How much time ...

[Jsme]

I am wanting to go for 7 days next summer. I want to make sure we have enough time to do everything plus come back to the hotel for a break.
I know with Disney we can do this because we have gone so many times but we have only been to US once and that was just Dh and myself when it first opened. Our kids have never gone.

 

[gschmerl]

Seven days should give you plenty of time...especially if you stay on site and have all day express access. That would allow you to walk back to the hotel and enjoy the pool each day too.

 

[flortlebap]

We did both parks in 2 days, happily! Will you be visiting Disney too, or just the Universal parks?

 

[robvia]

7 days is more than enough. You only need 3 days to visit the Universal parks. If you stay onsite, that makes things even easier.
A good plan would be to spend 3 nights in a Disney value resort, then switch over to Universal staying onsite for 3 nights. The 3 onsite hotels of Universal cost more money than a Disney value resort, but they are worth it and you will "feel" like part of the action. So start chrunching the numbers and save up the money to stay onsite. Start with the RPR, and if you have an AAA card, but that in the coupon box. It will reduce the rate a lot.

 

[mdfdisney]

We just got back from a one night stay at RPH. We checked in Sunday morning and were at IOA about 9am. We rode every major ride (most twice) and most of the minor ones by about 2pm. Then we went to US and rode everything but T2 and ET before closing time (6pm). The next day we picked up where we left off at US, checked out of the hotel around noon and went back to IOA to reride our favorites.

Admittedly this was not a leisurely stroll through the parks. We did a lot of walking with few breaks, but there were 11 of us (5 adults and 6 kids from age 7 to 14) and we did eat lunch in IOA or City Walk each day. FOTL access insures that you are the next riders on just about every attraction, so there was no waiting.

I would think 3 days would be plenty and 4 tops unless you plan on staying only a few hours each day.