Third Time's a Charm

Universal Orlando: What We Learned

We recently went to Universal Orlando, and since getting back have had three friends ask us for information. I decided it would be easier to type it up here, rather than constantly sending a jumbled mess of texts. Maybe one day I'll come back and pretty this up, but for now I just want to get the information down.

To Disney or Not to Disney

Initially, my plan was to spend one day in Disney World (had to get in the Tower of Terror and the Star Wars attractions), and two days in Universal. My husband is military so we can get discounts. That one day in Disney was still going to cost our family over $600. Ouch! Then I learned that Universal Orlando has an amazing annual pass for military families.

I also talked to several people who had done both Disney World and Universal. The general consensus was that they preferred Universal Orlando to Universal Hollywood, and that they preferred Disneyland to Disney World. I have been told that the parks of Disney World are so spread out that park hopper tickets are not worth it. I was also told that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is much more impressive in Orlando.

So all things considered, I dropped the idea of Disney World and decided we would just do Universal and some beach days.

Before You Go

Harry Potter Wands

Ask your friends if they have one of the magical Harry Potter wands they would let you borrow. The wands are pricey (about $65 in December 2022). Sure they are fun while you are there, but once you are home they are just an expensive wand. We did buy a family wand, but we also borrowed one from a friend.

Download the App

The app is fantastic. It has maps of the park that you can filter what you see. It lists the ride wait times. It contains lists park hours. You can download your passes to it. You can order food through it. Some of the food places let you order your food, find a table, put down what table you are at, and then they bring you your food about five m minutes later. It was fantastic.

Hotels

I originally had us booked at a non-Universal hotel. Then I learned that Universal's Endless Summer Resort - Surfside Inn and Suites was just slightly more expensive and had some great perks. I quickly switched my reservation. Here are the main things we gained by switching.

Free Shuttle to the Parks: This was big to me. Parking at the parks was going to be about $60-$70 a day. The shuttle would save that price, and it would also give us some flexibility. It made it easy for my husband and I to divide and conquer with the kids. My 12-year-old and I would go early, while the others slept in and joined us later. Whoever needed a mid-day break could go back to the hotel. It just made it so much easier to cater to everyone's desired schedule and keep people happy.

Early Entry:  This was huge. When we were there we could go into Islands of Adventure an hour early. The rides that were open were the Velocicoaster, Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. We were there at a time that was not that busy, but Hagrid's was almost always a 90 min + wait. We would get to the gates 45 minutes before the early entry opening. The gates would open 15 minutes before. We would go in as fast as we could and head to the right through Suessland. You need to show the park staff your room key at one point to prove that you are eligible for early entry. Then we would rush to the line for Hagrid's. One time we were the second group in line. It was great! We were off the ride shortly after the early opening time, and then we could explore Hogsmeade or go on one of the other rides. It was also fun to get to see Hogsmeade empty without all of the people.

Hotel Amenities: 

The hotel has two good-sized pools. My kids enjoyed exploring both. There are laundry mats on some of the floors. They were a little pricey, but it was nice to not have to pack as many clothes. There is a cafeteria-style restaurant that was reasonably priced. The kid's plates were often enough food for even me. 

The rooms were a 2-room suite. They had a separate room with a queen bed, a small closet, and a TV. There was a bathroom vanity are with two sinks, and the toilet/tub were in a separate room. There was a small kitchen area with a mini fridge and a microwave. There was also a table that could seat about four around it. There were A LOT of shelves in this area, that made it convenient for storing food. I went to Walmart the first day we got there and got simple easy breakfast and lunch items. It made it nice to have a small quick breakfast before heading to the park. Then there were two other queen beds and a TV. 

Planning Dates

I used undercovertourist.com's crowd calendars when I was picking our dates. It seemed like they were fairly accurate.

Food in the Park

My kids actually did better with the food in Universal Orlando than they do with Disneyland. We found more options that they liked and would eat. We never carried a meal into the park. The shuttle made it easy to go back to our hotel for lunch. There are lockers that you can rent when you go into the park if you want to bring a little food, but don't want to carry it around.

