Best options for travel..

[paisleybell]

This is our current plan:
Day 1 -> MCO to disney resort (DME)
Day 2-5 -> disney parks
Day 6 -> check out at 6:30a, get to universal resort, leave bags with front desk(???), get to park for early hour 8-9a+all day
Day 7 -> universal resort to MCO (how??)

So the questions would be:
1) what would be the best way to get to the universal resort? Mears Taxi? Will they do this at 6:30a?
2) Will universal let me leave our bags at the front desk until either we come back for a quick mid day break and our room is ready, or until the end of the day when we are done with the park?
3) How would we get to MCO from universal since we can't use DME? (Without it costing us an arm and a leg..)

Alternatively, we could stay at the disney resort for 6 days and use the Mears shuttle to go to universal, but we wouldn't be able to get in an hour early.
We are most interested in the Harry Potter stuff at universal, and I hear the extra hour can be important for that.
Unfortunately we are limited to 7 days total.

Any answers or thoughts? Maybe something I haven't thought of?
Thanks!!

 

[rwdavis2]

I think you though of everything. You could Uber, taxi, or book a town car. If getting in early is important then pay the price to stay on site at Universal. it's worth it.

 

[tjmw2727]

Yes - we took a cab from Boardwalk to Hard Rock hotel and did just about exactly what your planning. I can't remember what the fare was but you can use the taxi fare calculator at the Mears website. Bell services at the resort will store your bags for you and like at Disney you can check in even if your room is not ready so you have access too the onsite resort perks.

Another alternative is to book a town car round trip since you will be needing transport back to the airport after your Universal stay. Instead of airport to Disney Hotel and back - you can book Disney to Universal/Universal Hotel to airport. Since a r/t is usually a bit cheaper you may be able to save some $ and have a guaranteed pickup early in the am to Universal.

 

[bumbershoot]

1) what would be the best way to get to the universal resort? Mears Taxi? Will they do this at 6:30a?

Sure, a taxi will get you whenever. There's also Uber as an option.

Will universal let me leave our bags at the front desk until either we come back for a quick mid day break and our room is ready, or until the end of the day when we are done with the park?

Absolutely.

Since you're only mentioning the early entry, are you staying at Cabana Bay? If you bump up to a deluxe you get unlimited Express Pass as well. Looks like you would only use it that one day, since the following day is MCO day, but it's worth looking at the cost.

 

[wdwrich]

I think with the cost of your transfer to Universal plus the cost of the transfer from Universal to MCO, it might be worthwhile to rent a car for those couple of days, picking up at WDW and returning to MCO.

 

[paisleybell]

So the plans are becoming more solid and it's looking more like:
Day 1 -> MCO to universal cabana bay (rental car)
Day 2 -> check out, leave bags at front desk or in rental, universal all day, then drive to disney resort
Day 3 -> drop of rental car/disney
Day 4-6 -> more disney
Day 7 -> DME to MCO

1) is it okay to leave the bags in the rental while at universal? (Is there a worry of theft if the car is at the resort?)
2)Our reason to visit universal is the HP stuff and we might not do much, if anything, else there. Since express passes are not valid for the HP rides, would it still be worth it if we only rode 1-2 other rides?
3) Is being able to take the boat from the higher resorts a ton better than the buses?
4) do you have to schedule universal express passes like Disney's fastpasses?
5) Anyone know if the newest universal resort will open before june 2016?

 

[wdwrich]

Day 2 -> check out, leave bags at front desk or in rental, universal all day, then drive to disney resort


1) is it okay to leave the bags in the rental while at universal? (Is there a worry of theft if the car is at the resort?)

Personally, I would not leave luggage in a car either at Universal or at Disney. Leave the bags with bell services at the resort until you leave at the end of the day.

 

[paisleybell]

Personally, I would not leave luggage in a car either at Universal or at Disney. Leave the bags with bell services at the resort until you leave at the end of the day.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking.

 

[katie111]

1. Just leave your bags with bell services at the hotel.
2. Depends on when you are going. If it's peak season it might be worth it. Express pass does work on Light of the Hippogriff & Dueling Dragons, both in HP. Also, you might be surprised when you get there as to how many great rides there are. You may want to ride a few more than you think you will.
3. Buses from Cabana Bay are awesome. They are nothing like Disney buses, they are always lined up outside waiting for you. You do have to walk from the parking lot though so allow a few extra minutes for that. The boat brings you closer to the entrance but actually takes longer.
4. No, the express pass is awesome. You just walk up and go in the express line. You can do it on each attraction as many times as you want. A million times better than fast pass.
5. Not even sure if Universal knows this yet (my brother works there).
We just stayed at CB & it was awesome. Great theming, large rooms, and great pools. But if I was going at a busy time of year, I would probably stay deluxe for the express passes.

