Universal Trips are for Everyone!

21 July | Missy Ryan

Typically, when someone thinks of taking a trip, they immediately think family vacation.

For years families have saved their weeklong vacations for trips to enjoy bonding and making memories. While these are wonderful and an important part of growth within family structure, it is not always feasible or typical for everyone.

It's becoming more popular and reoccurring that people are breaking their vacation time up into smaller getaways. Recently my husband and three older boys embarked on their first “Boy’s Trip.” This was unchartered waters for all of us. Usually, it is myself traveling with a kid, a few kids, other agents, or my husband. I usually plan it all and everyone just shows up!

During the planning process there were few things to consider. Schedules aligning, availability at the resort, reasonable airfare, and planning with enough wiggle room for spontaneity. As we moved forward, we decided that Universal Orlando would be the perfect destination for the first annual boy’s trip.

Universal has so much to offer and a great balance when it comes to fun and sun!

They offer three parks. Volcano Bay, which is an amazing water park that offers water rides, lazy rivers, fierce rivers, food, and a volcano that cannot be missed. Islands of Adventure caters more to the marvel side of things, has a good portion of thrill rides, food, and of course for those Harry Potter fans, Hogsmeade. Universal itself is home to Diagon Alley, several popular simulating rides such as Transformers, The Mummy and Escape to Gringotts. Want to try a hot butterbeer? A cold Butterbeer? Butterbeer ice-cream, fudge, or pudding? You are at the right place!

While each park offers treats, dining locations for a quick meal or somewhere to kick back and be waited on, there are other options outside of those main areas, like City Walk. City Walk is known for entertainment, several shopping locations, and of course- more food!

Food being a top priority, I was happy to be able to secure these locations for their trip. As the planning continued, we were able to score reservations at Big Fire (try the smores dessert!!) and my all-time favorite, CowFish!

Universal Orlando also offers several lodging options as far as for groups, families, etc. We decided on Surfside because they wanted to try a resort they had not experienced yet.

Surfside Inn and Suites is a new to the lineup at Universal and considered a value hotel. With that said, they offer buses to and from the parks, have an impressive large main pool, a quick service option on site, along with a Starbucks and bar.

Surfside décor is based and built around the idea of, you got it, surfing. With a simple beach theme, accents of surfboards, and overall seaside feel, the hotel has really nailed their theming to match their name.

One thing to consider with the value properties, however, is that the tickets do not come with Express, which needs to be added to your park tickets. Express is a feature that allows guests to skip attraction lines between the two main parks, with only about three attractions not on the list.

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Here are some other great addons to consider!

• Park to park tickets, which allow the guest to go back and forth to each park throughout the day
• Photo Pass, which captures all your photos and gives you the opportunity to have some fun photo ops in the green room and includes two prints.
• Refillable mug at your resort or refillable cup at the park. Your mug can be purchased on hotel property, where the cup can be used at the parks.

These were and are all wonderful components in helping a trip go as smoothly and stress free as possible!

Planning for a short group getaway can be a fun opportunity to reconnect and recharge. Seeing the smiles on my boys faces and watching them through social media as they bonded and connected again on levels that sometimes gets lost during months of busy schedules, is something you cannot put a price tag on. Getting together and making memoires is something we never regret!

I would love to talk more about travel and getting a group or your family organized for fun. Keep up with my own adventures on Facebook or follow me on Instagram.

I am always happy to curate a free quote and welcome emails at missyr@wishesfamilytravel.com