Disney and Universal? can you help me divide the time??

[2002Disneybride]

I am thinking of planning a surprise trip for my DH for his birthday in August...I would like to visit Universal and Disney. Is it easier to just stay at WDW and travel to Universal or to stay at Universal and then stay at WDW? I think the Hard Rock Hotel seems neat! And how many days would be best at Universal?
Thanks in advance...I hope someone can help!:p

[Howling Howie]

I would absolutely stay at Hard Rock, for front of line access, not to mention the hotel itself. We've stayed at Royal Pacific, but visit HRH and pool. You won't need more than one day for each UO park because there is no waiting in lines. I'd probably do two or three nights there and then the rest at or near Disney, just for convenience sake. Swan and Dolphin are under $100 on Hotwire and I think you can walk to Epcot and MGM from them. Good luck.

[TreeOfLife]

I agree. With Universal it really pays off to stay onsite.

This may help: We planned a few more days in Disney to see more and two nights, three days at HRH. Even during the Christmas holiday, three days are plenty of time to see it all in both Universal's parks with front of the line privileges. That beats fastpass. Insteaad of grabbing a ticket that schedules you to return at a certain time, you can go to the attractions as often as you wish, no limits!

[goofyernmost]

I have never seen the need for more than two days for both parks at Universal and that was without any "front of the line" stuff.

Word of warning, Universal has a way of hiding it's Q lines better than Disney. Just when you think you are almost there you turn a corner and find that the line is six times longer then the original. That is a fact of life at Universal. Knowing that helps keep the frustration levels down and enjoyment levels up.
:eek: :confused: :mad: :rolleyes: :cool:

[TreeOfLife]

2002Disneybride, plan to go to Universal and stay onsite. Like we said before, you'll get far more out of it! Look up Fan Club rates, Entertainment book's, AAA's, Hard Rock's All Access and even Annual pass rates. Loews site often has great discounts too. Mousesavers.com has a great section on discounts at Universal's resorts.

Also, visit the Universal boards for more tips on surprising your kids. I took mine for the first time when they were 5 and 7, and sice have asked me to take them again every time!

Have fun, they'll love the parks.

[gschmerl]

I'd say three days for Universal if you stay at the HRH. You can ride everything you want and see the shows.The all day express access is priceless. You can even have some to time to enjoy the pool at the Hard Rock. Make sure you put your head underwater. They have their sound system under there too!

[Dubs1964]

We wouldn't even consider going to Orlando without figuring in time for both Disney & Universal. Two days is plenty of time to see most everything at Universal, but with the "buy a 2-day pass, get the 3rd free", why not use it and enjoy your time there? We'll be there the 24-26 of April, and then it's on to WDW! Have a safe trip!

[OHIO VIKING]

We have done this twice and my only piece of advice is do Disney first. With front of the line access at Universal you get really spoiled so doing Disney second is a very frustrating experience after a couple of days with no waits. We love both places and plan to always hit both when in Orlando from now on.

[Planogirl]

We recently enjoyed a similar trip and my only regret was not staying onsite at Universal. We stayed just outside the gates and bought the 5 day pass (only 89.95!) so we had Express privileges but the Universal hotels are so nice! We also spent a bit too much time waiting for the buses IMO. If you don't stay at the Hard Rock, Portofino Bay is beautiful too. We unfortunately didn't have time to tour the other resort.

As far as time goes, we spent three days in the Universal parks and five days at WDW. We have been to WDW many times now and just head back to favorites so we may split the time in half the next time we go. We visited Universal first which worked out well because I was worn out by Universal and WDW is nice and restful for me. :)

[4greatboys]

We always do both. We love staying at Disney and doing the Disney stuff and then we save 2 or 3 days and stay onsite at Universal and do US/IOA. We stayed at the RPR resort and loved it. Next time we are trying HRH--we want to try all of them. FOLT express cant be beat. City walk is really nice and has some really good places to eat.

