Universal Studios Hollywood Trip Planner

Southern California is home to some of the most popular theme parks in the world, including Universal Studios Hollywood.

With thrilling attractions, incredible entertainment and fun for the entire family – what’s not to love?

A few years ago, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time. Oliver was just about nine months old, and Jack was four.

While my parents relaxed at the hotel, we invited my little brother, Michael, to come along. Our main purpose in going there was to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – but we were pleasantly surprised with all Universal Studios had to offer!

Whether you’ve been to Universal Studios Hollywood recently or haven’t visited for years, I’ve teamed up with my friends at Get Away Today to give you a guide on how to plan your visit to Universal Studios Hollywood.

This way, you’ll be able to experience all of the fun at the very best price! We found our day at Universal Studios to be a nice change of pace from Disneyland. It was quite a bit less busy – and we had a great time. 

Planning a Trip to Universal Studios Hollywood

Purchase Universal Studios Discount Tickets

Our first, and possibly most important tip is to pre-purchase your Universal Studios Hollywood tickets before you go.

Not only will you be able to skip all of the long ticket booth lines, but you’ll be able to save some cash. L

Luckily, Get Away Today offers all kinds of Universal Studios Hollywood discount tickets.

Choose between a 1-Day admission ticket, 2-Day admission ticket, Universal Express pass and a VIP Experience.

No matter what ticket you choose, you’ll be able to have the peace of mind knowing you got the best price. Plus, you’ll be able to skip the lines and go straight to the gate! What’s better than that?

**Expert Tip** If you want to avoid lines for popular rides, the Express Pass or the VIP Experience will definitely be worth it (if you can justify the cost). The Express Pass is significantly less expensive than the VIP Experience, but you’ll just get one front of the line pass for each ride that offers it.

The park typically limits how many Express passes are sold, which makes it so you know you’ll have shorter wait times. I would suggest buying these if you are going during peak seasons or dates.

When we went, the lines at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter were pretty long, but the Express pass let us go straight to the front of the line.

Stay in Anaheim

Most families visiting Universal Studios Hollywood are also visiting the Disneyland Resort, which is why we recommend staying in Anaheim. Here, you’ll be able to get a lower rate and take advantage of exclusive amenities that aren’t typically found in hotels in the Hollywood area.

As a Get Away Today guest, you can get access to free parking, free breakfast and even free night hotel stays within the Anaheim area – saving you hundreds on your Universal Studios Hollywood vacation. 

Get Away Today offers discount shuttle services through Karmel Shuttle services, which can take you from most hotels in Anaheim up to Universal Studios. Trust me, this is a much better option than battling the LA traffic yourself!

However, if Universal Studios Hollywood is your main destination, Get Away Today does offer incredible hotel deals for properties within walking distance to the park. Not only will you get the best price, but you’ll be minutes away from all of the fun! 

Here are a few to consider:

• Sheraton Universal Hotel – free shuttle to Universal Studios
• Tilt Hotel
• The Garland – free shuttle to Universal Studios

Single Rider

One way to get through lines faster is with the single rider line. If you (or someone in your party) doesn’t mind going by themselves, these lines are typically considerably shorter.

Here are rides at Universal Studios Hollywood that have a single rider line:

• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Flight of the Hippogriff
• Revenge of the Mummy – The Ride
• Transformers: The Ride 3D

Use Child Switch

More often than not, people associate Universal Studios Hollywood as a theme park that only caters to teens and adults, but it’s actually a great place for kids too!

Little ones will love attractions such as:

• Flight of the Hippogriff

• DreamWorks Theater
• • Featuring Kung Fu Panda
  • Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.

Plus, they’ll be able to play in areas like Super Silly Fun Land and Dino Land (coming summer 2019.)

However, if your children still don’t meet the height requirement for some of these attractions, there’s no need to worry. At Universal Studios Hollywood, they offer a service called Child Switch.

If any child in your party cannot ride an attraction, one or two adults can wait with the child in the attraction’s Child Switch room. When the rest of your party returns, you can switch with those who were waiting with the child, without having to wait in line again!

Child Switch is an easy way to experience Universal Studios Hollywood as a family, so no one has to get left behind.

Personally, I think their Child Switch is really well done and easy to use. Don’t tell anyone, but I think it’s a lot smoother than Disneyland’s rider switch program.

