Disney/Universal Transition Day

[HollywoodToT]

Spending 3 days at Universal after our Disney trip. Our family of 4 will be leaving Disney around 1:00 and taking transportation (specific company undecided) to Royal Pacific. Is it reasonable for me to plan spending our late afternoon/evening of that day in the Universal Parks? Just want to make sure that the transition isn't more exhausting than I envision. If anyone has done this, I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

[skylock]

If you have the ticket days and feel like running over to the parks, go. The hotel is super close near by. If nothing else, you can run over and look around, but you would have express pass, so maybe ride a few things and leave early to get an early rest.

Or, the hotel is quite nice, you can hang around there. Pool hopping is allowed. You can ride the boat. Everything is close by.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I'd be unable to resist popping in if works with your ticket allotment. Even if you hang at the hotel for a little or grab a nice relaxing lunch, you've got plenty of time to enjoy the parks in the evening.

 

[PantherPete]

Just curious about the 1pm timimg? Do you have something specific that you are doing at Disney that day? If I were you I would either store my luggage at the hotel at Disney and not head over to Universal until the evening. Or head to Universal first thing in the morning and store the luggage at your hotel there and hit the parks.

Having said that, going to the parks and Cuty Walk are certainly doable in the scenario you outline. I'd limit it to 1 park though. With EP, you would have plenty of time to do a number of the attractions and still have time for a nice dinner. Like another poster said, the parks are close enough to your hotel and that it is very convenient. Shouldn't be too exhausting.

 

[DisTXMom]

We’ve done this at about the same timing as what you’ve indicated. As said above, the parks are so close and easy to get to, we went to one of them to see Harry Potter hogwarts for a few hours and then had dinner back at our resort PBH. We did Uber to get from out WDW hotel to Universal- easy.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We often do US and WDW in the same trip.

I'm a little unclear though, what are you doing before 1pm on transition day? Why 1pm?

Usually when we transfer between US/WDW or WDW/US, we try to do it early in the morning to take full advantage of our tickets and FP/Express Pass.

This is especially true in summer, so we beat the afternoon heat and pop up storms.

Universal is pretty laid back. I personally don't even see a reason to limit yourself to just one park if you have hoppers. If anything, the Hogwart's Express is the probably the most mellow ride on all of Universal property, and the ride is different in each direction. It is a very easy and mellow way to transfer between the parks, if you wish. Universal is more compact than WDW, so walking back to RP from either park is pretty easy.

You'll likely want to start at IoA if you walk over, because it is slightly closer to RP, but all of Universal is very walkable. Shuttle boats are also frequent. If you take the shuttle boat, you might want to start at US, because that's slightly closer to the boat dock. If you do that, then you can take a picture in front of the iconic US globe!

When we transfer between hotels, we try to mostly pack up the night before. At both WDW and US, you can check-in before 1pm, just don't expect your room to be ready until the afternoon. (though it might be ready when you arrive.) Either way, you can leave your bags with bell services.

Of course, RP is also a very nice place to spend an afternoon! If you decide you'd rather do that...maybe swim, explore the other resorts and/or Citywalk.

 

[HollywoodToT]

Thanks for all the advice. I agree, best case scenario would be to just use that whole day at Universal and leave Disney early. I am just preparing for the unknown that is SWGE and that morning would work well in our plans. Just planning for multiple scenarios since we are very infrequent Orlando travelers.

 

[nkereina]

The transition is easy and we do it nearly every trip. We usually opt go early so we can have a full day at Universal, or leave late and have a full day at Disney. When are you traveling? Just a tip to check park hours - we've visited during times when the parks have closed as early as 6pm, but usually find they close around 7-8pm. I believe they stay open later during busier times of the year. Also, if you're there during Halloween Horror Nights, Universal closes at 5pm on select nights. IOA stays open later, but it becomes more crowded once Universal closes. If you plan to leave Disney at 1, its about a 25 minute drive to RPR, store your luggage or go to your room (if ready), head over to the park - I'm guessing you'll be inside the park by 2-2:30. So just keep closing times in mind when deciding if you'll use a ticket on it.