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Universal Orlando Resort (USF, IOA, Epic) Discussion Thread

P. 625: Harry Potter Ministry of Magic revealed!

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We were there a few weeks ago and were never asked for ID. Purchased it all through a package, stayed at the RP, and had tickets and express passes that fit into a cover on a lanyard; but had to redeem our tickets at the hotel or front gate. Both just had a bar code.

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Your mobile park ticket will also say that you have to show ID to get into the park and that's also not true.

 

You should always have your ID for HHN just in-case you ever need to prove that you're over 21 though because... reasons.

 

Haha well yeah, that's a given. In fact the reason I was curious was in case I wanted to let someone else in my group use my express pass for rides I don't care about while I have use my ID elsewhere for ........ those reasons.

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Your mobile park ticket will also say that you have to show ID to get into the park and that's also not true.

 

You should always have your ID for HHN just in-case you ever need to prove that you're over 21 though because... reasons.

 

Haha well yeah, that's a given. In fact the reason I was curious was in case I wanted to let someone else in my group use my express pass for rides I don't care about while I have use my ID elsewhere for ........ those reasons.

 

So . . . you're trying to get over on the park.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just got back from having done two spins on Hagrid's (one in each seat) and it's pretty spectacular. Not much in the way of airtime but the turns are whippy and aggressive, the theming is really freaking great, and the ride as a whole is just so much exciting fun. Easy top 50.

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^ Is Hagrid's running more consistently at this point and not closing ridiculously early?

Not sure, it was a special evening event. For what it's worth it didn't have any downtime for the three hours of the event.

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Of course Dragons was still a good ride even after it stopped dueling, but at this point it’s long gone. Obviously Hagrid’s is not a mind-blowingly intense coaster, but I enjoy Harry Potter and they pack a lot in to the ride experience, so I cant wait to check it out. However, I am more looking forward to the new Jurassic coaster. IOA will have two new Intamin coasters right next door to each other, offering very different ride experiences. The Jurassic coaster likely could exceed the intensity of Dragons, so I’m really not complaining much about the departure of Dragons at this point.

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We're seriously considering Orlando for our 2020 vacation (finally!). I'm not sure where to ask, so figured this was a good spot. What things on I-Drive are worth doing? We're definitely hitting Universal, Sea World, and Fun Spot. Looking to add a couple of days of non-theme park stuff. We live near Branson, so anything that's here isn't worth it to us (like Titanic and WonderWorks).

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We're seriously considering Orlando for our 2020 vacation (finally!). I'm not sure where to ask, so figured this was a good spot. What things on I-Drive are worth doing? We're definitely hitting Universal, Sea World, and Fun Spot. Looking to add a couple of days of non-theme park stuff. We live near Branson, so anything that's here isn't worth it to us (like Titanic and WonderWorks).

 

I like some of the mini golf places, there's a pirate themed and a Congo themed one that are both pretty fun.

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We're seriously considering Orlando for our 2020 vacation (finally!). I'm not sure where to ask, so figured this was a good spot. What things on I-Drive are worth doing? We're definitely hitting Universal, Sea World, and Fun Spot. Looking to add a couple of days of non-theme park stuff. We live near Branson, so anything that's here isn't worth it to us (like Titanic and WonderWorks).

 

Yeah, I kind of agree with Bill here. Compared to Branson and Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg I don't think we have as much cool 'non park stuff', especially right on I-Drive. Like the Ferris Wheel area is nice for a few hours to do some attractions and food but not like full day stuff. If you're willing to go a bit farther we have things like Gatorland which is actually more awesome than it sounds or those Eco Parks with zip lines and stuff.

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Thanks everybody. We're going to need a break from theme parks but with Branson in our backyard, it's hard to get excited about any of that I-Drive stuff. If it's mostly skippable, so much the better. Gatorland was one that we were considering, so sounds like that'll be the thing to do on our rest day then. St. Pete Beach is on the list too.

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My family is going to the Orange Bowl this year (Go Hoos!), and I was wondering what Universal looked like for New Year's Eve and Day. Can anybody give me any tips or ideas of crowds or which park to do if I could only do one? Thanks so much!

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Was our first time going down for Universal's holiday stuff and had a great time. This type of weather is perfect to me, sun was out but I wasn't sweating to death lol

 

Really enjoyed the Macy's day parade which is something I'd never bother doing on Thanksgiving even though I could. We lined up maybe 40 minutes before and got a great spot.

