Universal Day from WDW?

[mjmarshall1510]

You didn't mention how old your kids are, but if they're too short to enjoy many of the attractions I would say wait until they're a little older. Even the Harry Potter attractions have height requirements where little kids may not be tall enough for. Also you would need to get a 2 park ticket if you want to ride the Hogwarts Express and see both sections of the Wizarding World.

I've done this before and felt like it was worth it but I didn't have any small kids with me. The drive from WDW to Universal is about 25-30 minutes (with traffic). I took an Uber there so I didn't pay for parking but I think parking is $30 and preferred is $60. Resort guests get 1 hour early park admission so if you were to get there around opening you would be held in Seuss Landing (if going into IoA) until official park open.

Really helpful, thanks. My kids are young and two of them (the ones who have no interest in HP) are between the 36" and 44" mark. Even the one who is into HP is only ~48". Looking at the ride height requirements, maybe we should hold off.

 

[mjmarshall1510]

We do this regularly. We have not had issues getting ride shares, but we don't go at rope drop.

Another option we sometimes choose is to stay at a Universal resort the first night of our trip. If you stay in a deluxe resort, you'll get express passes included for the days you check in and check out, plus early park entry.

Like someone else mentioned, I might hold off on the Universal day if your kids are very small.

That's a good suggestion. Maybe on our next trip, I'll plan a split stay across the brands. Having rented DVC points, we're sort of locked in on the details of our Disney resort this trip.

 

[mjmarshall1510]

Oh that's a good point. My son is tall for his age and he wants to go see all of the Harry Potter things, but we're not sure what else he'll want to do since he's probably at the point where he's "too cool" for Seuss-land.

Oh no! I'm dreading the "I'm too cool" age. We're almost there with the oldest. Dude, you cry when you get told you can't have dessert. You're not "too cool" for anything.

 

[mjmarshall1510]

I personally don't think the Flight of the Hippogriff is worth waiting in line for unless you have express passes or the line is super short. We had express and it still took us about 45 minutes to get on this disappointing coaster. The line moves super slow.

Other rides that may interest your kids besides the Seuss dark ride is the Spiderman ride (one of my fave's), ET dark ride, Men in Black and Transformers. The Bourne Stunt Show and the Monster Makeup show are also highly entertaining. The Monster Makeup show is funny, not scary.

I remember the ET ride from when I was a kid (when Nickelodeon studios was the promise land for all kids)... Wish they had kept and updated more of that stuff in the original park. But, that's probably a "me" issue and not a Universal issue.

 

[mjmarshall1510]

Hippogriff is basically HP version of The Barnstormer at MK.

You can buy an interactive wand and do spells in both HP sections. Each section has a HP quick service restaurant, gift shops , shows, butter beer.

Good take!