Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[cfc]

^Long wait, poor service, bad food--It's like you walked into an episode of The Simpsons!  It's theming! They wanted you to have the entire "Krusty Burger" experience.

[Zand]

4 hours ago, cfc said:

^Long wait, poor service, bad food--It's like you walked into an episode of The Simpsons!  It's theming! They wanted you to have the entire "Krusty Burger" experience.

Haha...I couldn't help but think they were doing a damn good job making it exactly like it would be in the show lol.

[coneyislandchris]

Just ended up booking a flight down to Orlando for my son & I during June 16th-20th, and we're planning on spending 3 full days at Universal Orlando for my first visit to these parks since... well.. since Back to the Future and Kongfrontation were a thing. Hell, I don't even remember if Islands of Adventure was even open the last time! Really looking forward to getting back there, and with any luck, making Velocicoaster the 400th in my count!

I haven't booked hotels yet, but pricing out packages on their site, it looks like even with the included Universal Express Unlimited, attempting to stay at a premium resort like Hard Rock is going to be more expensive for two of us compared to staying at a place like Cabana Bay and buying the express passes separately. I'm not planning on getting a rental car or anything, just going to be taking a shuttle direct to Universal and back to the airport, so it makes sense to stay on site, right? Other than the current "buy 3 days get 2 free" deal that they have on their site (which I doubt we're even going to be able to take advantage of due to us getting in late on Thursday and leaving early Monday), is there anything else that might help us save a few bucks? I'm assuming the Express passes will be pretty necessary during the weekend? I'm thinking of splitting our days at the theme parks between Friday and Sunday, and then spending Saturday at Volcano Bay and Citywalk (and/or maybe swinging by SeaWorld later in the day if we feel waterparked out).

Also, if I'm reading it correctly, it looks like both Hagrid's and Velocicoaster are back on early entry again? Can anyone confirm that's still the case?

Thanks in advance for the help

[tndank]

Passholder rate for Royal Pacific on June 17 is $547.96.  Universal Express for June 17 and 18 for 2 people would be ($269.99 * 2) + ($299.99 * 2) for ~ $1140.

If express interests you, might want to double these prices.  Also saves you money if wanting express and don't even stay in the room.

 

 

[coneyislandchris]

14 minutes ago, tndank said:

Passholder rate for Royal Pacific on June 17 is $547.96.  Universal Express for June 17 and 18 for 2 people would be ($269.99 * 2) + ($299.99 * 2) for ~ $1140.

If express interests you, might want to double these prices.  Also saves you money if wanting express and don't even stay in the room.

Should clarify, I am not currently a Universal pass holder. Given our distance I don't think we would be back within the next year, so more than likely, we would only be there for these four nights and three full days.

[tndank]

Buy one.  The $80 difference over your 5 day ticket will be covered by your ~ $600 savings on express passes.  Trying to help you save some money.

Also, Endless Summer hotels are good and I'd imagine are good for kids, too.  Cafeteria with pick up and go and seating in the lobby.  Easy to get something early or late after the park.  Busses take 5-10 minutes.  Passholder rate might save you money there, too.  Or any of their other resorts.  Check passholder rates here: https://reservations.universalorlando.com/ibe/default.aspx?hgID=641&nights=1&adults=2&promo=APH

Also, pass is not needed to book these. They may ask to see it at the hotel. 

 

 

 

[jarmor]

If you're going to be there for 3 days then I don't know if express is something i'd go for unless i have money to splurge.  between the two parks, you'd be able to get everything done with time to spare.

[coneyislandchris]

4 hours ago, tndank said:

Buy one.  The $80 difference over your 5 day ticket will be covered by your ~ $600 savings on express passes.  Trying to help you save some money.

Also, Endless Summer hotels are good and I'd imagine are good for kids, too.  Cafeteria with pick up and go and seating in the lobby.  Easy to get something early or late after the park.  Busses take 5-10 minutes.  Passholder rate might save you money there, too.  Or any of their other resorts.  Check passholder rates here: https://reservations.universalorlando.com/ibe/default.aspx?hgID=641&nights=1&adults=2&promo=APH

Also, pass is not needed to book these. They may ask to see it at the hotel. 

I do appreciate the help, thank you! I've spent some time looking a little bit harder into crunching the numbers, and even still with the passholder discount, this is what I'm seeing;

Putting the difference in cost aside, the biggest drawback is that on the cheapest annual pass, the "3 Park Seasonal" pass, it has blockout dates for Volcano Bay that directly conflict with our travel dates. The bundle tickets have no such blockouts. Since both my son and I are big fans of waterparks as well as theme parks, we definitely want to dedicate one day to checking Volcano Bay out, so not being able to get in there after dropping $500 per person for the annual pass is a big deal-breaker in my book.

2 hours ago, jarmor said:

If you're going to be there for 3 days then I don't know if express is something i'd go for unless i have money to splurge.  between the two parks, you'd be able to get everything done with time to spare.

