1st time adding Universal to our Disney trip, help with planning

[VeronicaZS]

This is my first time planning a Disney trip with Universal component and I could use some advice.
Our 7 person travel party will be me, DH, our 3 boys and MIL/FIL. We would likely leave Friday Nov 4 after school and return no earlier than Wed Nov 9 but could maybe push it to Nov 10 or 11 depending on how much school we are willing to let the kids miss. MIL/FIL will have a car but we will not. For the Disney part of the trip we would stay at an EP resort, probably YC or Dolphin. For Universal we would stay at either Portofino or Royal Pacific for the proximity and Express Pass. We are big fans of all things classic Disney, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. None of us are fans of huge coasters. If we don't do hoppers at WDW we would probably skip EP and AK (but it would feel like such a waste to stay at an EP resort and skip EP). I'd love to have a resort only pool day but I'm not sure how to fit that in.
Initial questions are;

1. WDW or Universal first?
2. How many days at WDW and Universal?
3. What day would you do each park?
4. Park hoppers at either park?
5. What other basic things should I be considering?

TIA!

 

[Mtraynom]

I'm doing a split stay in February and have done one in the past. Definitely do Universal first. I did Universal last before and it was a let down after being at Disney for a week. If you want to ride the Hogwarts Express between the 2 Harry Potter lands, you will need a park hopper. I would say no more than 2 days at Universal, especially if you are not big coaster fans. I'm doing one day at Universal this time, mainly for Harry Potter.

I think a built in pool day is awesome. We did it last trip and it made a huge difference in how tired we were. We had the pool day in the middle of the trip as a break.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

It sounds like you're experienced with Disney. If this is the first time you're working in a Universal trip, and you're planning to stay at one of their deluxe resorts (for Express Pass), I'd make one recommendation. Determine how many days you want to do Universal, make those full universal days, and plan to do one less night at their hotel. Let me explain (and I might be overthinking!). What we did was 3 days at Universal, but stayed 2 nights at Hard Rock. The 2 nights gave us 3 days of Express Pass in the parks. Then at the end of the day, we would head to Disney to start our time there, realizing we're perhaps missing a park day there, but that was less important.

I would definitely include a day at the pool (at Disney), especially if you can get a room at YC and enjoy the most amazing pool on site! Good luck with your planning and have a great trip!

 

[WIll C]

We've normally just done one day at UO while staying at Disney. Somewhere in the middle of our trip. We'd take a ride share there and back after spending most of the day. Felt rushed but fun.

This trip, we're spending our last 3 days at UO. We decided to try out Royal Pacific as we've never stayed onsite. The Express passes were a bonus with this. We'll have a lot more time to walk around and relax instead of being rushed to get back to Disney. We'll head right home from there. No more Magic Express bus so we aren't missing out on included travel to the airport.

 

[Darcy03231]

You don't say how old you children are, but the first time I took my kids to US/IOA they were in the pre-teen/teen years. We did US/IOA first and then WDW. That was a mistake. After 2 days of no waiting in line with the unlimited Express Pass (we stayed at Hardrock), there were a lot of complaints at WDW about standing in line and the rides were "lame."

After that we always did WDW first and US/IOA last. Also, by doing it that way when we get home I don't feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. US/IOA tends to be done at a much more relaxed pace for us.

 

[StageTek]

1. WDW or Universal first?
2. How many days at WDW and Universal?
3. What day would you do each park?
4. Park hoppers at either park?

1. Universal first
2. You're not fans of huge coasters so two days at Universal will be enough. And that might get you the time for that pool day.
3 and 4. Get Park Hoppers at Universal and enjoy both on each day.

 

[JK World]

We are also planning our first Universal/WDW hybrid trip! I can answer based on what we are planning, which may or may not be helpful since I'm new at this too, lol!

