Universal Studio Orlando Lockers – Everything You Need to Know

If you want to avoid carrying around a large backpack, any food or drink or selected valuables while visiting the Universal Studios theme parks then you may wish to store them in a locker.

Both Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure have lockers available for guests to use. These lockers are located at the entrance of the theme parks, as well as outside selected rides.

Where it is compulsory to store your loose articles while on a ride, the Universal Studios Resort provides a small locker for free for a set period of time (based on the standby wait time of the ride). However, if you would like to store large items (backpacks etc.) for long periods of time, then you’ll need to pay to use one of the lockers available inside the park.

How Much Do Lockers Cost At Universal Studios?

If you think you’re going to need a locker during your trip, then it’s good to get an idea as to how much they cost so you can budget for your Universal Orlando trip accordingly. There are two types of locker rentals at Universal Studios, one free, and one paid. These are categorised as;

• Daily Lockers
• Ride Lockers

If you’re looking to store your belongings for the entire day (and access them throughout the day) then you’ll want to use one of the daily lockers at the front of the park.

Daily lockers are clearly signposted within each theme park, however, should you struggle to find them a team member will be happy to direct you. These lockers are charged at a flat daily rate of $12 for a large-sized locker and $15 for a family-sized locker.

These lockers are perfect if you’ve brought food and drink into the park for lunch, or a change of clothes for the water rides.

Meanwhile, where storing your loose belongings is compulsory in order to go on a ride within the theme park small lockers are complimentary for the amount of time required (based on the standby wait time).

Should you leave your belongings in this locker for longer than the required amount of time (i.e. to go on another ride before retrieving your belongings) then you will be charged $3 per 30 mins with a maximum charge of $20.

However, the free lockers are only small. As such, you may find that a large backpack doesn’t fit. Instead, you’ll need to pay to rent one of the larger lockers.

However, where these lockers are required (as a result of no loose items being permitted on the ride) large lockers are available at a discount when compared to the flat fee of a daily locker rental.

This discount is $2 per ride (again based on the standby wait time) with an additional $3 per 30 mins should you use the locker for longer than the required amount of time (i.e. to go on another ride before retrieving your belongings).

Lockers inside Universal Studios can be paid either with a bank card or with dollar bills.

What Size Are The Lockers at Universal Studios?

The daily lockers at Universal Studios Florida come in two sizes, large and family size;

• Large lockers = 12” x 13” x 16.9” ($15)
• Family lockers are 12” x 16.25” x 16.9” ($12)

A large locker will fit in most small backpacks and some additional belongings (coats, jackets etc.)

Meanwhile, the family-size lockers will store multiple large backpacks and some additional belongings (coats, jackets etc.)

Note that there are a limited number of family lockers available, and these do sell out very quickly.

As such we recommend ensuring that you can split your belongings between two lockers (using two backpacks or the equivalent) should it be required.

There are also no family-sized lockers at the Islands of Adventure theme park.

Meanwhile, ride lockers come in two different sizes;

• Standard lockers = 14” x 5.5” x 16.9” (Free)
• Large lockers = 12” x 16.25” x 16.9” ($2)

The complimentary ride lockers are known within the park as a standard size and are suitable for small items such as a fanny pack, a purse, a mobile phone, or a camera.

These lockers are free when storing your loose belongings is compulsory in order to go on a ride within the theme park.

However, this is only for the amount of time required (based on the standby wait time).

Should you leave your belongings in this locker for longer than the required amount of time (i.e. to go on another ride before retrieving your belongings) then you will be charged an additional fee of $3 per 30 mins with a maximum charge of $20.

Meanwhile, the large lockers are suitable for most backpacks. These lockers cost $2 when storing your loose belongings is compulsory in order to go on a ride within the theme park.

However, again this is only for the amount of time required (based on the standby wait time).

Do You Need A Locker At Universal Studios?

Since we’ve only travelled to Universal Studios as a couple or with our baby we’ve always either needed to or chosen to keep our belongings with us at all times.

However, if you’re travelling with a large family (especially children) then you may find yourself bringing a number of ‘just in case’ items with you or some lunch items to help you save money while visiting the Universal Parks.

In that case, you may find that renting one of the daily lockers at the entrance of the theme park is best suited to your needs.

Of course, if you are going on one of the rides inside either of the Universal Studios theme parks where loose belongings are not permitted then you will need to use one of the ride lockers provided.

Ride Lockers Universal Studios & Islands Of Adventure

The following rides require that you store all loose belongings in a locker provided.

