We have annual passes and are frequent visitors to Universal Orlando. Check Universal's website for ticket prices - you want to get 2-park tickets so that you can take the Hogwarts Express between the Studios side (home of Diagon Alley and Gringotts bank) and Islands of Adventure side (home of Hogsmede and Hogwarts). Lots of other cool rides.
As to how crowded, that depends a lot of when they are coming. We subscribe to TouringPlans.com which projects crowds at WDW and Universal a year in advance. They are quite good at projecting crowd size. In general terms, weeks with holidays (like President's Day) or school vacations are much more crowded (as they are at Disney). If you have grandkids coming and going, a subscription is a good deal.
One alternative is to go stay for a couple of nights at one of the on-site hotels. If you look, you will see that all of them offer Florida resident discounts. (We are partial to Cabana Bay, which looks like something out of the 50s and 60s down to Zest soap and VO5 shampoo in the rooms.)
Why stay at one of the hotels? Because hotel guests get into the parks an hour early. Every day. Best way to beat the lines for Gringott's Bank and Forbidden Journey of Harry Potter. And it is a lot better than trying to get kids up and moving to make rope drop at the park with an hour plus drive from here to there.
We have annual passes for Disney, Universal and Sea World. We have gradually become bigger fans of Universal than Disney. Disney is getting old and tired and no longer seems to care about its guests.
Oh yeah - one last things. The kids will want to get wands. Make sure they get the ones with the RFID chips (they are the more expensive ones) as those are the ones that they can wave at various spots and have all manner of things happen.
|