1. We are doing Universal first. Planning on staying at Universal for the entire trip, although who knows. If I change plans, then I'd do like you and move to an Epcot-area resort.
2. We are planning on 3 park days at Universal, one day to enjoy the resort/pool and possibly CityWalk, then 2 days at Disney. This plan doesn't include park time on arrival or departure days (which I normally do), so I'm considering a longer ticket or annual pass in case we want more park time.
3. We are doing one IOA day and one UO day, then deciding where we want to return for the 3rd day. For WDW planning to get hoppers to do an Epcot/HS day and an MK day. We love AK, but only want to commit two days to WDW this trip.
4. Not planning to get hoppers at Universal, I can live without riding the HP train. Yes to hoppers at WDW, because we are ride focused on this trip and with Epcot and HS so close it's not a bad use of time to hop.
5. Consider time spent on switching hotels mid trip, transportation, whether you want to do Volcano Bay, whether an annual pass is a better deal than just park tickets for Universal (especially with resort discounts).

Looking forward to seeing what others have to say!

 

[VeronicaZS]

You don't say how old you children are, but the first time I took my kids to US/IOA they were in the pre-teen/teen years. We did US/IOA first and then WDW. That was a mistake. After 2 days of no waiting in line with the unlimited Express Pass (we stayed at Hardrock), there were a lot of complaints at WDW about standing in line and the rides were "lame."

After that we always did WDW first and US/IOA last. Also, by doing it that way when we get home I don't feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. US/IOA tends to be done at a much more relaxed pace for us.

Its in my signature but by next Nov they will be 13 & 11. I think I'm leaning toward WDW first, we are experts and can commando our way through our must dos then hopefully transition to a slower pace.

 

[M SH]

1. WDW or Universal first?
2. How many days at WDW and Universal?
3. What day would you do each park?
4. Park hoppers at either park?
5. What other basic things should I be considering?

I can give you my experience from last month which we enjoyed.
we did Universal first. we arrived around noon, checked in to Royal Pacific and headed straight to the parks. we did 2.5 days of universal and it was more than enough. I think 1.5 days would have been sufficient. I thought Universal was worth it only because of Harry potter world, outside of that it was one and done for us. too many screen rides that are basically the same. But that being said, Harry Potter stuff there is amazing, especially Hagrid's coaster. so I would really do 1.5-2 days just to experience that, but not more. unlimited express pass with RPR stay is very worth it, but know that it doesn't work for Hagrids and Velocicoaster (need virtual Queue on some days for hagrid, stand-by otherwise). but everything else works.

as for DW, I would avoid Epcot on weekends. I usually look at UC Tourist crowd calendar that shows you what parks are better for each day. but generally it doesn't matter much outside of Epcot at weekends.
We do not get park hoppers, and generally just do 1 park per day, + midday break. maybe if i didn't have young kids, i might get hoppers and hop everyday late to Epcot or MK to watch fireworks since AK and HS don't have night shows yet. but at that point usually my kids need to go to bed, so Park hoppers are not worth it for us. your case might be different.

Read up on Genie + and ILL and see what you want to do. IMO genie + is worth it only at MK. maybe at HS too, but definitely not at AK or EP. you probably want to buy ILL for Rise and FOP unless you are staying onsite and can make it to the park at least 30-45 mins before EPE starts.
Make sure to do Park reservations.

have fun!

 

[Marthasor]

If Harry Potter is your main focus at Universal, I wouldn't do more than 2 nights there - as others have said, buy the Universal park-to-park pass so you can ride Hogwart's Express. We've done two Uni/WDW split stays and we get through the Harry Potter attractions in one day. I would price out the cost of staying at a Uni resort for express pass vs. simply staying at WDW the whole time and purchasing the passes you would need to do Uni for a day. I do like the resorts at Uni, but splitting the stay, packing everything up and shuttling back and forth, especially for a shorter trip, is kind of a pain.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Its in my signature but by next Nov they will be 13 & 11. I think I'm leaning toward WDW first, we are experts and can commando our way through our must dos then hopefully transition to a slower pace.

