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We recently took advantage of a direct flight to Orlando prior to hopping on a cruise so we had one day to experience this theme park. We had never been to Universal and really wanted to ensure that we got the most out of our day so we opted to book the VIP Experience. I cannot tell you how happy we are that we did this!
With this package, we were assigned a personal tour guide and provided exclusive perks like a private entrance to all attractions at both Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, skip the line for every ride, a behind the scenes view of the park and interesting insider information. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun we didn’t take many pictures (fail!) but here is what our 6-hour tour entailed.
We met our guide and the seven other adults in our group at 10:30 a.m. at Cafe La Bamba which I believe is exclusively for VIP tours. The type of tour we booked allowed for a maximum group of 12 people. We had an excellent buffet breakfast here (included in the VIP Experience Package) and were able to grab a few complimentary water bottles to take with us.
We eased into the day with the Jimmy Fallon Race Through New York ride and then made our way over to the Hollywood Rip, Ride Rocket. I still can’t believe I rode that rollercoaster…what a rush! You have about 30 seconds to pick your song on this ride (I chose Kick Start My Heart by Motley Crue). For a good laugh, check out your pictures and music video when you get off the coaster.
Next up was Revenge of the Mummy and Transformers the 3-D Ride which I sat out of because I was still feeling the effects of the Rip, Ride, Rocket but my husband rode both of them. It was super cool when Brian took us under the Mummy roller coaster track after our group got off to listen to Brendan Fraser scream. See if you can make out what he screams when you’re on the ride.
We also toured one of the sound stages with a giant green screen all before returning to Cafe La Bamba for a lunch buffet with many wonderful dishes prepared by the park’s executive chef. Dessert was a beautiful selection of cupcakes and macaroons. I think our group sampled them all! I will admit to having a large glass of ginger ale at lunch. I was feeling a bit queasy from the rides.
After lunch, we went straight into Men In Black-Alien Invasion and then made our way over to the much anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Diagon Alley. Squeal! This was by far my
Unfortunately, the Hogwarts Express wasn’t running so we took a short-cut through the “underground” of Universal Studios and made our way over to the Islands of Adventure theme park through Seuss Landing and the Lost Continent. We breezed right past the 90-minute long line outside the Hogwarts Castle entering a back door and directly onto the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. This was definitely the best ride of the day!
The remainder of the tour included coming face to face with King Kong at Skull Island: Rein of Kong, and battling bad guys above the NYC skyline in The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. The final ride of the day was the Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster and then it was time to say farewell to our group and Brian.
If you were keeping count, that was 10 rides and two complimentary continental meals in 6 hours and we hadn’t spent a dime since we bought our VIP passes and tickets that morning. We were treated like stars the entire day and our guide, Brian shared a great deal of interesting information about the park. He was also awesome to hold our bags while we were on the rides so we didn’t have to fuss with getting lockers.
Once we were on our own, we made our way back to Diagon Alley for some butterbeer before taking in the Cinematic Celebration at park closing. This was a beautiful show on the water showcasing the movies featured in the park. We didn’t do any more rides but I’m pretty sure our VIP pass would have entitled us to use it as an Express Pass for the remainder of the day.
Our perfect “date day” ended at City Walk where we stopped for margaritas at Margaritaville and then made our way over to Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar…you have to try the Burgushi here. It was unreal!
I also wanted to point out that we received discounts on merchandise in
I can tell you that my husband and I would never have had such a memorable experience had we simply bought the admission tickets. It was awesome to have someone else plan our day for us and be able to skip every line. I’m sure if we were on our own we would have become tired of the lines and ended up in Margaritaville by 2:00 p.m.!
If you’re short on time and willing to spend a bit more money, I would definitely recommend the VIP Experience. It was worth every penny! Note that the VIP Experience does not include your Admission ticket. You have to buy
Overall, this day was a huge thrill. We feel like we got the most that we possibly could have out of our day and we were treated like royalty the whole time. The only con would be there was such little time in between rides that my stomach was still in my throat from the last ride when I was climbing onto the next. Not that I’m complaining!
