Disney & Universal or Just Disney?

[have2getaway]

We are planning a trip in Jan. with our 3 boys, age 7. We were planning to do 5 days at Disney and one day at Universal, but after looking at the cost for just one day at Universal, I am thinking we should just skip it. I have been to both parks before, but DH hasn't. I know he really wanted to enjoy Trnsformers and Spider-Man with them, but I'm not really seeing much else that they'll be able to do. Mummy and Kong seem as though they would scare them, and they are not tall enough for the two big roller coasters. A one day park hopper ticket for us all is $760. By contrast, adding a one day ticket to our Disney tickets is $75 total. It hardly makes any sense financially. Just wondering if anyone else has ever struggled with this? we also have added in the cost of food and a rental car to get there. Looking for feedback? Thank you!

 

[IrishNYC]

Unless your kids have a big interest in what is available at Universal, I wouldn't spend that price for just one day. My DD is 7, and while she likes Harry Potter, and Minions and some other things Universal has to offer, her interest wouldn't be enough for us to spend that price, especially given that she's also not tall enough to ride everything. DD only recently expressed an interest in going to "That Harry Potter park" so it would be a no-go for us right now.

 

[tony67]

This is the brilliance of the Disney ticketing - they kill you on the first day and then adding days gets much cheaper to the point it does not make sense to go to Universal for many people.

If your not into HP and your not into the coasters I can't see spending it.
To be fair there are some really good things for younger kids at Universal as well - the whole Dr Seuss area, Barney, the Curios George area is a lot of fun - my kid always had a better time there than at Disney - of course that was before HP so it was much less expensive to go to Universal back then - they usually gave you the second day free.

I think you will get a full day out of it - but at 750 for one day I'd probably wait a year or two until they are big enough to do the other rides.

 

[have2getaway]

Thank you so much for the feedback! To be honest, I think DH is trying to justify going. We had the boys watch the Mummy and Kong rides and they looked terrified. They'd love the roller coasters but are only 48 inches. They LOVED the Frozen ride when we showed them that.

 

[crazylady]

We are planning a trip in Jan. with our 3 boys, age 7. We were planning to do 5 days at Disney and one day at Universal, but free looking t the cost for just one day at Universal, I am thinking we should just skip it. I have been to both parks before, but DH hasn't. I know he really wanted to enjoy Trnsformers and Spider-Man with them, but I'm not really saying much else that they'll be able to do. Mommy returns and Kong seem as though they would scare them, and they are not tall enough for the two big roller coasters. A one day park hopper ticket for us all is $760. By contrast, adding a one day ticket to our Disney tickets is $75 total. It hardly makes any sense financially. just wondering if anyone else has ever struggled with this? we also have added in the cost of food and a rental car to get there. Looking for feedback? Thank you!

I have an adventure loving 7 year old who rode everything he was tall enough for at Universal and now doesn't want anything to do with Disney. I'd save it for another trip. $760 is alot of money for one day.

 

[Scar1199]

This is the same situation we are in for our trip in March. Our 2 boys, 12 & 10 really want to go to Universal, I'm having a hard time with the cost. We're looking at spending 2 days there. I'm waiting to see what the deals for March will be at WDW and then play around with the numbers. I'm thinking we're just going to Uber back and forth instead of staying a night at Universal, that way if I can wait until the last minute to decide if I want to spend the money, if I don't I'll just add on a couple more days at WDW.

 

[have2getaway]

This is the same situation we are in for our trip in March. Our 2 boys, 12 & 10 really want to go to Universal, I'm having a hard time with the cost. We're looking at spending 2 days there. I'm waiting to see what the deals for March will be at WDW and then play around with the numbers. I'm thinking we're just going to Uber back and forth instead of staying a night at Universal, that way if I can wait until the last minute to decide if I want to spend the money, if I don't I'll just add on a couple more days at WDW.

What is Uber?

 

[Scar1199]

What is Uber?

It's a ride sharing service. You have to download the app, from what I've read on here it's pretty simple to use and about half the cost of a taxi. Just makes getting from WDW to Universal easier and cheaper for me. There's a whole thread on it over on the Transportation boards.

 

[IrishNYC]

Thank you so much for the feedback! To be honest, I think DH is trying to justify going. We had the boys watch the Mummy and Kong rides and they looked terrified. They'd love the roller coasters but are only 48 inches. They LOVED the Frozen ride when we showed them that.

