Advice Wanted: Seattle to Disneyland & Universal

[MrDabblingman]

Hi everyone!

I did a successful Disnyeland trip about 4 years ago, so feel pretty good about that. Looking at some long-range planning for a trip to DL & Universal in between 6-9 months, and would love some input.

Our son will be around 11 on this trip. Our main priorities are Star Wars in Disney, and Harry Potter in Universal (with some Jurassic Park). Nothing else ranks close to those.

My questions are:
1) How many days at each park? (2 is max)
2) What order to do them in?
3) What airport for the Universal side of the trip (I know SNA is preferred for DL)
4) Different hotel for Universal, yes? Any top suggestions?
5) Our top two times to go are Xmas-New Years and mid-winter break (Presidents Day week). Probably both crowded, but any tips on which to go for?

Thanks in advance for your help! Peter in Seattle

 

[lalasmama]

For Universal, the 2 closest options would be LAX and BUR. We flew into BUR two weeks ago and liked it.

Everything I've heard is that Universal is a 1-day park (as in, you can do it all in a day). So, I'd do one day there, and 2 (or 3? if you aren't doing a second day at Uni) at Disneyland.

Timing wise, I would do Presidents' Day. Less people travel for that one.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I agree with lalasmama. Both times are going to be busy, but the time between Christmas and New Years is insanely busy at Disneyland, so probably Presidents Day weekend. I also agree that Universal Studios is a one-day park (or 3/4 day park, depending). I also recommend getting there by opening, and if you do the back-stage tram tour don't wait until the end of the day because it closes before park closing (4 or 5pm(?) ). You could use LAX for both parks, and would probably save more money that way. If you're looking for convenience, Burbank is closer to Universal and Orange County Airport is closer to Disneyland. I don't think it much matters where you start, but I would probably get one hotel near Disneyland, then go to Universal the first day, and then Disneyland the other two days. I believe Disneyland opens earlier, so thinking that it would be better to deal with traffic on your Universal Studios day, and less traffic on your Disneyland Resort days.

 

[jammyjam25]

Hi fellow Seattleite!

1) Universal can easily be done in a single day, I wouldn't spend 2 days there. Universal sometimes offers early entry if you buy your tickets ahead of time online. We did this last April and rode the Harry Potter ride 3-4 times in a row with no wait.
2) For us we like to do Universal first and then Disney. Going to Universal after Disney always feels like a bit of a let down. We have fun at Universal but the magic isn't there like it is at Disneyland.
4) I would definitely recommend staying near Universal for that day(s) that you go. The Sheraton Universal is next door to the theme park and has a free shuttle. Some of their preferred hotels may also offer a shuttle or similar perks - http://vacations.universalstudiosho...ersal-studios-hollywood-hotel-ticket-packages

Happy planning!

 

[Tasmen]

Definitely fly into Burbank if you can. LAX can be such a nightmare.

 

[ktlm]

Just did DL/Universal a couple of weeks ago. We flew in and out of SNA. SNA is a very easy airport. I would probably fly into SNA, do DLR first, move to a hotel near Universal, and then I would either fly back out of SNA, or see what price Burbank would be. For us, flying to and from Burbank usually has high ticket prices, so we have never done the Burbank airport. LAX is usually cheaper than SNA, but having done LAX once, we will pay the higher price to do SNA, plus it is closer to DLR. You could also reverse and fly in to Burbank, do Universal then go DLR and fly out of SNA. Or you could use SNA both ways. You could fly in to SNA- drive to Universal area hotel, spend a little time at City Walk and then start at the parks bright and early the next morning.

If 2 days is max, then definitely 2 days for DL/CA. As far as Universal, if you buy tickets with express pass you can do it all in 1 day. I would move to a hotel in the Universal area. Downtown LA is between DLR and Universal and the traffic can be awful. It is about 40 miles. It took us about an hour to get to Universal from DLR, but going back from that area to SNA, it took over 2 hours. That was leaving between 1 and 1:30, so it wasn't even during rush hour traffic.

For Universal, we stayed at the Hilton in Universal City which gave us early entry for Harry Potter. The Sheraton does the same. We were happy with the Hilton. There is a shuttle to the parks, but you can also walk. The parks are very close with the only issue walking being that there is a hill. We didn't find it that bad.

