Help! Disney noob here: where to stay & park strategy?

[jmc56]

Hey everyone! Long post alert, but I'm really struggling to fit all these pieces together and want to make sure this is the best trip ever!!!

My best friend and I are planning our first trip to Disney & Universal next year. I've provided some details below and then my flurry of questions and thoughts

About us: 31 & 29, gay, one big eater while the other eats like a pigeon, both enjoy adult bevs
Dates: Sat, Sept 10 - Sun, Sept 18, 2022 (Sept 10 & 18 are travel days only) 8 nights total
Budget: $6,000 for flights, hotel, transportation, and park tix - about $2,500 for hotel

Parks: we'd like to hit all 4 Disney parks and both Universal parks
Resort: hoping for some decent food options, nice pool, not super cramped, on-site bar

Here's where I need help:

• Since we have 7 full days and 6 parks to visit (not park hopping), we'd like a rest day by the pool mid-week. What would be your strategy on which park to visit on which day? Would you recommend our rest day on Wed, smack dab in the middle of the week? Can we feasibly get through each park in only a day?
• Would it be better to stay on Disney property the entire time or split our trip at Universal property too? We're likely going to get the Express Pass to cut down our wait time, so would it make sense to stay at one of the premier resorts to get those passes included? Which resorts at Disney & Universal you would recommend over the others?
• We didn't factor food & drink into our budget, since we figured we can save for that on the side. How much would you recommend we set aside assuming roughly 3 meals a day and maybe a couple drinks and snack per day? I've read the free dining plan may come back and that it's usually offered in Sept, should we consider doing that?

I SUPER appreciate any advice, guidance or suggestions you all have! I feel like my head is spinning with so much information and trying to plan everything.

Thank you!
S & D

Hey everyone! Long post alert, but I'm really struggling to fit all these pieces together and want to make sure this is the best trip ever!!!

My best friend and I are planning our first trip to Disney & Universal next year. I've provided some details below and then my flurry of questions and thoughts

About us: 31 & 29, gay, one big eater while the other eats like a pigeon, both enjoy adult bevs
Dates: Sat, Sept 10 - Sun, Sept 18, 2022 (Sept 10 & 18 are travel days only) 8 nights total
Budget: $6,000 for flights, hotel, transportation, and park tix - about $2,500 for hotel

Parks: we'd like to hit all 4 Disney parks and both Universal parks
Resort: hoping for some decent food options, nice pool, not super cramped, on-site bar

Here's where I need help:

• Since we have 7 full days and 6 parks to visit (not park hopping), we'd like a rest day by the pool mid-week. What would be your strategy on which park to visit on which day? Would you recommend our rest day on Wed, smack dab in the middle of the week? Can we feasibly get through each park in only a day?
• Would it be better to stay on Disney property the entire time or split our trip at Universal property too? We're likely going to get the Express Pass to cut down our wait time, so would it make sense to stay at one of the premier resorts to get those passes included? Which resorts at Disney & Universal you would recommend over the others?
• We didn't factor food & drink into our budget, since we figured we can save for that on the side. How much would you recommend we set aside assuming roughly 3 meals a day and maybe a couple drinks and snack per day? I've read the free dining plan may come back and that it's usually offered in Sept, should we consider doing that?

I SUPER appreciate any advice, guidance or suggestions you all have! I feel like my head is spinning with so much information and trying to plan everything.

Thank you!
S & D

Hello S@D when we first went to DisneyWorld i did Lots of online research.We are actually taking our firtst cruise ever next year.There are wonderfull p;eople who can help you plan at no cost to you and are certified as Disney Experts very trustworth.There is the Dreamworl Vacations who do tons of videos etc go to the Dis Unplugged we are using mickey travels Sarah has been great help.
As for hotels you can search them on the Walt Disney World site itself some hotels are very costly all the properties on site offer various forms of transportation to the parks.
Our last stay was at Pop Century considered a value resort they are one of the hotels hooked up to the skyliner which is like a ride in itself which connects to Hollywood Studios and Epct.
I hope you both enjoy your trip,Joyce

 

[sarahrdh]

You’ll be going during food & wine, so a skyliner resort would my first pick, hands down. If you can’t rent dvc points at either boardwalk or beach club, or even riviera (that will probably be out of budget if it’s even available would be my guess), then I think caribbean beach is the way to go. Honestly I’d even pick Pop Century over say like Coronado for the sole reason of skyliner access. Can you tell I’m a skyliner fan??? Seriously it’s a game changer and I pretty much refuse to stay anywhere else at this point (unless it’s just a night or two).
Def look what others said about to UO resorts. UO isn’t my thing, but I’d def do one the resorts that gets you their fast pass included.

