Universal Question

[GregorClegane]

So my wife and I are going to Universal for the day and had a few questions.
(We ordered the Universal Orlando 3-Park 2 Day Park to Park Tickets)

• We plan on taking an Uber from Disney Art of Animation Resort to Universal, where should we have the driver park? (also how long does it take)
• Where do we pick up our tickets once the driver drops us off
• We are not ride people, so we planned on seeing the Simpsons Land and Harry Potter all in the same day is there a special game plan for this?
• What is the transportation between parks?
• How are the crowds in mid September?
• I assume Uber picks you up in the same location as drop off
• Hot or Cold Butterbeer

I really appreciate anyone who can tackle some of these questions. I feel really under prepared for Universal as opposed to Disney.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure are located right next to each other. They are both accessed via CityWalk and there are ticket booths located in front of each park. You can get between the two either by walking or the Hogwarts Express.

You said you bought a 3-park ticket, but did not mention Volcano Bay. You also mention only going for a single day, but having a 2 day ticket.

Springfield is not very big, and both parts of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter are still the most crowded areas but not unmanageable.

All flavors of Butterbeer deserve a try: Hot (if available), Cold, Frozen, Ice Cream, Fudge and Potted Cream (I think that is all of them).

 

[GregorClegane]

Thanks lazyboy

You said you bought a 3-park ticket, but did not mention Volcano Bay. You also mention only going for a single day, but having a 2 day ticket.

Through my company this seemed like the best deal. We won't be going to Volcano Bay, but we do have that extra day just in case something comes up. We plan at being Disney a week so if there was time we thought we might go back to Universal.

 

[danpam1024]

• We plan on taking an Uber from Disney Art of Animation Resort to Universal, where should we have the driver park? (also how long does it take) They drop you off near City walk (where the cabs go)
• Where do we pick up our tickets once the driver drops us off Will Call or any of the myriad of Kiosks
• We are not ride people, so we planned on seeing the Simpsons Land and Harry Potter all in the same day is there a special game plan for this? IOA first- train to US. Then do DA and end in Springfield- Duff Beer Gardens opens around 11
• What is the transportation between parks? Hogwart's Express, there simply isn't anything better. Different story each way
• How are the crowds in mid September? GLORIOUS! The kids are back in school and many parents are flat broke from buying supplies. The only thing is it is the height of hurricane season, so it will rain. every.single.day. usually around 2pm
• I assume Uber picks you up in the same location as drop off yep
• Hot or Cold Butterbeer BOTH, or shall I say, all 3- Hot, cold, and frozen. The hot tastes even better with a shot of fire whiskey I guess the cold would as well.

My guess is you will dump a day at WDW and use your second day at UOR- you'll have a great time.

 

[BubbaQuest]

Amazingly Uber has it's own Universal Studios page! https://www.uber.com/cities/orlando/destinations/universal-studios/. I thought there was a separate guest drop off area near the Studios side of the resort, but I guess that is no longer the case. Just follow the crowds through CityWalk

You also might want to check out Orlando Informer. They have tons of Uni trip planning guidelines.

Crowds in September should not be bad UNLESS it's a Halloween Horror Night. Plan accordingly as the parks will close early on those days and require a separate ticket for the Horror event: http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/

There are Will Call Kiosks in front of both parks that should allow you to print out your pre-purchased tickets. Just bring the credit card you used to purchase.

There isn't much to do in the Simpsons area at Uni, mainly just a food court. However, if you're beer drinkers, be sure to head into Moe's for a Duff Beer. The plan for Potter is always first thing in the morning or late in the evening. It's doable during the day, just very difficult to get into many of the shops. Are you planning on riding both (Forbidden Journey and Gringotts)? Keep in mind there are "castle tours" for both (aka the single rider line) so you can enjoy the incredibly detailed queues even if you decide not to ride at the end.

Have a great trip!

P.S. Hot or Cold? Why limit yourself? It's Uni, have one of everything

 

[GregorClegane]

Thank you both, great information! I might have to plan an extra day at Universal.

 

[GregorClegane]

Hey Corey,
Yeah I checked the ticket prices before I pulled the trigger. My mindset is to do the two day park hopper just in case I do want to add an extra day at Universal. The price for the tickets were in line with what we wanted to spend. I think the difference between a 1 day and a 2 day was like 20.00 or something.

 

[Bairstow]

Have you checked regular prices???? A 3 park 2 day hopper is expensive if you are only going for one day and not hitting VB.

From my understanding you are only going one day? I don't know what your company offers but it seems like over kill to me.

