I'm going to Orlando on vacation next year. I want to do 3 days Disney, 3 Days Universal and 1 day Sea World. Should I stay at a Disney Hotel ( I heard you get early access to the park this way) or stay at Universal or should I get something in the middle of everything?
2006-09-07 15:19:03 · 15 answers · asked by shadobeast 2 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Orlando
Does staying at Universal have any advantages (early access, etc)?
2006-09-07 15:21:16 · update #1
I too am a Disney fan, but we went to Universal this past January.
I would suggest 4 days at Disney (with a park hopper), 2 days at Universal, and 1 at Sea World. Another option would be to get a 7 day pass for Disney (once you go for 4 days, it is only $1 or $2 extra per day after that), and after you finish up at the other parks (because you can do each Universal park in a day), go back to a Disney park in the evening.
If you do 4 days at Disney, start off your day with whichever park is supposed to be "slow" that day, then end your day at whichever park has evening extra magic hours. Our past 3 trips we have used the park hopper, as well as stayed on Disney property, and now we wouldn't do it any other way.
2006-09-08 03:08:01 · answer #1 · answered by Shane and Sherry 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Disney World is wayyyy better. OMG. I go every year. Universal is so-so and if you're not slow, you can do Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure in the same day. At the most take 2 days. Trust me. Universal is definitely not worth 3 days. Yes, stay at a Disney Resort on Disney Property because you do get special features such as the Extra Magic Hours, which are admittance to the park up to one hour early or 3 hours after closing time. When I go to Orlando, honestly, I don't even spend one day at Universal. Its not worth my time. If you go to Universal you'll think "well, that was like a normal theme park." But, Disney World is so much more. Its amazing! And allow me to make my point of Universal has 2 parks, Disney World has 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, Downtown Disney, and Disney Quest. I guess Sea World is okay if you've never been there, but I've been once and never had a desire to go back. There's like no rides there.
Whatever you choose...
Have a Magical Trip!
2006-09-08 07:48:17 · answer #2 · answered by CryBabyChick 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I love Disney... Universal is OK. Here's a tip... if you are really wanting to go to Universal, I would suggest going for one day. You really can see both parks in two days (one day each park), but that is really taking your time in the parks. I would recommend that you get a one day ticket that will get you into both parks and also get the Express pass so that you can get in front of all the lines, that way you will be able to ride everything, (don't ride Posiedons Fury, not worth the wait in the line).
Staying at Disney is very much worth it. Sounds like you'll be spending most of your time in the parks, so I'd check into the value resorts, Pop Century, Music, Movies or Sports. Disney has extra magic hours, where the parks open early or stay open late for people staying on Disney property! Not every park is opens early or stays open late, you have to check every day to see which ones are having extra magic hours.
The good thing about Disney is that they provide transportation to all the parks, basically anywhere you want to go on Disney property, so you don't have to worry about a car. If you want to go to Universal or Sea World from Disney, then you'd have to find transportation there and back. (Try Bethany Transport, 407-239-8111.)
2006-09-08 02:32:10 · answer #3 · answered by plantmd 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Definitely stay at a Walt Disney World Resort, you get all kinds of benefits. If you're only going to spend three days at Walt Disney World, you might as well just skip it. Universal Studios takes less than an entire day to complete both Parks. Walt Disney World takes a minimum of a week to do just half of the stuff. There's four Theme Parks and two Water Parks, plus Downtown Disney. The Magic Kingdom Park and Epcot each take at least two days complete and the other Disney Parks take about an entire day. Walt Disney World is much better than Universal Studios, though, obviously. Proof- it's the number one tourist/vacation destination on Earth. No surprise, though. It is an incredible place. If you go to Universal for three days, you'll be very disappointed. There's much better stuff to do at WDW, and they're always getting new attractions. The Happiest Celebration on Earth is coming to an end, but a new one is beginning right after, the Year of a Million Dreams Celebration. There's going to be a lot of fun, special things going on. I do suggest spending a day at SeaWorld, though, if you'd like, or maybe Discovery Cove (which is part of SeaWorld, but located across the street, I believe.)
