2026 Universal Orlando Planning Guide

ByTom Bricker
317 Comments

Our Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and Epic Universe planning guide offers park & ride strategy. It features tips & tricks to help you save money & time, avoid crowds, and have the best vacation or side-visit from Walt Disney World as possible.

We’re Universal Orlando Annual Passholders and huge fans of those parks in addition to Walt Disney World. Universal has improved a ton and upped its game in the last decade. This began with the Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade lands of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, accelerated with Jurassic World VelociCoaster, and culminated with Epic Universe.

Epic Universe is the elephant in the room, and there’s a good chance you’re reading this guide in order to plan the perfect visit to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe. Fortunately, we’ve already spent several days in Epic Universe (with many more to come) and have strategy, reviews, tips & tricks, etc. Sign up to receive our FREE Email Newsletter if you’d like to receive updates about Epic Universe (and obviously, Disney as well).

Suffice to say, we highly recommend spending at least a couple of days at Universal when vacationing at Walt Disney World. The question becomes, do you reallocate time from Universal’s existing gates or Disney’s? And do you stay on-site at Disney, Universal, or do a split-stay at both?

This is guide to Universal Orlando Resort attempts to assist you in answering some of those questions and everything you’ll need to know about UOR. Whether you’re doing both parks in a single day or making a trip of it with an on-site hotel stay and multiple days in the parks, we have you covered with info and advice about attractions, dining, resorts, strategy, crowds, and more.

Let’s start with Epic Universe, since that’s the big new thing–and reason why many of you are likely reading…

Epic Universe Everything…

If you’re planning a 2026 vacation to Central Florida, the biggest thing to know is that Epic Universe is now open. This is Universal Orlando’s third theme park, and is a blockbuster expansion containing revolutionary attractions and major lands based on Harry Potter, Nintendo, Universal Monsters, How to Train Your Dragon, and more. Epic Universe is a game-changer, featuring lands on par with Disney’s best.

Epic Universe should be the overriding consideration if you’re visiting Central Florida. One thing to note up front is that there are major downsides to visiting this highly-anticipated new park right now, as laid out in Why You Should Skip Epic Universe (or Wait to Visit Until 2026).

This new park is going to have growing pains, and its envelope-pushing attractions are already plagued by downtime and unreliability. If you visit Epic Universe during its debut season or even first year, you’re likely to encounter technical difficulties and other frustrations. With that said, there are also great reasons to visit ASAP, and dedicate more of your Florida vacation time to the new park–Here’s Why You Need 2 Days at Epic Universe.

The very good news is that it’ll be easier to spend multiple days, or portions of days (we’re big fans of mornings and evenings–do the other parks during the middle of the day, or take a resort break) at Epic Universe in 2026. After a long delay, 2026 Epic Universe 1-Day, Multi-Day, Park Hopper & Discount Tickets Are Now on Sale!

Starting in 2026, Epic Universe is part of regular tickets. This means you can visit for as many days as you want or, if you purchase the park-to-park option, you can bounce around between the other two parks and Epic Universe. This is an absolute game-changer that should relieve a lot of the stress from the experience.

Park Hopping and more open access to Epic Universe might also have negative consequences. Namely, larger crowd levels as guests won’t be limited to a single day in the park. People purchasing 5-day or 14-day tickets, for example, could elect to spend every single day in Epic Universe, when previously, they were limited to 1-day.

Our expectation is that there’s an uptick in attendance as a result, but it’ll mostly self-regulate. The average guest is not going to do 2+ days at Epic Universe, let alone 5-14 days. That’s just not a normal use case.

If you do opt to visit Epic Universe, the good news is that we have plenty of strategy to help plan your visit. For starters, we’d recommend staying at Helios Grand Hotel if Epic Universe is a priority.

Its location and ease of access should give guests of that hotel a strategic advantage. Helios Grand Hotel does not offer unlimited Express Pass to any park, which is undoubtedly a drawback, but its advantage at Epic Universe (and competitive price) more than makes up for that.

If you’re on a tighter budget, we recommend Stella Nova or Terra Luna Resorts, which are value hotels within walking distance of Epic Universe. This trio of hotels is at the Epic Universe ‘campus’ of Universal Orlando, which is a decent distance from the other parks and resorts. If you’re spending equal time at all 3 parks, you might want to stay on the main campus–but we recommend focusing on Epic Universe.

At opening, Epic Universe features 11 rides and two major shows, plus a wide variety of atmospheric entertainment, play areas, and more. This includes 4 roller coasters, two blockbuster dark rides, and more. If you’re looking for a detailed look at attractions, consult our Ride Rankings & Reviews for Epic Universe.

If you’re trying to plan the perfect day in the park, check out our new 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Itinerary: How to Beat Crowds at Florida’s Busiest Park! That was written months after Epic Universe opened, after we had the chance to field test a variety of options and park operations had (somewhat) settled in. With that said, note that things will continue change in the months to come. Our plan is to revise that sometime in 2026 after experiencing Epic Universe a few times post-park hopping.

