Universal parks first timer

Guest · 24 Jul 17, 12:39 AM

Looking for some advice, My wife and i are taking our 2 grandsons ages 14 and 11 to universal parks first week in october for 7 days. Never been before. We are staying in Cabana bay so have early entry, but we dont plan on buying fast passes. So we will have 2 days in both parks and 1 day at volcano bay with our 1st day probably being a relaxing day checking out hotel, maybe visit Walmart to stock up, What advice would you give visiting the parks other than be there early, should we get into lines/queues to visit Harry Potter attractions right away or leave it till later in the day, Is it worth paying for a touring plan on orlando informer, or is there an app that is just as helpful maybe. Would we have time to spend mornings in parks go back to hotel for lunch freshen up and return late afternoon and still manage most of the rides or not. Also where is the nearest decent place for shopping/ clothes for the young ones. Happy for any answers to these questions and any other tips/ advice you could pass on .Many thanks.

WillSa6 · 24 Jul 17, 05:33 AM

We were at Universal last week, but were staying 2 nights in RPR so got express Passes for 3 days, plus July will be a lot busier than The start of October. What about Halloween Horror Nights, will that affect you? If you don't have a ticket for it, then you will have to leave the park around, I think 6ish.

Due to inclement weather and rides shutting down for longish periods of time, we just about got everything done over the 3 days in IOA and US with 5 attractions done twice. We didn't do any shows or the Seuss stuff.

The first day we arrived in the park about 10 and stayed til 3.30 then went back in about 7 and stayed until closing 10. On our third day we went to IOA for 9 to do the 3 water rides. Popeye was 10 minutes standby, Jurassic Park was 5 mins standby and Ripsaw Falls was walk on as it only opened at 10am. We then went back to the hotel, checked out and lay by the pool and sat in the hotel til about 2.30.

Personally I would do the HP stuff first. We did Gringotts twice on the same day. Once about 11am and then at 8.30 pm. The standby wait time was longer in the evening than in the morning.

Guest · 24 Jul 17, 06:30 AM

We found early at park opening or evening the best times to visit. Also, if you have early entry, Harry Potter should be easy to get on, we didn't and even in July waited 15 mins at normal park opening, maybe because the early entry crowd move on after the rest of the park opens. I found downloading the free universal app was great as you can see live wait times and plan your next ride based on that. Wifi is free in the parks.

The nearest mall was mall at millennia (with the Cheesecake Factory &#128512

but the Vineland outlets is also close by and some good bargains to be had, hopefully the exchange rate will improve too

andyhen · 24 Jul 17, 06:34 AM

bougt fast passes for universal many years ago for universal in early august and easily managed everything . Even back then i felt we were rushing the park and missing a lot of the build ups.
next year I'm going in september and also staying in cabana bay. I have changed my plans so many times as I'd planned on staying at RPR, PBR and HRH just to get fast passes again. i need two rooms and the price was crazy and after checking the crowd stats i decided on cabana bay and to just go with the flow and chill a bit.
check the crowd levels for the first week in october. A chilled day at the start should be a great way to get ready for them and reckon you'll manage fine.
will follow this thread as there should be plenty of people with good tips.
enjoy and tell us about it.

**Wobbles** · 24 Jul 17, 11:53 AM

Which days are you going? Halloween Horror Nights will be on Wed-Sun in the first week of October, so Universal will be closed at 5pm on those days and CityWalk can be busier than normal. Islands of Adventure I think is usually open until 7pm/8pm on those days

We don't need fast passes in October normally for the rides, they tend to be very quiet but you may need to plan your days to allow for the early closing of Universal.

The parks are very quiet on a Monday and Tuesday in October

Guest · 16 Aug 17, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by Wobbles

Which days are you going? Halloween Horror Nights will be on Wed-Sun in the first week of October, so Universal will be closed at 5pm on those days and CityWalk can be busier than normal. Islands of Adventure I think is usually open until 7pm/8pm on those days

We don't need fast passes in October normally for the rides, they tend to be very quiet but you may need to plan your days to allow for the early closing of Universal.

The parks are very quiet on a Monday and Tuesday in October

We arrive on sun oct 1st, monday 2nd should be our chill out day, then the 3 parks from tues till saturday. Anyone else got any advise for our first visit thanks.