We were very surprised at the limited Universal Hours in June. In the middle of June, it was only open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (As opposed to DL which was open from 8:00 a.m. to midnight, and CA which was open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.). Not only that, but Citiwalk closed at 9:00 p.m.-- everything- even the restaurants. Downtown Disney was open significantly later. Our restaurants at home don't even close until 10:00 p.m. on weekdays. With the short hours, there was no way we could have done everything at Universal in one day without having bought the tickets with express pass. We barely made it with the tickets with Express Pass- but we did all the shows and all the rides, and spent a good amount of time browsing around Hogsmeade.

 

[jenbright]

A couple things to consider- I believe the Disneyland park times are shorter in Feb than over the Dec holidays. Also there tend to me more rides down for refurbishment. Hydroguy puts together this really helpful historical calendar. You can compare 2/19 to 12/18 for reference. www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2291124 If you are staying onsite Christmas-New Years, they have offered extra magic hour daily in the past (as opposed to it's alternating schedule which I don't know offhand). We were able to get a lot done during the extra hour even though the crowds are high.

 

[RainyDayPixie]

Check flights OUT OF Everett if you live in the North end. We are planning Everett to SNA for our next trip.

I would consider Spring break or summer, too. Here’s my reasoning:
Christmas season is very busy
Mid-winter break is much busier than I thought it would be and the weather isn’t quite as nice as I like it.
Spring break is crowded, but weather is nicer
Summer on AP blockout days seem to be a great time to go these days- long hours, good weather, perhaps lower crowds, full entertainment.

Enjoy your trip! It is such an easy hop down from Seattle! I’ve been seeing lots of good flight prices on Alaska airlines lately.

 

[MrDabblingman]

This is all GREAT stuff! Keep it coming! Hadn't thought about Everett but we are north of Seattle so that would be super handy! All we will likely fly Alaska Air which flies into the smaller airports rather than going to LAX.

Keep it coming, and THANK YOU! Happy 4th

 

[sgrap]

We did DL/Uni in November 2018. Flew into Burbank because of using points/availability/flight prices, but we didn't stay up there at all. Drove straight down to Anaheim--2 hours on a Saturday night. We did Sunday, Monday, Tuesday at DL, Wednesday at Universal, and Thurs/Fri at Disney again. We always do 5 day hoppers and never feel like we see everything. It was *very* quiet at Universal the day we went, and we didn't do everything, but everyone kind of had enough of it by around 4 p.m. Harry Potter is a very cool, but small area. Granted, we didn't wait in any lines, but it is still maybe 2-3 hours tops, I would think. We even went back and walked slowly through the queue of the ride because it is amazing and we didn't get to enjoy it the first time through. We bought a 2-for-1 deal on Universal tickets, so we had a 2nd day if we wanted it, but no one was interested. It took us 2 hours to drive from Disney to Burbank every single time, it didn't matter week day or weekend (and we used the WAZE app to help us) . We are DVC members and were staying on our points at the Villas at the Grand Californian, otherwise I would have stayed up in Burbank either the first night or the last night to avoid that drive. I did look into it, and there are quite a few Airbnb's up there pretty close to Universal. We are also PNW'ers and I would LOVE to fly out of Paine field! It looks amazing!!

 

[MrDabblingman]

I am beginning to think AirBNB for the Universal side of things. Sounds like one day is right for Universal. Is the "Skip The Line" pass there worth it? (Since we'll be there on a busy week). Getting excited!!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I am beginning to think AirBNB for the Universal side of things. Sounds like one day is right for Universal. Is the "Skip The Line" pass there worth it? (Since we'll be there on a busy week). Getting excited!!!

If you're thinking about AirBnB, be sure to look at lodging in Burbank as that is fairly close to Universal Studios, and you can easily swing by the Disney studios (can't go in, but it is cool to see the Dwarfs holding up the roof of one of the buildings and the Sorcerer's hat over at the animation building. You can get 'skip the line' on the day of, so you can gauge the crowd level when you go to see if it would be worth it for you. I've used it, and found it to be very helpful, but have also been there without it when the crowds weren't big, and it was fine. Plan on eating at City Walk after your Universal Studios day. There are a lot of restaurants there.