Well, we're going to be at the theme parks for two of those three days, for sure. Obviously not splurging on Express would save a bunch of money, over $1000, but I'm not sure that during a mid-June weekend that close to the end of school that it won't be swamped and miserable in the regular lines. Considering Express Unlimited doesn't even include skip-the-line access on Hagrid or Velocicoaster, maybe it'd be better to just get the basic Express? Or just hope that we can knock them both out during early entry?

[tndank]

All prices below include taxes.

Cabana Bay June 16 - 19 (passholder rate): $748.13 

Portofino Bay June 17: $603.44  

1 Seasonal Annual Pass: $425.99

1 Kids 3 park-to-park ticket 3 days + 2: $343.31 (Orlando Informer)

1 Adult Volcano Bay ticket for the weekend: $90.53

Total $2247.40 and you have Express Unlimited on June 17 and Jun 18.

 

[coneyislandchris]

^^ That's the sort of crazy-ass, next level lifehacking I needed. Thank you so much!

[teacherkim]

On 5/4/2022 at 8:31 AM, coneyislandchris said:

^^ That's the sort of crazy-ass, next level lifehacking I needed. Thank you so much!

If you want to keep it simple you can stay at the Royal Pacific and get the 3 day tickets for about $2800 which will include the express passes and it's an easy 7 min walk on a beautiful path to city walk. No passes necessary. RP is the cheapest of the "deluxe" hotels, you don't have to do Portofino Bay which is the most expensive.

[coneyislandchris]

12 hours ago, teacherkim said:

If you want to keep it simple you can stay at the Royal Pacific and get the 3 day tickets for about $2800 which will include the express passes and it's an easy 7 min walk on a beautiful path to city walk. No passes necessary. RP is the cheapest of the "deluxe" hotels, you don't have to do Portofino Bay which is the most expensive.

I ended up taking tndank's advice, and although I wasn't able to get the passholder rate at Cabana Bay, it did end up saving me about $500 off my previous lowest attempt. I took a look at all the different deluxe hotels and sure enough, Portofino Bay was the cheapest with that passholder rate discount. The others didn't have it available for the dates I was looking at.

In any case, the trip has been booked! Thanks again everyone for your help, and looking forward to finally getting back to Universal next month and getting our first rides on their elite coasters. Robb's recent video has definitely amped up my excitement.

[tndank]

Keep checking for passholder rates. They can come and go all the time. Hotels reservations can be cancelled up to a day or two before the trip. 

[teacherkim]

We were back at the park earlier this week for a couple days. VC crew really keeps things moving, never had a wait of more than about 35 min and that was usually doing front row. We were at RP so had express for most things but I will reiterate two things for everyone. Use single rider for Hagrids, all you really give up is a chance to ride on the motorbike side, not that big a deal and even if you aren't usually a "show" person make sure to go see the Bourne Stuntacular, it is amazing.

[jedimaster1227]

Universal Studios has announced the first house coming to Halloween Horror Nights 2022!

https://www.universalorlando.com/hhn/en/us?__source=ag.TWITTER&linkId=165522378  

Universal Monsters: Legends Collide

If you thought one Universal Monster was scary, how about three? Better summon your scream squad, ‘cause you’re about to get caught in the middle of an epic battle between The Wolf Man, Dracula and The Mummy, together for the first time ever. Their mission: To find the amulet that will break their curse. And they’ll destroy anyone who gets in their way.

[jarmor]

I cannot WAIT to experience this house then go get a meal from Monsters Cafe. . .

[SharkTums]

It should have been "an epic battle between The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, and Brendan Fraser". 

[jedimaster1227]

57 minutes ago, SharkTums said:

It should have been "an epic battle between The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, and Brendan Fraser". 

This is both a movie I would happily pay to see and a ride I would purchase admission to experience.

[PKI Jizzman]

9 hours ago, SharkTums said:

It should have been "an epic battle between The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, and Brendan Fraser". 

He's in town at Megacon, go pitch it to him!! And rope in Jeff Goldblum too, why not

[cfc]

Throw in Abbott and Costello, and you got a deal! 

 

[Chiselphane]

17 hours ago, SharkTums said:

It should have been "an epic battle between The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, and Brendan Fraser". 

Brendan just wandering around the park trying to get a coffee and all the monsters keep interfering

[SharkTums]

^See, these are why we should be making the creative decisions!!!

[jedimaster1227]

Universal has announced that Halloween will be the latest house to scare guests at this year's Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood!

https://www.universalorlando.com/hhn/en/us

Halloween

Gather your friends and visit Haddonfield, Illinois, where Michael Myers is about to don his mask and embark on his first brutal spree. Silent. Merciless. Relentless. He’s the embodiment of pure evil. You don’t want to go alone as you go back to where it all began. This year, step into the original 1978 horror classic, Halloween.

[Hilltopper39]

Kind of a "boring" house as far as something that we've seen before, many many times, but it's a popular franchise so I get it. Should still be a fun house, and sell a ton of merch I guess.

[PKI Jizzman]

2 hours ago, Hilltopper39 said:

Kind of a "boring" house as far as something that we've seen before, many many times, but it's a popular franchise so I get it. Should still be a fun house, and sell a ton of merch I guess.

Halloween Ends comes out this October, so it's a match made in hell