Epcot & Universal: Solo; advice requested About This Page:

[SheLovesAriel]

Greetings! I may be in Orlando for business the week prior to Thanksgiving this year and I am thinking about taking advantage of the opportunity to stay a few extra days (so the weekend before Thanksgiving) to see and do a few things I missed when we did our big child-centric family trip in 2014.

1 - Would like to see US and IOA. I did the Harry Potter attractions in a 5 hour stint with a colleague in 2014 and we didn't see anything else. I thought perhaps of staying onsite (maybe HardRock Hotel???) one night before heading over to Disney and spending one day at US and IOA. The only reason I'd stay onsite is to get the extra morning hour of Harry Potter and the express perk (although I can also use the singles line); I was thinking Hard Rock looks close enough to walk into the park?

2 - Would like to spend a day at Epcot and take my time going through each country. To do this I would need to stay at Disney two nights. I am looking at the Beach Club only because of its proximity to walk in and out of Epcot. But whew! is it expensive for one person! And I am not sure if I have a better chance of being closest to Epcot if I reserve a standard room, garden view or lagood or pool view. If I throw down that much money to be close to Epcot, I would prefer not to be on the far far end of the resort. I'd also like to possibly spend an evening at Disney Springs and do a bit of browsing/shopping. And I do not expect to spend much time enjoying the resort itself other than the ambiance. So quality of pool, restaurants, etc. is not a draw. It's all about proximity and convenience.

Based upon this itinerary does anyone have suggestions or recommendations? I also need to be able to cancel if my business trip doesn't happen, so I was thinking about reserving only the hotels and not purchasing a package or park tickets until the day of. Anyone who has traveled solo and thinks I am going about this entirely wrong please speak up! :-) I value any and all suggestions.

[Huntermom]

!. Universal hotels are beautiful. None are particularly far drom the parks and I think we walked over from Royal Pacific. Royal Pacific is the cheapest of the hotels that offer express access and I really loved. When we stayed at PBR, we had a friend of my DD. We got her a cot and there was still lots of room in the room. I have not stayed at the Hard Rock.

If I were traveling alone I would not spring for a deluxe, especially if you don't feel you'll use the amenities. I personally love Coronado Springs and and don't think it was far from Epcot. I am curious, why do you need 2 nights at Disney for one park day? If you don't mind moving, you van get Priceline hotels in LBV for a song, especially if it is just a place to sleep before a flight.

ETA I have never done a solo trip to WDW but have done one to DL and one in which I met up with my DS for a meal. I really enjoyed both. It'snice to do what you want when you want.

[Pris]

You might check out the Port Orleans resorts as well. They are classified Epcot area and the bus ride isn't bad. They also have the boat to/from Disney Springs which is delightful. I have never done the express at Universal, but for some reason, I seem to think I read that the express passes don't work for the Harry Potter rides. Maybe I'm imagining that, or maybe it is just 1 or 2 of the rides.
I travel solo all the time and love the relaxation of doing exactly what I want when I want.

[HiddenMickey]

Hard Rock is very close with an short walk to the parks and a nice resort with comfy beds. You will love having the express pass perk when doing the parks. Most of the HP attactions don't take EP, but you'll be able to do the other park rides/attractions very quickly using them.

I'd suggest looking at the Swan and Dolphin resorts in the Epcot area as they are more likely to be less expensive and still have that great proximity. They also have very comfy rooms.

[SheLovesAriel]

Originally Posted by Huntermom

!
I am curious, why do you need 2 nights at Disney for one park day? If you don't mind moving, you van get Priceline hotels in LBV for a song, especially if it is just a place to sleep before a flight.

You raise a great point I had not thought of before. Mainly, my plan to spend two nights at Disney was so that I could stay out late at Epcot or Disney Springs or just walk the Boardwalk, etc. without having a time restraint to get over to another hotel. Also, I like the idea of checking out early AM and heading to the airport versus checking out before going to Epcot and storing my luggage all day - which I know works perfectly fine.

I will think about it though. It would save $$. Given the very short time that I have, I want to set it up to be as relaxing and hassle free as possible. It is highly likely however, that my flight home will be very early which will also cut into my evening plans so it might make sense to stay near the airport.

Thank you for taking the time to comment.

