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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: bosk1 on August 12, 2019, 11:12:22 AM
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It's back to school time, and my wife decided it would be cool to treat the kids to a quick weekend road trip to Universal. They are all Harry Potter fans, and have never seen the new Harry Potter land (or whatever it's called). It has been YEARS since I've been to Universal (more like decades, actually). What are the cool things to make sure to see/do at that park? And does anyone have any economical hotel suggestions?
We may go with the Embassy Suites in Glendale, but I'm still open. They definitely aren't the cheapest in the game, but they're not bad for what you get, and it's nice having a separate room for the kids.
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It's back to school time, and my wife decided it would be cool to treat the kids to a quick weekend road trip to Universal. They are all Harry Potter fans, and have never seen the new Harry Potter land (or whatever it's called). It has been YEARS since I've been to Universal (more like decades, actually). What are the cool things to make sure to see/do at that park? And does anyone have any economical hotel suggestions?
We may go with the Embassy Suites in Glendale, but I'm still open. They definitely aren't the cheapest in the game, but they're not bad for what you get, and it's nice having a separate room for the kids.
I stayed at the Sheraton right near Universal a couple of times (once after a DT concert and once the day before a mediation down the street). Don't recall how economical it is (probably not), but it was a nice hotel.
As far as the theme park, I've been there four times in my life. The first was in the mid-70s, when all they had was the studio tour. The second time was in the late 80s or early 90s on a date. I have very little recollection of what it was like. The third time was about 6-7 years ago. I took my kids, and we had a buy-one-get-one-half-off pass, and I had also bought a discounted ticket at Sam's Club. I was rather disappointed. We waited about 80 minutes in line for the studio tour, and there were only about 5-6 rides. Everything else was "look at all the minion-themed stuff" or "check out Simpson's land."
The fourth time was a couple years ago, right after they opened Potterland. I took my daughter, who was then REALLY into Potter. I learned that the price to get in varies from day-to-day. She had a Tuesday right before school started, but after most of the LA area schools had started, so we "only" paid $95 per ticket. Because we bought the tickets online, we got to enter the park an hour before the regular opening time. Unfortunately, because of traffic, we only got there about half an hour before regular opening time. Fortunately, we still beat most of the crowds. We did both rides in Potterland (I think there's now a third ride). One was one of those rides where you strap in and sit in front of a video screen while they shake you around. It was ok. The other was built for younger kids, so not great. My daughter absolutely loved it, so it was worth it. I don't recall that we did much of anything outside the Potter area, and I think we left by noon or so.
Universal City Walk is a nice area right next to the park that has a lot of nice restaurants, shopping, and a few cool things to do, so give yourself time to check it out.
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Ditch the kids in the park and go catch a show at The Baked Potato instead :JayOctavarium:
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We went to Orlando’s Universal back in February just for Harry Potter and spent most of two days just roaming all things Potter. My kid loved the rides and went multiple times on all of them. The more they know about Harry Potter the more likely they’ll keep finding nuggets throughout the park, it’s very detailed. The interactive wands are pricey, but we were lucky enough to borrow one from friends.
Enjoy!
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Me and my mom stayed at the Sapphire Falls hotel. It's part of Universal so theres a ferry that takes you there and back. Nice to not worry about parking and having to drive back after a day of running around.
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Me and my mom stayed at the Sapphire Falls hotel. It's part of Universal so theres a ferry that takes you there and back. Nice to not worry about parking and having to drive back after a day of running around.
That's Orlando, not Hollywood.
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:facepalm: Didn't even know there was 2.
Well my idea of an on site hotel is still solid.
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:facepalm: Didn't even know there was 2.
Well my idea of an on site hotel is still solid.
Universal Studios (the actual studio with a connected theme park) is in Hollywood. AFAIK, the one in Orlando is just a theme park. Your hotel idea would be solid if there were on-site hotels, but there aren't (there's a small handful of hotels nearby but nothing on-site). :)