Would you stay at US or Disney and drive?

[Happyjen27]

We are coming down in 11 months. We plan to visit IoA for 1 or 2 days. We will spend 5 or 6 days at Disney.

Is it recommended to stay at HrH for 2 nights, then go to Disney, or stay at Disney for the whole time and rent a car to drive to HrH or take a shuttle?

In the plus column for staying at Disney is the ME which is free transport from the airport. Then cheap shuttle service from Disney to IoA. In the plus column is also unpacking once.

In the plus column for staying at HrH is the convenience of walking to the park, going back to our room and changing if we do some wet rides (which is not high on my list, I HATE wet rides). Also in the plus column is the ability to have a rental car for a day or two to run to the store and get some water and milk. I can't say the cost of rental is a big negative, since the cost of HrH and a car is probably comparable to paying for one night at the Contemporary.

I'd love to know what else I should be putting in the pro or con list for each way of visiting. Thank you in advance!!

 

[Metro West]

I don't stay onsite at Universal or Disney but I know most people on the boards will say stay at Disney first...then finish up at Universal. Staying onsite at Universal will give you early entry into IOA for WWoHP and unlimited Express access for the duration of your stay. If you do Universal first and then have to wait in lines at Disney...especially during a busy season...you won't like it.

 

[shoney]

Universal hotels charge for parking.

I believe you would also have to pay for a refrig if you wanted to buy milk/water for the room there.

It has been a while since I stayed onsite at Universal, but it is very nice having the express passes. On our last trip, we stayed at a timeshare, but purchased the VIP passes to get this extra perk! It really makes being in the parks very relaxing!

I would do the split stay if you could and do Universal at the end as well.

Have fun...sounds like a great trip

 

[RMulieri]

I am staying at Universal and driving to Disney in AUgust..I prefer Universals resorts and despite the charge for parking, I am still paying less than what I would for the same amount of time at Disney Beach Club resort.

 

[macraven]

before the darkside hotels went up, i used to stay at the motherland resorts and drive for day trips to the studios.


now i do split stays.
first at the motherland resorts then move by private car service to the darkside resorts.

i like making it two separate vacations.............
with only buying air fare once.


by staying onsite at both theme parks, you can be totally immersed in all activities onsite.
you avoid transportation and time issues by not having to commute from one theme park to another.
you lose no time from parks, city walk or late dining by staying onsite at the darkside.


i start with the motherland commando style and end with the darkside for a relaxing, no rush, stress free vacation ending.

to me, time is the priority.

i do what i want to do at the first resort, then move on to the other.


switching resorts once is easy to do.
commuting from one park to another involves more effort.
planning for transportation, scheduling all the highlights and rushing to make the shuttle back to a resort or catching a cab if i decided to stay later than planned, etc.

i've done it both ways and prefer to switch resorts for my vacations.

my vacations are for me to be relaxed, have fun, be entertained and watch the grass grow.....

 

[pigletto]

The first time we went to Universal we drove over from Disney on two separate days. We were so enamoured with the parks and the whole experience we stayed onsite for one night the next trip. It was wonderful to have the FOL access and Royal Pacific was lovely. The next trip it was 2 nights onsite at Universal. We've done our onsite stays at the beginning of our trip.
We rent a car at MCO, drive to Universal and then keep the car for Disney and return it to the airport on the way home.
This upcoming trip we are doing Universal on the back end of the trip. Things are more expensive than they have been so I don't even know if we'll rent a car for the whole trip or just take ME, use Disney transportation, and then rent a car at Disney and return to MCO after Universal.
Couldn't get an AP rate and we're finding the onsite resort pricetag high this trip. It will be 650 for two nights in the cheapest room. I think we'll just do one night/two days for the perks.
We will always stay onsite at least one night, but it's very expensive this time around.

 

[momto3pirates]

I think the biggest plus for staying onsite at Universal is the unlimited express pass access you get. It will spoil you. You won't want to wait in line again.
We have done it both ways-stayed at Disney first, then car service to Universal or car service from MCO to Universal then car service to Disney and used ME to get back to MCO. I found the car service (Happy Limo) was about the same price as getting my crew of 5 around as a shuttle service.

 

[bumbershoot]

Couldn't get an AP rate and we're finding the onsite resort pricetag high this trip. It will be 650 for two nights in the cheapest room. I think we'll just do one night/two days for the perks.
We will always stay onsite at least one night, but it's very expensive this time around.

I know that you and I are both waiting for rental cars to go down! May I also suggest that you make sure you're checking repeatedly with the room?

Our dates are Feb 10-12 (regretting how short that is, but we'll be back) and the AP rates are coming and going. Just yesterday a standard 2Q room showed up (hadn't been one of those for something like 2 months of me checking!) at RPR for base rate $144 for my dates.

The other week the ONLY rooms available were hospitality suites with rooms attached, for over $500 AP rate (700+ normal).

And just weeks before that there was NOTHING at RPR!

Things are changing. At least for my dates. Please be sure you're checking back repeatedly.




OP, so far we have stayed where we are visiting. If I had to stay put on a trip, I would stay at Universal and commute to Disney. We have a car anyway (at least so far) and we almost always drive around WDW, so it wouldn't be any different. Well, I guess if you have a normal ticket then you have to pay to park at the WDW theme parks (but that would be true without an AP at Universal, too, if you were commuting from WDW).

