Is one day worth it, which park?

[msdroz]

Hi there... DH has a work conference in Orlando and my son and I will have two free days finalizing with a family trip to Disney. We will be spending one of the days at a Disney waterpark, but are considering visiting Universal but after some research I'm not sure if it is worth it for just one day. (Secretly I'm wondering if we save this in our back pocket for an excuse to come back to Orlando in a few years when my son is 12/13 and maybe tired of Disney). In any case, what would your personal recommendation for us be based on:

Son is 9, starting to read first Harry Potter book
We both love roller coasters but not ones that have a ton of upside downs
We won't have a car, will be most likely having to take a taxi

 

[macraven]

for a treat, i took a day off our disney vacation to do universal for the day.
my boys at that time that were with me ages 6-7-8

this turned out more expensive in the long run as after that one day, we did split stays
and then more expensive when pbh was built.

i think your son would enjoy the parks.
spiderman wowed my kids!

 

[bchbetha]

Is the decision between not bothering to go at all or just going for a day? Go for a day! Get park to park tickets, choose 3 things at each park to do, prioritize those then relax and enjoy! Spend the evening soaking up Diagon Alley. It's worth going even if you only have a day. . I'd be tempted to skip the Disney water park though and add a day at Universal though.

 

[schumigirl]

Could you go to Universal for two days and not do the waterpark?

There is a lot for him to do in both parks..........there's only 2 coasters that go upside down and have lots of loops.........Dragon Challenge and Hulk. RRR does NOT go upside down, although people think it does.

Have a check out of the website www.universalorlando.com

This gives you everything you need to know about rides and other stuff in the parks including park layouts. If you get a park to park ticket you can ride the Hogwarts Express.

You don't need to be a Potter fan to enjoy those areas, they are spectacular. I'm sure your son would love both parks.........they are both a huge amount of fun!

 

[msdroz]

Thanks all! We are doing the disney waterpark because we have several of those fun passes we need to use and they are already paid for, will probably do some mini golf too.

After reading your opinions, I realllly want to get to Universal but I think we just need to plan a separate trip in a few years and let the guys do the Universal thing for a few days and give me one day at Magic Kingdom to appease Mom

Thanks again!

 

[bchbetha]

Reconsider. Even if you only have 1 day, it's worth going. Your son is such a great age for HP now. It'll still be great in a few years but the magic will be even better now.

 

[pa. dad]

Some days I have gone to a FL waterpark and it rains at like 2 or 3 pm and the park closes fora while and it may or many not reopen. Or you feel like you have had enough sun by mid afternoon. So maybe you might have 1.5 days for uinversal then?
You cant do all of universal in a day but you can get a good flavor and do some things. With an extra half day, maybe you do the park that interests you the most on the full day and the other park on the half day if it open late.
You can't do all of disney world if you had just one free day but that wouldn't stop you from doing something and enjoying that. Same with Universal.