First time Universal, how long should we stay? And other ?'s

[Momtomouselover]

We are planning a group trip to Universal. I'm a big time Disney goer but would like to try out the "dark side", explore Harry Potter, and honestly I'm a little disenchanted with Disney right now. The plan right now is 2 nights with 3 days at Disney, then move over to Universal for 5 nights with 3 days park time and one down day (or might return to Disney on the down day for MNSSHP). So here are some questions if you guys would please offer advice-

Is 3 days too long at Universal? How about 4? Is there any Universal magic or does it feel like a theme park like Six Flags?

Universal Hard Rock or Portofino Bay? We have kids ranging In age from 5-10 so pool important and adults want pool with bar

How long realistically is the drive from Universal to Disney parks? I know I can google distance but not sure of directness and traffic. If we don't rent a car or drive then is Uber best option?

Is Universal crowded in Oct.? Looking at first and second week of Oct.

Thanks!

 

[MissDisneyDora]

I can only speak from my experience but when we did Universal in February with my 5 year old- we spent two days at Universal and felt like it was adequate. I think with a good touring plan you could see everything you needed to see in those days.

I can't remember the drive time between the two off the top of my head but we did take a cab from our Disney Resort to Universal City Walk one evening and I remember our taxi fair being in the ballpark of $45.00. So if you don't rent your own vehicle, it is still do-able to get between the two.

I'm sure other folks will be able to answer rest of your questions.

x
Dora

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

The experts will be on soon to give you the best advice of Universal in October and how HHN (Halloween Horror Nights, I believe) will affect you, but overall, early October is awesome.

Length of time - People will chime in and say a day at each park is enough, others will say they are there for like two weeks. Universal is a destination, not just a theme park. There is all kinds of magic waiting for you. If you just want to see HP world and ride the main attractions, sure a couple days are fine. But, similar to Disney, there is a lot more than just the parks. The resorts are all awesome (we are a Hard Rock family), you are welcome to pool hop if you stay onsite, the resort dining is a nice change of pace (we are a breakfast buffet family as well), and Citywalk is fun also. There are three major differences from Disney in my mind: 1) size 2) Universal Express and 3)dining. Not size in the size of the park, but the whole area. When you stay on site, you are a very manageable walk to all areas (parks, Citywalk, other resort pools). Really, at Hard Rock, I think it is a shorter walk to Universal than the offsite parking decks, or a very pleasant boat ride in. No internal bus transportation (except maybe to Cabana Bay). The Universal Express is an absolute dream. And no 180 day out ADRs to worry about!

Picture this - Having a nice casual breakfast, strolling over to the park, NOT waiting in line (except some HP rides, and early October again will be manageable), getting lunch on your schedule (not what you thought 6 months ago), catching the boat back to your room, RELAXING and hitting the pool for a few hours (with wonderful bars!), strolling back in the early afternoon and hitting your favorites again with NO WAIT, did I mention that. It is so possible at Universal to have an amazing time at the parks and still feel relaxed when you get home from vacation. There is no need to commando the parks from early entry to close, although whatever floats your boat.

So, we almost always station ourselves at Hard Rock, and venture offsite if we want to hit the MNSSHP or Christmas party. Christmas 2013, we had a nearly full day at Universal before we even caught our car service to the Christmas Party. I have not yet ventured into the Uber world, not sure if I ever will, but I highly recommend Mears luxury car service if budget allows.

So, to summarize, Universal has a ton of magic, not just a theme park. Stay at a deluxe (not Cabana Bay), we love Hard Rock. For the nominal fee, pay for the fourth day ticket. You can hit the park and have a down day at the same time, even if you venture to the Motherland for MNSSHP. Be prepared to fall in love with Universal Express and never view FP+ the same way again!

 

[macraven]

i think 5 days at the darkside will be a very relaxing vacation.
very easy to do side trips to other tourist places while stationed at UO.
you can recover from the fast pace you had over at the motherland.

i do my fall vacation the same way.
start with a motherland resort, use private car service for a 3 leg booking then end at the darkside to have fun in the parks and relax by spending time to unwind and just enjoy what it has to offer.

you can use early entry and hit the parks early then return to the room and go swimming.
return to the parks and start where you left off.

you can shop in the parks and have your merch sent to your room so you don't have to deal with lockers or carrying things around during the day.

