11. Don't Let These 3 Myths Sabotage Your Dream Trip | Universal Orlando

In this episode of Unlocking Universal, Holli dives into three significant myths that might be ruining your Universal Orlando vacation plans. Discover why the traditional 'slow season' no longer exists and how year-round promotions and changing school schedules affect crowd levels. Learn why Universal is much more than just a collection of thrilling rides, offering world-class shows, incredible food, and unique experiences. Lastly, Holli dispels the misconception that staying offsite is always cheaper, highlighting the hidden costs and the immense value of staying onsite. From strategic planning to flexibility, get the best tips to ensure an unforgettable trip, no matter when you visit.

00:00 Introduction: Busting Universal Orlando Myths

00:45 The Slow Season Fallacy

06:09 Beyond the Rides: Universal's Hidden Gems

12:43 The Offsite Hotel Myth

16:24 Conclusion and Final Tips

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🌟 As a senior travel consultant and trainer with The Magic For Less Travel, a top U-Preferred agency, I specialize in Universal Orlando vacations—When you're ready to go from dreaming to doing, I'm here for you. My services are free, my excitement is contagious, and your countdown to Epic could start faster than a VelociCoaster launch.

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Transcript

3 Myths that Could RUIN Your Vacation

Holli: [00:00:00] You've planned, you've budgeted, you've mapped out every detail of your trip, but what if I told you there are three myths standing between you and your best Universal Orlando vacation. 

And these aren't just little mistakes. They're the kind that could cost you precious time, unnecessary stress, and yes, they can even cost you money. Today I'm breaking down some big misconceptions that could derail your trip before it even starts and showing you exactly how to avoid them.

Because when it comes to Universal, what you think you know, could be the very thing keeping you from the trip of a lifetime, let's get into it. 

Julian: Welcome back to Unlocking Universal, your Key to all things Universal Orlando and beyond. Now here's your guide and unfair advantage, Holli.

Holli: The Slow Season Fallacy 

if you've been waiting for the perfect time to visit Universal when crowds are low and wait times are short. I have some news for you.

The traditional off season is a thing of the past. For years, people planned their [00:01:00] trips around what used to be known as the slow seasons. These were times when kids were in school. The parks were quieter overall. But thanks to shifting travel trends, that concept doesn't hold up the way it used to when the busiest times were just holidays, the major school breaks and the summer.

So what's changed? For starters, it's year-round promotions. So since 2005, when Disney first released their initial free dining offer, which was aimed at families with preschoolers in the fall. The Disney discounts have created a ripple effect. And over the years people have been trained out of going over the usual spring break, Christmas break, summer . And now people are going year round. 

So that is bringing more travelers to Orlando in what you might consider to be unexpected times.

Next, school schedules. They vary and not every district follows the same holiday calendars anymore. We have a lot of schools now that are shifting to year round calendars, so every [00:02:00] three months they'll have an extended break as opposed to the large break in the summer and stuff like that. This alone, means there are fewer true low periods. In all of this keep in mind that there are some sweet spots, but they're just much smaller periods than they used to be. 

Not only that, but we have, as a society, more travel flexibility. Now with remote work and homeschooling on the rise, families aren't locked into those traditional vacation windows anymore, and people are more likely if they do have those traditional travel windows and school schedules going outside of them, pulling kids out of school to go on vacation.

 The growing popularity of Orlando for events is something that we really need to take into consideration as well.

Because it's not just vacationers that are coming to Orlando. Major conventions are happening in Orlando. It is a huge convention city. People come down for the convention, they stay for vacation businesses, sporting events, the [00:03:00] world cheerleading competitions, little league stuff, all kinds of sports competitions, runDisney.

Hitting the parks may be a secondary consideration, but when in Rome, it makes total sense.

And beyond the crowd calendar. Here's the real kicker. Lower crowds don't always mean lower wait times. One of the biggest expenses , of any business out there is payroll. Universal is a business like all the other parks they will adjust for crowd levels by running fewer ride vehicles and cutting back show schedules.

You might think you're visiting at a slow time, according to the crowd calendar But if a ride is operating at half capacity, your wait time may not be as short as you would expect. So lower crowds also means fewer team members.

This also translates into fewer restaurant locations that may be open, which may lead to longer food lines, some attractions may have slower loading times due to reduced staff, and as we said, less ride vehicles that are running and show schedules might even be [00:04:00] cut back. Limiting the entertainment options. So if chasing the slow season isn't the best strategy, what should you do instead?

My number one recommendation in this area is to choose the dates that work best for you and your family. It's that simple. Don't stress over the crowd calendars, no one can predict them with 100% accuracy. And even if they could , they don't tell the whole story of what we can expect or what we should expect.

And the experience that we're going to have because of that . The actual crowd level is just one variable that's going to go into our entire experience. 

I think that being aware of the busiest times is more important than looking for the slow times.

