Can't believe I'm thinking about planning another trip already

[slpeters]

So we got back about a week ago from our first trip to Disney World. We both had a great time, but I had a weirdly great time--dh commented I was like a little kid running from one thing to the next.

We initially planned that if it went well we would go back when Star Wars opened. We take two or three weeklong vacations a year and there are a lot of other things on the agenda so two or three years out seemed about right...

But I totally want to go back. Dh has agreed but if we are going to go back sooner would like to do some of the stuff we didn't do this time. We had a pretty standard park commando week at Disney World--all four parks, no holiday parties and no excursions, pretty much did everything but Splash (technical difficulties) so I'm looking at maybe Universal, Sea World and MVMCP for next November.

So I'm looking at a week in November again, maybe even basically the same week we went this time and trying to figure out where to stay, how to fit it all in. I wouldn't mind striking a bit more relaxed of a tone this next time. I really enjoyed staying onsite and feeling like we didn't have to mess with a car or really any outside type stuff.

Should we just stay at Universal and uber to the Christmas party? Should we do a day in DHS for Toy Story Land? Is two days at Universal enough? How about a day at Sea World? Would love to do a few days at WDW but we are going to be going back for Star Wars Land and I don't want dh to get the idea that we are going to become the kind of couple who go to Disney World instead of Italy--although he seems excited about the Christmas party.

Any thoughts?

 

[CynBeth]

I would recommend you go the beginning of Dec to experience the holiday storytellers and CP at Epcot plus see all of the resorts decorated along with MVMCP. Sea World has on the weekends beginning with Black Friday their special holiday shows at night which are fantastic so we always take a day to do that. They are free with admission unless you pay for the holiday show reserved seating package which assures you a seat in a designated location at each one. We always do that because the shows are popular and we can be slow walkers and the shows are not right by each other. We are not big thrill ride people so can’t advise about Universal.

 

[slpeters]

We aren't huge thrill ride people either--although we are up for most things once. Dh needed a cocktail after Tower of Terror if that gives any indication. But dh is a huge Harry Potter fan so Universal needs to be on the table at some point. The Candlelight processional would be a nice add that we haven't done before. I may look at that. Anyone know when they announce the narrators? Thanks.

 

[momma2ethan]

Dh needed a cocktail after Tower of Terror

I have no advice for your original questions but can commiserate with your DH about ToT. I not only needed a cocktail but also a 30 minute break from the world in a quiet place after riding it. The hard rootbeer float was perfect. Far enough from ToT that my hands weren't shaking quite so hard and right on the way to the smoking area by Echo Lake. I was a hot mess

 

[CynBeth]

We aren't huge thrill ride people either--although we are up for most things once. Dh needed a cocktail after Tower of Terror if that gives any indication. But dh is a huge Harry Potter fan so Universal needs to be on the table at some point. The Candlelight processional would be a nice add that we haven't done before. I may look at that. Anyone know when they announce the narrators? Thanks.

The package info and list of narrators does not get released until usually the end of June or the beginning of July and even then some of the dates are listed as TBD for another month or so. You can still book the restaurant and show time on the release date you just might not know which celebrity you will have.

 

[Tattylou]

We went to Universal last year and wished we were at Disney....the exception was the Harry Potter part- that was worth it, but everything else was just "meh" to us. Universal didn't feel magical. So, might be worth a day or 2 if you just want to check it out for yourself.....but (and I know there are many who would disagree), I would spend all my time and money at Disney if it was up to me. I haven't been to Seaworld in 20 years so I can' speak to that. I just love Disney and in my experience with theme parks it is the most magical.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

We went to Universal last year and wished we were at Disney....the exception was the Harry Potter part- that was worth it, but everything else was just "meh" to us. Universal didn't feel magical. So, might be worth a day or 2 if you just want to check it out for yourself.....but (and I know there are many who would disagree), I would spend all my time and money at Disney if it was up to me. I haven't been to Seaworld in 20 years so I can' speak to that. I just love Disney and in my experience with theme parks it is the most magical.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[randumb0]

Everyone is different. If you have time to visit Sea World and Universal then by all means please do so, especially if you've never visited them before. If you don't like to worry about driving I would recommend staying at either a Disney or Universal Resort. If you stay at a Universal resort you will get an unlimited express pass

 

[georgina]

I understand the need to plan another trip - we took our first in 1998, andf I started planning the next (in 2000) as soon as I got back!

Not all Universal resorts have the express pass feature - only Hard Rock, Royal Pacific, and Portofino Bay. I have stayed at Cabana Bay a couple of times without express, not too bad during slower times.

It is not hard to split a stay - stay a few at Disney World, then switch to Universal. I have used Lyft to transfer between the 2. I love Universal as much as Disney! With only 2 parks plus Volcano Bay, and all within close proximity to each other, it is a more relaxing trip. The Harry Potter areas are extremely well done.

