Universal FAQ's

[CleKait]

Originally Posted by macraven

no idea.

that site listed red for ioa when i went in october and it was not accurate at all for my dates.

Thanks for the fast answer! And that's good to know it wasn't accurate

[tpettie]

Originally Posted by CleKait

Hi, I have a quick question about visiting Islands of Adventure at the end of January. On the crowd calendar for Tuesday the 29th it shows IOA in red. Any ideas why would it be the busiest on every Tuesday?

We have gone twice now our dates were in early Dec first year we went on tuesdays and is was crazy quite nearly saw anyone ... So second year thought to try tuesday again and yup dead walk on for most of the day my vote is get there 30 mins prior to park open and hit the headliners you'll be good to go

[Orreed]

Heading to Universal very soon We are unsure if we want to spend one or two days. Ideally, we'd like to go with the flow and see if at the end of the first day if we need another day. Is it possible to buy a one day park-to-park and extend it. Especially saving $20 like it says on the website.

[macraven]

Originally Posted by Orreed

Heading to Universal very soon We are unsure if we want to spend one or two days. Ideally, we'd like to go with the flow and see if at the end of the first day if we need another day. Is it possible to buy a one day park-to-park and extend it. Especially saving $20 like it says on the website.

yes, you can upgrade while you are in the park that day with the one or park to park one day ticket.

upgrade at the shops that offer it or at guest services.


easy to add the second day which will also be a park to park ticket.

[Orreed]

Originally Posted by macraven

yes, you can upgrade while you are in the park that day with the one or park to park one day ticket.

upgrade at the shops that offer it or at guest services.


easy to add the second day which will also be a park to park ticket.

Thank you!

[macraven]

[wibbletron]

I'm booked into the Royal Pacific Resort the night of Tuesday 5th Feb, so will be at Universal on Wednesday 6th, and was wondering if anybody knew why the closing time has been brought forward an hour.

Looking at the theme park hours for Feb 2013, Islands of Adventure closes at 7pm or later on every day except Wednesday 6th and Thursday 14th.

As of a few days ago, the IoA closing time on Wednesday 6th was 7pm. Also until a few days ago, the US closing time went from 6pm to 7pm.


Is there an event on in the evening, or are they just anticipating very low crowds that day? I did a quick google and couldn't find any mention of events that day.

[aggordon2]

I haven't been to US/IOA in about 16 years (honeymoon). We have twin boys that are 11. One is autistic and they both have food allergies ( one is allergic to gluten and dairy, while the other is allergic to dairy and eggs).

The question is: will there be things for them to eat while in Universal or do we have to bring our own food?

We have been to Disney with them and know how they are treated there. Can we expect the same from Universal?

[DCDisney]

The allergy food situation is not as good as Disney but I've had very good treatment at Uni. In IOA I eat at 3 broomsticks and in Uni I eat at the Monsters Cafe. They have info at most f the snack carts too. I stick to the refillable popcorn and prepackaged snack stuff though. I try and stick to places that offer lots of choices and seem to have full kitchens so they have options for me. The chefs talk to me and either pull safe items from the back or cook fresh without whatever is an issue.

[aggordon2]

Originally Posted by DCDisney

The allergy food situation is not as good as Disney but I've had very good treatment at Uni. In IOA I eat at 3 broomsticks and in Uni I eat at the Monsters Cafe. They have info at most f the snack carts too. I stick to the refillable popcorn and prepackaged snack stuff though. I try and stick to places that offer lots of choices and seem to have full kitchens so they have options for me. The chefs talk to me and either pull safe items from the back or cook fresh without whatever is an issue.

Thank you for the reply.

[Boatingmom]

Is it necessary to see a HP movie to appreciate WWOHP? If so which one?

[glocon]

My in-laws went without seeing any of the movies first, and said it was their favorite part of the park anywany. But I think that seeing at least the first movie (there are parts of the first four movies in the WWoHP) would make it all more magical.

Besides, the movies are pretty good (not as good as the books though).

[macraven]

Originally Posted by Boatingmom

Is it necessary to see a HP movie to appreciate WWOHP? If so which one?

i always hit the parry hotter section of the park on my visits.
even go there every day of my vacation stay.

i have never read the books.
i tried very hard to watch one of the movies.
i gave up after an hour.
just wasn't my thing.

tried another one of the movies a couple years later but only made it through 30 minutes of it.
just didn't appeal to me.


i don't have the knowledge from the books or movies but still truly enjoy parry hotter.
you don't have to read the books or see the movies in order to appreciate that portion of IOA.
once you are there, it all fits together and makes sense.

i do ollivanders, the rides, hit the shops, visit with the TM's, take pictures for my friends, eat at the 3 B's and spend a good amount of time there.

nothing is taken away from me since i am not familiar with the background.
you catch on to the whole theme once you are there.




it is a fun place to be!

[lam]

Hi we are coming over to Disney for 14 days from Ireland.
Mum just loves Harry Potter and as a surprise, I got all 3 of us 1 day tix for IOA.

I'm trying to 'juggle' ADR 's etc for vars restaurants and shows and basically we can now only visit IOA on Easter Sunday 31/3 or the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday thereafter.

We are staying on-site in Disney hotel but have NO transport. We read we can get a Mears Shuttle or a cab.

I read on Undercover Tourist crowd calendar that visiting IOA on Easter Sunday would be best BUT another 'busy day' guide tells me to avoid Sunday & go Monday

Mum really only want to see HP (but my son will love Jurassic too)
I'm confused about which day to go
How to get there
What time to get there.

Help?

Thanks

lam

[Metro West]

Originally Posted by lam

I read on Undercover Tourist crowd calendar that visiting IOA on Easter Sunday would be best BUT another 'busy day' guide tells me to avoid Sunday & go Monday

Mum really only want to see HP (but my son will love Jurassic too)
I'm confused about which day to go
How to get there
What time to get there.

Help?

Thanks

lam

It's hard to guess because that's right around Spring Break and the parks will be busy. I would suggest going on which ever day fits your plans better and make sure you get there early. Both parks are open until 10PM so you should be able to do whatever you want without too many issues.

IoA opens at 9AM either day and unless there are many people waiting to get in, the gates will not open early. However, there should be a sufficient number that the gates might open early both days. So...I would plan on arriving around 8:30AM or so...just to be sure.