Would you drop a day or 2 from Disney for Universal?

[Disneydreamer5]

The family will be in Disney this September. We have been there once before in 05. This trip we are driving down and will have our car which we did not have last time. We are also staying a few more days then last trip as well.
Right now I have 8 days park hopper with 6 days at the water parks.
We have been hearing some really good things about Universal and now I am wondering if we should drop a day or 2 from our Disney hoppers and hit US & IOA?

My children are 9,13,14,15,& 17. They all love Disney but I was thinking they may really enjoy Universal too.
What do you all think?
I was thinking of making a trip to just Universal in 09 but is there even eough there to do to take up an entire week?
So confused. Help!

 

[ruzer28]

Absolutely, especially where you'll have a car and have been to Disney before. I went to Universal for the first time last spring, and now I have to take two days during every Disney trip to go to Universal. With the ages that your kids are, they'll love it. It's definitely geared toward pre-teens and teenagers. Be sure to stay in one of the Universal hotels. They're a little more expensive, but the FOTL is well worth it. Have a great time!

 

[Disneydreamer5]

Oh I was just thinking of driving over to Universal from Disney for the day.
My hotel is booked in Disney for 8 nights and that gives me free dinning for the lenght of stay so I wouldn't want to change that.
Is it too far of a drive from one to the other?

 

[damo]

It is about a 15-20 minute drive if traffic is fine.

 

[ChrisFL]

To put it this way, I'd much rather spend 2 days at US/IOA than MGM/AK

 

[tlinus]

Oh I was just thinking of driving over to Universal from Disney for the day.
My hotel is booked in Disney for 8 nights and that gives me free dinning for the lenght of stay so I wouldn't want to change that.
Is it too far of a drive from one to the other?

you'll be there in september?, you should be ok without the FOTL....try to go on a Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday and go early!!! one day for each park. your kids ages will like IOA more than Universal, but you need to experience both......have a great time!!!

 

[kenban]

I would take a day or two out of your time from Disney. If it was me I would take two days but then for me since it sounds like you have 8 days I would also do a day at Sea World and maybe Busch Gardens.

In my view there is not enough at Universal to spend an entire week there.

Something to think about is you can purchase the 10 day park hopper no expire tickets for Disney. This might not be an option with that many kids just because of how expensive it would be. The ticket with the water park option is $449 for adults and $416 for kids plus tax (they only have to be 9 at the first use after that it does not matter what age they are when the rest is used). Since it sounds like you already have tickets you can upgrade them within the first 14 days of their use.

By getting the 10 day tickets now it would give you several days you can use on your next trip. Use 6 days on this next trip, spend 2 days at Universal then next trip spend 4 days at Disney, 2 at Universal, 1 at Sea World, and 1 at Busch Gardens (assuming both are 8 days in length).

 

[dr&momto2boys]

To put it this way, I'd much rather spend 2 days at US/IOA than MGM/AK

I agree and I really do like Disney. But rather than spending more than one day at AK or MGM I would definately recommend US and IOA. Spend a day at each! With the age of your kids, they will LOVE it!

 

[jpeppers]

Definitely!

 

[robvia]

Yes, visit Universal for at least 2 days, especially with teenagers. Parents are brainwashed into going back to Disney over and over. The kids get older, then the parents finally discover Universal, which has thrill rides, or they hear about it from the kids.
The parents decide to take one precious day away from the mouse. We hear it over and over on this forum.

The problem with doing this, is you don't get the full experience. There's not enough time to visit both parks in one day. And it's better if you stay onsite.

Since you will have your own car, the best idea is to do split visits a few times. Visit Universal in the morning, arrive the parking garage at 07:45am. That means leaving Disney at 07:15am. If you show up early, you can take a lap before the crowd arrives. If you sleep in until 11am, forget it, the crowds will be too much and you'll write a bad TR. In the afternoon drive back to Disney, rest, and visit a Disney park at night.

 

[Melanie230]

Absolutely. I have a 5 yr old and an 8 yr old that havent stopped talking about Universal since last spring.

 

[tlinus]

Yes, visit Universal for at least 2 days, especially with teenagers. Parents are brainwashed into going back to Disney over and over. The kids get older, then the parents finally discover Universal, which has thrill rides, or they hear about it from the kids.
The parents decide to take one precious day away from the mouse. We hear it over and over on this forum.

The problem with doing this, is you don't get the full experience. There's not enough time to visit both parks in one day. And it's better if you stay onsite.