Also, keep your eye open for characters. We found the lines to see them to be very short, and Jack loved it!

I will say that I think the park is best for 5+, just to get the best experience. But there are certainly options for little ones.

Visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Of course, a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood would not be complete without visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. However, it’s no surprise that this area is still incredibly popular.

So, if you don’t want to worry about waiting in long lines, we’d recommend visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter as soon as the park opens. This way, you can experience all of the witchcraft and wizardry without any muggles getting in your way.

Make sure you check out our post all about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and what you should know before you go.

See a Show

Universal Studios Hollywood is one of the world’s most famous movie studios, which means that their entertainment is nothing to skip.

Enjoy the Special Effects Show, Universal’s Animal Actors, WaterWorld, the Triwizard Spirit Rally, Frog Choir, The Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle and so much more!

Each of the shows is filled with awe-inspiring special effects, interactive experiences and fun for the entire family.

Ride Attractions

In addition to the entertainment, you’ll want to make time to experience some of the best attractions that Southern California has to offer.

If you’re looking for a thrill, be sure to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Transformers: The Ride – 3D, Revenge of the Mummy, The Simpsons Ride and the all-new Jurassic World – The Ride coming summer 2019. Plus, you won’t want to miss out taking a ride on The World-Famous Studio Tour.

On this attraction, you’ll be able to get a behind-the-scenes look at real television and movie sets, making you feel what it’s like to be an actual movie star!

Explore Universal CityWalk

Universal Studios Hollywood is also home to Universal CityWalk, a bright and lively downtown area filled with over 30 places to eat, a nightclub, an IMAX movie theater, and more than 30 unique shops.

Enjoy places like Buca di Beppo, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Hard Rock Café, VooDoo Doughnut, Billabong, Hot Topic, Sephora and more.

Universal Studios Hollywood Food

There are a lot of great dining options at Universal Studios Hollywood.

We ate in Universal City before we went into the park (we got there around noon and left around five), which worked well for us. As I mentioned above, there are TONS of options.

However, if you want to eat in the park, there are many, many options as well. Just expect typical theme park prices.  Here are all the Universal Studios in-park dining options.

In general, it’s suggested to either eat before 12:30 PM or 2:00 PM to avoid the longest lines.

Best Times to Visit

So when should you plan a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood?

Basically, any time that kids are out of school – so major holidays, spring breaks, and the entire summer time.

However, that’s obviously not ideal for most people who are going with kids, since, well, they can’t usually miss a lot of school.

So if you want to still go and have to go during peak season, it’s best to go early in the morning and mid-week for the lowest crowd times.

Get There Early

Get to the park before it opens to avoid lines for parking and getting in. The early bird DEFINITELY catches the worm here.

Depending on where you buy your ticket from, you might be able to get Early Park Admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. With this ticket, you’ll get in 30 minutes early…which can make a big difference!

Outside Food

Unfortunately, Universal Studios isn’t quite as food-friendly as Disneyland. However, you can still bring in some items which can save you money in the long run:

• Water bottles – maximum 2 liters
• Baby food (including formula and breast milk)
• Small snacks
• Fruits and vegetables

Celebrity Sightings

There are often celebrities that will be at the park (or surrounding areas) throughout the year.

If that’s something that sounds fun to you – be sure to check out the Universal Studios Hollywood calendar to see what’s filming when you are there and what celebrities might pop up!

Download the App

These days I would never go to a theme park without downloading their app!

You can download it here, and enjoy the following features:

• Accurate wait times
• Trip planner that helps you plan your itinerary
• Alerts to get into line
• Park updates

And guess what….you can connect to the in park WiFi for FREE!

Locker Rental

We had a stroller, which, if you have children, I strongly recommend bringing. This made it easy to tote around snacks, diapers, and other random stuff we had.

However, if you don’t have a stroller (or don’t want to lug around your bag all day), renting a locker for the day might be a good idea.