3 full days will allow you to hit the parks, dine at city walk, visit other 2 hotels and eat or swim there.
the water taxi is a good way to reach the other parks with switching boats at city walk dock.

with the parks closing early on hhn dates at 5 for the studios, 7 maybe 8 depending on the date for ioa, you could do the movies at the pool in the evening.
or hit city walk for the mini golf, open entertainment on some dates or the cinema.
all within walking distance from the hotel.

check out the maps online to show the entire UO outline.
it might help by having a visual to see where everything is located.

i'll be at the darkside after i switch from the motherland on the 3rd.
about 2 weeks there and i find it totally unwinding and relaxing but still have a full agenda right now due to hitting hhn at night.

hhn is on every thursday, friday, saturday, sunday.
wednesday hhn is added starting on oct 7th.
studios will be closed to the public at 5:00 on those days listed above.
it depends on the day of the week when ioa will be closed on hhn nights.
assume 7 pm for the weeknights.
it has been at 8pm on weekends in the past.
UO does change things around at times so we won't really know until we are closer to the dates for actually ioa closing time.
if crowds are large, one can assume hours might be adjusted for ioa.

in my past visits for october, the first week has been light.
the crowds start to come in around thursday of the weekend of columbus day, especially the weekends.

with you staying on site, you won't feel the effect of that when using the express lines for rides/shows.

 

[Hootch]

I think it took maybe 20 minutes to go between Universal and Disney. Most of that is interstate.

 

[schumigirl]

From DTD and Crossroads take Palm Parkway then onto Turkey Lake Road coming back to Universal.

Very quick and if traffic on I4 is busy it takes much less time.

I think Universal has better magic than Disney........others will disagree of course.......lol.......

Love both parks and no......3 or 4 days is not too much. That time of year will be lovely for you......

 

[TXTransplant]

I took my son to Universal last November. We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific for five days, but we only had a three-day ticket to Universal. Three days was plenty to do what we enjoyed most, which were the Harry Potter areas of the parks. We rode a few non-HP rides, but we really spent the bulk of our time in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. The parks did not have extended hours and we did not stay until closing. In fact, we left the parks really early one day (like around 2 pm) because I was absolutely exhausted. After coming home, I realized there were a few details in the WWoHP that we missed, but overall, we were able to see and do everything we wanted. I have no doubt that we could have ridden/seen every attraction in the park in three days had we toured more "commando style". We also took an evening to see Blue Man Group, which was fantastic. My 10 year old son loved it, as did I.

Of the five days total, our first day we went to Magic Kingdom for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We had not been to MK since the new Fantasyland had opened, so this was a great way to experience the park without having to pay the full price of admission (since we did this on our arrival day, we wouldn't have gotten full-value out of a one-day ticket anyway). We rented a car from the Hertz desk that is in the lobby of the Royal Pacific. It probably only took 20 min to get to MK and park, and this was early afternoon on a Friday. I imagine during rush hour it would take longer. Total cost of the rental (including pre-paid fuel because I didn't want to have to stop at a gas station at midnight) was about $90. It's super convenient, too, because the valets pull the rental car around to the driveway of the hotel.

On the last day we rented a car (via Hertz in the lobby again) and drove over to Kennedy Space Center to see the Atlantis exhibit. This was absolutely phenomenal, and I highly recommend it. This rental was a little less expensive because I didn't pre-pay for fuel, but I did have to stop at a gas station before returning the car.

Anyway, long story short, from our experience, three days is plenty in the parks. A five day vacation would be fantastic, though, because it would allow you time to explore some other area attractions.

 

[Momtomouselover]

Thanks guys! This info is already helping a lot. We are currently considering October 5-10 (although my husband may have to leave earlier than rest but I've done it single mom style before!). So, if I understand correctly the parks will close at 5pm weds,Thursday, and Friday then, except IoA may stay open until 7. HHN are not for us (too many little guys in the group). Maybe I should rent a car for that whole week. We could go to Disney each evening for our 3 FP rides and fireworks (some of us have AP's).

