Universal First or Last?

[Cinderella]

In all the times we've been to Disney, we've only done 2 full days at Universal and half a day at Seaworld (thunderstorms & also because we're Disney addicts). So now the kids are teenagers, we want to see the other parks.

Plans are v loose so far - 17 nights, either late August, late October, or early December 2010. We want to do 12 nights Disney free dining and five nights Universal Hard Rock hotel.

Do we do Hard Rock first and see Universal and maybe Discovery Cove and Seaworld, or Disney first and save all the new stuff until last? Thanks.

 

[Kath2003]

Save Universal until last - the rides are far more hardcore, Disney will seem lame in comparison!

 

[jen_uk]

I always have to do Disney first as its the main reason we go, also in August the crowds drop as the weeks go on and as Universal don't have fastpass its easier to do when its quieter.

 

[garethanders]

The previous times we have been to Florida, we have always done Universal Between the 14 days that we do, It gives you a change and you know what they say a change is as good as a rest haha!!

Usually too as a tip, we focus on a water park after the universal parks and seaworld, this comes in as a relaxing day for us!

 

[Frances999]

Disney's our favorite part of Orlando trips, so we always save it until last because it wouldn't feel "right" being at Universal on our last day - we always like to be in the Magic Kingdom. We also like spending a couple of days at Universal and not being sad when we have to leave - knowing we've got many more days ahead at Disney. If it was the other way round, we'd not only be sad about leaving Disney but also about how few days were remaining!

 

[Cyrano]

We are planning doing Universal in the middle of a 3 week holiday

 

[THE DENTIST]

We have done Universal as a block of time in the start, middle and end of different trips. We're now different in our approach, we go on various days not continuous as your question suggests. This way we can pick the crowd levels to avoid, or book nearby restaurants etc. In truth, with a car, your not far from Disney or Universal even if you don't stay at the resorts. If you do book a block of days, i find it gets a bit much to repeat the thrill rides again and again over days at Universal.

K

 

[Dimplenose]

We've stayed during the middle of a trip too, but only for one night. If you are staying at HRH you will get front of line passes so the crowds won't be such an issue. (Because of the passes we'd done everything we wanted to in a day and a half!)

It depends on how you feel. I'm like Frances and need to end my trip with Disney. But the Universal Hotels are much nicer than where we can afford to stay for the bulk of our holiday so I think I might find it a letdown going back to a Disney Value resort after 5 days of luxury!

 

[Whisky In A VAse]

We just do one day at Universal which will be our 2nd day after the traditional trip to Magic Kingdom on our first day. We then do IoA in our 2nd week.

Not long now.....

 

[iluvpluto27]

We always do Universal last as the FOTL pass spoils you! It makes a relaxing end to the holiday as I know we don't need to get to the parks for rope drop, so we actually have a lie in, and we don't need to go with a touring plan as FOTL pass is unlimited (so no big queues any time of day).

 

[maleficent_man]

We're doing our Universal stay towards the beginning of our trip - worked out best based on availability of hotel and price!

 

[Girlsontour]

Universal last - FOTL will spoil you and you won't want to go back to getting in lines at Disney!

 

[Karenpowley]

We're doing 4 nights at HRH at the end of our holiday - think it will be nice beacause we would have done alot of running around in the 2 1/2 wks prior to that, so being with walkin distance to the parks will be good for us and am REALLY looking forward to staying at this hotel too!

Kx

 

[Cyrano]

Universal last - FOTL will spoil you and you won't want to go back to getting in lines at Disney!

I hope so FOTL was the main reason I booked 2 nights at Hard Rock Hotel. The 1 day / 2 park tickets that are then valid for 1 week will give us the opportunity to go back for a 1/2 day if there is anything else we would like to do at USF/IOA

 

[Lizzybear]

I always like to do Disney last or as close to the end of the hol as possible. This year we're doing New York-Boston-Orlando then on to Miami or St Petersburg for a couple of nights to chill. Even though i'm sure we'll love Boston and NY I don't think i'd want to do the Florida bit first, would rather have Disney to look forward to rather than have it be over with early on.

 

[Ann B]

Last year we did 11 nights in disney they 3 nights at the hard rock hotel.
This was perfect for us and next year we will do the same except we are going to do 11 nights disney then 4 nights HRH. HRH was so relaxing - a perfect end to the holiday. For me I would not do HRH at the beginning.

 

[team harris]

Tough one - our first and last days have to be Disney related ( a family of big Disney fans!)
Having said that, the rides at US and IOA are excellent and I'm sure that your family will love them whatever order you do it in!

Sorry, not much help, but happy planning!!

 

[UKDEB]

Having tried all sorts of different combinations, we now know that we prefer to have the biggest chunk of our holiday at the end. In my experience, if you leave somewhere after 12 nights (wherever it may be), knowing that you have just 5 more to come, you'll feel you're on the wind-down to going home, which can spoil those last few days. Doing it the other way around, you'll leave the first accommodation feeling you've had a great time, but have got the main part of the holiday to come. Psychologically it makes a big difference. Over a 17 night trip, my preference would be a Disney/Universal/Disney sandwich (actually, I'd probably include something offsite, but that's complicating things for the purposes of this post ). Depending on precisely what you want to include in your itinerary and which Disney resorts appeal to you (Sea World is as close to some parts of Disney as it is to Universal), you could consider various combinations, but I'd suggest making the final element at least 9 days.

 

[Cyrano]

It was based on a similar answer that Deb had given me that made us decide to go to Universal on Day 6 for 2 nights. We then still have lots of days to soak up the magic of a 3 week break

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Last May we opted to stay at Universal at the beginning of our trip (wrongly assuming that the UO Parks were just for DH and I, and that our two young children wouldn't get much out of them!! - IOA was by far our DS4's favourite park)

Anyway, having booked it all, we were then advised on the Universal board that it was best to end our stay at UO - and boy were they right!!

Once you stay onsite at Universal, it is so hard to move onto WDW!!!

Because of the more intimate size of UO (you can easily walk everywhere or take a boat) and due to FOTL given to resort hotel guests you feel like royalty walking onto virtually every ride - our whole UO experience was so much more laid back and relaxing.

Don't get me wrong - I absolutely LOVE WDW and wouldn't dream of visiting Florida without going there - but queueing and travelling from park to park or back to the hotel etc, sure seemed alot more of an effort having only just been to Universal!!

Next year we are doing WDW first and ending with the 'relaxation' of UO - and I can't imagine we will ever do it any other way again!!

By the way - HARD ROCK HOTEL is THE BEST!!!

(edited as have just read Deb's comment - I do also agree about having a 'chunk' at the end rather than just a couple of nights - but then I would be more than happy to have a week at HRH at the end of the holiday to relax/swim/eat/parkhop and generally unwind!!)