How to fit Universal in a WDW trip
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lissybri · 09-30-2014, 08:39 AM

If I do to Universal first then I will miss out on DME and I honestly don't want to deal with our bags. I was thinking of squeezing it in the middle of our trip but still stay at WDW. Has anyone done that? Is probably have to do two days. I know there's perks to staying in a Universal resort but hate switching rooms.i can use any advice you have to offer. Thanks.

xwewhisper · 09-30-2014, 08:59 AM

I've done universal at the end of the trip and just for a day. It's pricey for a one day trip but we did basically everything (pre Harry potter) and horror nights in one long day and just taxied when we wanted to go and return. It can be cheaper if you do the shared rides but we wanted to maximize our time. When we went at the end we stayed on site at universal and were able to easily do everything and almost had too much time to kill and were just kinda worn out at the end of the trip. This year I'm doing a completely separate universal trip which is my favorite way to do it. You can get great discounts if you stay more than 3 nights and you really can do everything at a leisurely pace!

**HiddenMickey** · 09-30-2014, 11:50 AM

I don't do Universal on the same trip as WDW.

For me, it gets too expensive to do it that way. It's much cheaper to add days at Disney and just stay there. I can't see adding in several hundred dollars in US/IOA tickets when it would only be about $10 a day to add WDW days.

So we plan another vacation where we do Universal and Seaworld and anything else in Orlando. We've also added in a day at TL to a US/IOA trip, because that doesn't cost much and we do visit DTD on those trips.

If you can't see yourself going to WDW without Disney in your trip, then I'd suggest just adding your US/IOA time at the beginning or the end of your WDW trip.

mamasann · 09-30-2014, 11:52 AM

We're going at the beginning of our Thanksgiving trip. Since it's a busy time of year, we're staying at the Hard Rock and that will give us the "front of line " passes. If you're not going at a peak time, you could get the Mears bus to carry you to Universal. We easily do the parks in 2 days, using the FOL passes. If you want to enjoy the WWHP, especially the newer section, you'll need park-to-park tickets.

We'll be spending two nights at the Hard Rock, then will check into POFQ for the balance of our stay. We've split our vacations between Universal parks and WDW, or Busch Gardens before and it's worked great. But each family is different. Maybe you could do WDW the beginning of your trip, then transfer to one of the Universal resorts for the last 2 days. I'm sure they have some form of transportation to the airport. Good luck with it, and have fun planning!

**DopeyGirl** · 09-30-2014, 05:46 PM

We did it at the beginning of our last couple of trips. This past June, we took DME to our resort (we stayed at WDW the whole time) then rented a car from Alamo (picked up at the desk at the Car Care Center) for the 2 days we did Universal.

kcamozzi67 · 09-30-2014, 07:16 PM

We have always added two days to go to Universal. We normally do 14 nights total - we stay at a Disney resort the whole time. We get a 10 day park hopper MYW tickets (cuz 2 days are non-Disney) and we usually spend the arrival day/departure day doing non-theme park things. It has always worked for us, but then we have never considered staying at a Universal resort. With the new addition to the Harry Potter section, it might be worth considering...I'm sure the line ups must get crazy for that attraction.

**HiddenMickey** · 10-01-2014, 07:56 AM

Just so you know, there is no FOL passes for the main Harry Potter attractions (only Hippogriff and the Dragon coaster). So everyone has to stand in line for those even those staying onsite.

I've never bought Express passes and I've been there during busy times (Spring Break and early August). We were always able to do everything we wanted in two days with a third day for redos.

nebula5 · 10-07-2014, 06:10 PM

We always plan for one day at Universal when we're at WDW. We usually go mid-trip, and spend one day there, visit just the attractions we like at both parks.

We always have a rental car for part or all of our stay, so we don't change hotels or anything. It helps a lot that we have a friend who works at Universal and provides complimentary 2-park passes, but we'd pay to go if necessary.

This trip will be our first since any of the Harry Potter attractions have been open, so we'll pretty much focus on doing as much of those areas as we can on our day. If we miss some things we want to see, we can just mark them as higher priorities for the next trip.

Kynna · 10-14-2014, 08:33 AM

We are squeezing in a day at Universal this time around because we have Minion & Harry Potter fans with us. I'm just keeping it in my head that we are there for specific attractions and anything else is bonus. I know most people have a different idea of getting their moneys worth but as long as my family has a great day I feel it is money well spent.

**Colexis Mom** · 10-14-2014, 09:42 AM

On our last trip, we did a day at Universal and a day at LEGOLAND. We flew in on a Friday night, and used DME to the resort (POFQ). Spent the weekend at Disney. Monday morning I took the shuttle to the CCC and picked up our car. Can't remember now if we did Universal first or last, but on the second afternoon, returned the car to the CCC and took the shuttle back to the resort. It wasn't that bad. We still spent the evenings at the Disney parks. Mainly went to Universal for the HP stuff for DD (I think it was 2012 so before the new park opened).

SOmommy · 10-14-2014, 09:58 PM

Following because we are also interested in this. Mainly in just checking out the HP sections.

nebula5 · 12-09-2014, 07:03 PM

We just got back and I thought I should report that we were able to cover all the Harry Potter stuff (except the roller coasters) in both parks in one day, plus Jurassic Park and the Despicable Me ride. Would have liked to had time to add a few more of the non-HP rides, but we've done the ones we like before, and we'll do them again; the plan this trip was to focus on Harry Potter. My only regret is that both areas are so full of wonderful details that would have been worth spending a full day (or more) just roaming through and observing. We did what we could, and took a lot of photos.

We were there on a Wednesday and the crowds were light. We were able to do the Hogwarts Castle ride twice; second time we spent a little more time looking at the castle details and taking photos - really, there were no lines until we got very close to the loading area. Gringotts had more of a line but still not very long, and same with the Hogwarts Express, both directions. We didn't stop to eat lunch, but did indulge in some Butterbeer when we first got there, and some ice cream as we were getting ready to leave.

**HiddenMickey** · 12-09-2014, 07:26 PM

That's great you did most of what you wanted.

jimmymac · 12-10-2014, 05:23 PM

We've stayed at Disney and taken our car to IS / IOA. It's a great 2 days and the rides are far beyond what WDW has to offer. Mears has a bust that will take you from yr Disney hotel and drop you off at US parking lot

mamasann · 12-10-2014, 05:36 PM

We really enjoyed Hogwarts Express and Gringott's. They were very well thought out and very well done. We were so impressed. The Diagon Alley area was so neat! I loved the way it was all rather "hidden" in plain site, making the experience all the more magical. Our main goal was the rides I've mentioned. We'd done FJ enough times that we weren't inclined to stand in line for it. But I was really surprised at how crowded both of the parks WEREN'T. The only lines we really encountered were the HP main attractions. We could have easily done both parks w/o those FOL passes we got by staying at the Hard Rock. But, hindsight is 20/20 and we really enjoyed the Hard Rock, so it was a win-win for us.