Especially if you're coming down for that once in a lifetime trip or you haven't been in a really long time. Because for an example, the week between Christmas and New Year's is without a doubt the busiest week of the year. It is not for the faint of heart or the ill prepared.

Serious Expectation management is gonna be required in this situation, and I think it's gonna be much more [00:05:00] likely to affect your overall experience than, trying to come when the crowd calendar says it's gonna be low. 

Next. I recommend that you have a solid touring plan. This is your strategy and a well thought out strategy, that includes using Early Park Admission, and it should, Express passes, maybe, and mobile ordering.  

And the big one here, having a clear idea of what your trip's goal is, the things that are most important to you and the other members in your traveling party. this is going to make a bigger difference in your experience than spending hours pouring over crowd calendars, hoping to find that perfect spot and then trying to form everything around it only to find out that it wasn't the experience you were expecting after all. 

Holli: And finally, you've heard people say to pack your patience, well, this is kind of an offshoot of that, we need to be flexible and be prepared. The best trips are not about avoiding the crowds altogether. They're about knowing how to navigate them smartly. 

The bottom line here is the best time to visit Universal [00:06:00] is when it fits into your life and your schedule.

 With the right plan, you can have an amazing trip no matter when you go.  

Dolores: Now for the second myth!

It's all about the rides. Have you heard this one or have you thought this maybe. My response to that initially, and usually in my head, hopefully sometimes comes out my mouth is, this isn't Six Flags y'all. And that's not to knock Six Flags, but Six Flags is an amusement park, Universal Orlando is a theme park.

There is a big difference. Universal Orlando has definitely built a reputation for world-class thrills, for good reason. I mean, there's tons of coasters... Velocicoaster, Hagrid's. We've got four new coasters coming to Epic Universe. It's easy to see why the adrenaline seekers are gonna flock here when you say, well, we can go to Six Flags, and they have a lot of coasters as well, and here's where those two part ways, if you think that Universal is only about the rides. 

You're missing out on some of the best experiences the parks [00:07:00] have to offer.

 Universal once used the tagline, 'Your family grows up, your vacation should too!'. And that sentiment still holds true. The thrills are definitely there to be had. But the parks have evolved far beyond just thrills. They're a fully immersive entertainment destination for all ages.

First, we have just absolutely incredible shows. Universal was and still is a working film studio and it's live entertainment reflects that. From stunt shows like Bourne Stuntacular, which is a blend of live action with like mind blowing screen technology. So you can't figure out what's digital and what's real it, it's.

Just insane. And that, you know, the high energy of the Blues Brothers and my favorite Beat Builders, I just love them. And things like Celestina Warbeck, and The Frog Choir, all those in the mix, there's top tier entertainment around every corner, and you're doing yourself a disservice if you're just rushing past to get to the next ride.

Slow down. Grab a bench or a [00:08:00] stoop, a cold beverage and a snack, and take the time because it's going to be time well spent. 

Speaking of food and drinks, 

Universal hasn't always been known for beyond basic theme park fair until about five or so years ago when they really began to drop the collective shoulder and lean into upping their game across the board.

And especially with themed food and drinks. So now it's a different story and it's getting better every year .  

The offerings are now well beyond the traditional theme park, burger, and pretzel and hotdog and slice of substandard pizza. You can sip a Butterbeer in the Wizarding World. You can have an over the top milkshake with like a whole piece of cake on top of it, over at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. You can have actually good pizza out in CityWalk.

Dolores: Or a top notch meal at Mythos, which is in Islands of Adventure or Hard R ock, you can eat at The Kitchen or at Portofino Bay Bice is a seriously nice restaurant. [00:09:00] The food has become part of the experience to the point where locals will go to these restaurants because they're not just theme park restaurants anymore.

 They are good restaurants. They're 'Hey, this is where I wanna go' restaurants. 

And did you know that Mythos has been voted the world's best theme park restaurant like 10 times over? Sometimes this gets a lot of giggles and people make fun of it because of that. But I can tell you that I have been eating at this restaurant over 20 some years now. . I can remember taking my oldest son there who is now 27, about 20 years ago.

Yeah. He was just a little fart and we had the best time, and this was my introduction to mini-desserts. Do you remember when dessert shots were a thing? I don't think they're still a thing, but just like a shot glass filled with like little layers of, you know, it might be like sponge cake in the strawberries and whipped cream, so it's like a little tiny mini strawberry shortcake or you know, Boston cream pie.

So cute. I thought they were perfect and I love them and that's a great memory. I was also [00:10:00] there much more recently, about a year ago with my team on a VIP tour. And the menu was entirely different from the last time I'd been there, and it wasn't 20 years ago when I had been there, but it had been a while.

I knew the menu was gonna be different. But I did not have my expectations set high enough, and I was absolutely blown away. I highly recommend Mythos for a nice meal. And the thing is, with it being in a theme park, you don't have to dress up. You can pop in and they don't care if you're sweaty and have your hair pulled up and whatever.

