Universal Christmas

[21stamps]

I have finally decided to add universal to our trip. Between Grinchmas, Macy's parade, and Manheim Steamroller I just can't pass it up.

So now the question is--

How long do we need? Is 2 park days enough? Or should we do a partial day on check in day?

Check in would be 12/8-12/11

Leaning towards Royal Pacific.. Do they have any activities during the day? Swimming is not an option in December.

 

[fosse76]

Two days is adequate. Three is always better.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I have finally decided to add universal to our trip. Between Grinchmas, Macy's parade, and Manheim Steamroller I just can't pass it up.

So now the question is--

How long do we need? Is 2 park days enough? Or should we do a partial day on check in day?

Check in would be 12/8-12/11

Leaning towards Royal Pacific.. Do they have any activities during the day? Swimming is not an option in December.

With the free express pass at RPR, 2 days will be good.

As far as activities, during the Holidays they have Storytellers and a decoration station where kids and adults decorate stockings, ornaments, and cookies. I have no clue about hours or days.

As far as other activities, there is bowling over at Cabana Bay. And CityWalk, a quick boat ride away, has Mini Golf, Movies, and Toothsome's would make for a great "Yeah! We're at Universal" arrival day dinner. It's VERY theme parky (themed with characters).

Another fun Disney Fan thing to do is visit the other resorts to check out their Christmas Decorations. Like Disney Resorts, they each have Gingerbread Villages. Here is one from Portofino Bay

And one from Royal Pacific

 

[21stamps]

Two days is adequate. Three is always better.

Thanks, that's what I'm wondering...

With the free express pass at RPR, 2 days will be good.

As far as activities, during the Holidays they have Storytellers and a decoration station where kids and adults decorate stockings, ornaments, and cookies. I have no clue about hours or days.

As far as other activities, there is bowling over at Cabana Bay. And CityWalk, a quick boat ride away, has Mini Golf, Movies, and Toothsome's would make for a great "Yeah! We're at Universal" arrival day dinner. It's VERY theme parky (themed with characters).

Another fun Disney Fan thing to do is visit the other resorts to check out their Christmas Decorations. Like Disney Resorts, they each have Gingerbread Villages. Here is one from Portofino Bay

And one from Royal Pacific

Thank you!!!

I didn't realize you were allowed to go to different resorts..is there transportation between them?

I can do 12/7-12/11 and cut a Disney day short..12/7 would be a resort day/Disney springs anyway. If I do that I could do a 3 day pass to universal..I'm worried about the concert taking up a lot of time. I would do 2 full days and a partial day at uni/IoA if so.

I guess the main question is-- is there enough to do at the universal resorts/parks to do 4 nights at WDW and 4 at universal?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Thanks, that's what I'm wondering...

Thank you!!!

I didn't realize you were allowed to go to different resorts..is there transportation between them?

I can do 12/7-12/11 and cut a Disney day short..12/7 would be a resort day/Disney springs anyway. If I do that I could do a 3 day pass to universal..I'm worried about the concert taking up a lot of time. I would do 2 full days and a partial day at uni/IoA if so.

I guess the main question is-- is there enough to do at the universal resorts/parks to do 4 nights at WDW and 4 at universal?

Well, there are now 3 must do restaurants (Tchoup Chop, Cowfish, and Toothsome's). And Macy's into the concert is pretty much the whole late afternoon into the evening. Grinchmas is also time consuming. And your kid is gonna want to ride Mummy about a million times. But with EP you won't really have to knock yourselves out hitting Early Park Entry. You could make it sort like a relaxing vacation.

Oh, and there are boats to all the resorts from CityWalk. Portofino, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific have 4 star Signature Restaurants (BiCE, Palm, and Tchoup Chop). Portofino is a great place to chill for a while in the early evening. They have opera on a balcony over the harbor.

 

[21stamps]

Well, there are now 3 must do restaurants (Tchoup Chop, Cowfish, and Toothsome's). And Macy's into the concert is pretty much the whole late afternoon into the evening. Grinchmas is also time consuming. And your kid is gonna want to ride Mummy about a million times. But with EP you won't really have to knock yourselves out hitting Early Park Entry. You could make it sort like a relaxing vacation.

