Tips for trip planning with pre-teens

[KBecks]

Hi Disney Boards members,

Our family has been to Disney twice now, but it's been a few years. Now the kids are young teen/preteen and we're thinking of going in December 2018, or maybe 2019. We are thinking of going to Universal Studios too.

Last trip we rented a condo-like resort hotel with a kitchen and rented a car. I am unsure right now if we should drive down (from WI) or fly. Tickets seem so expensive!!

I don't know how many days to go for or what to plan, or what to budget this time. I was looking at 1 week on Travelocity for about $500 - $600 pp for the air, car and hotel. That's not terrible. Then maybe 4 days at Disney and 2 at Universal? Is that enough time? Figure we'd do one day at each park and the kids have more stamina now to see and do more things. We might also go to the Kennedy Space Center?

Ha, we need more days.

$3,500 hotel/air/car
$2,000 4 day DIS + 2 free day tickets from Undercover Tourist (that's 6 days at DIS)
or 3 days for $1500 -- is 3 days enough? Can't do all the parks, which would you skip?
$1315 3 day Universal Studios
=====
$6,800 trip total without food! OMG.

Any suggestions for how to plan a great trip with the best value? It looks like we would save about $1,500 by driving so perhaps we drive.

What is it like with older kids at Disney and Universal?

 

[Hootenany]

This will definitely be a fun trip!
The older my kids have gotten, the more they love and appreciate Disney! Our trips with them starting in the early tween years have been the best trips that we have! No strollers, no meltdowns, no diaper bags...

One thing that you may want to consider is that Star Wars Galaxy's Edge will be opening in 2019. If they are Star Wars fans, it may be worth your while to wait until then.

As far as parks go, 6 days in Disney would be awesome. Depending on your December dates, the parks will be pretty crowded. 6 days will definitely give you time to cover lots of ground. I think by going in December, plus the opening of Toy Story Land (2018) and Star Wars Galaxy's Edge (2019) you are really going to have to factor in the crowds as far as what type of tickets to buy.

We have not been to Universal in a while, but the last time that we were there, we went for 2 days and were not able to see and do as much as we wanted. We went in October.

As far as budget, I would watch for special offers through Disney and Universal themselves, as well as through airlines and travel companies such as Hotwire and Priceline. Frontier and Allegient airlines are generally less costly than other airlines, especially if you watch for special offers and sales. I downloaded the Hopper app, which alerts you when it is the cheapest time to buy airline tickets for some of the airlines. Also, not sure if this is doable for your family, but for us (family of 5), just by changing our Disney reservation from December to September saved us a little over $1000. You may want to consider going at a less busy/ less expensive time of the year.

Have a fun trip!