How to Choose Your Universal Orlando Tickets (Plus How to Save!)

We have 3 day Park-to-Park tickets and are going July 21, 22, and 23 (Tues, Weds, Thurs) We are staying onsite at Cabana Bay and plan to utilize the early admission each day. Our plan is to go at opening (early admission) each day, go back to hotel around noon or 1 and return each night from 5pm to close. Is that a good plan? Will we be able to do everything (excluding shows and focusing on Harry Potter) without the Express Pass?

I kept reading comments looking for an answer to my question but there's so many! Thank you for answering everyone's questions :)! We'll be at Universal from Dec.15-21 and we're not sure what to buy. We don't like making long lines so I guess it's gotta be the Unlimited Express passes. Problem is it's around $400 pp for 3-4 days. Will we really need 4 days of express at that time of the year? Can we upgrade from 3-day park-to-park to 4-day Unlimited Express at the park?

What if we want to dine at Margaritaville the night before we use our passes, will that count as our first "day" of our 4-day express unlimited?

I apologize in advance if this has already been answered. I am planning a trip for 9, 5 adults 4 children (11,11,7,3) August 24th-Sept 2nd. We usually visit disney, but decided to try Universal this year as its much cheaper and we would enjoy many of the rides. I know the parks will be less crowded around this time, but I've been checking wait times during the moderate times and waits have been 45min for many main attractions, should I plan to buy an express pass in addition to the park to park unlimited tickets. We are staying off site in a private pool home. We plan on buying a one or two day disney pass, at least to magic kingdom.

Is it possible to buy a one day park to park pass and then decide to upgrade at the end of the day? I say this because I'm not sure if I want to do two days out in the heat of a large amusement park, but it would be nice if it's an option.

Do you have to have a park to park pass to ride the Hogwarts express?

Hi!

My boyfriend and I will be in Orlando for only two days. We wanted to go to one of the theme parks at Universal and were hoping for a recommendation. I love Harry Potter (but know this is split across two parks), but otherwise we are just a young couple who will enjoy the rides and the general excitement of the park. Which can you recommend for us??

Thank you!!

The hubby and I are going to Universal Sept 21-25.

What are the best options for both Universal parks, Wet&Wild and HHN?

(We already have hotel accommodations off site..within walking distance)

Hi, we live in Idaho and are planning a surprise vacation to Orlando Aug 13-23 for our 4 oldest children (16, 13, 11, 9). They have never been on an airplane, let alone to anything Disney. And they are all huge Harry Potter fans.

We have 7 1/2 days to do Disney World and Universal Orlando, and definitely want to hit Harry Potter world. We are staying off site from both resorts due to our family size (much cheaper for us!). What is the best way to split 7 1/2 days between both resorts? We are leaving one day to visit Cape Canaveral and the beach :). Thank you for your advice!

My family (3 adults) will be arriving on 23rd early morning. we want to visit Wizzarding world of Harry Potter ( universal adventure park0 and Universal studios on Saturday and Next day Wet n wild. Which type of ticket we should buy? We are there only for 2 days. Saturday and Sunday

if I purchase 2 day base tickets for two adults does that mean we get free admission into citywalk as a party pass?

We are staying on property at the HRH. Can we buy Park to Park tickets from UT and then pick up the Express passes at the hotel after we check in?

We are visiting Universal Studios from Australia with 2 huge HP fans aged 9 in mid June. We are staying at an on-site hotel (spending 3 days at Disney World first). I'm looking at the 2 day 2 park pass. Is there any advantage of adding the Express pass. We aren't big thrill riders, and will be mostly there for HP and and the general atmosphere.

Can you pls confirm if a "Universal 2 park bonus ticket" allowing access for 14 consecutive days is the same as a "park to park" ie. will allow us to ride Hogwarts Express?

We will be in Orlando June 9th - 14th with 6 teens. We all LOVE thrill rides. Planning on getting 2 day park-to-park Universal with express pass. Will 2 days be enough to enjoy all the best rides at least 2-3 times?

we just got our universal 2 day park to park (with extra 3rd day) tickets, do we have to print our names on them and sign them before we get to the park or do we do it there

Can we book an on-site deluxe hotel and wait to buy the park tickets at the gate? My mother has an annual pass and will get discounts on tickets bought at the gate.If so do we still get the express pass from the hotel?