We also have both an Early Park Admission Epic Universe Strategy Guide and Epic Universe Morning Strategy for Rope Drop & Beyond. That will get you through the first few hours of the day, and should assist you in beating the lines at roughly your first half-dozen attractions.

If you’re looking for something rough, here’s the outline for a day at Epic Universe:

  • EPA: Super Nintendo World or Roller Coasters or BatM (if operating early)
  • Rope Drop: How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
  • Midday: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
  • Lunch: Cafe L’air De La Sirene (see My Favorite Foods at Epic Universe & Must-Eat Restaurants)
  • Afternoon: Stage Shows
  • Afternoon/Early Evening: Celestial Park
  • Dusk: Dark Universe
  • Night: Super Nintendo World

Note that if you are eligible for Early Park Admission, starting in Super Nintendo World is the popular choice. However, you might want to think twice about that (see Why to Skip Super Nintendo World’s Morning Madness During Epic Universe’s Early Entry).

Another option is saving Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness until the end of the evening. You also might consider skipping Mine-Cart Madness entirely, for the reasons explained here. If we had to cut one headliner from our day, it’d be that. (Sorry, DK!)

Even if you’re eligible for EPA, you probably won’t be able to experience all of Super Nintendo World during that hour-long head-start. In which case, return at night and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere, mini-games, Yoshi’s Adventure, and more. (You also might want to re-ride Mario Kart to beat your high score!)

Here’s what you need to know for planning your bigger-picture Universal Orlando vacation…

Walt Disney World vs. Universal

In this guide, we’ll cover how to make the most of a visit to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and Epic Universe. We’re going to take a counterintuitive organizational approach to this guide, as we’ve found that many readers consult it while visiting Universal rather than during the planning stages of a trip. Accordingly, we’re going to front load with info you need to know if you’ve already touched down in Central Florida.

If you’re a Disney fan simply trying to determine whether a trip to Universal Orlando Resort is right for you in the first place, you might start by reading our Universal vs. Walt Disney World post, which covers some of the pros and cons of each, plus the differences between the two vacation destinations.

Although they’re all theme parks located in Central Florida, each have strengths and weaknesses that will make them better or worse for certain types of families–ages, demographics, etc. Right off the bat, we recognize that many of you will need to “sacrifice” a Walt Disney World park in order to accommodate Epic Universe. Should You Skip Animal Kingdom? might help with that.

Similarly, if you’re debating between resorts at the two main theme park complexes, see our comprehensive breakdown: Universal Orlando vs. Walt Disney World Hotels. That should help you determine which is the better option for your vacation–or if a split stay might be best!

Universal Orlando Deals & Prices

One commonality between the two is that both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando have gotten more aggressive with discounts in an attempt to entice more people to visit their parks and stay in on-site hotels. We’ve mentioned repeatedly that Walt Disney World already has released several different discounts for 2026.

Universal has followed suit, shifting from discounts aimed almost exclusively at Annual Passholders and Florida residents to general public offers. There are currently ticket deals, resort discounts offering 20-35% off, and package deals offering “Free” Dining (sound familiar?).

These are worth pricing out for yourself, but we should warn that many have length of stay requirements of 5 days. That’s longer than most people will spend at Universal Orlando (which is part of why it’s being offered–to increase visit durations).

There are some special offer and pricing quirks, so we’d direct your attention to our new post: How to Get Cheapest Pricing on 2026 Universal Orlando & Epic Universe Vacations. That covers everything you need to know, including Universal’s one huge pricing policy that is dramatically different from Walt Disney World.

Suffice to say, we highly recommend using Be Our Guest Vacations to price out different packages and deals, and help you figure out the best way to save, plan your trip, etc. Request a free, no-obligation quote from them, and then let them do the work of planning for you.

Where to Stay at Universal

There are a number of questions you have to ask yourself when planning a trip, and many of them will dictate where you stay. Do you want Unlimited Express Pass by staying at an eligible Universal Orlando hotel? Do you want to stay at a Walt Disney World hotel for the duration of your trip, or change hotels? Do you want to stay an an off-site hotel in the general vicinity of both Universal and Disney to save money?

We’ve recently stayed at every single on-site hotel at Universal Orlando Resort–here are our reviews:

For insight into all of these hotels, their pros & cons, and how they compare and contrast with one another, see our Universal Orlando Hotel Rankings & Reviews.

We are big fans of Universal’s hotels, and are particularly partial to Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, which rivals some of our favorite resorts at Walt Disney World. Since Epic Universe opened, that new park has been our focus, and we’ve stayed exclusively on the new campus at Helios Grand Hotel and Terra Luna & Stella Nova Resorts.

Universal’s hotels provide great bang for buck, and even those that don’t include free Express Pass do offer Early Park Admission one hour before those parks open. That can be absolutely huge! Between these perks and the low rates of Universal’s budget tier hotels, we cannot imagine staying off-site.

With that said, we do have an Off-Site vs. On-Site Walt Disney World Hotels article that goes into greater depth about the pros and cons of staying off-site, and it’s applicable to Universal, as well. You can also check out our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page, which includes a ton of options around Central Florida–well beyond just WDW property!