Turkey Leg - this was available at several places and they all liked it.

Rotisserie Chicken - again, this was at several places, and it was probably their favorite.

Tacos - there is a taco truck in the Simpson's area that had some pretty good street tacos. Not all of my kids tried it, but I'm guessing my pickier eaters wouldn't have liked it.

Burgers - I know my husband and oldest got a burger in the Jurassic Park area one day and said it was pretty good. 

Butterbeer - we tried almost every variety of it. Regular, frozen, hot, ice cream...it was all good! I think most of us would say the Hot Butterbeer was our favorite, but it isn't available all times of the year. My husband and I would usually share one, because it was a lot of sugary sweetness.

Tips On Where to Get Butterbeer: 

Ice Cream: 3 Broomsticks and Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour

Hot Butterbeer: 3 Broomsticks, The Leaky Cauldron, and there was another place across from the bathrooms by the stone umbrella. I don't know what it was called, but it was never busy when we went.

Cold Butterbeer and regular Butterbeer: I'm pretty sure you can get these at about any of the Harry Potter food places, including the Butterbeer stands outside.

3 Broomsticks: A tip on the 3 Broomsticks. It was really fun to go in and see it, and the food was good. However, if you see a line outside, and they tell you it takes about a half hour to get in, know that there is ANOTHER line once you get inside. 

Other Food

Simpson's Large Donut: It was plenty for our family to share. It was decent, but not a must-have in my opinion.

Pumpkin Pasties: Decent if you like pumpkin.

Peppermint Frogs: These were pretty tasty.

Shakes: We got shakes from the Chocolate Emporium in City Walk. They are pricey and very sweet. We shared two among our family of five and it was plenty. They were good!

Park Hopping

If you want to ride the Hogwarts Express you need to have Park Hopper tickets. You will need to show your tickets every time you get on the Hogwarts Express. So if you plan on your group splitting up, then someone in each party will need to have tickets for everyone. I had the app on my phone, and my husband had our paper tickets. You could also have multiple people in your group download the app.

City Walk

I have been to Disneyland multiple times, so I tend to compare Universal Orland to what I know from Disneyland. To me City Walk is comparable to Downtown Disney. There are several restaurants and shops. You have to walk through City Walk from the shuttle drop-off/parking are to get to the entrances of Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. It is at least 1/4 a mile.

The Rides

Here is my take on the rides we did. There are several of us that get motion sick from spinning rides or rides with a lot of videos. So I'll be mentioning which ones made us nauseous. We didn't go on every ride, so if I do not mention a ride it is most likely because we did not go on it.

Island of Adventures

Doctor Doom's Fearfall: This is comparable to Guardians of the Galaxy/Tower of Terror. However, I felt like it shot up a lot faster. It was fun!

Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges: This is similar to Grizzly River Run in California Adventures. However, with this one you WILL ABSOLUTELY get wet. Most likely drenched. If you don't want to get soaked, wear a cheap poncho or don't go on it. 

Skull Island: Reign of Kong: This reminded me of Indiana Jones. You are on a bus on tracks that shakes, shifts, and tips. You go through scenes and videos that tell the story.

Camp Jurassic: This is a big playground area made up of rope bridges, stairs, and areas to explore. My nine-year-old loved it!

Jurassic Park River Adventure: This one reminds me of Splash Mountain. You go through a calm river at first, and then it ends in a big drop. The boats sit about 5 people across and have one common lap bar. My girls didn't like the common lap bar, because it meant it wouldn't go snuggly on their little legs so they felt a little insecure.

VelociCoaster: This is quite the thrill! It was fast, it lasted a decent amount of time, and it took some guts to go on!

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: This one goes on a track, tilts, turns, and moves in other directions, and has sections of video. This one made several of us sick, which is a shame because the line goes through Hogwarts, and had a lot of fun things to see. My oldest went on it several times by herself and used the single-rider line.

