Disney Pros, but never been to Universal

[jfoofj]

Our family of 4 (Myself, DH, and two boys ages 11 and 12) have been to Disney 5 times, and we have always stayed onsite at Disney and had great experiences. Our boys want to go to Universal now- they want some more adventursome rollercoasters and to see the Harry Potter attraction. We are considering going either during February or April school breaks- as long as I can find some reasonable airfare! I am looking for any advice- we will definitely be staying on site- but how many days/nights will we need to see and do the parks. We most likely won't rent a car and will stay onsite.

Thanks in advance!

Jfoofj

 

[mischief32]

YOu could do both parks in 2 days but we have always stayed anywhere from 5-7 days and had a great time. We like to go to the parks for a fews hours and come back and swim or something. I consider this a relaxing vacation and not the rushing around we did at Disney. I have read where people feel that the parks are not big enough compared to the Disney Parks and they got bored after a few days but everyone has a right to there opinion. We love Universal and may go back to Disney in a few years.

 

[wookiebeck]

We went for 3 nights, 4 days. We did everything there is in the parks in 1.5 days (the FOTL pass from staying on site is GREAT). The teens then did everything over and over for the rest of our time.

If you like the resort hotels, I figure we could have stayed longer and gotten to lounge more or explore the other on-site hotels and restaurants. But we went for the thrills this time.

 

[RMulieri]

We went for 6 nights ,5 days.We did 2 days in each park and had a blast.Each park could be done in 1 day, but we wanted plenty of downtime and resort time (Portofino Bay is gorgeous).

 

[johde]

If you're children are into the bigger coasters, and you're worried about not filling up an entire vacation, you may want to consider adding Sea World and Busch Gardens Tampa to your Universal trip. After doing some searching, there appears to be a bus between Universal and Seaworld, there's also a bus between Seaworld and Busch Gardens.

Busch Gardens has the largest collection of large roller coasters in Central FL, but it is all the way over in Tampa. Seaworld also has coaster types not found anywhere else in central FL. In the past I've flown into Tampa and gotten 1 nights hotel there and spent arrival day and the next day and Busch Gardens before moving over to Orlando for the rest of my vacation and then flying out of Orlando. If you wanted to do just a short car rental.

 

[flfun]

Our family of 4 (Myself, DH, and two boys ages 11 and 12) have been to Disney 5 times, and we have always stayed onsite at Disney and had great experiences. Our boys want to go to Universal now- they want some more adventursome rollercoasters and to see the Harry Potter attraction. We are considering going either during February or April school breaks- as long as I can find some reasonable airfare! I am looking for any advice- we will definitely be staying on site- but how many days/nights will we need to see and do the parks. We most likely won't rent a car and will stay onsite.

Thanks in advance!

Jfoofj

Going during Spring Break or a 3 day holiday weekend will mean it takes a little longer to get "everything" done. If your february trip isn't a holiday then you'll get most everything done in 2 to 3 days with plenty of leisure time.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

For first timers I would definitely try for two days in each park. You may be able to do them in a day and a half but why rush? And if you can do three days each, even better!