How many days for Universal and Disney

[Rory607]

I am in the very preliminary stages of planning a summer 2022 trip. I would really like to do Disney and Universal, but I’m gathering information to see if it makes sense. We are WDW veterans, so we can skip some parks over there are not do every single thing. Kids would be 12 and 8. Harry Potter is a huge priority for them.

So those who have done both, how do you split your time? I’ve gotten info on the express pass and it sounds great. It is just expensive for a couple of days and I’m not exactly sure what our budget will be. Would 4 days at Universal work if we did not have EP? It is obviously impossible to actually price a trip for so far out, so I’m just going by this summer’s rates. I’m so used to Disney and I’m feeling very out of my element!

 

[limace]

Most here would recommend at least 2-3 days at Universal, and to stay at one of the deluxe hotels to get the free EPs.

 

[AJA]

Two days at minimum for two kids that are big HP fans. Three days would give you plenty of time to experience the rest of the parks.

 

[Rory607]

Most here would recommend at least 2-3 days at Universal, and to stay at one of the deluxe hotels to get the free EPs.

I’m really hoping one of the deluxe hotels will be in the budget. The EP sounds so nice! I don’t care about the actual hotel so much. We’ve stayed at all different levels of resorts at Disney. But the EP would be so great.

 

[Ross Kratter]

3 days at Universal is what I usually recommend, with Park-to-Park tickets. This is especially doable if you stay at one of the three Premier resorts, each of which include Express Unlimited in your stay.

 

[limace]

We booked using the annual pass rate, so hard rock for May was about $280. The seasonal AP is just a little more than the two day hoppers.

 

[bchbetha]

3 with EP, 4 without. Add a day to each if you are including Volcano Bay. But definitely try to stay at one of the hotels that includes EP. It'll be like a true vacation- great hotel and time to enjoy it because it will be super close to the parks and those EPs will help you navigate the parks.

 

[Rory607]

We booked using the annual pass rate, so hard rock for May was about $280. The seasonal AP is just a little more than the two day hoppers.

Wow, okay. Does everyone in the party have to have an AP to get that rate?

 

[Ross Kratter]

Wow, okay. Does everyone in the party have to have an AP to get that rate?

No, just the lead guest.

 

[Rory607]

No, just the lead guest.

This is good to know, thank you!

 

[Erica Ladd]

Just check on AP prices before buying tickets as seasonal APs can often cost the same ie be less than day tickets

 

[Kari2684]

As others have said, look in to the AP options w/ one of the 3 premier resorts that have EP. I appreciate UO giving the option for monthly payments for non FL residents.
A few years ago I went with a group of friends and we spent 5 days total at UO- one day for Studios, one day for IOA, two for HP, and one for whatever else we wanted to go back to.
If this is the first time, and your kids are more ride type I would plan more days and make it a ‘primary UO’ trip rather than a ‘primary WDW’.

 

[03GirlsMom]

We're doing a UO/Disney split this fall. Since we have multiple UO trips planned this year, we bought APs with the 3 additional months deal. As we're a large group (there will be 7 of us), it ended up being cheaper to stay longer on UO property than at a Disney resort so we're spending 8 days at RPR in a hospitality suite. AP discounts haven't come out yet for fall so we're open to other resorts/room selections if we can save even more when they are available. We'll then move over to the Poly for an additional 4 days.

We really only need 2-3 days for UO parks, especially since our EPs are included in the resort stay. We'll be splitting our time during those initial 8 days between UO parks and Disney. While the transportation won't be as convenient to the Disney parks, we're still saving a significant amount by staying off property and paying only the daily parking rate. The Poly half of our trip is mostly to just enjoy the resort although we are hoping to maybe throw in a water park day during that time. How much time you'd want to spend at Disney will vary depending on your priorities. We've been multiple times in the past & I had a pretty good idea of how much time we'll want to spend in each park. Our family also prefers to build in pool days to our trips to give us a much needed break from the parks to relax. This usually results in longer trips for us but they're certainly more relaxing.

