Universal/IOA trip for Spring Break

[Tony Perkis]

A group of four of us are going to Orlando for Spring Break, with the vast majority to be spent at Universal Orlando. We're there March 17-20.

Our plan is to get the 2 day park-to-park pass with the third day free for roughly $150.

We booked the Loews Royal Pacific Bay resort, namely for the unlimited Express Pass and early Potter entry. Being Spring Break and expecting big crowds, this should be a significant aid to getting to everything we want.

I've been there a few times (as early as last February), and I love the place. It's my favorite theme park I've been to, and that's including both coast's Disney resorts, numerous Six Flags parks, Cedar Point, and a few formerly-named Paramount parks. Last time I went, Jurassic Park was under seasonal rehab, Spider-Man was days away from closing for its big upgrade, and we didn't have much time to experience much of the resort property/Citywalk/hotels.

We have been able to cut the cost of the trip considerably with the use of airline rewards and credit card points for the flight + hotel, which is a plus.

My questions mostly involve tips and advice that go beyond the obvious. I know about the attractions and which restaurants are worth giving a shot. Is there anything around the CityWalk that's worth doing (let's face it, we will be winding down the nights with the few drinks). Are there some ways to find discounts and decent deals around the area? At the hotel? Is there a program worth signing up for to get a few discounts?

Any advice for the trip?

This is going to be incredibly exciting for us. For 3 of the 4 of us, this may be our last big trip together for awhile as we are finishing up graduate school, and we want to make this trip memorable. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tony Perkis]

I have a few specific questions that maybe some people with previous experience can help me out with. Let's assume for a moment that I can cancel my hotel reservation without penalties (that's future-me's problem in this hypothetical scenario). I decide to buy the Preferred Annual Pass because of the discount possibilities. For in-park and CityWalk purchases (merchandise, food, non-alcoholic drinks), are the discounts better/worse/the same to that of a AAA membership card? Does a Preferred Annual Pass help with hotel rate discounts?

 

[ParentsOf4]

The Royal Pacific is a nice choice. You'll really enjoy being able to walk from your room to both resorts or, if you want, take the boat. It's also nice to be able to drink at night and not worry about driving.

The Universal Express Pass is awesome and should allow you to do nearly everything without waiting. Exceptions:

• Forbidden Journey - You'll be able to get into IOA one hour early for this.
• Rip, Ride, Rockit - Some people don't like this roller coaster. My family (DW and 4 teenagers) loves this, and my DW generally does not like roller coasters. However, this attraction does not participate in Express Pass. Consider heading to this attraction immediately after park opening to avoid long lines.
• Pteranodon Flyers - Also not part of Express Pass. However, someone in your party has to be under 54" in order to ride this. It's really not much of an attraction. Certainly not worht the hour-long wait that's typical. (Pteranodon Flyers is an extremely slow loading attraction.)

Unlike Disney, it's pretty easy to get Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR) at Universal. Finnegan's and Lombard's are pretty good sit-down restaurants in Universal Studios, Mythos and Confisco's are good in Islands Of Adventure. The restaurants in all three onsite hotels are pretty good. In Citywalk, we like the Hard Rock (typical Hard Rock Menu) and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. The rest have disappointed us.

Universal's Quick Service (QS) restaurants are all pretty bad, worse than McDonald's.

I've found many of the Citywalk places can be fun one night and boring the next. I usually just hop around looking for the one that best suites me that evening.

P.S. I know you mentioned you knew the restaurants but included these anyway in case someone else reading this was interested.

 

[Tony Perkis]

I've been to Margaritaville, which I enjoy. It's the same at every one I've been to. Personally, I'm not much of a fan of the Hard Rock Cafe; the servers are a bit too pushy for my taste and prolong a late lunch.

That said, I just looked at the menu and prices for Mythos. I'm shocked at how reasonably priced it is, considering the accolodates and recommendations from many people here and in other parts of the community. We'll probably have to make a lunch out of it.

Thanks for the help!

 

[BryceM]

Looks like ParentsOf4 covered your questions already. The only advice I've got is to take your time! Don't rush from major ride to the next and just enjoy walking around the parks and taking in the atmosphere. See some of the things you wouldn't usually see, such as Universal's Horror Make-Up show, Disaster!, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue, Camp Jurassic, etc.

