OT- Planning two vacations- Need Help!- Puerto Rico and Universal Studios
Looking into some mini vacations. One with DH (Puerto Rico) and one with BS (Universal Studios).
I am looking for suggestions of places to stay and things to do.
I know the Universal trip we will only be doing the parks, so more so wanting to know what the best hotels are or packages that include dining.
For the Puerto Rico trip I am totally clueless. Ideally I would like an all inclusive resort that has a beautiful view and pool. Close to the beach.
Any input, suggestions, etc would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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I just went to Universal
I just went to Universal Studios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For Springbreak. If You can, you should stay on site. Cabana Bay is brand new and it has a lazy river at the pool. If you can stay at the Hard Rock, or Portofino or Royal Pacific you get these express passes where you can skip the lines (and the lines can be horrific)and you get into Harry Potter land one hour before everyone else. We stayed off site last month when we went . That's not too bad either. We got up at 6 am at our hotel and ate breakfast and we were out of the hotel at 7 am and parked and were through the turnstiles when they opened at 8 am. We did everything but the Minion ride, Spiderman, and the Pteradon Flyers and closed the place down at 10 pm. Made it to the car by 1030 pm. I'm an hour and a half from Orlando.
Staying on site is very , very expensive though. When we stayed at Portofino it was over $1000 for two nights. Are you planning on some down time where you can actually enjoy your hotel?
There are 2 parks, correct?
There are 2 parks, correct? and the water park. Is there one park that is better then the other? BS will be 11 when we go. If we had a kick a$$ hotel we could do down time at the hotel- if there was a nice pool. BS loves to swim and could spend all day at the pool.
There is not really a water
There is not really a water park at Universal. They do deals with Wet in Wild sometimes. There are two parks, yes. Islands of Adventures and then Universal Studios. When are you going? They are right now building King Kong Skull Island and it looks like its going to be amazing. I think it will be open in July.
My kids LOVE Aquatica. It's Sea World's water park. It's the best one but I haven't been to the Disney ones yet.
We do the theme parks all the time but we really like the Disney Moderate hotels. That's Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans, and Coronado. The pools are all themed and they have water slides. They have movies at night on the lawn and smores campfires. If you are going to have a down day, I recommend just hanging at the pool at the hotel. I love to do that. I really recommend Cabana Bay though. Or go up one if you can afford it and skip the lines. Let me dig through my pics. Stay on site at Universal so you don't waste time driving.
My daughter is 11. Universal is definitely more for that age group that Disney. He's going to have a great time.
Beginning of November is when
Beginning of November is when I would like to go. Yes Wet N Wild is what I was thinking of. I'm going to look at Cabana Bay.
Cabana Bay is cheaper for the
Cabana Bay is cheaper for the rooms, but you don't get the Unlimited Express Passes, so take that into account when planning! Also, The other 3 on site hotels have the water taxi option for getting to/from the parks.
Sally, when I win the lotto
Sally, when I win the lotto I'm going to fly you down here to Florida and we will take fabulous pics at Siesta Key beach and go the Keys and Disney World and go to Hogwarts and post them on Instagram for Fungus to see. That's what I do and my stepkids get mad, mad, mad. It makes the trip more enjoyable.
Skids??? What skids???
Skids??? What skids???
and Universal's dining deals
and Universal's dining deals pretty much suck right now. I personally don't think they are worth it. They used to have all day dining. Now you get like lunch and a coke and a snack. I researched it and I found this lady's opinion to be the best. http://universal.wdwinfo.com/universal-information/universal-dining-plan...
we skipped it. I spent $100 on food in one 15 and half hour day. I also have four kids, btw. We did two meals, lunch and dinner, and got ice cream in Harry Potter land.
I have nothing, I am green
I have nothing, I am green with jealousy. I can't even afford to think at the moment.
Well what I usually do is
Well what I usually do is research places I want to vacation, put in a lot of work in details and planning and then right before I purchase anything I freak out and whimp out because I dont want to open my wallet. I get really nervous about spending money on something I don't know about 100%. Like is the hotel good? Will the weather be nice? Will we enjoy it?
