When planning a trip, I tend to think of all of the things that could go wrong: What happens if we miss our connecting flight; What happens if the car breaks down; What happens if I need a hospital on the trip; What do I do if I lose all of my money? These are all things that have gone through my mind while planning, packing for, or taking a vacation. While those are valid concerns, it is also important, and probably more so, to think about ways to make your trip can be as successful as possible.
There are two parks at Universal Orlando: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The two parks are about the same size, and which one is "better" is up for debate and is a post for another time. In this post, I will be as objective as possible, saving my opinions for future posts. In this post, we will cover tips and tricks on how to make the most of your time, money, and energy at Universal Orlando.
The Parks
When you arrive in Orlando and get checked into your hotel, onsite or not, you will have a decision to make: do you attempt part of one of the parks on your first day or wait until the first full day? I think this depends on your situation, including if you have kids with you, what time you get to Orlando, and what kind of ticket you have. If you have a specific number of days to use your pass, make sure you have enough days on your ticket to go all of the full days you are there. The time you arrive in Orlando is important too, if you land at 2 PM or after, you won't be able to get to the parks until at least 3:30 after checking into your hotel. With the parks closing at 7 or 8, you should make a decision on whether you are going to rush to get to the parks or take the rest of the day to relax and get used to "the park life." I would definitely recommend this approach if you have younger children with you as traveling is stressful and adding the craziness of a park on the day is simply wishing for a meltdown. There are enough activities at each of the Universal hotels to fill an afternoon and evening to ease into the fun of the parks. Though if you are there on your own or with just adults, and your ticket allows you time, I would recommend spending as much time in the parks as possible.
Once you are heading into the parks, deciding what to do first at Universal is like asking a kid in a candy store what they want to eat first. Which park you decide to do first is up to you and depends on what most interests you, but I will put it out there that if you are there for Harry Potter, especially if it is your first time, go to Universal Studios first. You can thank me later. If you have small children, both parks have kids' areas close to the front of both parks, and Islands of Adventure has another kids' area towards the back of the park. No matter which of the parks you decide to do first, you won't be disappointed.
If you are staying at a Universal hotel, you will have the ability to enter one or both parks one hour early and get one or two rides done before the parks open for everyone else. Another option for using this time is to get in line for one of the most popular rides in the park, which can have wait times of up to 3 hours at the busiest times of the day. Getting in line in the early access hour seems like a strange use of time, but it will save you so much time later in the day when you are battling a crowded park and tired and hungry travel partners. Once you are in the parks with a basic park ticket, you have access to all rides and shows inside the park with the exception of the Hogwarts Express, which requires a park-to-park pass.
One way to make the best use of the time in the park is to have an Express Pass, which must be purchased each day that you want to use it. A few things to know about an Express Pass: everyone in the group must have an Express Pass and there are two kinds - a one-time use or an unlimited use, both options are for a single day. The price of an Express Pass varies by day which makes it a potentially costly addition to your trip, though many think it is worth it. There is a way to get an Express Pass without purchasing it individually: the "top 3" hotels offer complimentary Express Passes to everyone in the room for the entirety of your stay, check-in through check-out. Most rides accept Express Passes, the two current exceptions (Dec 2022) to that are Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Ride and Velocicoaster. Express Passes can cut down ride wait times from 60-90 minutes down to 10-15 minutes.
One downside of an Express Pass that I have found is that by virtue of going to a shorter line, you miss out on a lot of the theming of the ride and portions of the "pre-show" to set up the story of the ride. This isn't detrimental to the enjoyment of the ride itself, but if you are interested in a particular fandom (Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, etc.) you may want to endure the regular line for the rides.
The Food
When you think of theme park food, what do you think of? Normally, I would think of halfway decent food, small portions, and way overpriced. After having gone to Universal, I have a different idea of theme park food. Yes, Universal food isn't cheap, but there are ways to make it more affordable. If you are looking for food reviews, you can read my "Eat the City: Universal" post in a few weeks, this section is just a few tips on how to experience Universal food as much as you want.