Since you will have your own car, the best idea is to do split visits a few times. Visit Universal in the morning, arrive the parking garage at 07:45am. That means leaving Disney at 07:15am. If you show up early, you can take a lap before the crowd arrives. If you sleep in until 11am, forget it, the crowds will be too much and you'll write a bad TR. In the afternoon drive back to Disney, rest, and visit a Disney park at night.

listen to robvia......always good advice

 

[MIB999999]

1 day for studios and 1 day for islands should be enough to let you better decide how to split up your 09 trip.

But like Robvia said get there when the park opens, it will be well worth getting up early to do so. Those of us that live close by know the difference between getting there early and waiting till 10 or 11 am to arrive.

 

[keishashadow]

 

[macraven]

absolutely take a couple of days to spend at UO....


go early, avoid the crowds, eat at off times.


and enjoy yourselves !

 

[tropical depression]

take an extra half hour and take a water taxi (or walk) over to the Royal Pacific. compare it in price to what you're spending on a WDW resort and then realize it's the lowest pricesd Universal resort.

couple it with the proximity to the parks and Citywalk, there's no need to drive anywhere or wait for overcrowded busses at the beginning and end of each day. and then there's the unlimited trips through the Express Pass queues.

Universal Orlando is the best theme park experience and bargain in the country if you stay onsite, it's actually a relaxing vacation.

we live an hour away and it's still nice getting a room every now and then.

 

[t-and-a]

Something to think about is you can purchase the 10 day park hopper no expire tickets for Disney. This might not be an option with that many kids just because of how expensive it would be. The ticket with the water park option is $449 for adults and $416 for kids plus tax (they only have to be 9 at the first use after that it does not matter what age they are when the rest is used). Since it sounds like you already have tickets you can upgrade them within the first 14 days of their use.

By getting the 10 day tickets now it would give you several days you can use on your next trip. Use 6 days on this next trip, spend 2 days at Universal then next trip spend 4 days at Disney, 2 at Universal, 1 at Sea World, and 1 at Busch Gardens (assuming both are 8 days in length).

I think that's an excellent idea! Especially since that's exactly what our family did in 2005! We had 4 day park hopper tickets and upgraded them to 10 day with water parks and no expiration. That year, there was a tropical storm that came through during our Disney part of the vacation (we did 5 days at Universal first) and we only got to do 1 water park and 2 park days. Last year, we used 1 water park day and 4 park days at Disney and also did 5 days at Universal, so we still have 4 park days and 2 water parks left (now they give you more water park days than they did in 2005).

 

[MassMom94]

We did Universal last year for the first time - two nights (at the Hard Rock Hotel) and three days (one full day and two partial days) in the parks. Then we headed over to Disney for five nights. I've kind of created a monster in that my kids (ages 9 and 15) now would not think of going to Orlando and NOT hitting Universal for a couple of days. It is more expensive than going to Disney for the whole time (because of how Disney prices its hoppers) but worth it to us.

If you go for two days, which I recommend because you can't do it all in one day, you would probably be best off buying the $86 seven day admission ticket, believe it or not. You can either buy it online from Uni or AAA. (The latter is the better deal - only $85 including tax, $5 s&h per order. If you buy from Uni, tax is extra. ) The one day two park ticket is $75 advance and $77 at the gate!

 

[FayeW]

Given the ages of your children, I highly recommend giving up 2 or 3 days at WDW in favour of Universal parks. Our children are 10 and 12, and have been to US/IOA 3 times. No trip to Orlando is complete without 3 days spent in the Universal parks.

To be perfectly honest, once you experience the fabulous rides and attractions at Universal/Islands of Adventure, the Disney parks are kinda lame. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things we like about the WDW parks, but for our family if we could only choose one set of parks to visit, it would definitely be the Universal! We love Universal and Islands of Adventure equally...very cool rides and attractions in both. Have fun!

 

[princessesrule4]

I may be in the minority but I would wait till your 2009 trip or add on a day to this trip and stay at Universal on property if possible. We made a day trip to Universal while staying at the Grand Floridian and we just didn't enjoy Universal that much. We were rushing around trying to pack in rides! It was too crazy. Two years later, we stayed at Portofino for a night before going over to Disney and we had a much better time! FOTL was fabulous and the kids got to enjoy the pool,too. We easily did everything we wanted in a little less than 2 days but we could have used 1 more day to do our favorites again and have a little more pool/resort time. We are staying at Hard Rock for 3 days in August and then going to Disney for 2 more nights to do Pirate & Princess Party!

Have a great time whatever you decide!