July 4th week! Advice appreciated

[momofboyz3]

Its myself, ds14, ds14, ds10 (my 39th again bday )
This will be our first time to the Universal Parks. Planning on 7 nights @ a resort on property. I'm a big planner & loved planning Our WDW trip.
I've read so many pages here as well as TR & asked some questions. But, wondering if anyone has any advice specific for the July 4th week?
I was thinking:
6/30 arrive, pool, dinner @ Hotel
7/1 UniversalStudios
7/2 IOA
7/3 nothing
7/4 US or IOA or maybe Seaworld (haven't decided if we will go that route)
7/5 WAter Park?
7/6 IOA or US
7/7 leave
~ any feedback? I am chosing to switch our WDW trip to Universal since we went to WDW this past May. I also wanted to spend less than the $5500 I spent for Disney. Staying on property is IMPORTANT for me. Food is a big deal for my family as well.
Do you feel that with a week long trip a day at Seaworld or a WP is a must for your family??? My boys are big with their "swim" time.
I appreciate any and all advice.

 

[glocon]

There are tickets you can buy that include all the parks you mention. Forgot what they are called but you don't buy through UO. Might be a good option for your family. I think they are good for either one or two weeks.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge about these tickets will chime in.

 

[glocon]

The tickets are called Orlando FlexPass. Just saw on another thread.

 

[momofboyz3]

ThankYou so much ^

 

[RMulieri]

Keep in mind that July 4th brings in HUGE crowds.Add to it that the Harry Potter expansion will be opening and this will drive crowds further.Definitely stay onsite.It will give early entry and express passes that will cutdown on any wait times.The current 3 delux resorts are the only 3 that have the resort guest express passes.The newest resort (cabana bay) will only offer early entry.Use the early entry for the Harry potter stuff. Make any dining ressies at opentable.com ( ressies arent neccessary like they are at WDW, but when it is peak crowds, it helps with the popular places and cuts down any waiting)

 

[momofboyz3]

Keep in mind that July 4th brings in HUGE crowds.Add to it that the Harry Potter expansion will be opening and this will drive crowds further.Definitely stay onsite.It will give early entry and express passes that will cutdown on any wait times.The current 3 delux resorts are the only 3 that have the resort guest express passes.The newest resort (cabana bay) will only offer early entry.Use the early entry for the Harry potter stuff. Make any dining ressies at opentable.com ( ressies arent neccessary like they are at WDW, but when it is peak crowds, it helps with the popular places and cuts down any waiting)

ThankYou so much I plan on staying onsite, for the reasons you mention. I appreciate the feedback and suggesting opentable!

 

[Bluer101]

We stay each year for 7-10 days at RPR for 4 th of July week. This will be the first year in a long time that we are not staying that long. I have to tell you it's a complete zoo and with HP2 opening it's going to be crazy. Staying onsite makes it manageable. We never make meal reservations , just eat off peak times. We normally visit the parks in the morning then spend the afternoons at the pools. Yes pools, we do lots of pool hoping. After pool time we get showered up and have dinner around 5-6 then hit the parks again.

By doing this you miss the bigger crowds and Florida heat.

 

[momofboyz3]

We stay each year for 7-10 days at RPR for 4 th of July week. This will be the first year in a long time that we are not staying that long. I have to tell you it's a complete zoo and with HP2 opening it's going to be crazy. Staying onsite makes it manageable. We never make meal reservations , just eat off peak times. We normally visit the parks in the morning then spend the afternoons at the pools. Yes pools, we do lots of pool hoping. After pool time we get showered up and have dinner around 5-6 then hit the parks again.

By doing this you miss the bigger crowds and Florida heat.

ThankYou for the suggestions I think we will take your advice on pool hopping ~ my boys love swimming & relaxing as much as the thrills

 

[sassy2000]

We took a last minute trip last year since July 4 was on Thursday. We drove up on the 4th and stayed offsite Thurs & Fri night. Watched Disney fireworks at Polynesian Thurs night, went to Wet N wild Friday. Sat morning (July 6th) checked in to Royal Pacific and went to IOA at opening. Went to US on Sunday. We chose to stay onsite for 2 nights because I was so afraid of standby times during that holiday weekend but I have to tell you that I was VERY surprised at the small crowds. With the express passes, we never had more then a 5 min wait, but the standby lines in the mornings up until around 12:30-1:00 were non existent. My husband even took a pic of the posted standby time at Harry Potter's FJ ride around noon and it was only 30 minutes. Pluto's barges had no wait up until noon, even the Hulk coaster had a 20 min or less standby wait in the morning. Over at US, we rode Rip Ride Rock it several times in a row in standby line. The longest line there was Simpson's which was 15 minutes. Even Transformers ride was a short wait.
Now from about 1:00 to 4:00 we were glad to have the express passes because it got alot busier but we went back to the pool and swam. We ate at City Walk each night and never had long waits either. I know that Harry Potter expansion will open this summer so crowds will probably soar but I think it will still be better then a busy day at Disney as long as you have the express passes.

