Universal/Disney balancing act

jpakstis

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Hi everyone!


We are going on our fourth (and for the time being, last) trip to Disney in April of 2020. We are staying at the Beach Club for 8 days and running the Star Wars 10K/half. My lovely and patient wife, who is not a Disney nut like the rest of us, wants to go to Universal mainly because of Harry Potter/Hogwarts. She is a huge Harry Potter fan. On every other trip we have always stayed in WDW and never went anywhere else. Our daughters will be 11 and 9 when we go and are not big thrill ride seekers and have no interest in Harry Potter (which drives my wife crazy!). So I am trying to figure out the best strategy for planning a trip to Universal.

Would a 1 day trip to Universal cover everything she wants? She's not a big ride person herself (although her favorite ride at WDW is Space Mountain) and I think she mainly wants to check Harry Potter stuff. The kids would be happy just being at WDW the whole time. I subject my wife to pretty much my entire family (in addition to to the four of us, there might be 11 extended family members on this upcoming visit) when we go on these trips so when she says she wants to go, I should make it happen!

Thanks in advance!
 
If it's just for HP, then 1 day would be enough. The lands aren't huge. The one on the studios side only has 1 ride, and is mainly shops etc. The one at IoA (the first HP land that was built) is main one imo. That's where Hogwarts is and the 2 big rides (Forbidden Journey and Hagrids). Get a park hopper too so you can take the Hogwarts train to the other park.
 
If you are only going to be there for 1 day, get the express pass. That puts you to the front of nearly everyline and save you a lot of time.
If you stay onsite at one of several of their resorts, the express pass is part of the package.
We spent 2 days there in April and with Express Pass, rode and saw everything we wanted to as many times as we wanted.
If its really just HP and a few other things, 1 day is enough.
 
Thanks for the responses so far (and for moving into the right forum, sorry!). This seems to back up what I've been thinking. We are obviously in no rush since we are more than 6 months away, but our ADR window is coming up for Disney and with decisions to make for up to 15 people, I'd like to start to map out the trip.

One side note: as I've been familiarizing myself with Universal, I didn't realize they don't have the Kongfrontation and Jaws rides anymore! That shows how long its been since we've even contemplated going!
 


As others have stated I would definitely stay at one of the resorts that offer unlimited EP. If you can afford it Hard Rock. That way it is a breeze. I say Hard Rock since no only the theme is my favorite, but it's a short walk to Universal. You get to stay on site, you get early entry, and past through all the lines. No word on whether Hagrid's will have EP by then, but everything else will. There will be plenty to do to fill the a whole day with Potter and she's going to love it.
 
Unfortunately (or fortunately!) we have already rented points for our Beach Club stay so I don't think its in the cards for us to book one night. But thanks for the words of encouragement. She gets a wand and I get a lightsaber (the girls want droids)!
 
Unfortunately (or fortunately!) we have already rented points for our Beach Club stay so I don't think its in the cards for us to book one night. But thanks for the words of encouragement. She gets a wand and I get a lightsaber (the girls want droids)!

Really if you're not doing many rides, express wouldn't be worth it to you anyway.
 


We have done Universal Studios in 1 day the last 2 Disney trips. You will want to get the 1 day, 2 park tickets if you want to see ALL of the HP stuff because it is in both IOA and US. Of course, there are rides, shops, shows and restaurants in both areas.

Our trips were in September and May - both times the parks were not very busy ( but HP was busy both times ). We saw everything we wanted to see in both parks ( did rides and shows in both outside the HP area ).

We took a taxi over and it was about 48.00 each way with tip.
 
Hi everyone!


We are going on our fourth (and for the time being, last) trip to Disney in April of 2020. We are staying at the Beach Club for 8 days and running the Star Wars 10K/half. My lovely and patient wife, who is not a Disney nut like the rest of us, wants to go to Universal mainly because of Harry Potter/Hogwarts. She is a huge Harry Potter fan. On every other trip we have always stayed in WDW and never went anywhere else. Our daughters will be 11 and 9 when we go and are not big thrill ride seekers and have no interest in Harry Potter (which drives my wife crazy!). So I am trying to figure out the best strategy for planning a trip to Universal.

Would a 1 day trip to Universal cover everything she wants? She's not a big ride person herself (although her favorite ride at WDW is Space Mountain) and I think she mainly wants to check Harry Potter stuff. The kids would be happy just being at WDW the whole time. I subject my wife to pretty much my entire family (in addition to to the four of us, there might be 11 extended family members on this upcoming visit) when we go on these trips so when she says she wants to go, I should make it happen!

Thanks in advance!

Is your wife going to Universal for the day, or everyone?
She'd be able to see/do a whole lot more as a single versus a large group.
 
If your wife is a huge fan, keep in mind, she will want plenty of time to just go through each shop in both areas but especially Diagon Alley. It’s true that the lands don’t include a lot of rides but the shops are so much more than just shops. And shows like the Frog Choir that can be a must see.

