Did you know that I went to Universal Orlando 8 different times last year?
It is my happy place, my escape, my place to not be on.
Most of the trips we take are typically short trips, generally on weekends where we make the most of our time. Here is what we do:
Friday: Arrival
With our season passes, we can get discounts on the On-property hotels. And because the Premier hotels (Hardrock, Loews Royal Pacific, Loews Portofino) offer Unlimited express passes for the date of check-in through the date of checkout (and now we are a bit spoiled with express), we typically like to stay at one of these. And here is my travel hack: Since we usually arrive on Friday too late to go to the parks, we only book a Premier hotel for Saturday night, opting to stay in one of the cheaper onsite hotels or a hotel nearby (some of them even offer free breakfast) for Friday night to save a bit of money. Every $ saved is more to spend on merchandise and ice cream and beer!
Saturday: Full day at the parks
Saturday morning, we wake up early to shift hotels to pick up our hotel keys (which are also our express passes). You are allowed to check-in as early as 7:30am at any Universal Orlando hotels. All of the Premier hotels offer baggage check until your room is ready in the afternoon.
Then we usually walk to the park on the nice walking paths. The ferry boats are fun, but typically not worth the wait at that time of day. We then head into the park with the park bag filled with snacks and a water bottle and all the stuff we need. I’ve even sewn a wand holder onto our park bag, but more on that in another post.
We check the wait times on the Universal Orlando App to decide what park to go to first. Rarely do we take advantage of the early park hours that are included with our stay, because limited rides are open.
With our season passes, we can hop between both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios throughout the day depending on wait times. We spend the day checking the app for ride times, delays and show times. The app also provides online ordering for certain dining locations throughout both parks. Our-go to restaurants are Louie’s and the BumbleBee Taco Truck and Pizza Pretoria.
I also allow snacking at all times in the park. Just arrived at the first line at 9:12 am after eating breakfast and now you want fruit snacks, sure! You want beef pasties, sure! You want ice cream at 10 am, sure! I know it is going to be a long day and they (and I) will need all the energy they can. Plus hard to argue with them when you are drinking a Wizards Brew (best beer in the world, only available in Diagon Alley)
My girls love spending time in the Harry Potter areas doing magic with their borrowed wands (no wands until age 11 in our family) in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. They have gotten better at waiting in line and will ride any ride they are tall enough for. More on that in another blog post.
Usually on Saturday evening, we make reservations to eat at one of the nicer restaurants on property. Typically Confisco, I love the Ahi Tuna nachos there. We stay until the park closes, it’s beautiful in the dark, and sometimes the parks have night shows.
We then walk our tired bodies back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Sunday: Half day and drive home
The Premier hotels have amazing blackout shades, so if we want to get up early, we have to set an alarm. We don’t rush, but we want to take advantage of the time we have left.
We spend the next day until about 1 or 2pm re-riding some of our favorite rides, grab lunch, then get in the car to head home. It’s a 6.6/7 hour drive, and the girls usually nap for a couple hours on the way home. Either on the way home, or once we get home, we plan our next trip 🙂
Glad to see you’ve got a routine! I’ve got a similar cadence with my local Legoland now.