If you were planning this trip...

[Swilcox]

My husband and I will have 6 full days (not including travel time) to spend in Floria this October. Should we spend the whole time at Disney or should we plan a few days to visit Universal?

If you were taking this trip how would you plan it? How many days would you spend in each park?

This will be our first trip to Disney.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

WDW only, if you don't want to feel like you have to rush through things. WDW is huge, and three of the four parks are huge. (Epcot is just silly huge.) MK and Epcot could each be worth two days of time. On the other hand, if you're a Potter fan, you might want to do 4 days WDW, 2 days Universal.

 

[disneyfreak202]

Honestly, it depends on what you hope to accomplish and your priorities. I have had 6 full days like you and did everything including Universal. If you want to have more lounging time and be able to repeat things then I suggest cutting out Universal for the extra park day at Disney. If you don't mind being rushed then do it all. In the 6 days I was there we did 1 day Universal, all four parks (Magic Kingdom was the only repeated one), Cirque, Both Water Parks, Mini Golf, and Dinner at ESPN for Thursday night football. We did almost every single ride, some twice, but it meant very little rest time for us. We were definitely exhausted by the end of the trip. However, we didn't know when we would be back and we wanted to accomplish everything. We made it work and sometimes we would cut out a ride or show that wasn't as high of a priority to have a little more down time in the hotel, however we would get lucky. We never closed any of the parks though which helped, but we were there at rope drop. We saw all of the nighttime entertainment.

So if you know what is a priority and if you want to be go go go or not then that would change the whole trip planning.

 

[gap2368]

I think it depends on you if you like Harry Potter and big roller costers then I would spend at lest 1 day at Universal if not I would do Disney

if you are really into rides 2 days at MK if not 1

1 day at animal kingdom

1 days at holly wood stuto

2 days at EPCOT

if you only spend 1 day at Magic kingdom then maybe another day at AK, or may be go over to the dark side and do a day at universal

 

[ZephyrHawk]

In general, most people would agree that it takes 2 days to see MK, 2 for Epcot, and 1 each for the other two WDW parks. That's 6 days right there. If you want any time to see Disney Springs, visit one of the water parks, play mini-golf, explore the resorts, or what have you, youll probably want to make this a WDW focused trip. This goes double since you are first-timers, and will not be able to whip through the parks as quickly as your average Disboard veteran.

For what it's worth, the two Universal parks really require more than one day to see fully (together, not indidivually). It's probably best if you save those for a different trip.

 

[rwdavis2]

If you have never been to Universal then I would spend 2 days, staying on site. You get 2 days of free Express Pass that way. The best attractions at Universal are better than anything at Disney. The theming at Universal is not a immersive but it is worth a visit.

 

[kangamangus]

I'm in agreement with others posted. 6 days at WDW will feel plenty full. To do both Disney and Universal, I personally feel a full 10 day trip would be needed with 2 extra travel days. Then I would do 6 or 7 at WDW, 2 at universal and have a day or 2 of rest in there for either Disney Springs, resort relaxing, etc....Trying to do both in one trip (especially your first trip) could feel really rushed. We are hoping to do a big trip such as this in December 2018 and our trip with begin on flying into Orlando on Thursday night and flying home the following Monday ( 12 days total).

 

[NeuroCindy]

I disagree with most of the above posters. I would do (and have done) 4-5 days at disney, and 1-2 at Universal.

 

[Hopefully]

I would definitely focus only on Disney. I think trying to do both will leave you overwhelmed and frustrated.
I would do
2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day AK and 3/4 day at DHS followed by an evening at Disney Springs.
Remember WDW alone is 47 square miles of things to see and do.

 

[Beer Me]

I need a full week at Disney to not feel rushed. It's the whole vacation. Our Universal trips have been a couple of days tacked onto a beach vacation which works out well.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

In your situation- since this is your first trip to Disney-spend it at Disney! Even with 6 days I'm willing to bet you are going to feel overwhelmed. There is just so much to see and do! After 16 years of WDW only trips we spent 3 days at Universal last year and it was AMAZING and it really does deserve it's own time. This year we are doing 3 nights at Universal and then 6 at WDW, but I don't think I'd spend less at either place and we are veterans.

 

[North of Mouse]

My husband and I will have 6 full days (not including travel time) to spend in Floria this October. Should we spend the whole time at Disney or should we plan a few days to visit Universal?

If you were taking this trip how would you plan it? How many days would you spend in each park?

This will be our first trip to Disney.

First trip? Absolutely 'all' Disney!
I would do 2 days each of MK & Epcot, one day each of DHS & AK.

Ideally, to me, DHS is a half day park, but unless you have hoppers, will need to be full day. We 'love' MK & Epcot, and our children are grown.

 

[Nancyg56]

First trip? I would spend the time in Disney, or I would choose Universal and maybe a few area attractions. I would not try both in 6 days.

Disney is HUGE. Not big, but HUGE. I like 2 in MK, 2 in Epcot 1 in DAK and 1 in DHS.

 

[Accident]

What I would do is plan on all for disney parks up front, give yourself a flexible day (could be rest, might be universal, maybe waterpark and springs, could be you want 1 more park again) and then end with another park day (mk is a safe bet to put in for that last day). You can remove 1 day of your tickets as it's really fast to add it if you do disney on that flexible day but that's up to you, many would say epcot and get fastpasses ahead of time for the $10ish+tax cost per person for that ticket. Since you can't get a refund, I personally just wing it and have the budget to add it ready if I decide its a good idea).

It's your first trip, you don't know how long it really takes or what you'll like and dislike. after your disney planning is done, research universal so your not in the dark and have a better idea of it's priority during the trip. you'll probably skip it but you made an informed choice and most people who love disney day trip universal the first time so it's very doable.

 

[Parker Clan]

If it's your first trip and only 6 days at Disney I would do just Disney. Hubby and I do a ten day trip every summer, first three at Universal staying on site and last seven at Disney.
Our first time at Disney we just stayed six nights and we wanted to come back so bad because of everything we wanted to do and we had such a blast we tried to book another night.
But I agree with everyone else, if you come back and have more time definitely do Universal! It's great!

 

[justme0729]

We did Universal for 1 day on our 8 night trip. We felt we were able to see enough. We went on all the Harry Potter rides, saw Diagon Alley, and did quite a few other roller coasters but we did the express pass so we could skip lines. Only do Universal if you like instense rollercoasters Or could do a whole day of Harry Potter (we did half day) because it's expensive vs adding on another day at Disney.

 

[glocon]

For your first trip, I agree, do all wdw. We absolutely love universal, and can spend six days just over there- but for your first trip, I agree that you should spend all 6 days at wdw. It's bigger than you can imagine. I'm glad you're taking the time to learn and plan because otherwise it can be overwhelming and a maybe even a disappointment. It's really not a "just show up and figure it out as you go" kind of place- especially for a first visit.

 

[glocon]

Also, trying to do both wdw and uo in one trip can be very costly.

 

[Katniss]

Spend a day at Universal if you can but I agree with above... it can become very costly.