7 Days in December - Add Universal? Never been

[smelton521]

Edit: Our trip starts Nov 29, not Nov 30 like I originally typed. Too many dates swirling in my head! Sorry for the confusion!

Hello! This will be our 2nd trip to WDW (our last trip was in 2014) and kids will be 6, 11 and 12. I booked in January and am stuck in a DVC contract so can’t cancel or change dates. We are going for 7 days Nov 29 - Dec 5. Since we can’t do the character experiences, BBB, etc, for my youngest like I had originally planned for her first trip and will now basically be making this trip mostly about the rides with the low crowds, should I plan to spend all 7 days in the Disney parks? Or with the low crowds and closures/changes due to COVID, is there a chance we will ride and experience everything in less time and should I add a day at Universal if possible? We have never been to Universal and I doubt we will be going back to Orlando for 3-5 years at least.

 

[Ksquared]

If you have not experienced Universal and you think the kids might want to, that might be a great time to do so. With lower crowds, you could get allot done over there in one day and it would not detract from your Disney vacation. Hard to know exact crowd levels without knowing if they will be adding more park reservations etc. but in general, I think crowds will be manageable at both parks.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

Universal does not require park reservations

 

[Tormania]

You're going around the same time we're going, but we already planned 3 days at USO BEFORE our 7+ days at WDW, doing USO Wed-Fri surrounding Thanksgiving and then switching over to AKL for the entire following week. This gives us plenty of time for all parks so we should be able to get everything done that is open with a leisurely pace.

 

[georgina]

Universal does a nice job with holiday decorations, especially in Seuss Landing and the Harry Potter areas are great. Just like WDW, it gets pricy for 1 day tickets, you would want park-to-park to see everything and to be bale to ride the Hogwarts Express train.

 

[only hope]

Do you guys like Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter? Do you guys like 4D attractions? Most things at Uni are 4D attractions (some theater, some moving vehicles) and (mostly intense) coasters. If there’s no interest in that and no interest in Harry Potter, I’d say no, not worth it. There are only two dark rides, one in each park; if that’s what you enjoy most at theme parks you’ll be disappointed. If anyone is a huge HP fan then that alone makes it worth going.

Most shows and are taking place at Uni, though that could change. Modified socially distance character meets are also happening. Most preshows for attractions are not. Just like with Disney, it wouldn’t be a normal experience. But you have to consider your kids age too- since the next time you plan to come two of them will be teens.

 

[gharter]

In the past, when we have done both parks, we stayed at a Universal resort for the 2 days we were at their parks. When it was more crowded, the free Express pass staying at one of the 3 resorts with that option was great. Absolutely no planning needed, except for meals (maybe). With lower crowds, the express pass may not even be needed.
With shorter hours, you might be able to do everything in 1 day, but 1 1/2 would be easier. As noted you need the ticket to travel between parks.

 

[Tom_E_D]

As mitsukoshi mentioned, you don't need park reservations for Universal. Also, I don't believe you can buy discounted one-day tickets from discounters like UT, so you don't have to buy your Universal tickets ahead of time. So, you can play it by ear and decide whether to go to Universal or not after you're already at Disney. If you decide to instead spend the extra day at Disney, you should be able to add a day to your Disney tickets while there and get a park reservation for somewhere, although perhaps not DHS, on the extra day. You're going at a time that traditionally isn't very busy at WDW. I doubt all the parks will be completely booked those days.

Edit to add: Nov. 30- Dec. 5 is only 6 days, inclusive. When is your 7th park day?

 

[MomOTwins]

From a budget perspective, much cheaper to add a day to a WDW ticket than buy a Universal one--which was a big factor in why we decided to do just WDW and not add Universal on our last trip. The other big factor was that in looking at height restrictions and the intensity level of Universal attractions, Disney was a better option for our 5 year old--we'll maybe try again when he is big enough for the Hagrid/Hogwards rides.

 

[Shellyred8]

Hello! This will be our 2nd trip to WDW (our last trip was in 2014) and kids will be 6, 11 and 12. I booked in January and am stuck in a DVC contract so can’t cancel or change dates. We are going for 7 days Nov 30 - Dec 5. Since we can’t do the character experiences, BBB, etc, for my youngest like I had originally planned for her first trip and will now basically be making this trip mostly about the rides with the low crowds, should I plan to spend all 7 days in the Disney parks? Or with the low crowds and closures/changes due to COVID, is there a chance we will ride and experience everything in less time and should I add a day at Universal if possible? We have never been to Universal and I doubt we will be going back to Orlando for 3-5 years at least.

