never been to universal [how many days? + stay on property?] About This Page:

[rphstearns]

No one in my family has been to universal and we are all big harry potter fans. How many days should we plan for universal? is three days enough? Should we stay on property? I am at a loss as to where to begin planning this. If it were disney I could do it with my eyes closed

[PatV]

Wizarding World is awesome! You are right to plan well. We went before Christmas (and before a week at Disney) and arrived well before they opened. Within an hour of our entering ( and waiting in another line for a ride), they had closed the entrance for capacity. This is one park that is worth paying extra to guarantee entrance.

3 days is enough if you are planning on seeing the rest of Universal. Plan on spending time waiting in lines. We packed drinks/food in our backpacks so we snacked while we waited.

Fantastic Designation.

[GingerJ]

Originally Posted by rphstearns

No one in my family has been to universal and we are all big harry potter fans. How many days should we plan for universal? is three days enough? Should we stay on property? I am at a loss as to where to begin planning this. If it were disney I could do it with my eyes closed

When are you going? I'm probably taking DS16 and his buddy during spring break this year, as we haven't been since they added Diagon Alley.

The first time we went, though, WWOHP had been open less than a year, I'm thinking, so I worked hard to miss the huge mobs. We splurged and stayed at one of the on-site hotels (huge military discount) for early entry and front-of-line stuff (used very sparingly). We arrived on a Thursday night, the first or second weekend in May--older son's college was out for the summer, younger missed one day of school (the most I'm comfortable with), so we could experience it on a non-crowded day.

We'll be staying at our snowbird house, maybe 90 minutes away, and it's a hugely crowded time of year, so (if this happens) we'll be getting up at 0-dark-thirty and trekking in.

Gotta have the park-to-park pass if you want to ride the Hogwarts Express, I've heard, so that's our plan, probably for 2 days. These guys love the thrill rides, and both will be 17 , so I'll set them loose as much as they want...son might want me around to pay for his meals.

If you're going during a peak time (like spring break) you might want to spring for one of their on-site hotels, but I think you'll be fine without it if that's a budget-buster (they're not cheap!). Just be there at rope drop.

I haven't been recently enough to remember which park is which, or know which to go to first; the one with Diagon Alley is newest, so that's where I'll plan to go first thing in the morning, and what I would recommend for you.

How old are the kids who are going? Younger ones will love Seuss Landing, and older ones will have a blast with the thrill rides.

[HiddenMickey]

I think three days is perfect. The onsite hotels are wonderful. If you can stay onsite, do it. It you do Royal Pacific, Portofino, or Hard Rock you'll get express passes to use during your stay. They are worth a lot. But not always necessary, so if you'd prefer to spend less and try out Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls. I loved Cabana Bay's food court, pools and pool bars. And the bus service to the parks was good.

[Huntermom]

Just wanted to comment on the coast of Universal hotels. We haven't been for a while but when we did, we always stayed on site. I do remember that I have always paid less for my Universal hotel than at Disney and I have never stayed at the expensive deluxes only AKL, WL and CR and a couple of DVC resorts, paying cash.

You used to be able to find the hotells on discount sites. Of course, it's probably been 10 years since I went.

[MrsM]

We went for two days before our Disney trip this past November and it was enough time to see everything in the Harry Potter sections of each park and then some. We did stay onsite so we had the early entry and Express Pass to use for most attractions and that was a nice benefit! It was tough getting the kids out of the room so we got to the early entry hour with about 20 minutes left and we waited about 45 minutes for Escape from Gringotts. We walked by later in the day and the posted wait was 20 minutes so I guess we should have just waited! We stayed at Royal Pacific for one night to Express Pass for both days that we visited and it was great to be right there and to be able to walk to everything.

[Catamount90]

What time of year are you going? That will make a world of difference.

