Disney & universal

[elaine amj]

We priced it this year for next year to see what two nights at Universal would cost vs adding two nights to a week long vacation at Disney. Both stays would be two days of tickets, dining plan and stay at a Deluxe resort for two nights. For three of us (Two adults and a four year old), it would cost about $900 more for two days at Universal vs adding two days at Disney. It was about $950 to add two days to Disney and $1850 for two days at Universal in August. The cost of adding days 8 and 9 for Disney tickets is so much cheaper than getting days 1 and 2 of Universal tickets.

Definitely.

That's why last year, we booked 2 trips specifically for Universal and didn't set foot on Disney property. We upgraded our original 3 day pass to Power Passes and visited 3 times This last trip, we couldn't resist the lure of adding on one park day at Disney - but only because we had non expiring passes.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We priced it this year for next year to see what two nights at Universal would cost vs adding two nights to a week long vacation at Disney. Both stays would be two days of tickets, dining plan and stay at a Deluxe resort for two nights. For three of us (Two adults and a four year old), it would cost about $900 more for two days at Universal vs adding two days at Disney. It was about $950 to add two days to Disney and $1850 for two days at Universal in August. The cost of adding days 8 and 9 for Disney tickets is so much cheaper than getting days 1 and 2 of Universal tickets.

Yep - we found that it costs just about $1,200 more to add 2 days at US vs. adding 2 more days at WDW (staying in a moderate resort). And going for 2 days at $1k/day is not something that we would ever do for an amusement park.

Doing both gets pricey fast, and US isn't someplace that we would stay for an entire week, so WDW keeps getting most of our money. But I am very glad that US is putting pressure on WDW to up its game. Competition is good for us, the consumer.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Both resorts have priced it that way (front-loading the tickets). We've stayed at Universal and visited WDW and buying those tickets hurt too. Once Universal gets the new waterpark onsite, I think you are going to see more and more people making the decision to spend the week at UOR and perhaps visiting WDW for a day or two.

 

[Planogirl]

Both resorts have priced it that way (front-loading the tickets). We've stayed at Universal and visited WDW and buying those tickets hurt too. Once Universal gets the new waterpark onsite, I think you are going to see more and more people making the decision to spend the week at UOR and perhaps visiting WDW for a day or two.

I agree. Universal is a great location for visiting other attractions in the area too and I included WDW in that. Of course then WDW is the add-on that seems expensive if you do it that way.

 

[ruthies12]

As others mentioned, staying one night on property at Uni gets you express pass for 2 days. You also can leave your car in their lot and only pay parking per night so you get two days of parking for one fee.

On my next trip in November I have this plan- flying down Thursday evening and checking into the Holiday Inn across the street from Universal. Leaving my car at the holiday inn and walking to the park for the day on Friday (about a 15 minute walk according to google), then walking back to Holiday Inn for Friday night.

Saturday morning we will check out of Holiday Inn and drive to Royal Pacific since that is the cheapest of the 3 onsite hotels that gives you express pass. We will check in and pick up our express pass and go to the Uni parks Saturday, stay onsite Saturday night, check out in the morning and throw the luggage in the car then go back to the parks for all of sunday with our second day of express pass.

Then sunday night when we are done at uni, we are hopping in the car and driving over to Pop Cetury for 3 nights at Disney and going to Disney parks for 2 days.

The Holiday Inn isn't anything fancy but it's within walking distance of the parks saving us parking costs and was only $100 a night. Switching hotels might be a bit of a pain, but saved us 400 bucks over staying all 3 nights onsite at Uni.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Both resorts have priced it that way (front-loading the tickets). We've stayed at Universal and visited WDW and buying those tickets hurt too. Once Universal gets the new waterpark onsite, I think you are going to see more and more people making the decision to spend the week at UOR and perhaps visiting WDW for a day or two.

Maybe, but I doubt it. With the water park it will be a 3 day visit. Assuming you do each main park twice, a 5 day visit. We generally go to WDW for 10+ days, and most of the people who we know that go to WDW, go for 7+ days. I cannot image US for 7 days in a row.

I think of US like Cedar Point - great park, but a long weekend has me covered. WDW - I spend 20-30 days/year there and never get bored.

 

[elaine amj]

As others mentioned, staying one night on property at Uni gets you express pass for 2 days. You also can leave your car in their lot and only pay parking per night so you get two days of parking for one fee.

