Which one first?

[cinnaminny]

Hello, I am planning our next trip to Disney World and I have a question that I am not sure how/where to ask.

We try to do kind of long vacations when we travel to the East Coast because we live in Oregon and it feels like it takes us forever to get there. So we want to really get in what we can while having time to relax. Our first trip to Florida was earlier this year and we went to Cocoa Beach/Kennedy Space Center and 10 days at (9 nights) at the Contemporary resort. We had an amazing time and really want to come back.

This time we plan to stay a few days at the beach, because it did help us recover from our jet lag. But we want to add on 2 nights and 2 days at Universal and stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. Plus 10 nights at the Contemporary or a split stay Contemporary - Yacht Club.

The thing is, I don't know if we should

travel
3 beach nights
2 Universal nights
10 Disney Nights
travel

or

travel
3 beach nights
10 Disney nights
2 Universal nights
travel

I'm afraid if I do Universal first, then maybe Disney wont rate as well with my husband and 15 year old son. I am also afraid if we finish with Universal, that they wont like it very well and it will feel like a sad way to end our trip.

I know this is a silly first world problem, but I have to ask, because I really am unsure of which way to do this.

How would you plan this out?

 

[Kazrak]

I'd be tempted to do Universal first. Reason being: after a 10-day Disney trip, you're going to be a bit burnt-out. We did a day at Universal a week into a WDW trip, and really, we didn't give Universal a fair shake because we'd done so much already. We had a second day there planned but ended up just taking it as a rest day. (We were staying at Beach Club, taking Uber up to Universal.)

With a couple days at Universal, you get to WDW while you're still relatively fresh, but you get to enjoy Universal as well.

 

[cinnaminny]

I'd be tempted to do Universal first. Reason being: after a 10-day Disney trip, you're going to be a bit burnt-out. We did a day at Universal a week into a WDW trip, and really, we didn't give Universal a fair shake because we'd done so much already. We had a second day there planned but ended up just taking it as a rest day. (We were staying at Beach Club, taking Uber up to Universal.)

With a couple days at Universal, you get to WDW while you're still relatively fresh, but you get to enjoy Universal as well.

That is an excellent point. We can't even give it a fair try if we are super tired. We try not to death march on our trips, but after 10 days it is rather tiring still.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would do option 1: travel, beach, 2 nights Universal, 10 nights WDW. That way, you can get your short trips in at the beginning and then settle in to WDW, relax and enjoy. I'm a big fan of MK/EP splits for long stays. If you plan your park days around where you are staying, it really cuts down on WDW transportation time.

 

[siestakeys04]

Could you do the beach last that way you can relax from both parks?

 

[TexasBee]

Or can you do Travel / Universal / Beach / Disney? That would give you the beach days to recover from Universal / get prepped for Disney.

 

[YesterDark]

I would definitely do Universal first. 10 days of Disney is a lot and 2 days of Universal is like an appetizer.

 

[cinnaminny]

Or can you do Travel / Universal / Beach / Disney? That would give you the beach days to recover from Universal / get prepped for Disney.

We typically need to recover after flying across the country. We are big babies lol We had some pretty bad jet lag the last time we went to Florida. Spending a few days at the beach allowed us to acclimate.

 

[cinnaminny]

Could you do the beach last that way you can relax from both parks?

I wish I could sandwich this trip with beach trips! That would be perfect!!

We will try to come home on a Thursday so my husband can relax before he starts working again on the next Monday.

 

[rg35]

We are doing a trip next year and doing Universal first. Our group makeup is different though (2 40-year olds, 3 10-year olds, and 2 60-year olds).

We drive down from NYC, and that is a pretty draining expedition in and of itself. We plan to arrive at Universal on Sunday afternoon, stay until Wednesday and then check into our Disney resort where we'll be from Weds-Saturday.

We haven't been to Universal since 2006 (way before we had kids), and the last time my parents were there was several years prior to that. So I think we're all excited to get back to Universal and seeing all the changes.

You don't mention in your 10 Disney nights how many park days you plan on doing. We usually leave the last 1 or 2 days to be just pool days so we can just have full relaxation before embarking on the drive home.

I will say this - if your 15 yo and husband are more of the thrill seeking type, they may find Disney to be boring in comparison. However, if they're not really jaded and enjoy being in the Disney bubble, then it probably doesn't really matter which order you do them in.

I still think I'd do Disney second because I assume you're not doing 9 days of parks and will have more rest time in between, whereas if you do Universal last you'll just have two full days of park touring there without any opportunity for some R&R before flying home.

 

[jerseygal]

Could you do the beach last that way you can relax from both parks?

Beach would be my preference after all the parks. We have gone to Vero Beach after DISNEY and love it, great wind down!