A split stay? How can I do this?

[jubelee1872000]

I have been to DW 3 times since 2010 and next year Spring Break we are thinking of coming back. Only this time everyone wants to try Universal too. Usually we fly into MCO and stay at on on-site Disney Hotel for 4-5nights. Then we go visit our friends that live about an hour and a half away for 4-5 nights before returning home to MI. This time I think it would be something like 2-3 days at Disney, then at our friends for 4-5 days and another 2-3 at Universal before heading home. My question I guess is, what kind of cost would I be looking at? I saw on the US website that the express pass is like $55!! Per person! That is quite a bit. Being that both of the resorts are more expensive, the less nights you stay there I am considering just flying in a Friday and staying at Dinsey until maybe Sunday evening, then spending Monday through Sunday with our friends, with one of the days out for going to Universal or we could do two days there and stay and at offsite hotel? IDK I'm so confused about all the options now. With Disney I have it all figured out now for the most part, but throw Universal into the mix and I know nothing. . What do you guys think would be the best way to do this?? I am of course always trying to get the least expensive option, we have always stayed in a value resorts. For our family of four every time we have gone we have gotten in on the free dining promotion. In 2010 and 2011 the cost of our trip (meaning just tickets and hotel and food) was $1200 or under. This last time in 2013 our one son was 4 so that brought us to a $1835 figure. I guess I am worried about it being over $1000 for each 2-3 day excursion. Anyone with experience in this conundrum?

Thanks!

 

[Mich Mouse]

If you stay at Hard Rock, Pacific Royal or Portofino Bay (Universal Hotels) the Express Pass is free. Even if you stayed only one night on their property you would have 2 days of express passes, check in and check out day.

Universal (and Disney) also offer AAA discounts on hotel rates. Usually about 10-15 percent off. You can also cut costs by purchasing groceries for your room and packing snacks for the day, eating breakfast in the room.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

We did a Universal/Disney vacation last year. Unfortunately there is nothing inexpensive about combining 2 vacation destinations in one trip. What we did was:
Arrive at MCO and pick up our car...Then we stayed at the Hampton Inn for 2 nights. The hotel is great. Super clean, the rooms are good size, bed comfy, free breakfast, and a 5 minute drive to Universal. Then we headed over to Disney for the rest of our stay.
Not sure when you are going...we went the week before Memorial Day last year and had no problems getting on anything...We did get there before the Park opened and did the mad run to Harry Potter.
That being said...those Universal Days cost us a small fortune. The tickets, the hotel, the food, and the shopping. Then tack on the expenses of the entire Disney portion. It was a very expensive trip.

With the Harry Potter expansion we are doing it differently this year. My daughter lives for HP - when the new part opens, we are going to need to stay at a Universal Hotel for the perks. So we split our trip up this year - Disney in May and Universal in October. No way could I afford to group those 2 things together!

 

[glocon]

It is much less expensive to do one or the other. The longer you stay at either one the cheaper it is. Although the last couple of trips for us we did both. To save money we stayed fewer days. At Universal it is worth staying onsite for the free unlimited express passes. Totally changes the trip. I would stay off site at Disney before staying off site at Universal.