Questions - Universal side-trip on upcoming WDW trip

[bluecruiser]

Looking for some info/advice for my niece and her family who are contemplating a side-trip to Universal on their next WDW trip in February 2018. It will be my niece, her husband, and their 5-year-old (almost 6 by then) son who is 44 inches tall. They will be staying at Fort Wilderness Cabins, without a car. Her son's favorite attractions at WDW are Test Track, 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Toy Story, and Buzz Lightyear. Magic Kingdom is his favorite park, but he doesn't care much for "kiddie" rides; he wants to be as "extreme" as he can. None of them are much familiar with Harry Potter. They have been to WDW a few times but this is their first Universal trip. They are interested in USF and IOA but not Volcano Bay.

1. Based on height restrictions and his desire for extreme rides, do you think it's worth it for them to visit Universal now, or would it be better if they waited until he's tall enough to ride everything?

From the height restrictions on Universal's website it looks like there are 5 rides their son can't ride - Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Revenge of the Mummy, Doctor Doom's Fearfall, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and Incredible Hulk Coaster. One other ride might be iffy depending on how they measure - Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls is right at 44 inches. There are 16 other height-restricted rides that he will be able to ride, some more extreme than others.

2. Can they do it all in 1 day or should they plan 2 days? Park-to-park or single park tickets?

3. They might consider one hotel night at Universal, but it would likely be at Cabana Bay. Is it worth it to stay at Cabana Bay?

It looks like Cabana Bay doesn't get the free express pass that the pricier hotels get, but it would save about 30 (?) minutes travel each way and make it easier for them if they want to take a mid-day break. Are there any other benefits that would make it worthwhile for them to stay at Cabana Bay?

4. What transportation option would you recommend for them to get from WDW to Universal? Shuttle, taxi, rental car, ?

5. Thoughts on timing - should they do Universal first or WDW first?

Thanks in advance! It's been over 20 years since I visited Universal so what information I remember is woefully out of date.

 

[bchbetha]

1. Totally worth a visit. Lots of fun rides they’ll enjoy. And more to look forward to next time (and maybe even make it a Universal Trip with a side visit to Disney... ). The play areas are super fun plus good shows and plenty of rides.
2. Park to park tickets are ideal, imo. They should look at the attraction lists themselves to decide 1 or 2 days. Hours likely aren’t out but see what you can find. If the parks close super early, that would affect itineraries too. They might want 2 days so not to be rushed.
3. What’s the price difference between Cabana Bay and Royal Pacific?
I think onsite is great. Show up the day before, enjoy the pool, get tickets Square, get a good night sleep and hit the parks. Not having to commute in the morning is great. 30 minutes might get you to the parking garage but they’ll have to budget much more time for parking, walking through CityWalk, ticketing and security.
The early entry is very nice.
4. Uber or Lyft. Buy a Bubblebum inflatable booster seat to use on the ride. Cheap and easy compared to shuttles, rental cars ($20 to park) and taxis.
5. No opinion.

 

[HM]

1. We waited until our kids were a bit older and could ride everything. Will it be a problem if the child sees a ride he thinks he'll like and can't do it due to restrictions? He may not even care, and there is plenty to do.

2. I would never suggest one day. Two days for sure, three days better. If they want to ride Hogwarts Express, they'll need Park-to-Park, otherwise one park a day could work.

3. Cabana Bay is great. I've stayed there twice.

We really never missed not having EP for the rides staying there even in busy summer. Much less than 30 minutes to get between the parks and the resort. You can walk it in 20. The buses are very efficient and get you in and out fast. The pools are wonderful, have them bring ring floats for doing the lazy river (the stand there will blow them up for them). The food court is wonderful, movies and campfire at night. Starbuck in the lobby, great bars.

4. I'd do Uber or Lyft.

5. To me it doesn't matter. I guess if they want to do Early Entry, pick the one that has it on the day they start.

 

[wookiebeck]

I'll take a shot at answering number 3. Staying inside the 'bubble' at both WDW and Uni are fun-fun-fun. And here is the, but...

Think about how much time you need to pack, prepare, check-out, drive, check-in and haul everything to the room for one/two nights. All that work was to save on the 30 minute drive. You still had to drive that distance anyway. And then once at the hotel, it takes time to get to the park (roughly 20 mins.) just like when in the WDW bubble, travel is not instantaneous. I would vote for the Uber/Lyft.

As for the touring plan, a lot has changed in 20 years. The size of the parks and number of cool rides makes it a 2-day minimum (IMHO). Doing one day might only serve to whet your appetite and wish you devoted more time.

 

[HM]

1. We waited until our kids were a bit older and could ride everything. Will it be a problem if the child sees a ride he thinks he'll like and can't do it due to restrictions? He may not even care, and there is plenty to do.

2. I would never suggest one day. Two days for sure, three days better. If they want to ride Hogwarts Express, they'll need Park-to-Park, otherwise one park a day could work.

3. Cabana Bay is great. I've stayed there twice.

We really never missed not having EP for the rides staying there even in busy summer. Much less than 30 minutes to get between the parks and the resort. You can walk it in 20. The buses are very efficient and get you in and out fast. The pools are wonderful, have them bring ring floats for doing the lazy river (the stand there will blow them up for them). The food court is wonderful, movies and campfire at night. Starbuck in the lobby, great bars.

4. I'd do Uber or Lyft.

5. To me it doesn't matter.

 

[bluecruiser]

Thanks everyone!

How much is available during early entry at each park? Universal's website shows just 2 attractions open in USF or IOA for the 1-hour early entry time.

 

[bchbetha]

Thanks everyone!

How much is available during early entry at each park? Universal's website shows just 2 attractions open in USF or IOA for the 1-hour early entry time.

You’re right, only a few things are open. But, it’s still a valuable perk. Low crowds are just nice. Harry Potter fans especially appreciate having those parts of the parks to “themselves “.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks everyone!

How much is available during early entry at each park? Universal's website shows just 2 attractions open in USF or IOA for the 1-hour early entry time.

Wizarding World.

And despicable me at Studios when EE is there.



Do the adults want to go? If so, go. If it’s for the child, wait. Not sure about waiting for the ability to ride *everything* though. Even with my tall kid that wait felt like ages, and we were going often anyway.


I line being onsite at Uni. I don’t care about being onsite at Wdw (but usually ammbc we own dvc). We move resorts for Universal.

 

[elaine amj]

If they don't plan on returning to Universal frequently, I would wait one more year - particularly if the child would get upset not going on the big rollercoasters. There's plenty to do without them though.

EE was OK. We didn't really like Forbidden Journey though and that was really the only ride that we could do for EE.

We did really like having EPs and enjoyed staying onsite with everything in walking distance. The water rides are fab and we would do those over and over and then walk back to our hotel to hit the pool.

The new waterpark looks amazing. If they are there at an off time, it sounds like it would be fantastic fun and well worth staying at Cabana Bay.

 

[bluecruiser]

Thanks again to everyone who answered. The information should be helpful to my niece and her family!