It's fine. And the AC in there is rocking. I will tell you that. It blew my mind how good it was, so I don't make fun of Mythos, but if you hear people go, like, kind of roll their eyes and be like, oh yeah, whatever, it's actually, it's a really good restaurant.

I highly recommend it.   

Outside of the restaurants themselves, we now even get amazing, creative, fun seasonal event menus for stuff like Halloween Horror Nights, Mardi Gras, and the holidays. I spoke in depth about our experiences this year at the Grinch and Friends Breakfast on episode three.

Dolores: If you're interested, you can go [00:11:00] back and check that out. But, um, spoiler, it was a total home run because Universal is just so good at unique experiences like that, and not even just dining experiences, but just unique experiences as a whole. It's like you get to step into the real movie magic with hands-on fun.

You know, the interactive wands, or experience movie quality haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights, which you know, or you will know that I absolutely live for. The quality it's next level bonkers, what they can do. 

It's crazy awesome. You can explore hidden details and Easter eggs all throughout the parks. Oh, we should do a whole episode on all the Easter eggs that you're gonna find from attractions that are there now to attractions that no longer exist, but you can still find nods to them as you walk around the parks.

It's just really super cool. 

Where else outside of New Orleans itself? Can you toss beads from a [00:12:00] real Mardi Gras float, and I mean, real Mardi Gras float, like these floats are made by Kern Studio, who is like the biggest float maker for the actual, like Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans. They're legit, and it's so cool.

Or where else outside of New York City. Can you see the huge Macy's balloons and parade floats? ? Well, you can do that at Universal Orlando, and this is only going to expand exponentially when we step into five whole new worlds at Epic Universe. So Nub and Point Universal does have epic rides, but if that's all you focus on, you're skipping experiences that make these parks truly special.     

Oh, and this is my favorite one, and it's because I have been a victim of it, and that is the myth that you'll save money by staying offsite. 

It's a mistake to assume that staying offsite is always going to be the cheaper option, and I get it. I was once that person [00:13:00] who thought booking a hotel down the road a little bit, who save me a ton of money, but here's what I learned the hard way so that you don't have to. At first, the offsite hotel looked like a great deal. 

It has a lower nightly rate, it has free breakfast, and it even has a shuttle to the park. So yeah, we're all set up great. But then what I experienced and didn't factor in were the hidden costs.

Dolores: The resort fees. The unreliable shuttle schedule. And if their shuttle isn't running the way it's supposed to, there's really nothing you can do about it. 

 Come to find out they weren't very good about making sure that it ran on time and it didn't run early enough to really get you there when you wanted to be, and it didn't run late enough that you could really stay, and enjoy maybe CityWalk after the parks closed.

The resort fees, which are very often hidden , and I am not a fan of that practice. The unreliable shuttle schedule. The extra time spent commuting. The stress of dealing with the traffic and the parking. So much time.

By the time we actually made it into the parks, [00:14:00] we'd already spent half our energy just getting there. It's not the best way to do things . Now I do have to give myself a little bit of grace because this was a long time ago. I was young and there weren't as many on site choices as there are now. 

Today Universal has hotel options that are very competitive with offsite pricing, and this was by design as part of their plan right from the inception of the Endless Summer Resort sister hotels. They were made to offer a budget friendly option that would still include all the regular perks of staying on site.

In fact, Universal went in prepared for, and knowing that they would take a loss on them for several years because they were committed to having a truly value priced choice for guests. 

That's 2,800 rooms and two bedroom suites that offer exceptionally great pricing with the added bonus of Early Park Admission, package delivery, constant and reliable shuttle service directly to the parks, Volcano Bay, and CityWalk. So staying [00:15:00] on site at Universal is more than just location.

It's about value. 

Getting into the parks an hour before the general public. This is going to be even more important and of greater value when Epic opens next month.

Proximity equals more park time. Walk, shuttle, take a quick boat ride instead of spending time in Orlando traffic, I mean, have you met Orlando Traffic? I-4? I, I can introduce you. She's not very nice. She is not the way you wanna start your day if you don't have to.

And then of course, we have the Express Unlimited passes that are included with stays at select hotels. So if you stay at one of the OG three Royal Pacific Hard Rock and Portofino Bay, you get Unlimited Express Pass included for free. It's a perk.

This alone can save you hundreds of dollars per person versus the a la carte pricing. Whew. So the biggest lesson I learned was that our vacation time is precious. [00:16:00] We can always earn more money, but we can't get back lost time. Staying on site isn't just a debate about where to spend our dollars. It's about getting more value for the time.

 So before you decide on that offsite hotel, please ask yourself, is it really a savings? If it costs me valuable time in the parks or my sanity? And I'm only partially kidding because it's the overall experience that we need to consider. 

And that's a wrap on this episode. But before you go, don't get stuck in the standby line. Make sure to follow, rate and review the show. I promise you that it's way easier than getting a table at Three Broomsticks during a Saturday lunch rush.

Holli: I.

Julian: Thanks for hanging out with us. Now, get out here and go do something nice for someone.