3 days is a great amount. A day for each park at a relatively relaxed pace, then a third to go back and re-do your favorites. This will also allow for heading back to your hotel for a few hours helping you recharge for the 2nd half of the day.
After dinner time the crowds really thin out, so if you are going peak season, head back to your pool in the afternoon, then tour the parks from dinner to closing (frequently 9 or 10 PM). Ending your day at Hogwart's castle will letyou enjoy shorter lines, and if the park is open late you get to see the castle at night. Very very cool sight. We went in July and were at the castle until 9:30. A HP fan I know spent a whole day just in the Potter sections.

Definitely stay on-site if your budget allows. Portofino, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific give you Universal Express for no extra charge. Definitely worth the price of the room. Cabana and Sapphire do not include the Express.

I'd love to answer any questions you may have. We return for our 4th trip this August.

[Swedish Meatball]

I agree that 3 days for the entire Universal Park will work. Since your family are big Harry Potter fans I would give the majority of that time to those areas. Just like Disney I would highly recommend staying onsite. There is nothing like being right in the middle of everything. Enjoy.

[Catamount90]

For two parks: Islands and Studios
We visit the parks at a leisurely pace, with Express Passes. We find 3 days plenty to do everything once, and do our favorites 2 or 3 times. This includes at least 2 rides on Forbidden Journey, and two on Gringott's. We usually travel during medium to high crowds.

New this year: Waterpark
We are planning on one full day for the waterpark. I have no idea if we will need it.

[mamasann]

We've gone at spring break and at Thanksgiving week. (Both busy times.) Except for our very first trip, we've stayed onsite. Hard Rock Hotel is cool and is right beside Universal Studios. We watched the fireworks from our room window one night. Royal Pacific is about a 5-10 minute walk and costs a little less and has a great pool for kids. At the Royal you can print out your own tickets and express passes at the kiosk near check-in.

We normally do 3 days and as the others have said, we've had plenty of time to do our favorite rides several times, especially with the express passes. Make sure you get the park to park tickets so you can ride Hogwarts Express. And ride it each direction because it's a bit different each way.

One thing to prepare for....if you stay onsite, the restaurants at Royal Pacific and Hard Rock do serve breakfast, and they are pricey. Delicious, but $$. That was the biggest shock for us, but we wouldn't go back to an offsite hotel. Hard Rock had character dining. ScoobyDo and a Minion came for a visit. I think Universal has some form of meal plan, but we've never looked into it. We have our favorite eateries at City Walk so have dinner there.

Not sure what age your kids are, but once ours got to pre-teen age, the rides at the Universal Parks suited him better. After the beauty and artistry of WDW, I was disappointed in Universal our first time there. But after several trips, I've come to really appreciate the unique rides and shows the Universal Parks have to offer, especially for our teenager. And our last stay at Royal Pacific (a deluxe hotel) was way less $$ than my favorite POFQ! And staying there gave us express passes to ride our favorite rides over and over.

[kv3291]

3 days is a good amount for universal, maybe 4 if you do the new Waterpark that opens in May. I would recommend staying at royal pacific, hard rock, or portofino bay hotels on property. These give you free express passes good for almost every ride except Harry Potter. Think of it as unlimited fast passes. Plus, on property you can get in one hour early and try to avoid some of the Harry Potter lines. Do one park early one day and the other park,early the next day. Also. Harry Potter areas are great to visit close to closing. You need to look at every window. Also, outside of Diagon alley is a phone booth where you can call the ministry of magic. The interactive wand is worth it. Talk to the goblins at the bank. And ride the train in both directions. There are also,some,very good restaurants, i.e., toothsome chocolate factory, mythos, NBC bar and grill, and bubba bumps. The hotels also,have some great restaurants. Trattoria del Porto Italian restaurant at portofino bay has the minions for a character dinner on select nights. A great thing about staying on property is that you go through security before you get on the boat to city walk or on the pathway as you enter city walk. You do not need to,stand in a huge line in the garage with everyone else. And you go,through security once and can jump between parks and city walk. It is wonderful.

[CLEWTravel]

I certainly suggest staying on property, but make sure you stay at one of the hotels that also offer the Express Pass, it is well worth it, as you get up to four per room for every day of your stay. 3 days will certainly be enough with the Express Pass.