At the time of writing this, here are the prices for one-day locker rentals:

• $8 Lockers: Height – 12¾” Width – 11″ Length – 16½”
• $12 Lockers: Height – 16″ Width – 8″ Length – 16″
• $15 Lockers: Height – 21½” Width – 11″ Length – 16″

What to Bring

I would recommend packing as lightly as possible, but here are a few good things to bring with you:

• Small snacks
• Water bottles (no more than 2 liters)
• Phone charger – there are outlets in the Upper Lot…but if you forget yours, Guest Relations has some you can borrow. Even better, I would
• Ponchos (for wet rides or if it rains)
• Good, comfortable shoes

How Many Days

Honestly, I think one day is PLENTY. We were there for 1/2 a day, and we were able to see all that we wanted to (granted, we had small children at the time).

If you’ll be going during peak season, two days might be a better idea. But for every other time of year, unless you are a huge fan of everything they have to offer, one day should be PLENTY.

**To book your Universal Studios Hollywood vacation, visit getawaytoday.com or call 855-GET-AWAY to speak to a travel expert directly. Don’t forget to mention promo code ClarksCondensed for an additional $10 off your vacation package. Let them know that Clarks Condensed sent you!**

The post Planning a Trip to Universal Studios Hollywood: Your Ultimate Guide appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post about traveling with children – my post on road tripping with a baby always seems to garner a lot of attention. Jack is three, so he’s kind of in that range of toddler/preschooler. Since we’ve taken plenty of road trips with him as a toddler, and now a couple as he’s entered that preschool age, I figure that I might as well write a post that focuses on road tripping with young children!

I’ll put this out there up front – Jack is very good in the car. He rarely, if ever, complains or cries, and he loves sleeping in his car seat. So, I’ll admit, my advice isn’t going to have a lot of experience with children who hate being in the car. However, I think that most of this is pretty generic, and I hope you can apply it to your situation!

We recently went on a super long road trip to Northern Idaho. It was over 2,000 miles round-trip, and let me tell ya – it was a doozy! Road trips are normally one of my least favorite things to do, but I think they are even worse during pregnancy. Let’s not even talk about how swollen my feet got.

Fortunately, we actually drove in the same car as my parents and little brother, which made the trip a little bit more fun. Jack loved being in the car with them.

1) Fun Bag

Growing up, the best part of road trips was the “fun bag” my mom would put together for each of my siblings and me. I remember that my bag was yellow, and there was always so much anticipation to getting to the car and seeing what was inside. In hindsight, there wasn’t anything too fancy – just some candy, maybe a small toy or book, but it was so fun to have this to look forward to.

I’ve continued this little tradition with Jack, and he absolutely loves it. I mentioned it to him a few days before this last road trip, and he couldn’t stop talking about it. I just stocked up on a few things from the dollar section at Target, and he was overjoyed when I let him open the bag on our trip. Here are a few ideas:

• New crayons/coloring book
• Small snacks like graham crackers, goldfish, or fruit snacks
• A new book
• A sticker book (or a package of stickers with a blank notebook)
• mini etch-a-sketch or magnadoodle
• Quiet Books
• Window markers
• Homemade Gak
• Car Color Bingo 
• Finger Puppets

You can easily find a little bag at the Dollar Tree or Target. However, I like having something that’s a little more durable and that we can use on multiple trips. We were sent a PaddlePak from Trunki.com, a company that specializes in travel gear for little ones, and it was perfect for putting Jack’s fun bag together. It had tons of room for everything we got him, and it was nice that it was water resistant, in case something spilled inside. Jack picked Ribbit the Frog, and it is so cute and very well-made.

2) Snacks in little containers

I bought several different snacks for Jack to have throughout the trip, but I wanted to make sure he didn’t just eat them all in the first hour we were driving. I got some cute little cups with lids from the Target dollar section (if you can’t tell, I love this section). I used about four different cups and put different snacks in each one. I kept larger bags of the snacks in my bag, so I could replenish the snacks when I needed to. I feel like it kept things more organized and less messy.

3) Make sure they are comfortable

No one wants to be uncomfortable in a vehicle, but I think adults can handle it a bit easier. If your child is uncomfortable, they will definitely let you know! Long road trips are bound to get uncomfortable, but there are a few things you can do to ease that discomfort.

• Regulate the temperature: Depending on the kind of vehicle you have, the backseat may get rather warm, even with air conditioning on. My friend came up with this interesting way to keep your child cool in the car. If you don’t feel like making something like that, I think buying a car seat fan attachment is a great idea, as well as rolling down the windows when you can.
• Bring familiar blankets and other sleep items: This will help your child fall asleep easier in the car!
• Bringing along a pillow probably isn’t the best idea, especially when your child is in a car seat. We were also sent a Trunki.comTrunki.com, and it really is the perfect solution for children in car seats. It helps to keep their neck from getting too stiff or tired, and the fact that they are animals is even more fun. Jack LOVES his, and he uses it even when we aren’t in the car! He has Leeroy the Lion.

