The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2023

by Seth Kubersky

Overview

Save time and money with in-depth reviews, ratings, and details from the trusted source for a successful Universal Orlando vacation.

How do some guests get on the big, new attraction in less than 20 minutes while others wait for longer than 2 hours—on the same day? Why do some guests pay full price for their visit when others can save hundreds of dollars? In a theme park, every minute and every dollar count. Your vacation is too important to be left to chance, so put the best-selling independent guide to Universal Orlando in your hands and take control of your trip.

The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2023 explains how the resort works and how to use that knowledge to stay ahead of the crowd. Author Seth Kubersky knows that you want your vacation to be anything but average, so he employed an expert team of researchers to find the secrets, the shortcuts, and the bargains that are sure to make your vacation exceptional! Find out what’s available in every category, ranked from best to worst, and get detailed plans to make the most of your time at Universal. Stay at a top-rated hotel, eat at the best restaurants, and experience all the most popular attractions at Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay.

Keep in the know on the latest updates and changes at Universal Orlando. Here’s what’s NEW in the 2023 book:

• Learn when to visit Universal to get lower crowds and bigger hotel discounts
• Find updated advice on how to take advantage of Early Park Admission, Universal Express, Virtual Line, and other time-saving tricks
• Get an up-close look at each Universal resort hotel, plus expanded coverage of nearby off-site hotels
• Read ratings and reviews of new dining options in the parks and CityWalk, including more plant-based menu items
• Take in new tips for experiencing Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Islands of Adventure
• See sneak peeks of the interactive Minions attraction and movie-inspired escape rooms currently under construction
• Discover exciting details about the upcoming Epic Universe theme park and new hotels

Make the right choices to give your family a vacation they’ll never forget. The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2023 is your key to planning a perfect stay. Whether you’re putting together your annual trip or preparing for your first visit, this book gives you the insider scoop on hotels, restaurants, attractions, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628091359
Publisher:	Unofficial Guides
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Series:	Unofficial Guides Series
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Seth Kubersky has worked for more than 20 years as a theatrical artist, culture critic, and travel journalist. Seth is the author of The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando and coauthor of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland and The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas, as well as a collaborator on The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.

Seth is nationally recognized as an authority on theme parks and amusement attractions, and he contributes to AttractionsMagazine and the Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast. Named Best Arts Writer in The Daily City’s 2013 readers’ poll, Seth writes an arts and entertainment column, “Live Active Cultures,” that appears in every issue of the Orlando Weekly, central Florida’s leading alternative newspaper.

A native of Livingston, New Jersey, Seth earned a B.A. in theater from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. He has produced and directed dozens of plays through his award-winning Empty Spaces Theatre Co. and at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. As a stage technician and entertainment supervisor at Universal Orlando from 1996 to 2000, he worked on the Ghostbusters Spooktacular and Terminator 2: 3-D attractions, Mardi Gras parades, and Halloween mazes. Seth lives in Orlando with his wife, Genevieve, and their cats, Sol and Kipper.

Read an Excerpt

Part Two: Accommodations

Loews Sapphire Falls Resort (4 stars)

• Rate per night $235–$365.
• Pool 5 stars.
• Fridge in room Yes.
• Shuttle to parks Yes (Universal, SeaWorld, Aquatica).
• Maximum number of occupants per room 5 (two queens) or 3 (king).
• Comment Pets welcome (2/room, $100/stay).
• Survey results 90% of Unofficial Guide readers would stay here again; 94% would recommend this resort to a friend.

Sapphire Falls Resort brings a sunny Caribbean island vibe to the moderate market with its 1,000 rooms (including 77 suites), which opened in summer 2016. Sandwiched between Royal Pacific and Cabana Bay—both physically and price-wise—Sapphire Falls sports most of the amenities of Universal’s three fanciest hotels, including water taxi transportation to the parks, with the crucial exception of complimentary Express Passes.