6 days or 7 days? Nov 30 -5 is 6 days.
If I had 7 days, and budget wasn't a big issue and my family loved Harry Potter and/or the bigger rides, I would go for a day at Universal. The Harry Potter stuff really is pretty awesome for the Harry Potter fans out there.
If I had 6 days, I would probably stick with Disney.

With the low crowds, you can get a lot of rides done in a day now. You can probably get multiple rides in on the same attraction! We found that later in the day the crowds dropped quite a bit and we were able to get a lot of rides in during the last 2-3 hours of the park day.

If you haven't done RotR at HS yet, and your family (or some family members) are star wars fans, you might want to plan for 2 days at HS. If you don't get a boarding group the first day, then you will have a second day to try. If you do get one the first day, you may find that you love the ride and want to try to do it again on the second day.

I would say that EP is a one-day-per-trip park right now. It doesn't take much time to get all of the rides done these days.

MK, due to it's size and the number of things to do, could take up 2 days of your trip. There is also the Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom game to play, so that could take up a chunk of time.

AK - My party would do this park twice because we love it. But with some of the shows not going right now, you could easily do everything in one day.

Happy planning!

 

[smelton521]

As mitsukoshi mentioned, you don't need park reservations for Universal. Also, I don't believe you can buy discounted one-day tickets from discounters like UT, so you don't have to buy your Universal tickets ahead of time. So, you can play it by ear and decide whether to go to Universal or not after you're already at Disney. If you decide to instead spend the extra day at Disney, you should be able to add a day to your Disney tickets while there and get a park reservation for somewhere, although perhaps not DHS, on the extra day. You're going at a time that traditionally isn't very busy at WDW. I doubt all the parks will be completely booked those days.

Edit to add: Nov. 30- Dec. 5 is only 6 days, inclusive. When is your 7th park day?

So sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote my post. Our trip is Nov 29 - Dec 5, not Nov 30.

 

[smelton521]

6 days or 7 days? Nov 30 -5 is 6 days.
If I had 7 days, and budget wasn't a big issue and my family loved Harry Potter and/or the bigger rides, I would go for a day at Universal. The Harry Potter stuff really is pretty awesome for the Harry Potter fans out there.
If I had 6 days, I would probably stick with Disney.

With the low crowds, you can get a lot of rides done in a day now. You can probably get multiple rides in on the same attraction! We found that later in the day the crowds dropped quite a bit and we were able to get a lot of rides in during the last 2-3 hours of the park day.

If you haven't done RotR at HS yet, and your family (or some family members) are star wars fans, you might want to plan for 2 days at HS. If you don't get a boarding group the first day, then you will have a second day to try. If you do get one the first day, you may find that you love the ride and want to try to do it again on the second day.

I would say that EP is a one-day-per-trip park right now. It doesn't take much time to get all of the rides done these days.

MK, due to it's size and the number of things to do, could take up 2 days of your trip. There is also the Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom game to play, so that could take up a chunk of time.

AK - My party would do this park twice because we love it. But with some of the shows not going right now, you could easily do everything in one day.

Happy planning!

So sorry, I must have been distracted and looking at my kids’ activities schedule when I was posting and wrote the wrong start date for our trip. We arrive Nov 29, not Nov 30. Thanks for the info!

 

[Best Aunt]

Do you guys like Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter? Do you guys like 4D attractions? Most things at Uni are 4D attractions (some theater, some moving vehicles) and (mostly intense) coasters. If there’s no interest in that and no interest in Harry Potter, I’d say no, not worth it. There are only two dark rides, one in each park; if that’s what you enjoy most at theme parks you’ll be disappointed. If anyone is a huge HP fan then that alone makes it worth going.

If you don't like Harry Potter and you get motion sick, then Universal won't be that exciting for you. There are parts of Disney World (like Animal Kingdom and Epcot's World Showcase) where a person who is prone to motion sickness can happily spend hours. Universal isn't like that. It's mostly designed for people who want to do big rides.

If you do like Harry Potter, then Diagon Alley in the Universal Studios Florida park is a must-see. If you can only get to one of the Universal parks, Diagon Alley is much better than Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure park.

The Hogwarts Express (train) made me motion sick. There are immersive effects in the windows. I had to close my eyes.