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  1. #1
    okinawama is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Default Universal Island of Adventures advice

    We are headed to Universal Island of Adventures this week, and I'm looking for any and all advice. We will be staying two nights at the Portofino Bay Hotel, and then staying one day to do Universal. We've never done any park, so we are very new to this, and the research has been overwhelming. Do I need to create a minute by minute list of what we plan to do? We have the early admittance to Harry Potter, and the Universal Unlimited Express to skip the regular lines. Do I need to make reservations for the character encounters (there's a Jurassic Park one my son would love, but I'm not finding a place on the website to reserve a spot)? Do you recommend tennis shoes or a supportive sandal (ie Birkenstocks).

  2. #2
    SnuggleBuggles is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by okinawama View Post
    We are headed to Universal Island of Adventures this week, and I'm looking for any and all advice. We will be staying two nights at the Portofino Bay Hotel, and then staying one day to do Universal. We've never done any park, so we are very new to this, and the research has been overwhelming. Do I need to create a minute by minute list of what we plan to do? We have the early admittance to Harry Potter, and the Universal Unlimited Express to skip the regular lines. Do I need to make reservations for the character encounters (there's a Jurassic Park one my son would love, but I'm not finding a place on the website to reserve a spot)? Do you recommend tennis shoes or a supportive sandal (ie Birkenstocks).
    If you have the budget at all to do park to park tickets instead, that’d be awesome.
    Otherwise, since you have Express Passes you really don’t need to plan much at all!
    No reservations needed for characters. Just walk up and get in line. The one you’re describing is Raptor Encounter and it’s fun!
    Only thing I’d recommend is doing Harry Potter stuff at the beginning and end of day- those areas get uncomfortably crowded from like 12-4.
    Lots of water rides at IOA. Wear sandals. Wet feet trapped in sneakers and socks are miserable.
    Take a few types of shoes though in case you get any blister action. Your hotel is so close that you can just go back and change shoes if needed.
    The Orlando Informer website is a treasure trove of easy to digest Universal/IOA research.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    KrisM is offline Clean Sweep forum moderator
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    Yes to Orlando Informer!

    We are going in about 2 weeks and I have a loose list of an order to go by. It's mostly just a plan so we aren't backtracking all day long and so I don't forget something because we don't walk by.
    Kris

  4. #4
    SASM is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I agree to the suggestion to get park to park tickets. This is the only way you can go on Hogwarts Express. And make sure you go from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade...that way you can see Platform 9 3/4. And to take a photo, lag behind your family and stand behind the "luggage" to take their photo/video. Otherwise, you'll miss it.

    Just warning you that if you are plus-sized like me, you might have issues with some rides. The rides and harnesses are made for "normal-sized" people. I am a size 20-22 and was asked to step aside while my kids went on the ride and I had to wait for the next ride so I could go in the "special" seat that was supposedly slightly wider and had double straps. This happened a couple of times. I discovered after the fact that there is a list (on a random website) of which rides are difficult for plus-sized riders. Not going to lie...I felt horrible for my youngest daughter who really wanted to ride with me and was/is going through a vanity thing. Anyway...just mentioning...

    It is VERY different from WDW. So glad you have the Express Passes...they were AWESOME!! Especially for HP and the Hulk (one of the size-challenged rides).
    Mom to:
    1 BLUE (03) and 2 PINK (05 & 07)
    ^i^ 10.01 & 12.03

    Pardon my typos...blasted Auto-correct!!

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