Please tell me what is best for us rookies.

[Hawk]

We are regulars at WDW and have never been to Universal Orlando. We are thinking about visiting the parks on a monday and/or tuesday of our two week trip to WDW 02/18-03/03. It is Dad, Mom, Son 19, Friend 20, Son 15, Daughter 7, Son 2.

Questions:

1. Should we stay onsite to get the "front of the line" perk or just go with the flow?

2. Can we see the major attractions of both parks in one day or must we go two days?

3. What type of tickets should we get?

4. Are there room discounts available? We have AAA.

5. Is there an onsight hotel with a kid's suit so we can all stay in one room or should we get two rooms?

This is just a first time trip to see what it is like so I don't expect to be able to do everything.

Thanks for your help?

Hawk.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

1. Yes. Definately stay on site (5. Kid's Suites available at HRH and PBH, not sure about RPR) I am partial to HRH.

2. With FOTL you can likely see all of the major attractions in a day--but that is a pretty quick pace. You will have 2 full days of FOTL with one night stay at an on-site, so why not take advantage of it? Besides, once you leave the mouse behind and are experiencing FOTL you may find you aren't in a hurry to get back. The older kids especially will likely find the pace and attractions at US/IOA a welcome change.

3. Not sure. We have AP's so I don't really keep up on this. I did buy a ticket for a friend of mine at AAA for $90. It was a 3 day, 2 park ticket.

4. Call the hotels and ask for AAA or Entertainment rate. If E-rate is best, you will have to get an entertainment book before your trip.

Hawk--I think you will find that you will want to do everything, even if this is an initial get a feel for it trip. Since you can walk the entire length of UO in less than half hour, you may be pleasantly surprised at all you are able to do. Have fun.

 

[Puffy2]

7 is a lot to fit in one room - I don't think the kid suites will accomodate that many . (could be wrong, but I think you are looking at two rooms). They have AAA rates out you can check on www.loewshotels.com (enter AAA in the promotional box).
they have some FAN club card rates and if you call Loews direct (or Universal) you can ask if they have entertainment card rates for your dates. Discounts have NOT been all that great this year.

You need two day passes.
(if you are going two days)

I like the Hard Rock and this would best suit everyone I think but the Royal Pacific will probably be somewhat cheaper and it is a very nice hotel as well.

 

[essmom]

You could also try hotelkingdom.com but they have a 2 night minimum stay .

 

[Tigger&Belle]

The kids suites won't fit all of you, won't even fit my family of 6. I would go for two rooms and try to get a discounted rate. Try entertainment book, AAA, and Fan Club. You can get an entertainment for your area if you are able to secure a rate and you can also get a fan club card on this website (or at least that's where I got mine). Another option is to stay offsite in a room big enough for all of you.

Where are you staying at WDW?

T&B

 

[Hawk]

Wow Folks, thanks for the quick replies. We are booked with two rooms at POR for the entire trip, so the rooms will be empty while we are at US/IOA. I thought of not staying overnight at US/IOA, but think we need the FOTL advantage since we are there only a short time.

What about this, can we get away with one room for 5 so that they can have the FOTL and I and son 2 can travel back to POR for the night and meet up with the rest the next day?

Thanks again, you folks are great.

Hawk.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

How about going to Universal either at the beginning or end of your time at WDW? Then you're not paying double for a room. You can always shorten your WDW reservation.

The first time we went to Universal we were at WDW (AKL) for a few days, went to Hard Rock Hotel for a few and then back to WDW (Swan) for the last few days. It was nice trying out the different resorts.

If you don't want any of my wonderful suggestions then I would just stay at WDW and drive back and forth. FOTL is wonderful, but you shouldn't be there at a busy time so it isn't as important to have it.

I would plan on at least 2 days at Universal. Three is even better. You kids, especially the older ones, will love Universal, possibly more than WDW.

Wow, I just reread your first post--you'll be in Orlando for 2 weeks. I would plan on splitting the stay and staying 2-3 nights at a Universal hotel. I would do it at the end of the vacation because it is hard going to WDW after staying at Universal and having FOTL.

