Vacation to Universal Orlando

In September we went on a vacation to Universal Orlando. For us, it was a once in a decade vacation due to the cost. We had such a great time that half way through I was thinking, how can we save more money so we can do this every couple of years?

I may have written on it in the past, but this wasn’t a trip we would have planned at this time. Christy’s cousin’s son was getting married in Florida on a destination cruise wedding. The plan was, we’ll go to Universal for a couple days, drive down to the ship to be there for the wedding before they depart, and come back up to Orlando and spend the rest of the time at Universal.

When I booked the Airbnb, the terms were that if you had to cancel, you only get a 50% refund and that got less and less the closer you got to the date. I figured, they are 2 young men in love. What could go wrong? Well, it did go wrong and a couple months before the wedding the relationship ended. Being that we already had money invested into it, we went head on into it and booked the rest of the vacation.

The accommodations

We found this place on Airbnb. We thought it was just a condo in a complex, but it was actually a gated resort.

It fit everyone well and the kids liked the video game machine in the back bedroom. The only thing that was different from other Airbnb’s that we’ve stayed at, was that it was more like staying at a Homewood Suites than a house.

Normally, there are spices, condiments, foil, etc. so that you can cook. If you need something, you buy it and leave it for the next person. Everyone replenishes things as time goes on. Either all previous renters ate out for every meal or the cleaning crew clears the place out after each stay. I had to swipe extra condiment packets from Universal so that we had something for the food we bought.

One cool thing was the pool and clubhouse. They had a DJ at the pool that was hosting games like balloon toss, hula-hoop, and corn-hole contests. The kids loved it.

Universal Studios

The first park we went to was Universal Studios. The great part about this park is it was smaller so we were able to hit almost every ride in one day. I think the only 2 we were not able to ride were Revenge of the Mummy and Fast and Furious.

The Harry Potter world was great. It was so well themed, it was amazing. And I’ve never even seen any of the movies. We didn’t get to see the dragon breathe fire, but Escape from Gringotts was a great dark ride.

E.T. was another one we really liked. It was a little dated, of course, but the walk through the woods to get to the ride and the bike themed seats were great.

The Simpsons Ride was a unique dark ride. I’ve never been on a dark ride where you had a 360° view of the screen. It was pretty cool.

Our 3 year old really liked the Twirl ‘n’ Hurl. It was what I call a Dumbo ride. I guess because our Six Flags has an elephant themed version. I really liked the commentary by the characters during the ride. It was pretty funny and had the classic Simpsons humor.

Islands of Adventure

The 2nd day we went to Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure. We wanted to hit all 3 of the parks and decide which one we would go back to for our 4th and final day. Due to the size of this park, we chose it for the final day so we could experience more of it.

The Harry Potter world in this park was just as amazing, if not more. Forbidden Journey was really cool how it moved in between the screen where you fly through the sky and the non-screen sections, for lack of a better term.

If I had to pick one ride to go on the rest of my life, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure would be it. It was one of the most unique rides I’ve ever been on. The best part was seeing our oldest son grinning ear to ear the entire ride. It really is a fun ride.

Jurassic Park River Adventure was a good, relaxing ride. I felt the inside part could have been a little better, but the T Rex and drop at the end was great.

The Incredible Hulk is probably the only “normal” coaster they have. The launch out of the tube accompanied by the Hulk’s yell was awesome. After that, it kind of reminded me of Bizarro (Medusa) at Six Flags Great Adventure. Which isn’t a bad thing, because that is my favorite ride at that park.

Two of the dark rides, Skull Island and Spider Man, were also great. Not only were they great for the experience of the visual and water effects, but they were also a good opportunity to get out of the heat or the rain.

The one ride I don’t plan on ever riding again is the Velocicoaster. If it had shoulder restraints, I’d be good, but hanging upside down with only a leg restraint and feeling like I was going to slip out to my death? No thanks. I’m too much of a pussy for that.

