12 tips how not to spoil the rest in Universal Orlando

The real castle of Hogwarts. Photo: from the personal archive of the author

Amusement parks are my weakness. Great weakness. So when we started planning a trip from Miami to Orlando to Universal, I tried to find tips on the Internet on how to not spend a lot of money and have a lot of fun. I deliberately did not read about the attractions, because I love surprises, but in vain - it was worth studying this issue. My husband and I decided to travel with our 7-month-old baby, but my mother and sister went with us, whose task (in addition to entertainment) was to help with the child. We only managed to escape for one day - this time, as I later realized, was not enough. The tips I post below are based on my personal experience only. I may not know some of the “tricks” and offers of the park.

1. Choose the right time to visit

It is better to visit the park on weekdays than on weekends. And you need to come a little earlier than the opening, to have time to park and ride the most interesting rides before it becomes unbearably hot.

We arrived at Universal at 12 noon on Tuesday. There were already quite a lot of people. Queues for attractions range from 40 minutes to an hour on average. The heat is unreal. It was not very comfortable to move from one attraction to another, so we periodically went to different cafes to catch our breath, quench our thirst and freshen up. By evening the heat subsided, and so did the queues for the rides.

2. Get ready to visit the park

Especially if you are traveling for one day. Indeed, in this case, every minute is expensive. Examine the rides you want to ride, their location, average waiting time. Ideally, download the app. Universal orlando, with which you can monitor the waiting time.

Bring towels and a change of clothes (after visiting the water attractions you will be very wet, and drying costs - just a minute! - $5.

Do not forget about sunburn remedy.

Advice on learning about rides is good if you don’t feel like people like me. I wanted to wander and open my mouth in surprise, looking at attractions that I know nothing about. Although it should be prepared.

Universal Park will appeal to both adults and children. Photo: from the personal archive of the author

3. Visit two parks

In Orlando, under the roof of Universal, there are two parks: Universal resort и Islands of adventure. You can buy tickets in one park, and you can in two. So - buy tickets at once in two parks. This ticket is called Park-to-Park.

It can be a little boring in one park if you have a group of different ages or a family. Plus - in one park on the day of your visit, cool slides may be closed, and you will automatically have to go to the second for thrills. In our case this was the case. All the roller coasters at the Resort were closed, so we went to Islands of Adventure.

4. Take a ride on the Hogwarts Express train

Be sure to take a ride on the Hogwarts Express train, which goes from Universal Resort Park to Islands of adventure and vice versa. At Universal Resort, the station is located near the famous purple bus from the Harry Potter book. Train rides are possible only for visitors with a Park-to-Park ticket.

We, unfortunately, had the folly of going from one park to another on foot and ignored the magic train. Next time we fix this error.

5. Do not save on parking

Parking in the multi-storey parking complex costs 20 dollars for the whole day. Parking valet right at the entrance to the park - 40 dollars. As an amateur “save,” I found free parking a few kilometers from the park and quite seriously persuaded my family to leave the car there. Good thing no one listened to me. But if you still want to save on parking, leave the address: 6108 S Kirkman Rd, Orlando, FL 32819, USA (parking TGI Fridays). They say that no one takes the car from there. We were not able to test this hypothesis.

6. Take a ticket for two days or more.

Otherwise, you will end up “galloping across Europe.” At Universal you should go on all the rides, or even several times on the ones you like, you need to have time to calmly stroll through the two parks, take photos, and enjoy the beauty of the world of Harry Potter. You will not have time to do all this normally in one day - the day will turn out to be very crumpled, like ours. Although we walked from 12:00 to 22:00.

7. Buy a magic wand at Olivander`s

In the park I saw many children and adults who, with a serious look and a stick in their hand, conjured in front of a fountain or shop-window. I, of course, admired the belief of these people in the properties of a magic wand and did not know at all that the magic tool from Olivander`s bench could actually work wonders. On some items of the interior, special sensors are installed in Kosoi Lane stores, which interact with magic wand sensors. Thus, when hovering a stick on, for example, a stone mermaid, water begins to flow from her mouth. So even if you're not a Harry Potter fan, buying a wand and conjuring is a really cool idea.

8. Take a stroller with you.

If you go to the park with a small child, be sure to take the stroller. In my opinion, it is necessary in the park for both children up to 5 years, and older, because the legs are hard all day. By the way, the park offers blue plastic strollers for rent for $ 10 and $ 12 per day. All information can be found. here.

9. Think twice before you go with the baby

It was difficult for us in the park to have a 7 month old baby. First, it is very hot. Secondly, the baby is in an excited state all day, because behind the side of his carriage there is a life that he has never seen before.

We have an active child, but the “driving” in Universal cheered up even more, from which he slept poorly in the park, at night when we were driving home, and at home. In a good way, I would not advise to go with the kids at all.

Summer in the park is incredibly hot. Stock up for sunburn. Photo: from the personal archive of the author

10. Use sweep rooms

But the obvious advantage of visiting the park with a child is the so-called sweep rooms. Suppose you are two adults and a child. You stand in line, then while one adult rides the attraction, another sits in this room with the child. After that, change and go to the attraction out of turn. If the soul wants, then ride more. Of course, without a queue.

Keep in mind that on some of the rides the meeting room is a real room, and on some of them the corner at the entrance to the ski area. Where is dark and loud. So it is not always an option for a couple who rests in the park with the baby.

11. Please note that the waiting time is too high.

Before visiting the park on the Internet, I read that the waiting time was too high for 10-15 minutes. That is, if you need to wait for 60 minutes, then in fact you will wait 45-50. In our case, it was. We passed faster than the bulletin board informed us.

In the evening at Universal Park, every sign and shop window glows, resembling Las Vegas. Photo: from the personal archive of the author

12. Come on the rides out of turn

There are several options for how to get to the ski area without a queue or just much faster. The first is to buy an express pass. He stands from $64,99 is in both parks and is used on all rides. Information on express trains can be found at park site. The second is to queue for single riders. We turned on a little ingenuity. So, while we were standing in line for the Dragon Challenge attraction, it was closed due to the beginning of rain. Nice guy AJ at the entrance to the ski area recommended that we go to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey for now and skip the line, using the magic phrase “We are friends of AJ.” We said this phrase on other rides in express lines and we - lo and behold! - they let us through. In addition, we were lucky that after 7 pm the queues for many attractions were no more than 15 minutes.

Keep in mind, the queue at the first row in a typewriter attraction (we are talking about a roller coaster, for example) is always separate and rather long.

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