Ok, first let me say we fully realize this may not be doable for everyone for many reasons. But we were able to ride every major headliner in all the parks, some multiple times. What a blast. Last minute trip planned 3 weeks ago as a surprise Christmas present. Here is how we managed:
Day 1 Universal: Nonprivate VIP. Yes, its expensive but much more reasonable than the private and worth every penny during peak times. We have used Disney's guide service several times and was hesitant to do the nonprivate tour. However, we got luck and had a great group of 10. The guide mostly picks the rides, though was open to our requests and really picked everything we wanted anyways. Started with great breakfast buffet then on to Rip Ride Rocket, The Mummy (with under ride tour), Jimmy Fallon's ride, Men in Black with tour of transportation set, Transformers, Minions and tour of Diagon Allen. Then buffet lunch. Afternoon started with Gringots, then Hogwarts Express, Forbidden Journey, Jurassic Park, King Kong, Spiderman, The Hulk, Dr Doom and finished with Dr. Seuss ride. The vip at Universal is true front of line. So for instance Diagon Alley had a 240 minute standby wait, 60 minute express and we walked right on with 0 wait time. Amazing! We picked the remaining smaller rides and did a few rerides with the Express pass in the evening and enjoyed the Harry Potter Christmas show.
Day 2 Disney: So we got lucky here. We have friends that hooked us up with Club 33 park passes. If you are not familiar these passes they come with a large amount of fast passes which do not require reservations at all. Just walk up to FP line. Fantastic! Started with Hollywood Studios and rode TofT, Rockin Roller coaster, Toy Story Mania, Slinky, Star Tours. Quick tour of Star Wars Bay. We then transferred to MK for lunch at Be Our Guest followed by 7 dwarfs, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder, Pirates, Jungle cruise, Space Mtn. We then headed to Epcot for Mission Space and Test track. On to AK for daytime tour of Pandora, dusk ride of Kilmanjaro, Everest, watch a bit of River show, Kali River, back to Pandora for night tour and rode Navi and Flight of Passage which is amazing. Then back to MK for Dessert party at Tommorowland Terrace which was great and viewing of Holiday wishes. I would not recommend arriving early as suggested on this forum. In fact, I wish we would have come a little late so there was less time before the fireworks started. There was plenty of desserts to go around. Finished off late night with Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for a very long but awesome day.
Day 3-4: Casual days to enjoy Portofino Bay pools, Disney Springs, City walk and reride several highlights at Universal particularly our favorites, The Hulk, The Mummy, Jimmy Fallon and Rip Ride Rocket. The food at City Walk was surprisingly good, particularly Vivo and Cowfish. Toothsome is neat but shakes were just average, looked better than they taste! Also hit the City Walk miniature golf which was fun. Throughout the trip we used Uber and had no issues. Much easier than renting a car. We also tried the amphicar tour at Disney Springs Boathouse which was a lot of fun.
This was our second trip to Universal and we greatly preferred Portofino to Royal pacific.
Both parks were packed as this was Christmas week. Disney handles the crowd much better. Universal at times was overwhelming particularly Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. In the end it was a great trip. The longest line, 45 minutes for cotton candy in Seuss Land!
Day 1 Universal: Nonprivate VIP. Yes, its expensive but much more reasonable than the private and worth every penny during peak times. We have used Disney's guide service several times and was hesitant to do the nonprivate tour. However, we got luck and had a great group of 10. The guide mostly picks the rides, though was open to our requests and really picked everything we wanted anyways. Started with great breakfast buffet then on to Rip Ride Rocket, The Mummy (with under ride tour), Jimmy Fallon's ride, Men in Black with tour of transportation set, Transformers, Minions and tour of Diagon Allen. Then buffet lunch. Afternoon started with Gringots, then Hogwarts Express, Forbidden Journey, Jurassic Park, King Kong, Spiderman, The Hulk, Dr Doom and finished with Dr. Seuss ride. The vip at Universal is true front of line. So for instance Diagon Alley had a 240 minute standby wait, 60 minute express and we walked right on with 0 wait time. Amazing! We picked the remaining smaller rides and did a few rerides with the Express pass in the evening and enjoyed the Harry Potter Christmas show.
Day 2 Disney: So we got lucky here. We have friends that hooked us up with Club 33 park passes. If you are not familiar these passes they come with a large amount of fast passes which do not require reservations at all. Just walk up to FP line. Fantastic! Started with Hollywood Studios and rode TofT, Rockin Roller coaster, Toy Story Mania, Slinky, Star Tours. Quick tour of Star Wars Bay. We then transferred to MK for lunch at Be Our Guest followed by 7 dwarfs, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder, Pirates, Jungle cruise, Space Mtn. We then headed to Epcot for Mission Space and Test track. On to AK for daytime tour of Pandora, dusk ride of Kilmanjaro, Everest, watch a bit of River show, Kali River, back to Pandora for night tour and rode Navi and Flight of Passage which is amazing. Then back to MK for Dessert party at Tommorowland Terrace which was great and viewing of Holiday wishes. I would not recommend arriving early as suggested on this forum. In fact, I wish we would have come a little late so there was less time before the fireworks started. There was plenty of desserts to go around. Finished off late night with Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for a very long but awesome day.
Day 3-4: Casual days to enjoy Portofino Bay pools, Disney Springs, City walk and reride several highlights at Universal particularly our favorites, The Hulk, The Mummy, Jimmy Fallon and Rip Ride Rocket. The food at City Walk was surprisingly good, particularly Vivo and Cowfish. Toothsome is neat but shakes were just average, looked better than they taste! Also hit the City Walk miniature golf which was fun. Throughout the trip we used Uber and had no issues. Much easier than renting a car. We also tried the amphicar tour at Disney Springs Boathouse which was a lot of fun.
This was our second trip to Universal and we greatly preferred Portofino to Royal pacific.
Both parks were packed as this was Christmas week. Disney handles the crowd much better. Universal at times was overwhelming particularly Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. In the end it was a great trip. The longest line, 45 minutes for cotton candy in Seuss Land!
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