On my next trip in November I have this plan- flying down Thursday evening and checking into the Holiday Inn across the street from Universal. Leaving my car at the holiday inn and walking to the park for the day on Friday (about a 15 minute walk according to google), then walking back to Holiday Inn for Friday night.

Saturday morning we will check out of Holiday Inn and drive to Royal Pacific since that is the cheapest of the 3 onsite hotels that gives you express pass. We will check in and pick up our express pass and go to the Uni parks Saturday, stay onsite Saturday night, check out in the morning and throw the luggage in the car then go back to the parks for all of sunday with our second day of express pass.

Then sunday night when we are done at uni, we are hopping in the car and driving over to Pop Cetury for 3 nights at Disney and going to Disney parks for 2 days.

The Holiday Inn isn't anything fancy but it's within walking distance of the parks saving us parking costs and was only $100 a night. Switching hotels might be a bit of a pain, but saved us 400 bucks over staying all 3 nights onsite at Uni.

Which Holiday Inn will you be staying at? The way they name the hotels is so crazy. The Holiday Inn ACROSS Universal is the closest. We walked over to pick up a rental car one trip and another couple of trips, we have stayed at the Doubletree Suites right across the road. That one is about a 10 minute walk. Longish, but doable along a nice sidewalk. We usually stay there after staying one or two nights onsite.

Our last trip, I accidentally booked Holiday Inn Express nearest Universal. Well, this one is about 15+ mins walk away. Still manageable, but definitely further. There is a shorter cut that takes you to the Orlando Ale House and I suspect it is a shorter walk if you cut through that way. The street was a little odd though and it didn't entirely feel like we were walking the right direction the first time we tried it. On the good side, this hotel has free breakfast. My kids were super intrigued by the pancake maker - they hadn't seen a conveyer belt-style one before (and neither have I!).

Maybe, but I doubt it. With the water park it will be a 3 day visit. Assuming you do each main park twice, a 5 day visit. We generally go to WDW for 10+ days, and most of the people who we know that go to WDW, go for 7+ days. I cannot image US for 7 days in a row.

I think of US like Cedar Point - great park, but a long weekend has me covered. WDW - I spend 20-30 days/year there and never get bored.

Depends on what kind of person you are. I could see a week's vacay at Universal quite easily. It would be a more relaxing pace than Disney though since you are right - there isn't quite as much to do at Uni. But then, we are the kind of people that can spend 3-4 days straight at Cedar Point and still have fun

Still, you have a very valid point. After 3 trips (each staying 3-4 park days) to Universal with our Power Passes, we are just about done. We started feeling like we were running out of things to do on our last park day. That's partly because we aren't big Potter fans though and we have by and large skipped Forbidden Journey since our first trip.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Maybe, but I doubt it. With the water park it will be a 3 day visit. Assuming you do each main park twice, a 5 day visit. We generally go to WDW for 10+ days, and most of the people who we know that go to WDW, go for 7+ days. I cannot image US for 7 days in a row.

I think of US like Cedar Point - great park, but a long weekend has me covered. WDW - I spend 20-30 days/year there and never get bored.

I think with the new waterpark, Universal easily becomes a four-day visit. And it will be a new waterpark, unlike Disney's old waterparks, so that will be attractive to families/groups who love waterparks. Then if they want to add on a day or two at WDW, why not do it from UOR?

Anyway, my point was that the waterpark may be the factor for some folks that tips them over into basing themselves at UOR versus WDW for a trip where they want to visit both.

 

[jeanico2000]

If you stay just 1 night at Universal (Deluxe) you get Express Passes for the day of check-in and check-out... It's the greatest perk of any Orlando hotel!

This... it truly is an AMAZING perk and you'll never want to tour any other way after you discover it! Plus the Universal onsite qualifying hotels (Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific) are wonderful! You should definitely split your stay!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We do split stays with two nights at Portofino Bay. It is cheaper than 2 nights at a WDW deluxe and the early entry in the morning is not the crowded madhouse that WDW morning EMH has now become.

 

[muenginerd]

It also depends on when you are going....

Hubby and I went in September 2 years ago with a split stay between AKL and Portofino Bay. The express passes were really nice but completely uncessary. The crowds were so low most rides were walk-ons. The big rides like Gringotts bank didn't allow express pass. I am a huge HP fan spent a lot of time in Diagon Alley, and we still had a hard time filling two days at both parks.

If it's a slow time of year you could blow through both parks in a day.

That being said.... We loved AKL but we loved Portofino even more. The universal hotels are very very nice!

