I wish we had 2 or 3 more days. We really enjoyed the pace that FOTL alowed us to take. We took our sweet time getting to the parks after a nice breakfast at Islands dining room.

If we had a day or 2 more we would have spent a little more time at the pool.

I think the recomendation that "you can do both parks in a day or two" really only allows for hitting the BIG attractions. The pleasure in having more than 2 days is sitting on a bench while your kids run around the Jurassic play area without looking at your watch feeling you need to hurry up and do something else. It's standing on the bridge dropping quarters into the squirt guns at Ripsaw Falls. It's not setting your alarm and getting to the park at noon after a leisurely brunch.

 

[Darcy03231]

I was there in August for 6 days with DD (16), DS (14) DN (12), DN (9) and DN (3) and no one complained about being bored! They were having so much fun the didn't want to leave.

I enjoyed it because I didn't feel like we had to do commando touring to see and do everything. It was a much more relaxed vacation.

 

[goofy!]

The shortest stay we have ever had was our one last week and that was 6 days.

We are never bored. We love sleeping in, eating leisurely meals and doing our favorites over and over. Heck, as others have mentioned, we like to take a few hours just to do MIB. DS is getting closer to maxing out.

This last trip, DH and two DS's and our niece stayed the entire 6 days at PBH. DD and I had to leave for 3 days to go to WDW for a cheer competition. (DH and kids drove over when she competed, but they didn't want to stay at Disney)

That left DD and I only 3 days for Universal. It definitely was not enough for us. I felt rushed in getting everything done I wanted to get done. I felt like I had to hurry the kids at breakfast and lunches. And we had just been there for 7 days three months ago. So it was not like we were new and trying to see everything. We just like the relaxed pace you can tour Universal with.

I can't imagine trying to do Universal in only 2 or 3 days every vacation.

 

[damo]

The thing with people who are used to going to Disney on vacation is that there is no relaxation factor added in. When you have that many days to spend at Universal, you don't plan to be at the gates before opening and stay all day. Instead you spend about 4 hours at the park each day. Then you have lots of time to spend by the pool, at Citywalk and enjoying other things in the area. There are a lot of great restaurants there and in the area and Seaworld and Aquatica are very close. Universal provides transportation to Seaworld and Aquatica and Wet 'n Wild. Add a few days at these places and you have a perfect vacation that is tons of fun and also very relaxing. Plan to spend an afternoon at each of the three resort pools. Plan on doing a dive-in movie or see a movie at Citywalk. See Blue Man Group. You won't feel like you need a vacation after your vacation.

 

[ckay87]

Yes you can do the parks in 2 or 3 days in their entirety, but I think it sounds lovely to have 6 whole days at your disposal! That means a NON-commando tour. Sleeping in, taking it slow. Your passes are good all week, you are on site, you can come and go as you please. You can have a pool day, but stop by the parks simply to let the kids play at Jurrasic park or Curious George playlands if you want (these areas are kid paradise, I tell you.)

And with transportation (do you have a car?), there is NO CHANCE you will be bored in Orlando, period. I'm very jealous!

 

[kirbsam]

when you have that much time to devote, it is so different than disney. you can sleep in, take a nice leisurely walk or boat ride to the parks. see what is going on around you. and not be so intent on getting a fastpass, or worrying about how long a wait something is, or following a touring plan that has you crisscrossing the park 5 or 6 times. your kids will not get sick of the parks, believe me. and the pools are all relaxing and a must do every day that you are there.

 

[sha_lyn]

I often wonder if people who say "you can do IOA/US in 2-3 days" realize that they probably missed over 1/2 the things at the parks.
IE...There is no way that one could see every show and ride every ride in US in one day. We've tried to do it and 2, and still didn't make it to every show. Heck it was our 3rd trip before we could work in Bettlejuice and Horror Make-up, and we had to give up Terminator and Blues Brothers to do that. That was with staying onsite and using FOTL.

IOA can usually be "done" in a day but that doesn't allow time to enjoy things like the Mystic Fountain, Camp Jurrasic and the Jurassic Park Discovery center.

 

[MassMom94]

We were just there for five nights/six days in February, and believe me, we weren't bored. Previously we had just done our first two nights at HRH before moving on to Disney, and always felt rushed. One full day and two half days in the Universal parks was just not enough. This time we could take our time.

Of course, now my kids want to do this every year - 5 nights at Universal, then 7 nights at Disney. That's a little rich for my budget, unfortunately!

 

[CPanther95]

Picture a vacation at Disney World except you don't have to wait in lines for rides. Relaxing treks for lunch and dinner (even leaving the park) without worrying about whether or not you've riden enough of the rides that day. Your kids getting to ride their favorites 10 - 12 times during the week, and still wanting to hit them "just one last time" before you head home.

Spending time at the pool and actually having a vacation on your vacation and coming home more relaxed and refreshed than when you got there - and discussing plans for next years trip on the way home.

Those that claim that you can see what Universal has to offer in 1 or 2 days have completely lost sight of the concept of a resort, or even an amusement park. The Disney mentality that has been conditioned into our brains is that we should spend a fortune, wait in lines, be happy if we can hit all the key signature rides during our visit, try not to scream at our kids too much, then get the hell out. Our "vacations" have become a non-stop race to pack as much crap as possible the minute we get to Orlando so that by the end of the week, we can hopefully justify the cash we've dropped.

People will ride fewer rides in 12 hours at the MK than they will in 5 hours at IOA. Then they'll complain that there's "nothing to do" at Universal because they can blow through all the rides multiple times with FOTL. If the answer to preventing boredom is standing sandwiched in a hot line for hours each day, then don't use your FOTL. However, I'd imagine you could probably find something far more appealing to do with your extra time.

 

[dpayne1969]

we never get bored at Universal, it is just a relaxing vacation. No rush rush go go thing like at Disney, I bought a pre-paid movie gift card for our trip in May.

We also just love to walk around citywalk its very relaxing to us to go to Universal versus Disney

 

[mslclark]

We usually stay around 4-6 nights, and we're not bored. It's great to have the option to leisurely tour the parks, and then come back and rest or visit the pool whenever you feel like it.

 

[fiveforall]

I agree with previous posters......US/IOA is a relaxing vacation. When I come home from Disney I need a few days to recover. Our past two trips at US/IOA we spent 5 days and it was great! We'd sleep late, have a leisurely breakfast of sweet rolls in one of the parks, play for a few hours, go back to the resort for a swim or nap, then have a nice dinner at Citywalk. It's fun to see a movie, explore shops, or just people watch. When I'm at Disney I feel shuttled the entire trip. With a week at US/IOA you'll actually have a restful vacation.