I hope you have a lot of fun!

 

[Tony Perkis]

Looks like ParentsOf4 covered your questions already. The only advice I've got is to take your time! Don't rush from major ride to the next and just enjoy walking around the parks and taking in the atmosphere. See some of the things you wouldn't usually see, such as Universal's Horror Make-Up show, Disaster!, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue, Camp Jurassic, etc.

I hope you have a lot of fun!

This is absolutely my goal. No running through the big attractions and that's it. That's one of the things I'm most excited about with this trip.

 

[djlaosc]

Looks like ParentsOf4 covered your questions already. The only advice I've got is to take your time! Don't rush from major ride to the next and just enjoy walking around the parks and taking in the atmosphere. See some of the things you wouldn't usually see, such as Universal's Horror Make-Up show, Disaster!, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue, Camp Jurassic, etc.

I hope you have a lot of fun!

That's our plan for next year (we'll also be staying onsite for a night).

We still haven't/won't have seen (by 2014)...

Animal Actors on Location!
Beetlejuice's Graveyard Review
Delancey Street Preview Center (probably still won't do next trip)
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Diagon Alley/London
Gringott's Bank
Hogwarts Express
Poseidon's Fury
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show
The High in the Sky Seuss Train Trolley Ride
The Mystic Fountain
Transformers: The Ride
Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show
Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories
Universal's Superstar Parade

A Day in the Park with Barney
Camp Jurassic
Curious George Goes to Town
Fievel's Playland
If I Ran the Zoo
Me Ship, The Olive
Oh! The Stories You'll Hear
Pteranodon Flyers (still won't be doing next trip)

...we'll be trying to get as much of the top group done as possible (as well as old favourites) but probably still won't do the bottom group.

 

[WED99]

That's our plan for next year (we'll also be staying onsite for a night).

We still haven't/won't have seen (by 2014)...

Animal Actors on Location!
Beetlejuice's Graveyard Review
Delancey Street Preview Center (probably still won't do next trip)
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Diagon Alley/London
Gringott's Bank
Hogwarts Express
Poseidon's Fury
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show
The High in the Sky Seuss Train Trolley Ride
The Mystic Fountain
Transformers: The Ride
Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show
Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories
Universal's Superstar Parade

A Day in the Park with Barney
Camp Jurassic
Curious George Goes to Town
Fievel's Playland
If I Ran the Zoo
Me Ship, The Olive
Oh! The Stories You'll Hear
Pteranodon Flyers (still won't be doing next trip)

...we'll be trying to get as much of the top group done as possible (as well as old favourites) but probably still won't do the bottom group.

Just thought I'd bold/italic some of my personal favourites from that list

 

[BryceM]

That's our plan for next year (we'll also be staying onsite for a night).

We still haven't/won't have seen (by 2014)...

Animal Actors on Location!
Beetlejuice's Graveyard Review
Delancey Street Preview Center (probably still won't do next trip)
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Diagon Alley/London
Gringott's Bank
Hogwarts Express
Poseidon's Fury
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show
The High in the Sky Seuss Train Trolley Ride
The Mystic Fountain
Transformers: The Ride
Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show
Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories
Universal's Superstar Parade

A Day in the Park with Barney
Camp Jurassic
Curious George Goes to Town
Fievel's Playland
If I Ran the Zoo
Me Ship, The Olive
Oh! The Stories You'll Hear
Pteranodon Flyers (still won't be doing next trip)

...we'll be trying to get as much of the top group done as possible (as well as old favourites) but probably still won't do the bottom group.

I'm jealous! I actually haven't done some of those... Poseidon's Fury is very fun though. It's a little bit corny at some parts, but the effects are also very neat and it actually feels like you're exploring ancient ruins. Plus, that facade is amazing.

All the Seuss Landing attractions are definitely worth doing, even if they're technically "kids rides". Especially The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride. I really like that one. Also, Camp Jurassic is amazing. It's like Tom Sawyer's Island with all of the little details and places to explore. One part of Camp Jurassic is actually pretty scary... I ran out of there as fast as I could. But yeah, if you could pick one from the bottom list, I would seriously consider doing Camp Jurassic

 

[djlaosc]

I'm jealous! I actually haven't done some of those... Poseidon's Fury is very fun though. It's a little bit corny at some parts, but the effects are also very neat and it actually feels like you're exploring ancient ruins. Plus, that facade is amazing.