How much difference is there between a 3/10 day on your crowd planner and a 4/10 or 5/10 in real terms of queue lengths for the big rides? Enough to justify re-organising our trip? Planning a 10 day trip in December - currently arriving evening of the 9th Dec and leaving 19th Dec - thinking to start with 7 nights at the Four Seasons to visit the Disney Parks (tickets for all 7 days but plenty of rest time in the middle of each day to avoid the worst of the queues) then finishing with 3 nights staying at one of the Universal deluxe hotels as this is when things start to look more busy, and we will get early entry as well as Express passes due to staying there, so hopefully avoid the queues. Children are Harry potter crazy so that is the main reason for the entire trip (and as such, is 2 full days enough time at Universal, bearing in mind early entry and express passes?), and really, really want to avoid excessive queuing at the Disney parks as well as have 3 young children. It might be possible to pull trip forward a day or two to be there for the lower crowd ratings on the 9th (quite a lot of hassle to do so though), but would this be necessary do you think?

Hi, with a 3-day Universal base ticket, can two parks be visited in the same day, thus using two days of the ticket? So, hypothetically, I would visit IOA in the morning, and US in the afternoon, and have one day left to visit one park on a future date. Is this allowable?

hi,

we're planning a trip to Universal and cannot wait to experience all that HP has to offer! we're going the 3rd week of June. is the crowd expected to be massive around this time - leaving us with major wait time in lines? any info would be great. thanks!!

One more thing... We do not do "thrill" rides so the roller coasters etc.. are not a factor for us in choosing passes. I know you are park gurus and would love to benefit from your wisdom. PS- is Epcot something we should squeeze in? Thank you!!!

HELP! Need a plan ASAP! Planning a last minute vacay this weekend 4/18-4/22. It's a total SURPRISE 1st time trip for daughters 8&11. Only have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday for parks. Will take advantage of after 2:00pm park hoppers for MK for 2 days and leave 1 full day for Universal. Staying at Swan for conference. I have to fit Universal in 1 day. Do I need all the bells & whistles to get a good taste of the park? Such as park to park and the express pass? I had thought about getting just a 1-day Universal pass + express pass vs. Park to park no express pass. We "like" HP but are not "super fans." Any advice would be appreciated! We live in Southern CA and visit our parks but the Harry Potter is a definitely a draw for us. Thank you!!!

We are going to Universal Oct 3-4 but noticed they have Halloween Horror Night those evenings. Our kids are young so we are not interested in attending. We plan on park-to-park tickets but I am concerned we will have limited time. Do both parks close early for the event or can we start at Universal Studios and spend the rest of our evening at Island of Adventures? Thank you.

I will be visiting Orlando on October 17th to the 25th. What are the best days of the week to visit the Universal Studios parks during this time frame usually? We are planning on spending two or three days at the parks with the park to park ticket.

Hi,

If we are staying at an on-site hotel, like Cabana Bay, are we allowed to go back to the hotel during the day and re-enter later while using the same tickets? Thanks!

Hi,

I'm wanting to purchase a 2 day pass. But I only want to visit 1 park the first day and the other park the 2nd day. I'm not wanting to do both parks in the same day. Is this allowed on the base ticket?

Thank you!

Hi, I would just like to ask if the tickets have specific dates printed on them cause I bought tickets for three days via vacation packages but I'll be arriving in the evening of my first day of stay so I can't go to the park on the first day. So just wanna ask if the tickets are dated. Thanks!

Does the Orlando Flex ticket work on the Hogwarts Express?

We are going to universal Sunday, April 12. I'd love to do both parks with the express pass but for a family of 5 it is over $1,000! Is it necessary and worth it? If we only chose one park... Which is better?

Hi - I hope you can help!! We are coming over and have 6 days to fit in - 1 day in blizzard beach, 1 day in seaworld, 2 days universal and 2 days in Disney. We are 2 adults and a 10+11year old. What will be our cheapest option of tickets? Look forward to hearing from you

NinjaMom

Hi, we are going to be in orlando for 5 days, 3 of tham in universal (2 parks and wet 'n wild), in july 14-18.

we want to buy the express tickets allsow.

the kids are 12, 15 years old. what combination is best for us? and how much it will cost? tnx.

Our family of four plans to be at universal on April 14 (tuesday). Our kids are ages 7 and 9. If we are only there one day, we are trying to decide which ticket option is best and if we want to add on the express pass. We are not staying on site. Park to park with express passes is over $1k. That's a lot for one day,but don't want to spend the day waiting in line either. Decisions!

we are planning on coming on june 22- 26 and getting a 2 day park to park ticket, do we need to get the express tickets my kids don't like to ride a lot rides. Son is interested in seeing Harry Potter.

Hi

We have a 3 park ticket for universal and wet'n'wild. If we wanted to spend a part day at universal and then go onto wet'n'wild (or visa versa) do we have to pay for parking again? (Or is it like Disney where you only pay once per day?)