If your kids aren’t HP fans and would be bored while she investigates every nook and cranny, perhaps they would like other areas and y’all could meet back up?

I don’t do thrill rides either (as in nothing that even remotely resembles a roller coast or has a big drop) but do like things like Kong, Spider-Man, MIB, Shrek, ET, Transformers and the like.

If your kids are into super heroes they would like that area of the park too. I love watching the super heroes come out on their 4 wheelers and watching the kids get so excited seeing them!
 
We took a taxi over and it was about 48.00 each way with tip.

Holy schmoly! That’s $$$! Uber or Lyft would be half that so keep that in mind, OP and file it away for next time pp. :)

OP- I'm still going to throw that onsite stay option at you because that’s how we do our short trips to Disneyland and Cedar Point And Love it! We get to our hotel by 4, enjoy the resort, relax, make plans for the next day then in the AM we roll right out of bed and walk into the park. It makes everything so calm and easy plus it’s a fun break! If the kids get bored in the park, you’re still allowed to use the hotel pool even if out of your room. It’s just a really nice way to do things. :)

If you can’t stomach that idea, at least plan to be arriving to the parking garage/ drop off point an hour before opening to allow time for walking to the entrance, security and turnstile lines. You may get lucky too and get in a few minutes early.

I wouldn't care which side had early entry because a true HP fan wants to travel as Harry and that means starting in Universal. Have her read the 1 day itinerary for HP on the Orlando Informer website.
 
So I am trying to figure out the best strategy for planning a trip to Universal.

Send her on her own. “Darling, I’ll hang out at Disney with the kids that don’t like potter and don’t do thrill rides, and here’s a park to park (hopper) ticket with unlimited express pass, and we’ll get you a rental car or a taxi or rideshare and please go spend this glorious day doing whatever you want to do.”

Heaven.


If you stay onsite at one of several of their resorts, the express pass is part of the package.

To be annoyingly specific, you don’t have to have a package to get the unlimited express pass. It comes with the hotel stay, not how you booked it, so room-only stays get it, too.

And unlimited EP comes with royal pacific, hard rock, and portofino bay.

I wouldn't care which side had early entry because a true HP fan wants to travel as Harry and that means starting in Universal.

Eh hem. Except that Hogsmeade opened years before Diagon, so there were years of “true” fans who didn’t do it that way, and lived. And Harry isn’t the only character. (I still say that there had to have been family days that we just didn’t see, which means that younger siblings could easily have experienced Hogsmeade before taking the hogwarts express themselves)
 
For the past few years, my husband and I have gone to Universal in the middle of our 9 or 10 day trip to WDW.
At first we just went for a day at the Studios side, as it had MIB and the newer HP area.
Then, one year, we booked RPR for one night. You can check in early in the morning of your day, get your EP's, tickets, etc, and go to the parks. Then you can go the next day until park closes if you want. You only have to hold your bags at bell services by 11am. It is a more leisurely pace to stay onsite and the rewards are many.
That's the only way we do it now.
We also are thinking of getting AP's at Universal, which are cheaper than a 2 day stay with park tickets and paying EP, for us.
We also are thinking of doing only Universal this next time, as we love the relaxed, fun atmosphere and the great attractions and shows. You will have fun either way.
 
Unfortunately (or fortunately!) we have already rented points for our Beach Club stay so I don't think its in the cards for us to book one night. But thanks for the words of encouragement. She gets a wand and I get a lightsaber (the girls want droids)!

Well, even with another hotel booked...people frequently book 'throw away' reservations at the Deluxe Universal hotels just to get the free Express Passes. If your whole family goes, it would most likely be cheaper to book hotel than buy Express Passes outright. Something to think about if want Express Passes.

If the rest of your family truly has no desire to ride the rides, then why not just send your wife by herself ? Although 9-11 is the right age for kids to really get an interest for things at Universal.
 
Send her on her own. “Darling, I’ll hang out at Disney with the kids that don’t like potter and don’t do thrill rides, and here’s a park to park (hopper) ticket with unlimited express pass, and we’ll get you a rental car or a taxi or rideshare and please go spend this glorious day doing whatever you want to do.”

Heaven.

This^^ Especially if the kids really want to stay at Disney. I know if I only had one day to experience things and I had to listen to whiny kids complaining about not being at Disney, I'd be very annoyed.
 
When you say “extended family” do you mean a trusted grandparent or aunts/uncles that would not mind keeping the kids for you for the day.

A day for just the two of you would be magical. Especially if the kids really aren’t interested in HP and you’re mainly going to both the HP areas, they may be happier staying at Disney.

Make sure you get the 2 park pass so you’ll be able to ride the Hogwarts express.
 
We just got back from a Disney vacation with one day at Universal. We had the 2 park tickets, no express passes.

One day was plenty to see all of HP. Crowds were low and we were able to do the rides early, then explore the worlds for a few hours.

There was still time left in the day for a few more things outside of HP, but we definitely did not see a there was.
 

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