How Many Days?

[mjpeter]

I'm going on a trip with my son, 11, this January 11th through the 21st. We are looking to do both Disney and Universal. (Also a few days off so we don't burn out on theme parks )

We've done Disney before, but not Universal. He is a Harry Potter fan, but not much for thrill rides, so I don't think he'll be interested is most of the roller coasters, but he's also too old for some of the "child" areas.

This being said, how many days would you suggest we put aside for Universal? My initial thought is 3...one for each park and one extra for whatever we missed or would like to do again, but I'm looking for opinions from people who've been to the parks recently. I visited Universal last in 1999, and I've never been to Islands of Adventure.

Thanks!!

 

[macraven]

staying onsite at the dark side?


3 should be fine.


tour groups are popular during january.
you should be able to get all done that you want with 3 days.

 

[mjpeter]

Thanks!!

We're not staying "onsite" anywhere at this point.

Most of the time we're going to be at my MIL's condo, but I'm thinking of booking a few nights at Universal to give myself a break, lol.

How is the new budget option? Opinions?

 

[CPT Tripss]

If he is not big on the thrill rides, two days should be fine. Just know that you need the park to park option in order to ride the Hogwarts express.

Think about staying at the Cabana Bay so you can use early entry. The bus transportation to/from the parks was excellent. CheapTickets.com had good hotel rates for our Nov trip . . .

 

[mjpeter]

If he is not big on the thrill rides, two days should be fine. Just know that you need the park to park option in order to ride the Hogwarts express.

Think about staying at the Cabana Bay so you can use early entry. The bus transportation to/from the parks was excellent. CheapTickets.com had good hotel rates for our Nov trip . . .

Thanks! That's the hotel I was looking at since the rates seemed very affordable. It's hard for me to pass up "free" at my MIL's for something too expensive. I'll have to use the EE as an excuse.

I'm hoping my DS will take a few more risks on rides this trip...he's just a very cautious kid. He loves anything he tries, but he has to decide to try in the first place. I see so many parents forcing kids on rides at parks, and it makes me cringe.