universal / I drive / ticket lots of questions

[mr&mrslightyear]

Hi 👋 just returned from three weeks in Disney and already looking at 2019/2020

I’m sure these have been answered but I wanted to ask all in one place


What is the quietest time of year ?
I don’t want to go October again too much Halloween! Is February too cold? I need pool time.
What are the best tickets to do? Flex ticket?
Looking at a week on I drive and a week by the coast. Tampa possibly to get Busch in.
Hotels around I drive with free shuttles which are best?
Do universal do any sort of dining plan?
Are there any benefits other than front of line for staying in universal hotels?
Do they have a das system like Disney?
Do they do rider switch?

Thanks!

[Nimbus]

I'll try and answer most of your questions, but I can't answer all of them. Here goes...

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

What is the quietest time of year ?

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The quietest times are mid/late Sept, late Jan/early Feb, and early Dec. See the following for more info:

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/Whe...-WDW-p-78.html

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

I don’t want to go October again too much Halloween! Is February too cold? I need pool time.

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It can be a bit variable; the mornings and evenings can be a bit chilly. The average high temperature in the middle of the day is around 22 degs C. I don't know whether you consider this warm enough?

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

What are the best tickets to do? Flex ticket?

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They no longer do Flex Tickets. Some ticket websites sell a combination of tickets and call them "Flex Tickets" (if that's want you mean?).

The answer to which are the best tickets really depends on which parks you want to visit and for how long in each. For example, if you only want to spend 2 days at the main Universal parks then get a 2-day 2-park ticket. If you want to spend 5 or more days at all 3 Universal parks, then get a 14-day Explorer ticket.

Do you also want to visit Disney and for how many days? Do you want to visit Seaworld, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, etc?

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

Hotels around I drive with free shuttles which are best?

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Obviously the answer is going to be very subjective but we liked the Embassy Suites or Homewood Suites near the south end of International Drive (near Pointe Orlando). They used to have free shuttles - I'm not sure whether they still do.

The onsite hotels at Universal are also very nice (they provide shuttles to the Universal and Seaworld parks).

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

Do universal do any sort of dining plan?

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Apparently so, although they are not quite the same as Disney's dining plans. Plus you have to be staying onsite to get the dining plan. See here for more info:

universalorlando/web...lan/index.html

Otherwise, I've never bought one so I don't know how good they are.

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

Are there any benefits other than front of line for staying in universal hotels?

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Yes:

You get early park admission to the Harry Potter areas and Volcano Bay (1 hour before offsite guests).
The ability to charge in-park purchases to the hotel room key.
Free package delivery to your hotel room for any items purchased in the theme parks.
Close to the parks with free transportation (or, in some cases, you can walk).
Free entry into some clubs on CityWalk.

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

Do they have a das system like Disney?

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Hopefully, someone else will better answer this question.

Universal do provide access for people with disabilities but I'm not sure whether they have a system specifically like the DAS system at Disney. See here for more info:

universalorlando/web...ion/index.html

Originally Posted by mr&mrslightyear

Do they do rider switch?

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They do Child Swap, which is similar but different.

Basically, everyone enters the queue (adults and children) and queues up. When they get to the loading station, they split into two groups - one group goes on the ride whilst the second group looks after the child in a child swap area or room near the loading station. When the first group has ridden they swap over and look after the child in the special area whilst the second group immediately board the ride.


Hope that helps!

[disney73]

Regarding the tampa question, in 2017 we flew in to Tampa and stayed for 4 days 3 nights before staying onsite at a disney hotel found it a very relaxing way to start the holiday, had some beach time, watched a baseball game and went to busch gardens over 2 days so it didn't feel rushed
This was late august on a ba fly drive, enjoyed it so much , not sure what it would be like in Jan/ Feb though

[Col&Ali]

Sorry can’t answer all of your questions but traditionally end of April is a good time - great weather, lowish crowds and if you can leave it to fairly last minute exceptionally cheap TUI flights!

We feel we had quite a good deal this year as a package with Virgin ... 7 nights Rosen Plaza, 3 nights Guy Harvey Outpost in St Pete Beach, Universal tickets and Full Size SUV for £2400 (just the 2 of us)

We Uber’ed from the hotel to the parks for less than it cost to park.

Love our 3 days at the coast and did Little Toot.

Fab holiday! All sun and no rain. We also believe we did ok without FOLP at Universal - it was so tempting to book one of the Loews but we were glad we didn’t