USH w/ kids, ECV, gluten free, at Sheraton

Prof Drake

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 26, 2016
Our family went to Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time on Sunday, March 24. We stayed at the Sheraton Universal before and after.

Our goal was to celebrate our 10-year-old’s birthday. That succeeded in spades. But there were disappointments as well.

The first disappointment came after we rushed out of our room in the morning to catch the 8am shuttle (the first of the day). We stood in the chilly air, waiting with a bunch of other families, and it didn’t come. By 8:05 the concierge came out to give people walking directions. Families started giving up and walking. We lasted until 8:10, watching our morning plan become less possible, and decided to walk ourselves. I hadn’t paid attention to the concierge, so asked another Sheraton employee for directions.

Unfortunately, he sent us on a path (maybe the only path) that includes a pedestrian bridge that can only be accessed by stairs. I have to use an electric scooter/ECV, due to a heart condition. (I was sitting in it when he gave us directions.) Luckily, it’s a TravelScoot (bought based on recommendations on this board) so it was light enough my wife could struggle it up the stairs, while I tried to monitor our four-year-old. Not sure what we would have done if it were heavier.

We’d skipped the hotel breakfast. It looked expensive and not suited to our dietary needs (two of us are gluten free, with one of those vegetarian). Our plan was to graze from the open CityWalk places (Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Voodoo Doughnut) and then get in line at the turnstiles.

The first thing we came to was security. The lines didn’t look bad, and they weren’t. We went through and headed toward CityWalk. But unlike Downtown Disney, CityWalk is outside security. We looked back at the growing security lines and decided to go line up at the turnstiles without breakfast.

We listened while the people with early entry were let in at 8:30. We had three-entry tickets from Costco that were a good deal, but didn’t include early entry. I’d read that the regular turnstiles often opened early and they did. I think around 8:42.

We headed straight for the Harry Potter area, like many others. First stop, Forbidden Journey. The ECV accommodation differs depending on whether you can walk a little and board on a moving platform. I can, so we took an elevator to the third floor to store the ECV, walked back down a hall to the elevator, took it to the second floor for more walking, then went to the rider switch room — which is right by the loading platform and plays Harry Potter films while you wait.

I rode with our 10yo first, while my wife waited with our 4yo. I was impressed. Our 10yo thought it was the best. thing. ever! We swapped, and then my wife took the kids to the Hippogriff ride while I retraced our steps to get my scooter.

The ECV entrance for Hippogriff is up the exit. I went up there and waited until the rest of the family went through the normal line. It was clear the ride staff would have rather had us all together at the exit. It’s a *really* short ride (I think they should let it go around twice) but the Buckbeak animatronic is impressive looking.

Next to Ollivanders, where the line was still short, but the queue looked narrow and twisty. It’s probably a hard one for some ECVs. They had us park out front and then let us in with one of the next groups. My kids were not chosen (of course) but they enjoyed the show more than they expected. (The wandkeeper performer played serious very well, and the young girl chosen was charmingly shy.)

After the performance, once you’re in the store, the employees there will do a conversation-based wand pairing. I think that was even better for my 10yo than getting one through the performance would have been. She really feels she has one that matches her personality. We hadn’t necessarily planned to get one for the 4yo, but the whole Ollivanders experience is set up to make kids really want one, and so is seeing other kids do magic out in the street. Once the 4yo saw a kid make fire come from a chimney top on our way in to Hogsmeade, he wanted to do it too.

So we bought two interactive wands at $52 each. They aren’t worth it as objects, but they were for the experience of casting the spells. Our kids literally spent hours doing so during the day, and can’t wait to go back and do it again. If you have Harry Potter fans, I suggest budgeting for this as part of the trip.

(Unfortunately, it appears they no longer fix/replace wands. The cashier warned my kids that they won’t work if the tips get scratched. I asked if they still do “wand repair.” She shook her head “no.”)

We cast our first couple spells, using the handy metal markers on the ground for where to stand and what to do. (There’s also a map that comes with each wand, to get you to the right areas.) A nearby wizard (employee) helped with one of the spells, and was very friendly and in character.

Then, since we hadn’t had breakfast, we went to the Three Broomsticks. It was 10:30 or so by then, and the line was short and seating plentiful. Like the rest of Hogsmeade, the theming was mostly great, except for food service things like ketchup packets. But the food choices for our family — which includes, as I mentioned, two gluten free people, one of them vegetarian — weren’t great. For one person we got a gluten free “continental breakfast,” which was just a really overpriced fruit plate. (They make it gluten free by removing the bread option, and there’s no protein.)

If you have diet restrictions, I recommend bringing your own snacks to USH. We had some in our bags on the way in, which seemed fine with security. The fruit plate got supplemented with a bag of almonds we’d brought.

