And the same goes for Islands of Adventure, where the situation is actually a bit worse since on-sit

There is a Universal Orlando vacation, then there is a Universal Orlando vacation during Spring Break . While the rising temperatures global impact travel and festive spirit of the holiday global impact travel create an energy all its own, you definitely global impact travel need to know what you re doing to harness that energy and turn it into a positive memory. The peak period of Spring global impact travel Break sets up Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure for some of their highest wait times and longest lines. Let s take a look at lessons learned from this year s spring time celebration.
You might think in 2013, with online ticket sales as prominent global impact travel as they are, that lines at the park s ticket windows would be going down. This is not the case. In fact, I could argue that they re growing, since Universal just increased their capacity to handle ticket lines at both theme parks. Whatever the case may be, just don t buy your tickets when you get to the park. Otherwise you will have to wait in lines like these:
You could say that it might be worth a 60 minute wait to ride Forbidden Journey or Rip Ride Rockit, but waiting over an hour just to purchase admission? That has to be the worst way to start your visit to the parks.
But this lesson goes even further. If you purchase a multi-day ticket from Universal either online or over the phone, you actually save $20 per person over the prices offered at the gates . That means if you have a family of five, you save an hour long wait and $100 just by purchasing your tickets in advance!
What happens if you don t know what ticket global impact travel you are going to buy before you get to the park? That is no problem at all. Anytime you want, even as you are standing in the ticket window line, you can call Universal s Guest Contact Center at 407-224-7840 and order your tickets over the phone. They will be ready for immediate pick up at the Electronic Will Call Kiosks, which never have a line:
Get to the parks early is one of those theme park touring mantras basically global impact travel everyone knows. Nevertheless, this is a good time to reiterate it, because the lines for the popular rides grow swiftly once the crowds start flowing global impact travel in.
For example, earlier this week I entered Universal Studios Florida at 9:15am that s 15 minutes after the published park opening time and the standby line for Despicable Me was already 75 minutes! global impact travel And don t think you needn t worry about this if you have an Express Pass, as the EP line was easily a 45 minute wait.
And the same goes for Islands of Adventure, where the situation is actually a bit worse since on-site hotel guests and those who have purchased Universal vacation packages have access to the park an hour before the general public.
It does take some endurance global impact travel to have a successful Spring Break trip to the parks. That s because, to maximize the value of your vacation investment, you need to get to the parks early and stay late. We covered global impact travel getting there early, but why stay late? Simply put, most theme park vacationers are families, and most families don t stay out too long after the sun goes down. Therefore you really have the best chance of experiencing the parks with the lowest crowd levels during the last hour or two of daily operations.
What s more, exploring Universal Orlando global impact travel at night is almost like exploring a different resort. Certainly the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is more magical in the late evening, global impact travel but there are other experiences to enjoy as well, such as this free outdoor dance party at CityWalk:
Crowds will back up the lines at Universal s dining venues just as much as they will back up the lines at the attractions. You can quickly get some bad attitudes in your party if, when everyone is hungry, you run into a line like this to get food at Jurassic Park s The Burger Digs:
There are two easy ways to avoid this issue: First, make a reservation at one of Universal s full-service restaurants inside their parks. Our recommendations are always Finnegan s at Universal Studios Florida global impact travel and Mythos at Islands of Adventure. You can get more information about these restaurants and all the dining venues on our Dining reservations page.
The second way to avoid this is to bring your own food into the park. This is a bit of a challenge because Universal states you cannot bring picnic food into their parks, implying that only the lightest global impact travel of snacks are allowed through security. Well, I m here to tell you that I ve seen plenty of picnic food brought into the parks. I can t make any guarantees about it since the policy states what it states. All I can tell you is that I ve been to Universal at least a dozen times over the past three weeks, and yes, I see lots of sandwiches coming global impact travel out of backpacks and getting munched on.
