Top 6 Mistakes Made When Visiting Universal Studios Orlando

Time and money. Two scarce resources for most people. So today we're going to talk about what's worth your time and your money at Universal Orlando and maybe a couple things that aren't worth your time and money. Let's get going. Well, before we can visit Universal Orlando, we have to have some type of ticket or pass, right? So let's start there. If you're going to visit Universal Orlando at least twice, then yes, getting an annual pass is worth it versus, say, getting a ticket. With your annual pass, you're gonna get discounts, special parking, passholder perks, access to the passholder lounge. So the math kind of works out. If you're going to visit more than once, get that annual pass instead of just buying tickets. But be careful to which pass you get. Double check all the block out dates. I would highly suggest you get either the prime annual pass or the premier annual pass. In fact, I would say it's worth it to get the premier annual pass. With that, you get free valet when they do have valet parking available. You get free prime parking. You get larger discounts and early park admission. As far as I'm concerned, upgrading to a premier pass is worth it just on the parking alone. And when it comes to those annual passes, pay attention. Sometime Universal, they run some good deals where they extend the time. Instead of a 12-month pass, they might make it 15 or 18 months. So pay attention to that. And of course, if you're a Florida resident, the deals are even better. And it's up to you. You need to decide if you want the two-park pass, which would be for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, or the three-park pass, which would also include Volcano Bay, their water park. Now the main reason I chose a premier pass was for the valet parking and the prime parking and also the 15% discount that I get on food and merchandise. Whereas the prime annual pass, which my wife Nikki has, only gets 10% on food and merchandise. One more thing to mention as we head into the park. I believe it is worth it to stay on property at a Universal Studios hotel. A couple of main benefits to staying on property. You have the use of Universal's transportation, the buses, and the boats. You get early park admission, whether it be Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure. And then, if you happen to be visiting during pandemic times, when there is a capacity limit, you will not have any issues getting back into the park because there will be a special entrance for hotel guests. Now that we're in the park, you know what's worth it, especially during the busy season? Express passes. Now if you're visiting during a non-peak time of the year, maybe an express pass wouldn't be worth it. But let's be honest, most people are here during the busy season. That's why it's the busy season. And let me tell you, if you're here during that time, it is no fun to wait in the regular standby lines. Getting an express pass will greatly reduce the amount of time you're waiting in line. And that's going to make for a more enjoyable experience when you're visiting Universal Orlando during a busy time. Now if you're not sure when a busy time is, you can check a crowd calendar such as they have at theorlandoinformer.com. But my advice is always to get into the park, unless you know it's a busy season. Once you get into the park, you can kind of get a feel. If it's too busy for your liking, they do sell express passes throughout the park. So you don't have to buy it ahead of time. You don't have to buy express passes at the front of the park. You can find a spot that sells them throughout the park. So in my opinion, it is worth it to get the express passes during the busy season. Also worth it, if you're into photos, get the photo pass. You can purchase the photo pass online or at the front of the parks. Now this will include digital downloads as well, on-ride photos, and there are photographers stationed throughout the parks to give you that awesome shot to create a great memory of your trip to Universal Orlando. And as I'm standing here telling you about the photo pass, I will be putting up on the screen here some of the photos I have taken over the past year on rides and whatnot. But I would like to mention it's not just the digital downloads that you get. You do get discounts on printed pictures and any type of framing. Anything that they have there in the Photoshop, check to get a discount on those. In addition to the digital downloads that you'll have to share with everyone that you love. One more thing about staying on property at a Universal Hotel and express passes. It is worth it to stay at a Universal Studios Luxury Hotel because they come with express passes. So you need to do a little bit of math. If you think you're going to buy express passes anyway, consider the cost of whatever room you are going to stay at, plus the express passes, and then compare it to what your cost would be for a room at one of Universal's luxury hotels, which would be the Hard Rock Hotel, Portofino Bay, and Royal Pacific. A lot of times the math just works out for you to stay at that luxury hotel if you already intend to get the express passes. So don't sleep on that. You know what else is worth it? It's worth it to visit Universal Orlando during one of the special seasons, Mardi Gras, Christmas, Halloween. Now with Mardi Gras and Christmas, you get to experience