The bathrooms are right nearby (and entertainingly have a Moaning Myrtle soundtrack). We took turns using them, cleared the table, did a couple more spells with the wands, and then headed for the Studio Tour. While we were clearing the table our 10yo spilled some orange juice on herself. An employee saw and immediately offered her a wet wipe, which was greatly appreciated. We had a number of positive experiences like that through the day.

For a number of things at USH, I think we waited less because of the ECV. For the Studio Tour I think we waited longer. The regular line was posting a 20 minute wait and I think was probably shorter. But the accessible tram loading is done by pulling a tram aside occasionally, and I think we waited at least a half hour. That was fine with our grownups, but the 10yo felt frustrated watching the other line moving and loading.

The Studio Tour is great. We sat in the front car, with the tour guide, and it was nice to see her in person. On the other hand, the tram seemed to align itself for the second and third cars to have the best views. We liked best seeing the famous sets (though a couple areas were closed for filming) and the practical effects (earthquake, flash flood, Jaws). The King Kong portion was also well done, but too intense for our 4yo.

The Fast and Furious part was awful — the visuals were much, much worse than in King Kong (felt like a video game, not a movie) and the whole thing was overly loud and without any story arc (flat intensity for the whole 3D part). It was also too much for our 4yo, so he turned away. I wish we’d all had earplugs. Frankly, I hope they get rid of (or re-theme) this section soon.

When we got off the Studio Tour it was almost time for one of the Animal Actors shows. It was great seeing the live animals doing cool things. Some dumb humor, but basically another hit for our whole family. (For ECV users, just go up to an employee at the front of any show and they will direct you. Only one person was allowed to sit with me, but the other two found a spot nearby.)

We’d had a series of mostly great experiences, but now it was time to eat again. We were near the French St Bistro, which was expensive and not great and minimally themed (compared with the Three Broomsticks). But it was past normal lunch time and there was seating and little wait. There was also a quinoa salad that wasn’t on the gluten free list from the park, but didn’t have any gluten ingredients, so we decided to risk it.

After lunch we split up. We’d brought the 4yo’s swimsuit, and he and my wife headed to Super Silly Fun Land. They experienced a way-too-long wait for the Dumbo-like ride there. (Why do people think slow-loading rides are a great idea for areas aimed at impatient little kids?) They also had an absolute blast with the water features. Very much recommended. The only downside is that there’s no way to keep track of your kid without getting wet yourself, so plan accordingly. (My wife ended up with squishy wet shoes for the rest of the day.)

They would have loved to do the Despicable Me ride, but the line was mostly around an hour. Too much for us to consider. The wait time is also why we didn’t ever ride Simpsons.

During our separate time, my wife and our 4yo also met some characters. They waited in line for Alex (from Madagascar) right after lunch and met Gru (from Despicable Me) near Super Silly. Memorably, the 4yo got to play musical chairs with three of the Scooby Doo gang on the street (Shaggy, Daphne, and Fred). He didn’t mind Scooby not being with them, but wished they got to see Velma. Later, Velma was with them at a meet-and-greet, but he wasn’t allowed to line up (employee said the line was closed) and the Scooby kids go away earlier in the day than other characters (5pm our day). Later he looked for Scooby Doo merchandise in the stores and was disappointed to find almost nothing. Hopefully the upcoming movie will lead to more USH love for these characters.

Meanwhile, our 10yo and I returned to Hogsmeade. She had a great time casting more spells, and it wasn’t too busy (it was around 3:30). We went to see the Frog Choir, but the sun was too intense and she started overheating. I should have called a break right then, but I let her go back to spell casting, which was mostly in the shade.

We finished the spells, then visited the monster book. We asked an employee there about the Spirit Rally performance and decided it wasn’t worth more time in the direct sun. Instead we chose to ride Forbidden Journey again. (Unlike Despicable Me and Simpsons, it has a single rider line.) She loved it again.

Then we tried to meet up with the other half of our crew at the Scooby gang’s photo op. But the Scooby folks kept moving, and dehydration and sun were catching up with our 10yo. She needed rest badly, so I sat her down in Starbucks with water and fruit (luckily it was quiet enough that we only had to wait a bit for a table).

She revived a little immediately, but took a few hours to really feel better. Our day was in the low 70s in March. Visitors in summer should be really careful about sun and hydration.

Then we all met up at the Special Effects show, which was dark and air conditioned. We all liked the show, though a couple parts were too intense for our 4yo (he hid his face). We felt revived enough after to head to Hogsmeade for our long-awaited butterbeer.

