A Travel Agent’s Top Tips & Insider Secrets to Orlando’s Universal Resort…
With spring and summer breaks just around the corner, and a recent visit to Universal Orlando with my little one under my belt, I thought it would be an excellent time to share my top tips and insider secrets on how to keep your family vacation feeling like a vacation.
You’re clearly a type-A, go-in-prepared, planning type of person -otherwise you wouldn’t have ended up on this blog! So you know there’s nothing worse than packing up the whole family in search of fun and spending your time frazzled and directionless. Oh, my friend, you have come to the right place. We are going to sort this out for you, here and now.
Here We Go… A Travel Agent’s Top Tips and Insider Secrets for Orlando’s Universal Resort:
# 1: Acceptance or Express It!
The reality is that the lines at Universal Orlando can begin to feel endless...
There’s the security line, and the line to enter the park, and the lines at each ride, and the line for Butterbeer, and the line to get in the most popular dining and shopping spots... You get the idea. (We stood in a line to order food, were handed a number, turned around, and stood in another line to get a table!) You can EASILY spend most of the day waiting in line, and many of the rides are very tricky with how they conceal their lines…
From the front it looks like a steady stream of people, blissfully skipping into the ride, and then you turn a corner and WOW, that’s where they were hiding everyone!
This is a photo of PART of the line for the Hogwarts Express. I am still in line, after nearly an hour, creeping up a set of stairs!
You can do two things in the face of this:
1) Accept it. This is the situation, and hey, we’re still spending time with one another… and these 300 strangers, or…
2) Invest in an Express Pass. You know that moment where you’ve been standing in line for 45 minutes for a ride that will last maybe two, and right when you’re about to go through the gate, some smiling family be-bops down an empty lane next to you, flashes their little badges, and cuts the line of 800,000,000 people slowly wilting in the heat? That is the moment where you will be asking yourself, what is our time and energy worth? What might we have done with those 43 minutes after the ride was over? I don’t know, maybe ask that family -they look super relaxed and like they are having the best day ever and I am a grown, adult woman about to sit down on the sidewalk.
Insider Secret:
There are multiple types of Express Passes you can purchase, but guests who stay in one of Universal’s Premier resort hotels get complimentary Unlimited Express Passes included in their stay!
#2: Stay on Property!
The area around Universal is awash with hotels, and many of them include a shuttle service to the parks. Proximity starts to feel like a moot point. And most people have an expectation that resort guests receive early entry to the parks (they do). However, there are some other uniquely valuable benefits to staying in one of Universal’s hotels:
Guests get access to Universal’s water taxi service.
Water Taxi, you say? What is this? Only the most charming way to get to the parks from your hotel. Hop on these little boats and float into the heart of City Walk, bypassing the security melee and escalators and moving walkways, where the shuttles drop you off. If this isn’t beautiful, relaxing and easy, I don’t know what is.
Guests get free hotel delivery of items purchased in the park
Yes, you read that correctly. Jr. had to have that giant parrot in the shop in Diagon Alley, and now you don’t have to be the one to carry it for the rest of the day! Let’s meet Polly Wants A Cracker back at the hotel, where he’ll be safe from spills and potentially being left behind at The Leaky Cauldron!
Insider Secret:
Some of the hotels aren’t located on the water taxi canal system, but this doesn’t mean you can’t use them! We stayed at Aventura Hotel and simply walked across the roundabout to Sapphire Falls, wandered down the stairs, and hello water taxi!
#3: Don’t Skip Volcano Bay!
Rumor has it some people don’t even visit Universal’s third park, Volcano Bay, and to be totally honest with you, I’m not a big water park person. (I live in Washington state for heaven’s sake, walk outside, it’s a water park!). But let me tell you, Volcano Bay feels like vacation.
Water slides not your thing? How about having your toes in soft sand, lying on a beach chair next to a gorgeous blue, zero-entry wave pool, surrounded by lush tropical plants, with beachy music drifting through the air? Bring a book, Mama, your toes don’t even have to touch a pool if you don’t want them to!
Photos of Volcano Bay courtesy Universal Resort because I managed to leave my cell phone back in the room during our visit!
We visited Volcano Bay on a warm cloudy morning and it was my favorite park of all three parks. Neither of us are super strong swimmers, so we floated down the lazy river and sought out one of the quiet “lagoon” pools for some leisurely dog paddling. It was such an excellent slow-down in a busy trip.
Insider Secret:
Utilize the magic combination of Hotel Guest + Park Hopper pass. As a guest you can wander into Volcano Bay a half hour earlier than everyone else and it feels like you have the park practically all to yourself. Florida mornings are plenty warm for swimming, so why wait until the afternoon?
