Worth It?

[10sne1]

Our family of 5 is spending 5 days at WDW and i was wondering if universal is Worth going to> Or if it would be to hectic. Kids ages are 14, 11, & 10. We will be staying at the Contemporary.If so any suggestions as to getting their... What's affordable. We won't have vehicle down there. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[Disneyowner182]

Originally posted by 10sne1
Our family of 5 is spending 5 days at WDW and i was wondering if universal is Worth going to> Or if it would be to hectic. Kids ages are 14, 11, & 10. We will be staying at the Contemporary.If so any suggestions as to getting their... What's affordable. We won't have vehicle down there. Thanks ahead of time.

well if you have the money and dont mind taking a bus then go for it

 

[Lance]

I don't think it's worth it, I would say spend all your time enjoying Disney, especially staying at the Contemporary.

Universal is too hectic to go out of the way like you would be doing.

I think it takes about 3 days to do everything in both the Studios and IOA.

If you had a car I'd tell you to go for it, but save Universal for a trip when you have plenty of time to enjoy both parks.

 

[wdwmagic]

Originally posted by 10sne1
Our family of 5 is spending 5 days at WDW and i was wondering if universal is Worth going to> Or if it would be to hectic. Kids ages are 14, 11, & 10. We will be staying at the Contemporary.If so any suggestions as to getting their... What's affordable. We won't have vehicle down there. Thanks ahead of time.

I would recommend calling Mears and book a towncar for your family (or get Bell Services to book you a cab). They take you direct from your resort to Universal for around $30 each way. I would avoid the Mears coach that drives around to all the resorts picking up guests.

 

[kal1484]

With only 5 days, I wouldn't go to Universal. Spend a day at each one of the parks, and then on one day, either rest, do what you didn't get to do at the parks, or go to one of the Water Parks.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I say that if you've got the time, its definately worth it! It only takes a short 20 minute bus ride, or even easier, call a cab. I don't know if you plan on going to both parks, but I can almost guarantee(sp?) that your kids will love Universal's Islands of Adventure.

I also recommend buying a 5 day park hopper pass for Disney, because you'll probably be done with universal around 4 PM, and you'll want to spend the rest of the evening at a Disney park.

With this plan, you basically only miss half of a day from Disney World.

 

[Camelot]

Personally, I do think it is worth it.

On my last two trips to Orlando, my friends and I set aside one day to visit one of the Universal Parks...so I have been to both the Studios and Islands of Adventure, and enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed the WDW Parks.

 

[InsideOtherPark]

if you have the time...5 park orlando flex ticket....sea world,islands of adventure,universal,wet and wild and busch gardens(free shuttle to busch gardens) it's around 200 dollars. Good bang for the buck. If you go to busch gardens just don't miss the bus. Otherwise it will cost you something like 100 dollars for a taxi ride back. But do save time for the disney parks. Nothing like disney. Ok maybe you should have 2 vacations..lol.

 

[10sne1]

It sounds like we need an extra day or two?:sohappy:

 

[DigitalDisney]

If you can spare one day, then go over to Islands of Adventure (the superior theme park). It has better thrills, and it's themed at a Disney level, unlike USF. It's also brand-new, so nothing in the park is old.

Ideally, you'd want to experience USF too, which means that you'll need another day.

Keep in mind that USF/IOA are geared more to thrill seekers than any of the Disney parks. If you can't handle RNRC or TZTOT, then you probably shouldn't go to either USF or IOA.

 

[RogueHabit]

I would definately recommend IOA for your kids, there's pretty much something for all there.

 

[ksdave]

We are WDW vets (as you can see below). However, now that my kids are 12 (DD) and 10 (DS), they have more interest in going to USF/IOA then they do in going to WDW. Our next trip (tentatively for May 2003) is going to be three days at USF/IOA staying at the Hard Rock, and four days at WDW. My kids prefer the coasters, water rides, etc. of IOA versus WDW, and things like MIB at USF are preferred over similar rides (like Buzz) at WDW. Universal really gears toward the pre-teens through thirties (and some crazy early forties like me).
If you can find any way to get to at least IOA for your kids, I would do there first.

 

[10sne1]

We decided to extend our vacation to 2 more days and will spend 1 day at ioa park.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[ksdave]

Hope you have a great time!

 

[10sne1]

58 days to go... (po) and the boats will be running!
yipee. yipee, yipee.

:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

hmmmm... was wondering what everyone does with their cameras, cam corders, etc... when they go on rides such as spidy, hulk, any river water rides. We do want to take lots pictures / videos but can we bring them on these rides? (not to take pictures) we have nobody to leave them with.

:hammer:

 

[Beauty and the]

Your kids will love IOA at their age its a must. I think you could manage to do all the rides in the two parks that they will be interested in, in just one day. start early do IOA first and finish in US, you'll be glad you did.

 

[ksdave]

10sne1, I have a leather " pack" that my digital camera, extra batteries, extra flash cards, wallet and park tickets fit in just right. I make sure the camera is in and zipped for all the motion rides. For the water rides (especially Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges), I place the whole pack in the covered pockets they have on the ride. Several of the attractions, such as Jurassic Park River Ride, have lockers out front to put your stuff in. On that one last trip, I kept the pack with me and took pics through the first half of the ride, then stored the camera. It didn't get wet at all.
If your video camera is an old one like mine that is kind of large, I would suggest leaving it in a locker at the front of the park by Guest Relations until later in the day, then get it for a filming break from the rides.
(Note: Take a look at my webpage for some of the digital pics I took last year (see the Theme Park link). I haven't finished the page from my latest trip yet. Should be up sometime next week.)

 

[David]

If this is your first trip to Disney, don't go to Universal. If not, you might want to spend a day by doing both parks. If you only have one day and you like rides, do IOA. As much as I love Disney, that Spiderman ride is the best, to me.!