universal orlando resort

[chester016]

I am making plans to visit Universal Orlando next summer, in late August for the first time. I would like to spend a week and will most likely get the flex ticket for both parks, wet n wild, aquatica, and sea world. I see that reservations are finally open through next summer for all the partner hotels, but not the on- site hotels.

My question for anybody who has been here before is does Universal offer vacation packages during the fall for the upcoming summer so I can get a cheaper rate or does it remain fairly constant. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[Ilovthevu']

^Wow, that seems like a lot of time for just those parks. Islands of Adventure alone to me only takes one day, and it could be even shorter if you don't want to go on water rides - in which that park has 3 - Jurassic Park, Popeye & Dudley Do Right. Again though, if you really like a park I guess you could spend a few days just at one park in a row, but if you get bored really fast, I think 7 days is a lot for just those parks.

[chester016]

If you take one day for each of those parks that's five days right there. Plus it would be nice to have some extra days to just relax . Going 5 days straight at theme parks can get very tiring. I was pooped by dinner time on the second day of our cedar point trip this summer.

[Luxornv]

I spent 8 days there in 2009 and visited all of the WDW parks except for the water parks, IoA, Universal Studios, and Sea World. I spent a day at each park and then picked one of the non Disney parks for the extra day I had. At that pace, it felt rushed, but I was able to get in everything I wanted to do. I would have liked to spend a little more time at each to savor it a little more, but I was on a college student budget, and that's still one of the most expensive trips I've taken. Universal had a good deal last time, a pass that covers both parks and works for 7 days from the first use. As far as just entertainment, I think that was the best value in Orlando. Sea World was fairly expensive, but I was able to get a free extra day with them with the web reservation. I didn't have time to use that extra ticket though. I'm not sure how the whole Universal package works though with hotel and all since I didn't explore that option when I went.

Also, if you need transportation and are not renting a car, I highly recommend Mears shuttles. MCO is nowhere near the Orlando attractions and is a bit of a drive. I was originally looking to hire a cab, but that would have been $50-70 one way. Mears charged me $26 round trip. You share a bus with a bunch of people and make a few stops on the way out. The way back, you may get planned into that bus again, or they may just send a cab which they own. The cab with Mears is the same price and they honor the ticket you'd originally get at the airport counter. The drivers were very polite as well. Here's the link for their site: http://www.mearstransportation.com/

As far as getting around to the rest of the parks, most of the hotels offer buses to all the major attractions. If you're staying at an Orlando Resort, I doubt if they have anything going to other parks like Disney. You don't mention WDW in your plans though, so I don't think that would really be an issue for you then.