Universal Studios Orlando planning

[IHateMyJob2004]

I was hoping to go here this summer for 2 days. 2 adults and 2 children. And I am blown away by the cost for the four 2 day passes. I'm mostly blown away by the fact that 2 days with hotel are probably going to cost somewhere in the $1000 to $1500 range depending on what we do.

Anyway, I'll ask several questions.

-- 1 --
I can get tickets where you go to one park on one day and the other the second. Or pay more and be able to go to both on both days. Just like Disney's park hopper. Is it worth while doing this?

-- 2 --
Is Universal Express Unlimited ride access worth while? This basically allows you to skip the line for each select ride once a day.


-- 3 --
Is it worth while staying at an "on site" hotel? This was our intention because it is the only way to get early park access.


-- 4 --
What hotel to stay at? Loews Portofino, Loews Royal Pacific or Hard Rock which are the premium on sites with available Universal Express Unlimited? Cabana Bay which is on site but less expensive. Or stay off site?

And I want to add that Universal's web site SUCKS. It's extremely hard to figure out what the options are and what the costs are, especially when you try to compare package deals.

 

[JoeyM]

I'm going in April and I have 4 kids so we generally have to get 2 rooms which is really expensive. Cabana Bay is only partially finished but it has a suite that sleeps 6 for $160/night. That's what I'm doing.

Undercovertourist sells one day park ticket for like $90 each or 3 day ticket for $140. I went for the three day ticket. you can walk to the park and there is a shuttle to SeaWorld and some other non Disney water parks so I won't need a car for at least 4 days.

There's a kitchenette in the suite so we can probably do breakfast in and have snacks and booze at the hotel. You can also use the other Universal hotel pools and amenities when you stay at any Universal Hotel. You also get early admission to the parks and can skip lines with a park pass that would otherwise cost extra (Cabana Bay doesn't include the pass). I don't think you need a park jumper pass because it takes a whole day at each park. Undercovertourist also has a calendar that recommends what days to go to the parks to avoid crowds.

Last year we stayed at Floridays and rented a car which also worked really well if you need more room and don't want to rent 2 rooms. Floridays was really nice, clean, 2 TV's, a kitchen, a washing machine and nice grounds/pool.

If money was no object, I would probably get two rooms at Portofino. I heard it was really nice.

Also, if you want to do something different while you're down there, check out Gatorland. We loved it.

Joe M.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Right now I am thinking I'll do the deluxe hotel since it comes with the unlimited Universal Express ride access. Something from reading that I will want anyway.

Still debating the "park hopper" option. I have a feeling that the kids will want to spend time at the Harry Potter area both days.

 

[Xstatic1]

I was hoping to go here this summer for 2 days. 2 adults and 2 children. And I am blown away by the cost for the four 2 day passes. I'm mostly blown away by the fact that 2 days with hotel are probably going to cost somewhere in the $1000 to $1500 range depending on what we do.

Anyway, I'll ask several questions.

-- 1 --
I can get tickets where you go to one park on one day and the other the second. Or pay more and be able to go to both on both days. Just like Disney's park hopper. Is it worth while doing this?

-- 2 --
Is Universal Express Unlimited ride access worth while? This basically allows you to skip the line for each select ride once a day.


-- 3 --
Is it worth while staying at an "on site" hotel? This was our intention because it is the only way to get early park access.


-- 4 --
What hotel to stay at? Loews Portofino, Loews Royal Pacific or Hard Rock which are the premium on sites with available Universal Express Unlimited? Cabana Bay which is on site but less expensive. Or stay off site?

And I want to add that Universal's web site SUCKS. It's extremely hard to figure out what the options are and what the costs are, especially when you try to compare package deals.

Didn't you recently write a thread about this? http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2373631

Is there any way you can go on a less-busy period (like the Fall)? My BF and I went twice in November, and there was virtually no one there (it was awesome :biggrin🙂.

If you're planning on doing both, you won't have time nor energy to see both theme parks in one day. If you want to see both, go to Universal Studios first, then Islands of Adventure the following day (if you do it the other way around, you'll be very disappointed with Universal Studios). If you want to stick to only going to one park, Islands of Adventure is the one to go to. :thumbsup:

If summer is the only time you can go, you will need as many perks (i.e. early park access) as you can get. There will be thousands of people there seeing the park and wanting to go on all the rides too. Believe me, the summer is hot and humid, and crowded. <---- bad combo in seeing any of Orlando theme parks

As far as costs, the peak season for Orlando theme parks is summer. Don't expect to see any reduced rates or discounts. Whatever you do, once you pick your dates, make hotel reservations and dining reservations too.

 

[KK]

I think the best deal is to get the three day pass. I was down there in October for 5 or 6 days. We did Seaworld, Wet 'n Wild, Kennedy space center and the 2 universal parks in those days we were there. we only had two days to do the universal parks, we went with the 3 day pass and kept the option of going to 2 parks in one day if we wanted to. We found the parks to be an all day event so we didn't use the third day. I would have liked to have more time down there to get the third day in but I was worn out by the end of the week.