How do you "nerd out" before your USF trip?

[Angeliki19]

Hi! This Disney-obsessed family is biting the bullet and giving USF a try on our next trip (combining it with our first Disney Cruise so there is still a little "magic" in there ).

One of my favorite parts about our Disney trips is all the fun ways we get excited about it before hand! Of course you have to plan your ADR's and Fast Passes, but we also enjoy listening to Disney podcasts, Disney parks music radio stations, watching YouTube, collecting Disney themed clothes for our trip, watching old Disney movies, etc.

I definitely am enjoying the fact that we DON'T have to plan as much for USF. But I am wondering if there is anything else we can do to get excited and count down these long months! We are planning on watching all the Harry Potter movies/reading the books. I can't really think of much else though. I know obviously there are tons of movies we could watch, but was curious to hear if anyone else nerds out about USF like Disney, or if that kind of stuff just doesn't exist. Besides the Disunplugged Universal Edition, are there other good USF podcasts? Does "Universal" themed music exist?

I know people are nuts about Disney, so I am not expecting it to be the same, but just thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone gets as excited for USF as they do for Disney, and what they like to do to get ready for their trip!

Thanks!

 

[TheConsciousness]

Tons of DIS-Unplugged, Harry Potter marathons, and listening to the park entrance music!

 

[Kivara]

We decorate the mantle in our living room with Universal themed items (HP, Marvel action figures, postcards, pictures, etc), we have a count down calendar that I made for the boys to take turns pulling down another day until the day we leave.

We watch a lot of Universal movies & shows (Simpsons, Men In Black, I Love Lucy, The Mummy, Shrek, Despicable Me, ET, SpongeBob, Harry Potter, Popeye, etc.)

I'll do some themed dinners or snacks before we leave (chocolate frog suckers, dino print cookies, Dr Seuss themed pasta bar with multi-colored noodles)

I have yet to come up with a good playlist for the car ride to the airport, so I just put a few of everyone's fave songs on my iPod.

 

[scoopmorgan]

Hi! This Disney-obsessed family is biting the bullet and giving USF a try on our next trip (combining it with our first Disney Cruise so there is still a little "magic" in there ).

One of my favorite parts about our Disney trips is all the fun ways we get excited about it before hand! Of course you have to plan your ADR's and Fast Passes, but we also enjoy listening to Disney podcasts, Disney parks music radio stations, watching YouTube, collecting Disney themed clothes for our trip, watching old Disney movies, etc.

I definitely am enjoying the fact that we DON'T have to plan as much for USF. But I am wondering if there is anything else we can do to get excited and count down these long months! We are planning on watching all the Harry Potter movies/reading the books. I can't really think of much else though. I know obviously there are tons of movies we could watch, but was curious to hear if anyone else nerds out about USF like Disney, or if that kind of stuff just doesn't exist. Besides the Disunplugged Universal Edition, are there other good USF podcasts? Does "Universal" themed music exist?

I know people are nuts about Disney, so I am not expecting it to be the same, but just thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone gets as excited for USF as they do for Disney, and what they like to do to get ready for their trip!

Thanks!

So glad you asked this. I've been feeling like I need to be doing something but I didn't know what. Got a few good ideas here thanks to you.

 

[StrawberryChan]

i like to read up on articles about the rides/parks on sites like wikipedia and all, to get a little background on how they came to be! and of course putting together a playlist of music loops is a great way to get hyped up too! this youtube channel has a pretty decent collection of music from the parks, specifically the official IoA soundtracks, and you can mix in your own music! i think the power of love from back to the future is one song that always gets me excited for universal, ehehe

 

[Parker Clan]

What's not to be excited about Universal? Just as magical as Disney!
Glad more and more people are venturing out!
We obviously watch the HP movies. You could also watch any of the movies the rides are based off of -- Minions, ET, Spiderman, Transformers, Men in Black.
I also shop on etsy for a fun new shirt w/ a HP saying.. I've collected three so far lol Cheaper than buying them in the park. They also have some at Kohls too.
Researching the rides is fun too. And the delicious restaurants! There is a ton of great food here! We keep a snack list just like we do for Disney
Welcome to the club -- you'll be addicted once you go! We can't take a trip to FL w/out doing both US and Dis!

