Universal Studios Florida / IOA Mini DO May 23-26 Memorial Day Weekend
 

Universal Studios Florida / IOA Mini DO May 23-26 Memorial Day Weekend

Well there seems to be quite an interest in USF/IOA Mini DO from conversations started in the “Is there any interest in a Mini - Disney Do?” thread. In order to clarify the new DO I am starting a new thread.

Here are the facts. If you stay on the grounds of Universal Studios you are allowed FOTL "Front of the Line" access to the rides so staying on the grounds has it’s advantages. There are 3 hotels on the property.

· Portofino Bay Hotel (PBH)
· Hard Rock Hotel (HRH)
· Royal Pacific Resort (RPR)

You can read about the hotels here

The PBH and HRH are available through Hotwire. PBH is the 5* and the HRH is 4 ½ * in the Universal Studio – Wet N Wild Zone.

Hotwire Rates:
PBH - $149/night
HRH - $137/night

If you have an entertainment book you can book the following rates. (which are cancelable but have limited availability)

PBH - $155
HRH - $125

Staying on property in my opinion is the way to go because otherwise you will need to rent a car to get to the park and the FOTL access alone is worth it.

The cost of single day admission tickets is $50 but they do have a special right now for an annual pass with restrictions on the Universal website.

2-Park Annual Power Pass - $99.95
Enjoy 1-year admission to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure! Some black out dates apply.
June 28 & 29, 2003
July 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, & 27, 2003
August 2, 3, 9, & 10, 2003
December 24, 2003 - January 1, 2004




[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 04-09-2003).]

If anyone has any questions about Universal Studios Florida/Islands of Adventure or the hotels, please feel free to post them here and I'll try and answer them. I have visited the hotels and parks a half-dozen times over the past few years, so am pretty familiar with the ins-and-outs.

Ticket Deal ~ MasterCard has a deal right now where you can buy a five day pass (these are consecutive days though, unlike the usual 2/3 day passes they sell that are non-consecutive) for $89.95 plus tax. That's not a great deal compared to the Power Pass except that if you buy four, you get the fifth for free, which lowers them down to around $75 each with tax, so you guys might want to try pooling a purchase. More information on this deal can be found here.

Looking for a roommate ~ I just reserved a room at the Hard Rock Hotel for May 24 - 26 to come to this. That being said, I really need to split this room with someone to swing this trip, so anyone want to bunk with me? The room will have two queen size beds. Note that this is Saturday - Monday, but if you're coming in Friday, I would just recommend staying at a hotel off-site since you can still check-in first thing Saturday morning and get your room key (even if your room isn't ready yet) for Front-of-the-Line (FOTL) access in the parks (3 days of FOTL for the 2 nights at the hotel basically).

General note on Hard Rock Hotel (HRH) and Portofino Bay Hotel (PBH) ~ $125/night and $165/night is not cheap for a hotel ... however, you will be hard pressed to find a better hotel deal considering the quality of these hotels, they are nothing short of spectacular. The first time I stayed at one of these hotels, I was expecting a good experience, but I was BLOWN AWAY by the quality of these hotels, it's really quite amazing. These hotels are nicer than any Sheraton, Westin, Marriott, or Hilton I have ever stayed at.

Just booked two rooms at the HRH @ $125. I am trying to get some friends from back home to go. Now I just have to buy admission to the park.

For those interest the number for the HRH is
1-800-232-7827

Here's my flights that I've booked (still not 100% sure I can go though):

5/24 US 825 CLT-MCO 8:35A-10:07A
5/26 US 786 MCO-CLT 7:00P-8:33P

I'd love to come by & say hello to all that attend. We'll be at Disney at the Polynesian that weekend. Though I'd love to go to Universal again, particularly IOA - we've got annual passes to Disney & somehow never manage to get there.

If you plan anything that doesn't require an admission, I'd be more than happy to join.

We could maybe plan a dinner one night ... Emeril's new restraunt, Tchoup Chop, is supposed to be good and relatively reasonably priced ...

Sounds good. I'll keep watch in this topic for plans.

Mary

I'm making my reservations now...

Hmm. The HRH is now sold out at the e-book rate for a 3 night stay Fri-Mon... =(

...and the seat sale is gone too. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I am sure everyone will have a very nice time! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I already booked a trip to AMS for that weekend. I would have gone to Universal Studios with the group if I didn't have prior plans.

Guess my first trip to Orlando will have to wait. I have my 10-yr high school reunion that weekend. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

IAH_FLYER, I am still hoping to plan a Disney DO during the Food & Wine Fest. I am just waiting on some definitive dates on the event. If I has to guess though I would think the weekend of the November 14-16 . I don't see anything on the calendar yet for the weekend of Nov 14-16.


[This message has been edited by prncess674 (edited 04-13-2003).]

The Food & wine festival runs Oct. 18 to Nov. 16.

Here are some of the available details.

http://wdwig.com/foodwine.htm

This info is from a non-disney affliated planning site. It's one of the best out there.

Mary

5/23 NW 801 EWR-MEM 955A-1146A
5/23 NW 956 MEM-MCO 1250P-342P
5/26 NW 959 MCO-MEM 710P-809P
5/26 NW 798 MEM-EWR 920P-1256A

Staying at the HRH.