what they offer with your price of admission or your pass into the park. Halloween Horror Nights is a separately ticketed event, but let me tell you, the cost of that event is worth it. 100% worth it. Halloween Horror Nights here in Orlando is the premier Halloween event in all of the United States, even including Universal Hollywood. Not that I'm biased or anything for Orlando, but like I said, that is a special cost. And even if you're not a fan of Halloween, let me tell you, it took me over a couple decades to get my wife Nikki to attend Halloween Horror Nights. I started trying to get her to go when she was a teenager. It didn't work until after she had her own kids who went to Halloween Horror Nights. And let me tell you, that event has become her favorite theme park event of all time. Nothing beats Halloween Horror Nights. So even if you're a little skittish with Halloween, strongly consider getting that Halloween Horror Nights ticket as it is worth it. You know what else is worth it when it comes to Halloween Horror Nights? Getting the express passes for the haunted mazes. I mean you can have fun waiting in the lines, hours in the lines if you want, but for the past couple years, that's all we do in my family is use the express passes. And believe me, it makes the event so much more enjoyable, especially if you're only coming for one night. That way with the express passes, you can get through all ten mazes no problem and enjoy the Halloween atmosphere that is throughout the park. Worth your time and your money, getting yourself a specialty food item. Get yourself a Krusty Burger, a Duff Beer, a Butter Beer, things like that. Things you can't get out in the regular world. You can't be driving home. Pull over to the side of the road and go through drive-thru and get yourself a Krusty Burger. So it's well worth your time and money to get those specialty items here in the park. Now when it comes to unique food you can have here, I did do a Rick's Top 6 on that. I'll leave a link to that video in the description box of this video. And as far as a food item is concerned, one thing that is worth both your time and your money. Now money wise, the price point is pretty good. Between nine to ten dollars, you have your crepes here at Central Park Crepes. One of the best food items in the park. And it's worth your time because the line for these can back up as they are handmade to your order. They're not sitting around in the back. You come up, you order it, they make it right then. Now when it comes to food, do not skip out on the crepes. And when it comes to this video, do not skip out until the end as later on I will be discussing the universal meal plan and whether or not if I think it's worth it. I got a sweet sugar candy man. Thank you dearie. Other side. He's my sweet sugar candy man. He's a one stop shop. Makes my heart beat so. He's a one stop shop. He makes the ladies drop. He's a one stop shop. Takes me to her shop. He's a sweet talking sugar candy man. A sweet talking sugar sugar candy man. And sweet sugar candy man. Also, do not, never ever, skip out on Marilyn and the Diamond Bellas. Some other shows I would advise you not miss out on, totally worth your time, would be the Blues Brothers, also the Horror Makeup Show, and the Born Stuntacular Universal's latest show, the newest attraction at studios, is fantastic. Totally worth your time waiting in line for it and enjoying the show. We talked about specialty food, but what about a specialty drink? You know what's worth it? The Ocean Attack by our favorite bartender Murph. All the alcoholic drinks at Chez Alcatraz are $12.77, except for the brews, which is like a dollar more, a little over a dollar more. But what makes the Ocean Attack such a great value, it comes with a show. Shark in the water. Swim to your boat. Swim fast. Don't look back. Don't go too slow. Shark friendly. Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. And you're going to need a bigger boat. Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. She's funny. You don't have to close the beaches because there's a shark friendly shark in the ocean. Now there is a secret menu item. Regarding the Ocean Attack, if you want it non-alcoholic, it's called the Shark Friendly Ocean Attack. It's not on the menu. It's only $4.50. Basically, orange juice and pineapple juice. Ask Murph for it. It's not on the menu. Well, what do you know? We made it all this time talking about Universal, but not talking about Harry Potter. That's about to change as we head into Diagon Alley to discuss what's worth it in the Wizarding World. You know what's worth it? Spend $55 and get yourself an interactive magic wand. That way you can participate in all the interactive magic wand spots. When you get your interactive magic wand, it will come with a map of all the interactive wand spots. However, my favorite is one that is not on the map. This one right here. Dragon Dung. Just do a little triangle move with your magical wand and watch the dung move up and down and it will release a brimstone scent. The only magical wand spot that will release a scent. See this line right here? This is the line to get into Ollivander's for the magical wand show where the wand will pick the wizard. All these people are waiting in line for that. It's a very special thing if you're a big Harry Potter fan. So you see, waiting for that show is an investment in time and in our opinion, worth it. When you get