Getting to that... other... place...

[Skywise]

Designing a trip for this summer, family wants to hit Universal Studios sometime during our trip and I'm thinking the best time will be our arrival day. We'll be staying somewhere on-site and plan on taking advantage of DME (at the very least to go back). The flight will get in early (probably 7:30am-ish so long as they don't change the schedule).

Here's the options I'm considering (in my order of preference)

-MDE to resort (might be Poly, WKL or POR) then rent a car to go to US there. This way I can check in at the resort and the luggage gets to the resort on its own. I'm not sure if it's more of a hassle to rent/get the car that way or just:

-Rent the car at the airport and drive to US then return in the evening. This means I can't "check in" until later in the evening and then I've gotta return the car to a different location then the airport. (which is sometimes more expensive)

-Shuttle service? (Though I'm concerned about having to leave (or stay) on a schedule.)

-Part of my family is driving up to drop a person off, I'd like to talk that family into going to universal with us and... uh... take us along. (This has less than a 50/50 chance so I wanna plan B just in case.)

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Mears runs a shared shuttle about $20 per person round trip (they don't sell one ways). You arrange a pickup but you call them about an hour or two ahead to arrange your transportation back to your resort. Big issue is, it's a shared shuttle, so it will stop at other resorts and maybe even at Sea World.

If there are several persons in your party you might be better off with a car rental (remember to factor in the price to park the car at Universal) or a private car service.

You can rent a car via Alamo or National and return it to the Car Care Center near MK or the Dolphin resort. Check the prices. Avis has a car return at the DTD Hilton. You can't rent a car AT the Disney resorts, you'd have to take Disney transportation to the Dolphin or get a shuttle to the Car Care Center.

I would actually not suggest that you spend your arrival day at Universal if it means you will be arriving well after their parks open, especially if you don't want to wait in really long lines for the Harry Potter stuff. Your other issue is that unless you rent at the airport, renting the car will take extra time. If your interest is in going straight to Universal when you arrive rent a car at the airport. The shared shuttles from the Disney resorts don't have pickup times in the midafternoon. I know you are thinking you'll be really early, but DME takes time. Checking in takes time. Finding your room and getting situated takes time.

 

[niffer5150]

yeah i second not doing it on arrival day. the potter sections fill up quickly after opening and it gets pretty crowded later. you'll probably want to look at crowd calendars too.

we stay at POR and we just take a cab over and back for the day. that way, we aren't held to anyone else's schedule and it's way faster.

 

[Seeker615]

There is really so much to see at Universal. One day in the summer does not seem like enough time to really take in all it has to offer.

Could you do an overnight there? If you stay at one of their deluxe resorts you get the express pass and that would really come in handy.

There is two really great parks and City walk. One day (especially arrival day) would really be pushing it.

 

[nkereina]

We just did 6 days at Disney followed by 3 days at Universal, and we had such a great time that we will probably do this kind of trip going forward. We stayed at Royal Pacific which we actually enjoyed better than CBR, and loved being able to walk to the parks and City Walk. The Express Pass was also helpeful and I imagine would be key during a busier time of year. On our last day at Disney, we simply took a cab from CBR to Royal Pacific and it was about $30. There were cabs waiting and readily available at CBR.

If you don't wish to stay at a Universal hotel, I think another option is to pick a day mid-trip where you can arrive at Universal early. I agree with PP that getting there at park opening is just as important as it is at Disney, if not moreso because you can't use Express Pass on rides like Gringotts and Forbidden Journey. I would just take a cab to avoid extra stops on a shuttle, plus you can get a cab whenever you need it rather than scheduling a pick-up.