 

[Kivara]

We watch a lot of Tim Tracker's videos on YouTube leading up to going as well

 

[brios86]

My son is trying to read all 7 Harry Potter books. We will probably start watching the movies soon. We leave in less than 2 weeks.

 

[Angeliki19]

Thanks all!! This is great! Some good ideas in here that I hadn't thought about!!!

We can't take a trip to FL w/out doing both US and Dis!

That's what I am afraid of.. not sure our savings account can handle that!!

 

[MandLBee]

We're going to watch as many Potter movies as we can on the drive die (it's 11 hours, so we will probably only get through Goblet of Fire).

 

[wookiebeck]

We watch our home videos of our trips past.

Download the Uni App and you can 'visit' the parks from home and check queue times. Feels like you are there (or at least makes you wish you were there).

Does "Universal" themed music exist?

Yes. Try this for starters.

We're going to watch as many Potter movies as we can on the drive

We listened to two of the HP audiobooks last drive. So much more detail than the movies. The kids loved the little differences and it made some of the details in Uni more interesting. Also less car sickness to just listen than to watch a bouncing screen.

 

[tinkerbell1112]

etsy - HP tshirts, HP bracelets, HP necklace, wand holders, lanyards.
all stuff you can get at the parks, but this is how we do it beforehand

 

[biochemgirl]

So many great ideas! I know I just bought new swimsuits to get ready for a long leisurely summer trip

But we also watch movies and/or read books. This time I'm rereading all the HP books. Last time we watched all the movies (again). My son has a mini HP shrine in his room with various souvenirs and both of our wands. I've had us put on our robes and Gryffindor lanyards to go through everything and reminisce about previous trips.

 

[jagafen]

Luckily, my planning starts well in advance of the trip, and there's usually a Christmas holiday in there before we leave, so that gives me a lot of lead time to plan and prep. This year for Christmas we all got 1-2 shirts to wear on the trip, house specific lanyards (I had already had us sorted by then), house specific winter jammies (from Santa), matching minions jammies (boxers and Ts) for the trip, matching Hogwarts Jammies (again, boxers and Ts). Our son also got the JK Rowling lootcrate sub for 6 months (deliveries every other month) up until our trip. His last box came this month. They've all had Ts in them too, so some of them have made the pile.

He also got a homemade potions kit that I totally stole from an ebay auction. I stained and finished a small wooden box, and then decoupaged the Hogwarts Crest on top (not nearly as complicated as it sounds). I went to Michaels and got a bunch of different shaped glass bottles, and filled each with a different kind of candy, then tagged them with different potion names. I did all the shopping on Black Friday, and everything came to $20 for the supplies, candy included...I did have the stain and finishing spray at home already.

OF course, I obsessively read the boards to keep up with the latest intel, and start packing way too early...we're just over 2 weeks out from our trip, and I'm already more than 50% packed myself...I"ll help kidlet pack once he's out of school for the summer.

 

[escriven75]

Tons of DIS-Unplugged, Harry Potter marathons, and listening to the park entrance music!

Where do you find the 'park entrance music'???

 

[kbelle8995]

I find mine on youtube. Plus there are many tour videos of the park and I watch those too. I also have Harry Potter soundtrack which are widely available and that always gets me in the mood.

 

[pcstang]

YouTube it as kbelle stated. Tons of stuff on there.

 

[Wdw1015]

This is a great thread, love all the ideas!

 

[Charade67]

I have been reading these message boards almost every day since planning my trip. I'm getting lots of good tips and ideas.

 

[kbmartin]

We listened to two of the HP audiobooks last drive. So much more detail than the movies. The kids loved the little differences and it made some of the details in Uni more interesting. Also less car sickness to just listen than to watch a bouncing screen.

The audiobooks are fantastic, and I highly suggest them. I don't know how old your kids are, but they could follow along in the new illustrated copies of the books. Here's what they look like: https://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/...d-editions/harry-potter-illustrated-editions/. They are sold just about everywhere - I've seen them at Target. The illustrations are amazing!