Disney & universal

[2neverland]

Ok been to disney several times and never universal parks. I'm looking at 7 night stay. Should I do my week stay at disney and take 2 days to visit the universal parks?should I do a split stay? 4 nights disney then 3 nights at universal hotel? Will be myself dh & ds(7).Opinions appreciated!

 

[GillianP1301]

We've done Universal on a few of our trips and always just add a day or two into our week and just stay at our WDW resort. We rent a car though, so it's easy to get around. If you don't have a car, then I would consider the split stay option.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

I would do the split stay. If you stay at one of the deluxe USO hotels you get the unlimited express pass for free and early entry so you can do the HP rides (which don't take the EP) with shorter waits. Make sure you get a park to park pass so you can ride Hogwart's Express. The USO resorts are beautiful and you will probably enjoy heading right back to your resort rather than having to head all the way back to WDW.

 

[2neverland]

We've done Universal on a few of our trips and always just add a day or two into our week and just stay at our WDW resort. We rent a car though, so it's easy to get around. If you don't have a car, then I would consider the split stay option.

We will have are car so that's a plus.

 

[pattyw]

Even though a split stay is more inconvenient if you stay at a Universal deluxe hotel you will get express pass from the time you check in to the end of your checkout day. We love the Hard Rock Hotel ! The walkway to the parks takes about 10 minutes so you can go back to the hotel for pool breaks which you can do with the express pass because you won't be standing in long lines at the parks!. Then you can walk back over to parks in the late afternoon and evening.

 

[2neverland]

I would do the split stay. If you stay at one of the deluxe USO hotels you get the unlimited express pass for free and early entry so you can do the HP rides (which don't take the EP) with shorter waits. Make sure you get a park to park pass so you can ride Hogwart's Express. The USO resorts are beautiful and you will probably enjoy heading right back to your resort rather than having to head all the way back to WDW.

I was reading about the express pass on their website and had me intrigued. Just recently found out about Hogwarts train requirements. Weighing out the pros and cons of on & off property.

 

[2Gma]

Be sure to check out the Universal/Islands of Adventures forums further down on the DIS. Lots of great info for parks, transportation, hotels, etc.
We did both WDW and US/IOA last May. We wanted to try something new and so glad we did. The parks just have a different feel than Disney. The Harry Potter sections are unlike anything at Disney. We are not HP fans but just looking at the themeing was amazing. We found that one day at each Universal park was enough for our family (myself, DH and children 8 & 6). We got one park per day tickets. We got there at opening, took advantage of lower crowds and stayed until 4ish. We hit the highlights and then some. We did not buy express pass as I kept reading not to until you see how crowded it is. We ended up not needing it. The longest wait we had was midday and was around 40 mins. I suppose how much of an advantage express pass would be for you depends on when you go. If you stay onsite you get early entry to parks and free express pass at "deluxe" hotel level. Might be worth looking into.

 

[FargoBear]

The really nice thing about the on-site express passes is that you get two days of passes for staying one night. So you can check into the hotel at 7 a.m. and leave your luggage there if your room isn't ready and head to the parks for the day. Then wake up the next morning, take your luggage back to bells services and go out and enjoy the park for a second day with the express passes and pick up the luggage at the end of the day. We typically go during low-crowd seasons, but being able to walk up to the front of the line repeatedly is a huge perk and time-saver.

 

[2neverland]

Even though a split stay is more inconvenient if you stay at a Universal deluxe hotel you will get express pass from the time you check in to the end of your checkout day. We love the Hard Rock Hotel ! The walkway to the parks takes about 10 minutes so you can go back to the hotel for pool breaks which you can do with the express pass because you won't be standing in long lines at the parks!. Then you can walk back over to parks in the late afternoon and evening.

Wow 10 min.walk not bad at all!

 

[walker0829]

We've been struggling with whether to do a split stay or do all Disney! The cost to add it in would probably pay for another vacation this year.

 

[whiporee]

Wow 10 min.walk not bad at all!

