Universal tickets

[Bugsy73]

Hi,
We have booked a holiday to Florida next August. Staying at a Disney resort as primarily we just want to do Disney! However, now I'm wondering about missing out on Universal. Only really because my 9yr old is a big Harry Potter fan.
Not quite sure what to do now. Has anyone just rocked up and brought a ticket on the day? Is that a ridiculous thing to do? Don't really want to do more than a day, particularly as we have the Disney dining plan so don't want to waste it. Is the Hogwarts express worth the ride or can we get away with just doing Universal Studios?
My other 2 DC are going to be 14 and 12, but neither of them are huge fans of fast rides, and I think the Disney parks will be sufficient from that point of view. Sorry if all that sounds a bit jumbled!

Undercover tourist is fine. Ive booked our Disney accommodation through them this year. All gone through fine on the disney app.

We've done both parks in a day in the past but you need express passes and its a lot to get around. If you start early though and you spend time familiarising yourself with the parks before you go you can definitely do it, particularly if you skip the young kids areas like Dr Suess.

We've booked with Undercover Tourist lots of times, never had any problem (except when using UK card night before we wanted entry while in the US - a quick phone call sorted it out).

Universal is fantastic, definitely worth going. We usually do the hotel/fast pass trick and then only get 2 days' worth of tickets, it's enough for us (but we don't feel the need to do every single ride).

Thanks everyone. Think will go with undercover tourist then 😀. Stupid question (again!) but can I pay with my debit card? How does that work with charges and exchange rates etc?

Sorry, last thing, do I get actual tickets that I can use at the gate?

With undercover tourist that is.

3 weeks tomorrow until I'm there Universal is an absolute must and although we're staying at Disney (with the dining plan) Universal is definitely my favourite and we still buy 14 day tickets so we can come and go as we please.

We've also booked a night at one of the hotels this year for the express passes.

With our disney accommodation booking we just paid online using the credit card with undercovertourist.

You should get a confirmation email with a booking reference. You take this to what the Americans call the "Will call" kiosk on arrival and collect your tickets to get into the park(s)

Depending on the ages of the people in your party and the lengths of the queues, you might struggle to do both parks properly in one day. There is an Olivanders in both parks, so your DS can get an interactive wand whichever one you go to

Hi Bugsy73,
You can buy tickets from the following UK based ABTA registered site for a one day Universal Pass:
www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk/los-angeles-attraction-tickets/universal-studios-hollywood-tickets/universal-studios-hollywood-one-day-ticket. If you don't have any joy there, please let me know. If you get a chance for a day away from the Parks, it's worth visiting the Kennedy Space centre (although it's a couple of hours by car) on the East Coast.

lifechangesforever who did you book your universal hotel with? Which one are you staying at?

@Bugsy73 I booked through booking.com and we're staying at the Royal Pacific - think it was about $330 per room per night, which seems a lot but we didn't know this trick last time we went and paid $99 each for express passes just for one day.

I've just booked Royal Pacific!! Booked with My America Holiday and paid £236 for the night for the 5 of us. I have lost track of all the prices and deals I have looked at so just went for this in the end. Just need the park tickets now but think am going to leave for a bit and get my breath back .
When do you go?

Loews Royal Pacific is nice. Rooms are a bit bland but nice enough. Pool is nice and its a nice ride on the boat to the parks. They also show movies around the pool in the evenings if you're exhausted from a long day at the parks.

I really like the Royal Pacific -enjoy!

I'm very excited!! We haven't told the DC yet. Going to wait till Christmas. Its going to blow their minds!!

Definitely buy Hopper tickets for Universal. The train ride is great, and it is a different experience each way.

We've just bought our tickets - I decided to get them direct in the end. I got them from the US site though, not the UK one as it worked out cheaper for us - we only wanted 2 nights worth. Though at the moment it is buy 2, get 2 free.

Although we are staying in a villa for the week this visit we have also booked one night at Hard Rock Hotel, which is walking distance to the parks. The one night also includes Express tickets for the parks for two days (though not the actual park tickets themselves) which works well for us.

The Harry Potter area is fabulous!

19 days to go for me!!

I'm taking a 4 month old so the excitement is definitely mixed in with apprehension 

3 days to go here...

10 days for me.
Think its our 9th visit to WDW/Universal in Florida. DD and DH are going to the Horror Nights for the first time - not me, Im a coward so Im spending that night in the hotel!

Hope you all have a wonderful time!!

And please all come back on here to give me your top tips and hints!