Ride Strategy for Universal Orlando

Next, what to know while you’re at Universal Orlando. For starters, we strongly recommend that you do not “wing it” for your daily itinerary due to the aforementioned crowd issues. You don’t need to plan every movement so that there’s no spontaneity in your trip, just make sure you have at least a loose plan of what you’re going to do.

We have the following plans for each park that cover our perfect days:

Those offer step by step touring plans for both theme parks at Universal Orlando, prioritizing the most popular rides and skipping what isn’t worth your time. Those will help you do Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk Coaster, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, and other must-do rides.

If you’d prefer to create your own itineraries and want an overview and review of every attraction at each of the parks, consult our Islands of Adventure Ride Guide and Universal Studios Florida Ride Guide. If you’re a fan spinners, you might want to check those out, as we don’t waste your time with that nonsense in the itineraries.

When to Visit

If you’re adding on a Universal Orlando visit to your Walt Disney World vacation, the answer to this is easy…whenever you’re visiting Walt Disney World. Crowd patterns at Walt Disney World translate pretty similarly to Universal Orlando.

The reasons are two-fold: first, because crowds tend to be predicated upon school schedules, which are the same for both; second, because Walt Disney World is the ‘whale’ in the Orlando market, so crowds for all theme parks are dictated by when guests plan their Disney vacations.

In other words, you can refer to our 2026 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars post to determine when to visit, as that’s roughly applicable to Universal Orlando as well. At least, when it comes to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida.

There are some exceptions to this, and they’re largely predicated upon special events that are unique to each of the parks. For example, Walt Disney World sees its crowds spike due to runDisney events, when its hotels are hosting conventions or youth sporting events, or during EPCOT festivals. By contrast, Universal sees its own spikes around Mardi Gras and Halloween Horror Nights.

In general, though, the big driver of attendance at both is school breaks. In particular, those of Orange County and other counties throughout Florida and the South. Of course, both are vacation destinations, so breaks for school districts in the Midwest and Northeast also have a significant impact. The obvious times like Spring Break, Easter, Summer, Fall Break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve are all busy.

More under the radar timeframes like MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Mardi Gras, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and more also see pronounced spikes in crowds. Again, reference the aforementioned crowd calendars if you’re looking to choose the best times to visit Universal Orlando.

Due to a surge of locals on weekends, we strongly recommend avoiding Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure on Saturdays and Sundays.

Mondays through Thursdays are the best days to visit, with much lower crowds then. However, that goes out the window during holiday weeks or anytime school is out of session, when it’s disproportionately tourists and every single day of the week is busy.

The bigger exception to this is Epic Universe. Due to the lack of Annual Passes, which are unlikely to be offered for the next year or longer, there are divergent demographics between the newest park and the legacy ones. See our Secrets to Conquer Crowds at Epic Universe: Best Dates to Visit in 2026 for recommendations.

While there’s no guarantee that’ll continue to be foolproof, I’ve managed to do it all at Epic Universe by targeting the least-busy days and avoiding the bonkers ones. That’s really important at Epic Universe, since the crowds can be so much worse than any other theme park at Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World.

Then there are special events at Universal Orlando. There are only three noteworthy ones: Mardi Gras, Halloween Horror Nights, and Christmas.

During Mardi Gras, guests can experience a food festival with cuisine and entertainment inspired by international Carnaval celebrations. Food booths serve up the flavors of Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Germany, Spain and other regions including, of course, New Orleans. Plus enjoy spectacular floats on display, street entertainment, music, beads and more throughout Universal Studios Florida.

During HHN, you step onto the set of some of your favorite horror movies, and walking through those sets as actors attempt to scare you. This event is not for children under the age of 13, and has absolutely nothing in common with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World. See our Guide to Halloween Horror Nights for more.

Although HHN gets all the attention from the fan community, the final popular seasonal event of the year is Christmas at Universal Orlando. We’d argue that Christmas is superior to HHN, with the latter being much more taste-specific and having a faithful fan following. If you’re not part of that fervent fanbase, HHN can actually be a bit off-putting.

During this, Grinchmas and Universal’s Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s are the main entertainment draws. There’s also the Christmas Tribute Store, which is essentially a walk-through exhibit, plus Universal Studios Florida’s iconic Christmas Tree.

Perhaps the biggest draw is Winter in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which features unique decor and projections on Hogwarts Castle. There are also decorations around both parks in Seuss Landing, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, Hollywood, New York, and San Francisco.

How Many Days?

This one is going to vary widely based on a few variables. The biggest one is how receptive your party is to the type of attractions that are prominent at Universal Orlando Resort, namely, roller coasters and screen-based simulators.

That’s reductionist, and there are many more things at Universal than those types of rides, but if your party is averse to either, doing more than 2 days at Universal is going to be tough. If you love coasters or have teens, you can easily spend 3 days or more at Universal Orlando.

