Disclosure: I attended the 2017 Family Forward blogger conference at Universal Orlando Resort. I paid for my and my family’s transportation and conference admission, which included lodging at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, discounted park tickets, some meals and several special events. This post contains affiliate links.
During our Universal Orlando Resort vacation, bloggers and families in attendance enjoyed taking part in Universal’s VIP Experience. The VIP Experience is a guided tour through Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Your tour guide will walk you on to each ride, giving you front-of-the-line access. It’s a generally stress-free day of enjoying the parks, riding as many rides as possible, and having lots of fun! The VIP Experience also includes breakfast and lunch.
It was on this trip that my youngest son truly became a roller coaster lover. At Universal, we started our day riding Rip Ride Rockit! This coaster is tall, fast, and ridiculously fun, as it zips in and out of many of the buildings along the streets of Universal. Fun feature: Everyone riding can pick their own soundtrack for the ride and decide what to listen to. My sons went the 70s disco route and were doing disco hand motions as we hit the first loop.
Our VIP tour group consisted of our family and several others. As we expressed to our guide that we were all thrill-seekers, he made sure we would get to experience all of the large thrill rides in both theme parks. Transformers The Ride 3D is an action-packed romp through a city battle in which the Transformers save the day.
The newest ride at Universal Orlando is Jimmy Fallon’s Race Through New York. Guests enter Jimmy’s theater and through some movie magic (and the magic of hydraulics!) the entire theater is taken on a ride through New York city, cruising through the studio, streets, sky, and even down into New York Harbor.
The ride itself is fun for both kids and adults, but adults will want to linger a little longer in the queue area, because it’s a mini-museum featuring artifacts and memorabilia from every host of The Tonight Show. Vintage televisions play loops of fun clips from each era.
We headed to Springfield next, where everyone enjoyed Simpsons: The Ride! This ride uses motion and simulator technology to bring you into the Simpsons’ world. Of course, half the fun of being in Springfield is walking around Springfield too and immersing yourself in all things Simpsons. Who could resist posing with this enormous statue of Jebediah Springfield?
We also passed the Lard Lad Donuts stand, where you can purchase — what else? — big pink donuts. (In keeping with Simpsons lore, they’re actually called D’oh-Nuts!) Our family agreed that before our trip was over, we’d come back and indulge in some donut deliciousness.
Did you know E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is the only ride at Universal Orlando that’s original to the park? Over the years, many rides have come and gone to make way for new attractions, but you can still hop on a bicycle and fly through the woods with E.T.
We continued riding a few more attractions at Universal, and then it was time for lunch. The VIP Experience also includes lunch for tour guests. Depending on where you are at in the parks when the lunch hour hits, your guide may opt to take you to any restaurant on property, or to a buffet luncheon within the Universal Orlando park. Our guide took us to the VIP buffet at Cafe La Bamba, which is only open to VIP Experience guests.
The Cafe La Bamba VIP buffet features food from many of the restaurants at Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure, so it’s a great place to try different menu items, all in once place. It’s also a beautifully-themed restaurant — our children got such a kick out of their “fancy” lunch! Plus, the desserts at the buffet were outstanding as well…
Oh my. We may or may not have over-indulged a bit on the desserts at the VIP buffet! Isn’t that what vacations are all about, though?
Our guide announced that we would head over to Islands of Adventure after lunch to experience more rides. Before leaving the buffet, though, he invited us to take a VIP “movie star” photo at a photo station inside the restaurant. Why not?
Over at Islands of Adventure, we continued our ride spree! Universal has both traditional line queues and Express Pass queues where guests can skip long lines if they have the Express Pass option on their tickets. (This can be purchased for an extra charge, and some Universal resort hotels on property also provide Express Pass privileges to guests staying at these resorts.) However, on the VIP tour, the guides lead you into each ride through back entrances, and you are always walked right onto the ride. This shortens the wait time considerably.
The only drawback to this is that some of the ride lines are attractions in their own right. Part of the fun of riding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is getting to walk through various rooms of the Hogwarts castle prior to the ride, as the rooms are deeply themed with fun surprises along the way. VIP Experience tours end in the late afternoon, so there’s time left in your day to go back on your own and ride again if you’d like to.
My favorite ride at Islands of Adventure is the Hulk! This coaster received a big upgrade since our last park visit seven years ago. It now features a completely new track, which, while it follows the same path as the original, is much smoother than it used to be. The entire queue area has been redone with fantastic new theming too that prepares you, the guest, to turn into the Hulk. What hasn’t changed: The ride’s amazing launch sequence that takes you from zero to 40 miles per hour in under three seconds, reaching a top speed of 67 miles an hour shortly after. It is, quite simply, a blast.
