FAQs - Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure
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AKLRULZ · 11-19-2003, 09:40 AM

Post deleted by Dad2jbj

Shell_of_the_South · 11-20-2003, 09:33 AM

No big secret here, I love Universal! The #1 planning tip I can offer is stay onsite! The "front of the line access" at all rides and attractions in the theme parks is, like the commercial says, "Priceless"! Universal has some great hotels.

To save money on Universal hotels, you can get 50% off the rack rates with an Entertainment card. Visit www.entertainment.com to purchase one. The $20 cost of the card is more than worth the $100+ per night you can save on room rates!

DouglasE · 11-21-2003, 10:17 AM

<font color="purple">My big tip for Islands of Adventure is to plan on being wet. Wear a swimsuit or quick drying clothes because on so many of the attractions you get splashed, sprayed, spritzed and downright poured on! While that spells FUN for me, it pays to be prepared. Next time I go I will wear a swimsuit, a T-shirt, and flip flops. Soggy socks and sneakers is the pits! If you do go on the Bilge Rat Barges, you will not have a square inch on you that isn't soaked to the gills. NO ONE escapes being thoroughly drenched. I always find that hysterical, but others don't so be forewarned.

Islands of Adventure is also a park geared toward the adventurous thrill seeker. If being upside down, shot up in the air, spinning around isn't up your alley, then there won't be a lot to do and you could get away with planning half a day.</font>

simbarel · 11-21-2003, 03:22 PM

Unfortunately I won't be able to take advantage of Michelle's on-site tip.....but thanks for making this available! It's good to know I can come here to get some reliable and helpful information from people I "know." We won't be going until January 2005...but I can't wait!

Since Michelle C said she went on the Hulk a number of times I'm loosening my personal ban from the ride. I'll decide when I see it myself.

Shell_of_the_South · 12-16-2003, 12:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Since Michelle C said she went on the Hulk a number of times I'm loosening my personal ban from the ride. I'll decide when I see it myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh Rachel, you gotta try it at least once!! The takeoff is worth it all!! I could loan you my kids, they are quite persuasive in getting me to ride this stuff!

Just another tip I remembered. A Universal Fan Club card will save you 10% on tickets, food, and merchandise. I got mine free through Your Magical Journeys. Just contact one of the ladies there and they can get you a card as well.

Also, Annual Passholders get 20% off merchandise and food and get free parking. That can add up to a big savings.

Tiger Lily · 12-28-2003, 02:45 PM

My tip is to plan on more time in each park than you would expect -- due to the large number of shows that run only at certain times. There are fewer continuous-loading attractions, and it just takes more planning to be able to hit all the shows. Some of them don't run very often, and the times don't coordinate very well with each other. (We also encountered this at Sea World.)

Suffice it to say that we are able to get more done in a shorter period of time at Disney World.

Nonetheless, Universal has things that I wouldn't miss for the world, like T2 3D! And Back to the Future. Also IOA has the magnificent Incredible Hulk roller coaster and the one-of-a-kind Spider Man ride. I have to agree that staying at one of their hotels helps. We rode Spideman over and over thanks to front-of-the-line access. This allowed us to take it all in. You can't really appreciate that attraction in one ride.

lilprincess · 01-09-2004, 08:42 PM

Just a heads-up on one of the websites mentioned...I clicked onto the third one "Largest Unofficial..." and read a long message about how the website will be closed down as of February 1 (I took it as there are legal issues and bitter feelings with Universal ). So, maybe it can be deleted off this thread.

AKLRULZ · 01-10-2004, 07:44 AM

Post deleted by Dad2jbj

Shell_of_the_South · 01-11-2004, 09:10 AM

I found some other Universal websites that might be helpful to USF vacation planners:

http://www.ioahq.com

http://www.uoguide.com/index.php

http://www.usoinfo.com/Parkinfo/guid...tractions.html

lilprincess · 01-11-2004, 10:03 AM

Steve, no problem! I think he got himself into some hot water for sure!

Crackers · 01-11-2004, 01:14 PM

This will be my first trip to the Orlando area in 25 years. My children's first ever trip. Though we intend to spend most of our time in the disney parks, we want to see the universal parks as well as Sea World while we are there. This is an 18 night trip, and I have scheduled one day at each park(US, IOA, & SW). I do have some off days, that we can use if necessary to see what we miss (but don't want to overdo it either-down time I believe is necessary) My children are 11 & 14 and probably won't be interested in all of the little kid stuff. (though possibly some for my 11 year old) We are travelling June 10th thru the 28th, the first and last days travel days only.

Anyway, as I am looking at ticket purchasing now, I am not sure whether just to buy the two day park pass for universal and single day tickets for sea world, or to get the 4 park flex ticket. Wet-n-Wild doesn't matter much to me as we are getting 6 day hopper pluses for disney and will use all of our pluses at the water parks. (this is because DF isn't coming with us and no use using it for pleasure island when partying alone isn't any fun-kids aren't into Wide World of Sports, and Disney Quest isn't included in the pluses.

) Needless to say, we already have three days of waterparks. However, if it takes more than one day for any of these parks, the flex ticket is the more economical, but not if one day in each is all we spend.

So, now after a bunch of background you really didn't need, my question is this: Can these parks be successfully toured (spending the whole day, but without running yourself crazy)in one day each, without the feeling that you missed too much? I have one that loves the thrills and one that loves the shows, so skipping a whole category would be hard. I don't mind missing a few things, but don't want to feel at the end of the day that we just scratched the surface either. I won't be staying at a Universal Hotel so front of the line access unfortunately won't apply. (Way out of my budget) Your opinions would be helpful. Thanks.

Shell_of_the_South · 01-12-2004, 10:01 AM

Crackers, I have been to Universal in July for the past 2 years, and I think it would be hard to see it all in 2 days if you're not staying onsite. It gets pretty crowded and the Express Passes (Universal's version of FastPass) run out pretty quick. I would personally go for the 4 day flex ticket. Also, check for the 5 day pass at Universal Parks which is often the same price as a 2 day pass.

Just wanted to mention that with the Entertainment discount, you could probably stay at a Universal resort for $125/night, which is about 1/2 the rack rate. Maybe even less, I haven't checked lately. I know that is still expensive, but if you figure how much more you can experience at the parks with the front of the line access, it is worth it. DH and I are both cheapskates (he's worse than me!) and he even said it is worth it. DH said it is like the Mastercard commercial says, "Priceless!" It could be the difference in standing in line 2 hours vs. 10 minutes on every ride in the parks.

Kelgar1 · 01-14-2004, 05:18 PM

Does anyone know if you still have "front of the line" access on the day you check out? Example...we check out at 11:00 that day, but stay in the parks until 6:00. Do we still get the special deal? We are doing 2 days Universal, and then switching over to Disney. Thanks.

Shell_of_the_South · 01-14-2004, 06:13 PM

When I was there in July, your front of the line access was good until 4:00 on the day you check out. Same goes for the day you check in. We checked in early that morning, got our room keys, went to the parks, and moved into our room that afternoon when it was ready.

Muffycat · 01-22-2004, 08:44 AM

That's what we were planning on doing also. This will be our first time at Universal. Do you think 3 nights will be enough? My kids are 10 and 13 and go on the bigger rides mostly.