Guest · 16 Aug 17, 08:05 PM

Decide if you are doing the 3 water rides at IOA (Jurassic park, ripsaw falls, barges)
You will get a bit wet on Jurassic but VERY VERY wet on the others! I love them but usually do a separate visit out with no bags and wearing clothes I am happy to get soaked in and then reward myself with some Dippin Dots (small balls of ice cream - highly recommend!)

Yes plan early for Harry Potter rides and also decide if there's any characters your family would love to meet e.g. Spider-Man and other super heroes.
Enjoy a fab trip!

Guest · 16 Aug 17, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by simplysteph

Decide if you are doing the 3 water rides at IOA (Jurassic park, ripsaw falls, barges)
You will get a bit wet on Jurassic but VERY VERY wet on the others! I love them but usually do a separate visit out with no bags and wearing clothes I am happy to get soaked in and then reward myself with some Dippin Dots (small balls of ice cream - highly recommend!)

Yes plan early for Harry Potter rides and also decide if there's any characters your family would love to meet e.g. Spider-Man and other super heroes.
Enjoy a fab trip!

Much appreciated simplysteph.

24 Jul 17, 12:39 AM	#1
	24 Jul 17, 12:39 AM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Universal parks first timer Looking for some advice, My wife and i are taking our 2 grandsons ages 14 and 11 to universal parks first week in october for 7 days. Never been before. We are staying in Cabana bay so have early entry, but we dont plan on buying fast passes. So we will have 2 days in both parks and 1 day at volcano bay with our 1st day probably being a relaxing day checking out hotel, maybe visit Walmart to stock up, What advice would you give visiting the parks other than be there early, should we get into lines/queues to visit Harry Potter attractions right away or leave it till later in the day, Is it worth paying for a touring plan on orlando informer, or is there an app that is just as helpful maybe. Would we have time to spend mornings in parks go back to hotel for lunch freshen up and return late afternoon and still manage most of the rides or not. Also where is the nearest decent place for shopping/ clothes for the young ones. Happy for any answers to these questions and any other tips/ advice you could pass on .Many thanks.

24 Jul 17, 06:30 AM	#3
	24 Jul 17, 06:30 AM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	We found early at park opening or evening the best times to visit. Also, if you have early entry, Harry Potter should be easy to get on, we didn't and even in July waited 15 mins at normal park opening, maybe because the early entry crowd move on after the rest of the park opens. I found downloading the free universal app was great as you can see live wait times and plan your next ride based on that. Wifi is free in the parks. The nearest mall was mall at millennia (with the Cheesecake Factory &#128512 but the Vineland outlets is also close by and some good bargains to be had, hopefully the exchange rate will improve too

24 Jul 17, 06:34 AM	#4
	24 Jul 17, 06:34 AM andyhen Stuck in the Tower of Terror
andyhen Stuck in the Tower of Terror Join Date: Apr 08 Location: Newcastle andyhen's Reviews Hotel Reviews: 1	bougt fast passes for universal many years ago for universal in early august and easily managed everything . Even back then i felt we were rushing the park and missing a lot of the build ups. next year I'm going in september and also staying in cabana bay. I have changed my plans so many times as I'd planned on staying at RPR, PBR and HRH just to get fast passes again. i need two rooms and the price was crazy and after checking the crowd stats i decided on cabana bay and to just go with the flow and chill a bit. check the crowd levels for the first week in october. A chilled day at the start should be a great way to get ready for them and reckon you'll manage fine. will follow this thread as there should be plenty of people with good tips. enjoy and tell us about it.

16 Aug 17, 08:05 PM	#7
	16 Aug 17, 08:05 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Decide if you are doing the 3 water rides at IOA (Jurassic park, ripsaw falls, barges) You will get a bit wet on Jurassic but VERY VERY wet on the others! I love them but usually do a separate visit out with no bags and wearing clothes I am happy to get soaked in and then reward myself with some Dippin Dots (small balls of ice cream - highly recommend!) Yes plan early for Harry Potter rides and also decide if there's any characters your family would love to meet e.g. Spider-Man and other super heroes. Enjoy a fab trip!