Last minute Universal Florida tips? And Qs re: tix

[TwinFoxes]

We're leaving in about a week. We've never been and are super excited. We are staying at Loews Royal Pacific. I'd love tips on best places to eat and maybe lesser known attractions that are worthwhile.

Also, what's the deal with tickets? Do we have to stop at the ticket booths to validate them, or can we do that at the hotel or somewhere else? We're getting in pretty early the day before our first park day, so I'd like to take advantage of that to deal with any ticket stuff beforehand.

Oh, lastly, is the photo pass worth it?

[nfceagles]

When we stayed at RP several years ago we were able to do all the ticket stuff there at the hotel.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

Food- Jake's at your hotel. Get the nachos.
Book a table at Mythos for lunch. It's nice to have a sit down meal planned at least 1 day so for one meal you know there will be no lines.:)
The theming of Toothsome is cool but food is so-so.
Don't forget that you can show your room key and get bumped up the seating priority list at a lot of the CityWalk restaurants.

Attractions- while not a secret, Camp Jurassic is large and can accommodate a lot of fun play! I'd have loved a day just playing there. :) The Horror Make-Up show is not scary, from all accounts. We skipped it because I thought it was going to be scary for ds2. The Animal Actors show is really cute. Absolutely do a meet with any Transformer. With the character meets, if you see one happening and you're interested, just get in line, The characters don't stay out long and if you waffle, you'll probably miss them. They will use your own camera for the pics. Very low key and easy compared to Disney. Catch any of the street performances- the app or the paper map at the entrance will have the schedule. Beat Builders is great.

The Mummy is totally the best ride.

Read the Harry Potter itineraries here for a bunch of hidden things to explore in the HP sections https://orlandoinformer.com/

Tickets- you can deal with that at the hotel.

Photopass- I haven't done it but if you like pictures, go for it.

[KrisM]

Tickets at the hotel. We bought lanyards at the park to put them in and the room key for the express pass. It worked well and the kids enjoyed picking out a lanyard.

We did Photopass and thought it was okay. It's a bit of a pain after the ride as you have to page through to find yourself. We didn't find a lot of photographers outside either.

We really enjoyed Blue Man Group. It's extra and not inside a park, so if you have a non-park day, that is an option.

[TwinFoxes]

These are great tips, thanks.

We're supposed to go to BMG our first night. Looking forward to it, I think the girls will like it.

[wendibird22]

Definitely get the lanyards. They are $10 but worth it because you have to swipe your express pass for every ride and to go from one park to the other on the Hogwarts express. It was so much easier to have them around our necks then to pull them out of pockets or bags and risk losing them.

We enjoyed our meal at Leaky Cauldron. City Walk has mostly chain restaurants and fast food.

I agree that Mummy is the best ride, with the two HP rides as a close second. Oh and the Jimmy Fallon ride was great too. But these are all VR/3D type rides and I do find they make me much more motion sensitive than old school roller coasters.

Oh, and you need to stash your stuff in a locker at just about every single ride. It's a pain honestly. At WDW you can have a bag/backpack on just about every ride including coasters but not at Universal. And we quickly discovered that every locker set up is different. Some cost money. Some use a pin code. Some use a finger print. And my BIL learned the hard way that they empty the lockers after about 4hrs even though there aren't signs informing you of such. He had his belongings moved up to front gate lost and found from the Hogwarts ride. So, if you can go to the park with no bags you'll have the easiest time. Otherwise at each ride you have to add in time to locker your stuff and retrieve your stuff immediately after.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I think there are signs telling you that the lockers are only free for the duration of the ride plus anticipated wait time. All of the rides that require lockers have free lockers. The only paid ones are the ones at the water rides. Only the small lockers are free now though and the rides are offering different sizes. Definitely though- the lighter you can travel, the better. With an onsite stay at Royal Pacific, you just don't need to bring much in. You don't need to carry the "just in case" stuff (extra layers, sunscreen, medicines...) because you can be back in your room in 10 minutes.

[TwinFoxes]

I think there are signs telling you that the lockers are only free for the duration of the ride plus anticipated wait time. All of the rides that require lockers have free lockers. The only paid ones are the ones at the water rides. Only the small lockers are free now though and the rides are offering different sizes. Definitely though- the lighter you can travel, the better. With an onsite stay at Royal Pacific, you just don't need to bring much in. You don't need to carry the "just in case" stuff (extra layers, sunscreen, medicines...) because you can be back in your room in 10 minutes.

I'm definitely not a "just in case" girl, and this just reinforces that. :) If I do have a bag, it will be my MZ Wallace micro-crosby. It fits my iPhone and lipstick. DH will carry sunscreen in his pockets.

[mmsmom]

We just planned a very last minute trip. I got the Touring Plans app which is $7.95 for Universal. I used it at Disney years ago and it really saved time so thought it was worth it since we are packing a lot into a few days so want to utilize time well.

I know I can make it w/o a bag but rain is expected one day so we do need to bring ponchos. I have a small cross body they will fit in but that may still need a locker.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We just planned a very last minute trip. I got the Touring Plans app which is $7.95 for Universal. I used it at Disney years ago and it really saved time so thought it was worth it since we are packing a lot into a few days so want to utilize time well.

I know I can make it w/o a bag but rain is expected one day so we do need to bring ponchos. I have a small cross body they will fit in but that may still need a locker.

Touring Plans can give some wacky advice for Universal. All the ones I have seen (I read other boards) have been pretty illogical. If you have express passes, you really don't need a plan at all. If you don't have EPs, you might want to cross-check their advice somewhere. :)

You'll need a locker for a number of rides. I don't think they're that bad but I know pp traveled over Christmas- I'm sure they were horrible then since the crowds were nuts!

[wendibird22]

Touring Plans can give some wacky advice for Universal. All the ones I have seen (I read other boards) have been pretty illogical. If you have express passes, you really don't need a plan at all. If you don't have EPs, you might want to cross-check their advice somewhere. :)

You'll need a locker for a number of rides. I don't think they're that bad but I know pp traveled over Christmas- I'm sure they were horrible then since the crowds were nuts!

That's true! And even that micro crosby will need to be stowed in a locker. They don't let you take anything on.

As for the signs, yes some of the locker locales had signs about time limits. But the signage at the HP ride actually had language about a max fee per day. The staff even indicated to BIL, that yes, the sign indicates $X for up to 4 hrs, max $$ for all day makes it read as though you can leave your bag all day or at least longer than the 4hrs. And the wait time for the HP ride the day we were there was longer than 4hrs if you didn't have EP (thankfully we did) so they were clearing out lockers at the 4hr mark even though people are in line longer than 4. It was chaos there and the staff was so stressed and angry and yelling at people in line. It definitely wasn't magical like the park down the road lol.

[SnuggleBuggles]

That's true! And even that micro crosby will need to be stowed in a locker. They don't let you take anything on.

As for the signs, yes some of the locker locales had signs about time limits. But the signage at the HP ride actually had language about a max fee per day. The staff even indicated to BIL, that yes, the sign indicates $X for up to 4 hrs, max $$ for all day makes it read as though you can leave your bag all day or at least longer than the 4hrs. And the wait time for the HP ride the day we were there was longer than 4hrs if you didn't have EP (thankfully we did) so they were clearing out lockers at the 4hr mark even though people are in line longer than 4. It was chaos there and the staff was so stressed and angry and yelling at people in line. It definitely wasn't magical like the park down the road lol.

Yikes!! I can't even imagine! At least the rides are more thrilling than down the road though. ;) I need some adrenaline in my park visits and will deal with lockers for that boost. :)