In our view, the average guest will want at least 2 days at Universal Orlando in 2026. One for Epic Universe, and another 1-2 days for the other two parks. It’s possible to do Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida in the same day, but it’s not possible to do Epic Universe and another park in the same day. In our view, 3+ days is optimal.

With park hopping now available to Epic Universe in 2026, we’d advise purchasing at least 3-day tickets with the park-to-park option. Universal Orlando tickets dramatically decrease in price for 4-day and 5-day tickets, so you may want to upgrade to those. Again, this will really relieve the pressure when it comes to Epic Universe, which is still a challenging and frustrating park to visit.

Theme park enthusiasts could be able to spend 2 full days at Epic Universe and another 2 days at the other parks. Epic Universe has an exceptional restaurant roster, and its roller coasters have a lot of re-rideability, as do Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, and Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.

There’s also the question of whether you’re planning a Central Florida trip with some time at Universal, or a vacation to Universal Orlando. If the former, 2 days is probably all you have–one for Epic Universe and one for the rest. If the latter, you could do 5+ days, with 4 in the 3 theme parks, another at Volcano Bay water park, and perhaps some time at CityWalk.

Then, there’s also the question of how much “extra” vacation time you have. Assuming you’ve already allocated your time at Walt Disney World and are looking at “other stuff” to round out your trip to Florida, I’d probably look to spending more time at Universal than other parks like SeaWorld or Busch Gardens. That’s personal preference and all of these parks definitely aren’t trying to accomplish the same thing, but I find the Disney and Universal parks to be in a different league than all of the rest.

Universal Orlando Park Tickets

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If you’re looking for a deal on park tickets, Get Away Today will save you the most money on Universal Orlando tickets. This is especially true if you’re doing a longer trip, as Get Away Today often has a ‘Buy 2 days, get 3 days free’ special. With more and more to do at Universal Orlando, spending several days in the parks is highly recommended–especially if you’re staying in a nearby hotel and want to do some partial days (also recommended).

I am a fan of the Park-to-Park tickets if you can swing spending extra. This is because Universal did something really ingenious when it built Diagon Alley, and that was connecting the two Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter via the Hogwarts Express.

You can only ride this train from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley (or vice-a-versa) if you have the Park-to-Park ticket. I’m no Harry Potter fan, but the experience of entering a train station in London, walking through a wall, and then taking a train to Hogsmeade is pretty awesome.

If you’re going for just one day and don’t want the park-to-park tickets, the best way to save money on Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida tickets is simply going to be buying tickets online on Universal Orlando’s website. The Universal tickets purchased online can be printed at home and used at the turnstiles–meaning no waiting in line to purchase tickets or exchange vouchers.

Express Pass

Express Pass is Universal Orlando’s version of Lightning Lanes (a way to skip the lines) and is available as a ticket add-on or with select hotel stays. You can purchase two varieties of Express Pass, regular or unlimited. Almost all of the most popular attractions in each park offer Express Pass.

The regular version allows you to skip the line once per eligible attraction in either park, and costs $90 to $350 per person depending on the date. Universal Express Unlimited offers line-skipping privileges, as the name suggests, an unlimited number of times per attraction, and costs between $150 and $400 per person. Even at its most expensive, Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Walt Disney World costs under $50 per person. So, what’s the difference? Well, a lot. 

Unlike Lightning Lanes, there is no tech component to Express Pass. While it’s significantly more expensive, it’s also frictionless. You simply go up to the attraction and use your Express Pass entitlement. There’s nothing to reserve or hassle with in an app. Express Pass involves zero screen time and headaches–but you’ll pay a lot more for it!

Whether Express Pass is worth the money largely depends upon what day of the week and season you’re visiting, and how you value your time versus your money. Personally, we would not pay for Express Pass most days. However, we also avoid weekends and holidays, arrive for park opening, and utilize an efficient park itinerary.

If you really want Express Pass, staying at an on-site hotel that offers Express Pass with your stay is absolutely the way to go. Unlimited Express Pass is available at the Universal Premier category resorts–meaning Royal Pacific, Hard Rock Hotel, and Portofino Bay–which are Universal’s most expensive hotels. Honestly, this is the only way we’ve ever “bought” Express Pass–we couldn’t justify the cost any other way.

All three of these hotels are nice, on par with Walt Disney World’s Deluxe Resorts, and generally cost less. They’re still pricey, but they’re cheaper than Disney’s higher-end hotels, and absolutely worth the money–especially if you want the Unlimited Express Pass perk or a good location within walking or boat distance of Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. If you’d be staying at a nice hotel anyway, this trio is definitely worthy of your consideration.

If you’re debating paying extra for Epic Universe line-skipping, see Should You Buy Express Pass at Epic Universe?

Transportation

By far the most common questions we get concerning Universal Orlando Resort is: “what’s the best way to get from Walt Disney World Universal.” The answer is that there are a lot of options, but by far the best is Uber. We covered this in depth in our Uber vs. Rental Cars at Walt Disney World article. Here’s the pertinent portion of that post:

In the past, the best option we’ve found for those who don’t have rental cars the duration of their trips is either renting a car on-site for the day, or taking a pricey shuttle. Neither is cost-effective or all that appealing, especially when you add on that parking fee.

