Anthem: Question about Universal Studios Excursion while in FL

[colleenco]

Hi again! I am just checking to see if there is anything important I need to know for this excursion to Universal Studios. We booked the shuttle, which takes an hour apparently, and we know we need to buy our park admission tickets at the door. Is there anything else to be aware of? Thanks!

[Rogueperson]

You need a two park ticket to enjoy all of the Harry Potter experiences. The train between the park is only available to you if you have that. The train itself is a ride.

 

There is about 40 dollar difference between a 1 park and 2 park ticket. Depending on when you go, it could be very crowded and you may not be able to do a lot while there. To maximize your time there, I would HIGHLY suggest you upgrade to the express unlimited pass. which is probably almost the price of the ticket itself.

 

To give you some scope, I got a 2 park ticket and even with the express pass, I did not get everything done, but I did manage to experience all of the Harry Potter experience, which was my real intent. It was quite crowded on a wednesday in the first week of September.

 

Personally, I would not suggest any of the theme parks. It is expensive, you have a serious time crunch and the big unknown is how many people are in the park, and generally you can bet on it being more crowded than less. I only did it because I have a friend who works there and got us serious discount tickets with free express unlimited passes. Retail price, you're looking at 200+/person easily (140 for 2 park pass, 85 for express unlimited). One park ticket, will be less.

[cricketgirl]

I agree that you may want to consider an Express Pass if you will be there during a busy time. Otherwise trying to do 2 parks in one day may leave you very disappointed as lines can get quite long. Just keep in mind that the Express Pass cannot be used on the two main Harry Potter rides (Forbidden Journey and Excape from Gringotts). Enjoy your trip!

[Life is Good Cruising]

You should download the app for Universal Studios, it will give you the waiting times for all the rides once you're in the park. We did this excursion December 11, the park attendance was slow so we were able to see a lot and got on about 6-7 rides, some of the wait times for the rides was only 10- 15 mins.. You'll need the 2 park admission to ride the Harry Potter train approx. $150 pp. The fast pass does not work with Harry Potter rides. We did the Harry Potter train ride and it was an hour wait for us :( to get on the ride.

[colleenco]

Wow thanks everyone! I had no idea there was an express pass! Also I didn't know about the app! I think we decided to only do Islands of Adventure so we wouldn't overwhelm ourselves with trying to see both sides in such a short amount of time. We will be there on Tuesday, March 28. I am not really sure if that is a highly populated day or not?

[Life is Good Cruising]

Wow thanks everyone! I had no idea there was an express pass! Also I didn't know about the app! I think we decided to only do Islands of Adventure so we wouldn't overwhelm ourselves with trying to see both sides in such a short amount of time. We will be there on Tuesday, March 28. I am not really sure if that is a highly populated day or not?

 

Here's the crowd attendance for your date.

 

http://worldofuniversal.com/uocrowdcalendar/

[cello56]

How many hours will you realistically have inside the park? Unless you live on the other side of the world, and will never have a chance to visit Orlando again, this is a very expensive day. I live in Orlando, and have found that March and April are very, VERY busy times at all the theme parks. Spring break crowds are spread out over the entire two months.

One other thing to consider. If there is a major accident on the highway, you could be in gridlock for ages. If you are on the 528, there really isn't a secondary route to get you over to the theme park. Could really shorten your time at the park.

[Rogueperson]

Here's the crowd attendance for your date.

 

http://worldofuniversal.com/uocrowdcalendar/

 

This is NICE!!!

 

Take this with a grain of salt. Both times I went to Universal, I went on a green day.

 

First wednesday in September (after labor day) in 2015, it was quite crowded with hour+ lines if we didn't have the fast pass.

 

First time we went, was 1st week in December in 2012 and there was nothing more than a 10 minute line for ANYTHING.

[Life is Good Cruising]

We had 5 1/2-6 hours at Universal Studio. Since the crowd attendance was low/slow the day/date we were there, for us it was worth it as we haven't been to Universal in close to 8 years. If the crowd attendance was busy on the date/day we were going, there's no way we would have wasted our time and money at the park. For us it was a fun day riding some of those rides, had a lot of laughs and would do it all over again in the near future.

[colleenco]

Here's the crowd attendance for your date.

 

http://worldofuniversal.com/uocrowdcalendar/

 

 

Very helpful thanks!!!!!

[colleenco]

We have 7 to 8 hours inside the park.

 

Do we purchase the Express Pass online in advance or at the park day of? Thanks!

[Life is Good Cruising]

Very helpful thanks!!!!!

 

My pleasure :)

We have 7 to 8 hours inside the park.

 

Do we purchase the Express Pass online in advance or at the park day of? Thanks!

 

 

We were in port from 12-9:30 pm and only had 5 1/2 - 6 hours at the park, which will be the same for you. We were the first bus to leave the port at 12:30 pm and arrived at Universal at 1:40 pm.

Try to map out the rides you want to go on and download the app which will help in expediting your time at the park.

Sorry, we did not have the Express Pass so I can not help you.

 

Have a wonderful day if you do decide to go!

Edited February 21, 2017 by Life is Good Cruising

[colleenco]

Ok yes - you're right we probably only have 5-6 hours as you've said. Good idea about planning out the rides. I'll look Into the express pass.

 

Is Harry Potter only a ride you can go on if you do both parks?

 

 

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[zippydo1]

I am going to doing this excursion the week before you. My goal is just the Harry Potter areas. I already got my park tickets 2 park-1day online at the Universal site to save time when we arrive. The option was available for the express pass while ordering. My attitude is prepare for crowds and hope for the best!

