Universal in May/June

[rnorwo1]

We will be staying at Disney (on points) approximately 5/23 thru 6/3. We have not been to Universal in many years, and we would like to spend a couple of days there, so I'm trying to decide if we should stay at Disney and drive (which is a pain with parking, so I'd really rather not do that) or stay on site at Universal. There looks like there's a DoubleTree near Universal also that is quite a bit cheaper than the Universal hotels. Since this is really just a small part of our vacation, I'm really not looking for the entire resort experience, we'll be getting that in Disney. So for me what it comes down to is how valuable is the option to skip the lines? Can anyone tell me what the waits are like that time of the year? Memorial Day is in the middle of that, but we're very flexible with which days we spend at Universal out of that time period. Is this such a busy time that it'll be worth the extra money for the on site hotel? Also, our children are 9, 5, and 2, so we will not be riding the major roller coasters... how are the lines for the kiddie rides and other less intense rides at that time of year? We are very interested in Harry Potter though, and I can see us wanting to do that several times... do you get in early to it every day or are there black-out days? Is getting in there early worth it for the extra money? I guess we could also just buy the passes to skip the lines, but would we need them for all 5 of us, or can you pass them back and forth? If we had to buy 5, we'd prob pay less for the room. Sorry for the long post but can't wait to hear the feedback!

 

[yupikgal]

I'm considering going there around the same time, after our kids get out of school for the summer...actually, our daughter is a freshman in college this year, so she gets out earlier than our son, who is a sophomore in high school. But anyhoo, I'm thinking we would be there during the same time frame. The only thing is, since the free dining is at Disney starting the 27th, maybe we would do Universal afterwards...still trying to figure out those details.

As far as staying on property at Universal vs offsite, I would definately stay onsite again! We stayed at the Royal Pacific resort and LOVED the front of the line access! We were spoiled when we moved to WDW, fast passes didn't seem quite the same!! They aren't the same, you have to go back depending on the time listed on your FP ticket says, whereas the FOTL at Universal allows you to get right on anytime!! It's the best feature of the parks! Good luck with your choice, we may be there the same time! My daughter is a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so that's a must for us too!!

 

[damo]

The thing about purchasing express passes is that it is only one ride per ride. So you would want to purchase one pass for each person.

If you have to go on the Memorial Day weekend, I would suggest staying onsite. With the heat and the passes, it is really nice to be able to skip lines and also to just go back to the room in the afternoon to take a swim break.

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks for the responses. I am certain staying on site is so much nicer (that's why we bought DVC for Disney), but I'm wondering if it's worth it just for the lines... this will be a whirlwind visit to universal so we will not use the resort for anything but sleeping.
For ex, friends of ours stayed on site in July last year and she said the FOTL passes easily saved them an hour per ride... well that makes it very worth it to me. But is Universal at that time that busy, since most schools aren't out then? And are the kiddie rides long waits too, our kids are too young for the major coasters. We can either go the weekend before memorial day or the weekend of, not sure what we'll do.

 

[christophfam]

Think of it this way...if it is busy at Disney it will be busy at Universal. So saying that Memorial weekend will be very busy. The weekend before not as much. Now if you are a Disney vet you know how fastpass works. Express with the Universal hotels works like that except you get to use that fastpass line all day with no time or amount restrictions. Your room key is your day long fastpass to most rides. What would that be worth to you? On a busy weekend? On a not so busy weekend? To me it doesn't really matter how busy it is. If I can walk on vs 10-15 minutes, I'll take it! If I can wait 5-15 minutes vs waits of over an hour, a no-brainier. You can also factor in the benefit of not having to rush to be at the parks first thing if you stay onsite. With day long express, there is no need to be there at opening. Something I would never dream of doing at Disney.

This is what I would do with a Disney/Universal trip over Memorial weekend. Stay the week before at Disney when you desperately need low crowds. Stay onsite at Universal over the busy weekend. With the hotel express, the crowds won't bother you much at all. Plus, the hotels are wonderful and with little kids it will be so nice to walk to your room for a quick afternoon break (again very hard to do at Disney), but so nice at Universal.

 

[rnorwo1]

Ok, I'm sold! My youngest is 18 months old.... right now it's easy to think about money, but when we're waiting in lines with him we'll be very thankful for any time saved, and I'm sure it'll be worth every penny. Thanks everyone for the feedback!