Here are a few easy tips to help you plan a family Universal Orlando vacation.
Strongly consider staying at a Universal on-site hotel. You will get some great benefits that will help you enjoy your vacation
- Guests of all four hotels get early entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This includes Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Only one area is open earlier each day. This is a HUGE benefit since these attractions get extremely busy. Wait times can easily be over 2 hours or more later in the day.
- Guests of the deluxe hotels including Loews Portofino Bay Hotel receive Universal Express Ride Access. This allows you to skip the regular lines and use the Express entrance. This means you can see and do more in less time! Who wants to spend their day waiting line? Unfortunately, the Harry Potter attractions are excluded from the Express Ride Access. That is why the early entry is such a great benefit.
- Priority seating at select restaurants throughout both theme parks and enjoy first available seating at select Universal Orlando® and CityWalk® restaurants. This is a great perk.
Watch movies and read books highlighted in the attractions before you arrive. This helps increase your enjoyment and anticipation of the trip. We are heading to Universal Orlando soon with Mom It Forward and had family movie marathons. It has been great to spend quality family time together even before our trip. We watched all of the Harry Potter, Despicable Me, and Shrek movies. If you have little ones, you will want to be reading Dr. Suess so you can fully enjoy Suess Landing.
Check out the ride height restrictions before you arrive and prep your kids for what they can and can not ride.
More Orlando vacation tips coming soon!
Is Getting Dinner on the Table Every Night a Challenge? This can help! Learn Simple Ways to Meal Plan.
Sign up for the Everyday Savvy newsletter and get a meal planning checklist and weekly meal planner sheet.
Jill Greenlaw says
We are excited to connect with you at Family Forward. Thanks for sharing these great tips.
Melissa says
You are very welcome. We are so excited we can barely stand it! We look forward to connecting with you too.
jyl from @momitforward says
These tips are awesome! I also just learned that if your kids don’t meet the height requirement, Universal will give you a height certificate that you can get from each ride that your child CAN’T go on and when he or she meets the requirement (on a future visit), all they have to do is show the certificate and they’ll go right to the front of the line so they can ride that ride. Isn’t that cool? Of course it means visiting the park again another time, but hey! Where’s the harm in that. 😀
Melissa says
What a great tip! I didn’t know that one. My youngest isn’t tall enough to ride a few things so it was important for me to set expectations up front. We looked at all the height restrictions at Universal because I didn’t want her to be disappointed during the trip. The certificate will be a great way to help her and I love the front of line perk for the next trip!