Oh, and there are boats to all the resorts from CityWalk. Portofino, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific have 4 star Signature Restaurants (BiCE, Palm, and Tchoup Chop). Portofino is a great place to chill for a while in the early evening. They have opera on a balcony over the harbor.

Nice!!!
So are you telling me to do 4 nights with a 3 day pass and skip the extra Disney time? I was thinking if I do that, then to do city walk Wednesday, IoA and Uni Thurs and Friday, and only a half park day on Saturday for the parade and concert. We need some downtime somewhere. Even with him being 48" do you think there's enough for him to do during 2.5 days at the parks?

We have Ohana reservations at 10am Wednesday and then planning on renting a sea Raycer, Mickey's winter summerland, and then Disney springs.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Nice!!!
So are you telling me to do 4 nights with a 3 day pass and skip the extra Disney time? I was thinking if I do that, then to do city walk Wednesday, IoA and Uni Thurs and Friday, and only a half park day on Saturday for the parade and concert. We need some downtime somewhere. Even with him being 48" do you think there's enough for him to do during 2.5 days at the parks?

Yes, there are only 4 rides he can't do (Doom's, Hulk, Dragon Challenge, and Hollywood, Rip, Rip, Rockit).

Are you still thinking about doing the Ginch Breakfast? It is the best way to get a pic with him.

 

[21stamps]

Yes, there are only 4 rides he can't do (Doom's, Hulk, Dragon Challenge, and Hollywood, Rip, Rip, Rockit).

Are you still thinking about doing the Ginch Breakfast? It is the best way to get a pic with him.

Yes, I would like to. I haven't checked if it's something that is offered daily.

 

[21stamps]

I don't even need the park to park..but I think it's the only way you can ride the train. I should look into pricing the tickets separately...1 day park to park and 2 1 park each.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

There may be a buy 2 get one free deal. They sometimes do that.

 

[BubbaQuest]

If you're a Potter fan, I'd recommended the park-to-park tickets. I didn't think the actual train "ride" was that impressive, but I loved checking out the stations and the train itself.

We didn't do Grinchmas, but there was definitely a long line. The parade didn't take that much time. We were able to easily find a place on the parade route just a few minutes before it started. Keep in mind it doesn't start until 5pm. People were staking their area for the Mannheim show early. I didn't notice how easy it was to find a place once the show started, we just watched a portion of it from a distance.

Royal Pacific also has movies by the pool in the evening. I was surprised how many people showed up even though it was freezing outside. I'm not sure how they determine "select nights", but might be something else to add to the list of things to do.

The Christmas trees are definitely fun to check out. Cabana Bay was my favorite, but I love 50's modern. For that, you'll need to take a bus, not a water taxi. Although I'm not sure how easy it is to water taxi to Sapphire Falls and then walk to Cabana Bay now that Sapphire Falls is open.

Have a great trip and don't over plan. The best part of Uni is being able to slow down and relax.

 

[21stamps]

If you're a Potter fan, I'd recommended the park-to-park tickets. I didn't think the actual train "ride" was that impressive, but I loved checking out the stations and the train itself.

We didn't do Grinchmas, but there was definitely a long line. The parade didn't take that much time. We were able to easily find a place on the parade route just a few minutes before it started. Keep in mind it doesn't start until 5pm. People were staking their area for the Mannheim show early. I didn't notice how easy it was to find a place once the show started, we just watched a portion of it from a distance.

Royal Pacific also has movies by the pool in the evening. I was surprised how many people showed up even though it was freezing outside. I'm not sure how they determine "select nights", but might be something else to add to the list of things to do.

The Christmas trees are definitely fun to check out. Cabana Bay was my favorite, but I love 50's modern. For that, you'll need to take a bus, not a water taxi. Although I'm not sure how easy it is to water taxi to Sapphire Falls and then walk to Cabana Bay now that Sapphire Falls is open.

Have a great trip and don't over plan. The best part of Uni is being able to slow down and relax.

Thanks for this!!

Do you think I need 3 or 4 nights to do it all, and have some downtime?

 

[21stamps]

If I do 4 nights it will be a 50/50 split with WDW, but we aren't doing Animal Kingdom either way this trip.

 

[21stamps]

I just realized that the parks close extremely early on the days I'm looking at. Does that have an impact on crowds?