 

[tnolan]

I will advise to book the trip as soon as you know your dates. We normally go in November, and then in December I book the next year's trip, after all the Xmas hubbub has died down a bit. Well, this year I got a surprise. I was just looking at prices a week after we got back to see what they were, when I found out that our resort (Poly) had no standard or lagoon view rooms left for Nov 2018, a year from now! I managed to get one of the last 2 pool/marina view rooms left, but this just shows you can never count on what you want still being available these days when it comes to the World. Book what you want as soon as you know your dates.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Universal has more holiday stuff now too so that could be very fun with the Christmas party at WDW.

 

[IndianaRRT]

I find that I have a little more spring in my step if I have another trip to plan. We leave in less than 50 days, then are going again in Oct, then have another trip tentatively planned for March 2019. We have other trips other places planned (there's a whole vacation wish list taped to our fridge), but my advice is do what makes you happy. Want to go to WDW? Go there. Wanna jet to Italy? Do that too. Spend a day at Universal, see other great sites in Orlando, rent a car and drive to the beach...any of that is perfect for you if that's what you want. I talked myself out of a lot of fun plans because I didn't want to be "that person". You don't know if you like rides, places, or experiences until you try it, so go for it!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

We aren't huge thrill ride people either--although we are up for most things once. Dh needed a cocktail after Tower of Terror if that gives any indication. But dh is a huge Harry Potter fan so Universal needs to be on the table at some point. The Candlelight processional would be a nice add that we haven't done before. I may look at that. Anyone know when they announce the narrators? Thanks.

If DH is a huge Harry Potter fan, he will LOVE Universal!!! I'd say 2 days at Universal would be great for you guys.

 

[cgattis]

We aren't huge thrill ride people either--although we are up for most things once. Dh needed a cocktail after Tower of Terror if that gives any indication. But dh is a huge Harry Potter fan so Universal needs to be on the table at some point. The Candlelight processional would be a nice add that we haven't done before. I may look at that. Anyone know when they announce the narrators? Thanks.

If he's a huge Potter fan, allow 2 days so you can do everything more than once. And get him an interactive wand first thing We've stayed at Royal Pacific 3 times; we've enjoyed the pool bar and walking to both parks!

 

[slpeters]

I'm sort of leaning towards staying at the Royal Pacific (although some of the dates I checked the Portofino was cheaper which I thought wasn't supposed to be the case). I'm pretty sure we want to do Universal from there. Whether it's necessary or not I want the Express Pass. Dh got such a kick out of the fact that we were waiting so much less than everyone else at Disney World that I think it would be kind of a let down to just get in line with everyone else. It sounds like one day at Sea World would be sufficient and I think we pretty definitely want to do a Christmas party at Magic Kingdom.

So the question sort of becomes do we just stay at Royal Pacific the whole time or do we split stay two days there and the rest at a Disney Resort. We could get to Sea World from either and the Christmas Party would be more convenient from Disney but probably not enough to warrant moving. I guess it kind of depends what we are doing with the other three days. I don't see that we would really need the onsite benefits from Disney this time. I don't think we will be needing any really hard to score fastpasses--although it would be nice to be able to do the two new rides at DHS if we decided to go there it wouldn't break my heart if we didn't (we're coming back for Star Wars) and as I don't know that we would do park hoppers for a shortish Disney stay I don't know that we would do AK to need FOP. A day at Epcot with CP would be nice. A day at DHS to see Toy Story Land would be nice--and I wouldn't mind doing the JBJB dessert party again.

On the other hand it might be nice to just sort of hang at Universal. The price difference between two, three, four and even five day passes seems negligible. So maybe we could just have a really leisurely time at Universal with an excursion to WDW and an excursion to Sea World. Maybe we could even do Volcano Bay. We haven't been to a water park in forever. But is that even doable in November/December? Hmmm....

 

[karenh27]

I would definitely look more closely at the rides in Universal, if you're not too into thrill rides. We've been twice, because my kids and I are major Harry Potter freaks. But we've found one day to be plenty to see and do everything we wanted to in the Harry Potter areas, and the rest of the parks seem, to me, to be either kid rides, 3D-motion simulator rides, or thrill rides. Very few, if any, mid-level rides like BTMRR, for example. So, *for us*, one day was plenty at Universal, even though we adore Harry Potter. We enjoyed Sea World when we went when my kids were small, but haven't been in 7 years. Personally, I'd probably do one night at Universal, go to their parks the next day (am I right that the express pass doesn't apply to the Harry Potter rides?), then transfer to a Disney resort and make that my home base for the rest of the trip. Or, if I only wanted to do HP rides and the express pass doesn't apply, I'd probably just do the whole stay at Disney and uber or taxi to Universal. That's just my opinion, though, based on our ride preferences.

As for a water park in Nov/Dec - I think it's a bit of a crapshoot. The weather could be hot and perfect for it, or it could be on the cold side. Are you from the north? We live in PA and my kids happily swim in 60-degree weather. But I know people from the south often don't go for that! So it could depend on your cold tolerance as well!

Good luck on your planning.