Vacation Ideas

Universal Orlando Resort

Information and advice from real families to help you plan a better family vacation.

Universal Orlando Resort is a super fun vacation for families with older kids and teens! The best part for many is Harry Potter World, where you can be immersed in the magical land of wizardry. There are also areas for Jurassic Park, Minions, and many other favorite movies from Universal Pictures.

There are some attractions that appeal to younger kids, but not nearly as much as Disney World, so we recommend doing this park once your kids are over 42″ tall so they can experience more attractions.

  • Universal Studios – the original park that never stops changing, this park has attractions based around many movies like ET, Men in Black, Minions, Secret Life of Pets, The Mummy, Transformers, and more. It also contains the Diagon Alley section of Harry Potter World.
  • Islands of Adventure – this park blew my mind when I visited it in opening year in 1999 and it has only gotten better! This park has beautiful immersive lands, beautiful landscaping, and fun attractions. Lands include Superheros, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter (Hogwarts and Hogsmead), Dr. Suess, and more!
  • Volcano Bay Waterpark – I think this might be my favorite water park in the Orlando area! Lots of great water attractions!
  • Epic Universe – the newest park that opened in 2025. This park is gorgeous and features a new Harry Potter section with a new attraction (Battle at the Ministry), the incredibly immersive Super Mario Land, a great new coaster (Stardust Racers), a monster-themed area, and more.
Universal has a collection of hotels that get you special perks like free transportation and early access to the parks. If you stay at a Signature Collection resort, Express passes (skip the regular line on most attractions) are included. You get these passes for every day you stay INCLUDING the day you arrive and the day you leave. You can save money (especially if you’re a family with multiple kids) by staying at a cheaper hotel part of the time and staying 1 night at a top-tier resort to get Express passes included for everyone for 2 days. NOTE: The Express passes included with Signature resorts are only for Universal and Islands of Adventure and NOT Epic Universe. At this time, Express passes to Epic Universe are a separate ticket and not included with any hotel.

My biggest tip to save time and money:

Do a split stay! Stay one night at a Signature Resort (Loews Royal Pacifica is usually the cheapest), which gets you Universal Express Unlimited Passes for both the day you check in and the day you check out. These passes are usually very expensive, so 2 days of these passes for everyone in your group is a huge savings!! Then spend your other nights at a cheap hotel nearby. There are plenty of good hotel options around (see a few options below). There are also other lower-levels of Universal Resort Hotels that get you early entry into the parks and free transportation, which will save on parking. These hotels are not right next to Universal and Islands of Adventure like the others, but a short bus ride away. My tip above is still my #1 suggestion, but these are a great second choice if a Signature Resort doesn’t fit your budget. If you stay at one of these, be sure to take advantage of early entry for Islands of Adventure! TIP: Universal hotels can be found on travel sites for less! You do not have to book through the Universal website to get the perks. Compare prices quickly with these links: Booking.com, Expedia.com, Hotels.com