[Life is Good Cruising]

Ok yes - you're right we probably only have 5-6 hours as you've said. Good idea about planning out the rides. I'll look Into the express pass.

 

Is Harry Potter only a ride you can go on if you do both parks?

 

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*Only* on the Harry Potter train ride will you need the 2 park admission. All other Harry Potter rides you only need 1 park admission.

 

Edit----since Harry Potter rides are located in both parks, you would need the 2 park admission. Also, I didn't see a fastpass for the Hogwarts Express train.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Life is Good Cruising

[zippydo1]

Harry Potter has two areas. One in IoA and one in Studios. In order to see both you need the hopper and to ride the Hogwarts Express. IoA has Hogsmeade with 3 themed rides you can do just in that park.

[LizzyDragon]

I'm a Univeral annual pass holder and go frequently to the parks. Some recommendations- you can buy tickets online and get a printout that you can use right at the gates to enter the parks. Last week of March tends to be moderately busy- wait times for popular rides will easily be hour+ (unfortunately, it sounds like you'll be arriving midmorning and leaving in the afternoon or early evening- which is also the busiest time of day in the parks).

 

Harry Potter is split into both Islands and Studios. Hogsmeade is the older section and is in Islands. Diagon Alley is in Studios and is a more immersive experience. They are connected via the Hogwarts Express train (which is why you have to have the park-to-park ticket since you go from one park to the other on the ride). If HP is your goal and you can only pick one park, I'd go with Studios and experience Diagon Alley.

[mollyeilis]

Ok yes - you're right we probably only have 5-6 hours as you've said. Good idea about planning out the rides. I'll look Into the express pass.

 

Is Harry Potter only a ride you can go on if you do both parks?

 

 

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Have you like looked at the maps of the parks on the Universal Orlando website?

 

Express covers nearly everything in the parks except for Pteranodon Flyers (but that requires having a kid with you that's between a certain height range), maybe the Twirl and Hurl in the Simpsons area, and (all from the Wizarding World areas) Forbidden Journey in IOA, Ollivanders Wand Shop *show* (there is one in both Hogsmeade in IOS and in Diagon Alley in Studios park), Gringotts in Studios, and the Hogwarts Express train which takes you between the Wizarding World areas in the parks.

 

EP is taken on the two coasters in Wizarding World, Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Chalkenge, both in IOA.

 

EP can be purchased ahead of time or in the parks. It gets more expensive with a busier park. Normal EP allows for one ride per included attraction. Unlimited EP allows unlimited rides using the EP line per attraction.

 

 

For an excursion like this I would take the official transportation. With an hour drive each way and on a road that's your only option to get out there, I wouldn't risk going on my own.

 

 

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[Rogueperson]

Have you like looked at the maps of the parks on the Universal Orlando website?

 

Express covers nearly everything in the parks except for Pteranodon Flyers (but that requires having a kid with you that's between a certain height range), maybe the Twirl and Hurl in the Simpsons area, and (all from the Wizarding World areas) Forbidden Journey in IOA, Ollivanders Wand Shop *show* (there is one in both Hogsmeade in IOS and in Diagon Alley in Studios park), Gringotts in Studios, and the Hogwarts Express train which takes you between the Wizarding World areas in the parks.

 

EP is taken on the two coasters in Wizarding World, Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Chalkenge, both in IOA.

 

EP can be purchased ahead of time or in the parks. It gets more expensive with a busier park. Normal EP allows for one ride per included attraction. Unlimited EP allows unlimited rides using the EP line per attraction.

 

 

For an excursion like this I would take the official transportation. With an hour drive each way and on a road that's your only option to get out there, I wouldn't risk going on my own.

 

 

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If you are booking transportation for 4 or more, its more economical to rent a van yourself. That's what we did. We got a van for the day for about 60 bucks for 6 of us. There's a dedicated shuttle to and from the cruise port. We left a *little* later than we wanted to, but we still made it back in plenty of time to catch the ship.

 

Pros. You are not pigeonholed to one stop and can make an additional stop for supplies like we did. Your time is your own, no threat of *missing the bus*. You don't have the stress of driving. The ship will wait for you if for any reason you are late. Its much cheaper for larger parties.

 

Con. You have to be very disciplined among your group. None of this, we'll meet up when we can. The flexibility of your leave time leaves the possibility of being late or missing the ship if you are not disciplined as a group, it could be a problem.

[Steveanaruss]

Something to think about anytime visiting the theme parks in FL is when the schools down here are out for Spring Break. It looks like most of the Orlando Area school districts are out from 3/20 - 3/24, so you may be safe. Honestly anytime between mid March and mid April will be busy, because of spring breaks from around the country, and tourists traveling in. I am a season pass holder for both Disney and Universal, and if you are going to try and squeeze both parks into your visit at that time of the year, you need the express pass. Otherwise, you are just spending a TON of $$$ to stand in very long lines. Hope it all works out for you :) Safe travels.

[onefishtwofish]

We live in South Florida and hop up to Orlando fairly often......highly suggest buying tix online and since you are in a time crunch so to speak, and also the fast pass as well....agree with an above poster that it is still spring break time and good chance parks may be busy....you don't really have time to wait and there are a lot of great rides......enjoy!!

[colleenco]

Well based on everyone's suggestions here we will be taking the official Royal C shuttle and pre purchasing our tickets. We will do ONE park with the express pass. We focus on as much as we can get in knowing we might not do it all. We will use the app that was suggested here as well. I just need to download a map of some sort so we have a game plan. Typically I like to get to amusement parks nice and early but since we don't dock until noon I have no control over it this time. Guess we will see what happens! Thanks everyone!

 

 

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