Help/suggestions please! WDW+Universal

[Pinkos]

Trying to help a friend plan a FIRST vacation to WDW. She will be bringing her niece/nephew (11/10).

She is thinking she will want to do a few days @WDW and a few days @universal. The kids will probably be more into the attractions/theming of universal but they want to "see Disney" as well.

She does NOT want to drive. So staying onsite is a must.

Those with experience doing both parks, what would u do?

Stay at WDW, can to universal on those days or split stay at both with one cab in the middle of the week? They are on a very limited budget as well.

 

[damo]

On a limited budget it is very difficult to do both WDW and Universal. It is much more economical to spend the whole time at one park as the extra days only cost a few dollars. I would choose one.

 

[macraven]

i have done both parks when my boys were 7, 8, 9, left Mr Mac at home as i didn't need an extra kid to deal with.......lol
op, your friend could stay onsite at the first hotel/disney for 3 nights then cab it or private car service it to universal.

do a one night stay at a deluxe for the convenience of closeness to the parks and eateries at city walk.
move to this hotel early morning for a full day there and free usage of the ep's.
check out of the hotel the next morning but have her luggage kept in baggage claim area of the hotel and do the parks again.
she will be allowed that second day of free express line useage.

stay until the time comes for departure for the airport.
she will need tickets for 3 days at the motherland and 2 days for the darkside parks.


have her figure the costs for transportation and it could turn out a cab to the darkside for one full day there would be the cheapest way to do both theme parks.
i've gone that route before also when the kids were younger.

it is doable to do both theme parks but it might depend on her budget for the entire vacation.

have her avoid weekends so less crowds to deal with in the parks.
if that is not possible, sundays at either park could be more manageable.

 

[squirrel]

On a budget it is always better to only pick one park. The price per ticket for the first few days is high, after the first few days it's cheaper to add on days. Switching between hotels costs more money.

I'm doing Universal, SeaWorld and Aquatica for 14 days. I decided to do the other parks and give them a try after doing WDW and DCL over the last 5+ years. When I did WDW I spent 14 nights and had 10 day park tickets (some years I added in a MNSSHP ticket). I used the extra days as no park days so we only had 2-3 days of parks and then a day off.

 

[RMulieri]

With a tight budget , I would stick with one or the other. It is hard to do both on a limited budget. Both Disney and Universal have become destinations and they are not cheap by any stretch. A day or two isn't really discounted and They become cheaper the longer you stay

 

[Happyjen27]

Ticket prices will be hardest thing to swallow when thinking of doing both parks. Like other posters have said, Disney and Universal charge a lot for the first day and then by the time you're there for 3 days, it's only a little bit more, maybe $20 per person, to add a 4th day. Then only about $10 per person to add a 5th day. (Please don't flame me, I'm not looking up the ticket prices, just giving good guesses to give poster an idea of costs).

So, if one wants to do 3 days at disney, they pay the big up front cost of the tickets. On day 4 of their vacation, they could either pay $20 per person to stay at Disney, or restart at the $100 per person level at Universal. So, basically doing 3 days at Disney and 3 days at Universal is the most expensive ticketing option to spend 6 days in a theme park in Orlando.

Once you get past the cost of the ticket price, for someone who does not want to drive, they would of course have to stay on site. Those costs can be kept constant, meaning they aren't more or less depending on how many days one does each park.

There are car services that drive people and luggage from Disney to Universal, or hop a cab, or, if it's in her comfort level, she can call an Uber.

If they just want to "see Disney" but experience Universal fully, then I recommend doing what a previous poster suggested, and stay at Universal for the vacation, and just visit Disney on a party night either during the Halloween or Christmas season. That one party night ticket gets them in at 4PM until roughly midnight, and only costs about $73 per person.

 

[chmurf]

universal on those days or split stay at both with one cab in the middle of the week? They are on a very limited budget as well.

limited budget and limited time call for one resort only.

 

[markhamont]

Another vote for doing just one. A compromise use might be to do Universal, but take a day trip to Disney Springs to get a taste of Disney.

 

[HM]

Limited budget to me means pick one. It's very expensive to do a few days or even a couple of days at both Disney and US. I'd go for Universal given what you've said here.
I'd have them stay at Cabana Bay so they can walk or bus to the parks and it has a great amenities. They'll love it. And as mentioned, if they want a taste of Disney, an evening at Disney Springs might be a good idea (they could take a taxi or Uber there and back).

 

[macraven]

All good points here

I have the AP so ticket prices aren't my concern to hit both parks

But if I didn't, staying at one place would make more economical sense