Split Trip: WDW and Universal Stay at WDW for whole trip or not?

[gmos2010]

I am going in Dec 4-12 (or longer) 2010 with my best friend and I want to also go to Universal. We will probably be staying at POR. My question is when do you do Universal? Beginning or end of trip? How do you get to USO from POR?
Is it better to stay on site Universal for that time period? Then you miss the magical express from the airport one way.
This is only my second time and only first time staying on site. Help.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Universal has fantastic hotels and onsite dining options. Plus when you stay on property you get the bonus of using your room key as an unlimited Express Pass.

I would take two days out of the middle of the trip and stay at Universal. Portofino is our favorite, dinner at Mama Della's is a must. Second option would be Royal Pacific and dinner at Tchoup Chop .

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I normaly spend three nights at the start of my trip at the Hard Rock. This year because of thanks giving and the benefits of Express Pass for hotel guests we stayed 4 nights and visited Sea World too. We did this in the middle of our 17 days and it was a great way to do things.

However we had a car so transport was never an issue.

 

[hack2112]

Also, for one of the best meals you will ever have in any theme park, may I recommend Mythos. It is AMAZING. Of course when you're going up you may want to spend your time eating at Potter, but Mythos is just a bit down the path from the Hogwarts Express.

 

[DisneyLeo18]

I normally visit USO/IOA twice on my trip, but haven't stayed at onsite there. It seemed far more expensive to stay there than to just drive over or have a car service pick us up. Also the express pass isn't necessary that time of year. I went in 2008 (12/12-12/19) and 2009 (12/3-12/10) and the place was basically empty and no lines all days I went.

If you drive from your disney resort it doesn't take long at all, I think it took me 20 minutes or so. You take I4 to exit 71 or so (the directions are on universals site) and as soon as you get off the park is right there.

I also am usually pretty excited to be at the world so I visit wdw first, then maybe 2 days later visit universal. Either way you'll have a great time. :wave:

 

[gmos2010]

Split Trip

Thanks everyone.
We will not have a car, so I guess the option is a towncar for two days.
I would love to stay right at USO on site but too expensive and like it was mentioned, I won't need the roomkey/express pass benefit.
There are also a couple off site hotels that have a shuttle to both USO and Disney.
But I really want to stay on site this time.
As it stands I am leaning towards inserting the two USO days right into the middle of the trip. That way,
I can start with Disney magic and end with Disney magic.
My friend is not interested in SeaWorld (I would go because it's a good value) so we will not be doing SeaWorld.
She also expressed an interest in Cape Canaveral but I talked her out of that.
I would also go to Busch Gardens for the roller coasters but she's not much into coasters. I will make her go on the ones in WDW but she doesn't have to go on the (scarier)ones at USO.
That's where I'm leaning.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

USF is no more expensive than a Disney moderate if you use the AAA discount amongst others

 

[lilclerk]

Thanks everyone.
We will not have a car, so I guess the option is a towncar for two days.

If this is what you're doing, you can contact Mears for a shuttle to Universal from your resort too. I believe it's around $18/person round trip. Just make sure you're at the pick up area early! They left without us once when we were there at the exact time we should have been there! Ended up grabbing a cab that day.
http://www.mearstransportation.com/

 

[JillC LI]

Thanks everyone.
We will not have a car, so I guess the option is a towncar for two days.
I would love to stay right at USO on site but too expensive and like it was mentioned, I won't need the roomkey/express pass benefit.
There are also a couple off site hotels that have a shuttle to both USO and Disney.
But I really want to stay on site this time.
As it stands I am leaning towards inserting the two USO days right into the middle of the trip. That way,
I can start with Disney magic and end with Disney magic.
My friend is not interested in SeaWorld (I would go because it's a good value) so we will not be doing SeaWorld.
She also expressed an interest in Cape Canaveral but I talked her out of that.
I would also go to Busch Gardens for the roller coasters but she's not much into coasters. I will make her go on the ones in WDW but she doesn't have to go on the (scarier)ones at USO.
That's where I'm leaning.
Thanks for your help.

It might be more cost efficient to rent a car from Alamo right on Disney property mid-trip and return it the next day to Disney property if you have any good car rental coupon codes (see mousesavers.com). I had an amazing discount code from Costco on my last trip and paid only $136 for a mid-size car for 6 days with different pickup and dropoff points. You could even rent the car for an extra day or two if you decided to do Busch or SW.

 

[RedFoxRunner]

Every trip I've taken to WDW I have also spent 2 days at Universal Studios.

It's up to you if you want to attempt to switch hotels or break up your trips between the parks by staying at their resort hotels. We just stay at our Disney resort and go to USF for the day. The only bad thing is you're kind of throwing out that day's ticket for Disney since you've paid for it and aren't there, but once you book beyond 5 days at Disney it's not much of a price jump.

I typically picked to go to USF on the day's one of the Disney parks was open until 11, midnight, or later. I also used Mears Transportation and mostly enjoyed it. They are pretty cheap and get you to the park pretty quickly. They are also flexible at pick up times and you can call to find out when the bus would be there if you decide you want to leave sooner or stay later. Since USF isn't always open super late, we would stay until they close (typically 7 or 8pm) and then when we got back to WDW go to the WDW park that had the EMH hours and spend the rest of our night there. It is a slight waste of WDW's ticket, but rather than trying to move hotels, etc I can maximize my time.

My record for constant riding rides and walking in parks was going to USF from 9:00am to 9:00pm, and then to Magic Kingdom for EMH from 10:00pm to 3:00am. Needless to say we were exhausted! Good luck!