I'm leaning towards HRH but it looks like I can get a better deal at Portofino. Hmm, what are deluxes like at Universal? Same quality as Disney deluxe?

I need to research restaurants at Citywalk. We have a mixed group of vegetarians and not.

 

[Momtomouselover]

Love Blue Man Group. I have never seen them in Orlando but a couple of shows in other locations. Might be worth a look!

 

[TXTransplant]

Thanks guys! This info is already helping a lot. We are currently considering October 5-10 (although my husband may have to leave earlier than rest but I've done it single mom style before!). So, if I understand correctly the parks will close at 5pm weds,Thursday, and Friday then, except IoA may stay open until 7. HHN are not for us (too many little guys in the group). Maybe I should rent a car for that whole week. We could go to Disney each evening for our 3 FP rides and fireworks (some of us have AP's).

I'm leaning towards HRH but it looks like I can get a better deal at Portofino. Hmm, what are deluxes like at Universal? Same quality as Disney deluxe?

I need to research restaurants at Citywalk. We have a mixed group of vegetarians and not.

The catch about renting a car is that the resorts have a parking fee of $20 per day (and that's the rate for hotel guests!). Since we only needed a car twice in a five day trip, it was more cost effective to do two one-day rentals than it was to rent for five days and pay the parking fee.

I would say a standard room at the Royal Pacific is a bit nicer than the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The room at RP seemed to be a little bigger, but there wasn't a balcony. Overall, I thought the room was fine...maybe even a little better than I expected.

There is a restaurant, too, called Islands, that has an all-you-can-eat wok "experience" certain nights of the week. It's build-your-own, so it would be a great option for vegetarians. They could get an all-veggie stir fry with sauce and noodles or rice, and I think they even had tofu as a protein.

 

[Lynne G]

My favorite is the Portofino, but do to a light wallet, I'd go to whatever is the cheapest. My teens liked the pools at the Hard Rock, but rather stay at the Portofino. We also stay at the Royal Pacific, but all of us, including my kids rather be at the Portofino. We don't care it's a little further walk to the parks. We like the large rooms and the theme of the hotel. I'd say the deluxe hotels are as good or better than the Disney ones. We stayed at both the Wilderness Lodge and Yacht Club and found both had smaller rooms and not as nice as the Loews hotels. YMMV, but we always stay onsite, as my kids are rollercoaster fans and love not waiting much in line. I like the closeness and the chance to relax. We tend to also be commando at WDW, but my kids are now more Universal fans, so less and less time for us at the motherland.

Have a great vacation whatever you do. I'll be there the 2nd week of October, and I love that time of year, since not as hot or cold as other times of the year.

 

[flateacher]

With the ages of your kids I would say stay at the Portofino. They will like the pool area with the "beach" and water slide. They also have some quick eating options that would work for your family.

3 or 4 days is not too long at Universal. The kids will love the Harry Potter areas especially if they have started reading the books or watched the movies. But don't forget your younger ones will like the Dr. Suess areas and the Jurassic Park areas too. Don't neglect the other areas of the park... they are great too... Spiderman & Transformers etc. I feel some of the areas are even better themed than Disney... ie Potter areas... I could stay there all day... I forget I am in a theme park!

I can't speak for distance... but I know the I-4 section from Disney to Universal is a pain. I hate driving it - sometimes it takes 20 minutes to go 7 stupid miles... ugh! (But I live here... haha! ) So I am no help with the car/rent/Uber sorry!

October is usually a good month - but as pp HHN is going on. PLUS in the middle of Oct is some schools fall break/Columbus Day. It wont be as crowded as Disney.

 

[sk8jdgca]

My kids liked the pool at Portifio better than HRH but the walk to the park is longer. We really enjoyed the Royal Pacific too. We did 3 days last time which was good. This time we are upgrading to annual passes to get the room cheaper and we are down for 11 days too. It is not like a 6 flags and in some ways is more immersive than Disney (especially the Harry Potter area)

 

[Robo56]

Both Royal Pacific and Portofino are great hotels. You will not be disappointed with your time at Universal. It is a really fun destination in Orlando. What's not to like. Great resorts, good food, great rides. Have fun.

