Planning our first US trip

[woodynjessiesmomma]

DH and I were talking about going back to Disney and when. Eventually we got to discussing US. Our family is excited about HP and many other themes. We understand the ride height issues and will prepare DD4/5 and will child swap with YDS2 ODS will be 8 and is very tall.
We are looking at Fall Break in October (19-23) or a full week in November or February but that will involve missing school. If we go in October we will do only US/IoA and maybe a beach day or something non theme park. If we do a full week it would be 9 days total and we'd probably do 2 days at Universal and 3-4 days at WDW.
What time would you recommend for first timers with younger kids?
Also we were thinking Hard Rock at Universal. Do one of the other hotels have better family suites or are they all similar?
Thanks.
We are very excited to try Universal, I just feel a little lost in planning. DH and I saw Blue Man group there once and walked through City Walk, that is our only experience.

 

[macraven]

If you go in October , studios will close at 5:00 on wed, thur, fri, sat and sun due to the Hhn event

Hhn begins sept 16 this year

Ioa will be open a few hours later

If your plans are to stay on site in October, book your room early
Do not wait until late August to do that

Hotel rates might be better for a full week in early nov

 

[onenursebrandy]

I am a "Disney" person and so is my family...but IOA is our favorite park (it's painful to admit). Last time we were there (2013) DS7 at the time wasn't tall enough to ride Big coasters, but he loved the Jurrassic rides, and Spider-Man is his absolute favorite. DD17 at the time was very into HP and loved the nastalgia of Suess island. We loved US too...but transformers wasn't open yet, most of Springfield was under construction, and no HP expansion existed!

We had no touring plan, no FOTL passes, were there for spring break...there were lots of people, but it wasn't unbearable. I would imagine with planning and low crowds, you'll have a great time!

 

[mrsabbott]

When we went, our DS was 2. He had a blast, even though he couldn't ride on a ton of the rides. There were rides he could do in the Seuss areas and there were some kids play areas that he really enjoyed. He was also able to ride Flight of the Hippogriff with us, which he loved and we rode numerous times. The parent swap is pretty awesome and you can also take advantage of the rides that have single rider options for your older two.

If you stay at Hard Rock then you will get the Express pass included, which will give you faster access to most of the coasters and rides (but not in the HP areas). I haven't stayed at Cabana Bay, but I think their family suites look awesome and they have some awesome pools and things for the kids on your "rest" days. But.. you don't get an Express Pass.

When we went, it was Spring Break for us (end of March/Beginning of April) and we were off site with no express pass. We went Sunday and Tuesday (found Tuesday to be very low crowds) and had no issues. I have been to Florida (not US) in February and find it to be an awesome time to go.. although I understand about missing school.

 

[SA mom]

During our first (and only) trip to UO, our daughters were a pair of short 9 year olds (almost 10). They loved the Harry Potter area, but I completely underestimated how much they would enjoy the Jurassic Park Visitors Center and the play area, Jurassic Camp. They also really enjoyed the Curious George play area. They spent some time at the pool at Royal Pacific. They always had some sort of activity for the kids going on. We went in November, the weekend before Thanksgiving.

It's been almost 2 years since our last visit to the Orlando area and the last trip was solely to WDW. Our next trip (in 3 short weeks!) is solely to UO. It has been a breeze to plan. It is so enjoyable to read up on all the hotels, attractions, and restaurants, and only really have to make that one hotel reservation. With the express pass that come with staying onsite, we don't have make FP+ reservations 60 days out and we can decide where to eat the day of. It actually sounds like a leisurely vacation. I think it may be hard to go back to Disney. The other cool thing is that our kids are now 15 and I have no problem with them remaining in the parks while I take a nap. Everything is so close together.

Cabana Bay does look amazing, but I love the walk from RPR to the parks (and the express pass).

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

If you go in October , studios will close at 5:00 on wed, thur, fri, sat and sun due to the Hhn event

Ioa will be open a few hours later

If your plans are to stay on site in October, book your room early
Do not wait until late August to do that

Hotel rates might be better for a full week in early nov

Thanks! I knew HHN would be in October but I hadn't looked up the dates yet. Fall Break would have us there Wed-Sun. While we could plan accordingly it's nice to know that one park would be off limits.
I started looking at hotel prices for various times. October has the least selection and highest prices right now, so once we decide I'll book ASAP.

