Universal Orlando- trip booked, hit me with tips

[SnuggleBuggles]

Big Harry Potter fans here! We bought 3 day park to park tickets and are staying in a tower suite at the Cabana Bay onsite (access to early morning admission). Crowd calendars are around 3 each day. Is there anywhere I should make meal reservations for? I'll re-read the trip reports but let me know if there's anything else I should think about.

[KrisM]

We were there for level 1-3 days and did not need a reservation. The one day it was raining at lunch time, they stopped walk-ins, and made us reserve a time for 15 min. later :).

Our first afternoon there, we did not go to the parks because we only had 3 hours. We ate at City Walk and I thought it was nice to get a general feel of the layout - where the entrances to each park are, how to navigate through City Walk, etc. Even if you don't do a meal there, walk around the day before if you can. You can see number of the rides from there as well.

[LKMang]

We love cabana bay!! Have stayed there twice. Make sure u do the lazy river if u have time (and u can bring your own floats to use and they will inflate them for you). I thought the food court was good. Definitely get there early so you can enjoy HP land before everyone else comes. We love doing breakfast at the leaky cauldron. Have a blast! We are headed back in 2 months!

[SnuggleBuggles]

We were there for level 1-3 days and did not need a reservation. The one day it was raining at lunch time, they stopped walk-ins, and made us reserve a time for 15 min. later :).

Our first afternoon there, we did not go to the parks because we only had 3 hours. We ate at City Walk and I thought it was nice to get a general feel of the layout - where the entrances to each park are, how to navigate through City Walk, etc. Even if you don't do a meal there, walk around the day before if you can. You can see number of the rides from there as well.

Thanks!
Great idea! Our plane lands at 7 so we should be able to do a quick pass through the night before.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We love cabana bay!! Have stayed there twice. Make sure u do the lazy river if u have time (and u can bring your own floats to use and they will inflate them for you). I thought the food court was good. Definitely get there early so you can enjoy HP land before everyone else comes. We love doing breakfast at the leaky cauldron. Have a blast! We are headed back in 2 months!


I'm so glad you like it! I was considering switching to a premium hotel for the express passes but I just don't think they will be necessary when we will be there (not a busy time). I still have plenty of time to change my mind though!Definitely plan to go first thing in the AM! Is it weird like Disney where there is opening time and an even earlier time when people line up? If we showed up at opening time, are we "late"?

[georgiegirl]

We were just at Harry Potter two weeks ago. We arrived when the park opened, even before. They start letting people in at 8:45. (One day we arrived right around 9, the other day 8:40). We walked straight to Diagon alley and rode escape from Gringotts. No line. Then we did olivanders wand shop. No line. Then we looked in a few stores and took the Hogwarts express to Hogsmeade. Then we rode the Forbidden Journey (wait wasn't very long, like 15 min maybe), then Flight of the Hippogriff (only 5 min wait.). Then we went to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. After lunch, place was more crowded. We went to Seuss land for the 2 year old, then to the Jurassic Park ride. Then we looked in some shops and took the Hogwarts Express Back. DH took kids on some other rides. Only thing with a line was Minion ride, which was 25 min . Second day, we did pretty much the same thing, but kids rode Gringotts three times before we looked in some shops then headed over to Hogsmeade. I took DD on dragon challenge that day (DS1 isn't tall enough for that...its 54" I think.) but we only rode one of the rides (you can pick blue or red dragon.). One was enough for me. There wasn't any line, but it took a while to walk through the line area. All of the lines are very cool, Gingotts with the goblins and Hogwarts, Hagrids cabin, etc. Compared to Disney, it was empty and easy.

[LKMang]

I'm so glad you like it! I was considering switching to a premium hotel for the express passes but I just don't think they will be necessary when we will be there (not a busy time). I still have plenty of time to change my mind though!Definitely plan to go first thing in the AM! Is it weird like Disney where there is opening time and an even earlier time when people line up? If we showed up at opening time, are we "late"?

We went last year and did one night at Cabana Bay (we drive overnight to get there and it was our arrival day, so we just lounged around the hotel that day) and then switched to one night at Royal Pacific so we could get the express passes. It really wasn't worth it for us. You can't use express passes for the Harry Potter stuff and when we went (September) the lines really weren't bad at all. I do like the other hotels (we've stayed at all except Hard Rock), but Cabana Bay is so perfect for families with the suites. For me, the benefit of the other premium hotels is that the walk is much more do-able. We took a bus from Cabana Bay and it really was convenient but I like being able to leave when I want to leave. DH did walk from Cabana Bay and he said it was far. The food options are much better for us at Cabana Bay (quick service, cafeteria-like) compared to Royal Pacific which has a lot of sit down restaurants.

Check and see what time Universal opens when you are there and you can get in an hour early. They may even open up the gates a little earlier. We have gotten there a little bit earlier (maybe 10 minutes?). Last trip, we did just one night at Cabana Bay and Universal opened at 8am, which means we could get in at 7am. That was wayyyy too early for me and the kids (after the overnight drive down) so we sent DH ahead. He left the hotel at maybe 630am, took the bus over and did everything he wanted to in HP land by 8am. Lines were so short.

As a Harry Potter fan, you will love it. It is really so well done. My 7 year old DS loved the interactive wands. He was also really freaked out by the dragon in Diagon Alley and barely wanted to step foot in there. But it all really made him love Harry Potter. Enjoy, it is so great!!! DH and I are headed there next month for an adult-only trip!