 

[Rory607]

As others have said, look in to the AP options w/ one of the 3 premier resorts that have EP. I appreciate UO giving the option for monthly payments for non FL residents.
A few years ago I went with a group of friends and we spent 5 days total at UO- one day for Studios, one day for IOA, two for HP, and one for whatever else we wanted to go back to.
If this is the first time, and your kids are more ride type I would plan more days and make it a ‘primary UO’ trip rather than a ‘primary WDW’.

Thank you! Making it more of a Universal-heavy trip is my thought, too. We love Disney so much, but Universal will be a new experience for us and I want to make sure we have enough time to really enjoy it.

 

[maverik85]

3 should be ok even without EP. Most of my trips have been in summer and never done more than 3 and usually get to everything multiple times. I do utilize single rider lines some though to save time, especially for rerides. if you can afford to do 4 days without EP than you should definitely be good. If you plan to hit Volcano Bay Id would do 4 at a minimum though

 

[Calee]

On our first trip (2 weeks ago) we had 4.5 days at Universal and it was too long. Had it been warm and we could take swim breaks in the afternoon it mightve been better. Id say 3 days would have been plenty, with 2 being doable with EP.

 

[shawthorne44]

With the kids being HP fans I'd say at least 4 days. They will spend a cumulative day agape in the HP areas looking at all the details. On the premier hotels at Universal, think of it as getting a Disney Deluxe for a Moderate price.

 

[Zoies Mom]

I am in the very preliminary stages of planning a summer 2022 trip. I would really like to do Disney and Universal, but I’m gathering information to see if it makes sense. We are WDW veterans, so we can skip some parks over there are not do every single thing. Kids would be 12 and 8. Harry Potter is a huge priority for them.

So those who have done both, how do you split your time? I’ve gotten info on the express pass and it sounds great. It is just expensive for a couple of days and I’m not exactly sure what our budget will be. Would 4 days at Universal work if we did not have EP? It is obviously impossible to actually price a trip for so far out, so I’m just going by this summer’s rates. I’m so used to Disney and I’m feeling very out of my element!

Myself, my BF and his daughter are doing both parks late Nov./early Dec. We booked 3 nights at the Royal Pacific and then we rented DVC points and are staying at a 1 bedroom at OKW for 8 nights (which ended up being the same cost as a moderate with a preferred room). Mind you we have sit down dinners booked every evening and want extra time to go to DS and browse some resorts for their Christmas decorations!

You would probably be better, in my opinion, to do 2 days at Universal say at Royal Pacific which is the cheapest of the hotels offering the express pass. I costed it out and it was a lot more to stay at a hotel without express passes and buy them myself! With an express pass you can get tons done in 3 days as 2 nights at Royal Pacific would get you 3 days at the park. The third day after you are done the Universal Parks take a lyft or drive over to Disney, check in and have dinner!

PS I went on Trivago and found a great rate for Royal Pacific for the three of us on Agoda as it was 28% off the day I booked it.

I like getting the best deals I can when going to Florida lol.....actually in every day life too!

 

[Ross Kratter]

3 should be ok even without EP. Most of my trips have been in summer and never done more than 3 and usually get to everything multiple times. I do utilize single rider lines some though to save time, especially for rerides. if you can afford to do 4 days without EP than you should definitely be good. If you plan to hit Volcano Bay Id would do 4 at a minimum though

Bear in mind that single rider lines are not operating at the moment due to COVID restrictions.

 

[Rory607]

3 should be ok even without EP. Most of my trips have been in summer and never done more than 3 and usually get to everything multiple times. I do utilize single rider lines some though to save time, especially for rerides. if you can afford to do 4 days without EP than you should definitely be good. If you plan to hit Volcano Bay Id would do 4 at a minimum though

Yes, good point on Volcano Bay. We don’t normally do water parks. The kids have always been pretty satisfied with the hotel pools and my youngest was very stress-inducing around water for many years. He would swear he could swim by himself, try to take his floaties off, etc (yes, we did swim lessons, but it still made me very nervous). So the pool was all we felt we could safely handle, lol. But now that he is older I’m sure they would have a blast.