UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA OVER LABOR DAY WEEKEND - DAY 1 (SATURDAY) | NOT THE BEST START!

After checking out of Bay Lake Tower, we moved over to the Loew's Portofino Bay Resort for 2 nights. We took advantage of the Universal Studios Florida Resident Ticket Offer of Buy 1 Day, Get 2 Free. We also booked one of their Deluxe Resorts to received the Express Pass.

Our room wasn't ready until 5pm, despite check-in being at 4pm. This was really the only con in our stay, as the rest was fantastic. We decided to grab lunch at the pool restaurant, as there wasn't many options. It was amazing though, so that worked out.

We then headed to Universal Studios first. This was a HUGE mistake. Because we didn't head over to 3pm, they were already allowing guests of Halloween Horror Nights in. It was chaotic and streets were rerouted and it took forever to walk anywhere. Do yourself a favor, if you are going to Universal Studios during the day and NOT going to Halloween Horror Nights, get out of the park by 3pm if you can.

We only rode 2 rides at Universal Studios and 3 at Islands of Adventure. 5 rides in 6 hours WITH the Express Pass. It was crazy busy. If we had to do it over again, we would have just skipped the parks all together that Saturday and relaxed at the resort and got a fresh start on Sunday. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.