For those who aren’t renting a car for the duration of their trip, Uber or Lyft are the unquestionable best options for getting from Walt Disney World to Universal. The one-way cost of an Uber or Lyft from Walt Disney World will vary depending upon your exact location, typically costing under $25 each way and taking 20-25 minutes.

Dining

There are some good restaurants in Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, but as a whole, the culinary experience is not on par with Walt Disney World’s. The unquestionable highlights, in my mind, are the counter service restaurants in Diagon Alley (Leaky Cauldron) and Hogsmeade (Three Broomsticks) and the table service restaurant, Mythos, which is a great value.

Other in-park restaurants at Universal Orlando that we like include the Today Show Cafe (for lighter options) and Krusty Burger (for the exact opposite). Actually, there’s something for everyone in the Springfield area, which has a variety of dining options drawn from The Simpsons.

On the snacking front, you’re obviously going to want to try Butterbeer–perhaps all three varieties (frozen, hot, and regular). Most of the other snacks we enjoy are also in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour and Honeydukes.

Another thing you might want to consider is purchasing a refillable Coke Freestyle mug. I’ve done this, but I can really put down the Cokes to make it worth the money. I’m sure some day I will be toothless, but hopefully that’s at least 5 years away. These Coke Freestyle machines located throughout the parks are also a convenient way to get free water that’s cold and tastes great.

Epic Universe is a totally different story, at least until the ‘new park smell’ wears off. Epic Universe has fantastic food that’s easily on par with Walt Disney World. Epic Universe might even be the best food park in Orlando!

Other Things to Do

Volcano Bay is Universal Orlando’s water park. It’s themed to the South Seas and features a giant volcano (hence the name) in the middle with water slides in it. For Walt Disney World fans, it’s a bit like Typhoon Lagoon water park mixed with Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Adventureland.

With four lush, tropical areas inspired by the Pacific Isles, 21 different attractions, and a number of dining & shopping options, Volcano Bay offers something for everyone. We don’t have enough extensive experience with Volcano Bay to offer strategy, but our rough approach mirrors that of other parks.

Take advantage of Early Park Admission if eligible, prioritize the high-profile thrill rides and slides in the first hour of the day, then do more relaxed experiences. If arriving late, head to the back of the park first, try to outlast the crowds, and enjoy shorter lines at the end of the day.

Volcano Bay is seasonally closed on selected dates between now and February 2026, and is always subject to weather-related closures. Additionally, Volcano Bay will be closed for maintenance beginning October 26, 2026, with a current planned reopening on or before March 24, 2027.

In addition to the two theme parks and Volcano Bay water park, there’s CityWalk. This is Universal Orlando’s shopping, dining, and entertainment complex, which is a lot like Disney Springs. The big difference is that you walk through CityWalk to access Universal Studios Florida or Islands of Adventure, and it’s incredibly easy to exit the parks and eat lunch or dinner at CityWalk. No bus necessary!

There’s also a lot of relatively new dining at CityWalk, such as Red Coconut Club, Bigfire, Voodoo Doughnut, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar, and VIVO Italian Kitchen–among other things. Toothsome is a fan-favorite for its over the top milkshakes and dessert concoctions (as well as the fun steampunk theme), and Voodoo Doughnut is a fun spot. With that said, we think both are slightly overrated.

For our money, the sleeper hits of the list are Bigfire and Cowfish, both of which offer great food at reasonable (by theme park standards) prices. We’d also give honorable mentions to Vivo and Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food. While the latter is not our personal favorite, it’s better than the “blockbuster” touristy restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville, and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Nothing against any of those–but they’re essentially Applebee’s with more wow-factor. Good enough for predictably-prepared comfort food, but absolutely nothing special.

One final note on attractions is that there are numerous attractions that don’t allow bags, but provide free lockers nearby for storing backpacks, cameras, small children, and whatever other random junk you might have on you. These are pretty convenient and there are larger lockers you can pay for at the front of the park, but the point here is for those of you who are used to bringing a small U-Haul worth of stuff into the Walt Disney World parks: you can’t do that at Universal. Pack for the parks a little lighter.

I think this is probably a good starting point if you’re planning on visiting Universal Orlando Resort as an add-on to your Walt Disney World vacation. If you would like to see some of these topics covered in greater depth, please let me know in the comments. We’re planning to tackle more on dining, special events, and Universal Orlando news in the coming months, so stay tuned for more of that!

Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more. For regular updates, news & rumors, a heads up when discounts are released, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!