 

At Islands I got to ride Kong for the first time and I enjoyed it more than I expected to but I just wish the ride was more like the start and end of the ride. The opening of the giant doors is such a great start and then it's just screens and meh. Loved the ending though and it's 1000x better than the fast and the furious ride.

 

I forgot how much Dudley do right gets you soaked lol still a fun ride though but not something I would do every time.

 

We didn't do a ton of rides since we were checking out all the Xmas stuff in both parks but Hagrids was running all day for the most part at a 90 min wait. We just didn't bother since we are making a few trips to Florida this year. The Grinch show was great, especially the guy who plays the Grinch. Did the meet and greet later in the day and he was a lot of fun, told us to have a horrible day on the way out lol

 

They also had a Xmas tree hunt that was free that we did, you picked up a free map/list and just get stamps at each store that has a themed tree. They were themed to the area, marvel tree, Betty boop, minions, men in black, etc, all of them were very nice. After you got all of them they gave you a free plastic minion tree ornament. I saw some people online complaining about it but it took us maybe 5 mins to do the entire thing because we were walking by the stores anyway.

 

Was also our first time seeing the Potter projection screen on the castle and thought it was very well done.

 

My only slight issues are that the stands for butterbeer that aren't inside and stuff like the taco truck in simpsons land don't honor the season pass discount. I knew that when I got the season pass but if SeaWorld can do it at their food booths there's no reason Universal can't set it up to work as well.

 

Also just thought an 8pm closing for both parks on a Saturday night is odd. The parks definitely seem crowded enough to warrant keeping them open until 10pm but I'm sure they know better than me. Would be nice if they at least staggered the closing times, islands at 8pm and studios at 9pm or whatever just so both parks aren't sending everyone out to citywalk and the parking deck at the same time.

 

Also have to add that I haven't been to universal in a few years but all the staff we encountered were way nicer than we ever remembered. They all seemed to be very happy to be there. Felt very Disney like in that manner which was nice to see.

 

Ended up eating at big fire for dinner, burgers were pretty good and since there was a 25% discount promo going on for certain restaurants for pass holders it was really reasonable price wise.

 

Not sure when we are gonna get back down there but we have been debating doing the 5k and 10k runs through the parks since this is the first year universal is officially running them.

 

Here's a few photos of the parade...

 

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^Nice report, glad to hear the employees are improving. I still haven't been on Hagrid's because I really want it to be more consistent before I go put the effort into it. I really want to try that new Big Fire restaurant too, I've heard a lot of good things.

 

The closing times are ridiculous. Robb and I were commenting on that a few weeks back. They obviously could stay open later or stagger the parks, but I really think they WANT to put people into Citywalk before it gets too late so they'll spend more money. That's the only reason that makes sense for the shorter hours at the parks.

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^Nice report, glad to hear the employees are improving. I still haven't been on Hagrid's because I really want it to be more consistent before I go put the effort into it. I really want to try that new Big Fire restaurant too, I've heard a lot of good things.

 

The closing times are ridiculous. Robb and I were commenting on that a few weeks back. They obviously could stay open later or stagger the parks, but I really think they WANT to put people into Citywalk before it gets too late so they'll spend more money. That's the only reason that makes sense for the shorter hours at the parks.

 

Yeah I agree that's gotta be their thinking. I do think staggering closing times might get more people eating at Citywalk, I think they do stagger sometimes but I don't pay enough attention to their schedule attention to know. On the Saturday we were there both parks closed at 8 and we waited 50 minutes to get a table at big fire. I'm sure a lot of people skipped eating simply because they didn't want to wait after already spending a day at the parks. When we got out around 10pm it was really empty, voodoo donuts had a long line still though lol

 

I know they are trying to get more of a Disney type bubble going but you would think they would extend the hours to warrant people choosing to stay there the entire time and for the prices they charge for admission. I think people would still fill up the restaurants with 10pm closings or a staggered close of 9/10. I just don't think expecting a 10pm close time, especially for a Saturday night is unreasonable. It's a huge part of the reason we just opted for a season pass this year. The value vs single day park to park tickets is crazy. We have family in Florida so doing a quick weekend trip down there is easier for us now.

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On the subject of Hagrid's, it looks like it opened and closed with the park the last 3 days. We were tempted to get in line right at close yesterday but we hadn't been on Forbidden Journey in years so we ended up riding an enchanted bench instead.

 

We rode Hagrid's for the first yesterday time though and it's an awesome ride. It's like a giant Verbolten on steroids.

Edited by coasterbill
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