I tried to talk DH into going to Disney when DD was 4 by telling him we could spend a day or two at Universal, too. Once we actually looked into the cost of tickets, transportation, and what DD could ride at her heigh then, we knew the cost wasn't worth what we'd get out of it. We did Disney for the first time when she was 5 because she is a daredevil and was tall enough to ride Everest. We were planning to go again this fall, but we didn't think she'd hit 48" so that she'd be tall enough for RNRC. I'm glad we booked for fall 2017 instead, because DD is barely 47" right now, and our trip would have been in about 5 weeks had we gone this year. At this point she's old enough to realize what she's missing by not being tall enough, so regardless of whether it's Disney or Universal, I want us to get the most out of it, since going there takes away from our other vacations we want to do.

 

[Disfan5]

I struggle with this too! I think it depends on when you think you'll get back again. I have a huge HP fan so we did a Universal day on our first trip (because at the time I thought Disney would be a one-time thing!) My youngest was 7 then and too small to ride everything but she did really enjoy the smaller HP coaster and Spiderman. The next year we went again but skipped Universal. For our upcoming trip we are doing 2 days at Universal and 5 at Disney now that the second HP section is open.
It is a lot of money for one day but if you don't plan on going back for awhile I'd say go for it! Especially if it's really important to DH

 

[jennygirlmt]

Our 6 year old is obsessed with HP as are we. As excited as I am for Her to see it I don't think even that is enough that I'd spend that kind of money. I think you would have an amazing time at US/IOA but you'll have an equally amazing time at Disney...for $700 less

 

[Canooknic]

We took our boys went they were 5 and again at 6 and they loved Universal. They are so excited to be going back in February.
All the superheroes, the Simpsons, Dr Seuss, Harry Potter, Minions - all so much fun

 

[Chant124]

I will have to go eventually with my next WDW visit. The HP theming is amazing.

 

[have2getaway]

Has anyone ever stayed off Disney to go to both?

 

[yaddakal]

We struggled last trip
But I'm glad we waited. This time our kids are 10
And 12 so finally going.. They are tall
Enough for everything. I didn't want to go and say no the whole
Time. We are doing Disney 5 nights, universal 3. I hear their property to stay on is great so doing whole experience

 

[have2getaway]

We struggled last trip
But I'm glad we waited. This time our kids are 10
And 12 so finally going.. They are tall
Enough for everything. I didn't want to go and say no the whole
Time. We are doing Disney 5 nights, universal 3. I hear their property to stay on is great so doing whole experience

We thought about this, and cost isn't bad with dining at both, but just curious how are you working out getting to and from parks, and airport if driving? We would have to give up Magical Express.

 

[buzzrelly]

I would suggest waiting a couple of years and then planning a split trip. When my kids were younger, the cost of staying onsite and then adding on a one day ticket to UO just didn't make sense for us. If you are already doing 5 days at Disney, to add a sixth day is like peanuts. But to add just one day at UO would be hundreds of dollars…I believe I priced it at about $700-$800 for one day for four of us. The was too big of a pill to swallow...for me anyway!

What we finally did was planned a longer trip when the kids were 13 and 11 (link to my trip report is in my signature), and we stayed onsite at UO for 3 nights before moving over to WDW. It worked great, and we could totally relax and just enjoy our time at UO to take it all in. Plus, there are some great advantages to staying onsite there, as well.

In short, my recommendation is that you wait a few years. Universal will still be there and at the rate it's going, will be bigger and better every year

 

[Princess Minnie321]

We are waiting to do universal when our kids are a bit older. They are 5 and 3 now. When we go, I want to do a split stay and do a few days at a Disney hotel and a few days at universal. If you stay at one of universal deluxe hotels, portifino, hard rock, or royal pacific, you get the front of the line access included. We have not been in over 10 years so I am not positive how it works now, but back then we showed our room key and went into a separate entrance. We never waited in line.

 

[markmcalear]

We love Universal. My kids are 11, 9, 8, 4 and 3. We usually book 2 days and go one day each week of our trip. It is expensive to do a small number of days but worth it imo.

 

[kelmcg]

We have done split stays at WDW and UO for the past few years. Our boys are currently 16 and 14. We didn't start taking them to UO until they were big enough to ride all the rides. They love rides and they would've been disappointed if they couldn't ride something!

We always stay on property at WDW and then we transfer over to UO.

We always stay at a UO hotel. They have 5 or 6 hotels. The 3 higher priced hotels include an express pass with your room. All hotels get early access to Harry Potter but only the top 3 hotels get the unlimited express pass. This pass allows you to "fast-pass" most of the rides as much as you want, whenever you want. I believe the top 2 Harry Potter rides are excluded along with one or two other rides.