Early Park Admission & Security questions

[lebeau]

Ehh. Diagon and Hogsmeade can get pretty annoyingly crowded at times. Your best bet is either early in the morning or late at night.

Agreed. There are times when I won't go into the stores because they are too crowded. That's one of the things EP won't help you with so I try to explore these areas when the parks are less full. Of course EPA isn't necessarily the best time for that either because just about everyone making use of that perk is in whichever HP land is open on that day. It won't be overrun, but it won't be empty either.

I know this isn't terribly helpful but the crowd patterns can be fairly unpredictable aside from the fact that people will always want to be in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Just play it by ear. If one side is overly crowded, try hopping on the Hogswart Express or come back later. Bottom line is, the worst problems you encounter are likely to be minor inconveniences compared to what you are used to down the road.

 

[DRD]

Be sure to let us know what you think when your vacation is over.

Definitely! And I started a pre trip report here if you're interested in following along.

You're thinking like a Disney person I assume you have been there?

Universal isn't like Disney but as far as wands you want to get on that early. Diagon as a whole isn't a problem at any time. In my experience but the ride there can have a decent line but with Expres pass don't worry about it. Like I said this isn't Disney especially with an express pass.

Yes, definitely guilty of letting the bustle of Disney planning infect my thinking on Universal it seems. We went to Disney about 3 years ago and the first part of this trip (t minus one week!) will be spent at MK. I have only been once to WDW as an adult and barely have any memory of it as a kid.

 

[JoeCamel]

Hey @DRD how old is your kid again? Not creepy just wondering if you are ripe for a conversion?

 

[lebeau]

Hey @DRD how old is your kid again? Not creepy just wondering if you are ripe for a conversion?

From the pre-trip report, his daughters are 7 and 11. Those are about the same ages my kids were when we first sampled Universal. Probably not quite ripe for full conversion, but I bet after this trip he'll be looking forward to going back to Universal a lot more than WDW.

We talked in my TR about the Curious George play area in KidZone. I will also recommend Camp Jurassic at Islands of Adventure. You'll be surprised how much there is for young kids to do at Universal. It's not all roller coasters and motion simulators.

 

[DRD]

Yep, 7 and 11. My girls, thus far, are slightly more excited for Universal than MK. To be fair, we're only doing MK this trip and not park hopping and if we were, I think the edge would be for WDW as a whole. But my oldest definitely is more excited for Universal, but she also loves rides and adores Harry Potter. My youngest is about 50/50, but she doesn't like rides (hoping this trip will change that) and is a recent convert to HP. She also told me recently that "princesses are for babies"; however, she wants to meet Ariel and Belle this go-round. I'm hoping there's still a good degree of "magic" for her at her age.

Thanks for the heads up on Curious George/Camp Jurassic...I recall reading that in your TR. I had that in mind for my youngest, assuming she doesn't want to ride coasters much. I, too, am not a huge coaster guy so I'd planned on she and I finding some non-coaster things to do while my wife and oldest ride to their hearts' content.

 

[lebeau]

Yep, 7 and 11. My girls, thus far, are slightly more excited for Universal than MK. To be fair, we're only doing MK this trip and not park hopping and if we were, I think the edge would be for WDW as a whole. But my oldest definitely is more excited for Universal, but she also loves rides and adores Harry Potter. My youngest is about 50/50, but she doesn't like rides (hoping this trip will change that) and is a recent convert to HP. She also told me recently that "princesses are for babies"; however, she wants to meet Ariel and Belle this go-round. I'm hoping there's still a good degree of "magic" for her at her age.

Thanks for the heads up on Curious George/Camp Jurassic...I recall reading that in your TR. I had that in mind for my youngest, assuming she doesn't want to ride coasters much. I, too, am not a huge coaster guy so I'd planned on she and I finding some non-coaster things to do while my wife and oldest ride to their hearts' content.

Splitting up is a good idea. Works for us.

My youngest (currently 9) doesn't like rides much. She's just now starting to come around to kid-sized coasters. But she loves several Universal rides because they simulate motion rather than actual drops. Definitely check out Minion Mayhem. Kara also loves Race Through New York and Men in Black. Everything in Seuss Landing and KidZone should be fine. The Nuthouse coaster is a good trainer for bigger and better things.

Transformers, Spider-Man and Gringott's are slightly more adventurous. Gringott's does have some coaster elements. But if the youngest is feeling brave, they may be worth a try.

You can make a day out of exploring the Harry Potter areas, watching shows, dining, snacking, shopping, etc. We have gone days in which we barely queued up for anything.

Looking forward to reading the TR!

 

[OG Runner]

Splitting up is a good idea. Works for us.

My youngest (currently 9) doesn't like rides much. She's just now starting to come around to kid-sized coasters. But she loves several Universal rides because they simulate motion rather than actual drops. Definitely check out Minion Mayhem. Kara also loves Race Through New York and Men in Black. Everything in Seuss Landing and KidZone should be fine. The Nuthouse coaster is a good trainer for bigger and better things.

Transformers, Spider-Man and Gringott's are slightly more adventurous. Gringott's does have some coaster elements. But if the youngest is feeling brave, they may be worth a try.

You can make a day out of exploring the Harry Potter areas, watching shows, dining, snacking, shopping, etc. We have gone days in which we barely queued up for anything.

Looking forward to reading the TR!

Flight of the Hippogriff is also a good coaster for this age group.

 

[DRD]

All sound like good tips y'all...thank you again. Sounds like the air cannons will be something my youngest will have fun with. And I think she can manage Flight of the Hippogriff. I watched some youtube videos of the ride and it seems pretty tame.

