WWoHP w/ a 2y/o

[justbishop]

Hello all! We are taking our DD to Disney/Orlando for the first time in September, when she will be about 2.5 y/o. We honestly have no interest in doing US, and will be purchasing 1 day 1 park tickets to IOA, pretty much JUST for WWoHP.

My dilemma is that we are tacking a stay onto the front of our Disney trip for this (before moving to Animal Kingdom Villas for 5 nights), and DH and I are in disagreement on whether to do 1 night or 2 to accomplish IOA/WWoHP. I am pushing for the 2 night add-on, because I do NOT want to start this vacation feeling stressed and rushed, plus we have no idea how DD is going to react to a napless day at a theme park, and I don't want to be caught on a park day with no room to take her back to should she just be done and need a rest.

Financially, it's a no brainer IMO. I was budgeting $100 for a hotel near Universal, and have found a 1br condo rental at Cypress Pointe for $65/night (I even agreed to cover anything over the original $100 budgeted with my own cash from selling a few things on eBay). DH feels that if we stay there for the original ONE night that we planned, then yay! I saved us $35! I would just rather spend what we'd originally budgeted and get the extra day/night to not feel stressed out and rushed.

Here are the 2 scenarios. We are driving in from SC:

If we stay 1 night, we will drive on 9/10, and end that day checking into Cypress Pointe and finding dinner somewhere. Wake up on 9/11, go to WWoHP/IOA, eat lunch @ the 3 Broomsticks. Leave around 2pm for check-in at AKV, 5:10pm dinner ressie at Boma.

If we stay 2 nights, we will drive in on 9/9, check into Cypress Pointe and find dinner somewhere. Wake up on 9/10, spend entire day at IOA/WWoHP, back to Cypress Pointe to relax. Wake up on 9/11, take our time getting over to AKV for check-in, hang out, maybe swim, hit DTD or Boardwalk, just generally relax. No rushing around or stressing about making the 5:10pm dinner at Boma.

So, WWYD? If you're with me on the 2 night stay, how would you sway DH? He seems to think that if WWoHP is the only thing at IOA that will really interest us (he doesn't do roller coasters, so I won't have anyone to ride them with), and will only take a few hours, we won't be rushed doing it on the same day as our AKV check-in and dinner reservation. I feel that even if that IS the case, it'd still be nice to have a whole day for it, just in case we need to retreat with DD and go back later in the day or something. He's even brought up the idea that if WWoHP isn't that big and the IOA tix are $80+/person, that we maybe should skip it altogether, which is weird b/c he's the HP freak between the two of us anyway! I am REALLY against that idea, though.

 

[damo]

Hello all! We are taking our DD to Disney/Orlando for the first time in September, when she will be about 2.5 y/o. We honestly have no interest in doing US, and will be purchasing 1 day 1 park tickets to IOA, pretty much JUST for WWoHP.

My dilemma is that we are tacking a stay onto the front of our Disney trip for this (before moving to Animal Kingdom Villas for 5 nights), and DH and I are in disagreement on whether to do 1 night or 2 to accomplish IOA/WWoHP. I am pushing for the 2 night add-on, because I do NOT want to start this vacation feeling stressed and rushed, plus we have no idea how DD is going to react to a napless day at a theme park, and I don't want to be caught on a park day with no room to take her back to should she just be done and need a rest.

Financially, it's a no brainer IMO. I was budgeting $100 for a hotel near Universal, and have found a 1br condo rental at Cypress Pointe for $65/night (I even agreed to cover anything over the original $100 budgeted with my own cash from selling a few things on eBay). DH feels that if we stay there for the original ONE night that we planned, then yay! I saved us $35! I would just rather spend what we'd originally budgeted and get the extra day/night to not feel stressed out and rushed.

Here are the 2 scenarios. We are driving in from SC:

If we stay 1 night, we will drive on 9/10, and end that day checking into Cypress Pointe and finding dinner somewhere. Wake up on 9/11, go to WWoHP/IOA, eat lunch @ the 3 Broomsticks. Leave around 2pm for check-in at AKV, 5:10pm dinner ressie at Boma.

If we stay 2 nights, we will drive in on 9/9, check into Cypress Pointe and find dinner somewhere. Wake up on 9/10, spend entire day at IOA/WWoHP, back to Cypress Pointe to relax. Wake up on 9/11, take our time getting over to AKV for check-in, hang out, maybe swim, hit DTD or Boardwalk, just generally relax. No rushing around or stressing about making the 5:10pm dinner at Boma.

So, WWYD? If you're with me on the 2 night stay, how would you sway DH? He seems to think that if WWoHP is the only thing at IOA that will really interest us (he doesn't do roller coasters, so I won't have anyone to ride them with), and will only take a few hours, we won't be rushed doing it on the same day as our AKV check-in and dinner reservation. I feel that even if that IS the case, it'd still be nice to have a whole day for it, just in case we need to retreat with DD and go back later in the day or something. He's even brought up the idea that if WWoHP isn't that big and the IOA tix are $80+/person, that we maybe should skip it altogether, which is weird b/c he's the HP freak between the two of us anyway! I am REALLY against that idea, though.

I would go to universalorlando.com and book a two night Getaway or Harry Potter package staying offsite. This will give you two early morning entries for the Wizarding World and lots of time to explore the rest of the parks. That should keep the trip nice and relaxed.

Alternately, you could book 1 night onsite and that will give you 2 early entries and two full days of unlimited express. It will spoil you for Disney though.

Your DH will love Spiderman, if nothing else, lol. Suess Landing is great for kids.

 

[justbishop]

Would that be more expensive than the $100 we budgeted for a hotel stay + $80ish per adult for IOA tickets? If so, it's not something we'd be interested in. I don't think we have much interest in spending more than one day at a Universal park.

 

[Metro West]

I don't think we have much interest in spending more than one day at a Universal park.

You never know...you might just surprise yourselves.

 

[justbishop]

I think the main caveat to keep in mind is that we're trying not to spend more money than originally planned

I guess I should have made it more clear...how long would it take to do IOA if the only thing you're truly interested in is WWoHP?

 

[damo]

I think the main caveat to keep in mind is that we're trying not to spend more money than originally planned

I guess I should have made it more clear...how long would it take to do IOA if the only thing you're truly interested in is WWoHP?

Half a day would be plenty. You are already paying for the entire park though. You may as well do a few other things. Why deny yourselves the enjoyment of the many great rides?

The getaway packages are very well priced and have a selection of many inexpensive offsite hotels. The benefit is the 1 hour early entry that gets you in before the general public.

September is a really slow month though. You probably could just stay anywhere and visit.

 

[justbishop]

Half a day would be plenty. You are already paying for the entire park though. You may as well do a few other things. Why deny yourselves the enjoyment of the many great rides?

The getaway packages are very well priced and have a selection of many inexpensive offsite hotels. The benefit is the 1 hour early entry that gets you in before the general public.

September is a really slow month though. You probably could just stay anywhere and visit.

See, this is MY opinion as well! We're paying for all of IOA, why not give ourselves the option of spending more than 1/2 a day there? Still working on convincing DH.