But it's also much less removed from the world that the WDW resorts. I don't know if that matters, but USO doesn't feel nearly as immersive as WDW does, at least to me. The resort and parks are plopped right there off I Drive, and feel more crammed in than WDW does. There's also a lot more wasted space in the parks, IMO -- Diagon Alley is cool, but there's only one ride and a lot of shops and restaurants. Simpson's land is one ride and a lot of shops and carnival rides -- sort of like the Dinosaur area of AK. Hollywood Boulevard is the same way -- a lot of places to eat and spend money, but rides are a bit farther between.

Also, the Express Pass is cool and if you get it for free even better, but it's not like a FP+. My experience was that the FP lines still ended up with longish wait times -- not nearly as bad as the regular lines, but nothing close to walking on for the headliners.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[NavyDad]

Ok been to disney several times and never universal parks. I'm looking at 7 night stay. Should I do my week stay at disney and take 2 days to visit the universal parks?should I do a split stay? 4 nights disney then 3 nights at universal hotel? Will be myself dh & ds(7).Opinions appreciated!

We just did a 3 way split stay and it worked great.

2 nights at Ressidence in for Sea World
4 nights in a cabin at Fort Wilderness
2 nights at Royal Pacific

I would do the split stay every time. The location of the UO resorts, early entry to WWoHP and the unlimited Express Pass are almost priceless.

FYI - we did not get the same value staying on site at Sea World. Would not do that again.

 

[LuvDaisy&Minnie]

The Express Pass and Early Entry to Harry Potter are awesome...another vote for the split stay!

 

[Parker Clan]

Split stay!!! We've done Universal & Disney the last five years in a row and cannot say enough good things about both experiences. We do Universal first, stay at RPR. The express pass is 100% worth it. We did rides over and over and over barely a ten min wait! The walk to Universal is great, we don't use our car for three days. Love the HP rides and "lands". Then off to Disney for 6 nights! Couldn't ask for a better vacation

 

[AshleeH]

We've done it two or three times in the past (never a split stay, but I would these days). We would usually do Universal on our Arrival day and then head over to Disney for the rest of the week. We did Legoland last trip (such a letdown) and considered going back to Universal again this year, but for the first time ever we're staying completely in the Disney bubble as soon as we get to Orlando. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[caroline1851]

For sure, stay on site at Universal for the days you are going there. Being able to walk to the parks is great, early entry into Harry Potter is great and the free express pass thing is amazing.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We like to make it a split stay when we visiting both resorts. When we stay onsite at UOR, I feel like the bubble is even more immersive than Disney since you don't have to travel long distances between and parks and hotels.

 

[Pesky]

After doing our research, we decided to go with the split stay. Their express pass plus early entry was worth it given the madhouse that is the HP stuff, which is where I see us spending a lot of time.

 

[LovePug]

If you can swing it, stay onsite at Universal! We've only been there once many years ago, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. You just have to make sure that you go into it NOT expecting Disney (Disney just has a whole different feel to me). Being able to walk to the park and to the front of the lines was fantastic!

 

[YawningDodo]

Last fall we opted out of a split stay due to the way the discount we used worked, and I think it was a bit of a mistake. The plus side of staying on Disney property the entire time was that we were able to shift our second Universal day to a different day of the week than we'd originally planned, since it wasn't like we'd save or lose any money by it. The downside was that we spent enough money on cab fare that I can't imagine it would have cost us any more to arrange a split stay, and it was a surprisingly long ride each way. If you're driving that probably changes things, but my preference has been to avoid driving when in Orlando, and I'm sure Universal charges for parking just like all the other parks do. I didn't realize Universal hotel guests got the express pass, which would have been nice.

Also, if you opt to drive in rather than do the split stay, do yourself a favor and bring a full change of clothes on your Universal day(s). We didn't on our first day, and we had a bit of a miserable afternoon (and a miserable cab ride) after getting soaked through to the underwear on the water rides.