Split trip between Poly and Universal (and other q's)?

[TommyTutone]

Hey all,

I've been reading this board for a few weeks now and just registered as I plan for my next trip next September for both my mother's 60th birthday as well as my son's first trip (he will be 4 when we go). I know the planning is far ahead of time, but I am giddy about the whole affair. In fact, I wish we were going THIS September, but our repeated trips to adopt our son sucked up all of our vacation time this year (but it was worth it!).

We are currently considering spending four days at the Poly with the fourth day having us check out in the morning, visiting a 'half day' park (either MGM or Animal Kingdom), and then driving over to either Portofino or Royal Pacific for three days so that we can visit both Universal Parks as well as Sea World (one of my favorites).

I had a few questions before I even consider making reservations (I assume I still have plenty of time to do this). First, has anyone split their visit between parks? I've read people split between various Disney parks, but hadn't seen anyone split between Disney and Universal. Also, I know that folks here call in 6 months before their planned reservation date to reserve a table for breakfast at Cinderella's Castle. If I was to get a concierge room, would the concierge be able to reserve a table for four for me, or should I plan to dial like a nut on the correct date? The same would apply to the luau dinner, as well as any other dinner reservations we might want (I don't know what parks we will be at what days, so we generally don't plan for meal reservations until that morning and have had good luck in the past). Oh, speaking of which, if I did get us a Castle breakfast, will the monorails be running early enough to get us there? I would not want to drive if we are staying at a monorail accessible park.

Also (slightly off topic here), one of the big reasons for staying at a Universal hotel is for the 'line jumping' privilege that supposedly allows hotel guests to go to the front of the line for all their rides. I am very familiar with Fast Pass, but I've never experienced this before. How does it work, and was it worth the cost of the room?

Lastly, does anyone have any general tips specific for this? The big reasons we are staying at Poly is so that it will be convenient for us to get to the two 'big' parks, plus it will be convenient to get to the luau dinner, which is what the wife is looking forward to.

Thanks all. I love this site, although I blame you all for getting me this excited about a trip that is still so far away.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Hi, Welcome to the DIS!

Yes we've done split stays between Disney and Universal and it worked out well. We've only stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal and the kids loved it. They were 4, 5 and 6 when we went. We're doing a split stay in July between CBR and HRH.

If you stay concierge they will make your ADRs for you. Remember half the fun of the trip is planning! These boards will help you so much. The Poly is a great place for kids and the monorail and ferry is so convenient. We've always stayed at the GF when the kids were younger for that very reason.

You will love Front of the Line Access at Universal - it makes everything so easy. At Disney the most important tip I can give you is get to the parks at opening and use fast pass. Have fun.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I have stayed at HRH once and RPR about 4x and I love RPR! If you love South Pacific tropical themeing, then you got the best resorts, Disney's Polynesian and Universal's Royal Pacific! I love both parks, but I am such a Disney nut that I usually end my trip with Mickey!

You're smart for staying on Universal site so you can take advantage of FOTL (front of the line). If you ever want to see the other resorts, just hop on the boat then from the CityWalk, just transfer to another boat that will lead you either PBH or HRH. You may want to bring your swimsuit just in case you feel like trying their pool. Pool hopping is allowed at Universal.

At PRP, every 6:30pm, they have a torch lighting ceremony by the pool. There's 2 hula dancers and a fire twirler there and of course the ukelale man and the band. If you miss them, don't worry, they are also at the Island restuarant singing and dancing. Of course there's the Wantilau (sp?) Luau every Saturday. Just like "Spirit of Aloha" at the Polynesian.

They have Dive-In movie, I think this is every Friday at 8pm at all 3 resorts. All 3 resorts have the 0-depth entry which are great for the little ones.

The walk to CityWalk from RPR is about 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

[gigi1313]

Congratulations on the adoption of your son

now, here's my $.02

first, poly is a great choice for MK and Epcot... but don't sell MGM and AK short... they are definitely more than half day parks... try to give them each a day! that being said, although i've never been to US/IOA (Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure) it is my understanding from reading those boards here at the dis (a must-read, imo!) that they are easily done in a day or two, so you may not want to give too much time to them... but FOTL (Front of the Line) passes are the way to go (so much so that we will be booking a room just for that privilege!)...

concierge will attempt to make Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) for your meals, but i do believe that they do not guarantee them... so you may want to do the crazy dial thing along w/concierge doing it...

 

[pozey]

This is exactly what we did just this past June.

We stayed at the Polynesian for 7 days, then moved over to the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal for 3 days.

On the day we moved, we went to Sea World after checking in at the Hard Rock. Then we went to Universal and Islands of Adventure the next 2 days.

It worked out perfectly for us. We enjoyed the Front Of The Line passes! All you do is show the person working the attraction your room keys.

We are planning on going back next May and have decided to do the exact same thing again!

 

[stinkerbelle]

ok - get this...this september
day 1 - check in at Pop Century around 5pm...so we can do the EMH at MK.
day 2 - check out of Pop and check into Royal Pacific Resort at Universal (to take advantage of FOTL - front of the line - it's great - just show your room key and you go in the "fast/express pass" line. (we are AP holders...and we have a few days left until they expire - hence the quick trip over. In September you can easily do everything in BOTH parks, IMO, in a day and a half)
day 3 - Check out of Royal Pacific (we still have FOTL for that day though!) and check INTO Port Orleans Riverside for the remainder of our trip.

 

[ToyStory]

Congratulations on the adoption of your son. I know the multiple trips can eat into your vacation time plus the time you take off to be with your child. We adopted our son from Russia back in 1999.

He was 20 months old at the time. Now he is going to be 8. How time flies. We are talking about going back for a second child. If you don't mind please PM about your experience. We are considering adopting a child in the 3 - 4 age range.

FOTL is worth the price for the hotel. We went to HRH this July and it was a lifesaver. You just show your room key, sometimes they can it sometimes they don't. I heard people asking how do I get one of those cards.

Watch out for specials at Universal. We got a special stay for 4 nights play for free. For $264.00 standard view room (rack rate) and two adults tickets for our entire stay. I thought it was a good deal, considering what you pay for the POLY without park admission. We just had to get our son his tickets. At that time too Universal had pay for 2 days get 3 more free.