 

[Nohal]

DH & I went the end of May stayed at Cabana Bay and had 3 day tickets. At that time of year 3 days in the parks was plenty enough time to see and do everything we wanted. We didn't spend much time at the hotel so Cabana Bay was great for us. We haven't been there in probably 20 years and while it was ok we won't be going back for a long time. We are Disney people.

 

[RMulieri]

The deluxe hotels at Universal I find to be more deluxe than what Disney considers and charges for deluxe ( though some of Disneys are more Deluxe than others).You cant go wrong with any of them( Our favorite is Portofino Bay ).All are within walking distance( though Portofino is the furthest it is STILL not far and a beautiful walking path from the resort to the parks/citywalk).ALL have their OWN boat that goes from the resort to the dock at Citywalk ( Citywalk is the Hub that connects the parks and the parks are literally NEXT to each other and a 5 min walk between them).Pool Hopping is ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED between all resorts.
Portofino has the largest rooms and 3 pools( the main pool with slide is the beach pool). It is also the ONLY of the 3 that have balconies or patios though they are not easy to get and there are only a few of them.

When we go we stay a week and have 4 parks days and 1 seaworld or Wet and Wild day ( though Wet and Wild is closing ).We would love more time .Universal reminds DH and I so much of how Disney WAS before they get so large and ridiculous with the pre-booking and scheduling every little detail.In fact, our Universal trips were the first time we came home from Orlando and felt like we HAD a vacation and were not run ragged by insane park schedules

 

[Darcy03231]

I think 5 days is perfect for a first trip. When we stay on-site we usually stay at the Hard Rock because I have older teen/young adult children and they like the theming there.

The nice thing about Universal and staying on-site and having 5 days is you don't have to commando tour. No need to be there for rope drop every day. Its easy to take a mid day break, enjoy the pool/resort and go back for a couple of hours later in the day/evening. No need to make dinner or ride reservations months in advance.

We'll be in Orlando for 10 days at the end of August/beginning and September and plan to do only US/IOA and SeaWorld.

 

[hermie]

My family loves Portifino Bay, esp. the pool with the waterslide and sand area. Don't let the walk to the parks deter you. We finally took the advice of the boards this past summer to cross the street and walk through the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel parking lot. It was a 10 minute walk max and took you to the entrance of the Studios. So much easier and we beat the water taxi!! My young daughter did not complain of the walk at all!

 

[keishashadow]

We are planning a group trip to Universal. I'm a big time Disney goer but would like to try out the "dark side", explore Harry Potter, and honestly I'm a little disenchanted with Disney right now. The plan right now is 2 nights with 3 days at Disney, then move over to Universal for 5 nights with 3 days park time and one down day (or might return to Disney on the down day for MNSSHP). So here are some questions if you guys would please offer advice-

Is 3 days too long at Universal? How about 4? Is there any Universal magic or does it feel like a theme park like Six Flags?

Universal Hard Rock or Portofino Bay? We have kids ranging In age from 5-10 so pool important and adults want pool with bar

How long realistically is the drive from Universal to Disney parks? I know I can google distance but not sure of directness and traffic. If we don't rent a car or drive then is Uber best option?

Is Universal crowded in Oct.? Looking at first and second week of Oct.

Thanks!

jmho wouldn't want the drive back to Universal after MNSSHP. I'd tack on a night at Disney. beware that uber has special pricing in effect when the parks close and rates can jump dramatically. Make sure to check, you might be better off with a cab. I assume you'd have to grab whatever transport walking to CR or monorail to Poly or GF.

re HHN, perhaps you could schedule your park time to include the 'off' nights (Monday & Tues)

Kids would probably love the 'cool' vibe of HRH. I'm more of a fan of PBH & it's understated elegance. You can always pool hop, especially if planning a 'down' day.

whatever you decide it is a popular time in the area with many schools having school breaks w/Columbus day holiday. book something soon to have a place at the inn.

as to weather, we have been visiting this time frame for at least a decade. the weather has ranged from summer-time hot & buckets of rain to being cool enough that hardy northerners have the pools all to ourselves