One other perk of the VIP experience? Your tour guide will hold any belongings you don’t want to take on the rides. This may sound like a small thing, but nearly every large thrill ride at the Universal parks has lockers where you’ll need to store everything in your pockets before riding. The tour guides are happy to take and hold onto purses, phones, water bottles, or other items while you ride.
Our VIP Experience ended in the afternoon, and then we were free to enjoy the parks for the rest of the day on our own. It’s worth noting that VIP Experience guests also receive Express Unlimited Pass privileges on their park tickets for the remainder of the day, so you can go back and ride your favorites a few more times before the park closes via the Express entrances with minimal lines. Guess what this guy wanted to ride several more times?
Universal’s VIP Experience starts at $189.00 per person.
Universal CityWalk
We spent a total of five days at Universal, and there really is so much to see and do. In addition to the theme parks, Universal Resort Orlando features a large shopping and dining district, CityWalk. There are so many fun restaurants and places to shop! We enjoyed Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, a wild, steampunk-themed eatery (where nearly every dish features chocolate) and candy store.
The entire place is Wonka-esque, and our children loved browsing (and purchasing!) some of the unique sweets and confections offered here.
One evening, we had dinner at The Cowfish, a burger-and-sushi fusion CityWalk restaurant. We love all things sushi, and both the food and presentation was spectactular. We also enjoyed the rockin’ soundtrack while we ate! As David Lee Roth blared out of the speakers, my husband asked our server why the playlist was so good. “They’re all Universal artists,” she said with a smile.
My husband ordered a filet mignon lobster roll, and silly me — for a moment I thought he would get a New England-style lobster roll — not a sushi roll. This beauty, topped with pan-fried portabella mushrooms, arrived at our table to many “oohs!”
Universal Orlando is also home to the Blue Man Group, and we loved their energetic show, which pairs live music with art, comedy, and a whole lot of fun! I had seen the Las Vegas production of the Blue Man Group over a decade ago, so I knew a little what to expect, but no one else in my family had gone before. It is such an unpredictable ride of a show, with lots of audience participation.
While the Blue Men never speak, they wordlessly communicate their own unique (and at times, peculiar!) personalities throughout the show. Everyone in the family loved it and immediately said they would go see the show again in a heartbeat! And yes, I know Blue Man Group also has a Chicago company, yet we’ve never gone even though it’s so close to home for us. We may have to change that..!)
Lastly, because I always love a bargain, I must share this with you. Remember the Lard Lad donut stand in the Simpsons’ Springfield area of the park? It serves this wonderfully-decadent pink donut sundae for $5.99. And, on this particular day, we had Brain Freezin’ D’oh-Nut Sundaes for “lunch.” Hey, when a nearby restaurant was selling $11 hot dogs, the donut ice cream sundae seemed like a deal in comparison. A donut sundae lunch is also a great way to beat the late-summer Orlando heat!
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort
We stayed at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, Universal’s newest on-property hotel. It’s got a laid-back, beach resort theme, and the entire hotel is decorated in soothing shades of blue, cream, and white. Like other Universal resorts, it’s connected to the two theme parks and CityWalk via a waterway, and you can take water taxis to visit them. (It’s about a seven-minute walk along the riverside if you’d prefer to get there on foot.)
Sapphire Falls has an enormous pool area with a waterslide, and our family spent a lot of time out here when we weren’t hitting the theme parks! We were all delighted at how warm the water was in this pool — such a great way to relax! In fact, of the five Universal on-site resorts, Sapphire Falls has the largest pool on Universal property. We really enjoyed making Sapphire Falls our “home away from home” for this vacation.
I was also excited to learn that Universal’s hotels all feature 100% cotton bedding! One of my sons is allergic to polyester, and going on vacation usually means bringing cotton sheets along for him to sleep in. Knowing the bedding was 100% cotton before we even left home meant we had more room in our suitcase for souvenirs!
If you enjoyed reading about Universal Orlando’s VIP Experience and more, you may enjoy reading additional article about our trip:
- We love the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando!
- Spending the day at Volcano Bay, Universal Orlando’s water theme park
Interested in an Orlando theme park vacation? Undercover Tourist is an authorized discount ticket seller for many Orlando-area theme parks and attractions! Right now they’re offering “Buy 2 days, get 2 days FREE” passes for Universal Orlando, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay — that’s $68 off gate prices!