 

[paisleybell]

1. Just leave your bags with bell services at the hotel.
2. Depends on when you are going. If it's peak season it might be worth it. Express pass does work on Light of the Hippogriff & Dueling Dragons, both in HP. Also, you might be surprised when you get there as to how many great rides there are. You may want to ride a few more than you think you will.
3. Buses from Cabana Bay are awesome. They are nothing like Disney buses, they are always lined up outside waiting for you. You do have to walk from the parking lot though so allow a few extra minutes for that. The boat brings you closer to the entrance but actually takes longer.
4. No, the express pass is awesome. You just walk up and go in the express line. You can do it on each attraction as many times as you want. A million times better than fast pass.
5. Not even sure if Universal knows this yet (my brother works there).
We just stayed at CB & it was awesome. Great theming, large rooms, and great pools. But if I was going at a busy time of year, I would probably stay deluxe for the express passes.

2) We are going last week or May/first part of June or first full week in June. One of us isn't tall enough for Dueling Dragons, so we won't be riding that one.
3) Awesome to know!! Thanks!
4) Great, but makes me want to bump up to Royal Pacific.. :-/
5) From what I've found, the Loews site is allowing people to book in August. Possibly July too, I can't remember.

My main thought at this point, and I might ask on the universal board, is that with all of us being huge Harry Potter Fans, will we really have time for anything else? There's one of us too short for some rides, another that doesn't like rides, And the short one will not be riding anything from movies that scare her or she hasn't seen yet. Aka the mummy ride, Jurassic park, twister, etc. I know she'll want to go on the minion ride and the HP rides she's tall enough for.
We plan to eat at both Harry Potter restaurants (Breakfast/dinner) and Mythos(lunch). And we'll only be spending one day there.

 

[goofy4tink]

So the plans are becoming more solid and it's looking more like:
Day 1 -> MCO to universal cabana bay (rental car)
Day 2 -> check out, leave bags at front desk or in rental, universal all day, then drive to disney resort
Day 3 -> drop of rental car/disney
Day 4-6 -> more disney
Day 7 -> DME to MCO

1) is it okay to leave the bags in the rental while at universal? (Is there a worry of theft if the car is at the resort?)
2)Our reason to visit universal is the HP stuff and we might not do much, if anything, else there. Since express passes are not valid for the HP rides, would it still be worth it if we only rode 1-2 other rides?
3) Is being able to take the boat from the higher resorts a ton better than the buses?
4) do you have to schedule universal express passes like Disney's fastpasses?
5) Anyone know if the newest universal resort will open before june 2016?

First, if you rent a car, you're going to have to pay to park at the US/IoA resorts. So, I would just use a car service to get from WDW to US/IoA and then to MCO.

1. Bell Services will be happy to store your bags for you until your room is ready.
2. If you're only planning on doing one or two rides, outside of the HP attractions, I'm not altogether sure I would make the move over for the night! Time isn't going to be of the essence if you're not planning on doing most of what is offered. I'm not sure I would pay for a room just to be able to get to FJ sooner than usual. And that's about all that's worth it for early entry.
3. Buses? From where? If you are staying at RPR, HRH, or PB, you can walk, or take a boat. Pedicabs are also available, especially from PB. If you're at CB, I'm not sure about transport, but I doubt there's a boat there, but could be wrong.
4. No, if you are entitled to the Front of the Line pass, you just show them your pass, they scan it. You just get in that specific line.
5. I've heard it's supposed to, but who knows.

If it were me, and I basically just wanted to do the HP stuff? I would stay at my WDW resort, but take the Mears shuttle (about $20 pp r/t), and possibly pay for the Express Pass. Or, just take my time and not worry about Express Pass. You can get picked up as early at 7am, and get back to your WDW resort as late as you wish.

 

[goofy4tink]

2) We are going last week or May/first part of June or first full week in June. One of us isn't tall enough for Dueling Dragons, so we won't be riding that one.
3) Awesome to know!! Thanks!
4) Great, but makes me want to bump up to Royal Pacific.. :-/
5) From what I've found, the Loews site is allowing people to book in August. Possibly July too, I can't remember.

My main thought at this point, and I might ask on the universal board, is that with all of us being huge Harry Potter Fans, will we really have time for anything else? There's one of us too short for some rides, another that doesn't like rides, And the short one will not be riding anything from movies that scare her or she hasn't seen yet. Aka the mummy ride, Jurassic park, twister, etc. I know she'll want to go on the minion ride and the HP rides she's tall enough for.
We plan to eat at both Harry Potter restaurants (Breakfast/dinner) and Mythos(lunch). And we'll only be spending one day there.

