USH - getting to outlets and other attractions + other questions

losfp

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 25, 2014
Hey guys,

We've got a big family trip to the USA coming up in August/Sept and we'll be spending 5 nights in LA and 6 nights in Anaheim. I'm pretty well sorted with Disneyland, having been there a couple times before, but I had some questions about Universal that I hope some of you can help me with.

We're staying 2 nights at the Magic Castle Hotel and then transfering to Hilton Universal for 3 nights.

1. How exactly do we get early entry? I believe it's by buying tickets directly from Universal?

2. Does staying at the Hilton give us any additional benefits other than the proximity to the park?

3. I'm used to getting to the Disneyland gates 45-60 min before opening time to maximise our time in the parks. Is this similar at Universal?

4. We'll have essentially 3 days there, and I'm planning to get a 2-day pass so that we can spend extra time in WW (loved the WW in USO). On the third day (not sure yet if that third day will be the first, second or third actual day we'll be there!) I'm hoping to get to Exposition Park and Citadel Outlets.
- 4a: What's the best way to get to those places from the Hilton if we don't have a car, and
- 4b: Is it realistic to hit up both of them within a day, or will the cost and time involved in the travel mean I should probably just pick one?

5. Outside of USH, are there any recommendations for restaurants etc either in the Hilton or Citywalk? We enjoyed the three broomsticks at USO and will try the one at USH as well.
 
Hey guys,

We've got a big family trip to the USA coming up in August/Sept and we'll be spending 5 nights in LA and 6 nights in Anaheim. I'm pretty well sorted with Disneyland, having been there a couple times before, but I had some questions about Universal that I hope some of you can help me with.

We're staying 2 nights at the Magic Castle Hotel and then transfering to Hilton Universal for 3 nights.

1. How exactly do we get early entry? I believe it's by buying tickets directly from Universal?

2. Does staying at the Hilton give us any additional benefits other than the proximity to the park?

3. I'm used to getting to the Disneyland gates 45-60 min before opening time to maximise our time in the parks. Is this similar at Universal?

4. We'll have essentially 3 days there, and I'm planning to get a 2-day pass so that we can spend extra time in WW (loved the WW in USO). On the third day (not sure yet if that third day will be the first, second or third actual day we'll be there!) I'm hoping to get to Exposition Park and Citadel Outlets.
- 4a: What's the best way to get to those places from the Hilton if we don't have a car, and
- 4b: Is it realistic to hit up both of them within a day, or will the cost and time involved in the travel mean I should probably just pick one?

5. Outside of USH, are there any recommendations for restaurants etc either in the Hilton or Citywalk? We enjoyed the three broomsticks at USO and will try the one at USH as well.
1. I believe you have to buy a ticket in advance and possibly register it.
2. No.
3. No.
4a. The best way is to rent a car for The Citadel. There is a link to a shuttle that runs from somewhere downtown on the Citadel website. Google Maps also has a public transportation search option. Depending on where you want to go in Exposition Park you can take the red line from Universal and probably transfer to the expo line. Use Google Maps public transportation search for specific locations. Make sure you enter the day of the week and time you will travel because many DASH routes downtown don't run on weekends.
4b. You haven't said where you're going in Exposition Park and what you're going to do there. Just getting from Universal to The Citadel will take you over 90 minutes each way with multiple transfers.
 
Parking and traffic at the Citadel outlet can be horrific so I would actually recommend the free shuttle to the Citadel. It picks up at Union Station, which you can easily reach via the Metro Red Line subway.
 


For #3, I would suggest getting there 30 minutes before early entry opening. Usually, but not always, they open the gates about 15 minutes early for the early entry. You then get to wait inside the park until they allow you to enter hogsmeade.

For #1, you just to buy the tickets on their website. Third party sites that offer lower cost tickets may still allow you early entry, but no guarantee.

For #5, city walk has tons of restaurants and snacks, it depends on your food prefs. There is also the saddle ranch restaurant right outside the park.

For#2, you get early entry for being in certain hotels, but since you get that same perk just by preordering the tickets from their website, it's not much of a perk.
http://vacations.universalstudiosho...ersal-studios-hollywood-hotel-ticket-packages
 
Last edited:
Thanks Steven! I think the main draw for staying at the Hilton is proximity. With two small kids, the ability to escape quickly back to the hotel will be invaluable.
 
30 minutes is plenty early for USH.

For restaurants, Citywalk has a ton so with small kids it's probably easiest just to stay there. My favorite is Karl Strauss, my husband like Samba and my kids like Bubba Gump's (I'm not a fan).
For the Outlets and/or Exposition Park, either one can be a full day depending on how long you want to spend. If you hit all/some of the museums at Exposition park, which are great for kids (my boys love the Natural History and Science museums) that will definitely be a good day's worth. Trying to manage public transportation is a pain with little kids but doable, but renting a car, finding/paying for parking has its own issues. From Universal it's pretty easy, red line to expo line will get you there, exit at Exposition and it's about a 10 minutes walk. The neighborhood is not the greatest but if you stay in the park you'll be fine.
 


Thanks Oakleycat! We are mostly interested in the science museum at Expo Park. Will see how we go on the day. If we're tired at that stage (this will be after 3 weeks of Canada/Alaska) then we might just go to the outlets and have a half-rest day instead of trying to do both.
 

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