If you are interested in trying as many different kinds of food as you can then I would recommend sharing meals with people that you are traveling with. Whether you are in the mood for a small snack or a full meal, you won't have to go far to fulfill your want, as there are many, many options in both parks. Universal food runs the gamut from traditional theme park food at snack carts (pretzels, popcorn, nachos, etc.) to well-put-together meals (cottage pie with a salad, spaghetti with meatballs, etc).
To make Universal food even more accessible, you can also bring in your own food and non-alcoholic drinks if you are looking to save some money. If you are looking to try the best that Universal has to offer, I recommend bringing in your own snacks and water and only buying meals, so you don't have to waste money on the traditional theme park food and snacks.
The Extras
Other than understanding the basics of the park and knowing how to manage the food, there are several other tips that don't have a specific category, so they are "the extras." Ranging from souvenir tips to restrooms to the app, I hope these last few tips help make your experience at Universal Orlando the best it can be.
The single most helpful/important tip is to use the Universal app. This is under the "extras" section because of the vast amount of ability the app has. Before heading to the parks, the app can be used to purchase tickets, upgrade tickets, and check park hours. At the park, the app continues its usefulness by showing wait times for all rides (and if they are delayed or closed). You can order food from most places through the app using mobile ordering. The app includes a digital wallet that can hold your park ticket (scanned to enter the park and to use the free lockers outside of a majority of rides) and can be used to pay for souvenirs and food when you add a debit/credit card to the app. The one downside of having all of this information on the app is that you use your phone frequently, resulting in your phone battery dying more quickly. There are outlets throughout the park if you have a charger with you, but personally, I bring a charging pack, and Universal does have charge-pack vending machines if you realize you need one mid-day.
As you go through the parks, you will quickly discover there are almost more souvenir shops than there are eateries and rides combined. You may think that souvenir shopping is self-explanatory, but at Universal, there are some tips to make this better and easier. First, don't buy anything on your first day in the parks. There are so many shops with similar, but different enough, items that you will want to see all of them first. You could spend an entire day walking through the shops in both parks if you tried to go into all of them and you will quickly realize how much fun it is to look at all of the clothing, prop replicas, trinkets, and toys. On my third trip, I actually found 2 new shops I had never seen before, and I am sure there are still some that I haven't found. When you do decide to make your first souvenir purchase, you can have it delivered to the front of the park (or your hotel if you are staying at a Universal hotel) for pickup later so you don't have to carry it through the park. You can do this as often as you need but there is a cut-off time daily for delivery to the front of the park and there must be 1 day between your purchase and you checking out of your hotel. A final tip on souvenirs is to look for "gift card" specials, which can get you a free wand ($60 value) or other deals that Universal has going on.
My last bit of advice is to talk to people as you go through the parks; whether you start a conversation while sharing a table or bench while taking a quick break, washing your hands in the bathroom, or just standing in line for a ride (all things I have done in the parks). Being able to make quick conversations will make your trip much more fun by meeting people from all over the world. You will spend a lot of time standing in line, so talking to the group of people behind you will make the hour-long wait time pass more quickly and I guarantee there is something for you to talk about because you are all at Universal.
The "extra" extras:
A great part of any type of park pass is that you're welcome to come and go from the park as often as you want throughout the day. Need a quick nap or dip in the hotel pool to catch your second wind? No problem, head out of the park, do what you need, and come back later.
Throughout the parks, there is plenty of walking to do. On each of my trips, I have walked at least 10 miles each day. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes, and if you are traveling with children, know what their limits are and plan on taking some good breaks throughout the day.
An important stop in the parks that most people don't think about until they need to: restrooms. Luckily, there isn't much need to worry about them as there are restrooms all over the parks, at least 2 sets in each area. For an estimate, I would say you are never more than 2 or 3 minutes away from a restroom and most of them are big enough that there is no line (mainly important for the girls, because there is always a line for us). A fun thing about Universal restrooms (that's a sentence I never thought I would say) is that they are themed to the part of the park they are in, so all of them look a bit different.
I hope you found some of these tips helpful, and whether you go to Universal or not, many of them are certainly transferable to other theme park locations.
Thanks for joining me on my adventures. If you have a Universal question that I didn't talk about or answer, comment below and I will either add it to this post or add it to a future post.
Be sure to come back next week for more Universal tips and tricks.
See you next time!
Sami
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