Ride	Rules	Park
Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket	All loose items including hats, phones, cameras, keys, wallets must be stowed complementary smaller free lockers are provided and larger paid lockers available	Universal Studios
Men in Black: Alien Attack	All loose items must be stowed including cameras. Lockers are set in caverns, there are three sets of locker caverns. There are smaller free lockers for use whilst riding and larger paid lockers.	Universal Studios
Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts	All loose items must be stowed including cameras. Lockers are set in caverns, there are three sets of locker caverns. There are smaller free lockers for use whilst riding and larger paid lockers.	Universal Studios
Revenge of the Mummy	Larger items and cameras are required to be store	Universal Studios
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey	All loose items must be stowed including cameras. Lockers are set in caverns, there are three sets of lockers. Smaller complimentary lockers are provided for riders, larger paid lockers are available to rent.	Islands of Adventure
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure	All loose items must be stowed including cameras. Smaller complimentary lockers are provided for riders, larger paid lockers are available to rent.	Islands of Adventure
Jurassic World VelociCoaster	All loose items including hats, phones, cameras, keys and wallets must be stowed complementary smaller free lockers are provided and larger paid lockers are available	Islands of Adventure
The Incredible Hulk Coaster	All loose items including hats, phones, cameras, keys, wallets must be stowed complementary smaller free lockers are provided and larger paid lockers are available	Islands of Adventure

Loose items include cell phones, cameras, umbrellas and cash. Fanny packs are allowed on selected rides at Universal Orlando where backpacks are not permitted (such as The Revenge of the Mummy). However, this is on a ride-by-ride basis (for example, no exceptions are made for the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit) and done at the discretion of the Universal Orlando staff.

You will be required to walk through one of the metal detectors before going on the ride to ensure you are not bringing any loose items onto the ride with you. However, inside Islands of Adventure specifically, there are a number of water rides where you and your belongings may get wet.

These rides include;

• Jurassic Park River Adventure
• Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls
• Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges

In this case, you may choose to voluntarily pay to use one of the lockers outside of the rides to store your belongings in safely, preventing them from getting wet or damaged.

Personally, we have gone on all of these rides with phones and cameras in our pockets and backpacks filled with camera equipment and other valuables by our feet.

This is of course done at your own risk, and in hindsight, the stress of hoping nothing would get so wet it was damaged wasn’t worth a couple of dollars and a few extra minutes for storing the item.

How To Use Universal Studios Lockers

Lockers come in a set of roughly 20 adjoined to a locker system or command centre in the middle.

Each locker station has between 6 and 20 sets, with each locker station then having between roughly 120 and 400 lockers available.

The command station will have a light that indicates the locker availability for that particular set of lockers.

If the light is green, then there are plenty of lockers available, if the light is yellow, then there is limited availability, and if the light is red then the locker set is either full or closed.

To begin, you’ll need to find a locker set with either a green or a yellow light.

Personally, I always go for green where possible since it reduces the likelihood of me having to wait for someone else to use the command station when I’m looking to retrieve my belongings later.

Once you’re happy with the locker set you’ve chosen, follow the instructions on the command station for that locker set.

Universal seems to be in the middle of changing between locker types.

Some lockers require you to use the fingerprint scanner so you can then claim your belongings afterwards while others require you to scan your park ticket.

You can easily switch between languages on the command station by selecting the flag icon that represents the language at the bottom of the screen.

If you’re using a paid locker then you’ll be required to pay using either credit cards, debit cards or dollar bills.

However, if you’re using one of the complimentary lockers then no payment is required. Unless you go over based on the wait time for the ride in which case payment will need to be made in order to retrieve your belongings.

Using Lockers With Child Swap

If you are using the child swap service offered by Universal Studios then you will not need to use a locker.

Instead, you’ll want to go ahead and inform the ride attendant that you’re using child-swap.

In this case, all belongings will then need to remain with the adult and child who are waiting in the child swap area.

Depending on how many items you have this may be overwhelming so you may still wish to use the lockers for selected items while you go on the ride.

What If You Forget Your Locker Number

It’s very easy to get carried away with the excitement of going on a ride at the Universal Studios Resort and forget to take note of your locker number – especially since you can’t photograph it since your phone is likely inside the locker.

In this case, you should look to find the locker attendant who will have been assigned to the locker area.

If you can’t find them after a couple of minutes head to the main entrance of the ride and speak to the team members there.

Universal team members are trained to deal with this situation and encounter it multiple times a day. As such they have a number of methods to ensure that you obtain your belongings without compromising the security of other guests.

Taking Medical Supplies Onto Rides At Universal Studios

If you have any medical supplies that must be kept on you in person, and therefore can not be stored in a locker (even on rides where no loose items are required) then you’ll want to go ahead and speak to a team member at the entrance to the attraction.

Team members at Universal Studios are trained to deal with a variety of different situations including this one based on the park’s guidelines on health and safety.