Universal. Why I can't recommend it, and why I'll not be going back

[THE WIZARD]

Sorry to hear you didnt enjoy your time there but if you choose/have to go at one of hottest times of the year, which also makes it one of the cheapest times of the year which is also school/collage holiday time for a lot of U.S./S.America then you have to accept what thats going to be like.
We have never found sinage a problem & staying on-site for only a few days is more than worth it for early entry & the ability to leave lunch time for a swim break at the hotel then back to the parks later in the afternoon. If we have ever had to queue for rides then we've found the way they are planned is usually shaded.
No its not WDW, it does not make claims that it is, but its a great park in its own right. Perhaps try it at a cooler time of the year or when your children are older & you may find you enjoy it more.

[THE WIZARD]

Just thought perhaps you should check out the VIP tour, thats great, straight on to some of the most popular rides, interesting information & look round the back of some of the rides & how they are worked, not sure if they provide lunch now but you do get a lunch break/rest period - worth every penny.
November or May both great times to go - defo not June,July or August for any parks for us, especially with little ones.

[BigSkip]

Originally Posted by Bear-family

We are due to go next November. Can anyone tell me what the universal parks are like then? We haven't visited them since 2007 and they were very quiet then. We've noticed the change in Disney over the years and how much more popular they've become. Is it the same for universal or can we expect a relatively chilled day?

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we were there in October a couple of years back (didn't do Uni last year) and there were very little queues at all, most things were sub 10 minutes.

[sha9]

To be fair this is peak season and large tour groups are hardly Universals fault. Believe me the queue jumpers and large groups are just as much a problem at Disney.
The Express pass situation has some supporters versus the Disney FP system as at least Universal allow offsite guests to buy it. We stayed at a Universal hotel last year and got the unlimited express passes for two days and I think if we were going during the summer we'd stay for 2 nights. I can definitely say it improved our Universal experience. It allows both the chance to use the express queues and the opportunity to go back to the hotel for a cool down. Maybe that's something to consider for a future trip?

[Bella1]

The Brazilian tour groups can be hell at Disney too but I presume both companies like the money they provide!

I am not a fan of Universal, although we go to Orlando an average of twice a year I haven't been to Universal/IoA since the year they opened WWoHP.

We joined the Hulk line with a waiting time of 30 minutes. We used the free locker. We ended up waiting nearly 2 hours as the Express line kept filling with groups of teens who just kept running from exit to entry and riding again. In the end people in the waitline were shouting and the staff eventually started letting waitline people ride. We got off and then couldn't open the locker as we needed money which, of course, was locked in the locker! I asked the staff member to open it for me and he said I shouldn't have been gone so long and to pay up, I explained that we had only been stood in the queue and he told me that wasn't true! By this time lots of people had gathered behind me with the same problem and I wasn't moving so eventually he had to open everyones locker for free, tempers were very frayed. It left a really bitter taste and that was the last time we went there.

I will go back one da but only if I book an onsite hotel to get the FOL benefit.

[Taffy1959]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a negative experience of Universal/IOA, we always go in October and the queues are shorter but we have seen queues at the minion ride of 90 mins.
Last year we stayed at The Hard Rock for 2 nights which gives you the express passes and early entry and for the first time we managed to do the minions ride but we still waited 30 mins with express passes, this year we're staying at Royal Pacific Resort for 2 nights and its purely for the passes and early entry

[cra1gyp]

We find getting in to any park for opening time the key, especially US and IoA. In Oct 13 US opened at 8am an we were there on the button, most rides were walk on or 10min wait for the first hour and we were round the park, done some rides 2 or 3 times and were heading out to go shopping by 1130 when it was getting really busy. Having said that, it was October and not quite as busy as July.
We first went in July 1995 and encountered South American tour groups and they were exactly as you describe. They were everywhere, just couldn't move for them particularly in the Disney parks.
Its unfortunate you didn't enjoy US sometimes a whole combination of things can ruin an experience. Maybe if you give it another go things may be different. We love it there and couldn't visit Florida without our Universal fix.

[Geordie boy 57]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Sorry you didn't enjoy it. I am Team Disney all the way, but it strikes me there are things that would have made your visit more enjoyable.

Firstly, as for signage, I don't find the parks any more confusing than Disney - basically they just go round in a circle. We had a park map on our iPod Touch on our first visit which helped.

Secondly, it's one of the busiest times of the year. By contrast, our visits were Nov and Dec, and both times everything except the Harry Potter stuff was a 10 minute wait. In fact on Veteran's Day (public holiday) it was practically deserted!

But the biggest thing is the overnight stay at a Universal hotel. This gets you an hour's early entry both days, and front of line access.

This totally transformed our experience of Universal, and now I wouldn't do it any other way. The hotel was so beautiful and peaceful, and just a short walk or boat ride from the parks. Being able to pop back for a rest and sit quietly by the lagoon eating a pizza for a while is one of the golden moments of our holiday.

Early entry was a godsend. An hour to wander round Diagon Alley (and Minion Mayhem was open too, and a walk-on).

The parks have a different vibe from Disney, and I can't honestly say I fell in love with them in the same way. But I did lose my heart to Portofino Bay resort, and our two nights there transformed our experience of the parks.

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Having joined the Dibb last year we have had loads of advice
One of which was a night at Universal
We have a room booked for 5 of us at HRH
Cost £200
So with FOLP and early entry works out as a bargain
Plus of course the HRH experience for 2 ageing rockers

[Shooby doo]

Universal is my favourite park, yes we are all mad about Disney but from the first visit I've loved the Studios - I can take or leave IOA! Since they started charging for EP's, although when it used to be free they had the better system, they have created a 2 tier system but if they hadn't how many of us would book onsite ? Although I've heard differently that it's not policy, my experience is that standby guests don't get on until the EP queue is empty, Disney at least has a ratio. Speaking of Disney, our experience last Oct was that if you didn't have a FP then queues were generally in the 60-90 min range & certainly not a lot of walk ons after mid day.
Not so sure about your signage problem as everyone is normally handed a park map on entry
Disney are no better at handling the tour groups in fact my experience is that they(CM's) go out of their way to be non confrontational- personally I think we should be allowed tazers!

SD

[porridge]

The best solution to avoiding the heat is to go at a different time of year next time.

The best solution to beating the crowds is to book a room at Universal. We paid £138 a night (got a good deal on Netflights) and that gives us a lovely hotel, express passes for 4, early entry, and priority seating at a the restaurants. It doesn't have to cost $129 a person a day. We have done Universal offsite (with the queues) and onsite, and having stayed onsite we wouldn't do offsite again. Remember, if you stay onsite you get the express passes the day you check in and out - so stay 1 night, get 2 days express passes.

By having express passes, you then get to avoid the queue jumpers and tour groups.