Could Someone answer a few questions

[Momoftwo9598]

I am planning a June trip for my family to Disney World. We will be driving from Pennsylvania and this will be our first time there. As far as I know we will be staying at the disney All Star Movies resort. My plan was to buy a 5 day park hopper for Disney World. After I have done alot of reading on the internet I think my 9 year old daughter and 6 year old son would LOVE Universal Studios. Also I don't see alot at MGM or Animal Kingdom that they would enjoy like they would Universal. So now my questions.

First, how far away is Universal studios from the all star movie resort?

Would it be better to stay somewhere else for the days we visit Universal?

We was going to buy the 5 day park hopper for disney and take one day to just rest. Now I am thinking about 4 days at Disney and two days at Universal with no resting day. What do you think of that? I am sure we will be very tired and hot but I really want to do both.

I have seen some off site hotels that offer refrigerator and microwaves in the room. I am thinking maybe we should stay off site the days we go to Universal then we could save some money on food by eating in the room.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I LOVE this board.

 

[Atreyu]

Universal is fun. I think your kids would have a good time there.

I'm not sure how far US is from the All Star Movies resort but I would recommend getting a hotel closer to US. Some hotels around that area have complementary shuttle service to the park but you'll have to see when it leaves and comes back and whatnot.

Just to check it out, here's the US site with the map of the park:
http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/orlando/website/usf_attraction_landing.html

I don't really know any off the top of my head, but there are sites to get discounted US tickets. Hopefully someone else on the boards can help you a bit better. Good luck!

 

[robvia]

Your rest day would be visiting AK (Animal Kingdom) in the morning, then coming back to your room and going to the pool for the afternoon.

I'd suggest staying at the RPR (Royal Pacific Resort) which is onsite at Universal. Prices are just a little bit more than the All Star Movie. But, you would be onsite, which would get you FOTL (front of the line) access. Keep reading this board and you'll see how huge that is.

Driving from Disney to USF is easy, it's only 10 minutes north on I-4.

I'm thinking 4 nights at All Star Movies, and 2 nights at RPR. You could get length of stay passes for Disney, and the 2 day 3rd free from USF. See the gimmick, each resort is trying to make you stay on their property the entire time, Disney with 5 day passes (when you only need 3 or 4) and USF with 3rd day free.

Since you have a car, you can drive to grocery stores and buy food, a styrophome cooler ($8 in beer isle), ice, doughnuts, milk, juice, and other snacks. There is a Publix just north of USF on Kirkman Road.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Originally posted by robvia

Driving from Disney to USF is easy, it's only 10 minutes north on I-4.

Don't you love how I-4 is actually labeled East/West when it runs North/South?

But his directions are true.

 

[Slacking]

Good ole I-4 It took me almost 2 and a half hours to get from Tampa to Universal yesterday

But yeah, like was previously said, Animal Kingdom is only a half-day park, so that would be a nice afternoon to put aside for relaxing. And from All-Star Movies to Universal, I would guess that it would be about 20 minutes.

 

[mark1203]

Disney to Universal is not that far but traffic on I-4 can be bad. There is a back road that goes from downtown Disney to Universal so you can avoid I-4 completely if you need to. But even with traffic you get to Universal in about 20 – 30 minutes. Staying at a onsite hotel at Universal is worth the money for the front of line pass. Unlike Disney there are a lot of places cheap to eat right next to Universal that only takes 5 minutes to get to.

 

[Prince Eric1]

Definately switch hotels and stay onsite for the universal portion of your trip. The front of the line benefits make it well worth the money. You can get some decent discounts if they are still available with the entertainment card. If you only stay one night at an on site resort, you can get two days front of the line passes.

 

[wendypooh]

Well we've done both.......... We love both. Usually, we go to disney for 2 days, then over to US/IOA. My boys LOVE US/IOA so much better, but I have to get my Disney fix......... but after 2 days, I'm ready to go too. If it were me, I would go to Disney, do 3 days.......... then switch over to US/IOA. I think 4 days at Disney is too long.......... don't bash me, but if you are skipping AK and MGM......... 4 days at MK, would be too long for us. I also recommend staying onsite if you do go to US/IOA. The fotl perk is beyond worth the extra money, especially in June.

As everyone has stated, it is only about a 10-20 min. ride to US/IOA from disney, so you really don't have to move hotels, but you have no idea how much you will LOVE fotl........ We will never go back and not stay onsite, we love the RPR..........it is fantastic!! You won't be disappointed.

 

[Pigletandpooh]

it would be easiest just ta stay at all-star even when going to US it would be too much work to move hotels only for 2-3 days.

 

[N.Bailey]

Originally posted by Pigletandpooh
it would be easiest just ta stay at all-star even when going to US it would be too much work to move hotels only for 2-3 days.

I couldn't disagree with this statement more.

Our family too is spending 4 days at Disney, then we're popping over to the HRH (Hard Rock Hotel) for 2 nights. Imagine NEVER standing in those lines to get on the rides? To me, that's more than worth the extra cost of staying onsite at a Universal hotel.

Disney tickets are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more expensive than Universal tickets are, so by knocking a few days off at Disney, you'll really reduce the amount of $ laid out in tickets and that money could then be used to help pay for you onsite stay at Universal.

Check Ticketmania, you can buy hoppers for 4 days which include 1 plus feature. If you don't use the plus feature (and I doubt you'll have time) it never expires, so that's a paid day at one of the water parks on a future visit.

If you have a Disney store in your area, you could buy the 4 day hoppers for a little less, but they do not include the plus feature. If you'd have to buy your tickets online, direct from Disney, with the shipping Disney charges, you'd be better going with Ticketmania (they don't charge shipping).

I also wanted to say that I saw a thread (on the disney boards..and I can't remember which board) that stated you could buy 3 day hoppers from Alamo. I don't know any more information than that though, but you could ask around over on those boards?

I hope you have a great trip no matter what you decide!