How Many Days for first Universal trip-split stay with Disney?

[firstwdw]

We are experienced Disney fans. Planning to spend 2 nights at Universal Premier to start the vacation. That would give us a few hours on arrival day, all day on the 2nd day and part of the 3rd day in the parks (before we move over to Disney). Is this enough time? Too much time? The Premier Resorts are quite pricey at $550+ when we are looking to stay next spring.
We love Disney....not sure what we will think about Universal but want to try it out. Mom is not a thrill rider so will probably be the bag holder OR do you think just one night at Universal is enough-giving us check-in day and the following day until we move over to Disney?

 

[macraven]

As long as you are not planning to do the Darkside during the busy spring break time next year, two days should work out fine for you to do a two day planned visit

 

[dancergirlsmom]

We generally spend one or two nights at Royal Pacific before we move to Disney for a week. We have found that this is plenty of time especially if you are staying at one of the premier resorts that have express pass included. We actually bought an Annual Pass last November to get the passholder rates on the hotels it has more than paid for itself.

 

[bchbetha]

2 nights and your mix of partial days and a full day are good.
Send mom off to shows.

 

[puffkin]

We find we need 2 full days at Universal and then a 1/2 day for favorites and last minute things. That is with EP and definitely taking breaks and not being commando, but not being leisurely either.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Mom is not a thrill rider so will probably be the bag holder

1. You should encourage her to try most rides! There are very few true thrill rides and some that require lockers are NOT thrill rides (thinking MiB specifically). With EP, you would also be able to "Mom test" rides first if needed.
2. There are free lockers to hold bags to free Mom up to try the rides!

 

[firstwdw]

Thank you everyone! We are planning a Premier Resort since our break falls over Easter week and it will be crowded in the parks. I think we will plan 2 nights even though the cost of the premier resort is hard to swallow! Good to know on not all rides being considered thrill rides even if they require lockers!

 

[chimoe]

I think with universal, you should prob have at least 2 full days, 1 for each park. We stay at PBR and express passes help a lot. I think 3 days is the sweet spot.

 

[bchbetha]

I didn't realize it was Easter week. 2 full days would be a lot better.

 

[Ellie008]

Definitely look at annual passes for the hotel discount. It was substantial during our last visit, and the three day pass was only about $15 less than the lowest tier AP. But the lowest tier is likely blocked out during easter, so you would have to look at the higher AP price vs hotel discount. Likely to still be worth it for at least one of you for two nights in the hotel.
For our first UO trip we did three full days, and had plenty of time. Second trip we did two full days and again had plenty of time, since we skipped the rides we hadn't liked the first time. Rode many things multiple times on both trips.

 

[DIS_MERI]

I think your Disney preferences will play in some. I like to do shorter trips, more frequently. So our preferred Disney trip is 3-5 days (been 18 times, so we started with 7 night and 1-2 years between visit and worked our way down to 3-5 nights, 2-4 times a year...haven’t been since Sept 2019 ). For Uni we did 3 nights/4 days in 2016 sandwiched between Disney and Busch gardens/Disney our first trip and it seemed like a bit much (or maybe it was the 3 extra people that was a bit much lol). We got season APs and went for spring break for 2 nights/3 days and that was perfect for us.

We are doing the 50th at Disney, Sep 30-Oct 4 and then going to Uni (arriving after park day on Oct 4, leaving hotel around 2pm Oct 7. So 2.5 park days. We got the 15 month APs because that’s what DD14 wanted for her sweet 16 next year, so we can hit whatever we feel like we missed on the next trip or 2

 

[firstwdw]

I think your Disney preferences will play in some. I like to do shorter trips, more frequently. So our preferred Disney trip is 3-5 days (been 18 times, so we started with 7 night and 1-2 years between visit and worked our way down to 3-5 nights, 2-4 times a year...haven’t been since Sept 2019 ). For Uni we did 3 nights/4 days in 2016 sandwiched between Disney and Busch gardens/Disney our first trip and it seemed like a bit much (or maybe it was the 3 extra people that was a bit much lol). We got season APs and went for spring break for 2 nights/3 days and that was perfect for us.

We are doing the 50th at Disney, Sep 30-Oct 4 and then going to Uni (arriving after park day on Oct 4, leaving hotel around 2pm Oct 7. So 2.5 park days. We got the 15 month APs because that’s what DD14 wanted for her sweet 16 next year, so we can hit whatever we feel like we missed on the next trip or 2

I wonder if we should plan to have a Disney ticket for the day we move over to Disney from Universal. I am just worried that if we are done with Universal, we might want to do a Disney park that night. So right now we are planning to fly down Friday morning and check into Universal.....then visit Universal Friday afternoon, all day Sat and however long we feel like on Sunday before moving to a Disney resort. It's not a whole lot more to do 6 Disney park day tickets but I wonder if I only need 5 as we might need a rest night after Universal and moving to Disney. So much to think about!

 

[bchbetha]

I wonder if we should plan to have a Disney ticket for the day we move over to Disney from Universal. I am just worried that if we are done with Universal, we might want to do a Disney park that night. So right now we are planning to fly down Friday morning and check into Universal.....then visit Universal Friday afternoon, all day Sat and however long we feel like on Sunday before moving to a Disney resort. It's not a whole lot more to do 6 Disney park day tickets but I wonder if I only need 5 as we might need a rest night after Universal and moving to Disney. So much to think about!

Why rush through that Universal day? I would 100% play that day by ear and not book Disney for the evening. I would just enjoy your resort if you have time.

 

[firstwdw]

Why rush through that Universal day? I would 100% play that day by ear and not book Disney for the evening. I would just enjoy your resort if you have time.

I think you are right! Good point and thank you! I just love Disney and we usually do 6 park days but with the combo trip it'll be 5 Disney days but that is ok....we can take a ride on the Skyliner, explore the resort, get settled and rest up for the next day. Because with the combo trip we will actually have MORE park days than we are used to but some will just be over at Universal instead

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We do 2 nights, 3 days at Royal Pacific. One day at each park and one day solely devoted to HP. With EPS you should be fine with your 1 full and 2 half days. Remember if you want to take Hogwsrts Express you’ll need a Park to Park ticket. I’d do the full day at IoA and the two half’s at uS. We’re die hard Disney fans but we also love US. Some of my kids even prefer it over Disney!

 

[angryduck71]

I think I answered you on the "other side," but we're going to do 5 days Universal, 4 days Disney in early June (then another 4 days at Universal at Christmas). If there's a Harry Potter-lover in your party, I would say give three full days.