Have fun!

T&B

 

[Hawk]

Originally posted by Tigger&Belle
If you don't want any of my wonderful suggestions then I would just stay at WDW and drive back and forth. FOTL is wonderful, but you shouldn't be there at a busy time so it isn't as important to have it.

I would plan on at least 2 days at Universal. Three is even better. You kids, especially the older ones, will love Universal, possibly more than WDW.

Wow, I just reread your first post--you'll be in Orlando for 2 weeks. I would plan on splitting the stay and staying 2-3 nights at a Universal hotel. I would do it at the end of the vacation because it is hard going to WDW after staying at Universal and having FOTL.

Have fun!

T&B

Good thoughts Tigger&Belle, thanks. I was thinking of maybe buying the 5 consecutive day pass for each of us and drive back and forth from POR at certain times of the day i.e., evening/morning. That way we can go at our leisure.

I can't break up the WDW reservation as son 19 and friend 20 are coming later and leaving earlier. I also think (but don't know) that son 2 and daughter 8 may enjoy WDW more than US/IOA. What do you think?

Thanks alot!

Hawk.

 

[zaxmom]

I think your idea of getting one room and traveling back to Disney with your youngest might be a good idea. Get as many room keys as you can for the room you rent at Universal, that is how they do the front of the line pass. Since your youngest won't be able to ride a lot of them you will have to take turns anyways.

How responsible is your oldest? Can Mom and Dad sneak away to POR for a night alone? That would make it worth it to pay for an extra room!

Even if you get a room for one night and use the front of the line 2 days with it, you can travel back there for the other 3 days and hit the less crowded rides.

Your youngest two might like Disney better. But, they will love Universal. Take the time to do all the water attractions with your little one. They can run around for hours in their playgrounds while the others are riding Men In Black or Hulk.

Does anyone know if they still sell the FOTL coupon books and how they work?

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Hawk, that's a good idea to get the 5 day pass and try Universal at different times since you can't give up the WDW reservations. I'm assuming that you don't want to stay a couple of nights at Universal in the middle of your WDW stay. Of course you would have to pack up and move and since you're not going at a busy time I'm sure you could do fine just traveling back and forth.

I'm hoping to go alone to Orlando with my 4yo (even though the way he is whining right now I'm wondering why I want to do this
), but I will probably drive to Universal a couple of days with him and sleep at WDW.

I think that your younger kids will enjoy Universal. You're 2yo will enjoy or not enjoy whatever he or she is doing at the time if he/she is like most 2yo. We went when my youngest was 18 months old and again when he was 3yo. Of course he couldn't do any big rides when he was 18 month old, but he really enjoyed what he could do. By the time he was 3yo he could do a lot more, but had developed more fears and maybe didn't enjoy some things that he would have enjoyed when he was younger (if he had of been tall enough when he was young). I'm hoping that now that my little guy is 4 that he will understand a bit more about pretend and not get so scared.

My third child was 7 when we first went and he liked Universal a lot. He couldn't do the major rides, but would never go on Dueling Dragons or Hulk, anyway, so that wasn't a problem.

Make sure that you study the Men in Black (MIB) riding tips so you can whup your older kids butts when you are there. lol Not that I can beat my teenage daughter, but it sure is fun trying.

T&B

 

[gschmerl]

Originally posted by zaxmom
Does anyone know if they still sell the FOTL coupon books and how they work?

Apparantly it's no longer a booklet, but a card or ticket type thing. You get one FOTL ride on each attraction that has FOTL. They sell them for each park.

 

[YCFAN]

We went to US with two 15 year olds and a 2 year old. We never saw the older two and were constantly busy with the 2 year old. There's Barney, Curious George, Cat in the Hat, Popeye, Shrek, Scooby Doo and even if they're not old enough for the ride (Spiderman) the character is still around. I was afraid there would not be enough for the 2 year old to do; little did I know that there would not be enough time to do everything he wanted to do, especially when you had to see Barney more than once!! FOTL is definitely the way to go. At least twice as much in the same amount of time, maybe more.

 

[Hawk]

Thanks alot for the info.

Hawk.