Flight of the Hippogriff: This little roller coaster does not go fast and is VERY SHORT. So I would suggest not waiting in a long line for it. I wouldn't even wait 20 minutes for it. However, my younger kids loved it, and it had great views of Hogwart's Castle. We would usually go on it right after Hagrid's during the early hour because then we could walk right on it.

Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure: Such a fun roller coaster! One of our favorites! My girls get a little nervous on roller coasters, but they watched videos of this one beforehand. Knowing what was coming helped them have fun. 

Hogwarts Express: The experience is a little different in both directions, so if you can ride it both ways.

Poseidon's Fury: One of Universal's staff said this was one of their favorite things. My 12-year-old and I went through it. It's kind of like a walk-through show/experience. Honestly, we found it a little cheesy.

Universal Studios

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem: I didn't go on this, but some of my family did. It sounds like it is a ride where you are in something that just shifts, shakes, and tips while you watch a video screen. It made my husband a little nauseous.

Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon: This is another one where you are in something that shifts, shakes, and tips while you watch a screen. This one definitely made me nauseous, but my 12-year-old really liked it.

Revenge of the Mummy: A roller coaster with some video. This was another of my 12-year-old and mine favorites. However, if I went on it multiple times in a row I would get sick.

Transformers: The Ride-3D: This is another roller coaster/video ride. It's fun if you have a history with the franchise or love of it. It made me sick. 😆 Are you seeing a theme here?

The Night Bus: If there is an actor outside of it, it is fun to take a minute to stop and watch. The crowd can ask questions and interact with them.

Ministry of Magic Phone Box: You can go into the phone box and dial the special number to "try" to get into the Ministry of Magic.

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts: This is another fun one that is part roller coaster, part video. It is a 3D ride, and I had a hard time keeping the 3D glasses on during the roller coaster part so I would hold them in my hand when I needed to.

Men In Black Alien Attack!: This is a really fun one where you get to shoot aliens as you ride. This was one of my 10-year-olds favorites. I've learned since going there that after you ride you can nicely ask the staff if a ride tour is available. If they aren't busy and have someone available they will take you to see parts of the line that you walk past but don't experience.

The Simpsons Ride: This is another one that you sit in a cart while it shifts, shakes, and tips, and you watch a video. You guessed it...it made me sick. My kids liked it though!

ET Adventure: This is what I consider a good ride for a break. It's dark, cool, not fast, and not too loud. However, I definitely would not wait in a long line for it.

Woody Woodpecker's Rollercoaster: This was another small roller coaster for younger kids.

A lot of rides do not allow bags on them. They have lockers nearby that you can put your bag in for free for about 30 minutes. However, you would have to get out of line to go put the bag in the locker. For that reason, we chose to not bring bags most of the time.

There is a dragon on top of Gringotts that shoots fire out of its mouth about every 10 minutes. My dragon-lover child was  SO EXCITED about this. It starts to make some gurgling noises before it emits fire.

There are about six mapped places that you can use your wand to interact with in Hogsmeade and in Diagon Alley. Some were more difficult to get to work than others. There are also a few secret ones. You can have a Wizard or Witch working in the area show you, or we just started looking for the red sensor lights and were able to find some on our own. The spots at the windows are often crowded, so it might be a good thing to do during the early hour after you go on a ride or two.

We did not pay for Express Passes, but were given a few single-use ones. While we were there most rides were short enough that they wouldn't have helped much. However, there were a few times they would have been nice to have. You cannot use them on some rides, like Hagrid's. Some of the nice Universal Hotels include Express Passes with your stay. If we go again I would price if it is worth staying one or two nights in one of those hotels to get the passes. Those passes are also closer to the park entrances. 

Wow. If you are still with me, good job! I hope this information helps you with planning your Universal Orlando trip! My kids loved this place and would definitely go back. They chose to spend 5 1/2 days in the park even though I kept offering to take them other places like the beach, Sea World, and Gatorland.