This trip was so worth it. I don't recommend driving to Florida if you're far away. But the rental wasn't expensive it was actually pretty cheap. We got a good deal on tickers buy 2 days, get 2 days free. We ended up getting a huge rock thrown into our windshield on the highway. There are nothing but diesels all the way there and back. Anyways Universal was amazing, no regrets, totally worth it. We got our most important things done the first day but we went Mar 6-10 and it was busy and we had fast passes that was the ONLY way to enjoy this during a busy time. My son whos 12 and tall, and I road every Rollercoaster except for 2. It was great. We loved rip ride rockit and hagrids motor bike the most, but also Forbidden Journey and hulk. We felt unsafe on Velocicoaster we both came out of our seat the entire time. Our favorite areas were Jurassic world and Hogsmeade. Dreamworks was a little disappointing but maybe if your kids are very small they might like it. Smaller kids would also like dr suess world, although the kids rode every ride there the second day and liked it. My 7 year old wanted to stay there. Dudleys ripsaw ride is awesome. Grab you a turkey leg and some elote near there. Bilge rat barges was closed 😢 all the VR rides were awesome you have to do skull island!! And Transformers, Spiderman, Minion mayhem, escape from gringotts(amazing), and simpsons and men in black were ok. If you are a water baby and love water parks, Volcano Bay is the ultimate water park totally worth it. The lazy river is ok for kids too(7 yr old went), and the rides are amazing. But just note they won't let you on some of the bigger slide rides with water shoes or regular clothes like a cotton shirt. So I would recommend either going around barefoot, or wearing crocs that you can leave outside the ride in the little nets provided, and wear a full suit. I didn't want to wear a normal one piece or anything and wanted to be comfortable so I just wore swim shorts and a swim shirt. We loved Minion cafe because they had something like ramen, you have to get the Minion roll because the little banana dessert is amazing. We ate from the little stands like corndogs and churros. But you HAVE to get a swamp dog from shreks swamp snacks in Dreamworks. Eating at the three Broomsticks wasn't bad but all the food was basic and unseasoned so meh. But you gotta try the frozen Butterbeer and I like the pumpkin fizz. Florean Fortescues ice cream was great I had the spicy chocolate it was actually great. You have to stop by the fountain of fair fortune
So more tips, make sure you download the app to find things quicker and see wait times. Get a refillable collectors cup. We just shared 2 of them as a family of 4. We had the kids just take turns drinking Gatorade for the most part, and when they didn't have the cup we had water bottles. You get free water everywhere so you don't have to buy drinks if you don't want to. I bought drink holders on Amazon that have shoulder straps for everyone. They worked out too well. I also got waterproof pouches for phones and a waterproof fanny pack that we kept our important stuff in. If you plan on buying things or carrying anything else a backpack would really help. They have free lockers at most rides but they are small so try to only take the important stuff. If you're planning on riding Rollercoasters all day, the less you bring the better. There are a few coasters that you can't take ANYTHING on not even a phone and they do use metal detectors. So just put your stuff in the locker and don't waste time fighting them. Wear sunscreen don't buy it there because a little bottle is $18. Wear a hat. Wear comfortable shoes you'll be walking for 12 hours at least if you're trying to get everything done. Make sure everyone is drinking water and Gatorade. There are concerts included with your ticket on certain days if you want to try to go to those look online at the dates. But it will be busier, so consider the fast pass. If not, go during the week during a slow time. Depending on the season, even in march you might want to take a hoodie. In men in black store they have a tshirt and hoodie combo for sale, and I think a hat and tshirt combo those are the ones we got. We did buy various stuff like hats, backpack, ponchos for the random rain one day, and a cute blanket. And snacks. So be prepared to spend a little money haha. And when you walk up to show them your ticket they take a picture of you and that becomes your entry way through the gates everytime, super easy. We just followed the map on the app and did every ride. And stopped where we wanted to stop. You'll notice a lot of stuff in the stores are repetitive. We still just ran through them. If you have a couple of days you can get through most of islands of adventure and studios if you keep it going the whole time, with breaks to sit down and eat and stop to get more water and plenty of bathroom breaks. Theres no point in drinking any beer or anything because you'll burn it off and not feel anything. If you get more than 2 days you can go back and ride your favorites and then you start to slow down and notice more so don't be afraid to go back to areas you've already been. If you get 4 days, spend it at Volcano bay.