[alyssa810]

We loved the front of the line access at Universal when we stayed at HRH, and the hotel was sooooo awesome!! I have to agree with everyone that you shouldn't need more than 2-3 days there, but to also take advantage of the pool at HRH. Good lucK!

[emmagata]

Originally posted by goofyernmost
I have never seen the need for more than two days for both parks at Universal and that was without any "front of the line" stuff.

Word of warning, Universal has a way of hiding it's Q lines better than Disney. Just when you think you are almost there you turn a corner and find that the line is six times longer then the original. That is a fact of life at Universal. Knowing that helps keep the frustration levels down and enjoyment levels up.
:eek: :confused: :mad: :rolleyes: :cool:

I agree.

You MUST be talking about the queue at Spiderman!

[eeyore0062]

STAY AT DISNEY

A trip to Disney is just not complete without staying on property.
I am sure that others will argue with me, but I have done it both ways, and staying on property is SO MUCH BETTER!

If you must, stay at Disney for that portion of your vacation and then go to Hard Rock and stay there for the Universal portion of your vacation... that way you can have the magic of Disney and the benefit of front of the line access while at Universal.

OH, and I would definitely do Disney last.... Universal is a great amusement park, but Disney is THE BEST THEME PARK!
We wouldn't want you to be disappointed with the service at Universal after experiencing Disney!:)

[emmagata]

Originally posted by eeyore0062
STAY AT DISNEY

A trip to Disney is just not complete without staying on property.
I am sure that others will argue with me, but I have done it both ways, and staying on property is SO MUCH BETTER!

If you must, stay at Disney for that portion of your vacation and then go to Hard Rock and stay there for the Universal portion of your vacation... that way you can have the magic of Disney and the benefit of front of the line access while at Universal.

OH, and I would definitely do Disney last.... Universal is a great amusement park, but Disney is THE BEST THEME PARK!
We wouldn't want you to be disappointed with the service at Universal after experiencing Disney!:)

Hmmm....

I guess we haven't really had any "complete" trips to Disney the 5 times we've been there in the last 6 years because we didn't stay on site.

How dissappointing.


(just kidding, don't get your shorts in a bunch now :) )

[Planogirl]

Originally posted by emmagata
Hmmm....

I guess we haven't really had any "complete" trips to Disney the 5 times we've been there in the last 6 years because we didn't stay on site.

How dissappointing.

(just kidding, don't get your shorts in a bunch now :) )

;)

We've stayed onsite and offsite, and had good times either way even though I admit that I enjoy hopping onto a Disney bus and letting them worry about where my hotel is. :) We also had great service at Universal. I guess everyone has a different perspective.

[TreeOfLife]

OH, and I would definitely do Disney last.... Universal is a great amusement park, but Disney is THE BEST THEME PARK!

Interesting, but several people actually recommend you do Disney first, since staying onsite at Universal with all of its guest pampering serviceshttp://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/jump1.gif makes you feel too unimportant http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/dozey.gif at Disney afterwardshttp://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/headshake.gif...
People realize how valuable FOTL really is, of all places, at Disneyhttp://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/as_drool.gif!

So that is what we're doing. We're staying at AKL then, when the crowds really kick in, we're staying at HRH where we'll have no trouble at all with crowds and lines...
SWEEThttp://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/beerchug.gif

[4greatboys]

We have done both Universal then Disney and Disney then Universal. Both ways are great. We love each--they are different so either way I dont see how you could be disappointed. Disney resorts are wonderful; Universal resorts are wonderful. Both have great parks and friendly employees. We wouldnt go to Orlando and not do both.

[joloco]

you MUST stay on - site at Universal!!! We are family of five and I really did not look forward to changing hotels. We stayed at HRH walked over to parks, FOTL is fantasic. Makes you feel like a real VIP you don't have to keep track of FP times or back track.
Plus City Walk has a lot of great restaurants. We went in May and are going again this MAY. We litterally walked!! on to sooo many rides, the others were less than 5 minutes.
We did Universal first then changed to WDW hotel.
There are Entertainment rates, and other discounts so have fun.