Your Thoughts

Are you visiting Universal Orlando Resort in 2026? Excited for Epic Universe or other rumored additions in the next few years? What about Jurassic World VelociCoaster, Hagrid’s, or the new rides that have recently opened? Have a favorite on-site hotel at Universal? Do you prefer staying on-site at Universal, or commuting from Walt Disney World? If you’re a first-timer, is there anything else you’d like to know? Chances are if you have questions still, so does someone else! Please share your thoughts in the comments

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317 Comments

  1. I took a client to Universal Orlando 2 years ago. The Harry Potter area is awesome and you could easily spend a whole day there exploring all of the details. We spent 3 days in the parks and stayed at Cabana Bay. Great hotel. We went in October during Halloween Horror Nights. The lines and crowds were very managable. We rode Transformers every time we walked by because the line was always less than 5 mins. When the park closed early we checked out all of the offerings in the City Walk area. We did attend horror nights once. He was scared and we left early.
    The simpsons area was awesome, I’m a huge fan tho. Over all everything was very detailed and Universal really looks out for making the customer experience comfortable. Theres a/c, fans, misting stations. It was a fun trip

    Reply

  2. Hi Tom – thanks for the info – we are planning our first Universal visit this Sept 26th and 27th…getting 2 day/2park tickets and want to try most of the rides and some of the shows. Its supposed to be a slower time – so I have 2 questions – is it worth it to stay in site for the express pass during slower seasons – and would you mind sharing your 2 day itinerary?

    thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi Tom (and Sandy!) We are also interested as to whether to move to a Universal site (Hard Rock Hotel) to get the Exptess ticket and early entry. Or stay at Animal Kingdom and ‘Commute’ via Uber to Universal (we’ve put aside two days). Our main focus are the Harry Potter attractions – though we’ve noted your advice about not rushing to them first thing. Hogwarts Express is a must for us.
      Sandy sorry to tag on to your question – but I couldn’t see how to comment, only to reply!

    2. Hey Sandy,

      We went to Universal last September and didn’t find the Express Passes were necessary. We did stay on site for early entry to HP, but we opted to stay at Cabana Bay to save money (this was a pre disney trip) so we didn’t have express passes included with our room anyway. We would have been open to buying them for a day had they been necessary.,.They definitely weren’t needed at the time though.

      With a good touring plan (highly recommend touringplans.com) we didn’t wait more than 10-15 minutes for most rides and less than 30 for the big headliners like Reign of Kong, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, etc. Mind you we did go M-W in down season so if you’re going during a weekend it might be a bit more crowded.

      I do recommend staying on site at least at one of the two value properties (Cabana Bay and Saphhire Falls) for early entry and to the Harry Potter areas at least and to minimize walking. Even in down times the HP lands were slammed mid day, but were pretty empty early morning and in the evenings. Back to the walking, we walked more one day at Universal than we did two days at Magic Kingdom! We stayed at Cabana Bay, but probably wouldn’t again. They have shuttles that take you to the parking garage which leads to I’d say at least a mile walk through security and city walk before getting to a park. One mile doesn’t sound bad, until its 7pm, you’ve walked 30k steps already and
      you have tired kids!!! One day we took a water taxi to Saphhire Falls, then took the overpass walkway bridge back to CB which was nice but still a long ways. I’d recommend staying at Saphhire Falls at least. Its a good mix between money saving and convenience. It doesn’t come with express passes but it will get you early entry and it is at least connected to the water way so getting to and from the park for breaks would be a breeze.

      We just came back from another stay, this time at the Royal Pacific and the included express passes were definitely worth staying there as it was spring break season! Seriously saved us hours and hours of waiting in line.

      Hope this insight all helps! Whatever you decide I hope you have a great trip.

  3. Hi Tom,
    You have been very helpful with your advice on Universal and Disney trips. But, I’m in a bind, in deciding how to plan my trip in June with my 18 y/o and 12 y/o. It seems that for Disney, there would probably be only 2 parks -Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom that we would all enjoy. And Universal might have more attractions that we all would enjoy, considering our age group. This will be our first time going to Orlando parks also. Do you have any suggestions on Planning for this trip either including/excluding, both/either parks? And of course the money saving on tickets is a must also…

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  4. This is a huge resource for the visitors who wants to spend vacation in Orlando.. Really loved it!!!

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  5. “…there are numerous attractions that don’t allow bags, but provide free lockers nearby for storing backpacks, cameras, small children, and whatever other random junk you might have on you. LOL !

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  7. Hi Tom!

    Any suggestions on visiting JUST the Harry Potter part? Can it be done in one day? From what I’ve read, we would need a park-to-park pass, and that’s fine. My middle daughter and I have a Harry Potter obsession and had the opportunity to see Universal Hollywood this past summer. We have been told that it pales in comparison to Orlando, and so we would like to work it into our next Disney trip in late August/early September. We found that Universal in general is not really “right” for our family though, so I don’t think I want to bother with the rest of the park. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for a day-long HP itinerary as I feel very blind trying to figure out a park I am not at all familiar with (last Universal Orlando trip was before we had kids back in 2000!)! Thanks for whatever your u can help with!

    Sue

    PS: FANTASTIC Website!!

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    1. From my experience, I think all of the Harry Potter portion can be done in one day, or even less than one day if you’re efficient and go on a good day without too many crowds! I went with some friends just to the two Harry Potter worlds, and we went from park opening to around 3-4pm in the day, and had an excellent time, without rushing at all, and shopping very slowly!

      I hope you have an excellent time!

