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Universal Islands of Adventure/Studios vacation


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I know there is a lot of talk of WDW here, so I am hoping to pick up some info about Universal. We are looking at taking a side trip to Universal in the fall on our way to visit dh's dad. We have never done a big theme park visit like this and I have some questions. We will only be doing the two Universal parks, not WDW or any other attractions (well, dh wants to eat at Emeril's lol but other than that) and the big draw is obviously Harry Potter world. Here's my questions...

 

1. Do we want to do 2 days (one for each park) or 3 days (is there enough to see for 3 days worth?)?

 

2. Do I want park hopper tickets or will the base tickets be fine?

 

3. Is it really worth it to stay at on onsite hotel like the Pacific Resort or do we go with the Comfort Inn or something similar?

 

4. If we stay at the onsite hotel we get the Express Pass, if we don't, we won't. Will we need the Express Pass in September or October?

 

I'm really wavering here. On one hand, we've never done a big resort type vacation and granted it will only be for three days but part of me wants to do it big and stay at the resort and do three days in the park. The other part wants to play it Dave Ramsey safe and stay off site and save some money to use on the rest of our trip. I want the girls to have an awesome experience and I don't know which way to go.

 

Thanks so much!! Everyone is so knowledgeable about WDW that I'm hoping some of you have been over to Universal as well!

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We love Universal! We stayed on site at the Portifino Bay Hotel. They gave us a free upgrade to a delux room and in the end a free night. That was a surprise. Maybe there was a stay 2, one night free. The pool was wonderful. We spent 1 day at Islands of Adventure. It was fun taking the boat to the park. :) It was a quieter week and we would have been okay without the early admission but it was fun to be one of the first to Harry Potter World and the main ride, Hogwart's Castle. If you are prone to motion sickness you can walk through. We spent about 1/2 the time there and the other half on the rest of the park. The park closed at 6 that day. Ds really wished he could have gone back and just hung out in Harry Potter World. There are only a few rides. It's just fun to be in Hogsmeade! Plenty of shopping to be done. Save up. You can have your purchases sent to the hotel or have them waiting on your way out so your don't have to carry everything. So decide now, Do you want a pigmy puff or a wand?" lol

 

Any other questions?

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I bought a soda at Hogshead and it came in a mug to bring home. While it was expensive for a drink the refills were cheap and the mug is fun. You can sit out back on the patio. We also saved the little plastic cups from breakfast at the Three Broomsticks. The butterbeer is so sweet your teeth hurt, we preferred the pumkin juice. But the dc perfected a butterbeer recipe at home! I want to go back. You'll have a blast.

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Thanks! That's the kind of information I'm looking for. So, just to clarify, you only spent 1 day at Islands of Adventure? Did you even go to Universal Studios? If you did do only one day, do you feel like you would have liked another day? Do you mind sharing what month you went?

 

Thanks, again!

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When we went to Orlando last summer I managed to get a great rate on 7 day passes so we went a lot. That said, if hogsmeade isn't busy like when we went I think you could do both parks in 2 days. It was July, hot, and hp had just opened so we skipped a lot, but with less heat I think we could have done everything we wanted too.

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We just went last April. In between Spring Break and the Easter craze. It was a lot of fun. We stayed at the Royal Pacific (The cheapest of the 3) I am glad that we did.

 

1.) It was worth the early entrance to the Harry Potter World. We only waited 10 min in line for the forbidden journey. Then did the flight of the hippogriff twice with no wait at all. Walked around and took pictures, then the park opened to everyone else and it became CRAZY! So we took off to Seuss land and played there.

 

2.) The express room key was worth it. There were not a lot of lines, but there were some, and to just walk to the front was great. We did not wait more than 15 min for any ride. They also have the express room key for a lot of the rides (though not the forbidden journey) a much higher percentage than the rides at WDW, plus you don't have to wait for a specific time. I think as they only have the 3 hotels on site that is why it works.

 

The other thing that was cool, we were on the bluto's river rat ride, and the kids wanted to go again. There was a line, but just walk on with express. So, I asked if we could stay on, and they said no. I said we have express and showed my key and they let us stay on. (saved my feet a little, every bit helps)

 

3.) They have free wifi in the lobby, and it is a comfy lobby to sit in.

 

4.) The pool was AMAZING.

 

5.) THe boats were a fun way to get to the parks.

 

6.) The bed was one of the most comfortable hotel beds that I have stayed in.

 

7.) Dinner, one of the restaurants does free dinner for the kids if the adults are eating. They have a kids play room that you can eat in. The kids food doesn't need to be ordered, it is on a buffet (at kid height) in the play room.

 

8.) We only went to the one park (Islands, whichever has Harry Potter) we went for 2 days. The only reason that we didn't go to the other is that we live on the West Coast and can go to Universal in LA.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Nicole

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We're going this weekend!

 

We've decided to do WDW on the first day, the "women folk" hang out and rest at the hotel while the rest of the family does universal (with express passes), and everybody goes to Islands on the third day (with passes).

 

We're staying in a condo off site, so I can't really say anything about that.

 

We looked into getting park hopper, but the prices we saw had 2 day, 2 park being the cheapest. I'm not sure about 3 day, though.

 

Don't forget, there are a ton of other things to do in Orlando- like the alligator park and Ikea (can you tell what I want to do on the middle day?)

 

Good luck planning! It seems like we've been planning this trip for ages.

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We were just there in February, President's Day weekend. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, which has an awesome pool too. It was definitely worth it to us to have the express pass and be able to get in an hour early, because once the doors opened, it was packed. We had a two day park hopper pass because I wanted the flexibility. I am glad we did because I wasn't all that excited about the other park...the one where Harry Potter is not...

 

If you are big Harry Potter fans, I think it's worth it. I knew we'd never be making such a big trip again so we splurged. Harry Potter World was amazing. I think because it was a holiday weekend it made it more crowded. By about 11 a.m. or so the HP world was at capacity so if you left you had to get a timed ticket for re-entry. And the little shops were insanely crowded...and I hate crowds...but even I have to admit it was worth it.

 

Another favorite was the Jurassic Park ride. Awesome. Dr. Seuss was cool too, we rode that little coaster a bunch.

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If you can afford it - ideally-

 

3 days minimum, you don't really need parkhopper -but it can be nice

Stay on-site :)

We had a blast, and plan to go back in the winter.... You will really only need one day at Universal Studios, but plan on at least two at IoA.

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Thanks! That's the kind of information I'm looking for. So, just to clarify, you only spent 1 day at Islands of Adventure? Did you even go to Universal Studios? If you did do only one day, do you feel like you would have liked another day? Do you mind sharing what month you went?

 

Thanks, again!

 

We were there in February between vacation weeks. Yes you can do each park in a day but if I had the money I would love to spend more time. Oh I forgot about how nice it was having the hotel express key. :)

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