 

[DRD]

I'll post more in my trip report, but Universal was fantastic! I'm positive my oldest was "converted"...the youngest probably was but still loved Disney an awful lot.

I really enjoyed the way the Universal parks were themed. I'd read some critiques that they seem jumbled. And I guess I can see that, but you could make the same argument about Disney. I felt like each area was very well themed and immersive.

While my youngest didn't love the rides as much as we'd hoped, she truly loved Despicable Me and Simpsons (we rode both twice). And while my oldest and my wife were riding some of the bigger coasters, we went around and met a bunch of characters. In one 30 minute span, we met Green Goblin, Wolverine, Spidey, Rogue and Storm, and tried to meet Captain America but alas even the Cap has to take a break (thought about @lebeau while in line).

Obviously WWoHP was simply amazing. Such rich detail. But good grief the crowds in the shops once the parks opened up...

We didn't feel like we missed out too much on the Halloween Horror Nights by going to IoA that night; however, I do wish we'd been able to see the Gringotts dragon at night. And IoA was really crowded that night as all the day pass folks (like us) went over to IoA.

I also thought I should answer my own question about security checks as I was still confused until we went through it. Though, as I re-read your responses, they are all spot-on but for some reason I couldn't get my head around the logistics until I got there. We stayed at Royal Pacific and most of the time took the river taxis because we just happened to luck up and they were there when we were walking by. We went through security screening before boarding the River Taxi and then never had to be screened again. When we walked (versus taking the river taxi) we were screened just before entering City Walk but not again before entering the parks. Incidentally, this was also true on the Disney Monorail...screened at the resort, but not again before we entered.

 

[lebeau]

I also thought I should answer my own question about security checks as I was still confused until we went through it. Though, as I re-read your responses, they are all spot-on but for some reason I couldn't get my head around the logistics until I got there. We stayed at Royal Pacific and most of the time took the river taxis because we just happened to luck up and they were there when we were walking by. We went through security screening before boarding the River Taxi and then never had to be screened again. When we walked (versus taking the river taxi) we were screened just before entering City Walk but not again before entering the parks. Incidentally, this was also true on the Disney Monorail...screened at the resort, but not again before we entered.

Glad you enjoyed your stay. I'm looking forward to reading the whole report.

I think this is a reflection of the fact that Universal runs sufficient boats and shuttles to serve their guests. We have stayed at Cabana Bay, Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay. Consistently across all three resorts, we have never waited more than ten minutes for a boat or a shuttle. The ten minute waits were for Volcano Bay during early park admission. In our experience, there was a boat or shuttle waiting for us nearly half the time. That is a drastic improvement over what we have experienced with Disney transportation.

 

[DRD]

Yes, I think you're right...we never waited more than 10 minutes for a river taxi and at City Walk I don't think I ever saw a line for the other resorts longer than 10-15 people. They seemed very efficient. Far far better than Disney's busses, but still on par with my previous experience at Wilderness Lodge using their boat transportation.

Hope to have installment 2 up on the TR today.

 

[JoeCamel]

Yes, I would say WL and the Universal boats are about the same but the WL boats have a longer trip. I have not stayed at WL in about 6 years now so that may be dated info. In general, Universal boats are quicker than any Disney transport.

I have only ridden from MK to Poly and DHS to Epcot. I think they have an issue with the wake on the DHS run causing erosion. The poly boat was just overloaded and underpowered. The boats at Universal scoot right along don't they?

 

[DRD]

Agreed that the WL trip was longer. The Universal river taxis were super fast. I think that might be the perfect “retirement” job for me.

 

[JoeCamel]

The Universal boats move right along. Depends on which Disney boat you are on. They have different boats in service some are faster than others, some are bigger or smaller. If you notice I think all of Universals waterways have concrete edging, not sure how deep down it goes? I'm trying to think about where I have seen bare land at Universal's water-ways and I can't remember any areas? I could be wrong on that.

You can wade the waterways (til they trespass you)

 

[OG Runner]

I stayed at the Portofino in May and the boats were a very welcome treat. Some of the "captains" really enjoy their jobs.
We had one who was even dancing with the music playing during our ride. I do need to make a small point, with the timing
of transportation between the competing parks. All of the boats at Universal are going to one point and back. The buses,
(and no I do not like waiting for a bus), but they are traveling, at least to 4 different parks. The shear volume of people
being moved causes the overall system to move slower.

 

[lebeau]

I have only ridden from MK to Poly and DHS to Epcot. I think they have an issue with the wake on the DHS run causing erosion. The poly boat was just overloaded and underpowered. The boats at Universal scoot right along don't they?

Plus, they sometimes turn into Party Barges depending on the captain. Many days have been capped off by a skippper-lead dance party and sing-along. These trips to and from the hotel/parks are actually *gasp* enjoyable!

 

[lebeau]

I stayed at the Portofino in May and the boats were a very welcome treat. Some of the "captains" really enjoy their jobs.
We had one who was even dancing with the music playing during our ride. I do need to make a small point, with the timing
of transportation between the competing parks. All of the boats at Universal are going to one point and back. The buses,
(and no I do not like waiting for a bus), but they are traveling, at least to 4 different parks. The shear volume of people
being moved causes the overall system to move slower.

True that Disney has a more complicated transportation problem to deal with. But an obvious solution is to throw more buses at the problem.

15 years ago, we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. Now, we consider it a minor miracle if a bus arrives that quickly.

 

[OG Runner]

True that Disney has a more complicated transportation problem to deal with. But an obvious solution is to throw more buses at the problem.

15 years ago, we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. Now, we consider it a minor miracle if a bus arrives that quickly.

Definitely one of the rides that isn't worth the wait.