And Aventura and Cabana Bay guests can basically walk off property and into Volcano Bay, it’s that easy! In the afternoon, after you’ve recharged, slide on over to one of the other parks.
#4: Don’t Overlook the Resort Restaurants!
This goes double if you have any sort of dietary restrictions or are vegan/vegetarian!
The best dinners we had during our entire stay were at the Amatista Cookhouse at Loews Sapphire Falls and the Islands Dining Room at Loews Royal Pacific. It’s hard out there for a vegetarian (and even harder for a vegan or someone who is gluten free!) and both of these restaurants had multiple vegetarian/vegan/gluten free options, were very attentive to food allergies, and the food was delicious. Not to mention both restaurants are beautiful and the staff were very warm and friendly.
Both restaurants were surprisingly quiet. When I asked our server at the Islands Dining Room if it was typical, she said she felt like most guests opted to venture into City Walk for dinner. “And City Walk gets so crowded,” she said, “the food down there isn’t great, because they’re just flinging it at tables nonstop.” She also observed that the hotel restaurants see more diners when it’s raining, and guests are less likely to want to trek into City Walk.
Insider Secret:
Visit Islands Dining Room on a Friday or Saturday from 6pm-9pm, and you’re in for a real treat! Create your own custom stir-fry bowls by choosing a protein, starch, veggies and sauces, and have it whipped up before you in the restaurant’s Wok Experience!
Meat-Eaters & Pescatarians Rejoice!
I live on the coast and I’ve eaten a lot of fish and chips in my day, so imagine my surprise at eating maybe the best fish and chips I’ve eaten ever, while inside a busy theme park. It’s true. Brave the line at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and try their fish and chips. They’re worth it.
#5: Know Where to Take a Sensory Break!
There are some cute little parklets and nooks and crannies all around Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure that are perfect for resting in, calming children in, having a little picnic, or taking a cute photo in.
As anyone with even a little claustrophobia is acutely aware of, Islands of Adventure’s thoroughways are definitely more narrow than Universal Studio Florida’s, and both Wizarding World’s villages are easily the most crowded and most compact areas of each park. It’s difficult to find a quiet place when you have a kid (or parent!) who needs a moment to reset, a place to eat a snack, or let’s face it, even a place to take a cute picture where there aren’t a zillion other people in your background.
Our first visit to Hogsmeade Village was hoppin' and while I love the sun, I find the lack of shade in Hogsmeade to be a little brutal. After frying on the cobblestones in line for Butterbeers, we looked for some place to hang out and get our bearings. To the left of the Three Broomsticks is a stroller parking area, but keep looking around and you’ll spy a little alleyway that wraps around the backside of Honeyduke’s.
Technically it’s a passage for staff to get “backstage,” but it’s also a great place to take a picture and maybe even find a little more Harry Potter magic (listen for clinking dishes!).
Most people were looking to sit under the center covered pavilion in the middle of Hogsmeade. It was very crowded and more than a little cavelike, so we kept wandering. If you continue past the Three Broomsticks, you’ll come across a little passageway that leads to a picnic area on the backside of the restaurant. There were dozens of shaded, empty picnic tables and a fun view of the Velocicoaster hurtling past. Hard to believe we practically had this to ourselves when the rest of the village was so crowded. We finished our Butterbeers and were recharged to get back out there!
Universal Studios Florida feels much more spacious than Islands of Adventure, but everyone needs a break now and again (and some photo spots for photo ops!). You could eat your Krusty Burger on the relatively shadeless streets of Springfield, or you could keep meandering just a little further out of town and enjoy a picnic on the grass in the Central Park parklet off towards your right.
This area was so quiet and had the loveliest views of the rest of the park!
Across the lagoon, in the New York section of Universal Orlando, you’ll find another little park and Park Avenue - a quiet boulevard where you can sit on the stoops of the fake shops and houses.
There’s also some picturesque little alleyway/shortcuts around New York that are quiet and fun to explore.
Insider Secret:
Don’t be shy about sitting on stoops in any of the villages! We sat on stoops in Diagon Alley and outside of Grimmauld Place. Most of these doorways only look real, friends! No one is going to shoo you off the stoop!
And there you have it: A Travel Agent’s Tips and Insider Secrets for Orlando’s Universal Resort!
Consider the lines, stay on property for loads of benefits, take time to enjoy Volcano Bay, know where to find good food, and give yourself a well-deserved break!
Of course, the best trick is to have your travel agent do all the hard parts for you, and you go enjoy the fun stuff! You know where to find me when you’re ready… :D
Until then,
Happy Trails, Travellers!
Hannah
