New to a Disney World-Universal split trip - need advice

[izzymommy]

Have previously traveled with two young children to Disney ONLY - own car, value or moderate stay, sometimes with park hoppers and/or dining plan - last trip in 2015. Now that they're older we're planning a Disney/Universal split stay. Tentatively for February 2023, planning to rent DVC for Animal Kingdom (or another resort if our dates not available). Need advice re: should we book a separate stay at Universal? I'm only planning two days there. Is staying at their premier hotel for front of the line passes worth it? Purchase those separately and stay longer on Disney property? Will have our own car and not currently planning on dining plans (whether or not they're even available). Also need advice re: the new Genie + - have no concept of how it works - I'm gathering Magic bands are out?

 

[CynBeth]

We are adults with no kids who stayed on Universal property for the first time in November before a Disney trip and loved it. We were at Portofino for 2 nights and glad we had the express passes. We are not huge thrill ride people don’t go on roller coasters or anything with a drop but enjoyed the motion simulator rides and shows. We purchased our package with the 2 day park to park passes to be able to go on the Hogwarts Express.

For your Disney question basically you can buy Genie+ in advance for every day of your trip or purchase it each day you want it which costs $15 per person per day. At 7 am each day you can go on and book your first selection. You do not get a choice in ride time. The rules keep changing but once you finish your first ride or a time 2 hours after can book your second. There are also ILL that you go on at 7 am there used to be 2 top tier rides in each park but believe it is now 1 where you pay an extra fee and get to select a time but sometimes it changes on you.

 

[CarolynFH]

Need advice re: should we book a separate stay at Universal? I'm only planning two days there. Is staying at their premier hotel for front of the line passes worth it?

You need to do the math for your family, because our parties have been all adults and therefore subject to charges for more than 2 adults in a room. But on three occasions now, for parties of 3-5 adults, it was cheaper to book one night at one of the UOR deluxe resorts than to buy the Unlimited Express Passes for all of us (and we didn't even sleep there - were staying in timeshares). One night gets you 2 days (from park opening on check in day through park closing on check out day) of EPs for everyone in the room, plus parking is charged per night, so you get 2 days of parking instead of paying for 2 days in the public garage. You buy the park admission tickets separately in any case - be sure to buy park to park tickets so you can ride the Hogwarts Express between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. I've also read repeatedly that the hotel discount you can get with a UOR annual pass can pay for the cost difference between an AP and a regular ticket (buy one AP, get regular tickets for the rest of your party). Check out the UOR forums here on DISboards for more help!