This is our ninth Disney trip, but the first time driving there (other than some school group trips we've led). We missed some pretty significant discounts as we were waiting for tax refunds and stimulus to let us know how our finances would look. As a result, we're scaling back our trip a bit to get back in budget.
Originally we were arriving in central FL on a Saturday in late June, staying in a cheaper hotel that night, then doing six nights at Caribbean Beach starting Sunday and checking out Saturday. We were going to have 5 day PH tickets at WDW, Buy 2 Get 2 free tickets at Universal. We definitely need to be heading back home that Saturday, and will probably stay in Atlanta that night on our way back to Kansas.
Now, since discounted and standard rooms are gone, we're pondering dropping one day at Universal (do the park to park- my middle daughter is obsessed with Harry Potter), dropping one day at Disney (and dropping park hopper), and checking out of CB on Friday. We'd probably start with Universal on Sunday, then at the end of the week do a Disney park Friday after checkout - maybe AK since it's a little bit more low energy than the other parks - and then book a cheaper hotel that night. We'd still have a midweek day where we didn't go to the parks at all and just hang out at the resort (we're excited as we've almost always stayed at All Star Music).
What do you veterans think? We have to be in east Texas before Florida, so our dates are pretty tight. Is it a challenge to do a park after checking out? Is it too hard these days to do all the Harry Potter stuff in one day at UO? What hotels would you recommend in the Orlando/Cocoa Beach (our first Saturday location)/North Florida (driveable after doing a park) areas?
Originally we were arriving in central FL on a Saturday in late June, staying in a cheaper hotel that night, then doing six nights at Caribbean Beach starting Sunday and checking out Saturday. We were going to have 5 day PH tickets at WDW, Buy 2 Get 2 free tickets at Universal. We definitely need to be heading back home that Saturday, and will probably stay in Atlanta that night on our way back to Kansas.
Now, since discounted and standard rooms are gone, we're pondering dropping one day at Universal (do the park to park- my middle daughter is obsessed with Harry Potter), dropping one day at Disney (and dropping park hopper), and checking out of CB on Friday. We'd probably start with Universal on Sunday, then at the end of the week do a Disney park Friday after checkout - maybe AK since it's a little bit more low energy than the other parks - and then book a cheaper hotel that night. We'd still have a midweek day where we didn't go to the parks at all and just hang out at the resort (we're excited as we've almost always stayed at All Star Music).
What do you veterans think? We have to be in east Texas before Florida, so our dates are pretty tight. Is it a challenge to do a park after checking out? Is it too hard these days to do all the Harry Potter stuff in one day at UO? What hotels would you recommend in the Orlando/Cocoa Beach (our first Saturday location)/North Florida (driveable after doing a park) areas?
