5 Must-Do Universal Studios Tips

I visited Universal Studios Orlando last year for the first time. It was my first trip to any major theme park. I was able to visit both Disney World and Universal Studios and spent about 6 days in Florida. It was wonderful! I was with my boyfriend, who is most definitely not a “planner,” unlike myself. The trip was unexpected and last-minute so I wasn’t able to plan out as much as I would have liked. However, I had a great time and wouldn’t really change a thing. We lucked out on great weather, manageable crowds, and overall a magical time. To keep it simple, here are 5 “must-do” tips for your next, or first, visit to Universal Studios.

Universal is technically made up of two parks, Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. You can buy a pass to visit one park per day or a park-to-park pass that allows you to visit between the two. Unlike Disney where I was totally OK with visiting one park each day, Universal has some extra benefits with the park-to-park pass, specifically getting to ride the Hogwarts Express train! You’ll take the train from park to park and the experience is different both directions. If you’re a HP fan, it’s a must-do and worth the extra cost.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not really talking much when I’m on a thrill ride. Some off the rides offer a separate single rider line that allows you to wait in a much shorter line in exchange for sitting beside strangers/away from whoever is with you. I wouldn’t do this on a rollercoaster that really freaks me out, but my boyfriend and I split up to ride the Escape From Gringott’s ride and we were able to get on the ride in less than 5 minutes compared to what could have been an hour long wait in the regular line. I will admit this is a tip that’s more applicable to a small group or couple visiting the park together. It might not work so well with a large family or those with younger children. But for us, it was a huge time-saver and helped us maintain our sanity not waiting in the long, long lines.

 

So I knew this tip before visiting the parks and completely forgot about it while I was there. Womp, womp. So, when you see something you want at the park, you go ahead and buy it immediately so you don’t have to track it down later. For example, the Simpsons park has tons of cute stuff that I passed on at the time because it was so early in the day and then I blanked on going by their gift shops later.

After purchasing your items, you then have them “valeted” to the park entrance for you to pick up when you leave. This service is complimentary and can be a real time saver! Or if you’re like me it will save your back from lugging around Honeydukes bounty.

There is so much to see above you at Universal Studios, especially in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The details of this park are outstanding and truly a testament to how much they wanted to do it right for the HP fans. When looking above, you’ll see the fire-breathing dragon on top of Gringott’s, the owls in a small shop, and much more.

It being my first trip to the theme park, my boyfriend and I covered a lot of ground. But, because we didn’t want to get bogged down with super long waits, we skipped out on a few things in order to see more. For example, the wand ceremony at Ollivander’s had a super long line every day and I really wasn’t sure about spending $50+ on a wand for myself, so we skipped that attraction and instead I stocked up on candy at Honeydukes. On my next visit, I’ll slow down and won’t be afraid to sacrifice more time on the things that really interest me, but I’m glad for my first visit I was able to experience a little bit of everything.