Disney out - Universal bound instead!

[mcurran]

Long time Disney family but taking a Universal trip this year as a change of pace for our family of 5. We priced out both a Disney trip and a universal trip and we’re just shocked how how much cheaper this trip is looking like compared to a similar Disney trip and how nice cabana bay hotel looks like compared to anything moderate at disney I don’t think Disney is worth $2k more.

If we have a great time on this trip I don’t see why we would go back to visit the mouse house for a while.

 

[kbelle8995]

I really love Cabana Bay. It's very mid-century modern hotel with lots of amenities. I love the Lazy River. The only bad thing it that it does not come with an express pass for the park rides. Good food selection and two large pools. And at the Park no reservations just go and do what you want. And most of the resorts at Universal are close enough that you can go easily back to the hotel and take a break

Go with an open mind. And If push comes to shove, you can always ride over (via your rental, owned or Lyft/Uber) to Disney springs.

 

[AJA]

My best advice for families switching 4 or more vacation days from Disney to Universal is approach it as a vacation first, with visiting Universal.

A Disney trip is much more busy (double the parks!).

With 4 plus days at Universal you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy anything you want in the parks AND still have down time for the pool, dinners, just relaxing on your vacation.

 

[Kit Jackson]

If you have any questions or want advice, feel free to post here. The people on this board are incredibly helpful.

 

[Mikeb1892]

We did last year exactly what you're doing this year and it was a fantastic trip. We did a split stay with 2 nights at Royal Pacific to utilize the EP and knock out all the rides that we knew would have the longer wait. We then did 5 nights at Cabana Bay and it was great. The pools and lazy river were wonderful, but if you'd like to bowl make sure you make a reservation in advance. Have a great trip.

 

[lions1995]

Starting planning a quick Universal stay before my Disney vacation for 2023. I have thought about ditching the Disney piece and hading to the beach after Universal. Time will tell.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I did a three-day on-site Universal trip last November. It was my first ever on-site stay and first trip to parks in well over a decade.

Ended up cancelling third day at park and adding a day back at Disney. Hope you have a better time than I did.

 

[redboat45]

If you like water parks I highly recommend Volcano Bay. It's so fun and you can walk right there from Cabana Bay.

 

[Skywalker3]

We love both, and this past year was the first time we got APs for Univeral. Have gone twice, enjoyed fabulous trips, and planning on a doing a couple days at Universal (before/after WDW) in June and Oct. lots and lots of great info here on the Univeral threads. happy planning!!!!

 

[Nabas]

If you end up enjoying your Universal trip and decide to go back within 12 months, go to Guest Relations and upgrade to an Annual Pass before you leave.

My daughter and sister both did this on two separate vacations. The price difference was less than buying a new set of tickets for their next trips.

 

[SPJoeG]

Love Cabana Bay! Disney has nothing comparable in the price range.

Disney still has a huge advantage with respect to IP/Nostalgia and appeal to kids <10. I like UOR more than WDW because it is way more affordable and offers freedom and spontaneity. At UOR you don't have to plan every minute of everyone in your party's day, or worse yet pay for an app that tells you what to do all day.

On my last WDW vacation I had spent so much I was determined that my family would get our money's worth... that meant riding as many top tier rides as possible (utilizing fastpass), eating at the hard to get into restaurants, going to special events and planning resort days to enjoy the hotels/pools. I still love Disney, and have many great memories, but waking everyone in my family up to rush to a fast pass via an incredibly poor transportation system is not one of them.

It's so freeing at Universal to be able to change plans, and getting "our money's worth" just means doing what we want in the moment. Some mornings I get up early and if my son is up we go to rope drop and ride a bunch of rides while my wife and daughter sleep in and meet us later, some mornings I sleep in and just take the short walk over to Volcano Bay.

My advice is to prepare, not plan. Make some reservations at restaurants that don't usually take walk-ins so they are available to you, keeping in mind that you can cancel them at any time. Look in the app before you go to get a sense of wait times throughout the day, but understand they may be different when you visit. Be open to trying new things, so you can be more flexible. Think about it like this, if you don't get to do something you want this trip, with the money you are saving you can just come back.

 

[PixieT78]

UOR is definitely more centered around thrill rides and I can totally see how as kids get older, it becomes a better fit.

As a adult, I love both for different reasons. Universal is way more relaxing, even with the more intense rides. I enjoy pool time and don't feel like I need to be in the parts 24/7 to make it worth it.