Disclosure: I attended the 2017 Family Forward blogger conference at Universal Orlando Resort. I paid for my and my family’s transportation and conference admission, which included lodging at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, discounted park tickets, some meals and several special events. This post contains affiliate links.
Patricia says
Jill, I’ve loved you new Universal posts. We are planning a Disney trip and want to add a few Universal days too. Some questions:
How many days do you think we need to spend at Disney? At Universal?
This hotel at Universal looks beautiful! Do you get the Express Pass automatically for Universal at your Sapphire Falls hotel?
We are wanting to do a VIP tour at one park. I saw you did Disney’s VIP tour too. Which was better, be honest. =)
Coupon Maven says
How fun — I think the planning is half the fun! Is this your first trip to either one, or both?
If you really want to see and do as much as possible, I’d recommend at least 4-5 days at Disney and 3 at Universal. Disney has four parks, not counting the water parks, Disney Springs area, and everything else there is to do at the resorts. Universal’s parks are packed with fun, but because they’re so close together, you can easily move between them and cover them both in just a couple days. On our longest trip to date, we spent ten days in Florida — seven at Disney and three at Universal! That was back in 2007. We did not go in the Disney parks every day of the seven Disney days because our youngest was three at the time, and we wanted some downtime days to spend at the resort and swim.
Sapphire Falls IS a beautiful property, and it’s so much fun to stay somewhere that is brand-new too. It does not come with automatic Express Pass (front of the line) privileges though. If you’re looking for that, the Royal Pacific hotel is the lowest-priced of the Universal on-site hotels that offers it. This is an older property, but it’s still quite nice with a relaxing, tropical-themed pool area. (We stayed at Royal Pacific on our 2007 Universal trip.
VIP tours: They were both fun, and on both of them you’ll get to see backstage areas of the parks that you’d likely not see any other way. (Here’s my review of the Disney Parks’ VIP tours: https://jillcataldo.com/disneys-vip-tours-one-day-disney-honeymoon if you’d like to compare.)
I’m giving the edge to Disney though on this one. With both tours, you’re told your guides will be -amazing- and fill you with lots of trivia and insider knowledge when you’re moving between rides. At Disney, our VIP guide was outstanding. She went above and beyond to care for everyone in the group — she was highly attentive to whether we needed to stop for drinks, bathroom breaks and what not. She knew lots of trivia about rides, backstage areas, and the parks’ history. It was hot on our tour, and our guides had cold, wet, cooling towels in a cooler to share when we got hot.
It’s possible our Universal guides simply had an “off day,” but neither one of them gave us this kind of insider park information. As our group was large, we had both a man and a woman guiding us. weren’t terribly chatty, even when I tried to engage them and ask for facts or trivia about things. My son loved the Rockit roller coaster, so I asked for trivia about it. He said “Well, it’s the tallest.” That was the end of the conversation. We’d been led to expect more, especially as this was a press trip of bloggers who they knew would be writing about the event afterward.
Our female tour guide at Universal also told us that “Universal doesn’t pay us well,” and asked for tips before the tour had ended, which left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. (I have no problem tipping for good service, but I didn’t like seeing her throw her employer under the bus like that. Again, these guides knew they were leading bloggers on a media trip who would be writing about their experiences!)
Based on my experiences with both, I would expect to get to know your Disney guide pretty well throughout the day while giving you front-of-the-line access to rides and attractions, and to simply expect your Universal guides to give you front-of-the-line access during your tour.
That said, the Universal VIP lunch buffet is stellar. We loved having a private restaurant just for us, and we really enjoyed the wide selection of food from restaurants all over the Universal parks available in one place. That said, Universal reserves the right to take you to any restaurant at lunchtime if your group is not near the buffet location, which is in the main Universal Studios park. (Another group of bloggers dined at one of the Potter restaurants on the same day for their VIP tour.) At Disney, you will dine at a parks restaurant in the vicinity of where your tour happens to be at the time, and we loved our lunch at Seasons in Epcot on that day too.
Neither one of these tours are inexpensive — they are premium experiences, and to me, if I am paying a premium price for something like this, I’d like it to be as wonderful an experience as it can be. That said, Disney’s VIP tour would be my choice.
Patricia says
Wow thanks for your detailed replies! I trust your reviews so much and I think we’re going to go with Disney for the tour. We absolutely must go to Harry Potter though as it looks too good to be real. Thank you for hotel info too, we will look at the Pacific one as we would like the faster Express Pass option for sure.