[bnme]

You have plenty of time with 3 days and those crowd levels. I do think people line up ahead, check out the Universal section of disboards. I am not sure if Cabana Bay has transport, but if you are driving it is a longish walk from the parking garage, through City Walk, then into the parks.

The original HP ride is incredible, you will probably want to do that more then once. The train experience is also fun. When we went the new section had just opened and wait times were always 2+ hours, but that was last August. I would download the app ahead of time to get an idea of how it is trending. Other favorites were Spiderman and The Simpsons ride.

[SnuggleBuggles]

You have plenty of time with 3 days and those crowd levels. I do think people line up ahead, check out the Universal section of disboards. I am not sure if Cabana Bay has transport, but if you are driving it is a longish walk from the parking garage, through City Walk, then into the parks.

The original HP ride is incredible, you will probably want to do that more then once. The train experience is also fun. When we went the new section had just opened and wait times were always 2+ hours, but that was last August. I would download the app ahead of time to get an idea of how it is trending. Other favorites were Spiderman and The Simpsons ride.


Thanks!

Cabana Bay has a shuttle and we are game for walking too. Not planning to rent a car.

I'll check out the boards and app

[SnuggleBuggles]

We were just at Harry Potter two weeks ago. We arrived when the park opened, even before. They start letting people in at 8:45. (One day we arrived right around 9, the other day 8:40). We walked straight to Diagon alley and rode escape from Gringotts. No line. Then we did olivanders wand shop. No line. Then we looked in a few stores and took the Hogwarts express to Hogsmeade. Then we rode the Forbidden Journey (wait wasn't very long, like 15 min maybe), then Flight of the Hippogriff (only 5 min wait.). Then we went to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. After lunch, place was more crowded. We went to Seuss land for the 2 year old, then to the Jurassic Park ride. Then we looked in some shops and took the Hogwarts Express Back. DH took kids on some other rides. Only thing with a line was Minion ride, which was 25 min . Second day, we did pretty much the same thing, but kids rode Gringotts three times before we looked in some shops then headed over to Hogsmeade. I took DD on dragon challenge that day (DS1 isn't tall enough for that...its 54" I think.) but we only rode one of the rides (you can pick blue or red dragon.). One was enough for me. There wasn't any line, but it took a while to walk through the line area. All of the lines are very cool, Gingotts with the goblins and Hogwarts, Hagrids cabin, etc. Compared to Disney, it was empty and easy.

Fabulous!

[KrisM]

We stayed at the Doubletree, so no early entry or anything. Both mornings we went, one park opened earlier than stated. Neither time did we have any issue with lines. In fact, they would let us stay on for a 2nd ride or cut through the child swap room and get right back on because there were no people there. DS1 rode Forbidden Journey 4 times in 30 minutes using the single rider line. I did it twice, but then just waited in the gift shop for him :).

Lockers - wands fit :). On some rides, everything loose has to go in - purse, sunglasses, etc. On a couple (Rip Ride Rocket and ??) even wallets and phones aren't allowed in pockets. They work well and are free for a certain time period. It's plenty of time.

[KrisM]

I took DD on dragon challenge that day (DS1 isn't tall enough for that...its 54" I think.) but we only rode one of the rides (you can pick blue or red dragon.). One was enough for me. There wasn't any line, but it took a while to walk through the line area. All of the lines are very cool, Gingotts with the goblins and Hogwarts, Hagrids cabin, etc. Compared to Disney, it was empty and easy.

The Dragon Challenge might say 10 minutes for a wait, but it was all walking! It's a crazy long walk. The only real wait we had was for the first car. We rode it many times.

[georgiegirl]

The Dragon Challenge might say 10 minutes for a wait, but it was all walking! It's a crazy long walk. The only real wait we had was for the first car. We rode it many times.

My favorite part of dragon challenge was seeing what the Hogwarts express really looks like. I would have felt sick riding it more than once.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Getting closer! I've read through posts on Disboards and Trip Advisor. I also spent some time on the Touring Plan website. Can't decide if it's worth $6 to subscribe. Crowd calendars just don't look that bad and I figure we can wing it.

I have lunch reservations at Mythos bc it looked cool. Anywhere else I should add?

Do they sell wand "holsters"? I'm trying to figure out the best way carry wands. The kids got $50 each from both sets of grandparents (so $100 total each) for souvenirs. We never buy souvenirs but I know at least ds2 will want a wand.


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[KrisM]

My friend and I ate there. It was good, I thought. I don't think you need to subscribe. Have you seen the Orlando Informer site? We used that, loosely, and it was good. http://orlandoinformer.com/touring-plans/. I copied them into Word and then deleted things I knew we didn't want/need to do.

The wands come in a box and then a long bag with handles. DS1 just carried the wand while in HP world and we had it in the box/bag otherwise. It fits into the lockers. If they get the interactive wands (and they are really cool), there is a map in the box of locations to do magic. We didn't realize it for a bit :)

Make sure you really walk through Diagon Alley. We missed a small chunk the first day. Lots of people are on the main street, but you can take some side streets around the back. One neat thing is the bank note exchange. You can exchange muggle money for Gringotts money and talk to a goblin to do it. You can then spend the money at Universal.