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Universal/Disney Questions
I'm going to Orlando for the first time for 5 days and 4 nights leaving on Thanksgiving Day. I totally feel like the Kranks skipping a holiday.
Anyway, the main goal of this trip is Universal and specifically The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (squee!). I've never been to Disney World. I want to do Disney before we have kids but I feel like I want to spend an entire trip on just Disney if we ever decide to go.
Any suggestions for planning our days? We only have Fri-Sun as full days so we can only do a couple of days at the parks. Should we just try to do Universal for a few days or try to split between Universal and Disney? If we do a day or two of Disney, which parks would you suggest?
I don't know a lot about the parks at all so any advice you guys can give would be great.
Re: Universal/Disney Questions
I'm the self-proclaimed Orlando parks guru, so please let me know if you have any questions at all, I'd be happy to help!
I have a few questions... a.) where are you staying? b.) how BAD do you want to see a Disney park? and c.) how many days do you want to spend in a park? 2? 3?
In your situation, I would suggest just going to Universal and doing the two parks they have there. They have excellent deals on 3 day park admission for both parks plus early entry and such if you stay at one of their hotels. I would HIGHLY recommend taking advantage of early park opening during such a high crowd week.
That way, if you have the 3 days worth of park admission and you don't see something at WWOHP that you wanted to, you can go back. It would be a lot harder to go one day at Universal and one day at Disney, but it can be done.
Universal is really fun and you will LOVE it!
Ah, thank you Star
We got invited by some friends that have a condo there. It's the Sheraton Vistana Resort.
I really do want to see Disney but I kind of would like to wait until we could spend a week there to see everything that we want to. I just didn't know if Universal would be enough for us to visit within a few days but it sounds like it would.
I think 2 days would be good. We talked about just hanging out for one of our full days.
How early is early park opening? lol
There is definitely enough at Universal to see in the time frame you have! If I were you, I would get 2 day park passes and use one for each park. (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.) The CityWalk area just outside the two parks is awesome-- tons of street entertainment, bars, etc that you can go to free of park admission, and you could head there on your non-park day (or anytime.)
The complication around Thanksgiving is that it is considered "peak" season and it might take you longer to see things than it would during an off-peak time. That said, don't get discouraged! You can still see everything no problem.
The early park entry thing I talked about is available only to on-site guests... since you will be staying off-site, you can plan your days according to how you like to vacation. Actually, in my experience, WWOHP at Islands of Adventure is actually less busy during the afternoon since everyone wants to go there FIRST. (That said, there is a TON to do at IoA especially if you like rollercoasters.)
If you get antsy in lines or around a lot of people like I do, or if you are worried about wait times due to peak season, definitely consider the Express Pass Plus option. At Universal, this option costs more but allows you to skip regular lines and head straight into the attractions with minimal waits. (This is free to Universal hotel guests but costs extra for off-site guests. IMO, it IS worth it if you plan to tour at a peak travel time. Disney has something similar which is free to all park guests, regardless of accommodations, and I can tell you about that if you decide to go there.)
Here is the link regarding Express Pass Plus: http://www.universalorlando.com/Tickets/special_offers/UniversalExpress/expresspluspasses.aspx
ETA: Express Pass Plus does NOT include the "big" ride in the castle at WWOHP, but does include Flight of the Hippogriff there, as well as all the other "big" rides like Incredible Hulk and Spiderman, etc. If you bought the pass, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (the big ride) is the only thing you'd have to do a traditional wait for.
<---------- JEALOUS!
We actually stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort when we went to Disney with my dad a few years ago. We didn't spend much time in the room, but the pools were nice. Take lots of pictures of Hogwarts for me!
Last time I went to Universal, both parks could be done in one day- easily two days.
I just went to Disney over the summer and they have several apps for smart phones that tell you the wait times for lines and if the park is extra crowded that day or not based on the magic extra hour times and historical visits. There are several apps out there and the ones I downloaded were all free. I highly recommend doing that too.
Thanks for all of the info guys! I'm sure I'm going to have more questions as we get closer but I'm getting pretty excited about going. The app. idea is kind of awesome. I've never heard of that before.
Star - have you ever done the Spirit of Aloha dinner show?
Yep! We have attended the Spirit of Aloha dinner show the last 4 years running, and we went a long time ago when the show was different as well. (There are pics of that in all of my recent fb Disney albums if you are interested.) The first half of the show is pretty kid-oriented and at first I was like "really?" but the second half of the show more than makes up for it.
The food is awesome, my DH is obsessed with their ribs and I can't get enough of the pineapple coconut bread. It's all you can eat AND all you can drink (wine and beer), which is a major bonus IMO.
The second half of the show is outstanding. Big drums, intense music, explanation of traditions, many different costumes and dances, and the best fire dancers I've ever seen.
If you're thinking of doing it, consider the later show (8 pm). There's a lot less kids, and you can see the fire dancers better in the dark. Plus, when you exit after the show, you will be able to see the fireworks over the castle from a distance.