Thanks

Peter

Hi,

We are 3 adults and one 4 year old,this is our first time to Orlando we will be visiting on spring break and staying for 3 days so we want to visit one attraction each day,so how can i buy ticket here and how does the system work and how much will it come for 4 people on each attraction which are WDW,Universal Studios and water parks and I m really confused what to choose for each attraction?? can give me an example and amount it will come, I would really appreciate ...

Thank you.

Hi,

My wife and I are planning a visit, May 23rd to May 27th. We're getting the 2+1 park to park tickets.

1) How chaotic is it around that time - Should we invest in the Express Passes?

2) Is the 3-Day Photo Connect Star Card worth it or should we take out own pictures?

3) Everything we select says May 23rd (the day we check-in) - but we want our 2+1 days to start from May24th onwards - I hope we can do that?

Thanks!

I'm planning to go on a one day trip to visit Island of adventure and maybe universal studio in April with my husband. I have a few questions,

1. How much is the upgrading fee from 1-Day t to park-to-park ticket inside the Park ?

2. Is there any rides that costs extra inside the Park?

3. Where are the main castle and the night clubs are located?

Thanks :)

Our family of 5 is coming down for Easter week and want to go to Universal one day. Based on your Orlando crowd calendar, it looks our best day is Easter. Does it tend to be much less crowded on Easter? I'm thinking about getting the park to park ticket along with the Express Pass and tix to Blue Man Group. The boys are 17, 15 and 12. Do you think this is too much?

Thanks

How does the park hopping ticket work? Do I have to keep the home ticket printout with me each time I want to go between parks? What if it got wet on a ride? Thank you.

We only have 1 day for Universal, we have 3 kids, 17, 16 and 9. 2 of them are not fans of roller coasters. 3 of us do like the rides. 1 park only pass or park to park?

We are planning a last minute visit to Universal and we plan to be in the parks on April 5, 6, &7. We are not staying onsite due to limited availability and cost. Do you think we need to get the Express pass for all three days?

Also, what is the price difference between the Express Unlimited and the Express one-time (where you can only use it once time per ride)?

Thanks.

We are planing WDW, Universal Trip May 29- June 5. All these passes and express passes snd 2 day, ugh so many different things to look at. We are staying at Sheraton Vistana Resort and can't figure out if we have shuttle service from there to WDW parks or universal. Would it b better to rent a car? What's parking like at the resorts? Help!!

We are planning to visit Universal on April 9 and 10, and are debating the whether or not the near $300 investment for express passes on just one of those days is worth it. Any thoughts?

Hi Leap,

Haven't been to either Disney or Universal, trying to plan a trip, 1 adult, 3 kids (14, 12 & 6), planning on a budget and hoping to see both Disney and Universal focusing on the Harry Potter piece. Haven't figured out when's the best time to go. Not sure if I should stay on site Disney for 4 days, pack everyone up and finish the trip at Universal and stay on site there (seems like a pain)?? Or if staying put is best and renting a car to get to the other one is the better option. Lastly, does either park offer shuttle service to the other?

Thanks

How would one use express passes with tickets that are purchased through your site? Do you purchase the passes upon arrival to Universal? Do they ever sell out of the passes? Thanks for your help.

Hello, if my family of 4 adults is planning to visit Universal Studios/Islands May 17-20 (3 days) this year, is it predicted that we should purchase the express pass to avoid waiting more than 45 minutes for rides outside the Harry Potter rides?

Hi

I have purchased an unlimited Seaworld/Aquatica ticket in the UK. My question is if I activate it on our first day Wednesday 13th May will I be able to use it on our last day Wednesday 27th May.

Thank you

My family of 4 (2 adults 1 7 year old and 1 infant) are heading to Orlando over spring break. My Son and I will be going to Universal 2 days, and my wife would like to go one day to see the new Diagon Alley. If My son and I buy 2 day 1 park tickets and get a third day free, can my wife use my third day ticket and go with us one of the days? I assume on 0 year old will be free as well.

Hello! Im going with husband and kids (8-8-13 yo) to Orlando on thursday october the 8th trough the 15th. We want to visit WDW, Universal and Legoland. I'd really apprciate your advice on the days we should go to each place to make the most out of it.

Thanks in advance for your help and support!!

First trip to Universal coming up at the end of April, staying at the Cabana Bay, but we're wanting to purchase the 3 park unlimited tickets. Will we still be able to get into the parks an hour early with these if we are staying on property?

Thanks for your help!

If we purchase Universal Orlando tickets from you can they be upgraded to annual passes before they expire?

If yes, is this done at Universal Guest Services or other?