Off To Universal

[cruising spud]

Right before we started this trip, I thought that I would post every day. Well, from day one-that didn't happen. But, I will start in chronological order. And, I didn't think much about pictures for the first few days. I will get more serious tomorrow.

Pre-Trip Report

Several months ago, my husband and I decided that the older we get, the suckier winter gets. We thought that a brief trip to Florida at the end of February would be great for our morale.

We knew we were probably going to the Disney this year in January (changed from the November Dismeet date, once we sold our rv). Hidden meaning-money would spew from our hands at an incredible pace. So, we didn’t want to spend tons on this Universal journey.

And, so, for the first time in twenty years, we had a vacation without the rv.

After a few weeks of back and forth, considering what to do in Florida-we decided to visit my sister in the Sarasota area for a few days and then head on over to Universal. Neither of us had ever visited the park, so why not?

I went online and did a bit of research. Also, bought the Unofficial Guide to Universal. Then, I decided to do something that I would never recommend to anyone---bought a package. Four nights and five days at Universal’s Adventura. Four-day ticket. Two of those days with Express Pass.

One plus of a car trip vs an rv trip-I will be driving, too, something I do not do with the rv. We have a hotel reserved in South Carolina, about eleven hours from our house. Hoping to leave early and arrive at our hotel at about 5:00pm.

Day 1

End of the first day. Okay, the first leg of our trip took way longer than I calculated. We left our house at 4:45 am. I thought we were making good time, but we didn’t pull into our hotel until 8:00 pm. On the plus side, my husband and I are still speaking to one another. An rv prespective-In our rv we were more relaxed, had more space, and took much more time to get to a destination. We were laid back. Not so much with a car trip.

 

[bama_ed]

Then, I decided to do something that I would never recommend to anyone---bought a package. Four nights and five days at Universal’s Adventura. Four-day ticket. Two of those days with Express Pass.

Ooh I'm gonna settle in and get comfy here ....

 

[cruising spud]

Day 2
Another long car day. Apparently, I am not that great at figuring out how far we can go in a car per day. We didn’t pull into my sister’s house until 5:00pm. Luckily, she had a pitcher of sangria ready to go.

NEXT TIME WE ARE FLYING.



Saturday/Day 3

Okay, I am now relaxed. Sat on my sister’s porch and saw this.




Sunday/Day 4

We left for Universal at about 7:30am. Travel distance was only about three hours. Got to Universal and checked in. Our room was not ready, but I was expecting that, so I grabbed my Universal pre-packed backpack, and we were off to Universal Studios. After Disney, it was strange not knowing our way around the park. Our plan was to eat some lunch and get the feel of the park. We ate at the Leaky Cauldron. Also had the butterbeer. Butterbeer is basically cream soda with a marshmallow-like thick topping. It was good. My husband had fish and chips. He liked it. I had a meat/vegetable mixture in a pastry shell. It was okay.

Saw this. Because it is such a bad picture-it is a picture of the dragon on top on Gringotts.




We stayed in the park for about three hours and then headed to our room at the Adventura. The room was a bit smaller than I would have liked, but we were trying to economize this trip, so it was good enough.

Day 1 of the Park-Disney vs Universal

To clarify-we knew going into this trip that we would not want to do a lot of the rides-they were too big, too fast, too scary. But, we wanted to see Harry Potter World and take a look around.


Universal vs Disney-What I thought: the Universal vibe is different from Disney. Louder. Not as lovey-dovey. Geared for younger people (at least younger than us), who love fast, crazy, spinning rides. It was also obvious that Disney has more land to spread their rides out than Universal does. The rides were closely packed together. The park was clean, and every staff member we spoke to was pleasant. Because Universal is more compact than Disney, the buses arrive more quickly, and the trip to the parks take under five minutes. There is a lot less planning needed. No reservation needed for the Leaky Cauldron-we arrived there at about 1:00 and were seated in about fifteen minutes. We have two days of express pass. We did not have the express pass for day 1, so we didn’t do any rides. Ride wait times were 25 to 60 minutes. Plan to do rides tomorrow.

 

[wabbott]

We will be at UOR in 36 days, also for the first time. We did one day in Universal Hollywood last year and decided to tie in a UOR visit with our WDW visit. Following this thread with interest.

