Need Advice/Tips, Newby

[L5678]

Taking a 4 day trip to Orlando at end of Oct (2 adults 30s). Would love some advice....

General Question:

I booked room only through expedia for Port Orleans Riverside, $85 per night. I've since heard WDW tries to preassure you into getting park hopper passes, I assume there is no obligation to purchasing park hopper tickets upon arrival at the resort, correct?

I specifically did not opt for part hopper pass when offered on expedia because our time is limited and we will be visiting family in the area. We will have only 2 (maybe three) days to visit the parks so we plan to purchase 1 day passes, good idea? I just wanted to confirm the resort will not give us a hastle upon check in or check out.

Itinerary Advice:

We arrive on Sunday, Oct 31, Holloween and trying to figure out how to best use our time (we would like to spend two days at the parks, most likely either Epcot, MGM or Universal IOA):

I would like to visit Epcot and IOA in that order, when we arrive mid morning on Sunday should we splurge on Epcot tickets for the afternoon? Is the world showcase open until 11pm? Can we get a late dinner there, any entertainment suggestions?

I've seen 5 and 3 day Universal tickets for the price of two day passes, around $96pp, should we skip Epcot alltogether and spend the 2-3 days at Universal?

Is there an advantage to purchasing in advance for IOA or are there better discounts at the gates?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[winniedapooh]

Good Morning and welcome. If I were you I would buy my Disney tickets ahead of time if you have a local Disney Store near you. Saves a few bucks. I do not think you can go between parks on a 1 day pass. If you get a park hopper it is good forever and you can save the unused days for a future trip with no extra expense should ticket prices go up, and they usually do once a year. I would try and make a PS for dinner at EPCOT as it may be busy. I think it is only open until 9PM but you can check either under mousesavers.com or the WDW official site. I have never been to Universal but you may want to hop over the the board dedicated to it on this site. I cannot say whether or not you will enjoy one more than the other, it depends on what you are looking for. Chekc out some of the boards here as well as on mousesavers for more information! Have a great time.

 

[Fastpassme]

When you check in, they will probably ask if you need tickets, but there's no pressure.

On whether to see Disney vs. Universal, I think a lot depends on the ages of your kids. There is more for the under-10 set at Disney. Older kids may prefer the coasters and thrill rides at Universal. I know personally, that I much prefer the theming at Disney and the thought of going for just one day....well, lets just say I don't think I could do it. And I CAN eat just one Lays chip!

 

[bubba's mom]

Originally posted by L5678
.......... I assume there is no obligation to purchasing park hopper tickets upon arrival at the resort, correct?

I specifically did not opt for part hopper pass when offered on expedia because our time is limited and we will be visiting family in the area. We will have only 2 (maybe three) days to visit the parks so we plan to purchase 1 day passes, good idea? I just wanted to confirm the resort will not give us a hastle upon check in or check out.

we just did something very similar to this aug. 12th. we spent our arrival morning at DTD, and on the way there, purchased 2 days at MK from guest relations at resort. there was absolutely no pressure. the park hoppers are great -if you can afford them right now (at the time, it was cheaper for our family to purchase day tickets---(if purchased at once, you get $5 off each addtional day purchased)). we only planned on visiting MK--no other parks, so the day passes were great for us. if you want to visit more than one park in one day, you'll need park hoppers! have a fun time!!

 

[Histosue]

I agree Universal is really not as themed as disney and I actually did not see much new in the last few years so I was rather dissapointed. The one side of unversal is all rides and you need to purchase an additional ticket so I opted out.

Park Hoppers are great since you can go back and forth between parks. With a one day you are limited to that park alone. It really depends on who is in you travel party.

Good luck and have a great mickey day

 

[Disnutty]

There is no pressure to buy tickets when you check in. The CM's do make it very easy to purchase tickets at the time of check in but there is no pressure. Just know that one day passes do not allow you to park hop (Leave one Disney park and go to another in the same Day). Also please note that the drive to Universal will take about 30 minutes driving time from PO plus the walk from the Parking lots to the Park entrance adds additional time. Since you said you only have two or three days to see the Parks I would suggest that you pick the Parks that will interest you the most. The same with Universal. They also have two parks; one has more coasters (islands of Adventure) than the other (Studios). It would be very difficult to do both IoA and Studios in one day.

You will be staying close to EPCOT but you can not walk to the park you will be driving or taking the Disney buses. Picking the best Disney park is not an easy thing to do. I think to get the most out of Disney you have to go to MK. If you like coasters then Space Mountain, and the Runaway Train are for you. But Disney has other great attraction for adults too like the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Phiharmagic etc. plus they have great fireworks at night. A trip to Disney without going to MK is very difficult to do for me. I would suggest getting Park Hopper tickets so that you can leave one Park and go see another in the two days you have scheduled for Disney. The tickets do not expire and will give you great flexibilty to see the Disney Magic. It just can not be done in two days but it is allot of fun.

 

[jmclester]

I agree, we have never been pressured to buy tickets at the resorts. I have even told them that I plan to spend a day offsite with no negative reaction. Single day passes to WDW parks are your best bet unless you have the resources to purchase a 4 day PH and your US or IOA tix. Universal is running a special for a 5 consecutive day pass for $95 or a 2 day "park hopper" for $99. (A single day pass at US or IOA will not allow you to hop from park to park.) Even though you would be wasting a few days on the 5 day it would save you 5 bucks per person if you plan to visit on consecutive days. The 2 day passes can be used at seperate times. Probably can save money by purchasing in advance on-line. As far as the itenerary, Universal should be open late on teh 31st for their Halloween thingy. Check their website for details. It's your choice but, personally, I couldn't imagine staying on site and not visiting any of the WDW parks!!