Hello! My husband and I with our 2 kids (ages 8 and 9), are planning a trip to Disney in November 2020. We are going to split our stay between Disney and Universal. So my question…which option below would be the best based on the days: We will be getting the Dining Plan (middle plan) at Disney.
Saturday: Arrive to Universal.
Sunday and Monday: Universal and Islands of Adventure (2 day Park to park tickets with early entry and unlimited express)
Tuesday - Switch hotels, lounge at pool
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - Disney (we would like to visit one park each day - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios)
Saturday - no parks, just lounge at pool
Sunday - leave
OR
Saturday - Arrive to Disney
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday - Disney (we would like to visit one park each day - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios)
Wednesday - switch hotels to Universal, lounge at pool
Thursday and Friday - Universal and Island of Adventure (2 day Park to park tickets with early entry and unlimited express)
Saturday - no parks, lounge at pool
Sunday - depart
Any help is appreciated! We want to take advantage of the Extra magic hours at Disney and the extra early entry at Universal.
I vote for plan #1 also. I REALLY REALLY prefer to end at WDW. Universal is so rough around the edges, and the Disney bubble is such a soft place to land.
I prefer option 2, heading to UOR after Disney. This is because once you use express passes at Universal, FPP at WDW feels limiting and stressful and I get frustrated with being locked into a schedule. At UOR, you can just go wherever, whenever, with no plan that is rigid. Express passes are amazing, you don’t have to rope drop or even go to early entry to easily be able to complete both parks in 2 days. WDW on the other hand requires 2 days per park it seems (if you don’t like to wait in lines and there is no option to buy anything like an express pass). I like to relax more at the end when we are tired from having to get up early at WDW. I love WDW, actually quite a bit more than UOR, but UOR and the use of express pass is so nice at the end of the trip.
As @darkmite noted the crowds will be more on your side in this option. And as @BeckyT13 noted, we prefer to end in the bubble. The other way was a bit disappointing.
Some things to consider:
-Stay at one of the Universal hotels that offers the unlimited EP. Pays for itself and it’s really nice to be walkable to the parks.
-Consider adding a third day to your tickets. Might not be much more and can be fun to wander over for an hour or two on arrival day.
-Look at an AP for one of you. Be sure to check black out dates. When we went in Feb I upgraded myself for $40 (from a 3 day ticket) and saved >$150/night on the hotel.
-Consider adding a Disney day on Tuesday. We moved on Tuesday morning (after I went to say goodbye to Hogwarts at 7AM) and were in Magic Kingdom by noon. We booked FP on the fly, ate Mickey Bars, had a low key dinner, and watched fireworks in the rain. It was great.
Sorry! Annual Pass. I got the lowest level one which included a lot of blackout dates but none that were during our trip. We have no intention of going back this year. Just used it for the room discount. You don’t need to have the Annual Pass when you book the room. Just need to show it before you check out. I upgraded in the lobby of the Hard Rock and they conveniently seemed to find me an upgraded room.
So to update, we are starting in Universal and ending at Disney…it’s official! We are booked for November 2020! It’s going to be hard to keep the secret from the kids until next summer!