 

[cruising spud]

Monday/Day 5

We got up early and were at the bus stop by 7:15am. The bus was waiting and took us to Islands of Adventure. A glitch-if you have Express Pass, you also need to bring your regular park ticket for the day. No one told us this. Luckily, the ticket window printed us a new ticket. My husband went on Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey. I tagged along to see the queue. The queue wasn’t as great as I thought. BUT, my husband loved the ride. Rode it twice. He said it was a hundred times better than Flights of Passage. The second time he rode, he did the single riders’ lane and walked right on. Next, we headed to Hogwarts Express. A cute ride.




This ride took us to Universal Studios, so we walked over to Gringotts. Again, I was a tagalong to see the queue. This queue was great. My husband liked this ride, too, but not as much as Forbidden Journey.



We then took the train back to Islands of Adventure and rode Skull Island and the Spiderman ride. Both were fun. Not too scary. We walked around, bought some ice cream, checked out more of the Harry Potter world. Universal pays great attention to detail. There is a lot to look at.



We left about noon and ate at City Walk at the Hard Rock Café. A solid meal. Went to the bus stop, where again, a bus was waiting. Went back to our hotel and had a drink by the pool and relaxed for a few hours.

Notes-as of this January there are no paper maps of the parks. Luckily, I had printed a map of the parks before we left home. And, at some of the eateries within the parks, example the Leaky Cauldron, you need (okay, maybe you can manage to order without the app if you beg) to download the Universal app and connect your credit card to the app and order through the app.
Also, now that we are organized and in a hotel rhythm, I am liking our hotel room more.

 

[cruising spud]

We will be at UOR in 36 days, also for the first time. We did one day in Universal Hollywood last year and decided to tie in a UOR visit with our WDW visit. Following this thread with interest.

Wabbott, ask away I will answer any questions that I can.

 

[wabbott]

Wabbott, ask away I will answer any questions that I can.

Thanks!

 

[wabbott]

We have ressie's @ Mythos, Lombard's, Finnegan's, and Mama Della's. If you eat at any of those places, tell me what you think.

 

[cruising spud]

I already know, we are not going to any of those eateries. However, I have read that Mythos is great. We passed by it when we were in the parks, and it looks fabulous from the outside.

 

[cruising spud]

Tuesday/Day 6

We didn’t rush to the parks today. My husband and I exercised and went to the pool in the am. Left for the parks around 12:30. This was a day that we didn’t have Express Pass, so we decided to hit the shows.

Notes: In my opinion-

The Horror Make-Up Show-best show in the parks.



The Three Broomsticks has much better food than the Leaky Cauldron.


During Mardi Gras season, Universal runs a fabulous parade. Loved it. And, even better-when we left the park after closing, not only was there a bus for our hotel, but we got right on with no line. That is three for three with no wait time for buses.



Get Express Passes. They are the best!!

Frozen vs regular Butterbeer-both cost the same, but the frozen lasts way longer.

The World of Harry Potter makes the parks fantastic.

 

[wabbott]

We about halfway through a second binge watch of all the Harry Potter movies. After our one-day trip to USH and the shock of seeing so many folks in Potter costumes, we figured it best to see what all the commotion was about. We had never seen any of the movies or read any of the books. We knew it was a cult phenomenon, but had no idea of the scope.

 

[cruising spud]

Wednesday/Last Day

An overview of Disney vs Universal:
Universal makes trip planning a breeze. Express Pass is a once and done cost. No getting up early, deciding which rides to spend extra money on, hoping that at age 65 you can figure out Genie Plus and Lightening Lane.

The older we get, the less we want to be locked into dining reservations at amusement parks. While we didn’t hit any fancy sit down restaurants, we did want to go to The Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron, both in Harry Potter World. Wait time, including getting our meals, was about fifteen minutes at both restaurants. No reservations.

But, Disney wins for us. While we have been to Disney a dozen times, we saw Universal as a once and done. Disney has the music, the costumes, the rides that bring tears to your eyes and excitement to your heart.

We finished our last day with a stop at Harry Potter.


Then, did a few rides in Universal that we hadn’t gotten too.




Had lunch, sat by the pool a bit, and are leaving bright and early tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.