Hello friends! My name is Jamie, and I am a mom of two young men. One will be going off to college in the fall and the other will be a sophomore in high school. As I write this, I am sitting in my gorgeous room at the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. I try to travel here with my family as often as possible! Although at this point, I am the one who enjoys it the most!
While I am physically in Florida, I am mentally re-visiting our trip to California over spring break. We did a VIP tour in Universal Studios Hollywood and honestly it was the only way I will visit that park from now on! Unlike Universal Studios Orlando, the admission ticket is included with the VIP tour.
We arrived early at park opening, even though our tour was scheduled at noon. We went to check-in and went into the VIP tour reception building. There they had breakfast, coffee, orange juice, water, etc. They had phone chargers and bottled waters to go.
Once we ate, we were off to enjoy the park with Unlimited Express Passes and access to the new Super Nintendo World! With VIP, you are allowed to enter and exit Super Nintendo World as many times as you would like! With a regular ticket (and even with Express Passes), you must make a reservation to enter the land (and yes, reservation availability does go quick). The down side is once you exit the land, that’s it. There is no going back without making another reservation.
Super Nintendo World was AMAZING! It is the home to Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge. This interactive ride lets you shoot at the goombas for coins. It's unlike any attraction I have ever seen! The best part about VIP is that you get to skip the entire line, with or without your guide. We were able to ride twice that day, once in the morning and once at night. I highly recommend you going at night because it looked so much more realistic!
We were able to enjoy the Super Nintendo World and then head for back to VIP reception building where we were able to enjoy some afternoon food selections before leaving with our guide, Christopher. Once with Christopher, we started the tour in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we bypassed the line by going through the exit and walked on to the ride - no wait. Your tour guide even waits and holds all your belongings while you ride.
We then headed to the World-Famous Studio Tour! This was a highlight for sure and another reason to do the VIP tour. You get private shuttles that have cold bottled water for guests, and we were allowed to get off the shuttle to take pictures in iconic movie scenes! Did you know that there are scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean that were filmed in an area there? We absolutely had an amazing time on this part of the tour.
Next, we headed to the Secret Life of Pets 2 ride followed by lunch. It was a buffet lunch that had something for even the pickiest eaters. We even had characters visit while we ate. We got to see Count Dracula, Lucy (from I Love Lucy), Doc Brown (from Back to the Future), and Marilyn Monroe.
After lunch, it was time for the lower lot. This is where the Jurassic World the Ride and Super Nintendo World are. We were most excited about this area, and it definitely did not disappoint! Our guide liked to say that this lot was the Chris Pratt lot in the studios because he was in both major attractions there. We loved the Jurassic World the Ride. It is so different than the one in Florida!
I firmly believe the VIP tour was beyond what we imagined and definitely exceeded our expectations! Everything we did from the rides to the food we ate were all a part of the VIP experience. In my opinion, it was well worth the money. I think we would have spent more if we were buying food, water and drinks in the park. The VIP tour is something to consider when visiting Universal Studios Hollywood. We made so many wonderful memories - ones I will carry with me forever.
Your Bibbidi Bobbidi Bestie,
Jamie
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