On the way we did our first HP shopping. We started with Zonko’s, which is tiny, and continued into Honeydukes. We let the 4yo buy a “for now” sweet, because he wasn’t excited about butterbeer. Then we continued to the bar at one end of the Three Broomsticks, which was quiet and well-themed, with a short line at that time (early evening).

We tried hot, cold, and frozen butterbeer. They were surprisingly different tasting. All of us found the hot too sweet. The others were both good, but I think the cold was our favorite. It was also another pleasant rest.

Then the 10yo enjoyed helping the 4yo cast another couple spells, we rode Hippogriff again, and we did more shopping. The 10yo found an owl she really liked. The 4yo was disappointed there are so few toys for sale in Hogsmeade.

Then we split up again. The 10yo definitely wanted to see Waterworld (the Studio Tour guide recommended it highly) but it didn’t seem a good choice for the 4yo. He and his mom went to see the Kung Fu Panda show (which they enjoyed) while the 10yo and I went to Waterworld for a 7:15 performance.

The show had impressive stunts and the actors seemed to enjoy hamming it up. The plot was a little too “damsel in distress” for my taste, but our daughter pointed out that she was, at least, the main character. Maybe in other performances there are other women, which would help, but in ours it was something like 10 men and her. Anyway, no one remembers the movie anymore, so I also think they should feel free to revise the script.

Afterward, we ran back to Forbidden Journey for one more ride. We met up with the other half of our family and handed off the 4yo’s wand. It was almost park closing time and the lines were short. The ride got stuck for a couple minutes, and when we got off they offered to let us ride again. Our 10yo was over the moon when we finished the second ride.

We met up again and started walking out of the park. The 10yo was literally skipping for joy. Birthday celebration accomplished!

We stopped to do some final shopping, and were finally leaving around 8:30 or 8:40. We were in such a good mood that I said “yes” when employees asked if we would do a survey. This was a mistake. I assumed it would just be a few minutes. Instead they took us to another location and asked questions for more than half an hour. The kids were hungry and bored, with Universal providing no snacks, drinks, or things to entertain them. We should have refused to keep going with the survey, but they made it feel like a social situation we couldn’t leave without being rude.

At the end, we asked them to point us to the Sheraton shuttle. They “helpfully” did, and we carried our 4yo into CityWalk to find it. When we got there, we found the last shuttle had run while we were answering survey questions. The shuttle to parking, however, was still running. This made me mad at Universal. It also made me realize we would have been better off staying further away and driving our own car — we could have controlled when we arrived and left more easily when we were done.

We looked for a handicapped-accessible walking route back to the Sheraton. We couldn’t find one. My wife struggled my scooter back down the pedestrian bridge stairs. The kids were cold, hungry, and exhausted. We went from a super happy family to being totally deflated, all because I agreed to do USH a favor. Never again.

(I sent Universal feedback about our evening via their app. After our return, I got email back, asking me to call them. The person I talked to sounded quite sincere about wanting to understand our experience and calling it to the attention of people who could make changes. Here’s hoping!)

The next morning was all about the Sheraton. We started with a bad, overpriced hotel breakfast. For example: I asked how the tofu in the scramble was prepared. The waitress said it was browned and spiced. It came out raw and plain. I asked them to remake it and the waitress went away, came back, and said the chef on duty didn’t know how. So instead she brought out salsa.

Then we tried to swim in the pool, but it wasn’t heated (though the website says it is) and our kids got a bad chill trying it. I thought we could use the whirlpool to warm them up, but it was surrounded with yellow tape, the water filmy, and green stuff growing inside (I checked afterward, and there was no warning on the website that it was unavailable). So we promised our kids a hot bath instead, only to find the bathtub stopper broken in our room. Basically, a total loss on our last day of vacation.

With parking, taxes, and that one breakfast, we paid around $870 for those three nights at the Sheraton, hoping it would make our time at Universal, and on vacation overall, more special. But the only advantage we got over a nearby budget motel was wider beds, and a number of things were worse. (We would have paid more, but we were comped one night of parking when I was asked, at checkout, how our stay was, and said it was disappointing. But getting 3% taken off our bill didn’t make the experience much better.)

Bottom line: USH was a good experience, and a must-do if you have a Harry Potter fan. But bring snacks if you have dietary restrictions, don’t agree to a survey, don’t stay at the Sheraton, and while the handicapped accommodations are pretty good in the park, they are unacceptably bad between the park and “on site” hotels (Hilton and Sheraton).
 
Thank you - good to know that EE isn't that great. Although I thought you got it by staying at the Sheraton too?
 
I’ve heard since that the Sheraton gives early entry. They never mentioned this to us. Maybe because we booked through a third party website? Another frustrating thing about our stay there.
 



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