Last minute planning suggestions please

Sb4

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 18, 2017
Hi! We will be in Orlando at the end of October. We have been planning a combined Disney / universal trip (2 days Disney / 3 universal). However, at the recommendation of several friends, we are now starting to consider universal only. We are almost at the 30 day mark, so there's nothing like a last minute change of plans. We have been to Disney multiple times, but never universal.

Questions:
1) In looking at vacation packages, is there one that is better than others? Harry Potter or Stay/Splash/Play both look pretty good.

2) Is it worth considering a universal partner hotel, or the on-site benefits that much greater?

3) Is there somewhere we should look for a vacation package other than universal's site?

4) which hotel is best for larger families? It looks like Cabana beach resort has family suites. Are there others?

Our group includes my husband and I, our 7 & 9 year old children and my parents--who are Florida residents.

Sorry for that the questions, but time is running short, and I'm trying to research as quickly as possible. Thank you for your help!
 
1)as many will likely suggest, it's usually best to book things separately than a package for universal. You can usually get a better deal by booking hotel on its own then getting tickets from undercover tourist. This leaves more flexibility with changes or cancelations if needed without paying fees

2)IMO on site benefits outweigh staying off site. Being so close with early entry, plus if you stay at a deluxe and get the free express passes is wonderful

3) see answer to #1

4)this kinda comes down to price / how much are you willing to spend. Cabana Bay is great, has decent family suites, but doesn't come with free express passes. There are family suites at the other on site resorts, but the price is quite high, but you get express passes (not at Sapphire Falls) you might want to consider 2 adjoining rooms at RPR. I'd plug in different options into the hotel lookup and see what fits best with your budget.

Regardless of choice you make I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time
 
1)as many will likely suggest, it's usually best to book things separately than a package for universal. You can usually get a better deal by booking hotel on its own then getting tickets from undercover tourist. This leaves more flexibility with changes or cancelations if needed without paying fees

2)IMO on site benefits outweigh staying off site. Being so close with early entry, plus if you stay at a deluxe and get the free express passes is wonderful

3) see answer to #1

4)this kinda comes down to price / how much are you willing to spend. Cabana Bay is great, has decent family suites, but doesn't come with free express passes. There are family suites at the other on site resorts, but the price is quite high, but you get express passes (not at Sapphire Falls) you might want to consider 2 adjoining rooms at RPR. I'd plug in different options into the hotel lookup and see what fits best with your budget.

Regardless of choice you make I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time

Thank you. It's all a little overwhelming. My parents have a giant motor home. Our plan had been to stay in that at fort wilderness. However, the cost of tickets to 2 parks is definitely a budget stretch, so we are looking at options. Nothing like waiting until the final hour ‍♀️. Lol
 
What dates are you looking at? Portofino has some annual pass rates still available in October. only one member needs to have the pass, and you can book the rate before you purchase the pass.

Plug your dates into the Loews hotel website and use APH as the promotion code. The deluxe hotels include express pass (which is an unlimited fast pass for every ride) and early entry. As an added bonus the resorts really are very nice and you can pool hop and enjoy all the different resorts.

Universal park and hotels are a lot more contained. If you stay onsite you have a short walk to the parks or a quick water taxi/bus. The parks are also might on top of each other a lot of us bounce back and forth all day (5 minute walk or ride h Hogwarts express).

Tickets and hotels get exponentially cheaper the list ne'er you stay so I hinkmyoull find it cheaper to do the solo UO stay instead of the split stay-even with upgrading your hotel.

We always book hotel separate from tickets and have found it cheaper and more convenient.

Finally-once yo pick your hotel and order tickets, your planning is done. It's so much easier to plan a trip to universal! Shout if you'd have any more questions.
 


I'd recommend staying on site for the express pass. Now that every ride is included it's totally worth it IMO.
We actually see a lot of families at Royal Pacific Resort. It's a nice short walk to the parks and city walk too.
Enjoy... We absolutely love Universal!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sb4
Thank you! We've been planning to stay at Disney's Fort Wilderness and do a couple of days WDW and a couple at universal. Last night, several friends suggested that we should just do universal and stay on site. We arrive in orlando 10/21. it's officially last minute. :yay:
 
Well, October 21st isn't last minute for Universal. You have to understand that, as far as enjoying the parks themselves, there is very little planning needed. In fact, if you do end up staying at Hard Rock, Portofino, or Royal Pacific resorts, there need to plan your day pretty much goes out the door due to the included unlimited Expess pass.

Wife and I used to do Disney every year, bot grew tired of the goofy amount of planning you have o do to get the most out of the trip (and I am not a fan of FP+). We threw a Universal trip in between our Disney trips and now don't plan on heading back to mouse house until 2020 (waiting for SW lands to open and work out their kinks).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sb4


Well, October 21st isn't last minute for Universal. You have to understand that, as far as enjoying the parks themselves, there is very little planning needed. In fact, if you do end up staying at Hard Rock, Portofino, or Royal Pacific resorts, there need to plan your day pretty much goes out the door due to the included unlimited Expess pass.