 

[Dug720]

the other eats like a pigeon,

So basically anything and everything? Pigeons are about the least picky eaters out there and compared to their body weight, they eat A LOT (actually all birds do). Seriously - I live in NYC and pigeons are BRUTAL!

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

Agree with most of the other posts:
The UOR hotels with front of the line access are worth it. Renting DVC points would also be our WDW choice.
Beware parking charges added at all resorts - look for the cost so you can include it in your budget.
We love Epcot resorts and this would be a must for us during food and wine IF we had park hoppers so we could snack and drink around all of the food and beverage booths - I would look at information and past menus from food and wine to see if you might want to reconsider park hoppers to take advantage of food and wine. If you don't like the look of the food and wine festival then avoiding this area might be a good plan.

We now avoid the dining plan - it's only "free" when paying full price for the hotel, doesn't include tips and doesn't include as many beverages as you want, in addition to not allowing you to customize portions to fit each of your appetites. We have done "free dining" and found that we actually come in cheaper and more satisfied without the dining plan - especially with wanting adult beverages and with having varying appetites. It is so glorious being able to say, "Ohh, that drink looks fantastic let's get one of those as or with our afternoon snack," rather than saying, "well, what's covered on the plan and how many snack credits remain." Just wisdom from our experience which sounds like it might align with your preferences - others love the DDP.

Happy planning!

 

[rwdavis2]

As for hotels, split the stay between WDW and Universal. Specifically the Hard Rock at Universal. Excellent servivce plus free Express Passes. From there you can walk to the parks. HardRock has a great bar in the pool area.

 

[scorcoran89]

Wow, so many replies - THANK YOU!!! We really appreciate it. Let me add a few extra points to answer some questions above:

• We will not be renting a car; we plan to use Disney transportation, Uber/Lyft, etc.
• After some more research, we're going to stay away from renting DVC points as we're wary about being locked in so far in advance; maybe the next trip!
• Skyliner access is a non-issue; we both agreed we wouldn't likely use it and the convenience of a quick Uber/Lyft is better for us
• Still on the fence about the dining plan (IF it's even offered next year), but it sounds like it may be more cost effective to take the room discount over the 'free' dining
• We'd like to stay on-property and after some research, we'll likely aim for a moderate resort at Disney and either Hard Rock or Portofino at UO

Here's the big question we still can't figure out... how do we structure our week with the split hotels where we're still getting the Disney perks (e.g. transportation, early magic hours) and the UO perks respectively???

I've been trying to play around with our schedule based on the days of weeks each park is busiest knowing that crowds *may* be lower due to mid-Sept or busier due to 50th anniversary. This is what I have so far - any thoughts or suggestions?

Sat: Travel day (arrive in Orlando); check-in to Disney resort
Sun: Animal Kingdom
Mon: Hollywood Studios
Tues: Magic Kingdom
Wed: Epcot
Thurs: Rest day; transfer to UO resort
Fri: Islands of Adventure
Sat: Universal Studios
Sun: Travel day (depart Orlando)

I thought to put UO at the end of the trip and on Fri/Sat park days, since I figured if we have the express pass benefit, even if the parks are really busy we will still have relatively shorter waits whereas at Disney it'll hopefully be quieter early/mid-week and we can play the fastpass game. I've also heard AK is quiet(er) on Sundays and with less rides we could probably get through the park no problem.

The above would be 5 nights @ Disney and 3 nights @ UO. Based on some more research last night, I think we can absolutely swing a moderate (i.e. CSR, CBR) and Hard Rock with our $2500 budget, which is a bit flexible if we can score cheaper flights and/or reduce transportation expenses!