We just really love the Universal hotels. The 2 we've tried. We'll try the third next month. (and aren't they building a 4th?) If Uni built a timeshare anything like what they have as hotels, we would seriously consider selling our DVC and buying into the Uni option. Love 'em!

 

[macraven]

bumber, from what i have read, the 4th hotel won't be like the 3 onsite ones.

they sound more like the extended stay hotels.


i think they will be able to accommodate larger families.

 

[taymorel]

We are staying onsite at AKL at Disney for 5 days in May and then will stay 5 days at RPH Club Level at Universal. I found it was cheaper to stay at Universal in Club Level, so we are staying onsite at Universal for the 1st time. I am excited about it since we can walk to City Walk every night and try different restaurants. Since my son is getting older, he is not as into Disney as I am, so we are trying out Universal.

 

[macraven]

taymore, you'll have a blast at the darkside....
and, you'll enjoy club at rph a lot.


hope all of your vacation plans go smooth and you have fun!

 

[pigletto]

I know that you and I are both waiting for rental cars to go down! May I also suggest that you make sure you're checking repeatedly with the room?

Our dates are Feb 10-12 (regretting how short that is, but we'll be back) and the AP rates are coming and going. Just yesterday a standard 2Q room showed up (hadn't been one of those for something like 2 months of me checking!) at RPR for base rate $144 for my dates.

The other week the ONLY rooms available were hospitality suites with rooms attached, for over $500 AP rate (700+ normal).

And just weeks before that there was NOTHING at RPR!

Things are changing. At least for my dates. Please be sure you're checking back repeatedly.




OP, so far we have stayed where we are visiting. If I had to stay put on a trip, I would stay at Universal and commute to Disney. We have a car anyway (at least so far) and we almost always drive around WDW, so it wouldn't be any different. Well, I guess if you have a normal ticket then you have to pay to park at the WDW theme parks (but that would be true without an AP at Universal, too, if you were commuting from WDW).

We just really love the Universal hotels. The 2 we've tried. We'll try the third next month. (and aren't they building a 4th?) If Uni built a timeshare anything like what they have as hotels, we would seriously consider selling our DVC and buying into the Uni option. Love 'em!

Bumber!! I just checked and there was an AP rate for our room!!! Would save us 160 dollars BUT.. I just put a new appliance AND dh's tuition on my card and it's maxed and the payment I just made takes 3 days to clear


Oh well, I'll keep checking. This is the absolute first time I have seen an AP rate for our dates and I have been checking for months. So if they keep coming and going like you've mentioned there will hopefully be something there in a few days.

 

[Serrina89]

I have same problem as well. I'm going to Disney and Universal in August. I had planned on staying onsite at Universal ------until they upped the price tag $650 for two nights(took my lodging budget of 1200 to 1850 for a 13 night vacation in orlando)! I am now thinking about taking Tiffany Towncar from airport to Doubletree by Hilton at the Entrance to Universal Orlando (113 a night with AAA discount) which includes a complementary 30 minute stop to publix. I plan to spend 2-3 days at universal, then cab to disney's value resort, and magical express back to airport.

 

[damo]

I have same problem as well. I'm going to Disney and Universal in August. I had planned on staying onsite at Universal ------until they upped the price tag $650 for two nights(took my lodging budget of 1200 to 1850 for a 13 night vacation in orlando)! I am now thinking about taking Tiffany Towncar from airport to Doubletree by Hilton at the Entrance to Universal Orlando (113 a night with AAA discount) which includes a complementary 30 minute stop to publix. I plan to spend 2-3 days at universal, then cab to disney's value resort, and magical express back to airport.

What are your dates? That is really strange for a two day stay to increase $650. I can see the amount of the two day stay to be $650, but that much increase is bizarre.

 

[Serrina89]

Universal - Aug 2-3. Disney - Aug 4-15 ( which is value season). I looked at the website yesterday and the price was around 314 a night without tax

 

[Serrina89]

what i mean was going to disney for 10 nights is around 1200 for lodging at a value. Adding lodging for 2 days at universal brought the price up to 1800 for lodging, making my lodging cost increase by 1/3.

 

[damo]

what i mean was going to disney for 10 nights is around 1200 for lodging at a value. Adding lodging for 2 days at universal brought the price up to 1800 for lodging, making my lodging cost increase by 1/3.

Okay, that makes more sense.

Yes, Aug 2,3 is very busy season and rates will not be low for sure.

 

[krb2g]

I am 80% sure we'll be doing a split-stay Universal/Disney for our upcoming vacation. We usually just pick one set of theme parks when we go (and usually it's Disney), but we decided we wanted to try Universal too for the next trip (change things up). Of course, the only time we could get our schedules to work was late Dec-early Jan, so things will be mobbed. I priced out 2 day park-to-park tickets and transfers from Disney, and then made the mistake of looking to add Universal Express. $89.99 per person, per day! Yikes! Then I started thinking about staying one night at Universal. Even with adding the cost of airport transfers and the trip over to Disney (I have read you can take Magical Express one way), we'll be saving money renting 3 rooms at the Royal Pacific instead of the 2 (admittedly, club level) we had at the Boardwalk. And we'll get free FOTL access (except Forbidden Journey and Rip Rocket [no small kids, so no Pteradon Flyers anyway]) and early access to WWOHP (which I have a feeling will be a BIG help this time of year). We wouldn't buy the Express pass at that price (and it's not exactly an equivalent price) so I can't quite say we're saving $1800 too, but I have a feeling the touring will be much nicer. Especially with all the uncertainty surrounding FP+ at Disney.