1. Selecting the right hotel for your stay.
Staying at a Universal hotel on property has it’s perks and I wouldn’t stay anywhere else after our recent experience. Here are just a few reasons why staying on property is worth every penny.
Early Park Admission: By staying at one of the Universal Studios hotels you are allowed in the parks 1 hour prior to the opening time for the public. You will need to check the schedule for the day as park opening and closing hours are subject to change. That extra hour may not seem important but let me tell you, it is. Because of that extra hour of park time, we were able to ride all of the most popular rides multiple times without a long wait time before the park even opened to the public. That’s right….Hagrids, Forbidden Journey, and even Jimmy Fallon were all crossed off by 8:00 am.
Free transportation to and from the parks: We were able to go to and from the parks all day without waiting longer than 5 minutes in line. They had buses/water taxis running consistently for guests and it is all included.
Priority Entrance: Due to current covid occupancy restrictions the parks can become full early in the day. If you have early park admission, you will be able to get in without an issue. If you get to the gate and the park is full at anytime throughout the day, you will have to wait on people to leave the park to get in. If you are staying on property, you get priority entrance. This is basically like having an express pass to the front of the line to get into the park should the park reach max capacity. My advice on having to avoid this is to get there early. We used that extra hour to get our favorite popular rides done. We would then leave the park in the early afternoon when things began to get crowded, go back to the resort for a nap or some pool time, then back to the park in the early evening when the crowd started to thin out.
Unlimited Express Passes: Some resorts on property come with early park admission AND unlimited express passes. This means you can go to the shorter and much faster line at each ride as many times as you would like during your stay. While express passes can be added to your stay for an additional charge if you are staying at a resort that does not offer them, it is often less expensive to upgrade your hotel and get the passes included than to upgrade the tickets and stay at a less expensive hotel.
2. Let’s Talk Tickets
There are several different types of tickets available for purchase. A travel agent can easily help you sort through these options but here are some key things to look for.
Park to Park Passes: You will definitely want to have park to park passes as this allows you to ride the Hogwart’s Express between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Even if you aren’t interested in Harry Potter or riding the train (which by the way is an attraction in itself), you will want to save your feet. This train ride is perfect for getting off your feet for a bit, taking in the attraction, and getting you back and forth with ease. The train picks you up/drops you off in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and the attraction is different both directions so make sure you ride the train back and forth to get the full experience.
You may be asking “Can’t we just do one park per day?” The quick answer is Yes, you can. The Universal expert in me says “PLEASE don’t do that!!!” There are times when there may be super long lines at one park but a quick train ride over to the other park will have you riding rides in no time. There are also times when due to weather rides at Islands of Adventure can be shut down longer than rides at Universal and you may want to hop over there until the weather gets better.
Express Passes: As mentioned before you can add on express passes to any ticket. It is less expensive to do ahead of time before arrival as these are occupancy based. Meaning if you plan on going during a high season (think anytime kids are out of school) they will be more expensive the closer you get to the date. You can get 1 day express passes, unlimited express passes for each day, or you can get complimentary express passes by staying at one of the 3 deluxe resorts on property.
Season Passes and Promos: Often Universal will run ticket promotions. Their current season pass promotion is so good that it’s basically a 15 month season pass for only $15 more than the normal ticket price. With this you would be allowed to visit the parks as often as you would like for 15 months from the inital date you arrive. Even if you don’t live in Florida, this is a fantastic deal and I would highly recommend this. This deal is subject to change so if you are reading this and want more info, please email me at livethepin@gmail.com
3. Available Parks and Must Do Attractions
Universal Orlando is broken up into 3 parks. Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay. Volcano Bay is a waterpark and is currently only operating March 1 – October 31st (dates subject to change) Let’s break down the must do attractions at each park. Volcano Bay is amazing and has many great features but I am going to focus on the 2 main parks in this blog.
Islands of Adventure:
These attracations are not only some of the best but they are often times some that have the longest lines. These are the rides, you may want to hit up in the early morning hour if you stay on property. If you do not, you have less of a chance at riding them unless you have an express pass. It’s important to note that currently Hagrid’s does not have an express pass line. This could change by the time your trip rolls around.
1. Hagrids – The newest attraction to Harry Potter World. This two person roller coaster takes you on the ride of your life. You have one person on the motorcycle and one person in the side car. You are whipped around through twists and turns going up to 60 miles per hour. My family all said this was the best roller coaster they have ever been on.
2. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – This was my mom’s personal favorite. You enter the ride through the castle, go past Dumbledore’s study, see the room of requirement and more. This ride takes you on a journey through the Harry Potter movie. You are sitting in a cart with your family and thrust into a Quidditch match, escape the death eaters, and then save the day.
3. Spiderman – This classic ride is absolute perfection. Between the waiting area as you walk in and the nod to the comic books, you can’t help but love it. The ride itself was the first of it’s kind and the creators are also who created one of my favorite rides at Universal Studios. (more on that later). You will notice several villains through the ride story line.