HOWEVER- My BS isn't getting any younger. There aren't going to be many years that he wants to take a vacation with his mom so I need to just plan something and soon.
Same with DH, I would LOVE to go somewhere exotic and fun and beautiful. In DH's head this isn't even an option. He is so used to not having anything when he was with BM he doesn't think he deserves a nice vacation. But I know he would love it.
It pretty much storms
It pretty much storms everyday in Florida in the summer. Wait it out though.
Make sure you get park to
Make sure you get park to park passes so yall can ride the Hogwarts Express. You get to disappear through platform 9 and 3/4. Dementors show up on the train. You can't ride unless you have park to park passes.
How do the park to park
How do the park to park passes work? You can use them both in the same day or one one day and the other the other day?
Sorry I am probably going to have a 100 questions for you since you have been there
There are two parks. Islands
There are two parks. Islands of Adventures has the Hogwarts Castle and the town of Hogsmeade. You ride the Harry Potter Forbidden Forest ride after you make your way through the castle. Exploring Hogsmeade is fun. You can go into Ollivanders wand shop. There is the Dragon challenger rollercoaster. You will probably skip Cat in the Hat land if you don't have little ones but you have to walk through it to get to Harry Potter. There is Jurrassic Park land. King Kong if you go after July. There is Dudley Doo Right Falls which is basically Splash Mountain. Spiderman. the Hulk is closed. Dr Doom which is Twilight Tower of Terror where it drops you from up high but you are out in the open. Then there is Popeye Bilge water raft ride. Then you head back to Harry Potter and you right the Hogwarts Express to end up in Kingscross in the other theme park which is called Universal Studios. Now that Harry Potter land is Diagon Alley. You get to see the Weasley Wizarding shop and go into Gringotts bank and ride Escape from Gringotts bank ride. It's pretty cool. Drink some butter beer. see the Knight Bus.
Then there is Men In Black where you shoot a laser at moving aliens for points. The Simpsons Ride is eh.. but my kids love it. ET you ride bicycles like in the movie. Transformers ride and the Mummy ride is there. They are fun. There is the Rock in Roll roller coaster which he will love. The Minion ride and Shrek 3D. We did everything in both parks pretty much in one 15 hour day but wore ourselves out.
You could do Universal Studio in one day. Islands of Adventure the Next but you won't get to ride the Hogwarts Express and if you are a fan of the movies or books, you shouldn't miss that. It's so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!
City Walk is in between the two theme parks and its lots of shopping and dining. the Hard Rock Cafe is there. It's pretty cool.
You will need a two day pass probably. Two day park to park pass is what I recommend.
NO WIRE****- Thank you so
NO WIRE****-
Thank you so much for this information. BS is kind of into Harry Potter. He's read the first book. He got the box book set for Xmas and I basically made him start reading it.
Do you know anything about the Caribe Royale hotel?
It's nice. I haven't stayed
It's nice. I haven't stayed there but I want to stay there. My friend stayed there and I visited. The pool has waterfalls. It's pretty close to Universal and very close to Sea World and Aquatica and Discovery Cove.
Universal hotels have hidden
Universal hotels have hidden costs, btw. $20 a day for parking and a resort fee. If you drink any of the water in your hotel room, its $8 a water bottle. They'll charge you at the pool for the towel. They charge you for the newspaper. They nickle and dime you with extra hidden fees. Disney hotels what you get is what you get. There are no hidden deposits, resort fees, parking fees or any of that. They also take you right from your hotel to whereever you want to go (disney world wise) on their buses for free.
If you dont want to stay on site at Universal (cause it is super expensive), you can still do it without those expensive skip the line passes. We went last month on springbreak on the busiest time of the year and still go to do almost everything. We had to get there when they opened and do one Harry Potter land first thing. We had to stay until they closed and do the other one when the park was emptying. Otherwise the waits can be hours. 120 minutes.
If we did Universal one or
If we did Universal one or two days (park to park) what else is there to do close by? If we don't stay on site? My friends who go to Disney a lot, I see that they have gone to this Aquatic place (May be the same one you were talking about) and they got to swim with the dolphins and I think there were monkeys.