    2. Katie again! Sorry! I can’t seem to place my own comment – only reply! We too, are mainly focused on the Harry Potter side of things, so would love to know the best way of approaching Universal with this in mind. We have put aside two days and our tour operator is suggesting moving to Hard Rock from Animal Kingdom for two nights to benefit from the early entry and ‘fast pass’ – is this necessary? We really want to include the Hogwarts Express.
      Tom – your Disney/Universal websites are an incredible help, so THANK YOU! I had no idea that Disney/Universal/Florida was such a mine field!!! We travel from the UK in October. Any advice appreciated! x

    3. Not sure how many days you are planning to do at Disney, but my recommendation would be to start or end at universal instead of hopping back and forth (I recommend start and explain why later). Also if you want a hotel that comes with express passes price the upper 3 hotels. They all come with express passes but can range between 100 and 200 different a night. If you’re massive fans of harry potter the early entry is great. It should be noted that the fast pass does not work on pterodactyl gliders, Hogwarts express, Journey through Hogwarts and Escape from Gringotts. But the last two do have a single rider line. If you do take the single rider line for Journey through Hogwarts ask one of the staff to take the tour of the castle it allows you to see everything but herbology and you can go at your own pace. Or ride single rider and got back to ride again at a slow time. Then you can concentrate on the scenery and have a fun ride at the end. Side note on Journey through Hogwarts if you get motion sick you may want to take medicine before hand or use compression bands. This is the only way I can ride it. Also, I’ve ridden escape from Gringotts 4 times before in the span in took for others to go through the line once. But depends on the age range of your kids whether you can ride single rider. Also pterodactyl gliders can only be ridden if you are with a child. So if you have a child I’d recommend going ahead and riding it since you won’t have the option when they get older. Plus its suppose to be a very smooth gliding experience. Since you are primarily interested in Harry Potter I would recommend going ahead and doing two days. You’d rather have too much time instead of not enough, plus you can explore the rest of the park if you want to. Park hopper is a must to ride the Hogwarts Express. However, let’s say you decide to do Universal first and then go to Disney (I would recommend this since you will be going up in customer service as opposed to down) I would only stay one night at Universal. You would still get 2 days worth of express pass tickets, and they can store your luggage for you. You can then spend the entire second day at universal and then move over to Disney that evening. This will allow you to start Disney the next day without waisting time moving between the two resorts. I hope this helps.

    4. My mom and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans as well and we’ve definitely spent a whole day just in Hogsmede and Diagon Alley. You will certainly need the park to park pass as you need it to ride the Hogwarts Express which is an amazing ride by itself but also SUPER handy to get between the two parks. There is a walkway between IoA and Universal at the ‘bottom’ of the park near the front entrances, with Hogsmede and Diagon Alley both at the ‘top’ of the parks (think Fantasyland (top) compared to Main Street (bottom) position wise on a map of the Magic Kingdom). Since the Hogwarts Express runs between the two HP lands it’s a great means of transportation even for the non-Harry Potter fans (I hear they exisit somewhere…). I would recommend visiting Universal on a weekday if you can swing it as Saturday and Sunday are significantly busier. Start your day at IoA in Hogsmede, enjoy the rides and shops. The performances on the stage in front of Hogwarts are fun but if you are feeling time crunched save your performance watching for Diagon Alley – the Three Brothers storytelling is exceptional. Also, if you are planning on buying a wand there are TONs of places to buy them in both lands, I recommend Ollivanders in Diagon Alley for the best wand-store atmosphere. After you have done the rides and checked out the shops in Hogsmede take the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley in the afternoon. There are far more shaded areas there, plus the ice cream shop is fantastic! I dream about that butterbeer ice cream. Lots of shopping and ambiance to enjoy in both lands. The Hopping Pot in Diagon Alley is a hidden gem if you are looking for a butterbeer (hold, regular or frozen) or any of the other drinks, it tends to have less lines then other spots since it is tucked away in an area away from the rides. If you can swing both lunch and dinner then make sure to try out both the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks. Ideally the Leaky Cauldron at lunch and then take the Hogwarts Express back over to Hogsmede to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. Both have great food, they do have different menus so make sure to scope them both out if you are only going to try one! Last thing (sorry this was so long), don’t forget to take the Hogwarts Express both ways (once to London and once from London) as the ride experience is different each way. Quite literally, not just the experience of arriving in the different stations, but the actual ride itself and the scenery out your cabin’s window. Enjoy!

  8. I know the express passes are a matter of personal opinion to everyone, but really trying to decide which resort we want based around them is stressing me out. We have 3 adults and 2 kids (9yr) going. We wanted to stay at Cabana, but dont want to have to shell out $500/day for the passes. If we want them, then have to cram everyone into a standard room at like Royal Pacific? We are going Jun3-6 and then moving on to a couple days at disney….What would you do?

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    1. In your scenario, it sounds like you’d come out ahead by booking two rooms at Royal Pacific. If you all want to be in the same room, you could also book a dummy reservation for Royal Pacific (it should cost far less than $500/night) and just stay at Cabana Bay.

