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We would like to stay onsite at Disney and do 4 days at Disney parks. We have never been to Universal and now that our kids are older, 10,13,14,16, we would like to try universal a couple days (my daughters and I are big HP fans)
Will it work to stay on disney property the whole time and do universal while there?
Any advice appreciated:)
It you are driving you can just head over. There is a deal for tickets and a shuttle that will pick you up at Disneyworld. You can check out the Universal website. The other option is uber or rent a car. Have fun!
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It can be done. We do it all the time. But we always rent a car. Just take into consideration that if you rent a car, you will have to pay for parking at Universal Studios. Parking is free at the Disney parks if you stay at a Disney Resort.
We've done it and we just take a cab, but you seem to have a large group, so I don't know how economical that would be. I'll give you the rundown of every way we've done this: First time used a Mears Shuttle where you pay per person. Found this quite inconvenient (and more expensive the more there are of you). What a nuisance trying to meet the shuttle times! Second trip did a private car service, which is popular in Orlando (Quicksilver is supposed to be good). We used an...umm...less known service and had pick up problems so I wasn't thrilled (I was sick and had to hang around for a couple hours). THAT is the trip where I discovered how EASY it is to get a cab - can just get the concierge at your resort to call one (super easy, and the wait is short!) and then coming back from Universal there are cabs lined up all down the walkway - and they have a little kiosk you go to and ask for one. Also super quick and easy, and then you can come and go at whatever time you please! However, this time we are going to start our trip at Universal and stay onsite for a couple days. That has the huge advantage of giving us early entry (meh) and Unlimited Express Passes which could be invaluable. Also, we always feel a little rushed, and being onsite we can easily walk back to the park in the evening after the crowds exit. I don't actually think the cost of the hotels is that much higher -especially considering you basically get a Universal Deluxe at a Disney Moderate price. (We're also going to pop over to Seaworld while we are there - Universal has a free shuttle there!). Anyway, I'm excited about our upcoming trip and love to give advice so if you have any other questions about doing Universal and Disney in one trip I'll do my best :-)
We always rent a car, and have done that drive plenty of times. Not a problem. EZ
It totally works, we just drive to Universal for the day(s) that we want to spend there.
But, it may also be worth having the Universal part of the trip at the beginning or the end, and staying on-site, to get the perks of being an on-site guest (like early entry and/or express entry, depending where you stay). The hotels are quite nice, and when you factor in the express access, fairly reasonable.
We find the trips are more enjoyable when we stay onsite at Universal on the days we do those parks. We like doing Universal first for a few nights. Then moving to Disney for the rest of the trip. It almost makes it feel like two separate trips in one.
We have aso stayed in Disney for the whole trip and just drove to Universal for the parks. Its definitely doable, just more enjoyable, for us, to be an onsite guest at Universal as well.
It can be done by commuting, or staying at a Universal Resort. Personally, I prefer staying at Universal for that section as well. It just makes it so much easier.
Cabana Bay Beach Resort (love it!) has family suites that sleep 6 and 2 Bedroom Suites that sleep 8. While they do not get you express pass, it does get early entry into one of the Potter Areas and that is so worth it. And already being on property for that early entry makes the day start off so much nicer.
Plus, the parks tend to really drop off crowd wise around 5pm or so. If you are on property, you can easily do early entry, tour a good part of the day, take a break for the cool pools, and then head back into the park while the offsite people start to head out.
Universal Parks are not open late so you can grab dinner after the parks close.
Magical Journeys books Universal Orlando as well as Disney if you would like our assistance (we charge no fees)
Nanc
I recommend doing your universal portion first (whether you commute or stay on-site) We did it second and I found we didn't enjoy it as much because we were tired and had just come out of the Disney bubble.
FWIW, (and I'm not really voting for staying on-site vs commuting since I've never commuted) it WAS really easy to switch hotels and the Royal Pacific was really nice and we loved the early morning hours for Harry Potter and having the express pass. We didn't have a car but our travel agent arranged some sort of shuttle to take our group of 7 between the two.
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We've made it work several times and with each, we simply drive over. We have to pay for parking, but that is a lot cheaper than a room and to think of staying a few nights in one place then packing up to move seems to me like a waste of time .... but it would be nice to not have to drive ... so yea, it's doable and Universal is a fun place to play !! Love the Butter Beer too !!
When we did this, we stayed 10 days on Disney property. About half way through we rented a car and just took a couple days driving back and forth between US IOA and even visited a couple malls...