Anyway, have fun! Check out the Walt Disney World website and compare it to the Universal Studios website. There's a lot more to do at Walt Disney World, and it's a much better place anyway.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index
2006-09-08 00:58:47 · answer #4 · answered by Katlyn ♥ Disney 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I recommend staying at a Disney Resort. They have excellent customer service and the accomodations are great. If you're on a budget, I recommend the Disney All Star Resort, Port Orleans, or Coronado Springs. If you can afford a nicer hotel, I recommend Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian Resort or Disney's Wilderness Lodge. When staying at a Disney Resort, you will enjoy many perks. Hotel guests get into one of the Disney parks an hour early each day (so be sure to plan your trip according to the hotel extra magic hours schedule to take full advantage of that). You can also have any merchandise sent to your room for free! Say you're at downtown Disney or at one of the parks and you buy some gifts or items to take home. But you don't want to carry them all day. You can simply tell the Cast Member at the register that you would like package pick up or hotel delivery. Package pick up means your package will be sent to the front of the park and will wait for you to get it toward the end of the day. Hotel delivery means it goes straight to your Resort's front desk.
I don't know about any Universal Hotels. The Plaza down the street from Universal is nice, but it doesn't have any special ammenities besides a free bus trip to the park.
If you would like any help researching or planning your trip, or if you would like to read up on some fun tips and ideas, visit my Disney Vacation Services Website, I'm All Ears at:
http://im-all-ears-disney-vacation-services.blogspot.com/
Have fun!
2006-09-08 07:35:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Choose a hotel that is on Disney property; that is key. In doing so you will have FREE shuttle service to the Disney parks from your hotel. You can then take a shuttle ($10.00) over to Universal Studios for your day there.
Remember there are a number of Disney Parks (Epcot, Magic Kingdom, MGM studio, Wild animal kingdom, etc) so staying close to Disney makes more sense and gives you a greater selection of hotels
2006-09-07 15:37:08 · answer #6 · answered by LJRobbie 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would definitely stay at Disney. I have been to Disney World numerous times and have stayed at a Disney resort, an off property condo, and off property camping.
Disney resort all the way. You can get transportation to the resort from the airport and won't need to rent a car. (big savings) Once at the resort, you can take Disney transportation to all the Disney parks & Downtown Disney. On the other days, there are shuttle services that you pay a minimal fee for.
I enjoy the fact that I can relax on my vacation and not have to worry about traffic and directions.
2006-09-08 01:23:27 · answer #7 · answered by tweetymay 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
stay at a disney hotel. for about 100.00 or so a night you get free transportation to all disney parks. another benefit is that they let you into certain parks an hour early before the general public, or stay an hour or two after it closes. went this past march and was able to stay in the magic kingdom for two extra hours after it closed. shuttle transportation is available to universal and sea world. for my family of four it cost 36 bucks but was worth it. no parking fee and you get dropped of at the main entrances. plus driving around orlando is a task in itself
2006-09-08 05:30:42 · answer #8 · answered by roseland2911 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would stay at a Disney Resort. Disney takes alot of pride in their resorts and I feel you would be more comfortable with that and yes you can get in to what ever park of the day is opening early for resort guest and you can also stay late at the park of the day for resort guest which helps you get on the most popular rides without having much of a wait. We road Splash Mountain twice in a row during the late hours for resort guest my kids loved it.
2006-09-10 16:14:18 · answer #9 · answered by Mandy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Staying on Disney property makes it easier to get to the Disney parks, but harder to get to SeaWorld and Universal. I would stay on International Drive. SeaWorld is at one end of I-drive and Universal is at the other. Disney is only about 7 miles down the road from I-drive...the best of all worlds.
2006-09-07 15:25:06 · answer #10 · answered by young108west 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