1 Night Enough?

[Livia]

We're booked on a cruise in April but want to see Universal as we've never been. Is one night enough to see both parks? We only have 5 days after the cruise and want to maximize our time splitting between there and the Disney parks. Though, we're contemplating skipping the Disney parks since we've been so much.

We're staying on site at one of the hotels, I *think* Hard Rock.

 

[macraven]

what time period in April will you be at UO?


by staying onsite, you can utilize the hotel perks for early entry and unlimited usage of the express lines the day you check in and day you check out of the hotel.

do the 2 day hopper ticket so you can have more time at the darkside.


you asked, if "one night is enough to see both parks."

even with using the express lines, i don't think so.

you might be able to hit highlights of both parks...........but you would be missing out on a lot that UO has to offer for fun and entertainment.

 

[Planogirl]

How much time will you actually have? If you meant one night at a hotel but two days to see the parks, you could see a lot.

 

[dpratt68]

sorry to hijack this thread but we are doing one night onsite to get perks but not sure which ticket to buy-2 day base or 2 day park to park. Is there enough in each park to spend a day in just one park?

 

[Metro West]

sorry to hijack this thread but we are doing one night onsite to get perks but not sure which ticket to buy-2 day base or 2 day park to park. Is there enough in each park to spend a day in just one park?

How much you get to see and do in each park really depends on when you're going. If it's busy season...no...you won't be able to do both parks in a single day unless you plan on skipping a lot. I would go with the park to park so you can hop back and forth all day.

 

[Badge]

It depends what "One night" means because it could mean a lot of different things in terms of park time.

For example, will you be checking in to the hotel bright and early (8 or 9am) and going right to the parks? Or, will you be checking in around 1 or 2pm? On the day you check out, will you be leaving for Disney, or will you still go to the parks?

Really, either way you look at it, I would suggest two days! Even with express, there is a lot to see and do at Universal! We went down for a week last summer and still wished we had more time to read out favorite rides some more.

If you have two FULL days at the parks, you should be able to ride most of the rides once and watch some of the shows. However, you might want to consider adding an extra night to your hotel stay. If you have done Disney a lot in the past, try spending a little extra time at Universal. You just might find that you enjoy Universal more. I know I have a hard time going back to Disney know that I have been able to use the express passes. You will love that feature of not having to wait in line to ride nearly every ride. Will allow you to ride some of the ride you really enjoyed multiple times.

 

[dpratt68]

How much you get to see and do in each park really depends on when you're going. If it's busy season...no...you won't be able to do both parks in a single day unless you plan on skipping a lot. I would go with the park to park so you can hop back and forth all day.

we are going President's Week in February so I guess I should probably go with 2 day park to park

 

[Metro West]

we are going President's Week in February so I guess I should probably go with 2 day park to park

 

[Livia]

Oh, by 1 night I meant we would do the parks 2 full days and we'll be there on April 26. I think we're going to book 1 night and just add on if we want to stay extra. We're not even booking a Disney resort, we're going to wing it this time around.

Thanks for the help by they way.

 

[Pygmypuff07]

sorry to hijack this thread but we are doing one night onsite to get perks but not sure which ticket to buy-2 day base or 2 day park to park. Is there enough in each park to spend a day in just one park?

I think it depends on if you are a fan of the stuff at IOA. If you are a huge fan of Harry Potter, then you might want to get a park to park so you could get more of the delicious Butter Beer. We Usually spent the morning at WWOHP and IOA, the from noon to 4 or 5 went over to Universal when the crowds were way busier at IOA. But if you like to stay at one park and take your time, I would just get a base ticket

 

[AJA]

Oh, by 1 night I meant we would do the parks 2 full days and we'll be there on April 26. I think we're going to book 1 night and just add on if we want to stay extra. We're not even booking a Disney resort, we're going to wing it this time around.

Thanks for the help by they way.

This is a very good idea. IMO if you want to relax and have some down time you'll probably want to stay on site at Universal the entire time and save Disney for another visit. The on site Universal hotels are VERY nice and the atmosphere is much more relaxing than Disney.

You can upgrade your ticket to a Annual Pass and save a LOT at the hotel. Make sure you check out the Pass holder rates and the stay more save more rates for your time period.

Don't get me wrong we love Disney but 6 theme parks and a cruise on one vacation is a little much for us. We loved Universal so much we booked our next trip the day we came home last September and can't wait until May to return for another week.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

There is enough to do in each park to take up a whole day per park. We got through US faster than we got through IOA but we went back to WWOHP two times in one day we liked it so much. BUT, had we had the park to park feature we would have hopped back over to IOA on our US day because we got through with Universal kind of early in the day.

Next time we go back on our kidless trip in October we are skipping US and just doing IOA.

I will miss not seeing the Horror Make Up Show and the Beetlejuice Rock n Roll show at US. Those were awesome shows.

 

[Livia]

This is a very good idea. IMO if you want to relax and have some down time you'll probably want to stay on site at Universal the entire time and save Disney for another visit. The on site Universal hotels are VERY nice and the atmosphere is much more relaxing than Disney.

You can upgrade your ticket to a Annual Pass and save a LOT at the hotel. Make sure you check out the Pass holder rates and the stay more save more rates for your time period.

Don't get me wrong we love Disney but 6 theme parks and a cruise on one vacation is a little much for us. We loved Universal so much we booked our next trip the day we came home last September and can't wait until May to return for another week.

I know, it does sound exhausting. I imagine after the cruise alone we'll be tired as it is.

 

[Badge]

Oh, by 1 night I meant we would do the parks 2 full days and we'll be there on April 26. I think we're going to book 1 night and just add on if we want to stay extra. We're not even booking a Disney resort, we're going to wing it this time around.

Thanks for the help by they way.

Something to really keep in mind this is: The longer you stay onsite, the cheaper and cheaper the rooms gets!

For example, I just did a real quick search for just one person, one night checking in on April 26th and the price at Hark Rock is $279. Now, if you were to check out on the the 29th (3 nights), you could stay at Royal (no idea why the cheap room is not offered for one night stay) for $228. If you have a TON of extra time, you could stay for seven nights to really take advantage of everything Universal has to offer for $177 a night.

If staying for longer than one or two nights seems to be like something you would like to do, I don't suggest waiting until you are there and checked in to add an extra night. The rooms start getting cheaper with a 3 night stay. However, I don't think they would give you the discount rate if you checked in for one night and added two more once you arrived.

Like others have said, Universal is a nice break from Disney. You can really relax and take your time without feeling rushed. Last summer we went for a full week and loved it! We spent a whole day by the pool (something we never do at Disney because there is so much to cram into a 7 day trip) and enjoyed some nice sit down meals at Citywalk because we had more time. We even watched Blue Man Group which was amazing! If you have anybody in college in your group, you can get really cheap college tickets with a student ID. You can purchase two tickets for $30 each per ID, per day.