Universal Studios

Attempting a short trip to Universal in the next few weeks...how many days do you think we need to do the parks?

Universal Studios

At least 2 full days. Are you getting the park to park pass? It's a must if you want to ride Hogwarts. Where are you staying? If you stay at a select Universal hotels, you get a free express pass, which is a godsend. Especially in the Summer with the longgg lines.

Re: Universal Studios

We would either stay at Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls...we would definitely want to do everything Harry Potter related. That is our main reason for going!

Universal Studios

Neither of those have the express pass for free. But, I would purchase one if I were you! Cabana Bay is super cute, we pool hopped to there from Portofino Bay last month. We loved the lazy river, and you can buy tubes there and they blow them up. Tip, write your name on the tube, ours was stolen in 5 minutes! We also visited Sapphire Falls for the Minion breakfast, which I do NOT recommend if you were thinking of that. The hotel itself looked nice, and their pool looked awesome! I also loved that they have a boat right to the park (Cabana Bay you ride the bus).

If you are on Facebook, join the "Universal Community by Orlando Informer" facebook group. So helpful! We just attended their meetup last month at the parks, where we paid like $140 and had unlimited food from just about every single restaurant, butterbeer, ice cream, and all the rides, after hours. It was great!

Re: Universal Studios

So the express pass is pretty necessary? I'm thinking it might pay to just stay at a hotel that gives it for free if so.

Re: Universal Studios

I think it is necessary in the Summer. It's very busy at Universal, but, I guess that depends on your tolerance in standing on lines. It is definitely cheaper to book a deluxe and get the free pass than buying them all separate. We stayed at Portofino Bay and I liked it, the rooms were large, and the pool was fun. We had a group rate, so it was pretty inexpensive.

Re: Universal Studios

I haven't stayed on property so I can't give advice on that but I if you stay off property and have Plum Benefits through work check that out for tickets. We usually get "buy 2 days, get 2 days free" deal which is a HUGE savings.

Since we get those tickets (with park-to-park options) we typically spend 4 days in the Universal parks. I LOVE HP so I could visit over and over. It might be a rush to do it in 2.

Have fun!

Universal Studios

We were at Universal last week and I highly recommend staying at a property that offers the express pass. The rain storms were crazy and all of the outdoor rides were suspended; the waits for the indoor rides reached 120 minutes. Also, because of the rain, which I think is common, 3 days would be better to see everything.

Re: Universal Studios

Having just been there I think 2 days is reasonable to get everything done in the parks.
We stayed at Lowes Royal Pacific resort and had express passes included.
We had a really great time!

Universal Studios

Oh, and Harry Potter was A-mazing!!!!!