Universal and Disney

[warriorboy648]

I'm not sure where to post this, but I need some advice. I'm thinking of doing a split trip between Universal and Disney in the beginning to middle of August. I've got the Disney part covered, but not sure how to organize the Universal side of the trip.

There are 7 of us so we will need 2 rooms. I definitely want to stay onsite. How many nights should we stay? It seems like I need to stay 4 nights to get any discounts. Is Universal like Disney that they send out discounts??

What would be the best way for a family of 7 and a lot of luggage to move from Universal to Disney?

I would love to hear from other people who have stayed at both and how they organized it...

 

[gkrykewy]

I'm not sure where to post this, but I need some advice. I'm thinking of doing a split trip between Universal and Disney in the beginning to middle of August. I've got the Disney part covered, but not sure how to organize the Universal side of the trip.

There are 7 of us so we will need 2 rooms. I definitely want to stay onsite. How many nights should we stay? It seems like I need to stay 4 nights to get any discounts. Is Universal like Disney that they send out discounts??

What would be the best way for a family of 7 and a lot of luggage to move from Universal to Disney?

I would love to hear from other people who have stayed at both and how they organized it...

Interesting - we have a DVC reservation in August, and are thinking of adding on a few nights at the Royal Pacific in Universal because of the supersaver deal. We've done the split stay once before, and got a taxi from Disney to Universal. That should work for you as well, provided you get a van taxi rather than a car. I'm sure the concierge desk at your Disney resort would help you with that.

I also see the Universal supersaver discount for August for stays as short as 3 nights (15%) off, but adding a 4th night is only slightly more expensive (since it takes 30% off your total stay).

 

[warriorboy648]

I'm looking at staying at Portofino for 4 nights at 30% off or the 5 nights since I can get 2 free. The family loves Disney or rather they love Epcot. I was then thinking of doing 5 nights at the Dolphin because I can get a great teacher's rate.

Having never been to Universal, I don't know what we would do for all of this time. We also go to the water parks alot when we are at Disney. Not sure if it would be worth spending the $$$ to go to Wet 'n Wild.

I would imagine that there are a lot of people that have been to both. I need your help. Where are you???

 

[gkrykewy]

I'm looking at staying at Portofino for 4 nights at 30% off or the 5 nights since I can get 2 free. The family loves Disney or rather they love Epcot. I was then thinking of doing 5 nights at the Dolphin because I can get a great teacher's rate.

Having never been to Universal, I don't know what we would do for all of this time. We also go to the water parks alot when we are at Disney. Not sure if it would be worth spending the $$$ to go to Wet 'n Wild.

I would imagine that there are a lot of people that have been to both. I need your help. Where are you???

I do not think you would need more than three days for the two parks plus CityWalk, especially since you get front of the line access as a hotel guest, which saves a ton of time.

Portofino is fabulous, and has a similar vibe to the Boardwalk at Disney and its proximity to EPCOT. Similar to the Boardwalk, for example, you can walk along waterside trails to the parks, or take a boat.

 

[d4est]

We did a split stay last year. We used Happy Limo (got the hummerzine as a surprise to our son) to transfer from AKL to HRH--and we had no problems. For us, there's plenty to do and we like to stay at least 4-5 days. At Uni, you get to take your time and relax. It will feel like a vacation from your (Disney) vacation. We sleep in a bit, grab breakfast at the Club Lounge (but there are tons of other places...Citiwalk has Cinnabon...and there are a couple of great places at both parks for a quick bite). We stay at the parks, grab a CS lunch and mosey back to the hotel for a break at the pool. It's so easy...a short walk, a boat ride... We change, head back to the parks and stay til around closing (we always go during slow season, so the parks close early, 6-7 PM). Then we rest a bit and head out to a great dinner.

Because we take our time (easy to do when your resort is a 5 min walk and with FOTL), we do not hit everything at a park in one day. We spread it out, hitting our favs numerous times.

When it was time to check out of the HRH, we used Murray Hill Transportation. They picked us up in a huge, brand new Suburban. I think the thing seats 8, maybe more. It was so spacious...nice leather interior. Very good service.

We are doing a split stay again in just 13 days! We will be at the HRH for 4 nights and then are moving over to the Renaissance (across from Sea World) as we will be doing Discovery Cove, Sea World and, possibly, Aquatica (weather permitting). We are using Murray Hill again, for our 3 way transfer.

 

[Biggreen19]

We've done a few split says over the years, and have alternated between starting the vacation at Disney and Universal. Our preference is to start at Disney and end at Universal. Since we stay on-site at Universal, the front of the line access perk is a godsend. After executing our plan of attack for the Disney parks for 4 or 5 days, it's nice to just go with the flow with no real plans over at Uni, we can just walk up to any ride and flash our magic room key card and off we go! No stressing about fastpasses and their windows of use, EMH”s……………….

I have only stayed at The Royal Pacific Resort, so I can only comment on my stay there. However we have visited all three resorts, and they are all beautiful. For walking to the parks, Hard Rock is the closest, followed by Royal Pacific, Portofino is the furthest. We really like the vibe over at RPR, it’s very laid back and happens to be the most inexpensive.

If we are not renting a car, we usually use a limo service between Disney and Universal. A van should accommodate a party of 7.

My only small complaint about the Universal Hotels is they do not provide a complimentary refrigerator. I believe you can rent them, but we usually empty out part of the mini-bar so we can keep our drinks cold.

5 days does sound like a lot, but that is exactly how much time we spent at universal our first trip. It is a compact resort, meaning you can walk to everything. So if you slow down, relax, and take your time, you should be able to fill 5 days up no problem. If you are a very active group, SeaWorld and Aquatica are right down the street and can fill up a day there if needed. And I believe Universal runs a complimentary shuttle to SeaWorld as well.

Enjoy! Your Adventure Begins!