Split stay WDW and Universal questions

[anonymousegirl]

Hi everyone! I have a friend who wants to travel to Florida in July for 7 nights and is thinking about doing 3 days WDW, 3 days Universal, 1 day Sea world. I think she's stretching it. I was recommending skipping Sea World, 2 days Universal, and 4 days WDW.
My questions is would you guys recommend doing an on-property WDW hotel (for the extra magic hours that really helps during the very hot weather) and a Universal hotel (for the FOTL pass)?
Also, she is on a tight budget so if they don't rent a car, is there some way to change hotels inexpensively?

 

[IdesOmarch]

The only thing I would cut out if you need to save money is maybe the day at Seaworld, other than that it sounds like a good plan. You can easily spend 3 days at Universal if that is what you were wondering.

 

[jlandis44]

I have been to both places in the past year, and am two months away from doing almost exactly what you're suggesting. I added an extra day to do 5 days at Disney and 3 days at Universal. Last year when at Universal with my wife (no kids), we found 3 days to be too much time. We covered everything we wanted to cover in 2 days, and the third day was mostly spent watching the lesser shows and re-riding some things. But, now we're taking our kids this year, and figure that we'll need the extra time to do the kiddie stuff. We stayed on Universal property, and are doing so again, for three reasons...first, we are staying at Royal Pacific, and you can walk to Universal in less than 10 minutes (or take the boat if you don't mind waiting at the dock if it's not there)...second, the Express pass..third, the hour early entry to Harry Potter beats the crowds! Those reasons alone make it worthwhile, although then you do pay a $15 per night parking fee.

For Disney, we are also staying on property again, but mostly because the kids have always wanted to stay at AK Lodge, and we were interested too. We are driving down from the MD area, so the bus service onsite isn't really that important to us as we'll have a car (and the AAA parking pass!). But, the free parking for being onsite, the extra magic hours, as well as room charging and delivery, are all nice little perks.

For us, Seaworld wouldn't be much of a draw. Fish are fish...a whole day of fish vs an extra day of magic at Disney? I say Disney. Personally, I think DHS can be done in a day, as can AK. Epcot is definitely at least a day and a half to really enjoy it without being rushed. MK can be anywhere from a day to two days. With park-hopping, it really gives you flexibility to do what you want when you want.

I wouldn't recommend trying to stuff all of Disney into 3 days. Universal can be done in 2 days without kids, and with the Express pass.

 

[sscassel]

I would stay at the value hotels in Disney...We personally love POP. Years ago we stayed half in & half outside of the Disney resorts. Worst thing I ever did! Stay in Disney. I believe you can get a bus and/or taxi to come into the resort and take you. Check into Mears Transportation.

 

[petals]

When we go to Florida we always do all the parks. Seaworld has fab shows. Universal is great if you're into coasters and that. We're not so we did both parks in one day. Last time we stayed in international Palms Resort on International drive. They have a bus to disney at 8 in the morning and you can come back at 6.30, 9.30 or 10.30 or get a cab back is about 35 dollars. Which considering how much you'll save if you don't stay on site isn't that bad for a cab one or two days. We only had to use a cab to get back twice. (The night we stayed for Wishes and night we went to MNSSHP)

 

[Planogirl]

You can't beat staying onsite at Universal because of front of the line and for me the great pools. It is pricey though.

I would spend at least one night at a Universal hotel and plan for two days. With FOL you shouldn't have any trouble seeing what you want to.

As for the other parks, that's a matter of taste. Seaworld is nice but you have to be interested in marine life. For us, AK and DHS are both half day parks while you can spend tons of time at Epcot and MK.

 

[Darcy03231]

If the budget is tight I would stay one night on-site at US/IOA and get two days of the unlimited express pass (check in day and check out day). I would also recommend doing US/IOA at the end of the trip. I made the mistake of doing it first and then got to listen to my kids complain about standing in line at WDW (and the lines weren't bad, we went during a slower time of year) and complain about how "lame" all the rides are at WDW.

