Hi all!
We have been to Disney a few times, and now that the kids are older, I'd like to bring them to Universal for the first time for a quick trip in January.
I believe that most schools have off 1/20 for MLK day, but their school is also out on 1/21 & 1/22, so I thought it would be a good time to go while it's not hot, and hopefully less crowded. I know there is a big expansion in the works, but since we've never been, I'm betting this is a good time before the crowds build up for the new Harry Potter attractions.
We just moved from New York to NC, so I am planning to drive down. Google maps says it should be about 8 hours from our house. I'm trying to keep to a budget as much as possible.
Here's what I'm thinking:
Purchase 3 day p2p tickets (buy 2 get 1)
Start drive down on Saturday, and either stop after we are most of the way there for the night, or drive all the way through.
Or just start early Sunday and drive till we drop and save the hotel fee for Saturday night.
I see that some crowd calendars are predicting heavy crowds on Sunday, moderate on Monday, and slower on Tuesday. (Which makes perfect sense.)
Soo.. I figured that we would arrive at the parks sometime on Sunday, mostly to look around, get the lay of the land, and get some rides/shows in. (Recommendations ??)
Then, on Monday and Tuesday I would reserve the mornings for Harry Potter- this is important to my daughter, she is a big fan.
Tuesday night we would stay in the hotel, and drive back on Wednesday.
I was thinking about switching to an on site hotel for Monday only to get the express passes, but I was hoping I wouldn't need them. (Thoughts?) I really would prefer off site, because I have two teenage boys (14 & 17) and a 12 year old daughter. We prefer a place with a few rooms and a fridge and microwave.
I think water rides will be out in January - so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay offsite.
Thanks for reading all the way through - Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
We have been to Disney a few times, and now that the kids are older, I'd like to bring them to Universal for the first time for a quick trip in January.
I believe that most schools have off 1/20 for MLK day, but their school is also out on 1/21 & 1/22, so I thought it would be a good time to go while it's not hot, and hopefully less crowded. I know there is a big expansion in the works, but since we've never been, I'm betting this is a good time before the crowds build up for the new Harry Potter attractions.
We just moved from New York to NC, so I am planning to drive down. Google maps says it should be about 8 hours from our house. I'm trying to keep to a budget as much as possible.
Here's what I'm thinking:
Purchase 3 day p2p tickets (buy 2 get 1)
Start drive down on Saturday, and either stop after we are most of the way there for the night, or drive all the way through.
Or just start early Sunday and drive till we drop and save the hotel fee for Saturday night.
I see that some crowd calendars are predicting heavy crowds on Sunday, moderate on Monday, and slower on Tuesday. (Which makes perfect sense.)
Soo.. I figured that we would arrive at the parks sometime on Sunday, mostly to look around, get the lay of the land, and get some rides/shows in. (Recommendations ??)
Then, on Monday and Tuesday I would reserve the mornings for Harry Potter- this is important to my daughter, she is a big fan.
Tuesday night we would stay in the hotel, and drive back on Wednesday.
I was thinking about switching to an on site hotel for Monday only to get the express passes, but I was hoping I wouldn't need them. (Thoughts?) I really would prefer off site, because I have two teenage boys (14 & 17) and a 12 year old daughter. We prefer a place with a few rooms and a fridge and microwave.
I think water rides will be out in January - so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay offsite.
Thanks for reading all the way through - Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
