Split or Rent car

[Momloveshockey]

so this time we are wanting to spend two days at Universal and rest at Disney. Any opinions on whether to stay at Universal resort for first few days then move to Disney resort OR stay at Disney and rent car to do Universal? Thoughts??

 

[Darcy03231]

When we're doing both resorts we like to stay at Disney for the first part and then Universal for the second part in one of their on-site hotels that offer the free express pass (like a fast pass) - Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino Bay). We do it this way for a couple of reasons.

1. Universal/IOA are smaller parks and much easier to get around.
2. With the unlimited express pass you have plenty of time to do all the rides/shows and not have to do commando touring. We actually spend time enjoying our resort pool. No need for rope drop and lots of rushing around.
3. We found when we did US/IOA first and Disney 2nd, the kids liked the rides at US/IOA better and absolutely loved the unlimited express pass. Our wait times at US/IOA were 0-5 minutes. WDW didn't have long lines when we went (and we went with a good touring plan and use of fast-passes), but the lines were definitely longer (avg. was 15-30 min.). Kids kept asking to go back to US/IOA claiming that the lines at Disney were "too long" and that the rides were "boring" and "lame." Our kids were preteens and teens at the time with multiple WDW trips. Depending on your kids ages and number of trips, you may have a different response.

If the US/IOA resorts are out of your budget, I would just stay at WDW and rent a car. Just make sure you get there early if you don't have the express pass. You can cover a lot of ground before the lines get too long. If staying off-site I try to be in line 20-30 minutes before the park opens. We've found they sometimes open the gates early.

Have a great trip!

 

[Momloveshockey]

Thanks. We have to do Disney at the end as we are going to do the 5k race of Marathon weekend next January. So the plan is to do Dec28,29 At US, then go to Disney...with built in pool, relax time. It's not our first trip to Disney, but it will be our son's first time at US. Since it's Xmas-NYs weeks...it will be busy chaos anyways! Lol

 

[Darcy03231]

Thanks. We have to do Disney at the end as we are going to do the 5k race of Marathon weekend next January. So the plan is to do Dec28,29 At US, then go to Disney...with built in pool, relax time. It's not our first trip to Disney, but it will be our son's first time at US. Since it's Xmas-NYs weeks...it will be busy chaos anyways! Lol

In that case I'd definitely stay at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino Bay if you can swing it. Since it's Christmas week even with the express pass I would plan on hitting the parks for rope drop. Check over on the Universal board to see if there are any passholder discounts during that week. It might be worth looking into getting an annual pass for one person.