 

[brenda1966]

I would also recommend doing US/IOA at the end of the trip. I made the mistake of doing it first and then got to listen to my kids complain about standing in line at WDW (and the lines weren't bad, we went during a slower time of year) .

I second that! FOTL will spoil you rotten! Then standing in lines is pure torture.

Sea World is nice, especially the feeding the dolphins, but I'd probably skip it. We don't go often, have been once with DD, but haven't felt the need to go back yet.

WDW is hard to do in less than 4 days unless you go regularly. US can be done in 2 days from what I experienced, but it was a busy 2 days.

I'm sure there are cheap options to get from WDW to US, but from what I've read they are not very efficient. A cab will run you about 50 depending on which WDW hotel you're in.

I have found that doing both parks (WDW and US) does not make for an economical trip. Both parks passes are priced to keep you in the park for many days, not just a few. So, having to buy two 2 or 3 or 4 day passes will likely cost a lot more than buying one 7 day pass.

Depending on what time of year you go, doing a Disney water park can be a fun option as well. But more expense!

 

[kathy884]

I can see the appeal of doing a one night stay at Universal for a FOLP. Their hotels are awfully expensive, though.

We usually find our most economical/fun way to to go is do rent an offsite condo from an owner on a site like TUG2.net or Redweek.com. We can usually get a two bedroom/two bath condo with full kitchen, great balcony, washer and dryer for about $800 for a week. The Sheraton Vistana Resort and Cypress Point are two choices we're done recently and really like. The larger the group too, the greater the savings, as condos usually sleep six to eight. For this kind of option, though, a car rental is almost a necessity. We find though that this is a wonderful value and that we save a great deal on food. We eat all our breakfasts in, and at Disney, for example, you can bring your own food into the parks, so we always pack a bunch of sandwiches and fruit. We just love the extra space too, makes the vacation really relaxing and fun.

All the parks are great so you can't really go wrong. I will say, though, for our family SeaWorld is our favorite and that's the one park we make sure to never skip on an Orlando trip. They have a second day free option too, but most people just have too many parks to squeeze in. We, though, love this park so much that we do it on the first day and last day of our trip and pick Universal and/or Disney parks on the in between days.

 

[macraven]

Hi everyone! I have a friend who wants to travel to Florida in July for 7 nights and is thinking about doing 3 days WDW, 3 days Universal, 1 day Sea world. I think she's stretching it. I was recommending skipping Sea World, 2 days Universal, and 4 days WDW.
My questions is would you guys recommend doing an on-property WDW hotel (for the extra magic hours that really helps during the very hot weather) and a Universal hotel (for the FOTL pass)?
Also, she is on a tight budget so if they don't rent a car, is there some way to change hotels inexpensively?

the only cheap way of moving from one resort hotel to the other would be by the Lynx bus.
believe me, it is not worth it though........

private car service or taxi would be the way to switch resorts.

i have been doing stays at both motherland and darkside on the same visit.
i can take the ME from the airport to the motherland resort, then hire a round trip car service to pick me up at disney and take me to universal resorts.
the second part of that service would be my returning to the airport.

car service can vary
some say they have paid $80 to 100 for the round trip rides.

i use the car service for all 3 legs and get a discount.
the highest i have paid has been $130 total. mco-disney-uo-mco
of course, i have used some of the discounts advertised on other boards ..

i go for 16 days and split the vacation up.
first at the motherland, then to the darkside.
the longer i stay at universal, the cheaper the room rate can be on the present promo.

if your friend is going solo, i would do a 4/3 split without seaworld.
better yet, if seaworld is important, she can take the free bus offered for the 3 onsite hotels that go to seaworld daily.
if she is a guest at the UO hotels, this is a perk she can use for her entire party.

if your friend is going and has littles, she might appreciate the longer stays at both park resorts.