That said, I've never been at Disney for longer than 6 nights, I don't think. This time I'll be going for 10 nights to Disney so will be interesting to see how it feels once I dig into the planning - if I still feel like I need to be in the park all the time or not. I'm thinking not.

 

[mamamelody2]

DH and I went to UOR for the first time ever last June. LOVED it. Totally different trip from Disney. Actually relaxing. We stayed a full week and really enjoyed it. Lots of pool time and sleeping in. Amazing.

We took our oldest (21) and youngest (15) last month. They loved it as well. The Harry Potter stuff was a favorite, but they just had a great time with everything. CBBR is great. Again we slept in every day and still got on everything we wanted to multiple times plus had lots of pool time. DH and I already had APs (bought for $300 plus tax in early 2021) so no need for tickets. APs for the kids were $400 plus tax.

We're going again Memorial Day week, this time with the youngest and middle (19) child, so we only need to buy one AP. Can't wait! CBBR again.

THEN, we're doing HHN Labor Day week, just taking the youngest. So no tickets needed. Staying at Aventura. Will splurge for Boo Bash or whatever Disney offers to get a taste. I looked into doing Disney at an All Star for this week and it was more than 3 times the cost of UOR. So no-brainer for me.

So DH and I will get 4 week-long trips out of 1 AP. His was $350 and mine was $400 for preferred (so we get 10% off food and merch) for 15 months. I mean, come on, that's a deal!!

 

[djmeredith]

UOR is definitely more centered around thrill rides and I can totally see how as kids get older, it becomes a better fit.

As a adult, I love both for different reasons. Universal is way more relaxing, even with the more intense rides. I enjoy pool time and don't feel like I need to be in the parts 24/7 to make it worth it.

That said, I've never been at Disney for longer than 6 nights, I don't think. This time I'll be going for 10 nights to Disney so will be interesting to see how it feels once I dig into the planning - if I still feel like I need to be in the park all the time or not. I'm thinking not.

This is exactly how I feel. You will probably love the longer time at Disney (although the Genie+ thing seems to be really aggravating people). I went to Disney for 8 days several years ago when the kids were younger and I definitely felt like it was a lot closer to a Universal type pace. Shorter Disney visits I feel like I have to rush to get my money's worth, but at Universal the parks are so much smaller I still have relaxation time on short trips.

 

[mcurran]

Thank you everyone for your excellent tips and advice!

 

[mcurran]

If you end up enjoying your Universal trip and decide to go back within 12 months, go to Guest Relations and upgrade to an Annual Pass before you leave.

My daughter and sister both did this on two separate vacations. The price difference was less than buying a new set of tickets for their next trips.

This one tip got my wife and I thinking about upgrading our passes while down there to an AP and coming back for spring break in 2023 for a minimal up charge. The way our spring break weeks land here I think I can do the seasonal ap. should we consider upgrading at least one ticket to a preferred for food/merch discounts?

 

[Nabas]

This one tip got my wife and I thinking about upgrading our passes while down there to an AP and coming back for spring break in 2023 for a minimal up charge. The way our spring break weeks land here I think I can do the seasonal ap. should we consider upgrading at least one ticket to a preferred for food/merch discounts?

We have one preferred ticket for the discounts and parking, but you’ll need to do a little research and decide if the cost difference makes sense for you.

 

[bookgirl]

I did one day at Universal (did not stay at a resort there) right around the time Wizarding World opened. I've wanted to go back and do the combined parks now that Diagon Ally is added. So I'm splitting between Disney and USO and staying at Uni for two nights before heading to Disney, but only one park day. However I really am just focusing on Harry Potter so not worried about missing out on anything else. I decided to stay at Surfside and it looks like a nice value level. Interested in the onsite experience there.

 

[keishashadow]

The way our spring break weeks land here I think I can do the seasonal ap. should we consider upgrading at least one ticket to a preferred for food/merch discounts?

Check the blackout dates for 2023. Not sure if out yet, look at this year’s for an idea.

We always have one pref AP going but, I’ve taken to downgrading rest of families at renewal time as it’s easy enough to upgrade them if we decide to visit on blackout date for them

 

[RamblingMad]

After three days in the parks, you're going to run into repetition.

Now, I do prefer Disney waterparks to Universal.

I'd shorten the trip or plan to spend some time at Disney waterparks.