Universal Orlando first time

[RachelGellarGreen]

Hi all,
DH and I are off to Florida next week (spending time mostly in Universal but also Disney for a day or two) - have never been before so are novices!

Is there anything you think I definitely need to buy beforehand? We have swimwear, etc for the water parks and warmer weather appropriate clothing but that's all I've bought.

Anyone who knows the parks well and wants to suggest anything else I might need?

Thanks in advance!

Following along as were also doing universal soon as novices

Good shoes. You'll be walking miles each day.

Also, a bottle that filters water. The water from the stations in the parks taste gross. You can also ask for free water in the cafes.

Trainers that can do 15k steps a day.

Lots of money unfortunately

If you are wanting fizzy drinks then get the souvenir cup, we always share 1 between 2 as you can refill them nearly every 10 steps and saves you carrying 2 cups. You just take to a kiosk and they reactivate the barcode for the next day. Can be used for water throughout your stay without paying again. Disney has a similar set up with this.

Shoes you’re comfortable walking with, and I would also maybe pick yourself up a little fan. We usually get the fan/water mist but we go in the height of summer so probably wouldn’t need this type.

TikTok is good for more “hidden” secrets Xx

Thank you so much for these, guys! Keep them coming.

Have comfy trainers and will buy myself one of those hand-held fans.

We heard that food and items in the parks are expensive so we have saved around £3000 spending money (going for eight days). This seem enough?

We always take a rucksack with cool bag compartments to take lunch, drinks and snacks with us to keep costs down. Think we got ours from Decathlon.

A portable phone charger is handy too, the parks all have WiFi and I use my phone alot to check wait times etc and book on rides in Disney

We went at New Year a few years ago with our adult dds. It was very pleasant weather but not hot and we did have a thunderstorm one day. We didn’t have fast passes but we sometimes went in the single rider queue to reduce waiting time on popular rides. If you are not too fussed about riding together this works well. It didn’t seem that expensive then but we were living in the US at the time and thinking in dollars, the exchange rate isn’t great at the moment so it will feel expensive. Definitely take comfortable shoes.

Take layers as its been quite cold recently (not been but seen on FB groups).

Check if the waterparks are open before you go.

We are going in the summer - can't wait!

Definitely great shoes! Shorts and t shirts, cute clothes for the evening if you want but we live in athletic wear during the day for the ease in mid thirties heat.

Ponchos you can buy there but tbh are a bit rubbish! Take some cold / flu incase you feel any sniffles coming on. Take a bum bag if you can (three pronged) you can wear it on a lot of rides and it'll fit in the small free ride lockers if needed. Are you staying in a hotel with express passes? If so a lanyard is a lifesaver.

£3k for 8 days should be fine depending what that needs to cover - do you have tickets already? We spent double and a bit in 14 days but bought loads of merch + tickets for certain events. Are you driving and parking at the hotel? It was like £450 for two weeks parking for us so add that into the budget if needed!

@justalittlesnoel we already have park tickets and are staying at a Universal hotel so thankfully no can fares. We don't have express passes but are ok with not having them.

Great idea about cold/flu stuff, never thought of that! 👍