Universal Studios help

[All4one]

Please help me plan our trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. This is our first time although we've done Disney several times. Are there places to stay onsite or is it better to get a room offsite? Are there shuttles like at Disney? How many days do we need to plan for? Is Legoland a separate day all for itself? Also tips for rides and food are appreciated. Thanks!

[bettyandbob]

We went last summer and stayed at Cabana Bay. Staying onsite gives you early entry which is key to Harry Potter. If do one of the more expensive hotels you also get unlimited express tickets. However, when I went to cost difference between adding unlimited express to tickets and the more expensive hotels was it was cheaper to stay at Cabana Bay. Depending on when you go express tickets may not be necessary. I was traveling with my son who has disabilities and needed to make sure we could reduce line waits. Cabana bay was the only onsite hotel that had refrigerators in room. We enjoyed the pool's at this hotel.

 

I had never done meal plans before. Over the course of our stay we had days with just quick service and one day with full service. We also had the deal with unlimited drinks. I wouldn't do unlimited drinks again. There is only so much sofa I can drink and that's the only unlimited bevetage--no unsweetened tea, no seltzer. You could get ice cubes at the soda dispensers without proof of unlimited beverage. So I think quick service and full service are worthwhile, but not the beverage thing.

 

We spent three full days at the two parks. This was in crowded, hot, late August. We managed to see all we wanted, proceeding at an unhurried pace. We went early in the morning and took breaks mid afternoon daily. We returned at dinner time and stayed a bit after dinner. I think the shuttle service is similar to WDW onsite, but its been awhile since I was in WDW (2008).

 

I can't compare to offsite. Staying onsite and having meals hotel and ticketing completely planned ahead made everything on the trip easy. I have heard from people you want to make sure you have your tickets taken care of before arriving. Friends told us it takes no less than twenty minutes to buy tickets at the park. Most of that time is spent up selling. So you need to look at all the options ahead and know what you want. Because I stayed onsite, there was a place in the hotel to pick up my park and meal tickets ahead. We got lanyards for all those tickets to keep track of them. I wish they would put all ticketing on a plastic card, but they don't. They gave us a separate ticket for each person each day, plus separate meal tickets. A lot of little papers to keep track of and not get wet.

[All4one]

Thank you! This is so helpful!🙂

[displace]

Depending on the ages of your kids, legoland is an easy, all-day fun time. We are slow amusement park people and we can do everything mostly in a shortish day (by afternoon), unless you combine the water park area (longer time). It's a quick drive from Orlando. During summer they also have a water park (opens in springtime).

[whitestavern]

I'm a mostly offsite kind of gal for Disney, but I would definitely stay onsite for Universal. We stayed at Royal Pacific and loved it. It is so worth the extra morning hour and express pass. You won't need a car onsite because you can walk or boat everywhere. Boat takes longer IMO. We did two days with park to park access, but that was before the other HP section was added. Maybe three days would be better now?

 

As far as dining, we were doing it on the cheap cheap, so only had one meal at the hotel, which was not very good. I've heard great things about Mythos.

 

Orlandoinformer.com is a good place for ride and touring info. You don't say when you're going or how old your kids are. We did almost all the rides except for the extreme ones. There are a couple of shows too. We went end of Feb and the parks close early for Mardi Gras. The express pass works on almost all the rides. Forbidden Journey is an exception, though if you do the early hour you won't have a problem. I think we rode this three times. It's the most amazing ride I've ever been on! I've heard you should take Hogwarts both ways, as they are different rides. The wand show at Ollivander's is a lot of fun. Our kids were picked to participate, which was neat.

[Starr]

We've stayed at the Portofino and had a great time. Taking the boat to the parks is part of the fun. At the Portofino you get the extra hour in the morning (leave early enough to wait for the boat and line at the park) and the express pass which meant we never had much of a line. It was cheapest for us to get one person an Annual Pass. It dropped the cost of the room considerably. Put APH  (Annual Pass Holder) in the code section and see what price comes up for the hotels. 

 

We purchased mugs of something at Harry Potter World and the refills of whatever in the park were much cheaper and we had a souvenir. You can take the mug back the next day as well. It's fun to eat at The Three Broomsticks. You order at the counter, you can share, and make it work. The bar that adjoins also has non alcoholic drinks. There is a patio behind the buildings as well. If you are Harry Potter fans it is just fun to be there.

 

Citywalk is the area of food, shopping and entertainment. It's between the hotels and the parks. We also had good food at the hotel.

 

We did not find the food plans to pay off. We managed breakfast in the room or bought rolls and coffee on the way. We shared, had light lunch and dinner after the parks.

 

It's nice to swim in the afternoon.

 

I would do Legoland as it's own day. 

 

Look around to get best prices. They are very helpful on the phone. 

[Lady Florida.]

I can't help when it comes to hotels because we're local and go for the day. However, I'd say figure on a separate day for Legoland. While it isn't too far, it's also not close, so you need to consider driving time for the round trip (or bus time if you won't have a car). If you have Lego fans, they're going to want to spend the day there checking out all the really cool creations. Two days at Universal is good, three would be better. When are you going? That's going to make a difference. If you're going at a crowded time or when they close early, you'll want three days.

 

When we used to frequent Busch Gardens we always got the meal ticket because it was worth it. I bought the meal plan once at Universal and was sorry. There are limited menu options with Universal's meal pass and I didn't feel like I got my money's worth. Also, not every restaurant participates in the meal plan. Of course YMMV, but it's going to depend on how many meals you eat at the park and where you want to eat. We always just snack, then choose one restaurant for a full meal - either lunch or dinner. Mythos is good, as is Finnegan's Bar and Grill, and The Three Broomsticks. Though The Leaky Cauldron is supposed to be similar (some menu items are different) we like the food at The Three Broomsticks better. Chefs? I don't know, but it just tastes better.

 

Forbidden Journey is a wild ride with a lot of jerky movement. Ds loves it but I can't take it. Escape from Gringotts is fun though! If you can afford both parks it's worth it, partly so you can do both Harry Potter worlds, but also because each one has its own atmosphere.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Lady Florida

[displace]

I totally forgot to mention that legoland has homeschool days with reduced prices and special classes. You can find the schedule online.

[All4one]

Thanks everyone. We're planning for February or April. The youngest will be nine. Do you think Legoland is worth the money? Only the two youngest are still Lego obsessed. Or should we spend the extra day at Universal. Planning for 2 full days and maybe a half day.