Would I be crazy to go over July 4th?

[Disneycrazymom]

Well I am a little crazy anyway ! We are taking a cruise (Mariner) on July 8th. I had no intention of hitting the Disney parks over the 4th. But then I wondered over here and saw the $85 ticket deal and started thinking "maybe it would be ok". Thinking always seems to get me in trouble!

So I ask you to STOP me now before I get myself all excited about finally getting to Universal if this is a BAD idea!!! We would be offsite so no FOTL for us and we have never been before if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Some would call it "Crazy" since 7/4 is the start of the Summer Peak. It gets hot, lines get long, but it's a fun day to be there. If you get there early, you should be able to see a lot of things before the crowds start to pick up.

 

[F-L-A]

Well, it is one of the busiest days of the year. It's still doable; just be prepared to spend roughly an hour getting to the parking garage if you stay in either park for the fireworks and expect to leave immediately afterwards. It's like a mass exodus of shoulder-to-shoulder zombies through CityWalk.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thanks to both of you. I was hopeful no one would say right out not to do it! We would actually have about 4 days (arriving on the 2 and heading over to Port Canaveral on the 7th) With the ticket being good for 7 days I figure we can just take a very slow pace and spend the afternoon at the hotel pool. Then maybe go back in the evening time for a while. I need to do a lot more research about hotels and such and then present it too the family but I think for $85 per ticket we really can't go wrong! Thanks again!

 

[rpbert1]

We where there last July 4th, actually was not as bad as i had expected, we had FOTL, but did not think it was to bad, the atmosphere was great which added to the whole day

 

[robvia]

It can be done but I recommend the two visit approach each day.

Arrive the parking garage at 07:45am, go straight to the gate of IOA and get in line. During the summer months the parks open at 08:30am, but they don't tell anyone. If you are at the gate first, you can take a lap of walk on rides. The crowd arrives at 11am.

At noon it will be burning hot, the sun heats up the concrete and the crowds will be there. You'll be dripping with sweat. Leave the parks at this time and go back to your hotel room to take a nap.

Come back to the parks around 5pm and the tired will be leaving. It usually rains at 4pm and this makes everyone leave. There will still be lines for the rides, but you can use single rider, or just hang out and wait for the fireworks show. After the show ends, it will be a zoo getting out, so hang out and take your time leaving. Or you make a run for it just before the show ends if you want to get out of there early.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thank-you for the plan Robvia. I was thinking about that same kind of plan. Is there a hotel with a fun pool area that is not too expensive or too far away that you would recommend? I would like a family suite kind of place or maybe a condo. I have looked a little but they all give distance from Disney so it is hard to tell. I won't be able to spend the $$$ for onsite and do the cruise too so I have to find something that is not too expensive to pull this off!

 

[robvia]

The distance from the Disney area to Universal is not that far, only 14 miles. So no matter where you stay, it's only 20 minutes to any park you are traveling too. The house rentals are between Disney and I-4. We met some friends that visited from the UK, they rented a house, and it was off I-528, which is right in the middle of everything. So if the brochure for the place you want to stay at says 10 minutes to Disney, then it's probably 10 minutes to Universal as well.

The hotels directly across the street from Universal are right here.
http://www.nogodforme.com/offsite.htm
They don't have fancy pools, that's the perk for staying onsite. But you'll save a ton of money and you can walk to the parks. Then you could visit Wet N' Wild with the money you save.

If you really want to know where things are located, you have to use maps.yahoo.com and enter addresses. For Universal, you enter an onsite hotel like the HRH, which is literally next to USF.
5800 Universal Blvd
Orlando FL 32819

Now enter the address of the hotel you are thinking of staying at, and click the get directions button. You'll get the distance and directions to the HRH. Real easy, just takes a few minutes. I usually have a bunch of web windows open at the same time. One to check directions, the other on the hotel site I'm checking out.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

With the distance between park entrance and parking garage, I think its sort of a pain to leave and then come back. I'd probably do the morning thing, lap around US one day, IOA next day, US the next day looking for anything you missed, etc. Emphasis on mornings at the parks, afternoons by your condo pool, dinner offsite, etc. If I did go back it might be on a day where it REALLY poured so instead of being by the pool, we were in watching TV so generated some energy to go back. With the holidays, it may take a substantial rain to really clear out the parks. I might pick one day to shoot for staying until later, but with a very long break that doesn't mean going all the way back to condo. A leisurely lunch followed by a movie can get you a lot of sitting in the air time which can help you feel more rested for going back. Dining at a resort hotel is a good way to preview it for a future stay too. Good luck.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thank-you both for the good advise. I think the movie idea is a great one! Also being able to walk across the street would be great. We will check out the hotels for the next visit too. I am getting excited so I hope I can get this to work out with the timing of everything. The cruise is with my extended family and so a lot of schedules have to be considered. I am voting for the July 8th sailing so that DH will consider taking 2 weeks. He would be off for the 3rd and 4th anyway, so 14 vacation days for only 7 days off work. We'll see, he has never done that before but there is always hope!

 

[mikey1]

Can anybody please advise on how busy the parks in the first three weeks of July in the evening. We are staying on site 6th-8th and 13th-17th and were hoping to maybe go offsite for dinner and then maybe do a few rides when we get back.
Also, are there any restaurants offsite within walking distance or do we need to take the car?