Vacation In Universal Studios Florida
My family and I were planning our vacation, so we decided to take a trip to Florida. I was thinking Walt Disney World, but my husband and daughter convinced me that it was Universal Studios that we really wanted to go. We had never been there before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. After a lot of research and deliberation, we decided on taking a vacation in the Universal Studios Florida.
Are you looking for a vacation destination that everyone in your family is guaranteed to love? Well, look no further than Universal Studios Florida. Boy, is it ever a treat!
Universal Studios Orlando is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the Orlando area. If you plan to visit Universal Studios Florida, and want to enjoy the world’s most authentic and popular pastime, you want to make sure that you arrive with a game plan. That game plan is not hard to come up with, but it gives you the best chance at a perfect visit. This article discusses how to make your trip easy and efficient, so that you can be more relaxed and have more fun during your vacation.
If you travel to Orlando for vacations, why not take your family to Universal Studios Florida? The theme park allows every member of your family to understand and appreciate the magic behind Hollywood movies and television shows.
Vacation In Universal Studios Florida
Are you looking for a fun and exciting destination that won’t break the bank? With beautiful coastlines, world-class museums and exciting attractions Florida is the perfect vacation spot.
If you’re planning a trip to Universal Orlando Resort, you’ve come to the right place! In this guide, we cover everything from flights to hotels to riding all the best rides, with a few tips and tricks along the way. Buckle up and get ready for some excitement—it’s time to plan a trip to Universal Orlando!
BASICS OF UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT
Universal Orlando Resort comprises the following:
- Two theme parks—Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure
- One water park—Universal’s Volcano Bay
- Eight official hotels
- A “downtown” dining / shopping district, CityWalk Orlando
The one other thing everyone knows about Universal is that it is home to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The Wizarding World is not its own park, nor is it entirely inside a single theme park.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is actually two themed lands—one in each of the two parks. One land (Diagon Alley) is in Universal Studios Florida (Diagon Alley) and the other (Hogsmeade) is in Universal’s Island of Adventure. They are connected by the Hogwarts Express attraction.
DATES AND EVENTS
Universal Orlando Resort has a variety of events throughout the year, but the calendar for vacationers is anchored by three major events:
- Mardi Gras is celebrated on select dates in February, March, and April (though it was extended through April in 2021)
- Halloween Horror Nights runs on select nights in September and October
- Holidays at Universal Orlando Resort will happen from mid-November through the end of the year
Halloween Horror Nights is the event you’re most likely to need to know about, both because it is a unique experience and because it will significantly impact park hours at Universal Studios Florida.
If you’re concerned about crowds, you might look at the Orlando crowd calendar from Undercover Tourist.
Universal’s New “Epic” Park
In August 2019, Universal announced they would be building a third theme park—Universal’s Epic Universe. As no timeline has been announced for this park, there’s no reason we’d recommend delaying a trip in anticipation of the park. These things take years upon years, and the impact of 2020 means the park is now expected sometime around 2025.
As exciting as a new park is, there’s really no reason to wait on it unless you’re absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime guest. But Universal is less expensive than Walt Disney World and easily visited from Walt Disney World, so most guests will be fine planning a trip now for the two current parks and then waiting until Epic Universe opens to visit again.
HOW LONG TO VISIT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT
With two parks and one water park, we think a good length of time to visit Universal Orlando Resort is three full days, one in each park. Some people will find three full days excessive, but a half-day spent at the hotel pool isn’t the worst thing.
If you need to cut this down, you could cut Volcano Bay (the water park) completely or down to half of a day and get down to two days.
Additionally or alternatively, you can purchase Universal Express Pass to “skip the lines” and consolidate the highlights of the two theme parks into a single day (more on this option below).
A single day is also sufficient to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, if that’s all you really want to do.
GETTING TO UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT
We’ll break this down into two parts—flying to Orlando, and then getting to the resort itself from either Orlando or Walt Disney World.
Flying To Orlando
There are two main airports that service the Orlando area, Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB).
As with Walt Disney World planning, we recommend flying to Orlando International Airport (MCO). It is closer to Universal and offers a wider variety of transportation options. Also, frankly, if you run into confusion you’ll have much better luck finding information online about traveling through MCO than SFB.
Getting To Universal Orlando From MCO
Universal offers the Universal SuperStar Shuttle between MCO and the resort. Click that link for our review. The roundtrip cost is $39 per person.
Besides being a shuttle, this service is nothing like Disney’s Magical Express service (which is itself no longer available). There is no luggage pickup or delivery service, for example.
Alternatively, an Uber from MCO to Universal Orlando should run you about $20 to $30. This means that with two or more people, it will probably be most cost efficient to use Uber (don’t forget tip, though).
You can book other popular shuttle services, like Mears shuttles, or grab a taxi. Finally, for $2 per person, you could take about 2 hours and use public transportation to get to the resort, but we definitely see no reason to recommend that.
Getting To Universal Orlando From SFB
We have no experience with SFB, and really we never intend to gain any. There is a bus service between SFB and Universal Orlando. Beyond that, we can’t really speak to the options. We’d probably recommend an Uber, which should cost between $40 and $60.
Getting To Universal Orlando From Walt Disney World Resort
There are several transportation services that run between Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World. And you can find every sort of “tour” operator under the sun to plan some package for you. Truth be told—you just need to take an Uber or Lyft (or a taxi if you’re not comfortable with those services) to get between these two destinations.