Size may be an issue for Forbidden Journey as well. But, again I'm not absolutely sure. And it would seem that someone else actually knows what they're talking about with CB!! So, forget anything I said about it!!

I'm just not sure you're going to really need early access. There just doesn't seem to be enough that you will be doing to warrant it. You should have plenty of time to do other stuff if you head directly to Forbidden Journey, or Gringotts...those are the two that are the busiest. I was underwhelmed with Gringotts....much too long a wait for such a short ride!!! I just wasn't impressed. Forbidden Journey on the other hand, was incredible...even if you have to wait a bit. And there's plenty to look at along the way! The little one will love the Seuss Landing area...so much fun, for grown-ups too!! If I remember, the Minion attraction was kind of rough, but I could be mixing it up with something else!!

 

[paisleybell]

First, if you rent a car, you're going to have to pay to park at the US/IoA resorts. So, I would just use a car service to get from WDW to US/IoA and then to MCO.

1. Bell Services will be happy to store your bags for you until your room is ready.
2. If you're only planning on doing one or two rides, outside of the HP attractions, I'm not altogether sure I would make the move over for the night! Time isn't going to be of the essence if you're not planning on doing most of what is offered. I'm not sure I would pay for a room just to be able to get to FJ sooner than usual. And that's about all that's worth it for early entry.
3. Buses? From where? If you are staying at RPR, HRH, or PB, you can walk, or take a boat. Pedicabs are also available, especially from PB. If you're at CB, I'm not sure about transport, but I doubt there's a boat there, but could be wrong.
4. No, if you are entitled to the Front of the Line pass, you just show them your pass, they scan it. You just get in that specific line.
5. I've heard it's supposed to, but who knows.

If it were me, and I basically just wanted to do the HP stuff? I would stay at my WDW resort, but take the Mears shuttle (about $20 pp r/t), and possibly pay for the Express Pass. Or, just take my time and not worry about Express Pass. You can get picked up as early at 7am, and get back to your WDW resort as late as you wish.

2) We are now planning on doing US/IoA at the beginning of our trip, so we will go straight from MCO to CB and then go to the parks the next day. The shuttle Universal offers from MCO is very costly. Not sure I'm comfortable with Uber, and not sure the cost of a cab from MCO to CB and then from CB to WDW.
We thought about just shuttling over from WDW, however, it'll ultimately be cheaper to stay at CB for 1-2 nights as the nightly rate is less than our WDW resort.

3)CB does not have access to boat and I believe would be too far to realistically walk.

 

[paisleybell]

Size may be an issue for Forbidden Journey as well. But, again I'm not absolutely sure. And it would seem that someone else actually knows what they're talking about with CB!! So, forget anything I said about it!!

I'm just not sure you're going to really need early access. There just doesn't seem to be enough that you will be doing to warrant it. You should have plenty of time to do other stuff if you head directly to Forbidden Journey, or Gringotts...those are the two that are the busiest. I was underwhelmed with Gringotts....much too long a wait for such a short ride!!! I just wasn't impressed. Forbidden Journey on the other hand, was incredible...even if you have to wait a bit. And there's plenty to look at along the way! The little one will love the Seuss Landing area...so much fun, for grown-ups too!! If I remember, the Minion attraction was kind of rough, but I could be mixing it up with something else!!

The little one is the biggest thrill seeker of us all... :-/ She is tall enough for 48" rides, just not the 54" ones.

So it really sounds like the extra expense for Royal Pacific to get boat and express passes is just not worth it.

Thank you so much all!!!

 

[jettgrrlaust]

2) We are now planning on doing US/IoA at the beginning of our trip, so we will go straight from MCO to CB and then go to the parks the next day. The shuttle Universal offers from MCO is very costly. Not sure I'm comfortable with Uber, and not sure the cost of a cab from MCO to CB and then from CB to WDW.
We thought about just shuttling over from WDW, however, it'll ultimately be cheaper to stay at CB for 1-2 nights as the nightly rate is less than our WDW resort.

3)CB does not have access to boat and I believe would be too far to realistically walk.

I caught a cab from Cabana Bay resort to the airport and its cost me about $45. I cant remember if this included tip but they do hit a few tolls on the way through so that added the extra $$ here and there. I liked Cabana bay by the way! The 50s theme is great, the rooms are brand new ans the buses across the road to universal were frequent (though not nice and air conned like disney). The lazy river was fun and very nice after a day of walking around and although its free, you have to buy the tubes that you float around in. Hope this helps