Larger families: Get more room by staying off-property

If you are a larger family, the best deals are usually finding a multi-bedroom suite at a non-Universal property vs. getting multiple hotel rooms.
Our Personal Favorite: Sheraton Vistana This resort is closer to Disney World, but the drive to Universal is easy. We love this place because they have nice 2-3 bedroom suites with full kitchens. There are other resorts with multi-bedroom suites around, but not all are great and some are quite run-down. We recommend sticking to Sheraton/Marriott brand properties when looking at condo/timeshare resorts in Orlando (not Westgate). Check pricing at Sheraton Vistana >
Or do a rental. There are a lot of condo and home rentals around, but read reviews before you book! Here is a list of rentals close to Universal on VRBO >
  • This is not a cheap destination. If you thought it was cheaper than Disney parks, it’s not – unless there’s a good promotion going on. BUT you can save by looking for deals on the Universal website or on Undercover Tourist, and/or by staying off-site at an affordable hotel or rental.
  • Check for deals – sometimes they do deals like buy 2 or 3 days, get 2 free. Check the Universal website and Undercover Tourist and compare deals.
  • There are often special rates for Florida residents
  • If you can visit the area more than once a year, the best deal is to buy an annual pass. Compared to Disney World, Universal Orlando annual passes are more affordable and have multiple tier options that are available to anyone, not just Florida residents. We have done a lower-tier pass that has a few blackout dates, but it has never been a problem and is a tremendous value. If you start with a regular ticket(s) and then decide you’d like to upgrade, stop by guest services before you leave and you can upgrade your ticket to an annual pass. In 2025, it cost us less than $100 per person to upgrade to annual passes from our 3-day tickets, so we did! And ended up spending 20+ days at the parks, which means it only costs about $20 per day we visited. NOTE: Annual Passes currently DO NOT include Epic Universe. We are really hopeful this will happen in 2027!
  • Stay at a Signature Resort for at least one night to get Express Passes included for everyone in your room for all the days you stay including check-in and check-out. This is a great deal! See our tab above about where to stay and consider doing a split stay where you just stay one night at an expensive resort to get the Express Pass, then spend other nights at a cheaper hotel.
  • Express Passes are very helpful, but are NOT required. They are very expensive if you aren’t getting them included with a hotel stay. MOST of our days we’ve spent at Universal parks we have not had Express and have been totally fine. Follow our itineraries so you know what attractions to hit in what order to avoid the biggest crowds. They ARE very helpful during busy times like around Christmas and New Years, President’s Day, Spring Break/Easter, (basically any school holidays that aren’t summer).
  • Consider doing 2 days at Epic Universe (or a day and a half) instead of buying expensive Express Passes. You can knock out a few bigger rides first thing in the morning and at the end of the day to make the lines shorter. Having two days helps you have more time and helps in case an attraction you really wanted is down for the day (which still happens pretty often at this new park).
Everywhere is kid-friendly, but it’s not all great food. A few of our favorites:
  • San Franciso Pastry Company (San Francisco section) Lots of great fresh options! Personal favorites: Clam chowder in a bread bowl, the caprese sandwich, the hot turkey panini, chilled tuna noodle salad, and all the fresh pastries!
  • TODAY Cafe (Hollywood Blvd, close to Minion Land) This cafe has good breakfast options, pastries, sandwiches, and salads.
  • Mythos Restaurant (Islands of Adventure in the last bit of The Lost Continent section that’s left) This is a sit-down restaurant set inside a cave of rock formations and waterfalls with a good variety of food on the menu.
  • Both Harry Potter restaurants (one at Islands and one in Universal) These have some good English favorites like fish and chips and shepherd’s pie. Some don’t love it and some prefer one over the other, but the atmosphere is fun and you can get a butterbeer!
  • If you want to ride the Hogwarts Express attraction that goes between Hogsmead (the Harry Potter section in Islands of Adventure) and Diagon Alley (the Harry Potter section in Universal Studios), you MUST have a park-to-park ticket.
  • If you have the Express pass, it is possible to do Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios in one day (although it will be a long day), but 2 days would be better.
  • If you don’t have Express passes but are staying onsite and can utilize early entry and will stay all day, you can accomplish each park in a day with the right strategy.
  • If you don’t have Express passes and are staying off property, or if you don’t want stay from open to close with no breaks, or if you’re visiting during a holiday or high-crowd time, you may need 2 days per park (4 days total).
  • Volcano Bay can be done in 1 day.
  • Universal Studios does not have water rides so you don’t have to worry about getting wet there, UNLESS it’s a hot day and you have little kids who enjoy splash areas. There is a splash area in Dreamworks Land where littles can get wet, so be prepared.
  • Islands of Adventure has THREE water rides that can make you completely soaked. Come prepared with shoes that can get wet or a change of shoes.
  • Some attractions allow you to wear small bags on rides (like fanny packs and cross-shoulder packs with a 3-pronged strap). Many of them make you put larger bags in a locker and you have to pay for a locker each time. If you can get away with small bags only, it will save you both time and money! Or take a stroller and store your bag in a stroller (but don’t leave valuables).
  • Wands and Power-Up Bands. Be aware that these are expenses that your kids will probably want if they are fans of Harry Potter and/or Mario. Wands allow you to interact and “cast spells” that set off magic moments in the Harry Potter lands at ALL 3 PARKS. The Power-Up bands allow you to play interactive games in Super Mario World at Epic only. Both are really fun! But they aren’t cheap and add up quick if you have multiple kids. Also, doing the activities takes up time. Visiting these lands early or late in the day will help with crowds.
  • For more of our tips and tricks, check out our Universal itineraries >

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