 

[CarolynFH]

Wow, so many replies - THANK YOU!!! We really appreciate it. Let me add a few extra points to answer some questions above:

• We will not be renting a car; we plan to use Disney transportation, Uber/Lyft, etc.
• After some more research, we're going to stay away from renting DVC points as we're wary about being locked in so far in advance; maybe the next trip!
• Skyliner access is a non-issue; we both agreed we wouldn't likely use it and the convenience of a quick Uber/Lyft is better for us
• Still on the fence about the dining plan (IF it's even offered next year), but it sounds like it may be more cost effective to take the room discount over the 'free' dining
• We'd like to stay on-property and after some research, we'll likely aim for a moderate resort at Disney and either Hard Rock or Portofino at UO

Here's the big question we still can't figure out... how do we structure our week with the split hotels where we're still getting the Disney perks (e.g. transportation, early magic hours) and the UO perks respectively???

I've been trying to play around with our schedule based on the days of weeks each park is busiest knowing that crowds *may* be lower due to mid-Sept or busier due to 50th anniversary. This is what I have so far - any thoughts or suggestions?

Sat: Travel day (arrive in Orlando); check-in to Disney resort
Sun: Animal Kingdom
Mon: Hollywood Studios
Tues: Magic Kingdom
Wed: Epcot
Thurs: Rest day; transfer to UO resort
Fri: Islands of Adventure
Sat: Universal Studios
Sun: Travel day (depart Orlando)

I thought to put UO at the end of the trip and on Fri/Sat park days, since I figured if we have the express pass benefit, even if the parks are really busy we will still have relatively shorter waits whereas at Disney it'll hopefully be quieter early/mid-week and we can play the fastpass game. I've also heard AK is quiet(er) on Sundays and with less rides we could probably get through the park no problem.

The above would be 5 nights @ Disney and 3 nights @ UO. Based on some more research last night, I think we can absolutely swing a moderate (i.e. CSR, CBR) and Hard Rock with our $2500 budget, which is a bit flexible if we can score cheaper flights and/or reduce transportation expenses!

Looks like a good plan to me. Be aware that UOR has a lot more thrill rides than WDW has, so if y'all like coasters etc. then ending at UOR means ending on a high point, so to speak, and for some coaster lovers who start at UOR, WDW is a letdown. Also, if planning a moderate at WDW, be sure to look at Swan/Dolphin - even with the daily resort fee, it can come out similar to a Disney moderate, especially since you won't have a car and daily parking charges. You would be able to walk to DHS and Epcot, and taking the S/D bus to MK and AK isn't that big of a deal, even with being dropped off at TTC at MK - surely you want to ride the monorail at least once! And back to UOR again - if you want to ride the Hogwarts Express, you will need a park to park ticket, which I would recommend anyway because that makes it easy to bop between the two parks (which are directly next to each other) instead of restricting yourselves to one park each day.

 

[Marthasor]

Wow, so many replies - THANK YOU!!! We really appreciate it. Let me add a few extra points to answer some questions above:

• We will not be renting a car; we plan to use Disney transportation, Uber/Lyft, etc.
• After some more research, we're going to stay away from renting DVC points as we're wary about being locked in so far in advance; maybe the next trip!
• Skyliner access is a non-issue; we both agreed we wouldn't likely use it and the convenience of a quick Uber/Lyft is better for us
• Still on the fence about the dining plan (IF it's even offered next year), but it sounds like it may be more cost effective to take the room discount over the 'free' dining
• We'd like to stay on-property and after some research, we'll likely aim for a moderate resort at Disney and either Hard Rock or Portofino at UO

Here's the big question we still can't figure out... how do we structure our week with the split hotels where we're still getting the Disney perks (e.g. transportation, early magic hours) and the UO perks respectively???

I've been trying to play around with our schedule based on the days of weeks each park is busiest knowing that crowds *may* be lower due to mid-Sept or busier due to 50th anniversary. This is what I have so far - any thoughts or suggestions?

Sat: Travel day (arrive in Orlando); check-in to Disney resort
Sun: Animal Kingdom
Mon: Hollywood Studios
Tues: Magic Kingdom
Wed: Epcot
Thurs: Rest day; transfer to UO resort
Fri: Islands of Adventure
Sat: Universal Studios
Sun: Travel day (depart Orlando)

I thought to put UO at the end of the trip and on Fri/Sat park days, since I figured if we have the express pass benefit, even if the parks are really busy we will still have relatively shorter waits whereas at Disney it'll hopefully be quieter early/mid-week and we can play the fastpass game. I've also heard AK is quiet(er) on Sundays and with less rides we could probably get through the park no problem.