Rather than replicating the stereotypical pastel palette seen at Disney’s Caribbean-themed hotel, Sapphire Falls’s designers went with a cooler blue-and-white color scheme for the exterior. The lobby continues the modern reinterpretation of island aesthetics with a playful hanging sculpture of wicker beach balls and a massive floor-to-ceiling window providing a postcard-perfect view of the rear lagoon, with the towers of Doctor Doom’s Fearfall posing in the background. Public spaces fuse seemingly ancient structures—such as a stunning stone silo, complete with authentic-looking mill equipment—with starkly minimalist architecture and contemporary artwork. The mix can prove somewhat jarring; we sometimes emerged from a richly detailed space into a barren white hallway and wondered if we’d taken a wrong turn into an employee-only area. But we’ve come to appreciate the Sapphire Falls Resort’s casually sophisticated vibe, which hits a sweet spot between the family-friendly freneticism of Cabana Bay and the elegance of Universal’s more upscale hotels.

Water figures heavily at Sapphire Falls, whose namesake waterfalls form the scenic centerpiece of the resort. The 16,000-square-foot main pool boasts 3,500 square feet of white sand on which to set your lounger, as well as a 100-foot waterslide, children’s play areas, fire pits, a hot tub, and cabanas for rent. There are two zero-entry points near the middle of the pool on opposite sides, which allow you to pretend to walk across the water.

A fitness room holds a sauna. Table tennis (free to use) and a pool table (nominal fee per game) are available outside near the small arcade.

On the lower level, Amatista Cookhouse offers a la carte or buffet American breakfast, followed by table-service Caribbean food for lunch and dinner. Drhum Club Kantine serves tapas-style small plates, sandwiches, and massive bowls of alcohol near the pool bar’s fire pit. New Dutch Trading Co., an island-inspired grab-and-go marketplace, has ice cream, coffee, hot entrees and sandwiches, refillable Coke Freestyle cups, and packaged snacks. Strong Water Tavern in the lobby offers rum tastings and freshly made ceviche, and a Universal Studios Store in the lobby sells sundries and resort souvenirs.

The rooms range from 322 square feet in a standard queen or king to 529 square feet in the 36 Kids Suites, up to 1,353 square feet in the 15 Hospitality Suites, which are appointed with charming rustic light fixtures and are sizable enough to live in long-term. All rooms include a 49-inch TV, an alarm clock with iPhone dock, in-wall USB charging ports, a mini-fridge, and a coffee maker. The rooms are aesthetically acceptable but a bit antiseptic, aside from a garishly colored mirror frame and metallized photos above the beds, and they are barely bigger than the standard Cabana Bay rooms. We like these rooms a bit better than those at Aventura, but they’re more expensive too. The layout is perfectly functional, but there are some odd design quirks, such as a sliding door to the toilet that doesn’t latch; don’t plan on doing your business in private if you have inquisitive kids.

Sapphire Falls also contains nearly 115,000 square feet of meeting space and a business center. Covered walkways connect to a parking structure, which in turn connects to the meeting facilities at Royal Pacific, making the sister properties ideal for conventions. That also leads us to our main critique of Sapphire Falls: outside of the lobby and pool, the public areas feel a little like a standard convention hotel.

Water taxi transportation to Sapphire Falls takes only a few minutes longer than sailing to Royal Pacific, though boats may be delayed by traffic congestion under the bridge between the hotels and CityWalk. A pedestrian pathway to the parks starts near the boat dock, joining up with the Royal Pacific garden path near that hotel’s convention center entrance. If you want to walk from Sapphire Falls to Cabana Bay, note that there’s no pedestrian crosswalk at the heavily trafficked intersection that separates the two hotels; instead, walk to the corner of Hollywood Way and use the garden bridge to cross over Adventure Way, or use the path between Aventura and Volcano Bay to walk beneath the busy road.

Sapphire Falls occupies an interesting spot in Universal’s hotel spectrum, appealing to people turned off both by the mid-century aesthetics of Cabana Bay (or Aventura’s ultramodernism) and the higher price tags of the resort’s other properties. If water taxi transportation is important to you, but Express Unlimited access is not, Sapphire Falls is your spot. Otherwise, search for photos online to see if you like the resort’s look, and carefully compare the rates to both Cabana Bay and Aventura Hotel for the time of your planned visit.