[2002Disneybride]

Wow! Thank you for all the replies!
we are going in December for a pseudo 1st anniversary trip (really married in oct of last year) but I was thinking of trying to plan a trip for the summer...not too sure yet. Your comments were extremely helpful.

So you recommend disney first then universal?
and the HRH?

Check mousesavers for discounts? anywhere else? do they offer discounts like the disney codes we can get??
and the 2 day pass is good you agree?

any and all advice welcomed!;)

[goofyernmost]

Originally posted by emmagata
I agree.

You MUST be talking about the queue at Spiderman!



That and King Kong, ET, Jaws, Back to the Future, Earthquake, and on and on. They all have hidden lines. Just find your "Happy Place" and keep smiling.

:bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc

[joloco]

there is a universal web site on dis boards which has lots of info.
I would get at least 2 day / 2 park pass , some times they have specials, but 2 get 3rd day free. If you get multi day ticket you can go in/out of both parks. one day ticket - one park only. If you're trying to save money the Royal Pacific is on - site hotel just opened last year, they don't have "CODES" but you can try for entertainment rate or Fan club rate, AAA rate if you have any....check the DIS boards .
I would do Universal last in AUG since it's summer and by end of vacation, you don't have to have patience to stand in line. ....or get up as early if you don't want to w/ FOTL.

[TreeOfLife]

I never faced that problem but if it comes to "trying to find the Q line" I prefer to walk a minute over figuring out what to do during the next hour, without walking too far or you may lose your turn...

[beattyfamily]

We've split our stay between WDW and Universal the last 3 years and love doing that!!! (we rent a car then for the convenience)

We've done Disney first and Universal first. I think I prefer Disney first if I had to choose because FOTL spoils you, but either way is fine. Nothing beats FOTL access!!!

We've also stayed offsite at Universal (once; our first time) and then onsite and we MUCH PREFER ONSITE!!! We've stayed at the HRH and RP; we prefer the HRH. We are staying at the HRH again this December.

We are staying with the Universal Fan Club (similar to the Disney Club; you get it at work) rate of $129 pool view. We could have had the Entertainment rate of $125 garden view but switched. Call and see if they are offering the Entertainment rate for your trip BEFORE you buy the book, and then if it's available book it, and then buy the book. You do not need the book when you call to book your trip; only when you arrive.

I think 2 days is plenty at Universal especially if you are doing WDW as well.

Check out the Universal board for lots more info!

Have fun!

[emmagata]

Originally posted by beattyfamily
We've split our stay between WDW and Universal the last 3 years and love doing that!!! (we rent a car then for the convenience)

We've done Disney first and Universal first. I think I prefer Disney first if I had to choose because FOTL spoils you, but either way is fine. Nothing beats FOTL access!!!

We've also stayed offsite at Universal (once; our first time) and then onsite and we MUCH PREFER ONSITE!!! We've stayed at the HRH and RP; we prefer the HRH. We are staying at the HRH again this December.

We are staying with the Universal Fan Club (similar to the Disney Club; you get it at work) rate of $129 pool view. We could have had the Entertainment rate of $125 garden view but switched. Call and see if they are offering the Entertainment rate for your trip BEFORE you buy the book, and then if it's available book it, and then buy the book. You do not need the book when you call to book your trip; only when you arrive.

I think 2 days is plenty at Universal especially if you are doing WDW as well.

Check out the Universal board for lots more info!

Have fun!

Just for comparison, we're spending about $95/night (in November) for a 3 bedroom/2 bath home with a private pool that's about a 10 minute drive to the MK parking lot.

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by emmagata
Just for comparison, we're spending about $95/night (in November) for a 3 bedroom/2 bath home with a private pool that's about a 10 minute drive to the MK parking lot.

That's why I bought DVC so I could have a 2 bedroom villa and still be onsite at WDW! We LOVE being onsite. Can't wait for November/December!

At Universal, I prefer being ONSITE having done both ways. Nothing beats FOTL access and walking to the park from your room, but I guess if you have a big family, offsite is more economical.

To each their own I say! ;)