need some advice about universal and seaworld in orlando

[kyl]

Hi there.....feeling a little normal again now. Its been one mth now since my pa died and I feel able to start planning again. Although the pain is still raw....the planning is a good distraction.
So we were thinking we would like to do universal and seaworld this trip. Thinking we won't do aquatica as my kids aren't into waterslides and are just as happy to play in the pool at the resort. Maybe in a few years as the youngest is only four....well I would love to hear of any advice. I have no idea when it comes to these theme parks. We plan on staying at WDW for two weeks. But then I thought should we stay closer to universal or seaworld for that leg of the trip. I want to do 10 days in WDW so would like to use our two wk stay at the world for that time and a few days of relaxation. So we were thinking of doing a four night stay prior to our arrival at WDW some where else closer to universal or seaworld. Any suggestions or advice would be very much appreciated Also tickets any idea where I should purchase them from

 

[Travel Mum]

Hi Kyl,

First of all I am so sorry for your loss and my thoughts are with you

For our non-Disney time, which was when we did Sea World and Universal etc, we stayed at the Staybridge Suites International Drive in a Two-Bedroom Suite which we found very convenient and comfortable. That was for 7 nights but, in the middle of the week, we left most of our gear at Staybridge and checked into Loew's Royal Pacific for one night because, by staying onsite at Universal, we got Front of Line passes for the parks. We did Universal on check in day and IOA on checkout day and our room keys gave us Front of Line on both days

 

[kyl]

Thanks travel mum that is very helpful information. Do you mind me asking how long do you think we should allocate for each park. Bearing in mind we won't do aquatica. And how did you go for transportation to seaworld and universal?

 

[Travel Mum]

We found one day at each of the parks was enough for us. We had a rental car during that week so we drove ourselves. However, when we were doing Universal, the car was parked at the hotel and we used the boat transportation to/from the parks. Oh, and by staying at the onsite hotel, we got to go into WWoHP at IOA an hour earlier than the general public.

 

[redrosesix]

yup - you're right - distraction is a good thing where you are right now. And welcome to the club you never wanted to join. ::hugs::

We've done both parks when staying off Disney and on -- it's easy if you have a car. SeaWorld has the second day free and we usually go back to see our favourite things, but the 2nd day is never a full park day.

We don't do the huge rides at Universal, so one day is enough for us there (we're done two days, and sort of regretted it). It's a lot of walking if you're doing both parks each day -- much more than we're used to doing at WDW. Depending on when you'll be in Orlando, you may not need the FOTL pass for Universal -- but you can also buy that as an option on your park ticket -- so you have to factor this in to your decision on where to stay. We found both of these parks closed really early compared to WDW and we spent our evenings back at our resorts, regardless of where we stayed.

 

[kyl]

Thanks guys. Do you think that if we stayed at WDW and hired a car that it would be to far to drive to for the day? To be honest, my hubby and eldest daughter r the ones so keen for universal. I am not a big ride fan either but they r....I much prefer the atmosphere of disney and walking around hearing the music and laughter! I was even thinking of letting them go to universal by themselves for a day and then maybe do a family day altogether at seaworld. As I think the younger two ages 9yrs and 5yrs when we travel will enjoy seaworld shows. Yes Redrosesix it is the club I never wanted to join! But I am here now and starting to heal.....thanks for the advice . I noticed you leave in 4wks how lucky and excited you must be. Hope the packing is going well! #hugs#

 

[Mum from oz]

HI Kyl, glad to see you're feeling a little cheerier. I can't advise on accommodation for Universal as we stayed offsite anyway and just drove wherever. It would only be a 20 minute drive from Downtown Disney. Seaworld is no more than 15 minutes drive from DTD.

A hint for Seaworld is get to the shows early. We wanted to see the Shamu show and got the stadium where it is done 15 mins before it was due to start and were told it was filled to capacity. I was really disappointed.

Universal tickets I got from Undercover Tourist. Posted to Oz in about a week and great prices. Seaworld tickets I got online direct from the Seaworld Orlando site. They were print at home tickets with the second day free. We had no problems with them.

 

[kyl]

Hi mum from Oz! Thanks for the info about the distance thing from WDW. I was talking to hubby this afternoon and he thinks we should just do seaworld this time and then when the kids get a bit older do universal studios. Suites me fine! Means we will have to return one day again....although I think this will be the last trip for us for a while. So I think staying at WDW in the two wks we should be able to get to seaworld. Now to look into transport from WDW to seaworld. Oh the reasearch continues......three mths for you as well mum from oz not long now!!!!

 

[alicia1506]

when we were at universal, we stayed onsite for 4 nights and we felt that was plenty of time to do both parks. to be honest, if you're not big ride fans (and neither are we) then 2 days would be heaps. we spent a lot of time in wizarding world of harry potter for the awesome theming of it all.. in fact, it is exceedingly well themed... i would definitely put a vote in for visiting wwohp, which is part of islands of adventure.

having said that, we found that universal seemed to be mostly adults and teens/tweens.. no one much was there under about age 7 - i guess mostly as it's not really geared so much towards the under 7 crowd (aside from seuss land).

the onsite hotels were fabulous, and they have various transport around the parks.. boats to get you from point a to b, rickshaws and little bus-like accomodation. there are also walking paths.

we haven't been to wdw, so i can't advise on distances, but the parks aren't very far away from the on-site hotels and it's really well laid out. we were at the royal pacific resort, and it was fabulous!!

 

[arje]

I think 3 days for both universal parks would be more than enough. I would suggest staying onsite for all the transport and front of line benefits that have been mentioned. But there is also free shuttles to sea world from the universal hotels as well which is very handy. We stayed 8 nights at Royal Pacific in 2009 and are staying 4 nights this time.

 

[Travel Mum]

Oh and I got both our Universal and Sea World passes from Undercover Tourist too. I got them in time for them to send them to me which was great

 

[Sugarglider]

When I went to Universal I stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort on their 4 night Harry Potter Deal. But that deal is also available for a lot of off-site hotels (although I don't think they include the early open and FOTL passes then - but the rooms are discount). This worked quite well for me. I did each park in just 5 or 6 hours. Very quiet. I don't do the huge coasters - and just smaller than MK.
US is about 30 minutes drive from WDW up north of downtown Orlando - so it was easy access to the Mall at Millenia and I went to Winter Park and KSC to use up the other 2 days.
Sea world is not so far from WDW. maybe 15 mins?
anyway - very exciting and 2 weeks is a good length to do everything
enjoy your planning

 

[cola]

I wasn't impressed with Seaworld. So many of the animals were doing the psychotic repeated path thing, I know you see it a bit at Animal Kingdon, animals kept is a fairly small area so people can see them, but at Seaworld seemed to be happening a LOT. Most people were thrilled because it meant you put child in front of the glass and every 1043.89seconds the walrus would rise behind them, fantastic for photos, not so great for animal's mental health. So I found a lot of Seaworld pretty depressing. I think Seaworld on the Gold Coast is better. Plus a lot of the rides at Seaworld are getting to the thrill style, like Mantra.

WWOHP I love, I have no problems watching rubber frogs doing the same thing over and over again in the frog choir The 4 day ticket wasn't much more than the 2 day, so we went to WWOHP 4 daysl Universal Studios, worth the look, but Islands of Adventure is the most magical and most fun.