    2. Hey Angie,

      If I were you, I’d probably do a deluxe room at Royal Pacifc as the rooms there are relatively small for the price, and squeezing the rollaway bed (which is required if you have a party of 5) into the room will make it feel really crammed. Also, the rollaway bed for the 5th person will cost you 25 dollars a day.

      You may even consider pricing out a standard room at the Hard Rock vs a deluxe room at the Royal Pacifc as the rooms at the Hard Rock are bigger anyway. That in mind, Hard Rock is a 7 min walk to UO which is where Diagon Alley is located. Enjoy your trip!

    3. Royal Pacific has pretty good size rooms. You should be able to fit a roll away bed between the window and a bed.

  10. Haven’t been to Universal in quite some time (pre-Harry Potter attraction days), but my strategy was to be at the park in time for park opening, to skip the first attraction upon entering the park, and starting with the second one. That would put me ahead of the crowds, at least until a lunch break, after which the crowds would catch up.

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  11. Thanks for this information! I’d love it if you gave us more Universal information — touring strategies, restaurants, hotels, etc. There’s just not as much out there as there is for Disney.

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    1. Hi Amanda,
      I agree that it would be great if Tom and Sarah gave more information on Universal because their Disney info is top-notch, and I can only assume that they would do as great of a job. Until they do or in case they don’t, however, I highly recommend the DIS Unplugged Universal Edition and Dreams Unlimited Travel’s YouTube videos. Room tours, restaurant reviews, they cover it all. Once you’ve done that research, pay the money for the membership on TouringPlans.com for Universal Orlando to get crowd calendars and touring strategies.

  14. Do you know if there are travel agents dedicated to Universal like there are for Disney? There are a ton of very knowledgeable people for Disney but can’t find any for Universal. I wanted to use someone other than Travelocity or Expedia. Cute names like Be Our Guest or Key to the World travel isn’t around for Universal???

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    1. My Key to the World travel agent does Disney AND Universal…she’s really a expert. We’re heading to Universal in 2 weeks.

    2. I always use Orlando Informer to plan my trips to Universal, that site is loaded and you may find agencies listed there as well. We always go to Universal and Disney when we travel to Florida, and that site is very comprehensive for for the former. Hope that helps!

    1. I’ve heard the same mixed reviews; it was a priority for us to do this summer, but we decided to wait to return to Universal until Christmas given the tepid guest response.

    2. I really enjoyed it! The experience leading up to the ride was great, very well themed building anticipation as you walked through. The ride itself was a also lot of fun. It seemed a little short and was maybe a little difficult to follow because you were having to back and forth left and right but overall it was one of my favorite rides our day in Universal.

    3. I heard from some people that the line is better than the ride, or maybe it builds you up so much that the ride doesn’t meet your expectations. I’m gonna ride it when I go, but I’m using an express pass. Not sure I’d be willing to wait if I was going standby. You can check out some youtube videos to see if it is something that is a must do on your list. Or you can put it in the maybe category if the line gets below a certain wait time.

  16. For park to park adults who like to have a good time: start in Islands and head to Hogs Head Pub for a Hogs Tea (great long island iced tea). Then wait in the main line with your drink for forbidden journey enjoying the castle and drink. Then head back to the pub and order another drink and walk around Hogsmeade or head over to king kong while drinking in line. Knock the 2 busiest areas out early while enjoying a nice adult beverage so you end up not minding the crowds! The rest is up to you.. The Watering Hole has great drinks in Jurassic Park if your looping back around to catch the Hogwarts express.

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  18. I’m thinking of going in Oct 2017 with my sister and her 3 sons who will be 7, 7, and 8. We’re not HP fans. Do you think 1 day will suffice for just Universal Studios? One will NOT do roller coasters.

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    1. there are quite a few rides definitely worth doing minus roller coasters. MIB Simpsons, Jurassic park, spiderman, transformers, Kong, shrek, minions, the hogwarts express, while escape from hogwarts is not a roller coaster, it feels like one, but in my opinion is one of the best rides in all of the United States.Due to the high crowd numbers during Halloween haunted nights, you will need express passes to really do all the rides and experience everything.
      Ill be there in Oct 2017 also!!

  19. I am going to WDW in the second week of May next year with my other half (both 29) and staying on property, we originally planned to do universal and I of A for 2 days with park to park tickets, but looking at the prices we were wondering if we can squeeze everything into one day, we would plan to get there for rope drop and stay till closing, we looked at the rides and we counted 11 rides we would like to do, all the standard headline adrenaline rides im afraid, is it possible or should we stick to 2?

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  20. Great blog–I am planning our first trip for this October! Quick question for you or anyone else out there: we are taking younger kids to the park around Columbus Day. I see that the Halloween days are then. We definitely do not want any part of that scariness. Monday and Tuesday of our trip, it looks off but we are planning to add Sunday too. Just wondering what the implications are.
    Thanks in advance!

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    1. I believe the park closed early for the Halloween party. So , you will be asked to leave prior to sunset.

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