We’ll be staying at Animal Kingdom Villas but doing one day at Universal. We have a rental car.
I am (sadly but necessarily) planning to hang back with my 9 yr old autistic son and 6 yr old daughter and let my 11, 14, and 16 yr olds enjoy Universal.
I am trying to figure out the best way to drop them off. Obviously under 18s can’t ride Uber/Lyft, so I’ll have to drive them over, but I’m worried about dropping them off and them having a problem with getting their tickets printed.
Last time the kiosk didn’t print them for me and we had to wait 20-30 minutes during Early Entry to have Guest Services give us the passes.
Do I need to just pay for parking and go up to the gate with them?
Any other solution to avoid paying for parking (and getting my ECV out of the trunk) just to drop them off?
Note: I can leave the two little ones with my mother at AKV while I drive the older ones. They won’t have to accompany me to the gate.
I’d tell your kids to just head to Guest Services immediately for your tickets, if need be, if you fear the kiosks will be a problem. Although…do you need to do that? Historically, we’ve just had to use our paper printed tickets that we printed from home. (Fold them…NOT cut them…so that the QR code shows, and stick them in a protective sleeve on a lanyard.)
You mentioned “during Early Entry”…but they won’t have Early Entry since you are coming from off site, so the Early Entry time is an ideal time for them to get their tickets resolved if printing them yourself is not an option.
That’s a pretty good idea. I’d even bet that the “Vacation Planning” desk at the hotel could assist. That’s where I go to get my AP / upgrades / tickets. (They do typically ask for my ID and to present the credit card as proof though… not sure what the kids would need if solo)
The tickets I have access to as a TA include Early Entry. But it’s basically a voucher with a confirmation number that you have to enter at the kiosk to get the scannable ticket.
I didn’t think about a hotel lobby. I assumed that was only for hotel guests.
This is a great idea. I’m familiar with the Universal hotels on paper but haven’t stayed at any before. Is there a particular one you’d recommend, or can I pull up in front of any one of them?
(Obviously I need - and want - to spend more time on site there but I just can’t on this trip due to my healing foot.)
We’ve stayed at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Cabana Bay.
We used the one at Cabana Bay, but I assume that they all have one. It is fairly normal for people to leave their car in the front of the lobby while they check in. So, you could maybe even go in with them.
But it’s basically a voucher with a confirmation number that you have to enter at the kiosk to get the scannable ticket.