Easter week Universal / Disney split trip help

[Splat10]

Looking at putting together a trip where we'd be arriving by car late afternoon Friday 4/10 and leaving some time saturday 4/18. High level plan so far is to hit Universal first for three days (two days with any parks and a third day a Volcano bay) staying a Pacific for the unlimited Express passes. Then hop over to Disney and do 4 or 4.5 days likely including the AK after hours. We have done disney a few times in the last few years but not since before Pandora opened. I've never been to universal and never done the research i've done on disney (podcasts, websites, etc).

Things i know i want
1) going to stay at all stars to save money since we are NEVER at the hotel except to sleep and since we have a car we don't have to deal with Disney buses. This is a BUDGET trip. saving money everywhere possible while still getting the park experiences we want (as easily as possible)
2) Staying at a Premium hotel at universal for the express passes and early entry since Easter weekend is probably the worst time we could possibly pick, right??? This will be the only cost splurge.
3) Want to hit all the new stuff, possibly multiple times (Star wars, Pandora, Toy Story, etc.) HS has always been my favorite park, even before TS and GE. Then AK, MK, and finally EP.

Questions
1) Is my assumption to do Universal over the holiday weekend the right decision? I know most people say to do it after dis but with the crowd calendars i assume taking the easier route on the weekend is better.
2) Volcano bay is not part of the free express pass for staying in a premium, right? If so i can use my 3 day 3rd park free ticket to go back later in the week if i want instead. Would this be a good idea, especially maybe on AK after hours day (tuesday)?
3) Are there limitations on the Universal hotel stay? As long as we go to sleep or wake up in the hotel we get the free stuff those days right?
4) Is HS going to be a two day park that week? should i plan on spending a little extra and getting a 5 day ticket instead of a 4 day 4 park ticket even though i'm only planning 4 days (i may hit rope drop the saturday we're heading home)
5) if we do after hours at AK do we really need to go back for a full day? If we just rope drop FOP or get lucky enough to get a FP do we even need to to the after hours party? We've always got the entire park done in the past (before pandora).

Thanks for any help or suggestions
Steve

 

[choirbird]

Following!

I'm planning my 4th Disney trip but 1st Universal trip for the same week. I have a good deal at Pop so I don't think we'll be staying onsite at Universal even though I know it would make things easier. Considering paying extra for express passes. I'm also doing WDW at the end due to the FP advantage so I'll probably do Universal on Tuesday/Wednesday.

I don't think you'd need a full AK day with after hours, unless you want to spend a lot of time with the animals. If you're mostly prioritizing rides, you'll be covered by the after hours.

 

[Splat10]

Following!
I have a good deal at Pop so I don't think we'll be staying onsite at Universal even though I know it would make things easier. Considering paying extra for express passes.

The one trick i have learned on universal is to get express passes by getting a room for only 1 night. That covers those two days. Nothing wrong with checking out of dis for a day, save $200 on the $500 a night room. I'm still not sure about the logistics of making this work as i understand that you need to check in before you get your express passes so that sounds like a really early morning leaving disney.

I'll probably get an onsite budget room the afternoon i arrive, explore citywalk and dinner. Wake up early park day 1, stick suitcase in car, check out of budget and into pacific, hit hagrids at open 90 minutes early, and use express everywhere else all day. Probably repeat again on day 2 to hit hagrids again. The picture is starting to come together for me.