re: Universal studios question

My wife captured the OT posters all in one.

I will add to this thread for anyone interested that the Hard Rock Universal Resort hotel is amazing. It’s only a 5 min walk to universal studios so we were able to break for lunch and eat in the room which was great. Early park access and express passes included makes it well worth the price. Plus they do bundle deals with park tickets. Worked out great. .

I definitely misspoke then. Last time I was there (2-3) years ago they only had two rides; The forbidden forrest and the flight of the Hippogriff. And I don't think either one (at the time) took the fast pass. Good to know!

The 3 days we spent at studios/islands of adventure they never used the virtual queue for any ride other than jimmy fallon. Hagrids nor velocicoaster use express pass and they’re the only rides that don’t. Wait times varied all day between the 2 rides (hagrid and velo)from 60 mins to 90. There was some buzz around the park that hagrids may be going to start accepting express passes soon now that the velocicoaster is open . Hagrids is by far my favorite ride ever. I did early park entry one day and managed to be the first group to jump on it and actually got to ride it a second time with only a fifteen min or so wait right after. It’s amazing. Velocicoaster is badass but I’m slightly a weenie with the mega high thrill stuff and it scared me out of my f’ng mind and I closed my eyes for a lot of it.


Also to note: if you’re planning to use early park entry (8am instead of 9) I would suggest getting to a security turnstile around 630-7am. We thought we were on the ball one morning and showed up at 7:40 and there was already a line outside the park stretched all the way across City Walk. By the time we made it in the park it was 8:30-840ish and wait times were already high.

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We have one night at portofino

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I assume portofino does the same as hard rock which gives you all the park perks on the day of your check in and check out. So one night should give you two full days of park perks (early access and express passes). The day of your check in you can’t always check into your room early but you can show up to guest services in the lobby the day of your check in as early as 7am to get your park tickets and express passes. They’ll go ahead and give you your room key card which serves as your express pass and early park admission. I thought that was really awesome. I would also suggest grabbing some lanyards with little clear holders on them to keep around your neck while doing the parks. Keeps them nice and dry and easy to access for the many times it’ll need to be scanned. For the big thrill rides like velocicoaster you’ll just tuck it in your shirt. Hope y’all have fun.

I gotcha. We did Hollywood studios the one day and while me n the wife enjoyed it the teen stepsons acted like they were too cool for it. Will prob wait til my 3 yr old is a little older before we do Disney again. Where are y’all staying for Disney ?