Use these tips to save yourself time, money, and stress! Both times, I went to Universal Orlando it was a little added bonus. It wasn’t actually a vacation devoted to fun! Kristin in addition to the blog has a Lularoe business. Lularoe has training’s a few times a year. Whenever she has to go to one of those. She flies me to her house to help with the Lularoe business. Both times have been during busy times. I went during spring break and the last week of July both are peak times for Universal. That means I have learned how to maximize my fun on a limited amount of time during the busy season. These are my top 6 tips!
Looking to save money on food while at Universal. Check out my top 4 dining tips!
1. Buy a vacation package. That gets you in early in at 8 A.M. Or you can buy just the tickets from a travel agent. If your staying offsite and buy your tickets from a travel agent you will still get early access. Technically because when you book tickets thru a travel agent in Universal’s system it’s still considered a mini package. I would not of known this if I didn’t have a travel agent. Travel agents are a no brainer. They are free, helpful, and will save you money. How do they save you money? By saving you time! Time is the most valuable thing we have. If you are looking for a travel agent Kristin works exclusively with Destinations In Florida.
While that hour seems like it is useless. It really isn’t! Most people are on vacation and are not about to get up early. The parks don’t get crowded until around 11 AM. Even on the busiest of days. You can ride some of the most popular rides during early access before the parks open to everyone. We rode Minions and Escape From Gringott’s both as a walk on with no wait. Both of those rides often have 45 minute plus waits. Since you are already in the park when everything else opens up. You will be one of the first ones of the day to ride. If you plan accordingly you can ride a few big things between 9 AM and 10 AM with little to no wait.
2. Start in the back of the parks. Most people start riding rides as soon as they enter the parks. For that reason most of the rides closest to the entrances will have a wait time of 30 minutes or more soon after opening. The rides towards the back often have very little wait times during the first few hours of park opening. The 3 Harry Potter rides are usually some of longest wait times of all the rides in the parks. They often have a wait time of 30 minutes plus within the first 30 minutes of park opening. They are all 3 located in the back of the parks.
3. Make a list of your must do’s before your vacation. Put that list on your phone so your can quickly look over it. Everyday go in to the park with a plan. Try and ride your must do’s early on. That way you have more chance of making it happen. You want to be strategic and flexible with your plan. If you’re must do’s all include rides that often have long waits. Plan on doing one per day. That way you don’t spend all your day waiting in lines.
4. Don’t spend tons of energy and time walking from one area to another. You want to experience all that you are interested in before moving on to another area. When you do move on move on another land close by that interests you. If that means you wait in a line for 30 minutes do it. You will waste more time skipping it and coming back to it later. Often times the waits aren’t as long as the wait times say. Only once was a wait time longer then it said. Every other time the wait times where less then stated.
5. Single rider is a must if an option, unless you have Universal Express pass! Single rider is where you stand in line with your friends or family thru out the line in a separate from the regular line. As they have empty seats on the rides they will call people from the single rider line to fill in those empty seats. This drastically cuts the wait time down from 30 plus to walk on in most cases. If you do have to wait its usually not more then 15 minutes. After the ride you can have your friends and family meet in a certain spot. We like to use the gift shops. Most of the rides let out into a gift shop.
6. If you go with small children utilize child switch! It is different from Disney’s version. At Universal the child switch is a little room close by the ride. The room has some sort of movie playing that is usually the theme of the ride. It is air conditioned with benches. Those rooms are a great way for a small child to take break. The whole family or group stays together thru out the whole que. When it is your turn to ride you just tell them you would like to utilize child switch. One adult waits with the child in the room while the other rides. After that ride they swap. Honestly I prefer this way. It is a nice way to be able to keep your family together.
(Thanks, Brandy)
If you are looking to book a Universal, Disney, cruise, or other vacation, Kristin’s dream team of travel agents would be happy to help you!