When a Disney Girl visits Universal Orlando
What’s it like for a Disney girl at heart to visit a new-to-her, non-Disney theme park in Central Florida (Universal Orlando)?
I recently had the opportunity with some of my fellow travel agents at 101 Dream Vacations to spend a day at Universal Orlando. Here you will find 2 theme parks, a new water park, and a shopping and eating district. There are also a number of resorts on-property for guests to have easy access to Universal’s offerings and take advantage of perks and amenities for staying on-property. Our purpose of this trip was to take in our surroundings of these theme parks and get a feel of the offerings. While we didn’t ride much or experience the attractions/entertainment, we did get a good idea of the lay of the land and what awaits guests!
Our day began with taking private transportation from our Disney resort we were staying at. The ride was relatively short and inexpensive. Upon arrival to Universal Orlando, you need to go through security, just as you do for most theme parks these days. Then, you proceed on in to Universal’s shopping and eating district, CityWalk. Here you will find some well-noted restaurants and food locations, gre
at shopping and entertainment! Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant, The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Feast Kitchen, The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar and so many more restaurants can be found here! Entertainment offerings from Blue Man Group, mini golf, to live music at restaurants occur nightly and daily! Shopping opportunities from well-known brands to Universal Studios specific merchandise can be found throughout your stroll in CityWalk.
As you continue through CityWalk, you can enter the theme parks from two directions. You can enter into Universal’s Islands of Adventure or you can enter through Universal Studios Florida. We proceeded to enter through Universal’s Islands of Adventure. This theme park is full of excitement! 
This is where you’ll find super heroes from Marvel, King Kong in Skull Island: Reign of Kong, fun spots to play around in Toon Lagoon, very kid and family friendly rides and shows at Suess Landing all based on the Dr. Seuss books, The Lost Continent, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, and dinosaurs out at Jurassic Park. We did participate in The Raptor Encounter, a photo opportunity with one of the raptor dinosaurs and it was both terrifying (in a fun way…!!) and hilarious! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves! But you get an idea 
of what this is like! It’s surely not to be missed! All throughout our walk, we saw characters out and about posing for photos, which we were sure to stop and grab a photo with The Cat in the Hat himself! A lot of the rides and attractions here are thrilling and exciting! We also noticed a lot of places to grab a meal or a snack for when you are getting hungry!
As we left out of Universal’s Islands of Adventure, we took Hogwarts Express at Hogsmeade Station. Now it needs to be noted that in order to ride this attraction, a specific type of park ticket is needed. It’s Universal’s Park-to-Park ticket. This allows you entry into BOTH Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida theme parks. You have to have this ticket to ride The Hogwarts Express Train.
Once we arrived in Universal Studios Florida, we departed the train and realized we were ready for lunch. We came into agreement that we wanted to eat at The Leaky Cauldron in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley. Lucky for us, the restaurant was right by the train station and the ordering process went rather quickly. The food was delicious and a crowd pleaser! And, when in a world of all things Harry Potter, one must try the Butterbeer, right? And, that’s just what I did! I got the frozen one and boy, is it sweet, tasty, and satisfying!! I can now check that off my list of things that I’ve wanted to do! I must say that walking through The Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter and riding Hogwarts Express really makes you feel like you are in the Harry Potter movies! WOW, what amazing places to experience!! There were shops where you can purchase wands and other Harry Potter merchandise, candy shops, restaurants, and fire-breathing dragons and special effects all around!
We walked off our lunch cruising through Diagon Alley, and then proceeded on to the rest of the park. All of you Simpsons cartoon fans, this is the place for you! Here you’ll find a few rides and eateries based off the cartoon series and some great photo ops as well! Continuing along, there’s a great kid-friendly location called Woody Woodpecker’s Kidzone where the kiddos can surely tire themselves out! There are play areas, shows, rides, and kid-friendly food that will keep families busy for hours! Other attractions you’ll find in this theme park include the popular Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, Revenge of the Mummy, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Shrek 4-D, and Transformers: The Ride-3D. You’ll have opportunities to meet some of these favorite characters throughout the day as well!
Our day was winding down and it was time for us to return back to Walt Disney World to close out our agency trip. Although we did not tour any of the resorts here on Universal Orlando Resort’s property, I was able to see where they are located and get an idea of how close they really are to the theme parks! There are quite a few resorts to choose from that will fit all types of budgets. Staying on Universal’s property gets you close to the action, early park admission and some select resorts even give you Universal’s ticket feature to be able to skip the attraction lines, ExpressPass! 
Brand new to Universal’s property is their just-opened water park, Volcano Bay! With over 18 experiences to participate in, there’s surely something for everyone! Have a thrilling day of water fun or a relaxing day in your private cabana! And while you are at it, grab some good, light pool eats and refreshing drinks too!
There are also many different seasonal events at Universal Orlando Resort as well; from Halloween to Christmas to New Year’s to Mardi Gras to concerts, etc., there’s always something fun going on!
Universal Orlando Resort offers quite a variety of ticket options for the theme parks and Volcano Bay. From single day tickets, to Park-to-Park tickets, to multi-day tickets, etc., I can help get you the perfect ticket for you and your family’s tay at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida! Contact me, Adele Snook for help in planning your perfect vacation today!