 

[BubbaQuest]

Do you think I need 3 or 4 nights to do it all, and have some downtime?

We were there for a week and didn't have time to do "everything", but it was also split with some side trips (Busch, Seaworld).

With the Express Passes, you can easily do all the rides in one park in one day and still have time left over, even with the early closing times. In the off season, if you just want to ride everything once and leave I think you could very easily do that in 2 days. However, we are very geeky tourists. We had to try every type of Butterbeer, try all the wand stations, look in every shop, and ride front, back, left and right on every coaster To me that is the luxury of Uni with Express Passes, you have time to relax and do all the crazy things you really want to do. If you are just looking to ride once and leave, 4 days is probably way too much. 3 days seemed to be ideal for me during my first trip as I spent one day in each park and then the third day going back to redo the highlights.

During our December trip, we missed a lot because we had to fight the weather. We had one beautiful day, and then 2 days of non-stop rain. All we wanted to do at night was get back to a warm hotel room. Because of this we missed mini-golf in CityWalk, Cinema Spectacular, and the Hot Dog Hall of Fame. We were easily able to do all the "must-do" but missed a lot of the 2nd tier stuff we wanted to do.

P.S. While there was no issue in the parks with the early closing times, it did impact CityWalk as all the restaurants were slammed with the 7pm park closing time. The new Toothsome Emporium is a must do for me on my next trip so I'll probably pad an extra day for it and the new Sports Grill as I could easily spend a day watching sports, drinking beer, and eating chocolate

 

[21stamps]

We were there for a week and didn't have time to do "everything", but it was also split with some side trips (Busch, Seaworld).

With the Express Passes, you can easily do all the rides in one park in one day and still have time left over, even with the early closing times. In the off season, if you just want to ride everything once and leave I think you could very easily do that in 2 days. However, we are very geeky tourists. We had to try every type of Butterbeer, try all the wand stations, look in every shop, and ride front, back, left and right on every coaster To me that is the luxury of Uni with Express Passes, you have time to relax and do all the crazy things you really want to do. If you are just looking to ride once and leave, 4 days is probably way too much. 3 days seemed to be ideal for me during my first trip as I spent one day in each park and then the third day going back to redo the highlights.

During our December trip, we missed a lot because we had to fight the weather. We had one beautiful day, and then 2 days of non-stop rain. All we wanted to do at night was get back to a warm hotel room. Because of this we missed mini-golf in CityWalk, Cinema Spectacular, and the Hot Dog Hall of Fame. We were easily able to do all the "must-do" but missed a lot of the 2nd tier stuff we wanted to do.

P.S. While there was no issue in the parks with the early closing times, it did impact CityWalk as all the restaurants were slammed with the 7pm park closing time. The new Toothsome Emporium is a must do for me on my next trip so I'll probably pad an extra day for it and the new Sports Grill as I could easily spend a day watching sports, drinking beer, and eating chocolate

Thank you!! The wand is a must do! When I was creating my "package" I checked the option for mini golf and blue man group.. Is there any advantage to purchasing in advance, mostly the mini golf, or should I just wait and see how the weather is?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I would just walk up and pay for Mini Golf. It is never all that crowded, and it's not very expensive.

Blue Man Group is a lot of fun.

 

[JoeCamel]

Thank you!! The wand is a must do! When I was creating my "package" I checked the option for mini golf and blue man group.. Is there any advantage to purchasing in advance, mostly the mini golf, or should I just wait and see how the weather is?

They offer a dinner and movie/golf deal that is pretty good value

https://www.universalorlando.com/Nightlife/CityWalk-Mini-Golf.aspx

I would not buy in advance. This is UOR where you can see what you feel like at the time and if the weather runs you off you go do something else

 

[21stamps]

They offer a dinner and movie/golf deal that is pretty good value

https://www.universalorlando.com/Nightlife/CityWalk-Mini-Golf.aspx

I would not buy in advance. This is UOR where you can see what you feel like at the time and if the weather runs you off you go do something else

Thanks!

 

[21stamps]

I would just walk up and pay for Mini Golf. It is never all that crowded, and it's not very expensive.

Blue Man Group is a lot of fun.

Would you recommend the Poncho or the Premium seating? For a kid.