Probably the best kids area in all of Universal Orlando, or any park for that matter, is the Dr. Seuss area. I don’t know anyone that wasn’t raised with those books and the vibrant colors with the characters popping out of the pages into real life filled you with happiness.

The ride our 3 year old loved the most in that area was The Cat In The Hat. If it’s hot out, this is a great dark ride to go on. I think they have the air conditioning set to 40°. The Caro-Seuss-el was still a carousel, but the theming takes it to a new level.

Volcano Bay

I haven’t been to any other water parks in Florida, but I’m going to just say that Universal Orlando has the best one. The kids all said that this was actually their favorite park, but since we only scrapped the surface at Islands of Adventure the first day, we all decided to make that park our last one.

One thing we didn’t like at first because we didn’t understand it was the TapuTapu. I won’t go into detail here, but it’s a line management system that allows you to check into a ride and come back when it tells you it’s your turn. This means waiting about 10 minutes for a slide instead of an hour.

Where this really comes into play is with the in demand Krakatau Aqua Coaster. That’s the first kind of ride like that I have been on. It was a unique experience. I would have done it more, but there is so much to do and so little time.

The Kopiko Wai Winding River was nice. All lazy rivers are. But The Fearless River is a lazy river on steroids. It really rushes you along.

There isn’t a ton to talk about in this park, because really, most water slides are water slides. Plus, we didn’t even get to go on every one of the. That aside, the Ohno & Ohyah slides were unique because they had a drop at the end that plunged you into the water.

Tot Tiki Reefs is by far the best kids water park ever. Our 3 year old spent pretty much the entire day there and he never got tired of it.

Like the Velocicoaster, there is one ride I will never go on again and that is ANY plunge ride. Our 14 year old son talked me into going on the Ko’okiri Body Plunge. I was worried about the floor dropping out from under me, but what I should have been worried about was the real life waterboarding experience. If you enjoy inhaling chlorinated water and struggling to breathe, Ko’okiri Body Plunge is a must try ride.

You would think I would have learned my lesson, but when he said he wanted to go on the Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides, I fell for it again. I thought those wouldn’t be so bad. It starts out the same, with a free fall, but flattens out to what appeared to be a standard tube ride. In reality, it’s just an extended waterboarding simulator. About 2/3 of the way in, I was smart enough to cup my hands around my face and that helped diffuse the water away from my nose and mouth.

Dining

As we’ve said previously, we are vegetarians. Going to a theme park usually limits your options, but they had a decent selection of options for us.

Aside from the typical veggie burgers and cheese pizza, there were two place we really enjoyed.

Thunder Falls Terrace had a rice bowl with jackfruit that everyone liked. It’s located in the Jurassic Park area and dining area is very large and nice.

The other place was Mythos Restaurant in The Lost Continent area. This is an upper class establishment with great theming and the price reflected it. I recommend it, but don’t forget to make a reservation and bring a fat wallet. There are a ton of other great looking restaurants right outside the entrances to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, but we chose to eat at Mythos to maximize our time in the park. Even though it was pricey, I would eat there again.

One thing I would like Universal and other parks to do is, start ditching the boring old veggie burgers and replace them with Impossible (preferably) or Beyond burgers. I’ve eaten enough burgers with bits of carrots and peas in my life. I’m good.

Summary

As with our trip to Disneyland in 2019, Universal Orlando was an amazing experience. Even better in my opinion because I felt it wasn’t as congested and we got to experience more. Everything there is so well themed. All of their rides and experiences are so unique compared to your ordinary theme park.

Does it cost a mortgage payment to spend a few days there (not including food and accommodations)? Yes. Is it worth it? Eh, maybe. It depends on your financial situation. For our financial situation, it is a definite yes. If we made $60,000 a year, probably not.

If you are debt free and can afford to go to Universal at least once, I say do it. Even if you aren’t debt free, have a great income, and for some stupid reason choose to give your money to banks via monthly interest payments, go ahead. It’s an experience you will not have at any other theme park. But, once you go, you will want to go back again at some point. So start saving.