Going for 10 days......should we split our stay in half??

[Kitty 34]

Right now I have it planned for 7 days at Disney and 3 at Universal. However, the more we read up on Universal, watch their freebie video and now can buy that 5-day Bonus Pass......we're really leaning towards doing 5 days Disney/5 days Universal.

Is there enough to do for 5 full days at US? I would hate for our 13 and 15 yr old DSs to get bored!!

We've been to Disney already 3 times. At US, we will be staying at HRH.

Please help us decide!!!!

 

[gschmerl]

We were at HRH for five days and were NEVER bored. We were two adults, no children. Your boys should absolutely love IOA. I don't think you'll have a boredom problem. Then there's always the pool at the HRH.

 

[No11's Mom]

We are leaving Friday for 10 days/9 nights. We are spending the first five nights at WDW and the last 4 at HRH. We would have allocated more at HRH, but we are traveling with my sister's family which includes at 6 year old who has never been to Disney. But I definitely wouldn't do fewer than 4 nights at HRH. I have a 13 yr old boy, and I know he would get bored after too long at WDW. (He refuses to do Epcot anymore, and can take only so much MK.)

Have fun on your trip.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

That is exactly what we are doing. We arrive at HRH for 5 days in USF/IOA, then right when value season starts, we arrive at AKL.

But I seriously wonder sometimes if even 5 days isn't a little too much. Being resort guests and having express access to the lines, we may see it all in 4 days rather than 5. I still don't know what to do with that 5th day...

Wanda

 

[Lewisc]

With FOTL access you can probably do both parks in 2 days. The extra time gives you more time to enjoy the pool at HR and to back on attractions you want to see again. I suspect by the 5th day your family will have had enough.

 

[JohnnyOldBoy]

Last year we were at IoA on April 5 and USF on April 6 with DS13 and DS15, offsite so no FOTL, but Easter wasn't until April 15 so the crowds were not too bad. At IoA we were rained out at about 2 pm but nobody minded too much because we were done with all we wanted to do. After a day at each park we took a vote among ourselves as to which one we liked best and surprisingly it was unanimous for USF. I thought the teens would have liked IoA better but they said that there wasn't anything special about it and for thrill rides they would rather go to Great America or Cedar Point. The favorite of all of was MIB and they could probably do that for a full day. Otherwise, 5 days would have been way too much for us.
We will be there this year during Easter week, April 4 and 5 since have tickets from our Universal Discover card to use up, plan on one day at each again.

 

[Robinrs]

I split my May trip up 2 days HRH and 5 days WDW. It was soooo horrible to go back to standing on LINES!! UGH! I ended up going back to USF the last two days anyway....

 

[robvia]

I'd reduce the trip by a couple days and then visit SWF (Sea World Florida) and BGT (Busch Gardens Tampa) if you need more things to do. BGT is 75 miles away, drive is about 1.5 hours.
10 days seems like overkill to me. Teens will like the thrill rides, so you don't need that many days at Disney. I'd say 3 days at Disney, 4 at USF. It will take 2 days to see USF/IOA, and then you can visit SWF/BGT while staying at the HRH.
You can use the money you save for another trip later in the year.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Thanks for your kind suggestion, rob. I was considering Wet n Wild instead of Sea World, because I can't bring myself to seeing my beloved whales in captivity.

Or maybe we'll cut it back to four days at HRH instead. I'll keep reading about suggestions and experiences in different sites on the board!

Wanda

 

[raidermatt]

Since you've been to WDW three times, you should have a pretty good idea of how much time you want to spend there. That's the "known". US/IOA is an "unknown" for you.

My suggestion would be to schedule the amount of time you know you want to spend at WDW, then spend the rest at US/IOA. If you want 7 days at WDW, leave it that way. You'll still have three days at US/IOA, and that should be plenty for you to do just about everything.

Then, for your next trip, you will be able to split your time up based on your own experience.