A Week @ Universal

[webcreatrix]

We've been to Orlando four years in a row. The first two years were all Disney. In 2012, we did a split stay between Disney and Universal HRH with three nights at Universal. Last year we spent a week at Disney and my family, DH, DD9 and DS7 preferred time spent at the pool.

This year we did not take a vacation and I'm feeling rather sad, almost like we've given up on tradition so I'm excited to plan a trip for next summer in June of 2014. That said, I think we're ready for a Disney break and I'm considering a week at Universal & HRH adding in Sea World and Aquatica. My question is, is this tons of fun for a week or will we have an inordinate amount of downtime, not that there is anything wrong with that?

DH hates the rope drop and go go go of Disney and really loved Express Pass and pool time, movies when we last visited Universal.

Another question, can we do a week at Universal without transportation? I'd like to have snacks and drinks delivered, but we don't mind eating out. Might we want a car to visit the beach or other things in Orlando?

 

[macraven]

your replies are gonna vary here.


i have no problem going solo spending that much time at the darkside.
my days are full, relaxing and a perfect vacation.
this year i wil be there for 11 days and not concerned of lack of things to do.

i'm sure if you want to spend time at one of the three hotel pools, that could easily take up a couple of days for the afternoons.
sleep in for the morning, hit the pools in the afternoon, do a dinner at city walk and a movie or mini golf for later that night.
or hit Blue Man Group on a different evening.
or the hotel pool dive in movies.


i don't go offsite.

some do for aquatica, wet/wild, seaworld, the malls.

onsite guests can use the free rt shuttle for aquatica, w&w, seaworld while a guest at one of the 3 onsite hotels.


if you wanted to rent a car and travel outside of the darkside, you can rent one onsite, if not offsite rental for a day or two.

when i do orlando, i use private car service to the hotels.
there are quite a few that give you a free 30 minute grocery stop.
(which i always do for drinks, snacks)

 

[indimom]

We've been to Orlando four years in a row. The first two years were all Disney. In 2012, we did a split stay between Disney and Universal HRH with three nights at Universal. Last year we spent a week at Disney and my family, DH, DD9 and DS7 preferred time spent at the pool.

This year we did not take a vacation and I'm feeling rather sad, almost like we've given up on tradition so I'm excited to plan a trip for next summer in June of 2014. That said, I think we're ready for a Disney break and I'm considering a week at Universal & HRH adding in Sea World and Aquatica. My question is, is this tons of fun for a week or will we have an inordinate amount of downtime, not that there is anything wrong with that?

DH hates the rope drop and go go go of Disney and really loved Express Pass and pool time, movies when we last visited Universal.

Another question, can we do a week at Universal without transportation? I'd like to have snacks and drinks delivered, but we don't mind eating out. Might we want a car to visit the beach or other things in Orlando?

Sounds like a ton of fun to me. Just as a reference, compare that to Disney. Four parks for a week is a very typical vacation timeframe over there and people go back year after year.
We did a week of just IOA and USF in 2008 and had a great time! I think adding SeaWorld and Aquatica will give you plenty of options.
Have Fun!!

 

[webcreatrix]

For the advice! I hadn't started looking into all the options - getting to the hotel, getting some groceries, whether we need a car. I like to think we could keep things simple and stay in one place, but it's good to know car rental is nearby if we change our mind.

Given a week, are we better off buying the weeklong fun pass or are single day tickets to SeaWorld and Aquatica plus 3-4 day US/IOA tickets sufficient? I guess the weeklong pass let's you do two parks in one day, but we were never park hoppers at Disney.

I'm really excited about this! I hope the HP expansion is open when we go!

 

[damo]

We've done a week. The only time we ventured off property was to do a Pirates and Princess Party at WDW.

Usually SeaWorld has a buy one day get one free offer. That gives you two extra days you can spend offsite. You can also do Aquatica or Discovery Cove or Wet 'n Wild.

You then can spend your days much more leisurely. You can sleep in and do a few hours at the park followed by a few at the pool followed by a few at the park.

It is a great way to vacation.

Check out the 3 park pass at Undercover Tourist. It includes Wet 'n Wild and Universal for 14 days unlimited admission to all. This pass is no longer offered through the Universal website, so I'm not sure how long Undercover Tourist will have them.

 

[Bluer101]

We do over a week each 4 th if July. This year we took the shuttle to Seaworld one day. The rest was right at RPR. It's so nice to sleep in and do what you want when you want to do it. This is a real vacation with no reservations or rushes. We pool hop to HRH too. Have lunch and swim. Some days DW just sleeps in and goes to the pool as DS and I hit the parks. Then we join her for the rest if the day.

 

[vacation_junkie]

We've been to Orlando four years in a row. The first two years were all Disney. In 2012, we did a split stay between Disney and Universal HRH with three nights at Universal. Last year we spent a week at Disney and my family, DH, DD9 and DS7 preferred time spent at the pool.

This year we did not take a vacation and I'm feeling rather sad, almost like we've given up on tradition so I'm excited to plan a trip for next summer in June of 2014. That said, I think we're ready for a Disney break and I'm considering a week at Universal & HRH adding in Sea World and Aquatica. My question is, is this tons of fun for a week or will we have an inordinate amount of downtime, not that there is anything wrong with that?

DH hates the rope drop and go go go of Disney and really loved Express Pass and pool time, movies when we last visited Universal.

Another question, can we do a week at Universal without transportation? I'd like to have snacks and drinks delivered, but we don't mind eating out. Might we want a car to visit the beach or other things in Orlando?

That is our thoughts as well. We visit disney every year and find that theres not enough of anything new to keep us occupied for a week.

I am having a very hard time not including disney into our plans. I am thinking that we would have enough to do with the flex pass.

I was advised that you can spend 2 days alone at sea world. Concentrate on the shows the one day and the rides the next. Universal 3-4 days and then a waterpark for another day or so. That takes up a weeks time.
We always rent a car so we can fill any down time with fun things. Shopping, flea markets or whatever. we also head to walmart on the way from the airport and grab water and goodies.

We are doing 4 nights a HRH and 4 nights at a Seaworld on site hotel. This way we can take advantage of the perks at both parks.

 

[buckeev]

We've done the week long stay at US several times and love it for the same reasons PPs have said. The volatile summer weather in Orlando can put a damper on a day or three pretty quick, and with just the 2/3 day stay you get bummed out about it quick. With a few extra days you can sleep in and recharge.
The rental car is a personal choice, we feel that we need the car when we fly to have more flexibility. Have had to use it numerous times for " emergencies" that have arisen during a couple of stays.