Booking at Universal resort while keeping Disney room

jbdb

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Hi all,

I'm brainstorming future WDW vacations and would love opinions on the best way to experience Universal (we've never been). My first idea was to Uber over early one morning and try to see both parks in one day. That plan would definitely need one of the Express Pass options, but a one-day two-park pass w/ EP for a family of 3 is astronomical.

My newest idea is to book a room at one of the resorts that offer the Express Pass and take two days to experience everything. It would be slightly more expensive, but I think our time in the parks would be more enjoyable, especially with early entry on the second day.

Finally, rather than checking in/out of our Disney hotel twice, we'd probably just keep our room there for the night we're away. Packing during vacation is a buzzkill. Since we're DVC members, we'd only be missing out on points and not cash. Has anyone done this? Is it worth it?

Any ideas and/or opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I'd make sure not to activate the charging to your room option at Universal, that way you wouldn't have too much of your credit line tied up on your credit card. The big question is whether you are going at a busy time of year, if it's not a busy time you might not need the pass. Remember that much of the Harry Potter stuff isn't covered by the pass.
 
Use the search button and you will find some current threads that have done the throw away rooms at the darkside

I feel that you get a better experience by staying onsite for the one night and take advantage of the perks

Two days of unlimited ep is a good thing

And less travel involved and down time due to that
 
We have done the same thing twice but we actually moved to Universal for the last night of the trip and used early entry both days. It wasn't difficult to move for one night because we didn't unpack much. Next trip the waterpark will be open so we will be staying three nights.
 


We are also DVC members and are planning on doing the same thing that you're considering. I am planning on a 1 night stay at Universal for the 2 days of EPs and to have a more immersive experience. We have a value room booked at Jambo house for our WDW stay that I most likely will just leave empty for that single night. We will have a car, but still don't want the hassle of checking in and out at WDW. If we end up liking Universal, I am also considering upgrading to APs to use for the length of our 9 day stay instead of doing the Disney parks. We will be there in early December so I think that traveling over from Disney shouldn't be that bad if we decide on multiple days at Universal.
 
I'd make sure not to activate the charging to your room option at Universal, that way you wouldn't have too much of your credit line tied up on your credit card. The big question is whether you are going at a busy time of year, if it's not a busy time you might not need the pass. Remember that much of the Harry Potter stuff isn't covered by the pass.

Good plan! Since we have a child in middle school, we can't go offseason anymore. We're thinking early June in 2018. I'll check the crowd calendar before making a decision.

Use the search button and you will find some current threads that have done the throw away rooms at the darkside

I feel that you get a better experience by staying onsite for the one night and take advantage of the perks

Two days of unlimited ep is a good thing

And less travel involved and down time due to that

That's what I'm thinking, too.

We have done the same thing twice but we actually moved to Universal for the last night of the trip and used early entry both days. It wasn't difficult to move for one night because we didn't unpack much. Next trip the waterpark will be open so we will be staying three nights.

We've thought about this, too. We never rent a car in Orlando, so I'd like to take advantage of Magical Express back to MCO if possible. And I think we'd like to have a Disney park be the last thing we experience on vacation.

We are also DVC members and are planning on doing the same thing that you're considering. I am planning on a 1 night stay at Universal for the 2 days of EPs and to have a more immersive experience. We have a value room booked at Jambo house for our WDW stay that I most likely will just leave empty for that single night. We will have a car, but still don't want the hassle of checking in and out at WDW. If we end up liking Universal, I am also considering upgrading to APs to use for the length of our 9 day stay instead of doing the Disney parks. We will be there in early December so I think that traveling over from Disney shouldn't be that bad if we decide on multiple days at Universal.

Nine days at Universal would definitely be cheaper than a 5/4 split between them and WDW!
 
If I were doing that I would still sleep up at Universal. No need to commute. Just pack a bag with some park clothes and overnight stuff and head on up.
 


Yep, take advantage of the room too. Pack an overnight bag, get their early on your first day and you get 2 full days of EE and EP.

Doesn't take long to throw some stuff in an overnight bag. So much easier on the second morning to do EE when you're already there.
 
If I were doing that I would still sleep up at Universal. No need to commute. Just pack a bag with some park clothes and overnight stuff and head on up.

Yep, take advantage of the room too. Pack an overnight bag, get their early on your first day and you get 2 full days of EE and EP.

Doesn't take long to throw some stuff in an overnight bag. So much easier on the second morning to do EE when you're already there.

Sorry I wasn't clear! We would stay at the Universal resort with just an overnight bag.
 
Oh I see........

Start with www.universalorlando.com

Website is a fabulous place to start when you've never been. Park layouts will show you where all the rides are and where everything else is in the parks too. Bathrooms, first aid and restaurants.

Read the stickies on here.........full of info and hotel pictures where you can see rooms and areas of hotels.

damo has a fabulous food sticky with ever menu from the parks, hotels and Citywalk.

The hotel stickies explain how you get your EP and so much more.
 
We have done this multiple times - very easy, peasy. Like you, we are DVC members so it's just a matter of burning one night of DVC points and since we usually stay AKV Value Studio, it's not that painful. We take an overnight bag, getting there early the first morning so we can take advantage of early entry both mornings and usually stay until about 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. the next day. [we always rent a car] I love exploring City Walk the night of our stay, but it can be tiring. :scared:

Last year, we just went ahead and sucked up the extra cost and stayed 2 nights at Universal at the beginning before heading over to WDW for the remainder of the trip. The advantage to that is you get to really experience your resort, the restaurants, City Walk and the theme parks. We stayed at Portofino and my DS17 absolutely loved it. :love: The con is it is more expensive.

I like doing it either way.
 
We have done this multiple times - very easy, peasy. Like you, we are DVC members so it's just a matter of burning one night of DVC points and since we usually stay AKV Value Studio, it's not that painful. We take an overnight bag, getting there early the first morning so we can take advantage of early entry both mornings and usually stay until about 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. the next day. [we always rent a car] I love exploring City Walk the night of our stay, but it can be tiring. :scared:

Last year, we just went ahead and sucked up the extra cost and stayed 2 nights at Universal at the beginning before heading over to WDW for the remainder of the trip. The advantage to that is you get to really experience your resort, the restaurants, City Walk and the theme parks. We stayed at Portofino and my DS17 absolutely loved it. :love: The con is it is more expensive.

I like doing it either way.

You've given me some more ideas. Thanks, all!
 

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