Beginning Planning Questions

[MommyMissy]

I hope I’m putting this in the right place. Me, husband and our 5 kids (will be 12, 11, 9, 7, 3) are going to Disney World and universal for the first time all together next February. The older 2 have been to Disneyland, my 9 year old daughter has been to Disney World with me, and DH and I have been to Disney World just us. This is the first time all 7 of us will be going. None of us have been to Universal Orlando though DH and I have been to Universal Hollywood. I’m trying to figure out some of the basics. Planning on getting 2 rooms at POP, and probably Cabana Bay. This will be a 10 day trip not including travel days. We love Harry Potter and we tend to tour pretty hard with breaks in the middle of the day. Most of us will ride everything but the younger ones are timid. I’m very comfortable planning (probably go overboard) but I’ve never done it with so many people with varied interests.
My questions:
1. Universal or DW first?
2. We usually use Magical Express, so best way to get to or from airport for Universal?
3. We will be using Rider swap, what would be the best way to make use of booking FPs? Does Universal offer anything similar?
4. I’m thinking 2 days MK, 2 AK, 2 HS, 1 EPCOT, 2 days at universal with hoppers, this leaves one more day. Where is it best utilized, an extra day at Universal or DW as a day to do what we missed/ favorites? We will take breaks everyday but I don’t think I want to do just a resort/ Disney Springs day other than travel days.

If you read all of that, thank you! I look forward to your replies and any other advice you can give me.

 

[Justplainchy]

I can't answer all your questions, but some advice that might be helpful:

1. I'd go to Universal first, but that's because I love being in the Disney "bubble". Also it may have been a crowd related issue, but the last time we went we did a week of Disney and then a day for Universal -- and it was such a stark difference in terms of immersive experience, customer care and crowd control, we probably judged Universal a lot more harshly than we would have had we done it the other way around.

2. We took a lyft from the airport to our off-site condo for our trip this past December, and it was about $35 but super easy and comfortable!

3. Not sure about Rider swap, sorry--I do know Universal offers for-purchase fast pass like things (a pass that lets you skip all the lines) but it is included (or used to be) in a lot of hotel stays there.

4. I think your plans sound great, and I would use the extra day as a Disney catch-up day for anything you missed!

Have a wonderful, wonderful trip!

 

[NickC]

We've done Universal days while at WDW. Our plan might not work for everyone, but it is an option. We typically stay onsite at WDW and get an Uber to/from Universal. We get the Universal Express Pass which allows us to do a lot at both parks in one day. We might eventually extend that to 2 days when the kids are tall enough to ride everything, but for now, between RD and Express Pass, we can do everything that interests us.
We like to do Universal in the middle of our trip. We like to be in the Disney bubble too, and we experience that at the beginning AND the end of our trip. Split hotel stays have never been something that we would consider, but a lot of people seem to love it.

We are firm believers in resort/rest days. We have gone RD to fireworks x10 in the past, and especially with younger kids, they started to show their exhaustion in unpleasant ways. Rest days are just as jam-packed, really, but they include sleeping in, character breakfast, sitting at the pool, having a nice sit down dinner (HDDR is my favorite), then maybe over to the camp fire singalong or DS to see the street performances.

 

[YawningDodo]

I hope I’m putting this in the right place. Me, husband and our 5 kids (will be 12, 11, 9, 7, 3) are going to Disney World and universal for the first time all together next February. The older 2 have been to Disneyland, my 9 year old daughter has been to Disney World with me, and DH and I have been to Disney World just us. This is the first time all 7 of us will be going. None of us have been to Universal Orlando though DH and I have been to Universal Hollywood. I’m trying to figure out some of the basics. Planning on getting 2 rooms at POP, and probably Cabana Bay. This will be a 10 day trip not including travel days. We love Harry Potter and we tend to tour pretty hard with breaks in the middle of the day. Most of us will ride everything but the younger ones are timid. I’m very comfortable planning (probably go overboard) but I’ve never done it with so many people with varied interests.
My questions:
1. Universal or DW first?
2. We usually use Magical Express, so best way to get to or from airport for Universal?
3. We will be using Rider swap, what would be the best way to make use of booking FPs? Does Universal offer anything similar?
4. I’m thinking 2 days MK, 2 AK, 2 HS, 1 EPCOT, 2 days at universal with hoppers, this leaves one more day. Where is it best utilized, an extra day at Universal or DW as a day to do what we missed/ favorites? We will take breaks everyday but I don’t think I want to do just a resort/ Disney Springs day other than travel days.

If you read all of that, thank you! I look forward to your replies and any other advice you can give me.

I don't have answers for all of these, but....