 

[2neverland]

It depends on when you are going. If it's not busy, we just stay at Disney and drive over to universal 2 of the days. We did a split stay once and found that we lose a day moving, which ended up costing more. Plus we usually go in September, when express pass isn't usually needed.

Thinking first week of November.

 

[2neverland]

As others mentioned, staying one night on property at Uni gets you express pass for 2 days. You also can leave your car in their lot and only pay parking per night so you get two days of parking for one fee.

On my next trip in November I have this plan- flying down Thursday evening and checking into the Holiday Inn across the street from Universal. Leaving my car at the holiday inn and walking to the park for the day on Friday (about a 15 minute walk according to google), then walking back to Holiday Inn for Friday night.

Saturday morning we will check out of Holiday Inn and drive to Royal Pacific since that is the cheapest of the 3 onsite hotels that gives you express pass. We will check in and pick up our express pass and go to the Uni parks Saturday, stay onsite Saturday night, check out in the morning and throw the luggage in the car then go back to the parks for all of sunday with our second day of express pass.

Then sunday night when we are done at uni, we are hopping in the car and driving over to Pop Cetury for 3 nights at Disney and going to Disney parks for 2 days.

The Holiday Inn isn't anything fancy but it's within walking distance of the parks saving us parking costs and was only $100 a night. Switching hotels might be a bit of a pain, but saved us 400 bucks over staying all 3 nights onsite at Uni.

I'm looking at November also. I was surprised the resort charges for parking.

 

[2neverland]

If you stay just 1 night at Universal (Deluxe) you get Express Passes for the day of check-in and check-out... It's the greatest perk of any Orlando hotel!

Hmm interesting. I suppose that would be one night of parking one night at room and 2 parks days.

 

[NavyDad]

Hmm interesting. I suppose that would be one night of parking one night at room and 2 parks days.

Make sure to check the park hours the days you are going. I didn't pay attention to closing times this last trip (I was focusing on early entry times) and we were shocked to find out that both parks closed at 6 PM on Friday night.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm looking at November also. I was surprised the resort charges for parking.

Just about all of the Orlando area resorts charge for parking now and I can't stand it! Of course there is the rumor that Disney might be adding fees so we'll see.

As for the express being included with deluxe, if your party is small you might want to price Cabana Bay. It's really nice and you might find that adding Express won't bump your price up any higher than the deluxe resorts. Just another possibility.

 

[2neverland]

Make sure to check the park hours the days you are going. I didn't pay attention to closing times this last trip (I was focusing on early entry times) and we were shocked to find out that both parks closed at 6 PM on Friday night.

Dang 6pm closing would never of guessed!

 

[agavegirl1]

I have done a 6 day trip to Universal only as well with 2 teens. It was cheaper than the WDW trip of th same length a few years before. It was so relaxing! And this was before Potter! There was plenty to do.

 

[RandallFlagg]

Hi everyone
New to the forums and need some clarification. We head to Florida this Saturday (4/16) and we are doing sat and sun at universal. We are staying at the hard Rock. I have been reading about the perk of staying on site and getting the park tickets plus express pass for the day you check out. Is this true? So here is my scenario. Please confirm if this is true. We arrive Saturday morning and get rental car. We drive to hard rock, get passes and go to park. We stay the night and do the same thing on Sunday. When we check out on Monday morning, we put luggage in car and go to the parks for a third day even though we only paid for two day tickets? Is that the perk? If this is true then WOW! Not only do we get unlimited express pass but a whole extra day. We will be doing the parks on Monday and driving to Disney that night if this is the case.

 

[dsdeleon]

Hi everyone
New to the forums and need some clarification. We head to Florida this Saturday (4/16) and we are doing sat and sun at universal. We are staying at the hard Rock. I have been reading about the perk of staying on site and getting the park tickets plus express pass for the day you check out. Is this true? So here is my scenario. Please confirm if this is true. We arrive Saturday morning and get rental car. We drive to hard rock, get passes and go to park. We stay the night and do the same thing on Sunday. When we check out on Monday morning, we put luggage in car and go to the parks for a third day even though we only paid for two day tickets? Is that the perk? If this is true then WOW! Not only do we get unlimited express pass but a whole extra day. We will be doing the parks on Monday and driving to Disney that night if this is the case.

No sorry, that's not how it works. The express media and ticket media are separate actual paper tickets. You need a park entry ticket to enter the park and then use the other paper pass for Express. The perk is having 3 express days with a two night stay. You would still require a 3 day park ticket.