I wasn't sure where to put this exactly. But we are spending one day at US and so far I have planned to leave Disney and head over for an offsite hotel at US for 2 nights. Now I'm wondering if it would be better to do US at the beginning of the trip instead. I'm thinking it would be better to just go there first and end our trip on a Disney high. What do you think?
Well, we strive to only stay onsite for Universal. Our first Orlando trip we had Disney then Universal then Disney, thinking that Uni was a one-and-done trip for us. Oh we could NOT have been more wrong. We hated leaving Uni, and when we did on our last day we ONLY did because we had a Sanaa reservation waiting for us.
I had budgeted to upgrade to WDW APs because we knew we would be back, but I did not budget to get Uni APs, and we were so incredibly sad about that.
So for the first trip maybe do it in the middle if you can?
I have more to say about your trip but I'll save it for later in my reply.
Ok my next question. Which would be better. US on a Sunday or Disney parks on a weekend in June? And traffic on I4 coming in on a Monday vs traffic on I4 coming home on a Monday? We don't do much meal planning. As of right now we don't have any dining plans. Typicaly the only planning we do is te FP's as I don't like plan down to the wire of everything we are going tod. The FP's are bad enough as I would much rather plan the days at what parks when we get there.
We are staying offsite at one of the preferred offsite hotels of US. I don't think we will have FOTL.
If you can, at all, I would STRONGLY consider checking out staying onsite at one of the hotels that offers both Early Entrance to Wizarding World AND Unlimited Express Pass (aka Hard Rock, Royal Pacific, and Portofino Bay). Being at one of those resorts will turn your June trip from hot and stressed into ahhhh.
The way you like to travel is, exactly, how it can be if you're onsite at Universal.
If you really cannot swing the three hotels I listed above, try for Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls, if Wizarding World is important to you. Those two resorts give you Early Entrance, which helps.
The other way to get Early Entrance to WW is to get a *package* through Universal at an offsite hotel.
No matter what, remember to include parking in your costs. If you're offsite, even if you don't have parking costs at the hotel, you will at Universal. If you're onsite, you don't take your car to the themepark/citywalk parking lot, but you do pay hotel parking fees.
I don't understand why other posters have mentioned US is more "relaxed." I find it the most tiring day of my trip and don't even stay past 4pm. Everything I like to do is sooo far away from each other and without FOTL whose to say how long you will be waiting in lines?
You need to stay onsite at one of the 3 hotels I listed first, my friend. Unlimited Express Pass from the moment you check in until park-close the day you check out. Early Entrance to Wizarding World (one or both of them depending on their schedule) every single day. And maybe do more than one day, so you don't have to fit it all in!
I book through loewshotels.com. And I always check to see if the APH rate (click promotions then enter that into the code field) is applicable for my stay. Which means that every time I price out a stay I check. If it is available, I do the math to see if upgrading at least one of us to an AP and the savings of that rate equal a better overall rate for us.
You might want to ask this on the Universal forum too. You'll get other views.
I think we're also here, yes?
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