The above would be 5 nights @ Disney and 3 nights @ UO. Based on some more research last night, I think we can absolutely swing a moderate (i.e. CSR, CBR) and Hard Rock with our $2500 budget, which is a bit flexible if we can score cheaper flights and/or reduce transportation expenses!

I like the schedule. By Thursday, you'll need a little break, IMHO and Hard Rock is a great place to do that.

 

[jbrinkm]

• We will not be renting a car; we plan to use Disney transportation, Uber/Lyft, etc.
• After some more research, we're going to stay away from renting DVC points as we're wary about being locked in so far in advance; maybe the next trip!
• Skyliner access is a non-issue; we both agreed we wouldn't likely use it and the convenience of a quick Uber/Lyft is better for us
• Still on the fence about the dining plan (IF it's even offered next year), but it sounds like it may be more cost effective to take the room discount over the 'free' dining
• We'd like to stay on-property and after some research, we'll likely aim for a moderate resort at Disney and either Hard Rock or Portofino at UO

Here's the big question we still can't figure out... how do we structure our week with the split hotels where we're still getting the Disney perks (e.g. transportation, early magic hours) and the UO perks respectively???

We have an 8 night trip planned for this summer and we have a very similar itinerary to what you proposed, although we opted to stay at POP to balance out the higher cost of the UO hotels - plus we're very excited to use the skyliner for the first time.

I am in support of putting UO at the end of the trip. Disney will be more exhausting and UO with the EP should make for an easier end to the trip. You can sometimes find deals with free days on tickets for UO so if you want to fly out later in the day on your last Sunday, you could do a bit more of Universal on departure day. I've also read on here that Annual Passes aren't that much more than 2 days of tickets plus you get a discount on the room so you might consider looking into that. AND, you get the EP on check in and check out days, so if you get a day or more of free tickets you could do a bit on your check in day or your check out day. Or you could wait to move hotels early on your first UO day so you're not paying more for the higher-priced UO hotel for that night.

The free dining is something that everyone has to decide for themselves. I think there is hope that it might be in place for fall 2022. My brother's family will NOT go to WDW unless there is free dining and others think it is not cost effective. Some people really like prepaying for food and then not thinking about it much after that. One thing to consider - since it seems like you are booking together like a family would, I believe the dining plan credits could be shared between the two of you. So the one who eats more *could* use more than "their" share of the dining credits while the other uses fewer of the credits. I'd say do your best to price it out both ways if you have the time/energy to do so.

Since DME will no longer be operating, I'd consider a private transportation company for your airport transfers AND your resort transfer. There are lots of good recommendations on here - and some not so good to avoid. We're using Tony Hinds for our August trip and have never used him but have read many glowing things about him on the boards.

I'll second and third a touring plans subscription - you can learn SO MUCH by reading their stuff and creating plans for the parks. I suspect, since you're starting the planning process now, that you might have fun with this (I do!). Do a search for this in the boards and you can read about all the great stuff everyone likes about them.

As far as your Disney resort, I'd list your preferences from above along with your daily price range and see what people say over on the resorts board.

Good luck!

 

[jbrinkm]

Here's where I need help:

• Since we have 7 full days and 6 parks to visit (not park hopping), we'd like a rest day by the pool mid-week. What would be your strategy on which park to visit on which day? Would you recommend our rest day on Wed, smack dab in the middle of the week? Can we feasibly get through each park in only a day?

P.S. Another thing you can do on Touring Plans is to see a crowd calendar for each day, which can help choose parks for the day depending on how busy they are. Sept will be Food & Wine at Epcot and potentially some Halloween stuff going on during some of the evenings - just keep those in mind, no real advice about that, only to think about how much you might want to experience those special events - especially since you identify as adult-beverage-enjoyers (F&W). Keep an open mind about park hoppers if you are only spending 4 days at WDW. If you go to AK early and finish up there in the afternoon, you might potentially want to hop over to Epcot for a few more hours of park time. Especially since you have a rest day built in - easier to do commando-style touring for the 4 days of parks with that break in between.