First time Combo Park Trip

[WDWmom08]

We are DVC members and big Disney goers. I am a huge fan of Disney trip planning. We always invite friends, stay on points and all get the dining plan. My DD is 11 and loves everything Harry Potter. I started thinking our next trip should include some time at Universal so I thought we'll book our usual 5 night stay and spend a couple days at Universal. Then I started wondering how we would get back and forth and realized that would probably mess up my dining plan addiction. So I started looking up combo trips and found the wonderful world of Harry Potter package. Does anyone have advice on what the best way to combine the two? Should we book a universal package and add on DVC days? Is the package worth it? Could we do that through a travel agent since I know nothing about universal? Should I just stick to travelling there from Disney for a couple days? I have myself so confused!

 

[cgattis]

I have personally never found value in a package. I would stay at Disney for Disney park days, then move to a Universal hotel for 1-2 nights (website shows you which hotels have which perks). If you wanted two Uni park days but only one hotel night, you can go over early in the morning, check in (even if it's before check in time), leave your things, and go on to the parks. You get privileges on check in and check out days. You might get hooked on being able to walk to the parks!!!

 

[Lynne G]

Many do both, and some start with Disney and end with Universal, and some do the opposite. I tend to do Disney first, as I find Universal more relaxing and not as many parks. I do recommend to stay onsite in one of the 3 hotels that has an unlimited express pass as a perk for staying there. Come on over to the Universal part of the boards. Friendly bunch, that has a ton of information about Universal, and questions are always welcome. Also, packages never seem to be the cheapest, and they have changing and cancelling fees. Room only has a one night deposit to hold the reservation, and no cost to change or cancel (though within the time to cancel). Finally, no free transportation to Universal to or from the airport. And many use a car service, rent a car, or use uber to move from Disney to Universal or Universal to Disney. Some like to finish with Disney, then their trip back to the airport is covered by their Disney hotel room fee.

11 sounds like a great age to discover Universal. The Potter areas are very cool to explore and very detailed, and that will be even cooler if your DD has read the books and/or seen the movies.

 

[TellTheHubbyLater]

We usually do a week at disney and then 2 days attached universal. But our DS10 read all the Harry Potter books this spring and now is super excited about universal. I didn't want to listen to him for a week saying how he cannot wait to get his wand. So, this year I hopped on the universal threads and changed things up. We are doing 5 nights at royal pacific and then 7 at disney. I booked the stay more save more at universal. I got our tickets at undercover tourist for the buy 2 get 1 free. Most recommend not doing a package at universal. I personally wouldn't want to use valuable early morning park hours to do breakfast. We are really excited to get the early entry and express pass and to pool hop at all of the resorts one day!!
For transport, I am using recommended Tony Hinds for all 3 legs of our trip.

 

[keishashadow]

Good idea to do Disney first then U (will get spoiled by the onsite FOTL perk offered by 3 of the resort's fast lol)

Have never found the U pkg to beat what you can book yourself.

Don't need meal plan @ U, nor are you a slave to ADRs there. Parks have several nice venues, more in Citiwalk and the resorts.

If possible, why not keep the 5 days @ DVC (Sun to Thurs to save on points?), then switch over to U. Even one night gives you 2 days of FOTL perk.

Easy to uber up to U or taxi, again to airport.

 

[Hootch]

Stay at one of the Universal deluxe hotels if you can afford it. The front of the line perk is great. Even staying one night gives you two days of FOTL. The HP attractions are not covered under FOTL. Look at doing Minions and Rip Ride Rocket fairly early. The FOTL lines can get long.

Staying onsite usually includes an hour early entry. It has been IOA whenever we have been there. Everyone headed to HP.. There is a single rider line though I would walk through the whole attraction at least once. It is well done. I have basically walked on the ride at the end of the night.

Get the two park tickets so you can ride the Hogwarts Express between the parks.

We ate at the Leaky Cauldron which was pretty good. Florean Fortescue's is tasty. The chocolate chili ice cream has a nice kick. It goes well with the toffee ice cream.

I agree with the previous posters. I would not do a package. When at at the Leaky Cauldron, the cashier automatically upgraded one ticket to the dining plan due the cost of the meal. That essentially gave us a free pumpkin juice.

 

[WDWmom08]

Wow...so many great ideas. My head is still swimming a bit. That's crazy that the packages don't offer any savings. I guess that's why I couldn't really find any info on the harry potter package on the Universal boards. I hadn't factored in not having the magical express in both directions. So do you basically just pick a hotel and buy park tickets for a Univ trip? Is any one of the three hotels more convenient to the Harry Potter areas than any other? Thanks for the info!

 

[wdw4rfam]

We do universal for 2 days in the middle of our 11 day Disney trips. We don't move resorts, just because we find it wastes an entire day of packing, moving and unpacking. We go at the beginning of September when the FOTL pass isn't that big of a perk. But if I was going at a busier time, I'd consider moving for that. We are flying my daughter and her boyfriend in for just our universal days and still booked them at Disney because of the magical express. We will drive them to universal. Either way you will need transportation. Disney transports you to the airport, but then you need to get to universal. If you stay at universal, you will need transportation to the airport. Just don't rent a car, universal charges their hotel guests parking and its steep.

 

[Hootch]

Wow...so many great ideas. My head is still swimming a bit. That's crazy that the packages don't offer any savings. I guess that's why I couldn't really find any info on the harry potter package on the Universal boards. I hadn't factored in not having the magical express in both directions. So do you basically just pick a hotel and buy park tickets for a Univ trip? Is any one of the three hotels more convenient to the Harry Potter areas than any other? Thanks for the info!

In both cases the HP properties are in the back of the park. Think Fantasyland at the MK.

The Hard Rock is closer to the entrances of both parks. We have always stayed at the Royal Pacific which is fairly close to IOA. It's the cheapest of the deluxe properties and has a nice pool.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We always do Universal first because I like the Disney parks better and like to end on a Disney note and I'm the planner We just do a room-only stay at Universal and then move for the Disney portion. Universal is easy, just pick a hotel and book the room and you can literally do the rest when you get there. We have always had a great time on our Uni-WDW split stays.

 

[Lynne G]

The reason you're not seeing most wanting the package is also because Universal does not own or operate the hotels, like Disney does. If you want to stay at one of them, suggest also joining Loews' you first account. It's free to do so. For every stay, you get points that give values for the more stays you do. Also, check for all discounts that apply to you. So far, Loews has been running a stay more, save more discount, applicable to stays of 3 nights or more. AAA also is a discount. Check the prices, as time of year, and week-ends are more. And yes, all have a parking fee. Since the hotel's contract that out, it's just a service if you need it.