Wdw & us

[CatherineC]

We are doing two trips to Orlando this year. First will be in march for 8 days (mom, sister, me, and niece), and another 7/8 days around Christmas (brother in law plus the girls). My niece is 7. She has never been to US and hasn't been to WDW since she was 3. The rest of us haven't been to US since 98, and my most recent trip to Disney was jan 14. At first I was thinking oh two week long disney trips this will be relaxing. We can do our FPs plus 2-3 rides a day and take our time seeing everything. Naps, pool time, etc. then I was reminded of US.

So...how do you split things up? I was looking at getting Disney annual passes which make sense if we spend all the days at Disney. Then I looked at US, and if we spend 2-3 days each trip @US we would benefit from the US annual pass. Do you move resorts or just travel between the two? Should we do all disney first trip and then split it half and half next trip? Guidance needed

 

[damo]

I'd get APs to both and split up the vacation, staying part time at each. Staying onsite at Universal is much more important than staying onsite at WDW, especially if you are going at busy times. Universal APs are cheap compared to WDW.

 

[macraven]

We are doing two trips to Orlando this year. First will be in march for 8 days (mom, sister, me, and niece), and another 7/8 days around Christmas (brother in law plus the girls). My niece is 7. She has never been to US and hasn't been to WDW since she was 3. The rest of us haven't been to US since 98, and my most recent trip to Disney was jan 14. At first I was thinking oh two week long disney trips this will be relaxing. We can do our FPs plus 2-3 rides a day and take our time seeing everything. Naps, pool time, etc. then I was reminded of US.

So...how do you split things up? I was looking at getting Disney annual passes which make sense if we spend all the days at Disney. Then I looked at US, and if we spend 2-3 days each trip @US we would benefit from the US annual pass. Do you move resorts or just travel between the two? Should we do all disney first trip and then split it half and half next trip? Guidance needed

 

[CatherineC]

Thanks for the input!

I'm thinking we should do at least 3 days at UO and share over resorts. Then after the first trip we can decide about how to do it for the Christmas trip. Can we UG to AP during the trip at UO? If so that seems like it might be the best option. I might do one AP for me so we can get the discounts, and then UG the rest of the family if we see we are going to repeat on trip #2.

Any suggestions on the order? We are flying in on a Saturday morning and leaving the next Saturday afternoon. There will be 4 of us the first trip so a private car/taxi seems the way to go to move resorts. I was considering sat, sun, mon @WDW then tues, wed, thur@UO then moving back to WDW for fri/sat. Disney is open late late during this time and even later on the weekends where UO seems to close by 9. So if we stay out late three nights, then move to UO and have earlier nights to get some sleep, then full steam ahead friday/sat!

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the input!

I'm thinking we should do at least 3 days at UO and share over resorts. Then after the first trip we can decide about how to do it for the Christmas trip. Can we UG to AP during the trip at UO? If so that seems like it might be the best option. I might do one AP for me so we can get the discounts, and then UG the rest of the family if we see we are going to repeat on trip #2.

Any suggestions on the order? We are flying in on a Saturday morning and leaving the next Saturday afternoon. There will be 4 of us the first trip so a private car/taxi seems the way to go to move resorts. I was considering sat, sun, mon @WDW then tues, wed, thur@UO then moving back to WDW for fri/sat. Disney is open late late during this time and even later on the weekends where UO seems to close by 9. So if we stay out late three nights, then move to UO and have earlier nights to get some sleep, then full steam ahead friday/sat!

you can upgrade your tickets to the ap.
the start date of the ap will be the first date you used your tickets.
the ap will be valid for the one year from that date.

if you buy the preferred, it is cheaper than the premier ap.
10% discounts on the preferred, 15% on the other ap.
those discounts are for food and merch in the parks, hotels and city walk.
carts are excluded.

you can wait until you have done the first day in the parks at UO to decide if your family will want to spend more time there on the december trip.

you could set up a "round trip" private car service as it is cheaper to book that way then two different trips.
(book mco to rph, then rph to disney resort.
i recommend using Tony Hinds for car service.

once you are at disney, you could use the ME bus to return to the airport.


i do the disney portion of my trip first.
i'm always wired when i start a vacation and ready to stand in lines at disney for busses and rides in the park.
and then park hopping and more busses........lol

i try to hit disney without being there on a saturday.
i don't like the hotel rates and the crowds for the saturdays.
doing F & W on a saturday at epcot helped me decide to avoid that day of the week in the future.
3 fp+ falls short for me when i do a park on saturday.
now that saturday has the EMH at MK, i'm sure crowds will be even greater on some of the months this year.

at UO resorts, weekend crowds don't effect me that much.
i have the express lines to use in the parks so no matter what day it is, i can deal with it.

ending with a longer stay at the darkside is relaxing for me. when i leave, i never have the feeling when i get home that i need another vacation to rest up from the one i just came back from.

if your goal is to be in a park that stays open until midnight/or after 10pm, then disney would be your answer for the weekends.