Universal Orlando Visit From Disney

[ceejayzvan]

We just booked our first trip to Disney World! However, we would like to squeeze in a full day at Universal Orlando to do Harry Potter World. Would love all of your tips and tricks for making that day work on top of all the Disney fun. Thanks!

 

[Andrea464]

How are you getting to WDW? If driving, I'd do Universal the first day (or last day) so you can stay on property- you get in an hour early and they have a few limited rides that are open early.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I agree with Andrea464 - if you can manage it in, I'd stay onsite at Universal for an evening or two. Depending on where you are staying you get early access and Express pass which makes fitting in both parks easier.

If you don't want to stay at Universal, you can get from Disney to Universal fairly easily. We've done it that way on the last 2 trips. We cab it for around 40.00 plus tip. You can also Uber or Lyft. We did the 1 day park to park pass and had a blast. We went online prior to the trip so we knew what we wanted to hit since we only had 1 day. We did just rides - no shows and spent the whole day. We did skip the water rides.

 

[ceejayzvan]

Thanks for your responses! We are staying on site at WDW and not planning to rent a car. We wondered if it made more sense to Uber/Lyft or look into a shuttle service. I like the tip about skipping water rides and shows. Our focus is mostly Harry Potter and whatever else catches our attention during the day.

 

[NickC]

We've done it a few times. We always do it in the middle of the trip. We've used Lyft-- and pre-Lyft days, we got a car service. I think Lyft is the most convenient. It doesn't take long to get there by car. We always get the 2 park ticket AND the express pass. Harry Potter is split up into 2 parks, so you will need admission to both. The express pass is expensive, BUT it allows us to do most of both parks in one day...which, in the end is cheaper than staying an extra day, or giving up an additional Disney day. It is also possible to stay on site, and get a free express pass and early entry, etc. but I've never tried that.
Getting there at rope drop, using the express pass and having a 2 park ticket should allow you to get a lot done. Of course, this was before the 10 hour wait for Hagrid's Motorbike. Hopefully that is all sorted out.

 

[tguz]

Good info. After next months trip to Disney, we are going back in 2021 and I'm finally open to a day at Universal.

 

[ceejayzvan]

Thanks for the advice! I think that's the strategy we're going to try.

 

[NickC]

I would certainly recommend checking out the Universal Studios section on DIS. In regards to the Express pass...We love it because we try to hit every ride. We don't spend too much time looking at all the details in Harry Potter. You could easily spend hours just looking around, in which case, the Express pass might not be as valuable. I guess it all depends on your touring style.

 

[mmmhf]

We always visit universal during our Disney trips. Last time we went midstay and got a hotel room at royal pacific and only used it for a midday break. Just went back to our condo that night. It gave us unlimited express pass for two days and was cheaper than buying express. (We had four people so that makes a difference). We used Uber and it was simple.