Wife and I used to do Disney every year, bot grew tired of the goofy amount of planning you have o do to get the most out of the trip (and I am not a fan of FP+). We threw a Universal trip in between our Disney trips and now don't plan on heading back to mouse house until 2020 (waiting for SW lands to open and work out their kinks).

When we went to Disney 2 years ago, I spent months planning it down to the minute. This time we are almost 30 days out and don't even have park tickets yet. We were thinking 1 day at MK, 1 day at HS and 1-2 PTP days at universal--although undercover tourist has buy 2 days get one free, so why not do that, right? That's about a total of 1800 in just park tickets for our family of 4, which is why we started thinking maybe US only was the way to go.
 
Definitely stick with one brand for a short trip. You'll really enjoy a fun, relaxing Universal vacation and it'll be a lot cheaper.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sb4
When we went to Disney 2 years ago, I spent months planning it down to the minute. This time we are almost 30 days out and don't even have park tickets yet. We were thinking 1 day at MK, 1 day at HS and 1-2 PTP days at universal--although undercover tourist has buy 2 days get one free, so why not do that, right? That's about a total of 1800 in just park tickets for our family of 4, which is why we started thinking maybe US only was the way to go.

At this late stage a trip to WDW is almost pointless in that your choices for FP+ will likely not include any A-List rides. You will be in shock from how easy a Universal only trip can be if that's what you decide.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sb4
When we went to Disney 2 years ago, I spent months planning it down to the minute. This time we are almost 30 days out and don't even have park tickets yet. We were thinking 1 day at MK, 1 day at HS and 1-2 PTP days at universal--although undercover tourist has buy 2 days get one free, so why not do that, right? That's about a total of 1800 in just park tickets for our family of 4, which is why we started thinking maybe US only was the way to go.

Not to scare you but a trip to UO, especially with express pass, might ruin you for Disney. Just kidding, but you will be amazed at the quality experience you can have at the same time as having a relaxing flexible time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sb4
Not to scare you but a trip to UO, especially with express pass, might ruin you for Disney. Just kidding, but you will be amazed at the quality experience you can have at the same time as having a relaxing flexible time.


Ha! That's what our friends were saying ;). I think we are still going to do Disney, but just 2 days.

Do you think Express Pass is necessary in October? We are definitely NOT doing HHN. Also, what is the night show like? Should we completely juggle our vacation around, so that we can be there for the cinematic spectacular (or whatever it's called)? We will be in Florida for 9 days, and only two of those do not have HHN. Speaking of which, on HHN nights, we could go to IOA, correct?

Sorry, I Know my questions are all over the place. I'm starting to feel a little crazy ;)
 
check the UO site if the show will be held



i'm not finding any show times for october
maybe too soon to be listed.


last october, it was not running when i was there on the non hhn nights.
 
Not to scare you but a trip to UO, especially with express pass, might ruin you for Disney. Just kidding, but you will be amazed at the quality experience you can have at the same time as having a relaxing flexible time.

Exactly what happened to us! Universal is so easy, less expensive and less stressful than Disney. We will be taking our 3rd trip soon.
 
Exactly what happened to us! Universal is so easy, less expensive and less stressful than Disney. We will be taking our 3rd trip soon.

This is what happened to us. We hit up a Disney park almost every year for 5-6 years, then we snuck in a Universal trip...went to WDW the following year and haven't been back there since (Star Wars will eventually get us back there though). I'm taking my sister for her first trip to UO, the only plans I have are to wake up...go to park...have fun!
 
Not to scare you but a trip to UO, especially with express pass, might ruin you for Disney. Just kidding, but you will be amazed at the quality experience you can have at the same time as having a relaxing flexible time.

This happened to us too! We did a Universal vacation in February. We adored the express passes and the ease of walking back and forth from our resort to the parks (you can also take the water taxis but it was faster for us to walk). Plus, we exchanged our 3 day park to park tickets for an annual pass and they actually refunded us money. With our annual pass, our room at Royal Pacific this December is $199 per night which is less than a Disney moderate. Royal Pacific is nicer than the Disney moderates in my opinion, plus we get the unlimited express passes which are even better than they were when we there in February because now they include the major Harry Potter rides. Can't wait! We have no plans to return to Disney World any time soon.
 
Last edited:
I can't wait to see universal :).
We were miraculously able to get the fast passes we wanted for Disney 32 days out. Now we just have to buy the universal tickets. We were going to do the 2 park buy 2 days get 1 free deal on undercover tourist, but I'm realizing that the current buy 2 get 2 days 3 park is really not much more in the grand scheme of things. It's all starting to come together.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top