We’re going to be in Orlando 11/3-11/9 (5 days to play). The purpose of the trip is to see WWOHP (traveling with 3 Tweens, 4 adults and a young toddler), but I get the sense that 5 days is way too long to spend at Universal. True?
We don’t want to see SeaWorld and a 2+ hour RT shuttle ride to BGT is not an appealing option with a 2yo. So, I’m considering spending 3 days at Universal (2 park days, 1 pool day). And then maybe transferring to WDW AKL. We wouldn’t do WDW parks - saving a return trip for a couple years, but figured we could see the animals, tour the resorts, see the water pageant, go to the C&D campfire, etc.
However, changing hotels on a 5 day trip seems extreme and quite the hassle. Thoughts? Alternatives? Thanks!
4 days is probably sufficient at UOR, though there are things to do outside the parks. AK Lodge is spectacular, if you can afford it you shouldn’t be disappointed.
We spent 6 nights/7 days at UOR recently and loved having plenty of time to explore the parks, re-ride our favorite rides, and spend time at the resort pools! We did rent a car one day and drove to Clearwater Beach to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (because 11-year-old son wanted to see Winter the dolphin from the Dolphin Tales movies). Renting a car was pretty easy as there was a Hertz desk right in the hotel. You can also tour the resorts at UOR, pool hop, and explore City Walk. While we certainly did everything we wanted to do, we did not feel like it was too much time there. We have also stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it is amazing. Travel from AK lodge is going to be on Disney buses and it did seem to take awhile to get anywhere around WDW from there. WDW is just so massive! UOR is a little simpler to navigate. I agree that changing hotels on a 5 day trip sounds like more hassle that it might be worth. It really depends on what activities your family is interested in at UOR and how badly they want to spent time at AK. Good luck!!
I would get three day Universal tickets and just explore those parks at a relaxed place maybe do a couple of half pool half park days. It is a pain to change hotels, but the change of pace might be nice. You could always just rent a car and do some of the WDW things that you mentioned. You don’t have to stay at a hotel to explore.
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I think you could stay busy at Universal 5 days straight. There are four amazing hotels at which you can pool hop, bowling, mini golf, movies, ect. The parks may not take 5 days to see but the resort as a whole could. My kids loved the pools almost more than the parks, Hard Rock’s pool has an adjacent sand volleyball court; Royal Pacific pool had a net stretched over the pool and a splash zone; Cabana Bay has two pools and a lazy river; Portofino has three separate pools. For my money, I would stay onsite and enjoy a more relaxing vacation.