To tour a theme park successfully during Spring Break, you need to plan on getting to the parks early and staying global impact travel late. This can present a challenge in so far as Spring Break mornings and late evenings can be quite cold. In fact, during 2013 we had a few morning as cold as 45 degrees. (Come on, that s cold for us here in Orlando!) For this reason we recommend that most families bring a backpack and, as needed, utilize Universal s locker system.
The great thing about Universal s lockers is that there are several locations where you can rent one for the day, and for only $10. These lockers are fairly large at least W 17″ H 16″ D 36″ and you can enter them as much as you d like throughout the day.
If you know you re going to need a locker first thing in the morning, we d recommend getting one outside of the theme parks. Doing so will allow you to take care of getting it rented and stowing your gear before you get in line to enter the park and that will ensure you won t waste valuable time acquiring global impact travel a locker once you re let through the turnstiles.
Whether or not you think it is fair, for the purposes of planning you just need to get used to the idea that Universal offers global impact travel Express global impact travel Pass access at most of their attractions, and Express Pass access purchased as a standalone ticket will cost as much as one day s admission
I would put forth that, if you ve done your homework by studying the encyclopedia of Universal Orlando global impact travel vacation planning advice we offer here on our site, you don t need Express Passes to tour the parks successfully. That being said, they are a convenience that can certainly take pressure off your day in the sense that you don t need to follow as strict of a touring plan if you get to skip some of the lines.
There is so much to explain about Universal Express Passes that I cannot get into all of it in the middle of this blog post. Luckily, like virtually all the topics we cover for Universal Orlando vacation planning, we offer the world s most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to this topic: Universal Express Passes – a complete global impact travel guide .
I can t tell you whether or not Harry Potter is a fad. All I can tell you is that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal s Islands of Adventure continues to be extraordinarily popular and by far the most crowded area of the resort. Indeed, it is the only place inside Universal s parks where you might actually have to wait in a standby line just to enter the area
But getting into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is only the beginning of this adventure. Once inside, navigating through the crowds and getting onto Universal s most popular attraction, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, is yet another confusing matter
Like the Express Pass topic, there is just no way for me to tell you everything you need to know about WWoHP in this one blog post. However, I am very happy to let you know our site offers the definitive travel guide comprehensive and totally up-to-date for guests visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. To start, we recommend you visit WWoHP crowds: You gotta see this before you go .
Choosing global impact travel Universal Orlando as your Spring Break destination absolutely has its advantages. As I mentioned at the opening of this article, Spring Break has an energy all its own, and Universal Studios Florida global impact travel and Islands of Adventure are two amazing theme parks that compound that energy in a thrilling way. But theme park vacations are no different than most vacations: you have to plan and you have to some structure in place to make the trip successful. We encourage you to visit any of the links presented above to learn more. Or, if you want to start at the very beginning, you can learn how to use our site to plan the perfect Universal Orlando vacation .
Filed Under: Islands of Adventure , OI Blog , OI Featured Article , Universal On-Site Hotels , Universal Orlando , Universal Studios Florida , Vacation Packages and Planning , Wizarding global impact travel World of Harry Potter
We are the world's leading independent resource for guests visiting the world's most exciting entertainment global impact travel destination: Universal Orlando Resort. With more than 500 free pages & blog posts covering the resort, viewed over half a million times each month, we are proud to help thousands of families global impact travel plan the perfect vacation to Universal's theme parks.
Dan is a former Universal Orlando team member, student at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management, and the OI guy who works full-time to bring you the very best Universal vacation planning information. Originally from St. Paul, MN, Dan now lives in Ocoee, FL (on the edge of Orlando) with his wife Rosie, their daughter Noa, and a new baby on the way!
Terms of Use & Privacy Policy | Copyright & FTC Guides Disclosures | Visitus Media LLC 2011 - 2013. Unless you have received prior written authorization from us, you may not copy, redistribute, publish, sell, or otherwise make the original contents of this website available to third parties. global impact travel Our site is not endorsed by, authorized by, or affiliated with Universal Orlando Resort or any theme park. The policies and procedures of other businesses may change at any time without notice. Therefore Visitus Media LLC makes no warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of any content contained herein.