Aquatica!!!!!!!!!!! It's
Aquatica!!!!!!!!!!! It's across the street from Sea World. It is owned by Sea World. Discovery Cove is next to Aquatica and that's also owned by Sea World and that is where you swim with the dolphins! Seaworld is in trouble financially because of that BlackFish movie so they have incredible deals trying to lure people back. They also have new rollercoasters at SeaWorld.
Yes Discovery Cove. I think
Yes Discovery Cove. I think if you go to Seaworld then you can get a free pass to Discovery Cove. That is what I think my friend got.
One more question- Would it make more sense to rent a car (not what I would really want to do) or to rely on hotel shuttles and taxis/Uber?
Thanks!
I wouldn't rent a car. If you
I wouldn't rent a car. If you stay at an off site hotel, most hotels have shuttles to all the theme parks. If you stay at an onsite hotel at Universal, there will be plenty to do right in the immediate area. Universal City Walk as the most amazing restaurants right there.
You do pay for parking, but I
You do pay for parking, but I didn't get charged for pool towels or any of that other stuff, and I went this month.
go to culebra for a day -
go to culebra for a day - u'll have to take a puddle-jumper and rent a vehicle, but i swear to god that is the clearest water ever. also look up the place that rents kayaks and takes you out at night to where the water glows - they even let you swim in it! go visit El Moro and walk around old san juan - find a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and get a medianoche or jibarito (types of sandwiches). food there is A-MAAAAAY-ZING. get to the center of the island up in the rainforest - orchids just growing on trees, a cool museum center thing, and there's a restaurant by a gorgeous lake where you can eat in open air overlooking the water.
here, zero -
here, zero -
http://www.ecoadventurespr.com/bio-bay-tour.html
http://www.culebratourism.com/
playa zoni is lovely - just watch your knees
fajardo is a nice area too - that's where you can see the bio-bay best cuz the water is highly protected and they dont let motorized engines there (no boats or ski-do's)
Alright I am over my sulk.
Alright I am over my sulk. Come to South Africa. We can cruise dodgy shebeens and eat goats balls. If you're very well behaved I'll take you to somewhere disgusting and feed you lamb jaws }:)
Then off on a safari and hugging lion cubs. Our elephants kisses are legendary too.
I love the Parts Unknown
I love the Parts Unknown Anthony Bourdain South Africa episode! I do want to go to Africa
Alright Monchichi- BS and I
Alright Monchichi- BS and I are staying with you. I swear he is a PERFECT ANGEL! }:)
Absolutely get the park to
Absolutely get the park to park passes and unlimited express passess--especially if you are only going for a day. Go on a weekday that has longer park hours and you can get almost all the rides done in both parks in one day. If you are more of a take your time and see it all type, you'll need a full 2 days...you can do/see a LOT more if you go on weekdays. Weekends are crazy busy.
As far as the meal plans go, I don't think they are that great a deal. Get one of the Coke Freestyle cups (can refill for free every 10 minutes at the Freestyle kiosks) or just take a water bottle and refill it at the kiosks (water is free at those, you can also get free cups of water at every food place in park). Food--you can get good stuff at the Croissant Moon Bakery for cheap (they have sandwiches in addition to muffins, pies, etc.). Some of the snack stands have fairly cheap options too. You can research the menus and prices online and see what works best for you.
Hotels--I have only stayed on site for Universal. I have stayed at both Cabana Bay and Royal Pacific. Royal Pacific parking is $22/day. Cabana Bay is a bit less for parking. RP includes the Unlimited Express Passes, CB doesn't. Both give you the extra hour in the morning which is a MUST do--you can see so much more when the crowd is smaller. I personally would stay at either one again. If you are able to do the Single Rider lines you can skip the cost of the Express Pass and still cut your ride wait time--usually by more than you would with the express pass (DH and I did this, sometimes we'd end up seated together anyway, sometimes we'd be separated by a few rows...wouldn't recommend doing this with an unruly child or a child under 12).