4) Be willing to stop frequently

Jack was potty trained right about when he turned three (you can read all about our secret to potty training.) This is something we were very happy about, especially since I really didn’t want to have two kids in diapers once this new baby arrives. However, it does mean that you have to stop a lot more frequently. Jack doesn’t seem to quite understand the concept of “holding it” for awhile, so the moment he needed to go potty, he didn’t let us forget it. This meant that we stopped quite a few times (often on the side of the road – which he thought was soooo cool), and it was something we factored in.

If your child has just recently been potty trained, and you aren’t sure if there are good places to stop at a moment’s notice, you may want to consider having your child wear pull-ups in the car. Jack didn’t want to do this, so I wasn’t going to force him to, but if you’re at that in-between stage, it might be a good idea so you don’t have to worry about it if they have an accident.

It’s also good to stop and let your kids stretch their legs and run around for a little bit. No one likes being cramped in the car for hours on end!

5) Healthy snacks

From all of our road trips, I’ve learned this – junk food may be tempting to buy, but it’s far better to buy healthy snacks. Whenever we just load up on salty snacks and junk food, we always end up feeling horrible by the time we stop. Forrest and I started making sure we had a good supply of snacks that would keep us satisfied, but that weren’t complete junk. While we may have a package of cookies as well, we typically bring a lot of fruit (bananas, cutie clementines, and apples are our favorites), Annie’s snack crackers, granola bars, and, of course, lots of water! We recently started buying Motts Medley’s Fruits snacks from Costco, and they are a great treat to bring along as well.

One kind of candy I do recommend bringing is licorice. Traveling often results in constipation. TMI maybe, but it’s true. This goes for children as well! My mom swears that if you eat licorice while traveling, it helps a lot with travel bloat and constipation. I think there’s definitely some merit in this!

6) Don’t give them all their “surprises” at once

If you are going on a long road trip and have bought different surprises (whether it be a game, a book, or maybe a new movie), don’t give it to your child all at the beginning! Chances are, they will go through everything really quickly, and then they will start to get antsy and act board. Spread out the surprises to be available at the times when they seem like they are having the hardest time. I mean, with Jack, he was content about 95% of the time, but during that other 5%, it was nice to have something to distract him. Some people may not agree with doing this, but with as boring/frustrating/mind-numbing as a car ride can be, I honestly don’t care! If my child is content in the car, that’s pretty much all that matters to me when we are driving.

One surprise that might be fun to give your child when they get to their destination is a new suitcase! We also were asked to review Trunki’s signature product – the Trunki suitcase. It’s a ride on suitcase, available in a variety of different styles, and it’s a lot of fun for kids. When you arrive at your destination, it might be a fun treat for your child to see a brand new suitcase – just for them – that they can ride to their hotel room (or wherever you are staying!) Plus, these are guaranteed for five years – so you know they are built to last (also – random side note – I think this would be amazing in an airport!)

7) Make sure they are in the proper car seat

I couldn’t go through this post without putting a shout-out for car seat safety. I wrote a post awhile back that touched on car seat safety and proper car seats. When you are on a road trip, you are driving for long periods of time, and I think there’s probably an increased risk of getting in an accident. You want to make sure your child is as safe as possible, just in case something bad does happen!

8) Mess-free activities

The last thing you want to do is arrive at your destination (or home) and have a huge mess in the back seat. While your child may love painting or playdough, a road trip is not the best time for this! I recommend finding a variety of mess-free activities for them to enjoy throughout the trip. Here is an awesome list of mess-free road trip activities for preschoolers! We also love finding travel editions of little games, crayons (not markers – unless it’s Color Wonder!) and a new coloring book, or car bingo!

Going on a road trip to Southern California? Be sure to check out Get Away Today before you book your next trip – they have a best rate guarantee, and from my experience, they are the best company to work with. Get $10 off your package when you book using the code CLARKS2015!

The post 8 Tips for Road Trips with Young Children appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.