How many days?

[melissa70]

So in January, I’m spending a week at in Disney World. I want to go to Universal Studios but I’m not sure if I should take a couple of days during my week at Disney to go or add it on at the end of my trip for maybe a 2 to 3 nights stay. I’m going crazy trying to figure it out. Does anyone have any advice ? How many days do you need to tour The three parks ..not really interested in the waterpark as it will be January. If anyone could share any advice or insight on this I’d appreciate it. I would either just leave my Disney resort to go there a day or two or stay at one of the top hotels at universal; for maybe 2 or 3 nights. Which would you do? Thank you in advance

 

[Skippyboo]

I would add it to front or back end of your trip. I4 between Disney and Universal is normally gridlock. I would look at the ticket deals. In January, probably can do Studios & IoA in a day. The water rides are going to be down for refurbishment. Then a second day for Epic.

 

[melissa70]

Good advice! I think I’ll add it to the front .. probably less crowded during the week..my Disney week is sat-sat

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I would plan on at least 1 day for each park you plan to visit. More if you're inclined to reride things or spend extra time exploring/relaxing/shopping/etc. Consider also that with the "lower" crowds in much of Jan, the park hours are also reduced accordingly, particularly for school nights.

Once you're beyond 3 days, the price to add more days starts to drop dramatically, so it's more "cost effective" to do longer trips.

Is this your first time going to Universal? Or the first time in a while, ie it might as well be the first?

 

[melissa70]

Yes first time !

 

[Skippyboo]

Universal has a lot of screens and the coasters are more intense than WDW so if you have any issues with motion sickness, you want to plan ahead and medicate. I definitely have seen people come off Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey aka Hogwarts Castle ride and in the exit gift shop

 

[melissa70]

I’ll be taking my bonine for sure! I take it for guardians in Disney .

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We do this all the time. We do Universal first, staying at one of their premier resorts for the express passes. We stayed there 2 nights pre Epic but on our upcoming trip in January we’re planning on 3 nights, which gives us one full day at each park plus arrival day. Then we move over to Disney and stay on site there for about 11 nights. You’ll need at least one full day for each park imo, but you could hop around and just do the highlights of the two old parks in one day but you won’t do as much obviously. Not sure about Epic, haven’t been there yet but looking forward to going in January!

 

[DisneyMom93]

One park per day minimum.

We usually do 2 1/2 days per park. We normally do 5 days at the two parks but will be doing 6 days in the parks in November to add Epic for the first time. We will be doing two days at each park. We also have downtime days at the pool and Citywalk so we include two weekends into our vacation to just relax.

We’ve only added Universal to our Disney vacation once but that was a three week vacation. We don’t like to give up Disney days for Universal (we usually do two weeks at Disney with 10 park days) so now we do every other year at each park.

We find the Disney World rides more relaxing to ride (more family type rides) but we find the Universal park more relaxing to navigate (we do get EPs though)… so I personally would recommend doing Universal parks AFTER Disney World.

I can’t recommend anything about Epic specifically since we have not yet been there.

 

[Kit Jackson]

2-3 nights for a Universal trip, especially if you can afford one of the hotels that includes ExpressPass. This book was really helpful when I planned my first strip to Universal. The rides at Universal are more intense, but it's not like 6 Flags where there's only coasters. I'm a ride coward and I've had a great time at Universal.

https://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-G...+universal+orlando+2026+,stripbooks,55&sr=1-1

 

[melissa70]

Where do you all like to stay? I’m looking at the Hard Rock or Portofino bay

 

[Skippyboo]

The Express pass hotels - Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino-only work for IoA and Studios not Epic. How many people in your group? More people you have better the express pass deal is.

 

[melissa70]

Well it’s only two of us..should I stay somewhere cheaper? We won’t be in the room much ..I do want to be on site though

 

[Skippyboo]

You probably can skip the kiddie areas, doubt all the water rides will be open. They aren’t normally in January. Unless you’re going President’s Day weekend. It should not be super crowded. Check the dates for Rock the Universe- it’s a big Christian music festival at Studios. Aventura, Cabana Bay are nice. Sapphire Falls is also nice. If you have a car, they charge for parking at the hotels so be prepared to add 20-40 bucks a night to the cost. You could do Surfside or Dockside which are sort of in between Epic and IoA and Studios.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

They normally alternate refurbishment of the water rides during the winter, so 2 of the 3 will be open (and Jurassic Park River Adventure is minimally wet).

 

[Skippyboo]

They normally alternate refurbishment of the water rides during the winter, so 2 of the 3 will be open (and Jurassic Park River Adventure is minimally wet).

But Bluto and Dudley will get you super wet, probably not something you want to do in January.

 

[DisneyMom93]

Where do you all like to stay? I’m looking at the Hard Rock or Portofino bay

We used to stay at Hard Rock because it’s closest to the parks but it’s just way too loud there. Music is always playing very loudly. Drove me crazy.

 

[DisneyMom93]

Well it’s only two of us..should I stay somewhere cheaper? We won’t be in the room much ..I do want to be on site though

Depends if you want Express Pass. We do.

In November we are doing 4 nights at Helios and 5 nights at Portofino.

 

[melissa70]

The Portofino does look good! Yes I do want express ..will they offer it for epic soon , I wonder?