I am a "Disney" person and so is my family...but IOA is our favorite park (it's painful to admit). Last time we were there (2013) DS7 at the time wasn't tall enough to ride Big coasters, but he loved the Jurrassic rides, and Spider-Man is his absolute favorite. DD17 at the time was very into HP and loved the nastalgia of Suess island. We loved US too...but transformers wasn't open yet, most of Springfield was under construction, and no HP expansion existed!

We had no touring plan, no FOTL passes, were there for spring break...there were lots of people, but it wasn't unbearable. I would imagine with planning and low crowds, you'll have a great time!

That's great to hear. ODS loves Jurassic World and superheroes. They all love Minions. DH and I are excited to see the Simpsons area too. We are excited to try something new.

When we went, our DS was 2. He had a blast, even though he couldn't ride on a ton of the rides. There were rides he could do in the Seuss areas and there were some kids play areas that he really enjoyed. He was also able to ride Flight of the Hippogriff with us, which he loved and we rode numerous times. The parent swap is pretty awesome and you can also take advantage of the rides that have single rider options for your older two.

If you stay at Hard Rock then you will get the Express pass included, which will give you faster access to most of the coasters and rides (but not in the HP areas). I haven't stayed at Cabana Bay, but I think their family suites look awesome and they have some awesome pools and things for the kids on your "rest" days. But.. you don't get an Express Pass.

When we went, it was Spring Break for us (end of March/Beginning of April) and we were off site with no express pass. We went Sunday and Tuesday (found Tuesday to be very low crowds) and had no issues. I have been to Florida (not US) in February and find it to be an awesome time to go.. although I understand about missing school.

Thanks. I think DD and YDS will enjoy the Suess area (ODS probably will too). They also have enjoyed the Curious George books and show. I hope YDS can ride something with us, he is on the short side though.
We like the look of Cabana bay but were leaning toward one of the others for express passes. I guess I should price it out and if we aren't going during a busy time express passes may not matter.

During our first (and only) trip to UO, our daughters were a pair of short 9 year olds (almost 10). They loved the Harry Potter area, but I completely underestimated how much they would enjoy the Jurassic Park Visitors Center and the play area, Jurassic Camp. They also really enjoyed the Curious George play area. They spent some time at the pool at Royal Pacific. They always had some sort of activity for the kids going on. We went in November, the weekend before Thanksgiving.

It's been almost 2 years since our last visit to the Orlando area and the last trip was solely to WDW. Our next trip (in 3 short weeks!) is solely to UO. It has been a breeze to plan. It is so enjoyable to read up on all the hotels, attractions, and restaurants, and only really have to make that one hotel reservation. With the express pass that come with staying onsite, we don't have make FP+ reservations 60 days out and we can decide where to eat the day of. It actually sounds like a leisurely vacation. I think it may be hard to go back to Disney. The other cool thing is that our kids are now 15 and I have no problem with them remaining in the parks while I take a nap. Everything is so close together.

Cabana Bay does look amazing, but I love the walk from RPR to the parks (and the express pass).

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

I think we will enjoy so much of US/IoA. I love the idea of not waking up early at 180 days, 60 days. Going back to DL was nice and I did enjoy paper FPs again, but I was able to realize some advantages of switching FPs from my phone.
Thanks!

New question, if we aren't going to the beach or anything off site, would it be better to rent a car for Universal or just hiring transport? I do miss the convenience of DME.

 

[bchbetha]

Could you do 3 days at Universal and fewer at Disney? You've btdt at Disney, it'd be fun to really explore Universal.
I wouldn't rent a car. I'd just use Uber if you need a ride.

 

[squirrel]

If you will be back to Orlando again, I would pick one Disney or Universal for your trip. You will save money this way as it costs less per day the longer your tickets are. You don't have to pay for transportation between the two different park areas. You will have a more relaxing time.

I'm going for 14 nights and I'm not doing WDW. We are doing US/IOA, SeaWorld and Aquatica. When I do a WDW trip I spend the full 14 nights at WDW.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

New question, if we aren't going to the beach or anything off site, would it be better to rent a car for Universal or just hiring transport? I do miss the convenience of DME.

The onsite hotels charge parking ($20/night I think), so if you decide to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel, I wouldn't rent a car. A Lyft is $15-20 from WDW and if you know someone who uses Uber or Lyft, they can give you a referral code and you'll get some free ride credits! Our last trip, we did WDW then UO then back to WDW to use the MDE to and from the airport, so I'm not sure how much an Uber/Lyft ride is to the airport, but both have fare estimators on their websites.

