Changing it up...

[cdnSpinalTap]

Hello,

Our normal Disney vacations up to this point have been 9 days at BWV and spending time exclusively at the Disney parks, followed by 5 days in St Pete beach. For our 2023 vacation, we were thinking of changing things up a bit. We are wanting to cut out the beach portion of the trip and extend our Orlando portion a few days. In addition to spending time at Disney, we also wanted to introduce our kids to Universal. We are thinking of doing 12 days total, all in the Orlando area.

Also, we are a family of 5 and our kids are older, so we typically get a 2 bedroom suite at the BWV. We find it comfortable, spacious enough and convenient for access to the parks. We also typically rent a car.

I wanted to get people's thoughts on the following:

• How many days would we need at Universal to experience most things?
• Is a VIP type experience at Universal worth it, given we will probably only be doing a couple of days there?
• Should we keep our entire stay at BWV, or is there a Universal hotel that will be spacious and comfortable enough for our family of 5?
• Is there a financial/convenience benefit of staying on Universal property? I am wondering about access to parks, extra hours or reduced ticket pricing.

I am sure I will have more questions as we continue planning, but I wanted to throw those out there so that we can at least get our hotels booked.

Thanks.

 

[mort1331]

So we are changing it up too this March 2023. 1st time at US. We are only 4 not 5 so that may affect the room. From what we have read and what we are doing is a room at Portofino to get the included express pass. There are 3 hotels on property that have this. Portofino, Hard Rock and Royal, I think.
We are also doing 2nights 3 days at the start and then our usual 7 nights at Boardwalk.
So look at the cost of one of the 3 hotels with Express pass, because those per person are $100+ per day. So even if the room was $300 more per night, you are still ahead.
Our girls are 12 and 16, but do not like extreme rides, we live near Canada's Wonderland and they girls wont go on those coasters. So 3 days will be plenty for us. DW and I will try all the rides even if the girls sit out. Have to try everything once, even when I get sick..Orange Mission space...one and done.
Good luck in your planning. Give the group some more details so they can help you out. How old are the kids, what time of year. Etc.

 

[azrivest]

How many days would we need at Universal to experience most things?

We had a 3-day ticket in August and it felt great. We didn't feel rushed to do all the things in one or two days, and we were able to experience more than the HP stuff, which is what most ppl do when they only have 1-day tickets.

Is there a financial/convenience benefit of staying on Universal property? I am wondering about access to parks, extra hours or reduced ticket pricing.

As mort1331 said, staying at a Deluxe Resort will get you the Unlimited Express Pass. It's often cheaper to book a room and get the included pass than pay for the Express Pass itself. There is Early Park Admission, but only a few rides are open during that time.