[SheLovesAriel]

Originally Posted by Pris

You might check out the Port Orleans resorts as well. They are classified Epcot area and the bus ride isn't bad. They also have the boat to/from Disney Springs which is delightful.

That is a good suggestion. I read so many raves about POR here. Thank you.

[Sue M.]

I'd spend the 2 nights at Universal, since you'll be going to 2 parks, and one night at Wdw. Epcot isn't a long walk from any of the Epcot resorts. From the furthest BC room you're talking maybe 5 min difference.

For price I'd also suggest POR, it's a short bus ride and has the added extra of a boat to Disney Springs.

[SheLovesAriel]

Originally Posted by Sue M.

I'd spend the 2 nights at Universal, since you'll be going to 2 parks, and one night at Wdw.

Thank you for the suggestion - I am considering two nights at Disney because I thought I might try to get over to Disney in the evening after spending the day at UO and possibly wander around Disney Springs because I won't have time to go to Disney Springs on Epcot day.

I have to get a list of the attractions at US & IOA and see how many of them I really want to ride in order to determine if I can do what I want in one day starting with the extra early hour at WWHP.

[ScarletWelsh]

We were at Universal Orlando the week after Thanksgiving last year and stayed at Cabana Bay because a) it looked so cool and b) it didn't matter that we didn't get fast passes because they don't work for Harry Potter rides (except Dragon Challenge (I think) which doesn't have long lines anyway at that time of year. Our experience was that the early entrance wasn't actually that useful because there aren't many rides at Hogsmeade (IoA was the early opener both mornings) so EVERYBODY staying on property headed for Forbidden Journey and at 8.10am there was a 35 minute wait

So I would strongly advise being there extra early if you want to take make the most of early admission

[SheLovesAriel]

ScarletWelsh or anyone else: Do you know if there is a single-rider line at Forbidden Journey and/or Escape from Gingots?

Just wondering if being solo will mitigate some of the wait times....

Scarletwelsh, thank you for raising an excellent point to consider!

[elbodans]

hi! frequent solo disney visitor here! some thoughts:

the beach club is insanely expensive, yes. i second the recommendation of the swan or dolphin. they are walkable from world showcase as well. but then i walk from DHS to the boardwalk because it is faster than taking the boat. the recommendation for port orleans is a good one too, as you'd have the boat to disney springs. i visited disney springs on my last solo trip--in december--and found it to be much improved and very enjoyable solo. i spent an entire afternoon there.

another option would be to rent a car and stay offsite. while i typically stay onsite (my mom has far too many DVC points) i did recently stay offsite for a short solo visit. i arrived mid-day, made it to the MK by 4pm for MVMCP, stayed until midnight and was back at my sea world adjacent hotel by 12:45. this included the monorail to TTC, walking to my car, and driving the 20 minutes to my hotel. i've waited that long for just a bus to show up, so i was rather impressed with the speed and efficiency of just driving. and i stayed at the sea world doubletree on points. it's really not bad staying off site. i swear. and car rentals at MCO are super cheap.

honestly, if it were me and money wasn't a huge issue, i'd do the swan/dolphin as my first choice. if money is an issue, POR or an offsite hotel would likely be about the same cost--offsite perhaps a bit cheaper, even with rental car.

and yes, both big name harry potter attractions have single rider lines. i couldn't ever FIND the single rider line for forbidden journey, so maybe ask. i've not done gringotts yet, but according to the interwebs, the single rider line exists (though one post does note that you'll miss a lot of the queue, which is part of the experience.) i am near 100% certain that the dueling dragons coaster has a well marked single rider line, as i know i did that solo while my husband waited at the bar (my husband is a wuss. and likes beer a lot.)

i think that answers all of your questions...? oh--yes. you can totally walk from US/IOA to hard rock. i believe it is the closest to the park. but i've also walked from the parks to portofino bay, which is LOVELY. but for a solo semi-budget trip, if staying on site at universal, i'd definitely pick hard rock. i had dinner there twice i believe, and it was a lovely resort.

[ScarletWelsh]

The single rider line for Forbidden Journey is on the left very soon after entering the building. There will be team members directing people to put stuff in lockers, so if you don't see it, ask one of them. As in Dragon Challenge, you do miss out some really excellent theming in the line.