16. Look into park restaurants online before your trip

Vivo Italian at Universal City Walk

Reviewing menus beforehand will allow your entire party to agree on a restaurant. Leave the arguments at home! This tactic can also help those following special diets (vegetarians, gluten-free) plan out meals in advance. Mythos is a fun cavern themed restaurant at Islands of Adventure: the design is amazing and the Pad Thai awesome. It was rated the best theme park restaurant multiple years in a row. Most menus are marked as to allergens (or you can email the chef beforehand). Check out my allergy friendly dining guide for a few great picks around the city.

Food within the parks is really pricey. You are better off bringing with snacks and waiting to eat a full meal for dinner. Plus, you will save precious park time by following this tactic. Vivo Italian, Hard Rock, and Toothsome Chocolate Emporium are all great restaurants at CityWalk. If you do intend on eating in the parks, Louie’s in the NYC section of Universal is pretty good. The giant slices are just 12 bucks and honestly pretty delicious!

And of course, there is nothing better than a frosty butterbeer on a hot, humid afternoon! I can’t wait until my next visit just to order this frozen treat again.

Butterbeer cheers at Universal's Diagon Alley
A cooling butterbeer is a great treat mid day! Much cheaper than a full lunch!
NY style Louie's pizza at Universal Studios
Louie’s NY pizza at Universal is one of the better values!

17. Know which rides to skip!

Race through New York with Jimmy Fallon ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida

In order to avoid wasting limited time, here is my handy guide to the rides I felt were the biggest time wasters.

Rides worth skipping in my opinion include:

  • Adventures of Spiderman: Way too bumpy and horrible for motion sickness. I do not have motion sickness, and I was sick after this ride. Way too much jerking around in every single direction!
  • Dr Doom’s Fearfall: In my opinion, there are too many similar rides at other theme parks and carnivals to waste time here.
  • Despicable Me: There are better 3D shows. This one is not very entertaining and it jams you around too much!
  • Jimmy Fallon: I wasn’t impressed. I would only go on this one if the wait is really short.

For the best rides in the park worth putting on the top of your bucket list, you can check out my full ride guide.

18. Pay close attention to ride warning signs

These handy signs can help those with motion sickness avoid certain rides, especially some of the more dizzying simulator rides. In my opinion, the worst rides for those with motion sickness are the following: The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jimmy Fallon, Despicable Me, Men in Black, and The Simpsons 3D ride. Mike has major motion sickness and he had the worst time with Spiderman and The Simpsons – avoid these at all costs! The rest really jam you around.

Some people swear by ginger root pills for motion sickness, although these rides are a bit above and beyond in terms of causing motion sickness. That being said, it couldn’t hurt and any supplement containing ginger may work for milder rides.

The Simpsons ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida

Park hours

Both parks open at 9:00am (8 for early admission). Universal closes at 9 and Islands at 10. Both parks are open 365 days a year. CityWalk is open from 8:00am – midnight (1am on Saturdays). Do check the schedule as times may vary throughout the year and be sure to check for events which may close the parks earlier.

Unfortunately, I was surprised to learn on my most recent trip that both parks were closing at 7pm for a private event. Check in advance to avoid being disappointed!

Park address

The park is located at 6000 Universal Blvd. Parking is $32. Free Citywalk parking after 6 or when you buy 2 matinee show tickets at Cinemark. Check for restrictions and special events like Horror Nights.

Note: Epic Universe is extremely busy and it is hard to experience it all at this point in time. I visited Epic shortly after opening (the first week of June) and was shocked by the waiting times. The Ministry of Magic average wait time was 3-5 hours with many delays throughout the day. I can say that Super Mario World is super cute and Stardust Racers is an amazing coaster. I definitely recommend getting to Epic right at opening if you plan to get on more than a few rides.

Also, if you are not a big Harry Potter fan, I recommend skipping the Ministry ride as the wait is hours long and the ride actually broke down 4 times during our ride. There is a lot more to explore and not a lot of time.