 

[baozi]

Airports, BUR is best for universal, for Disney, I think LGB (mainly Jetblue) is as good as SNA.
Experiences/attractions: The first 2-3 hours are golden in all parks.
For universal, if you buy the ticket online, you can enter earlier. There are actually 3 rope drops if you can enter earlier: 1st is for Harry Potter, 2nd is for everything else on the upper lot, 3rd is lower lot. With 3rd less noticeable, attractions there are often walk on during the 1st hour.
Similar at Disney, in the first several hours, fast passes often have immediate return time (except Space Mountain and RSR, and also, by "immediate returning time" I also include the grace period, i.e. 5 minutes before and 10 minutes after the official return period). It is not known if fast passes will be available for SWGE attractions when you go, but I think rides are just part of the experience. I just got back from there, and I think Smugglers Run is not an attraction that you can fully enjoy in the first several rides. You need to get familiar on how to play it, otherwise it is just like another star tour.

 

[MrDabblingman]

I'll also take any thoughts on getting from Hollywood down to Anaheim. I hadn't planned on renting a car for the days we are doing parks, but I hear it's a long drive (2 hours?) in usual LA traffic.

 

[smartlabelprint]

You can do a 1 day car rental and return in Anaheim.

 

[corrie563]

1) How many days at each park? Would get a parkhopper and spend maximum time at DL/DCA. We got a front of line pass and universal was a half day park for us, mostly spent our time at Harry Potter area. We stayed at the Grand Californian and got an Lyft to Universal first thing in the morning (you can get in to the Harry Potter part an hour early with pre purchased tickets). We left around 6am and it took 1h11m cost $57 plus tip, once you get to 2ish the traffic increases and increases, so you could get public transport back depending on what time you leave, we left before 2pm, it took 1h29m cost $51 plus tip.

2) What order to do them in? Universal first, so you can end on the Disney magic.

4) Different hotel for Universal, yes? Any top suggestions? I wouldn't bother for one day. The Magic Castle hotel is awesome if you ever need to spend time in LA.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I'll also take any thoughts on getting from Hollywood down to Anaheim. I hadn't planned on renting a car for the days we are doing parks, but I hear it's a long drive (2 hours?) in usual LA traffic.

I did this a few days ago

1. Depending on your location in Hollywood Red Line Metro to Union Station
2. Union Station to Anaheim ARTIC train station on Pacific Surfliner Train, approx 40 minutes travel time
3. ART bus or Uber from Anaheim ARTIC train station to your hotel

 

[ktlm]

I am beginning to think AirBNB for the Universal side of things. Sounds like one day is right for Universal. Is the "Skip The Line" pass there worth it? (Since we'll be there on a busy week). Getting excited!!!

For us (middle of June) it was definitely worth it. The line for some of the rides stayed at 60 minutes most of the day-- we could not have done it all in 1 day without express pass. If you pick the X-mas/New Year time, I would say it is worth it.

 

[Sue M]

Hi neighbor! We fly Alaska too from YVR, it’s a 40 min flight to SeaTac where we pick up flight to Cali. Usually I fly into LAX, because my friend pics me up, and cheaper fare. But this trip she isn’t available to pick me up so flying into SNA. Will uber to my hotel for DL. We are flying back home from LAX.

I’ve never been to Cali Universal. We go to Orlando. But have several DL trips. And we get 5 day hoppers with Max Pass. The pass is very worth it. I got my tix thru Undercover Tourist. Cheaper than buying thru Disney. They also sell Universal tix. You may be able to get a deal buying a combo.

I haven’t been in Feb, but during Christmas it’s so special. Haunted Mansion becomes The Nightmare Before Christmas, Small World is amazing, I’m trying to remember if Space Mtn becomes Hyperspace but can’t recall. I think so.
The decorations are amazing in both parks. Love the Carsland decorations.
I don’t know if you meant 2 days total for Disney or 2 days at each Disney park. But I’d go for as many days as possible. But if all you have is 2 days just make the best of it and prioritize.