Universal Orlando First Time

[maudefindlay]

We normally go to Disney and know very little about Universal.  We are tacking on 3 days to another trip. Our arrival day we will check in to the resort and check out the CityWalk.  Then will do one day at each of the 3 parks including the water park.  Kids will be 10, 12, and 14.

Is there an app like Disney's for ordering food ahead, checking ride wait times?
Do they have a Genie Plus equivalent?
Good food to try/restaurants?
Good resort?


Any advice is appreciated.

[Zoly]

Is there an app like Disney's for ordering food ahead, checking ride wait times?

Yes, there is a Universal Orlando app. You can do some mobile ordering and check wait times. 

Do they have a Genie Plus equivalent?
Universal has Express Pass. You can either buy it ahead of time or at the parks (although it is usually pretty expensive), or you can stay at one of their deluxe resorts and get it included with your stay. The difference between this and Genie + is that you don't have a specific return time - you just get in their Express line instead of stand by. Which can occasionally mean you would wait longer than you would in a Genie line, but I still think it's completely worth it just for not having to plan out your day. Velocicoaster and Hagrid's (currently) do not utilize Express. I feel like I heard that Velocicoaster was going to Express at some point, but now I can't remember where I heard that.


Good food to try/restaurants?
Mythos is a pretty good sit down restaurant. There are some decent options in the Harry Potter lands as well. Oh and we also liked the crepe stand. I've heard good things about their food booths when they have an event like Mardi Gras, but I've never been at one of those times.


Good resort?
We pretty much try to stay at a deluxe resort when we go to get the Express Pass. We've stayed at all three, but Royal Pacific was 10+ years ago, so I don't remember much about that one. Hard Rock is about a 10 minute walk, which is really nice. We also really liked Portofino Bay because it just felt so relaxed. You can either walk (maybe 20 minutes?) or take a boat down to the parks here. 

In general, we love Universal because it is just a completely different feel from Disney. It's just so much easier and involves less planning. We have not done Volcano Bay yet, but I've heard good things. 

[mrsslocombe]

1. Yes they have some mobile ordering, but only a few spots use it unfortunately. And yes the app has wait times, compared to Disney I found their wait times were more accurate to what is posted (at Disney the wait times were almost always far shorter than posted).
2. They have something called Universal Express Pass-it is VERY expensive ($90+ per person per day). But you don't have to book times, you can use it once on nearly every ride in the parks (I think Hagrids is the only big ride you can't use Express Pass). They also offer an even pricier unlimited option. If you stay at certain Universal Resorts you actually get your express pass free. Universal also has far more single rider lines available compared to Disney. The good thing about Express pass is that unlike Genie+, you can get to the parks, see how long the lines are, and buy the pass then. You don't have to worry about all the good slots getting taken.

I've never stayed at a resort over there so no recommendations, but you do get early entry as a resort guest which, if you aren't getting express pass, is the key to getting on to Hagrids or Velocicoster without waiting 60 min+.

Just FYI, nearly all of Universal's rides are either coasters/thrill rides or simulators. If anyone in your party has trouble with motion sickness, they can be overwhelming. Definitely more intense than anything at Disney. But Velocicoaster might be my favorite coaster of all time-I highly recommend riding at night as well as in daylight, and waiting for the front is worth it (but terrifying).

[maudefindlay]

mrsslocombe, I have motion sickness and will likely be skipping a lot, but I'm OK with that and used to it. I will enjoy seeing the kids and DH have fun.

[ssmjlm]

If you can, spend the money and stay at a resort that will give you express pass. It's just so easy to go in the EP line. We stayed at Portofino in June and just loved the quietness of the resort. E loved the pool with the beach entry and water slide.

Woodfire was great food wise. We had a quick lunch at the NBC Grill and enjoyed just good burgers and fries. DH tried Duff beer in the simpsons land and we all grabbed corn dogs. We weren't impressed with the mexican restaurant or Voodoo Donuts.

We only used the app/map sparingly. We spent a lot of time in the HP areas. We rode Hagrid's twice and both times went about a hour before park closing when wait times are lower.

We had park to park, but the train was down for us. If you want to ride the train, you have to have park to park. We just wanted the ability to do one during the day, pool/nap, then another in the evenings.

We did do Volcano bay, but to be honest, I did like 2 rides, the "rapid" lazy river and then enjoyed the wave pool/drinks while DH and E did more stuff. We did pay for a clamshell with 2 chairs to get some shade. All of the ride lines are tied to the bands. We did not get in line for the coaster because that ties you to that ride until you ride it. So you can't ride anything else because you have to tap in. Also, DH and E's bands wouldn't sync on stuff, so he could go, but hers would say 5 mins. No one cared, so they were able to ride together.

[momin2013]

I MUCH prefer the Universal parks to Disney, and have been there many more times that I've been to Disney over the years. I find it much simpler to do Universal, as there's nowhere near the same planning required.

Like PP's have said, yes, there is an app - I found it very worthwhile to have to able to check wait times.