All the Seuss Landing attractions are definitely worth doing, even if they're technically "kids rides". Especially The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride. I really like that one. Also, Camp Jurassic is amazing. It's like Tom Sawyer's Island with all of the little details and places to explore. One part of Camp Jurassic is actually pretty scary... I ran out of there as fast as I could. But yeah, if you could pick one from the bottom list, I would seriously consider doing Camp Jurassic

We were actually going to do Poseidon's Fury last time we went (2011), but we kept missing the start of the show.

Seuss - we've done Cat in the Hat (do it every trip), Caro-Seuss-El and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish before. I think that The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride had long queues last time we went, or at least longer than others in my party were willing to wait for it, but if we've got FOTLP, then we should definitely get on it next time.

Camp Jurassic - we went to Tom Sawyer's Island last time we were there for the first time, but didn't spend too long there - it's not the sort of place that really interests us that much. Of course, depending on time limits, we could give it a try.

 

[BryceM]

We were actually going to do Poseidon's Fury last time we went (2011), but we kept missing the start of the show.

Seuss - we've done Cat in the Hat (do it every trip), Caro-Seuss-El and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish before. I think that The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride had long queues last time we went, or at least longer than others in my party were willing to wait for it, but if we've got FOTLP, then we should definitely get on it next time.

Camp Jurassic - we went to Tom Sawyer's Island last time we were there for the first time, but didn't spend too long there - it's not the sort of place that really interests us that much. Of course, depending on time limits, we could give it a try.

I also always have to do Cat in the Hat every time I'm at Islands of Adventure. Caro-Seuss-El and One Fish, Two Fish I only ride if I have a younger person with me.

Personally, the only thing I have no interest in ever seeing at Islands of Adventure is Sinbad. It just doesn't appeal to me, just like most other shows at theme parks. Except Universal's Horror Make-Up Show of course!

 

[Disneyhead'71]

My absolute favorite club in CityWalk is Rising Star. It is a karaoke bar on steroids. They have a live band that you sing with. It is incredibly fun even if you don't perform. Just watching others is a blast.

Red Coconut is also fun.

The Preferred Annual Pass gives you discounts on hotels, all food and beverages (non-alcoholic) including quick service, and merchandise. And last year it gave 15% off at Emeril's Orlando and Tchoup Chop (not sure about this year).

 

[OFTeric]

I second the love for Rising Star! it is EPIC.

 

[Alexis]

I've been to Universal area and stayed on property numerous of times! If you go to Citywalk definitely walk around, check out the restaurants and shops. A restaurant you should try there is Margaritaville, its a great enviornment and fun! Also, Blue Man Group is a great show that I think you should definitely give a try! There is a new mini golf area in Citywalk as well! The food at Mythos is great, and very cool enviornment! Best inpark food i've had

 

[danpam1024]

You said you'd like to "have a few drinks"- not that I condone this suggestion or anything, but they make portable shots in little plastic pouches (think the size of a condom roughly) that fit quite nicely in your wallet or pocket. With a souvineer refillable mug, you can save a couple of bucks that way . Or you can buy a beer and pour it in with your sprite- last 2x as long and a Shandy is a great way to beat the heat!- Have fun!

Also if you'd like to try the "fancier" restaurants-go at happy hour. They usually have "small plates" so you can sample a few things for less $!

 

[danpam1024]

I have a few specific questions that maybe some people with previous experience can help me out with. Let's assume for a moment that I can cancel my hotel reservation without penalties (that's future-me's problem in this hypothetical scenario). I decide to buy the Preferred Annual Pass because of the discount possibilities. For in-park and CityWalk purchases (merchandise, food, non-alcoholic drinks), are the discounts better/worse/the same to that of a AAA membership card? Does a Preferred Annual Pass help with hotel rate discounts?

We have the Premium annual pass and it usually pays for itself with the room discounts alone. They seem to discount everywhere- it's awesome.