1. I would do Universal first, but that's largely personal taste because I'm generally more impressed by the overall atmosphere of WDW than I am by Universal (I like Universal, but I like WDW more). Also, it seems to me that WDW has more for younger kids while Universal has a lot of thrill rides, so some members of your crowd may feel like WDW is an upgrade.
2. I've never gone between the airport and Universal, but with a group that size I'd look at a taxi or Lyft since the per person cost should be lower than a shuttle.
3. I'm sorry, can't help with this one.
4. With the ages of your kids, I think this is a good spread of park days. I would plan to use the extra day to either catch up on things missed at WDW...or as a rest day in the middle of the trip. If you go hard you may find that you need the downtime more than you expect, even with afternoon breaks. Take a day to sleep in, enjoy the pool at your resort, etc.; maybe book lunch or dinner at one of the resort restaurants, or do Hoop Dee Doo in the evening.

Edited to add: In the past when I've done Universal, I've stayed at WDW for the full length of the trip and taken a taxi there and back. I found it a little annoying, tbh; it's a longer drive than one might think and it's really uncomfortable on the way back if your clothes are wet or anything like that. On future trips my feeling is that I'd be willing to take a taxi over to Universal if I'm only doing one day there, but if I'm spending two days or more I'd rather do a split stay.

 

[cj.scribbles]

No expert but I've definitely answered these questions before at work so here we go.

1. Universal or DW first?
> Definitely Universal first. There's a few rides I would recommend knocking out of the park on the first day and then the second day just enjoying whatever's left.
Definitely get the Express pass -it'll save your life if you can. I'm sure you've probably already done it but if not definitely head straight to the back of the park as soon
as you get in (preferably early in the day) and go right for the long HP rides (ex. Forbidden Journey, Gringots), then do everything else.

2. We usually use Magical Express, so best way to get to or from airport for Universal?
I'm not 100% sure what Universal offers but Im sure there are buses because of Cabana Bay. Either way I would recommend an Uber or Lyft only because the buses
tend to be crowded no matter where you go and when you have young kids that probably just got off a crowded plane going back into a hot, crowded bus is probably
going to be miserable.

3. We will be using Rider swap, what would be the best way to make use of booking FPs? Does Universal offer anything similar?
Book FP's as far out as you can on the day's you think you'll be going to those parks. You can change and amend them as often or as little as needed, even on the day
of visiting. This link is to the Guest Services page on Rider Swaps from Disney. It'll explain how to do it and which rides are available for Rider Swap.

Rides such as the Dwarves Train, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain often have really long wait times so finding FP's for those is a great idea. Barnstormer is a nice little
rollercoaster -nothing crazy and the wait times are often 20-35 minutes, maybe longer at busy times because it is popular but if you dont find a FP for it you're not missing out.
Other FP's that are a good idea at grabbing are Haunted Mansion (because holy jesus the standby line is ghastly) and Avatar's Flight of Passage. The FOP one is suuuuuuuper
hard to get but since you're staying at a Disney resort you're going to get some extra days to book those Fast Passes so keep checking. Every day take a look -things change
by the hour so dont give up!

At Universal you'll enter the ride with your whole party and right up front where the parties are seated to get on the ride there's usually a small room off to the side where kids
and family members can wait. A family member will always have to be with the child so you probably wont all ride together but it's still possible to do the swap.

Not all rides at either Universal or Disney will have rider swap/child swap options so check to see which ones do and dont before planning any further.

4. I’m thinking 2 days MK, 2 AK, 2 HS, 1 EPCOT, 2 days at universal with hoppers, this leaves one more day. Where is it best utilized, an extra day at Universal or DW as a day to do what we missed/ favorites? We will take breaks everyday but I don’t think I want to do just a resort/ Disney Springs day other than travel days.

Honestly you probably don't need two days at Hollywood Studios. Some people really love it but all that's really there right now is Toystory.

If you really wanted to you could probably give up a day at HS and have two extras. With those I'd say to use them at Disney. MK is probably where you're gunna wanna go again since
there's a lot of stuff there to do, maybe even Animal Kingdom if you think your kids will like the animals and whatnot. MK is huge and with kids it's not always easy to get everything
done so I'd expect to back even for a third time but its really up to how many breaks a day you think you wanna do.

I dont think doing the whole park in a day is ever a good idea with kids. Half a day there and then rest, eat dinner, wake up early and do the other half and repeat -then a third day of
re-visiting favorites.

If you cant really decide I would go off of what FP's are available for that remaining one/two days. If there's good FP times in MK versus Animal Kingdom maybe go to MK instead, etc.

Hopefully this helped! If you have anymore questions I'm happy to help answer.