Trip planning advice needed

[Minnie368]

Like so many others we’ve done WDW more than a dozen times and are looking to do a Universal only trip. We’ve been to US and IOA many times when in Orlando and are usually staying at a Disney resort and we get 3 day park hoppers for US. Well in a year’s time we’ll have been to wdw for three sports/school trips- 2 for softball and 1 for cross country. We also have a cruise booked for next spring which will probably take us to the parks for a day or two. So this year we’re thinking of skipping wdw altogether for our family trip and doing something a little shorter than our normal 10/11 day vacation since so much of our $$ is being eaten up with these other trips. We’d like to stay on property or close by for maybe 4 days. We’ll likely go the last week before Christmas week. Any tips/advice on getting the best deal for hotel/tickets? I’ve got Disney figured out but a US only trip is new to us. Any advice is appreciated!!!

 

[macraven]

Check out the hotel stickies so you can decide which resort would fit your family’s needs

Look at the food/menu stickies and get an idea where you want to eat

Trip reports give a lot of info about time spent in the parks m, hotels and city walk

About tickets ...if you plan for a 5 day period for UO, look at the ap prices
Might be worth it

UT does decent park 2 park passes for any number of days and usually costs a bit less than buying from UO

Try to book your onsite room this summer as certain dates fill up the week before Christmas

 

[mjhtvchick]

Like so many others we’ve done WDW more than a dozen times and are looking to do a Universal only trip. We’ve been to US and IOA many times when in Orlando and are usually staying at a Disney resort and we get 3 day park hoppers for US. Well in a year’s time we’ll have been to wdw for three sports/school trips- 2 for softball and 1 for cross country. We also have a cruise booked for next spring which will probably take us to the parks for a day or two. So this year we’re thinking of skipping wdw altogether for our family trip and doing something a little shorter than our normal 10/11 day vacation since so much of our $$ is being eaten up with these other trips. We’d like to stay on property or close by for maybe 4 days. We’ll likely go the last week before Christmas week. Any tips/advice on getting the best deal for hotel/tickets? I’ve got Disney figured out but a US only trip is new to us. Any advice is appreciated!!!

With regard to deals, etc. Universal is currently running the "Holiday Stay and Play Package" special - https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/deals-specials/index.html

Just plugged in some dates - 5 nights for 2 adults with a 5-day 3-park park-to-park ticket range from ~$1300 at Adventura up to $2100 at Portofino Bay. You didn't mention how many people were in your party but, obviously the prices goes up if there are more of you.

Basically the package gets you a $100 discount so you would want to compare that against the discount you would get if you did buy an annual pass or bought tickets through a third-party provider like Undercover Tourist.