Table of Contents

List of Maps vii

About the Authors viii

Introduction 1

Why "Unofficial"? 1

Universal Orlando: An Overview 5

Critical Comparison of Attractions Found at Both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando 18

Universal Lexicon in a Nutshell 19

Common Abbreviations and What They Stand For 19

Part 1 Planning Before You Leave Home 22

Gathering information 22

Important Universal Addresses 24

Universal Orlando Phone Numbers 25

Timing Your Visit 25

Universal Orlando Climate 28

Allocating Money 33

Universal Orlando Admissions 34

Making the Most of Your Time and Money at Universal Orlando 42

Part 2 Accommodations 71

The Basic Considerations 71

Universal Orlando Resort Hotels 101 74

Universal Orlando Resort Hotel Services and Amenities 77

Universal Orlando Resort Hotel Profiles 84

Universal Orlando Vacation Packages 99

Off-Site Lodging Options 101

Hotels and Motels: Rated and Ranked 116

The 30 Best Hotel Values 118

The 30 Best Hotel Values 119

How the Hotels Compare 120

Hotel Information Chart 123

Part 3 Arriving and Getting Around 129

Getting There 129

Getting Oriented 143

Part 4 Universal Essentials 148

Money, Etc. 148

Packing the Essentials 150

Problems and Unusual Situations 150

Services 155

Universal Orlando for Guests with Special Needs 164

Part 5 Universal Orlando with Kids 174

It's a Small Universe, After All 174

About the Unofficial Guide Touring Plans 177

Stuff to Think About 178

Strollers 180

Lost Children 182

Universal, Kids, and Scary Stuff 184

Small-Child Fright-Potential Table 186

Potentially Problematic Attractions for Grown-Ups 190

Attraction Height Requirements 192

Universal Characters 193

Babysitting 195

Character-Greeting Locations 196

Part 6 Universal Studios Florida 197

Getting Oriented at Universal Studios Florida 200

Universal Studios Florida Attractions 201

Live Entertainment at Universal Studios Florida 226

Special Events at Universal Studios Florida 228

Universal Studios Florida Touring Plans 238

Part 7 Universal's Islands of Adventure 242

Getting Oriented at Universal's Islands of Adventure 243

Universal's Islands of Adventure Attractions 244

Special Events at Universal's Islands of Adventure 272

Universal's Islands of Adventure Touring Plans 273

Part 8 Universal's Volcano Bay 276

Getting Oriented at Universal's Volcano Bay 278

Universal's Volcano Bay Attractions 281

Universal's Volcano Bay Touring Strategy 286

Part 9 Dining and Shopping at Universal Orlando 288

Plant-Based Dining at Universal 291

Character Meals 292

Fast Food in Universal Orlando's Parks 293

Universal Orlando Quick-Service Restaurant Mini-Profiles 303

Universal Orlando Full-Service Restaurant Profiles 319

Universal Orlando Restaurants by Cuisine 320

Dining near Universal Orlando 342

Shopping at Universal Orlando 344

Shopping near Universal Orlando 349

Part 10 Universal Orlando CityWalk 351

Arriving and Parking 354

Contacting City Walk 354

City Walk Clubs 354

City Walk Entertainment 356

Appendix 361

Index 363

Touring Plans 377

List of Maps

Universal Orlando 8-9

Hotel Concentrations Around Universal Orlando 103

International Drive & Universal Areas 104

Lake Buena Vista Resort Area & the 1-4 Corridor 105

South Orlando 132-133

I-Drive Area Sneak Routes 134

Universal Studios Florida 198-199

Universal's Islands of Adventure 246-247

Universal's Volcano Bay 277

Universal Orlando City Walk 352-353

Editorial Reviews

If you’re looking for a reliable guidebook, the leader is the Unofficial series.”
—The Mail (London)

“A Tourist’s Best Friend!”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“Indispensable”
—The New York Times

From the Publisher