 

[momofboyz3]

We took a last minute trip last year since July 4 was on Thursday. We drove up on the 4th and stayed offsite Thurs & Fri night. Watched Disney fireworks at Polynesian Thurs night, went to Wet N wild Friday. Sat morning (July 6th) checked in to Royal Pacific and went to IOA at opening. Went to US on Sunday. We chose to stay onsite for 2 nights because I was so afraid of standby times during that holiday weekend but I have to tell you that I was VERY surprised at the small crowds. With the express passes, we never had more then a 5 min wait, but the standby lines in the mornings up until around 12:30-1:00 were non existent. My husband even took a pic of the posted standby time at Harry Potter's FJ ride around noon and it was only 30 minutes. Pluto's barges had no wait up until noon, even the Hulk coaster had a 20 min or less standby wait in the morning. Over at US, we rode Rip Ride Rock it several times in a row in standby line. The longest line there was Simpson's which was 15 minutes. Even Transformers ride was a short wait.
Now from about 1:00 to 4:00 we were glad to have the express passes because it got alot busier but we went back to the pool and swam. We ate at City Walk each night and never had long waits either. I know that Harry Potter expansion will open this summer so crowds will probably soar but I think it will still be better then a busy day at Disney as long as you have the express passes.

Thanks Sassy for such details & some great insight if your still reading this, did you love Royal Pacific (it's the resort I'm most interested in)? Also, do you feel you could have spent a whole 7 days at that resort? ThankYou so much for your feedback, much appreciated!

 

[tinkerpea]

I was after same info!

We ate going to actually stay at the new cabana bay as there is 6 of us but are going to also book a night or 2 at HRH so we can get express pass for 5 of us that do rides " my mum is 80 and won't ride" dh and I will sleep at the HRH for some alone time!

We're doing disney and universal from 17th June for 3wks and was wondering what wk would be best to do Universal.

 

[momofboyz3]

I was after same info!

We ate going to actually stay at the new cabana bay as there is 6 of us but are going to also book a night or 2 at HRH so we can get express pass for 5 of us that do rides " my mum is 80 and won't ride" dh and I will sleep at the HRH for some alone time!

We're doing disney and universal from 17th June for 3wks and was wondering what wk would be best to do Universal.

I am a planning nut! I LOVED the obsessive planning of our WDW trip for some reason the lack of obsessive planning needed for Universal is making me a bit crazy....hahaha.
I've been reading about a half dozen Universal TR (which are great, all positive) I've also read all the topics and questions that have been posted, on here.
For the planning of my trip back in may to WDW ~ I would post a question on the dis like this and wake up to about 30 responses, maybe a few differences of opinions. Some people would literally write out a story of what I should do step by step. Universal is soooo laid back it seems.
~ Im so envious of your plan to do both WDW & UO. Sounds magnificent. The new resort looks like a great option for your family & a getaway with your DH sounds great too. HRH is one that I was considering, but it might be too loud for us. One of my twins is a bit sensitive to loud sounds which are constant, so we might visit to use the pool one day. I heard that you can't pool hop at the new resort but I also hear the new resort will have an awesome pool and lazy river!!!!!!!
~ anyway I will stop the rambling.... We are getting hit hard with a Nor 'Easter and I'm debating if I should be a big baby and call out sick... Goodluck in your planning process!!!!

 

[sassy2000]

Regarding Royal Pacific, the resort itself was beautiful and my kids LOVED the pool area. We took the water taxi once but usually just walked the shaded trail to the parks. The trail takes you to the side of Margaritaville.
I was not very impressed with the rooms though. They were small, honestly I don't think they were even as big as a moderate at WDW. Our beds were comfy but we had problems with the AC not cooling. The AC seemed to run off of a sensor for movement in the room. When we came back from parks, it was not cool but would cool off as we were in the room moving around. At night it would warm back up, IMO because no one was moving around.
This was our 1st stay at a Universal resort hotel and we payed full price (last minute, over 4th of July) so it was a letdown to have problems with the room and it be so small. It turned me off from staying there again.
Friends of ours always stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and they love it. Hope this helps.

 

[momofboyz3]

Absolutely! ThankYou for taking out the time to answer that for me ^^^^

 

[Bluer101]

Regarding Royal Pacific, the resort itself was beautiful and my kids LOVED the pool area. We took the water taxi once but usually just walked the shaded trail to the parks. The trail takes you to the side of Margaritaville. I was not very impressed with the rooms though. They were small, honestly I don't think they were even as big as a moderate at WDW. Our beds were comfy but we had problems with the AC not cooling. The AC seemed to run off of a sensor for movement in the room. When we came back from parks, it was not cool but would cool off as we were in the room moving around. At night it would warm back up, IMO because no one was moving around. This was our 1st stay at a Universal resort hotel and we payed full price (last minute, over 4th of July) so it was a letdown to have problems with the room and it be so small. It turned me off from staying there again. Friends of ours always stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and they love it. Hope this helps.

Hate to tell you, but all three onsite hotels AC operate in this manor. The hotels are green friendly but I agree with you, the summer gets hot. But the room cools down pretty quick.

There is a way to bypass the door sensor to make the AC run all the time or call Star Service and request it to be programmed for you.