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SHHHH! My secrets for a successful Universal Orlando trip!
If you’ve come to my blog you are probably planning a trip to Univeral Orlando Theme Park or at least thinking about it. So I hope to save you some headaches with some tips. Headaches literally, It’s hot in Florida so stay Hydrated! Stay ahead of any dehydration with collapsable water bottles! Universal has Coca-cola freestyle machines that you can get water from. No special cups are needed for water! My family of 5 each got one and since they collapsed so small I kept them in a fanny pack and small bag. I will link these here. However there are so many different ones to pick from online.
- INDOOR ATTRACTIONS UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
- Revenge of The Mummy
- Transformers 3-D
- E.T. Adventure
- Men in BLack Alien attack
- Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
- Hogwarts Express King’s Cross Station (Park hopper ticket required)
- The Simpsons ride is indoors however part of the line you will get slightly wet if it rains.
- Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
- Fast & Furious Supercharged
- Race Through NY Starring Jimmy Fallon
- Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion blast
As someone who grew up in Florida and visited all the theme parks regularly. Our last trip to Universal I was kicking myself! We went without rain ponchos…crazy! I know! Florida in the summer has afternoon storms almost daily. We were drenched! Of course we went to the local Walmart that night to get some and the rest of the trip it was sunny. Thats the way it goes! Get some super cheap ones that you can fit as small as possible in a bag. You will save a lot of money if you buy them beforehand.
Here is a list of indoor rides. But head there at the first sign of rain because anything with any cover gets crowded FAST!
The photo below is the epitome of no poncho and no where to go. We huddled under the “Have you seen this wizard sign” HA!
- INDOOR ATTRACTIONS AT ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
- King Kong 3-D
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
- Jurassic Park Discovery Center
- Skull Island:Reign of Kong
- The Amazing Adventure of Spider-Man
- The Cat in the Hat
- Hogwarts Express Hogsmeade Station(Park hopper ticket required)
Staying at a Universal property hotel is SO worth it! Visit their website regularly for deals and promotions. They give a great military discount! Our last trip we stayed at Cabana Bay and it was wonderful! I could write a whole article about it! If I do I will link it here.
- Get in to a park earlyhttps://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/early-park-admission
- Transportation to and from the parks
- Premier hotel guests, skip the regular lines at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. (Valid theme park admission required; select attractions.)
- Shop and have it sent to your hotel room for FREE, then you dont have to worry about lugging around bags.
- Make charges directly to your room key!
Never EVER buy new shoes for your trip. Unless you know they are gonna be insanely comfortable walking shoes . Like my Brooks, they don’t really need broke in. I made the mistake of wearing new sandal crocs to avoid wet feet after the water rides. Even though I had worn them a few times before. I had never “theme park” wore them. I ended up at first aid getting a handful of bandaids and it still hurt to walk. If you’re taking a bag in with you pack bandaids! just in case….
So speaking of bags. You will see sign after sign to leave belongings in a locker which is available outside of the ride. Medical bags are allowed! I REPEAT ALLOWED! You will most certainly get stopped headed in to each ride, but if you require a bag for medical purposes like my husband does. You simply tell the team member and they will take it from you as you enter the ride and then have it for you as you exit the ride.
Which leads me to my next tip, This rule changed literally the week after we left ( July 2023) and I am so glad! The Attractions assistance pass. You used to go to customer service in the park. Now you apply for it ahead of time, at least 48 hours before your trip. But they recommend 30 days out. Here is a link to the page for details from Universal. It gives you a return time and then you go through the fastpass lane. It will save you so much time. We would go ride things with shorter lines while waiting for our return time.
SAVE MONEY ON PARKING! So movie escape rooms are fairly new to Universal City walk. There is a Jurassic World and Back to the future themed escape experience. So if you plan to do one purchase your ticket in advance! Why? FREE PARKING! Thats right if you plan to go in the parks and do an escape room your advance ticket comes with self parking on the day of your ticket only! Escape rooms are ages 3 and up. If under 18 you must be accompanied by an adult. Food and drinks ARE allowed inside!
Give yourself rest days! Plan a trip with at least one lounge by the pool day! I am pretty energetic but even I am thankful for a pool day. No pressure just relaxation. So let’s move on to Volaco Bay. And no I don’t consider that the rest day. Unless you are lucky enough to not chase kids around all day. Then lounging in front of the wave pool would be a pretty awesome day. If you like to take pictures or just need to carry something. I ordered these waterproof bags. And they worked!!!I for one don’t like to leave my stuff unattended on a chair or run back and forth to a locker. And I want to take videos and photos. I bought a “waterproof” phone bag at Walmart one year and instantly my phone got drenched. The thing with these is a 3 layered ziploc and fold system. Look at the reviews!
If you order any alcoholic beverages in any of the parks. Make sure to ask the bartender about discount souvenir cups. Specific cups you can take back to the bar and get a discount on your next drink.
Speaking of cups. This is one of my least favorite things that Universal does. So you need to be aware of this before you go. You can purchase cups that have unlimited refills at Coke Freestyle machines. The cups you purchase at Universal Orlando Resorts WILL NOT WORK in the park. And vice versa. So that means you have to buy a cup for the hotel and then another for the theme park.
The refillable popcorn buckets in the park I like. My kids can go through some popcorn! And the refills are $2.19 plus tax and can be used day after day.
The cup on left is from the park.The 2 on the right are from hotel. There are also character souvenier cups in the park.
The Coke Freestyle program has different pricing points. The cost for one cup is $17.99, plus tax. If you buy two, it will cost you $15.99 each, plus tax. Finally, if you want to purchase three to six, it will cost you $13.99 each, plus tax. All of the cups must be purchased at the same time to receive the discount. Extra days are $10.99, plus tax for each cup.
If you’re not familiar with the Freestyle machines they are touchscreen drink fountain machines visit their website to see what it’s all about! https://www.coca-colafreestyle.com/
And last but not least. The fanny pack! Oh how my teenager loves for me to wear a fanny pack….But I never hear any complaints when she asks me to put something in it! So the reason I love them is MOST of the rides will allow fanny packs. So you don’t have to mess with getting a locker for each ride. Certain rides don’t. This statement is from the Universal Studios website.
“Guests wishing to experience Jurassic World VelociCoaster, The Incredible Hulk Coaster® and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit will be required to pass through a metal detector as loose articles are strictly prohibited on these attractions.”
These are the rides that don’t allow ANY bags or loose articles of any kind.
Do you have any tips you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments below!