4. Dr. Doom’s Fearfall – On this ride you are strapped into a chair with your feet dangling. You are shot 185 feet up into the air and then hurled down.
5. Coming Soon – The summer of 2021 we will see the grand opening of the Jurassic World VelociCoaster. This coaster will feature a 360 barrel roll, drop at 80 degrees and a 70 mph launch.
Universal Studios
1. Transformers 3D – This ride is my favorite ride in Universal. The same people who created Spiderman also had a hand in creating this ride. The last time we had visited Universal as a family, they were weeks away from opening this ride. My son who is a huge Transformers fan and was 7 at the time could hear the ride running as they were doing test runs but we weren’t allowed on the ride. I remember he was so bummed out so we couldn’t wait to experience this ride with our now 14 year old. Pretty sure I cried when we came off the ride and he hugged me and said “Mom thank you for making this happen”
2. Jimmy Fallon – This ride requires a virtual ticket. I highly recommend getting on and grabbing that ticket as soon as the park opens. (more on that to come under the app section). This takes you through the history of the Tonight Show studio, see some of your favorite characters from the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and then race through New York. It’s full of surprises and laughter.
3. Escape from Gringotts – You enter Grigotts Bank under the massive fire breathing dragon in Diagon Alley. This is a virtual ride mixed with a roller coaster. This is a small coaster in the sense that you wouldn’t know you were on a coaster if it wasn’t for the one small drop. I am not a huge coaster fan but this one is super easy and I found myself on it multiple times. I will advise there are quite a bit of stairs to get to the front of the line on this one.
4. Revenge of the Mummy – Remember how I said I am not a coaster fan. I sat this one out but my family did not. In fact, the first time they went on it they said “It started out and we thought man this is super cheesy and dumb and then everything changed and it was amazing.” They ended up riding this coaster more than any other ride in a single day. The lines were relatively shorter than other rides and it offered just as much thrill and adventure for them.
4. The Universal App
Virtual Lines – I mentioned this earlier when talking about the Jimmy Fallon ride. Some rides require you to get a virtual ticket. You will select the ride, your group size, and then select the time you would like to return to ride. There are times when you will not have time to discuss it with the group. You may need to grab the time and then if it doesn’t work after talking to the group, delete your reservation. These times go very quickly. The two rides that typically use this service are the Jimmy Fallon ride and Hagrids. There are others as the lines become longer throughout the day but you can almost guarantee you will have to get in a virtual line for those two if you do not do the early park admission.
Order Food – You can order your food before arriving at your dining location and upload your payment info to speed up the process.
Map – My personal favorite feature of this app is the Map section. Here you can filter rides by type and park location, see the wait times and show times, locate the restrooms, and really maximize your time at the parks. Because of the map, extra park hour, and virtual lines we were able to knock out 19 rides on Thanksgiving day. This is one of the busiest days of the year and we did it without express passes. This app is gold if used correctly. Watch the times on rides and set your notifications to on. You can even create a favorites list by selecting the heart above the ride when it’s in list view. You can then filter by favorites so that you can watch the wait times on your most coveted rides.
5. Must See Things and Things to Buy
Butterbeer – This tasty treat can be found in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. It comes frozen, hot, and cold. I highly recommend frozen. This is a butterscotch flavored drink inspired by the Harry Potter movies. You have to try it at least once.
Interactive Wands – Wands are the must have item for any Harry Potter fan and here there are many to choose from. Not only can you get your favorite character’s wand but you can get a special wand according to your birthdate. The wands also come in 2 styles: regular and interactive. The interactive wand costs less than $10 more and provides much more entertainment while at the parks. Their are special marked places in the parks that you can find with the map that is included in the wand box. This map will show you where to go so that you can wave your magic wand and make water fall from the sky, a plant to grow, and even fireworks to shoot in a display. These kept us busy while people took restroom breaks, rode rides my youngest wasn’t interested in, or someone waited in line for a snack. I highly recommend this.
Harry Potter Castle at Night – This castle is magnificent no matter the time of day but at night it is lit up and looks completely different. The castle is found in Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure.
Dragon in Diagon Alley – This dragon breathes fire randomly throughout the day. You can feel the heat coming off of him and it’s pretty spectacular to see.
Kreacher’s Building – Just outside of Diagon Alley in Universal Studios you will see a tall building with doors. Run up the steps and take a knock on the door. Then run back and look up at the windows and you may see Kreacher looking out at you.
Disappearing Into The Wall – In the movies, characters often walk into the wall of the 9 3/4 platform at the train station to get to the Hogwarts Express. In Diagon Alley there is an illusion set up where you look like you are walking through the wall just as the characters do. Make sure you find it before you get on the train. If you have gone to the owl, you have missed it.
Last But Not Least
I may sound like a broken record here but if you do not use a Universal travel agent, you are missing out! If you don’t have one, I would love to help you plan your dream vacation. My services are free and I will have a list of the updated promotions and changes when you reach out to me.
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