Universal or Disney First?

[bwinther]

We have 7 park days in early December... would you do Universal for the first 2 then move to Disney, or Disney for the first 5 then move to Universal??

 

[Bradsdadg]

I don't think you can go wrong either way really. We now like to do our one day at Universal in the middle of the week. Good luck!

 

[bwinther]

This is our first family trip. I am the only one who has been before. It's me, my husband and our 10 & 12 y/o boys. We LOVE thrill rides. To me Disney is cleaner, brighter and all about the experience. Universal is all about the rides. Plus we (except for DH, who doesn't care) love Harry Potter.

So do I take them to Universal first where the rides have more punch and risk them being not as thrilled by Disney's more atmospheric rides? Or start at Disney and move to Universal where everything is a little grittier and more like an average theme park?

We are staying at Beach Club Resort in Disney (5 nights) and Hard Rock Hotel at Universal (3 nights).

 

[Disfamplan]

Our fam of 4 is going in June with 12 others (9 thrill seekers, 1 no way, and 2 cautious) and they have left it up to me to plan the whole vacation since we have been so many times to all the parks. We are doing 6 nights Disney then 2 nights RP. I felt like it was best to start out with Disney rides and work our way up to the more agressive Universal rides.

 

[Metro West]

We have 7 park days in early December... would you do Universal for the first 2 then move to Disney, or Disney for the first 5 then move to Universal??

If you are going to stay onsite at Universal, go there last. You will be too spoiled by the unlimited Express access at Universal to stand in any lines at Disney. If you aren't planning on staying onsite, it doesn't really matter.

 

[bwinther]

Our fam of 4 is going in June with 12 others (9 thrill seekers, 1 no way, and 2 cautious) and they have left it up to me to plan the whole vacation since we have been so many times to all the parks. We are doing 6 nights Disney then 2 nights RP. I felt like it was best to start out with Disney rides and work our way up to the more agressive Universal rides.

Wow - good luck with all your planning! Just getting everyone together and getting them to show up on time will require alot of finess on your part!! I'm the planner in our family, too! Luckily this time it's just the four of us and we all pretty much like the same things (thrill rides all the way ). In two years our extended family is heading to Disneyland/Southern California and everyone is looking to me to plan that one. By then we will have: 9 Grandparents (2 coming from Brazil!); 13 parents, 2 teenagers, 10 kids -8 of them under 5)... definitely going to be a very different kind of trip.

 

[Bluer101]

If you are going to stay onsite at Universal, go there last. You will be too spoiled by the unlimited Express access at Universal to stand in any lines at Disney. If you aren't planning on staying onsite, it doesn't really matter.

 

[lamb616]

we just came back. It was our first trip and we also had 5 days in Disney and 2 days at Universal. We did US the last 2 days. I kind of wished we did it the other way around b/c Disney is more "magical" and I wanted to end our trip on a magical note vs. the 'amusement park" feel of US, kwim? That's JMO. After the magic of 5 days at WDW, US was kind of a letdown.

 

[SmallWorld71]

If you are going to stay onsite at Universal, go there last. You will be too spoiled by the unlimited Express access at Universal to stand in any lines at Disney. If you aren't planning on staying onsite, it doesn't really matter.

I would agree with this.

I would also say that if you have older kids, do Universal last as nothing at Disney can compare to the rides of Universal for a tween/ teen.

On the other hand, if you are traveling with little ones and are not staying onsite, then I would do Universal first as there is a lot more that they can do at Disney.

 

[mareed]

If you are going to stay onsite at Universal, go there last. You will be too spoiled by the unlimited Express access at Universal to stand in any lines at Disney. If you aren't planning on staying onsite, it doesn't really matter.

Definitely this, as a few others have said! Universal is really incredibly themed itself and with staying onsite is so easy and relaxing compared to Disney. You may find it's the highlight of the trip - especially for boys the age of yours!

 

[damo]

We just came back from a 5 day stay with the first part at Disney. We were so happy to get to Universal where the attitude and pace is just so much more relaxed. It was such a great feeling being able to walk to everything instead of taking the buses and waiting and waiting and waiting.

 

[dizzneebabe]

I'm putting our 2 day US/IOA visit right smack dab in the middle of our Disney trip. We are staying at Disney, but for one night grabbed a room at the RP for convenience and FotLA. DH and I can enjoy a few cocktails on Citywalk without worrying about driving anywhere and we can also get up early for the WWoHP.