The Unofficial Guide 2024 to Universal Orlando - Brossura

Kubersky, Seth

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1628091495 ISBN 13: 9781628091496

Casa editrice: Unofficial Guides, 2023

Riassunto

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 2024 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 2024 book:

• Learn when to visit Universal to get lower crowds and bigger hotel discounts
• Find updated advice on taking advantage of Early Park Admission, Universal Express, 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 resorts, including more plant-based menu items
• Take in tips for experiencing Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Islands of Adventure
• Uncover details on Universal Studios Florida’s new Minion Land on Illumination Avenue, including the Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction and Minion Cafe
• See a sneak peek at the new DreamWorks Animation experiences coming to Universal’s reimagined KidZone in 2024
• Discover an in-depth preview of Universal’s 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 2024 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.

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Informazioni sull?autore

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 Attractions Magazine 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.

Dalla quarta di copertina

What’s NEW in The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2024:

• Details on Universal Studios Florida’s new Minion Land on Illumination Avenue, including the Villain-Con Minion Blast attraction and Minion Cafe
• A sneak peek at the new DreamWorks Animation experiences coming to Universal’s reimagined KidZone in 2024
• Honest reviews of Universal’s Great Movie Escape and other recent additions to CityWalk
• How to join the party as a Mardi Gras float rider and other exclusive seasonal experiences
• Updated advice on taking advantage of Early Park Admission, Universal Express, and other time-saving tricks
• An up-close look at each Universal resort hotel, plus expanded coverage of nearby off-site hotels
• Ratings and reviews of new dining options in the parks and resorts, including more plant-based menu items
• An in-depth preview of Universal’s upcoming Epic Universe theme park and new hotels

Estratto. © Ristampato con autorizzazione. Tutti i diritti riservati.

Part 2: Accommodations

Loews Sapphire Falls Resort (4 stars)

• Rate per night $268–$345.
• Pool 4 stars.
• Fridge in room Yes.
• Shuttle to parks Yes (Universal, SeaWorld, Aquatica).
• Maximum number of occupants per room 5 (2 queens) or 3 (king).
• Comment Pets welcome (2/room, $100/stay).
• Survey results 90% of Unofficial Guide readers would stay here again; 88% would recommend this resort to a friend.

Strengths

• Cheapest hotel with water taxi to CityWalk
• Massive main pool and free saunas
• Strong Water Tavern is an Unofficial Guide favorite.

Weaknesses

• Unlimited Express Passes aren’t included.
• Caribbean theming is too subtle in some spots.
• Standard rooms are a bit small and bland.

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’ 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 clean contemporary architecture and colorful images of today’s West Indies. Although some transitional areas feel underthemed, we truly appreciate 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 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. Although billed as the largest pool on Universal property, its organic shape and 4.5-foot maximum depth make it better suited for wading than swimming laps, and there’s no secondary quiet pool if you aren’t into reggae-flavored rock.

A well-equipped fitness room just off the pool holds saunas in both changing rooms, along with spa-style lockers and showers that are free for all guests to use. 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 321 square feet in a standard queen or king to 529 square feet in the 36 Kids’ Suites, up to 1,936 square feet in the 15 Presidential Suites, which are appointed with charmingly 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 midcentury 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.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Unofficial Guides
• Data di pubblicazione: 2023
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1628091495
• ISBN 13: 9781628091496
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 382
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile