Help with summer trip

[Dwarful]

Ok we haven't been to US/IOA or Sea World for at least 7 yrs. We are going to WDW July 21-August 2nd and the kids would like to go to these parks as well. We are having Pam take care of all our reservations. My question is this. Should we plan a two or three night stay at the Universal Resort (if so, which one?)? We are driving down and will have our own vehicle. We were thinking of doing these other parks first and then going over to WDW. If we stayed 2 nights that would still give us 10 nights at WDW. We aren't doing the water parks, so that will be more than enough time for the four parks. Any suggestions? Our girls will be 12 & 8.

 

[Skip]

From my experience two nights should be plenty of time for both parks, even if you aren't staying on site (though that does help immensely).

-Skip

 

[crazydaveh]

I would try to stay at Universal. It's great because you get to skip the lines during the stay! It's the best part of staying there. I recommend either the Royal Pacific or the Portifino. The Hard Rock is good, but the others are better themed, though the bar at the Hard Rock pool is better for mom and dad.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

One day each for IOA, USF and SeaWorld should be plenty

 

[Michael72688]

This past summer Universal was extremely busy so if you want to actually enjoy yourself I would go with one day for each that should be plenty.

 

[Dwarful]

Our plans were to arrive early in the morning on 7-21 and check into the Universal hotel. Then head straight to one of the parks. Hit the second Universal park on the 22 and on the 23rd go to Sea World. At the end of the day on the 23rd we will check into our Disney Resort. We wondered if that would be good. We haven't been in such a long time we weren't sure what improvements had been made. Thanks for the help.

 

[luvorlando]

You may want to consider staying at Universal after your Disney stay. Going from the long lines at Disney to the "front of the line" access at USO will be much easier stomach than going from no lines to long waits. Save the easiest part of the trip for last.

 

[Dwarful]

Can you explain how Universal's onsite guest 'front of the line' service differs from the Fast Pass system? Is there a different line to the popular rides for those on property to cut down your wait time? Does this cost extra? Sorry, its been 7+ yrs. since we have been to the other parks.

 

[luvorlando]

Front of the Line access is as easy as showing your USO resort room key at the entrance of the attraction and entering the FOTL que. Couldn't be simpler.

Fast Pass has you finding the FP machine, entering everyones park admission ticket into the machine to get the FPs. Then you have to wait for the time printed on the FP to get in line for the attraction, it may be a few hours after you actually got the pass. FPs are not unlimited, they often run out of them for major attractions, and you can't go around the park gathering as many as you want because there are time restrictions dictating when you are eligible to even get another FP.

 

[luvorlando]

Also, both FOTL and FP are free. Both offer seperate lines, thus reducing wait time.

 

[WDWfamilyfanuk]

We have "done" both Disney and Universal on our last two trips - 2003 and 2006. In 2003 we did 4 nights at Pacific Resort and then 10 at Disney and then 2006 we did 10 nights at Disney followed by 4 nights at Hard Rock Hotel. It was by far the better to the Universal "leg" last. Our first two days of our holiday are usually catching up with sleep and time difference (from UK) so as we had longer at Disney it didn't seem so important. Your Universal resort room key will give you unlimited access to front of the line queues and we found no longer than a 15 minute wait at the busiest time on the busiest ride - we visited in July. Our last visit was with 2 16 year old girls who really loved the Hard Rock Pool but the most important thing was the convenience of the hotel being nearby to the parks. So many water rides that they insisted on riding continually, meant that at the end of the day they were really wet through - I don't think a car journey would have been feasible. We are visiting again late August and will book 10 nights Disney then 4 at Portifino Bay. Whatever you decide have a wonderful time