One day or split stay in September 2015?

[YawningDodo]

I'm planning a solo trip to Disney World for September 2015 (maybe a 20% chance I'll have company, but everyone in the party would be an adult regardless) and I've initially set one day aside to take a Mears shuttle or a taxi to Universal. In the past when I've visited with family we've only ever allotted one day to cover both Universal and IoA (always visiting in the off season), and in the past it's been enough time to cover all the major attractions we wanted to do without allowing time for much shopping or for going to more than one or two shows.

That was before either Harry Potter area was built, though, and now that I'm reading more about Universal I'm wondering if I should allot a second day to it. I'm planning a visit with six full days for visiting parks, five of them currently set for Disney World with park hopper/water parks and more options and one with a two-park ticket to Universal/IoA. If I do only four days at WDW the water park option may no longer be worth it, as that only allows one touring day per major park. On the other hand, I am extremely familiar with the Disney parks but have only visited Universal/IoA sporadically.

Beyond the water park question, part of my concern is transportation time and cost. Current plan calls for staying on Disney Property and not renting a car, as I don't care for driving in general and try to avoid it on vacation. If I do Universal for one day I can just arrange a shuttle or taxi from the Disney resort, but $20 for the shuttle or $35-40 for the taxi would add up over multiple days. I've never done a split stay while in Orlando, but it's enough to have me wondering if I should just get a hotel room at Universal and then move shop to WDW a few days into the visit, or vice versa. Touring days are currently planned for Thursday-Tuesday, if that helps.

I guess I'm slightly concerned that I won't be entertained for two full days at Universal/IoA, though I keep telling myself that's silly because I kept myself perfectly busy for a day at IoA when I visited for the first time ten years ago and did the park alone (I was there with a youth group for one day and they gave us tickets that were only good for one park). I've just gotten in the habit of seeing the whole Universal complex as a one day attraction from approaching it that way every time I've been there. Help me convince myself that Disney isn't the be-all end-all and to give Universal a little more time. And if you were doing a split stay, which would you do first? The Harry Potter stuff is all going to be new to me, but so are the updates to Fantasyland.

 

[macraven]

i always do split stays.
first at the motherland then car service to the darkside resorts.

i find the motherland more hectic, busy and rushing.
i save the darkside for last so i can take my time, relax and hit the parks at a slower pace.
this year i have a 5 day-12 day split

 

[johde]

My first thought is I would not be afraid of doing a split stay especially since your going solo. I travel to central Florida about every other year and almost always do a split stay. For my trip in January I'm staying in 3 places although it's not the 3 I initially planned on.

First, with 6 days unless you're dieing to go to a water park I would skip the Water Park and more. You can always add it back later if you have time. I would do 2 days at Universal and 5 days at Disney. I'd do the 2 days at Universal first. On you're second day, when you've seen you're fill, you can hop to a Disney park for the evening. You could leave Universal at 5:00 and if you're staying onsite for the Disney portion with any luck you might be able to to hop to MK to EPCOT until 11:00 or Midnight. From there, you could spend 4 full days at WDW. If you got to the end of day 2 at Universal you decided you needed more time, you could add a 3rd day you could hop over there after AK for a couple of hours.

Option 2 if you're going late in September is to buy 5 days at Disney and a 1 day Universal Park to Park + HHR ticket. That would give you an evening in Universal Studios (minus Harry Potter) to ride rides and do the Haunted attractions possibly after an Animal Kingdom day then a full day at both parks another day.

In January, I'm doing 9 nights, 1 day at WDW, 1 day Busch Gardens, 1 day Seaworld, 1 Water Park (if weather cooperates) and 4/5 Universal/IOA. If I get bored if Universal I can go back to Busch Gardens or Sea World again. And I'm staying at 3 hotels. Coco Key's for a night to get Front of the Line at Sea World and Busch Gardens, Animal Kingdom Villa with my DVC membership, and Cabana Bay for Early Entry.

 

[Marquibiri]

I've also done split stays on several occasions.

I'd skip the water park... By yourself, four days at WDW is not bad! You can do all parks, and if you're hopping, even better. Just plan your trip and fastpasses well. You will be doing single rider as well, so that will cut down wait time on certain attractions.

I've gone solo on four different occasions (all during Sept-Oct) and have been able to do everything in just a few days (at your own pace and preference). I'm heading back on a solo trip in 11 days.

Universal is a more relaxing trip, as mac stated, you should do a split stay and stay at one of the resorts. If you have budget restraints, consider staying at Cabana Bay (great discounts come out for September, especially if you have an AP).

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[YawningDodo]

I've started to feel a little bad for my (Disney only) TA with the number of quotes I've had her run. And I just told her I'd settled on my itinerary, too...oh wellll. Yeah, I think I need to go run my own numbers on Universal and ask her to shorten my WDW stay and drop the water parks; while I love both the Disney water parks they're lower on my list and the visit's too short to do much with them if WDW only gets four days.

johde, I hadn't considered getting both a Disney ticket and a Universal ticket for the same day. I'll have to see how much it would cost to have 5 days on the Disney ticket instead of 4; I know it gets cheaper per day as you add more but the visit might be getting short enough at this point to make it a significant price increase (yep, budget's a consideration). I'm leaning a little toward doing Universal last, though...I love Disney (obviously), but I also love dem coasters and might spend the rest of the week missing the thrill rides at Universal if I do them first. Then again, there's that "going home" feeling of going to WDW that could make it nicer as the second part...bah, I don't know.

Unfortunately I am an enormous chicken and I'm pretty sure I can't handle Universal's Halloween party. Also I'll be there smack dab in the middle of September, so there's a decent chance both it and Food and Wine will start a week after I'm gone.

EDIT: Say I do Universal my last two days (Monday-Tuesday) and fly home on Wednesday. Would it make more sense to check out of the Disney resort and into Cabana Bay on Sunday or on Monday? Or say I do USO first, then my Universal resort nights would start the first Wednesday when I get in and I'd either check out and move to Disney after a day at Universal on Friday or before starting my day at Disney on Saturday morning.

 

[johde]

johde, I hadn't considered getting both a Disney ticket and a Universal ticket for the same day. I'll have to see how much it would cost to have 5 days on the Disney ticket instead of 4; I know it gets cheaper per day as you add more but the visit might be getting short enough at this point to make it a significant price increase (yep, budget's a consideration). I'm leaning a little toward doing Universal last, though...I love Disney (obviously), but I also love dem coasters and might spend the rest of the week missing the thrill rides at Universal if I do them first. Then again, there's that "going home" feeling of going to WDW that could make it nicer as the second part...bah, I don't know.

At least right now, days above 4 days at Disney are $10 a piece + tax (as are days above 2 at Universal). So dropping the water parks would save you $18 and the extra Disney day would cost you $10. Assuming you can't find any Discount tickets.

 

[YawningDodo]

At least right now, days above 4 days at Disney are $10 a piece + tax (as are days above 2 at Universal). So dropping the water parks would save you $18 and the extra Disney day would cost you $10. Assuming you can't find any Discount tickets.

That's...actually really reasonable, and would give me even more flexibility than I probably need. I think I may have to just flip a coin to decide which I'll do first, but now I'm thinking I'll set myself up to move to the second resort on the evening of the last day I'm at the first set of parks, and have overlapping tickets that day in case I want to go early.