DS and I have a Universal centered trip coming up in July but do have time in each of the four Disney Parks while we are there. We are planning on spending three days at Universal. On our second day, I plan to RD and stay all day hopping between IOA and UOR with EPs riding whatever our hearts desire. We are then planning on going to MK for Deluxe Evening Hours. Currently, they are scheduled for 10-12 but if the current schedule continues, its likely the park hours are extended and evening hours go from 10-12 to 11-1.
Neither of us have seen Enchantment yet, and he loves a dessert party at Disney…so now I’m flirting with signing up for a DP for Enchantment which is scheduled to run at 9:20 that evening.
All that to ask this…
If we just go for evening hours…what time should we plan on leaving Universal?
If we decide to go to the DP - we will aim to be checked into by 8:50-9:00ish - what time do we need to leave?
We will have a rental car this trip. Given the current plan, would you drive to Universal and MK? Or rely on Uber to get us around? ALSO…if voting to use ride share to get around, would you Uber/Lyft onto Disney property and then switch into a Minnie Van for easy bus stop access at MK? Or just Uber the whole time?
It will take you about 25 - 30 minutes to get to WDW… not counting any time getting to your car and parking again.
Then you need to consider just getting into WDW. (30 minutes+ or so?? )
If I had access to a car, I’d use it. I prefer to use rideshares when Orlando. However, that’s because I fly and no longer rent cars as it is not cost effective for me anymore. You are going to pay about as much to park at both Universal & WDW as the rideshare would cost. I’d prefer to not deal with pick-ups & drop-offs if I didn’t have to - especially in a time crunch!
(Are trams back yet??? uugghhh… Makes me love Universal even more!)
Correct! You only pay for parking once. If you are an on-site guests you only pay to park at the hotels. I stopped renting a car when that happened. I was paying as much for parking for the week as I was the rental!
I thought a bit more about your 2 hour timeframe. It’s possible, but I’d consider at least 2.5 hours.
IME -
It will take you at least 30 minutes to get to the garage and in your car
Another 30 minutes to drive to WDW
Another 30 minutes to park and get to the TTC
Another 30 minutes to get inside the park and to your event
This may seem like a lot of time, but in the moment with tens of thousands of other people in your area just getting around takes longer than you think. IMHO - I’d prefer a buffer of 30+ minutes to not stress. You might miss on more ride at Universal, but you’ll be on Main Street sooner and that’s a pretty good place to be anyway!
Yeah the more I thought it over yesterday, I started leaning towards 2.5 hours too. I’d rather make it to MK with time to spare than be sweating it and stressed in transit. No one needs that vibe on vacay!!
)