One of the funny things about Universal's pricing right now is that they know most people only want/need 2 days with the hopper option in order to see both of the potter areas.
Very few guests would schedule a third day for Islands/Studios, even if it were free.
That's why Universal's 1 and 2 day hopper tickets are more expensive than 1 or 2 day hopper tickets at Disney, BUT, after the second day Universal is basically giving it away.
Heck, right now on their webpage Universal is offering a buy-2-days, get-2-days-free promotion.

...because who needs 3 days at Universal, let alone 4?
Everyone just needs 2. Maybe 1 if you're just doing the Potter Stuff and you get there early.

 

[JT3000]

Very few guests would schedule a third day for Islands/Studios, even if it were free.

I assume you have well researched hard data to back up this statement?

...because who needs 3 days at Universal, let alone 4?

Some people actually like Universal. Maybe them?

 

[Bairstow]

I assume you have well researched hard data to back up this statement?



Some people actually like Universal. Maybe them?

Not research- I'm just using some common sense when looking at the multi-day offers theme parks make.
Even people that like Universal aren't typically inclined to spend more than 2 days there on any particular vacation. Otherwise, Universal's per-day pricing scheme wouldn't drop down to "practically free" after the second day.
Their pricing scheme is not random, but is based on the typical guest demand and behavior. It's the same reason Disney's per-day pricing drops so precipitously after day 5- most people don't want or need that sixth Disney day (or third Universal day) so the parks drop the price lower and lower in the hopes of enticing people to book a longer resort stay.

That's why you often see regional parks like Holiday World or Silver Dollar City offer a deal where you get the second day at the park free. The park knows it's not losing much money on the offer because 99% of their guests won't have the time to visit two days in a row anyway. Making the offer gives the guest the impression of getting more value for her money and maybe might decide to visit the park a second day and spend additional money on concessions and merch.

 

[DisneyDaver]

Very few guests would schedule a third day for Islands/Studios, even if it were free.

Perhaps I'm just one of the few, but I spent 3 days at Universal last trip. A friend of mine is going for 3 days in the fall. With young kids as part of the group, it can take 3 days to fully enjoy the 2 parks while also allotting some pool time breaks in the afternoons.

 

[disneygeek90]

Perhaps I'm just one of the few, but I spent 3 days at Universal last trip. A friend of mine is going for 3 days in the fall. With young kids as part of the group, it can take 3 days to fully enjoy the 2 parks while also allotting some pool time breaks in the afternoons.

With breaks and downtime, sure. You could easily spend 3 non rushed days in a row there. I think Bairstow was referencing a full 3 day open-close type trip.

 

[BubbaQuest]

With breaks and downtime, sure. You could easily spend 3 non rushed days in a row there. I think Bairstow was referencing a full 3 day open-close type trip.

Gosh, I guess I *didn't* spend a week at Universal my last trip to Orlando. I thought I did, but everyone keeps telling me no one spends more than 2 days at Uni, so I guess I must be wrong. Those 2 week Flex Passes that were so popular must have just been a waste of money.

P.S. Sorry to the OP about a derailed forum topic. Welcome to the WDWMagic Forums!!!!

 

[disneygeek90]

Gosh, I guess I *didn't* spend a week at Universal my last trip to Orlando. I thought I did, but everyone keeps telling me no one spends more than 2 days at Uni, so I guess I must be wrong. Those 2 week Flex Passes that were so popular must have just been a waste of money.

P.S. Sorry to the OP about a derailed forum topic. Welcome to the WDWMagic Forums!!!!

You definitely could/can? I'm sure you had opportunities to ride a bunch of the rides several times too, which is always nice.

 

[danpam1024]

We've spent 7 days at UOR- all in a row, and returned 3 months later for HHN . I'm not one to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn while I'm on vacation and go all out through the parks though. The resorts are amazing, sometimes we don't even leave the pool. And I like to go to CW until they close because-bourbon . We used to spent 14 days at WDW (same thing). After our trip there in Feb, I don't think I will EVER have the patience for that mess again.

 

[trr1]

Gosh, I guess I *didn't* spend a week at Universal my last trip to Orlando. I thought I did, but everyone keeps telling me no one spends more than 2 days at Uni, so I guess I must be wrong. Those 2 week Flex Passes that were so popular must have just been a waste of money.

P.S. Sorry to the OP about a derailed forum topic. Welcome to the WDWMagic Forums!!!!