I've only gotten the Express Pass once, and honestly, I didn't really feel we needed it. This will depend a bit of when you go (and also if you're wanting to do the big/most popular rides), though.

We've only stayed on property once, and that was at Cabana Bay. I thought it was a great resort, relatively reasonable, shuttle to the parks/Citywalk was super easy, and it's literally right outside of the entrance to Volcano Bay (although we've never done that park).

I get motion sick too, and I always just take gravol and I'm fine. That said, I don't go on the "big" rides/rollercoasters. A lot of the rides are simulators, and I've always found if I'm feeling a bit queasy I just close my eyes for a bit and I'm fine - lol.

The best food IMO is hands down on Citywalk. What we typically do is eat breakfast at the hotel/in the room, get something quick for lunch/snacks during the day when needed, then plan on a nice dinner at the end of the day at Citywalk (you could always go back in after dinner if there was more you wanted to see and the park was still open.) Our favourites on Citywalk are Antojitos and Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

Last time we were there we got park-to-park passes so we could do the HP train ride, and it was pretty cool but not really 'necessary', IMO if you don't want to get multi-park passes.

[livinitup]

I really love the Universal parks. We have stayed at the resorts for the convenience and free fast passes. Very worth it. I love being able to walk to/from.

Are you big Harry Potter fans? I have done 1-park only days and done the 2-park days (connected by the Hogwarts Express). There is enough to do in each park to not go for the 2-park option if you are not huge HP fans. I did the 2-park option with my DD and LOVED it but my H slept in and loved that, too. Haha.

You may want to buy wands for the kids - they have interactive “spots” in the HP park.

Mythos is great for indoor, seated lunch. Nice menu choices including a salad. You can reserve or get on the waitlist/walk up. It’s a nice location (just outside HP) without having to walk outside the park to CityWalk and then back. I think they have outdoor seating, too but we always opted for air conditioning.

Also, Citywalk will text your phone for seating, so you can walk around. I have put our name down at multiple restaurants and it’s a-okay.

[maudefindlay]

livinitup DD and DS2 love HP, so likely want to ride the train. Sounds like it may be worth it. Are they specific wands we can only buy at Universal?

[livinitup]

Mar 22, 2023 12:45:21 GMT -5 maudefindlay said:

livinitup DD and DS2 love HP, so likely want to ride the train. Sounds like it may be worth it. Are they specific wands we can only buy at Universal?

In the park, there are “interactive” wands that come with a map and about a dozen “spots” to cast spells. I do not know if you can buy them outside the park and still have them work. I am NOT into hyping souvenirs or ‘extras’ but DD was a little younger than yours and liked it a lot. It was fun. Maybe ask friends/family if anyone has one to borrow for your trip? We have definitely lent hers out. Buying the wand can also be its own activity in HP - they sell them at cart stands but also at Olivanders which is an attraction & gift shop. They have many varieties and the shop aligns with the book/movie. Also, DD broke her tip and the nice folks in the shop replaced it with zero push back. They were extremely nice about it.

[ssmjlm]

You can sometimes get interactive wands secondhand on ebay or Mercari.

We did Olivander's (we actually did both, but the one at Universal is better than IOA) and my kid did not want to get picked. She was 100% set on Hermione's wand. All 3 of us took turns doing the spells around both parks and it was a lot of fun. People and Universal cast were also helpful in little tricks to get the spells to work. There was one at IOA that DH could only ever get to work.

I bought lanyards and a wand holder from a FB person that was linked in one of my Universal groups: www.facebook.com/SuttonlyStitched. DH and I shared a lanyard and just put our passes and hotel keys (which serve as your express pass) in separate sleeves, so if we did split, DH just put his sleeve in his pocket. (I also took pictures of everything just in case we lost them.)


ETA: Universal is still having a promo about gift cards and a free wand. That wand is not interactive, FYI.

[maudefindlay]

We are all booked, thanks for all the info. We bought 3 day 3 park tickets and got 2 days added free. We wanted to stay at Royal Pacific, but we need 2 rooms as there are 5 of us and we don't want to be cramped with a rollaway and we couldn't get rooms next to each other, so we are doing a suite at Surfside and we bought unlimited express passes for 3 days and the 2 free days we are just going to be relaxed and a slower pace, likely a mix of hanging at the resort and partial park days. We can always buy additional express passes the day of for those 2 days if we want. We have clamshell seats reserved for Volcano Bay as well. Definitely buying wands on day 1, the younger 2 want them. DS2 will turn 12 while we are there, so I think the last thing is to make reservations for dining. He wants Chocolate Emporium on his bday for sure.

[momin2013]

Sounds like an awesome plan, maudefindlay! Toothsome’s Chocolate Emporium is pretty cool - when we went we didn’t even sit in the inside part (which is really neat) and we all really enjoyed it. They will definitely have something special on the menu for a birthday treat!

[CurlyQ284]

We went to Chocolate Emporium and everyone split their shakes because they are so huge and we were stuffed from dinner. It was really good though!