yourself a Butterbeer, don't get it in the regular cup. Get it in the souvenir cup. An extra $5 and you'll have that cup forever. We have like every version of it in our house. As we walk around Diagon Alley, let me discuss a couple more things that I think is worth your time. It's worth your time to wake up early and get into the park as soon as you can. Especially if you're not going to get the express passes. The wait times and the crowds in the early morning are at the lowest they'll be all day. Worth your time to wake up early, even on vacation. And the other thing, especially here in the Wizarding World, that is worth your time. Waiting in line for Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. During the busy season, that ride can get well over an hour if it's a standby wait. But believe me, that ride is amazing. It is totally worth any time you invest in line for Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I will mention the meal plan with you guys. The dining plan here at Universal. And I will have a couple things to tell you that are not worth it here at Universal. We are now in the viewing area for the Cinematic Spectacular Fountain and Fireworks Show. Which is where it closes the evening here at Universal Studios. Down in the lagoon here we can see the equipment used for the fountains. And there's also fireworks in this show. Lots of music, lots of fountain work, a lot of fireworks, a lot of fun. It's worth your time to wait until the end of the day, come to this show, get yourself a spot in this viewing area. Which does fill up fast, by the way. So you kind of need to get into this viewing area at least 40 minutes ahead of time. At least. But believe me, it's worth your time to do so. There's only a couple of attractions at Universal and Islands of Adventure that I would say is not worth your time. One would be Poseidon's Fury over there at Islands of Adventure in the Lost Continent. Oh, so old, so dated, so cheesy. In my opinion, not worth your time. And then there is one over here at Studios I would say, not worth your time. Most Universal Studios pass holders, not all of them, but most of them, would advise you that Fast and Furious Supercharged is not worth your time. And I will say the same thing, but with one caveat. And that caveat is, if the wait is longer than 15-20 minutes, then not worth your time. Today, the wait is 90 minutes, not worth your time. A lot of people say the ride's not that good. Definitely, it is too short. So, if you have to wait longer than that 15-20 minutes, I would postpone that ride on Fast and Furious. But wait, I am not done with caveats. A caveat would be the team members at these attractions. They are awesome. All the team members are awesome. And the other thing I'd like to say, if this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for you, or maybe you don't get down here that often, try and do everything that you can try. This worth it thing that I'm doing, where I'm saying Poseidon's not worth it, Fast and Furious isn't worth it. Well, that's just an advisory for you guys. Try not to spend too much time waiting in line for these attractions. But like I said, if you don't get here much, please, try everything that you can. Have a good time. Here's one thing I'm unsure of, whether it's worth it or not. That would be the VIP tours that Universal offers. Nikki, my wife, wants to say it is worth it, mainly because you get to skip even the express lines with VIP tours. So virtually no waiting for rides and attractions for you guys. However, we've never done it, mainly because of the cost. It is very costly. So it's hard for me to sit here when I've never thought it was worth it for me to spend the extra money on a VIP tour to tell you that it's worth it for you. Even though that one big advantage of skipping even express is a big advantage. Not quite at the end yet, guys. You're almost there, though. I want to remind you, click that subscribe button and that bell notification button, so you'll know when another video is ready for you to view. And that brings us to one of my most asked questions. Rick, is the meal plan worth it? So I have looked at this a few different ways. I've looked at the dining plans, looked at the meal plans, and it is my belief that yes, the meal plan is worth it. This is something I did myself when I was visiting with my family when my kids were younger. And that was a while ago, but I did look at them again last night. And it is my belief the meal plans are a good deal as long as you do everything on the meal plan. If you skip something, you skip a snack or a drink, well then of course it's not as valuable and not as worth it. But in general, for your typical average family, I would say yes, the dining plans are worth it. Well look at you guys, you made it all the way to the end of the video. Give yourself a round of applause. But I do have one more worth it, I think. Hopefully you'll think it's worth it to subscribe to the channel and click that bell notification button. And as always... Don't miss the magic, don't miss the fun at Universal! I'm Cameron, we're from Georgia. Don't miss the magic. Don't miss the fun. Hello and welcome to the team, some new Flicksters. We have Marianne Carpenter as one of Nicki's rock stars. Jocene and Lori Perez as producers. DA Shippers as a producer. Louis Basham as a producer. And Stephanie Reeves as a supporter. Thank you guys so so much for joining the team.