Announcing Universal Orlando Wait Times, Crowd Calendar, Mobile App, and More!
TouringPlans.com is excited to kick off 2013 by adding Universal Orlando Resort travel tools to our site. Universal Orlando includes the Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure theme parks (home of the popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter), as well as three elaborate resort hotels and the CityWalk entertainment district.
Universal has long provided high-quality rides and shows, and touring plans and descriptions for the parks have been a part of our Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and companion travel books for years. Now we are using the same data collection and mathematical techniques we use at Disneyland and Walt Disney World to allow Universal Orlando guests to do more while waiting less.
This release is a “beta” preview of our final Universal Orlando Resort products. While we apply the final touches, our Universal Orlando tools are available at no charge to anyone with a TouringPlans.com subscription.
The TouringPlans.com Universal Orlando product includes:
Lines mobile website (iPhone and Android apps will soon follow) at http://m.touringplans.com/uor. This includes expected wait times, 10-day crowd calendar with park hours, user chat, touring plans, and dining menus. Be sure to login with your TouringPlans.com account to get full access.- 365-day crowd calendar with per-park crowd predictions, as well as an overall prediction for the resort.
- Detailed attraction, dining, and hotel descriptions with ratings based on Unofficial Guide surveys and professional reviews.
- Universal Orlando information regarding the Universal Express front-of-the-line option, lockers, tickets, transportation, discounts, and more.
- Premium Touring Plans: step-by-step guides to navigating the theme parks with minimal waits. Different plans are designed for different age groups, including parents with small children, parents with ‘tweens, adults, and seniors. Attractions on these plans are chosen based on survey data from Unofficial Guide readers.
- Personalized Touring Plans: you choose the attractions, meals, and breaks. Then let our data-driven computerized optimizer determine the most efficient way to organize your day.
Once you have tried the new Universal Orlando product, we’d appreciate your letting us know what we can do better. Please send feedback to uor-feedback@touringplans.com.
We expect this free test period to last through at least January 19, 2013. Specific pricing has not yet been determined, but rest assured that it will not break the bank. (For reference, our Disney World subscription costs less than $1 per month!).
Have fun with your Universal Orlando vacation planning!
You May Also Like...
-
We have had a few weeks to observe the wait times at Universal Orlando Resort since the parks reopened in June.…
-
Disney World parks have reopened and we were surprised to see that Universal Crowd levels appear to be unaffected. Saturday crowds…
-
Crowd levels at Universal Orlando Resort continue to hit record highs and our wait time models are underpredicting as a result.…
-
Everyone's number one priority right now is to help slow the spread of COVID-19 by practicing social distancing. Universal did their…
I’m trying out the UOr features and, so far, I love it!
If I may make a sugestion, It would be awesome if the crowd tracker could show the data for both WDW and UOr on the same screen. Would certainly help at the time of putting together my travel plans.
Anyway, I’m really glad you guys extended your services to Universal and I’ll certainly make use of them for my trip next july! Thank you and keep up the good work!
I’ve been waiting for this! We’ll be offering it to our clients – that’s for certain.
This is fantastic news! I recently re-subscribed and will be looking forward to all of the UOR features. I plan to visit IOA on Sunday, Jan. 20 should you need any help testing the Lines App by submitting wait times.
Oh this is wonderful! As an AP holder to Disney and Universal this will be great! Universal is an awesome experience and they ofer attractions that are every bit as good as Disney (and some even better). Plus with all the expansion going on at Universal, I’m sure the competition will only get fiercer 🙂
Kudos, Kudos, Kudos!!!!!!!
Given the talent assembled at touringplans, I could foresee a tp dynasty/empire if you extended these talents to places like Hershey Park, King’s Island, etc. You’ve certainly got the software “hooks” in place & have implemented them at multiple parks/configs now; all you need is the data!
I guess the only question is whether there is a sufficient client base to justify the start-up costs of such an endeavor. But seriously, all you’d need really are a couple of lackeys w/seasonal passes to frequent those places & enter wait times. After a couple of seasons, you’d be golden.
Len, you should seriously consider expanding your empire.
Best to you & your talented team.
EJ, Wall St. Programmer who appreciates what Lines does immensely.
Could have used this a week ago! We stood in so many lines at Islands of Adventure!! We will make sure to use this next trip.
This is fantastic news! Glad you are adding Universal to your excellent service.
AWESOME! I leave for FL this Friday and go to the Universal Parks Wed and Thur next week! I’m staying at Hard Rock so I have Express Pass so this may not be “needed” but I’ll surely use it and provide what feedback I can. Thanks!
Yippeeeee!!! I’ve been avoiding Universal because I don’t have the same tools and I do for WDW. This is awesome! Thanks!
Oh gosh you guys just did this in time. I’m going to universal and islands this Saturday and my roomies and I had no idea how to conquer both parks in one day.
Let us know how it goes, please, Lexi. Use the touring plan optimizer if you have a chance.
Very exciting! I’ll be heading to Universal Orlando at the end of February for the first time in 10 years, and I was feeling a bit lost without the level of help I get from Lines for Disney parks. Perfect timing for this! 🙂
Just to confirm, this will be available through a web site interface, not through a dedicated IOS app, right?
If I’m not mistaken, you should find a link to Universal Orlando content near the bottom of the Home page (below Disneyland) in your WDW Lines app (iOS or Android).
Please note that the in-app link may not currently be visible for users. You can use the http://m.touringplans.com/uor link on your smartphone for now.
At present, we recommend that you access Lines for Universal Orlando using a mobile browser at http://m.touringplans.com/uor. Ultimately, there will be native Android and iOS apps, but those are not yet available.
Seth is correct that you can also find a link to Universal Orlando near the bottom of the main menu of our Walt Disney World and Disneyland Lines apps (on Android, iOS, or any browser).
This is huge! Last summer we ventured back to Universal for the first time in 10 years after about eight Disney trips and all I can say is we missed touringplans & lines badly. I’m really looking forward to trying out this product on our next visit!