 

[onenursebrandy]

If you will be back to Orlando again, I would pick one Disney or Universal for your trip. You will save money this way as it costs less per day the longer your tickets are. You don't have to pay for transportation between the two different park areas. You will have a more relaxing time.

I'm going for 14 nights and I'm not doing WDW. We are doing US/IOA, SeaWorld and Aquatica. When I do a WDW trip I spend the full 14 nights at WDW.

This was our original plan for our upcoming trip! The magic is real though....somehow 11 nights at Disney got reserved before our Universal/seaworld ressies!!!
(taking our camper really helps keep costs low....but 3 weeks in Orlando is going to be EXAUSTING!!!!)

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

Could you do 3 days at Universal and fewer at Disney? You've btdt at Disney, it'd be fun to really explore Universal.
I wouldn't rent a car. I'd just use Uber if you need a ride.

We are considering different options. DD is very into princesses and if we went while Disney would be decorated for Christmas we would want to see that in addition to US.

If you will be back to Orlando again, I would pick one Disney or Universal for your trip. You will save money this way as it costs less per day the longer your tickets are. You don't have to pay for transportation between the two different park areas. You will have a more relaxing time.

I'm going for 14 nights and I'm not doing WDW. We are doing US/IOA, SeaWorld and Aquatica. When I do a WDW trip I spend the full 14 nights at WDW.

If we go in October or February we would be more likely to do only US. If we go just after Thanksgiving we would want to see WDW at Christmas. It would definitely save money to do one or the other with the pricing for more days.

The onsite hotels charge parking ($20/night I think), so if you decide to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel, I wouldn't rent a car. A Lyft is $15-20 from WDW and if you know someone who uses Uber or Lyft, they can give you a referral code and you'll get some free ride credits! Our last trip, we did WDW then UO then back to WDW to use the MDE to and from the airport, so I'm not sure how much an Uber/Lyft ride is to the airport, but both have fare estimators on their websites.

Thanks. If we wouldn't be going to the beach or something I would want to skip a car rental. I'm just not sure about car seats for the younger two. I guess we could store them in our hotel room.

 

[dixonsontour]

October is a great time to go. You will honestly have enough to do even if you do just Universal parks in October. There are 2 mini golf courses at citywalk and bowling/pool with lazy river at cabana bay (you can pool hop if you stay onsite).

There is enough for a 5 year old honestly, DD was 5 when we first took her. Minions, shrek, lovely water play area, small coaster like barnstormer, suess. There is a small ride like dumbo in simpsons area.

If you want a suite then Cabana bay is great for kids and has suites. Pool activities for kids, refill mugs like disney. Just no FP but if you have multiple days you will be fine.

Link to my trip reports, DD was 8 in the first and and 9 in the second

http://www.disboards.com/threads/sh...october-2014-universal-food-complete.3418576/

http://www.disboards.com/threads/he...-dream-october-2015-complete-17-days.3471391/

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

October is a great time to go. You will honestly have enough to do even if you do just Universal parks in October. There are 2 mini golf courses at citywalk and bowling/pool with lazy river at cabana bay (you can pool hop if you stay onsite).

There is enough for a 5 year old honestly, DD was 5 when we first took her. Minions, shrek, lovely water play area, small coaster like barnstormer, suess. There is a small ride like dumbo in simpsons area.

If you want a suite then Cabana bay is great for kids and has suites. Pool activities for kids, refill mugs like disney. Just no FP but if you have multiple days you will be fine.

Link to my trip reports, DD was 8 in the first and and 9 in the second

http://www.disboards.com/threads/sh...october-2014-universal-food-complete.3418576/

http://www.disboards.com/threads/he...-dream-october-2015-complete-17-days.3471391/

Thank you! I started your TR earlier today when I was looking for October details in only to Legoland in the 2015 trip so far.
We actually just decided tonight to take the kids out of two days of school and go Saturday to Thursday of our Fall Break. This way we will have more time to explore and make it home for a special birthday. I'm kind of surprised I'm so ok with skipping WDW, that said DD was sad tonight UO doesn't have princesses so she and I might sneak over one night for 1900 PF dinner.
We are still undecided on a hotel. We like something about all of them. I really thought DH would love Cabana Bay but he's mostly excited about HRH or the Sapphire Suite. Guess we will decide in the next day or so

 

[Edward90]

Since by the time you'll get there Kong will be open you might want to stay way from Kong it's supposed to be too scary for kids universal has it listed as best for teens and adults and it will involve scare actors at points