Planning a week-long trip, how many days at WDW/Universal

[HannahI]

Hello,
I'm a new member planning a trip for my family of 4, including two school-aged children (5 and 11 yo). We're staying for 7 nights/6 full days in Orlando. I had planned to buy either a 4-day or 5-day base ticket to the WDW for all of us. However we're also interested in Universal because we're all huge Harry Potter fans.
I'm planning that we'll have one rest day in the middle of our trip when we'll just stay at the resort and relax, or do a low-key outing like shopping. So with 5 park days how many days would you allot to WDW and Universal? My family isn't big on thrill rides like coasters FWIW.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Have you been to WDW before? 5 days isnt a lot when you split your days between WDW & Uni. My answer would be... it depends on what you have done previously and what your interests are. For someone that hasnt been to WDW you definitely could use all the time on property the first time to see it all. Theres enough there alone to keep you buzy. Then do Uni on a return trip.
You coooould do MK, EP, then DHS & AK both on the same day for 3 days ( but AK should be a one day park ) leaving you time for Uni. And thats ignoring DS entirely.
If you are a HP fan and want to see it all youll have to visit the 2 Uni parks... you could do it in one day but you would be pressed for time and it wouldnt really be worth the cost.
So it would be 3-4 Disney days and 1-2 Uni days split.

 

[Weather_Lady]

FWIW, here's my family's upcoming itinerary for an 8-night trip. If we only had 6 days of touring time instead of 7 or 8, we'd spend two days at Universal (1 for IOA, 1 for USF) and 4 at WDW (1 AK, 1 Epcot, and 2 at MK, skipping HS unless we had parkhoppers, in which case we'd do half a day there and 1.5 days at MK). Our touring plans, as they stand, have us dong 95% of the attractions at the two Universal parks, and 75% of the attractions (shows and "rides") at each Disney park. (We've been to WDW enough times that we're content to skip some of our least-favorite attractions.)

Day 1 (Saturday) - Fly to Orlando; check in at Uni hotel; visit USF if time.
Day 2 (Sunday) - Tour IOA.
Day 3 (Monday) - Tour/finish USF. If time allows, consider a visit to Volcano Bay, bowl at Cabana Bay Beach resort, play mini-golf at CitiWalk or Uber over to Disney Springs for the evening.
Day 4 (Tuesday) - Revisit favorite Universal attractions in the morning. Check out. Uber to WDW hotel and check in. Spend afternoon and evening at HS, staying for Fantasmic!
Day 5 (Wednesday) - Spend a leisurely morning by the pool. Head to AK by lunchtime, tour the park and stay for "Rivers of Light."
Day 6 (Thursday) - Tour Epcot. Stay for "Illuminations" if desired.
Day 7 (Friday) - Begin touring MK. Spend part of the day relaxing by the pool.
Day 8 (Saturday) - Complete tour of MK and see fireworks.
Day 9 (Sunday) - Fly home.

 

[jrivr]

1 day at Universal. If you get there at rope drop and head immediately to HPL, you will have sufficient time there.

 

[epcotisbest]

1 day at Universal. If you get there at rope drop and head immediately to HPL, you will have sufficient time there.

UMMM...no.

 

[crxbrett]

I think this also depends on what time you go. During less busy times, I would say 6 days is the absolute bare minimum to do WDW if you want it to be less stressful. 8+ days if it is in the busier times of year. Also, what time you arrive in Orlando and depart is a factor as well.

However, you did mention that your family does not like thrill rides at all. So 5 days may be plenty enough for WDW since you will be skipping out on a solid 14 attractions at all of the parks. And almost all of those are the attractions with the biggest waits - Splash Mtn, Big Thunder, Space Mtn, Seven Dwarfs Mine train, Mission Space, Test Track, Soarin', Rock N Roller Coaster, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Flights of Passage, Kali River Rapids, DINOSAUR! and Expedtiion Everest.



.

 

[becca_]

UMMM...no.

She did mention that her family does not do thrill rides, so I think that makes a large difference!

 

[epcotisbest]

She did mention that her family does not do thrill rides, so I think that makes a large difference!

But there are two huge theme parks with multiple rides, shows, entertainment, shopping and dining.
You could walk through the turnstiles of both, turn around and walk out and you have technically been there, but would you have actually experienced it?

 

[nickys]

If all you want to do at Universal is Harry Potter, then that can be done in a day. Plus maybe a few rides. You will need park to park tickets for that, which is expensive for a day. But it's doable. We did it at Christmas, we had only been to Hogsmeade previously and wanted to see Diagon Alley. We rode ET, Men in Black and wandered around IOA for a wee while, but spent most of the day in HP (both parks).

With such a short trip and being a first visit, I'd consider just doing Disney. But I totally understand the urge to see HP, so I would do 1 day for HP and the rest Disney. Maybe drop that resort day, and do a couple of shorter days at MK, with pool time in the morning one day, and evening the other (so you can see HEA one night). For one week of what is a theme park vacation, you can probably keep going if you build in some down time.

 

[becca_]

But there are two huge theme parks with multiple rides, shows, entertainment, shopping and dining.
You could walk through the turnstiles of both, turn around and walk out and you have technically been there, but would you have actually experienced it?

Right, I just more or less took her post as a "We want to go to Universal for HP first and foremost".

 

[TiggerDad]

If all you want to do at Universal is Harry Potter, then that can be done in a day. Plus maybe a few rides. You will need park to park tickets for that, which is expensive for a day. But it's doable. We did it at Christmas, we had only been to Hogsmeade previously and wanted to see Diagon Alley. We rode ET, Men in Black and wandered around IOA for a wee while, but spent most of the day in HP (both parks).

With such a short trip and being a first visit, I'd consider just doing Disney. But I totally understand the urge to see HP, so I would do 1 day for HP and the rest Disney. Maybe drop that resort day, and do a couple of shorter days at MK, with pool time in the morning one day, and evening the other (so you can see HEA one night). For one week of what is a theme park vacation, you can probably keep going if you build in some down time.

Same here. Christmas week, so incredibly packed parks, but we were able to do all the Harry Potter stuff in both parks and a couple of other things (but not much) all in one day. And you do need to buy the hopper ticket to do the train ride (make sure to ride in each direction), and it is very expensive for one day.

Disney has a similar pricing theory, where the first day is very expensive, and each day after that gets progressively cheaper. So if cost is a big factor, adding a fifth day at Disney is far cheaper than adding the first day at Universal. Don't forget about transportation between WDW and UNI.

 

[MickeyMomV]

I'm not sure how tall your 5 year old is but have you checked the height limits on the rides at UNI. When were there last our DS was 7 and he is on the shorter side. We found UNI to be a waste of $$ as he was unable to ride the majority of the rides including the Forbidden Journey which the main reason we went at the time. I would hate for you to plan on spending a day or more there only to find out he can't do the stuff he really wants to do.

 

[JillC LI]

3 WDW-2 US (maybe even 4-1 with a park hopper at US if your priority is HP and you don't like big coasters). And I'd go to Uni first, stay on property to get the EP, and leave for WDW in the later afternoon of your second day at US.