I will be spending 7 days at Universal in June also that way I can take my time and visit the parks and Volcano Bay

 

[lazyboy97o]

Perhaps I'm just one of the few, but I spent 3 days at Universal last trip. A friend of mine is going for 3 days in the fall. With young kids as part of the group, it can take 3 days to fully enjoy the 2 parks while also allotting some pool time breaks in the afternoons.

Gosh, I guess I *didn't* spend a week at Universal my last trip to Orlando. I thought I did, but everyone keeps telling me no one spends more than 2 days at Uni, so I guess I must be wrong. Those 2 week Flex Passes that were so popular must have just been a waste of money.

P.S. Sorry to the OP about a derailed forum topic. Welcome to the WDWMagic Forums!!!!

I will be spending 7 days at Universal in June also that way I can take my time and visit the parks and Volcano Bay

It's not an issue of right or wrong, or that no one would enjoy more days. There are many factors that go into length of stay and honestly acknowledging the structure of Universal's pricing is not an attack on Universal Orlando Resort or people who like to visit for more than two days.

 

[rushtest4echo]

Way way super off topic, but I'll add:

The overwhelming majority of visitors to Universal Orlando Resort are 1 or 2 day visitors. t's obvious that they want that golden "3rd day" to be spent at Volcano Bay. Are there people who stay longer? Of course. There are some people that find enough to do to spend multiple days or even a week at Disneyland Resort, why would Universal Orlando be any different? Same goes for Tokyo and Paris. Heck we've spent 10 days at Tokyo Disney before!

Universal has stated that they want to extend average guest visits with the hotels and water park. I But all of those resorts share the same visiting patterns: 2 day visitors are the norm with a healthy dose of single day visitors. 3+ day visitors are rare. The pricing reflects that. More days (especially in packages) are literally thrown in to entice more spending on hotels, food, parking and merch. 2/3 day tickets with the 3/4/5 days tacked on are now being replaced by 3/4 day ticket with the 5/6/7 days tacked on. Pretty obvious why this change is happening right now.

Personally, my first visit to Uni Orlando involved half a day at Studios (didn't ride the Hollywood clones as we were SoCal locals), and the other half of the day was spend marathoning Fire Dragon. We spend the next morning at IOA and were satisfied. Granted, this was before the massive expansions that have taken place (in fact it was right after IOA opened), but the other 4 days we had planned to spend at Universal were spent at other parks instead. Had we rushed it, we would have finished both parks in a day easily. Out of town friends we accompany to the parks (they're slow and fickle) still usually only manage one day to do both parks and they mostly see/do everything.

Given our desire for entertainment and our distaste for paid line jumping- we rarely spend more than half a day at Universal Orlando anymore as locals. The longest we've spent at Universal over the past few years was this past Sunday for UCF's renting out IOA. We managed to do 8 entire hours there which was just crazy to us, lol.

Still, most people don't spend more than 2 days at the resort right now. Which is why they're pushing for lodging, resort amenities and the new water park. And extra day worth of per-caps will massively affect the bottom line across the entire resort- which is why extra day tickets have always been cheap and this will continue with VB (just add a day to the base cost).

It's not like WDW is any different by the way. They feel that 4 day tickets are the sweet spot and tack on extra days for a negligible cost for the 5/6/7/8/9/10th days.

 

[Minthorne]

Have Uber drop you off at the Hard Rock Hotel. You can pick your tickets up in the lobby where they have a guest relations/tickets counter and the walk/security is much easier than from the cab drop off.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Gosh, I guess I *didn't* spend a week at Universal my last trip to Orlando. I thought I did, but everyone keeps telling me no one spends more than 2 days at Uni, so I guess I must be wrong. Those 2 week Flex Passes that were so popular must have just been a waste of money.

P.S. Sorry to the OP about a derailed forum topic. Welcome to the WDWMagic Forums!!!!

Yes, this is weird.

If the point is that most folks spend 2 days at Uni and 4 at WDW, I'm perfectly willing to buy that if the facts bear it out.

But these forums are full of people who go to WDW over and over again, often multiple times a year. I used to be one of those. You don't do that based on a desire to hit each ride exactly once - if you did, WDW certainly hasn't added enough to require a yearly trip. You do it because you like to spend time in WDW, just like some folks like to spend time at the beach or a national park.

The idea that folks enjoy being at Uni, however, seems alien and weird to a lot of these same people. This despite the fact that, in my own visits, Uni has been cleaner, has lacked the vast fields of strollers and ECVs, has offered better service, has not forced me to schedule rides or meals weeks in advance - has, overall, offered a much better product.

More and more people are going to spend time just "hanging out" at Uni just as they do at WDW. Its going to build loyalty and its own nostalgic base.