At that age, your kids might prefer more thrill rides, so I would schedule 2-3 days for Universal. Universal actually doesn't have many coasters, but most of their dark rides are more fast paced and thrilling than Disney's. Also, you've never been there before, so that's another reason to allocate enough time for Universal. With Express Passes, that will be plenty of time to do everything, and some favorites multiple times.

 

[cschaaf]

If I were doing both parks and had EP at Universal, I'd do Universal last. The EP will spoil you very quickly. For me, it wouldn't be fun waiting in WDW lines after whisking past the crowds all day over at Universal.

 

[CynBeth]

I would take as many days for the trip as you can. We don’t have kids but stayed on Universal property for the first time. We were at Portofino for 2 nights on 11/17 and 11/18 then Disney from 11/19-11/28. We had gotten the park to park passes. We do not go on roller coasters or anything with a drop but loved the motion simulator rides and shows we saw. We were glad we did Universal first because we were so sore from all of the walking at Disney and would not have appreciated it as we did. It was good to be able to go with the flow to start our trip before having to constantly be on our phones at Disney.

We always get park hoppers at Disney and were glad we had it especially now with Genie+ as on certain days could not book for example the extra fee LL of ROTR on our HS day but got it for an evening time on a day we were at another park.

 

[gharter]

We do Universal first, stay onsite at one of the resort that includes free Express Pass. We are there 3 nights. We usually leave the last day about noon to head to Disney.
This gives us plenty of time to do everything we want to and see all the shows as well as enjoy City Walk.

 

[lions1995]

My daughter wants to do Universal and Disney with her friend after college graduation in 2023. This is great feedback.

 

[stinkpickle]

I would do Universal on weekdays. Last fall, the crowds felt much heavier on weekends. The difference was even more pronounced than at WDW.

 

[jimmymc]

I'll assume you have Saturday through Wednesday to enjoy the parks:

1. I usually do Universal first but really you could do either, mine just worked out with my schedule.

2. At least 2 full days at Universal

3. With Express Pass it really doesn't matter which parks you do on each day. Even on a busy weekend your longest wait will be 15 minutes and most are around 5. If you're getting Express anyway, I would get park to park tickets for Saturday and Sunday. You'll be able to ride everything.

4. Definitely yes for Universal so you can take the Hogwarts Express and take advantage of early entry, which is only at one park. I personally wouldn't skip Animal Kingdom if I couldn't help it, but if you don't care for those attractions then you could do a 3 day non-hopper ticket.

5. There are two coasters not covered by Express Pass at Universal, Velocicoaster and Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. Velocicoaster is the most intense ride in Orlando and the standby line usually isn't too long, so no big deal. Hagrid's is an amazing ride and a similar intensity to Expedition Everest or Space Mountain. If members of your party can handle that, I highly, highly recommend it. And even if you're not sure, I would still try because it is that great of a ride.

If you're staying at Portofino, I would recommend eating at Mama Della's one night. Amazing food.

Inside the Universal parks the food isn't great, but I really enjoy both of the Harry Potter restaurants. And City Walk is very close by, which has some great food. Try Voodoo donuts in the middle of the day so you don't have a long wait, it's my favorite dessert place in Orlando. If you do want to eat in the parks, try the Simpsons Food Court in Studios or Mythos in Islands.

If you want to do the Olivander's wand experience, get there early. Even if you don't, you can buy wands at other shops around the Harry Potter worlds and in the general souvenir store near the park entrance. The interactive wands are really fun in the lands and are great to take home.

Royal Pacific's Pool is very nice but doesn't have a slide. Portofino's is also very nice and does have a slide! Both resorts have chairside food and drink service if you wanted to do a pool day. But Stormalong Bay is nicer than either of them, so if you're staying at Beach or Yacht Club, do the pool day at Disney.