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Universal Studios (Harry Potter World)
Posted on 4/25/17 at 10:54 am
Posted on 4/25/17 at 10:54 am
Looking at taking a mini trip around Christmas. Anyone been there can offer some advice? Looking now at staying off the resort in a regular hotel and Ubering around each day. Is it worth it to stay on the resort? Seems really expensive. Is it worth booking a package? Any advice anyone can give will be much appreciated! 
5
Posted on 4/25/17 at 11:23 am to OnTheBrink
quote:
Looking at taking a mini trip around Christmas. Anyone been there can offer some advice? Looking now at staying off the resort in a regular hotel and Ubering around each day. Is it worth it to stay on the resort? Seems really expensive. Is it worth booking a package? Any advice anyone can give will be much appreciated!
Short travel time to the parks and an early access hour. I find their hotels are way too high priced for my blood though. Even with employee discount, some are ridiculous. I can just as good quality at some of the Marriott's in the area for way less price, but we pretty much never stay in hotels when we go to Universal.
Uber works great, some hotels also have buses that will take you for free. Usually need to reserve your ride with them though.
My wife's family lives real close to Universal, so we will just uber a lot of the time because parking tends to be more expensive than ubering back and forth to their house. Typically around $10-15 for round trip for us. I-drive hotels should be around the same as long as it isn't too busy. Christmas time can get really busy though.
Her Grandma works there, so we don't pay for tickets too. So we go a ton, what questions are you looking for?
This post was edited on 4/25/17 at 11:25 am
Posted on 4/25/17 at 11:26 am to Dam Guide
Thanks! I am sure I will have more later.
This post was edited on 4/25/17 at 11:53 am
Posted on 4/25/17 at 1:33 pm to OnTheBrink
quote:
Looking now at staying off the resort in a regular hotel and Ubering around each day.
I stayed at the Hampton Inn on International Drive last year and used Lyft each day to Universal. It ended up costing me like $7 there and $7 back including the tip which wasn't terrible at all. Only about a 2-3 mile ride. Well worth it if you can find a good rate of a hotel close to Universal or even the Sea World area. Have fun! It's a cool experience and I never really got into the Harry Potter stuff growing up.
Posted on 4/25/17 at 1:54 pm to Freezus22
Cheaper to stay off for Universal.
If you don't want to worry about lines, definitely by the pass that lets you skip ahead. It's worth it.
We went before our kid got too old for harry potter.
If you don't want to worry about lines, definitely by the pass that lets you skip ahead. It's worth it.
We went before our kid got too old for harry potter.
Posted on 4/25/17 at 2:05 pm to OnTheBrink
If you stay on property, the family gets the express pass for free. It's usually cheaper that way than to pay for it separately. Only bummer is there's no express lines for the Harry Potter rides (at least there wasn't a year ago).
This post was edited on 4/25/17 at 5:52 pm
Posted on 4/25/17 at 8:20 pm to runforrestrun
quote:
If you stay on property, the family gets the express pass for free. It's usually cheaper that way than to pay for it separately. Only bummer is there's no express lines for the Harry Potter rides (at least there wasn't a year ago).
I was definitely in some shorter line for Gringotts last May because we had a baby with us.
ETA: It should be nice for Christmas, Universal is adding Harry Potter holiday drinks, food, decor, etc. LINK
This post was edited on 4/25/17 at 8:25 pm
Posted on 4/25/17 at 11:02 pm to OnTheBrink
I had never read or watched Harry Potter before my wife took me to Harry Potter world. I immediately became a fan
Posted on 4/26/17 at 1:57 pm to Parrish
quote:
I was definitely in some shorter line for Gringotts last May because we had a baby with us.
There is express lines for them. You can actually take them without buying the pass. Just tell them you want to do the tour of Gringotts or Hogwarts castle without riding. Once you make it past the point where they check what you are doing, start pretending you were waiting in line. Depends on how good the people are checking, but it's usually when you get on the elevator part for Gringotts. Castle spot you just got to play by ear.
Express pass has never felt necessary to me. Lines are never really that terrible. The exception is Halloween haunted nights, the lines for those haunted houses can get absolutely miserable, but it's a great event to ride everything else. Diagon Alley is usually completely empty too.
This post was edited on 4/27/17 at 6:51 am
Posted on 4/26/17 at 5:08 pm to OnTheBrink
I've been to Universal about four times now. I will never go without the express pass, especially if it is during the summer or around the holidays. If you are going the first two weeks of December, you could try it without it [stay offsite] and then purchase it at the park that day if you don't like the lines.
The catch is that it is almost always cheaper to stay onsite and get the express benefit with your room than it is to stay offsite and either purchase it as an adder with your ticket or purchase it at the park once you get in and see that the lines are long.
Every trip, we have walked on the Hulk while there is a two hour wait and it is 5 minutes for us. Similar results on the other rides.
You cannot use express pass no matter how you obtain it [hotel or ticket adder] on the three harry potter rides. [forbidden journey, gringotts, hog warts express]. Staying in a hotel does, however, get you in the park an hour early which is when you run to these rides to avoid lines.
Sometimes you can stay in a "universal preferred" hotel and get early entry but not always so it is wise to check.
Make sure to find the Backwater Bar at Islands of Adventure. Used to have a great happy hour. Also, Mythos Restaurant is really good.
The catch is that it is almost always cheaper to stay onsite and get the express benefit with your room than it is to stay offsite and either purchase it as an adder with your ticket or purchase it at the park once you get in and see that the lines are long.
Every trip, we have walked on the Hulk while there is a two hour wait and it is 5 minutes for us. Similar results on the other rides.
You cannot use express pass no matter how you obtain it [hotel or ticket adder] on the three harry potter rides. [forbidden journey, gringotts, hog warts express]. Staying in a hotel does, however, get you in the park an hour early which is when you run to these rides to avoid lines.
Sometimes you can stay in a "universal preferred" hotel and get early entry but not always so it is wise to check.
Make sure to find the Backwater Bar at Islands of Adventure. Used to have a great happy hour. Also, Mythos Restaurant is really good.
Posted on 4/27/17 at 11:51 am to amgslg
I appreciate all the info! Thanks all!
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