Torn...

[leahgoogle]

We just did a family Universal Trip. First time we have only done Universal. We did 4 1/2 days and it was great! Harry Potter was a big draw for our family and we were able to take our time and see everything. I am a die hard Disney fan, but we have decided to wait until their mask mandate is lifted and until Genie+ gets established to go back (Express Pass at Universal is amazing, btw....I loved not having to plan out my rides). I'm not going to lie, there were pings of missing Disney here and there since we were so close, but Harry Potter is as good or better than any Disney area so it made up for it. It is absolutely amazing!

 

[leahgoogle]

I am cost conscious so I would probably choose one if you need park tickets. You get better deals The longer you go. I would also get a Seasonal Pass at Universal if planning on 4 days. Loved Disney and we will go back one day, but right now, too cost prohibitive, and I am not ready to deal with GeniePlus. I would recommend the Seasonal Pass because the amount you can save at the Premiere Resorts in hotel costs pays for the passes. i would also recommend Portofino Bay. They usually have great Passholder rates. My husband and I love that hotel. for our trips.

We ended up getting the Seasonal Pass and stayed at Portofino Bay. We loved it!

 

[bchbetha]

Go and enjoy Universal. I agree that if you need that extra Disney, do the Christmas thing. But, honestly, I'd just do Universal. Tired of the parks? Enjoy being at a great resort! It'll be a great mini vacation. Disney is fine but you'll be ok if you skip it.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

OP, I'm excited for our first ever Universal-only trip, and like you I haven't been in a long time (20 years in my case). We've done 4 Disney trips in the past 6 years, but Genie+ seems like a giant headache and after 2 years of no vacations I really need to be able to relax and not worry about being on an app all the time. We've made a few table service meal reservations but I think it will be nice to be spontaneous and not feel pressured to run around so much.

 

[Kit Jackson]

The wife and I are seriously considering a universal only trip in early Dec. I've checked, and there are plenty of rooms available. We're thinking of staying at loews royal pacific.

Anywho, I haven't been to universal since 2010. The wife has never been but we've been to wdw 3 times since 2010.
My concern is that I will make plans for universal only and be filled with regret that we didn't spend any time at disney.
Is 4 days too much at universal?

It depends on how you vacation. Different people have different styles. I think 4 days is great if you want to relax and not have to rush to get through everything. With 4 days you'll have plenty of time to do all of the rides, shows, and food that you want to try. You may also have time to do your favorites a second itme. Also, if you want to spend part of the afternoon at the hotel by a pool, you can do that still have time for everything in the parks.

 

[Travelgrrl]

I would vote for the entire time at Universal, and to get a little Disney fix, order tickets for Disney's After Hours holiday event for one night. The Universal parks are closing quite early at the beginning of December (we'll likely dine or just hang out in the evenings) but you could pick up a pair of those tickets, drive over at 6 PM, be at Disney's gates for 7:00 entry - the official party starts at 9 PM but you can get in at 7. No Genie + needed to enjoy the rides that night! The tickets are pricy but I noticed they dropped the price per person for first week of December from $229 each to $209 each, last time I checked.

We have two people coming with us that week who have NEVER been to a theme park, and we have 5 nights and 4 park days at Universal. I think that's the perfect amount of time, but part of me wants to splurge on 4 tickets to the Disney party, so I can show those two folks the Magic Kingdom, too! $900 is a lot, though...

 

[sandam1]

The wife and I are seriously considering a universal only trip in early Dec. I've checked, and there are plenty of rooms available. We're thinking of staying at loews royal pacific.

Anywho, I haven't been to universal since 2010. The wife has never been but we've been to wdw 3 times since 2010.
My concern is that I will make plans for universal only and be filled with regret that we didn't spend any time at disney.
Is 4 days too much at universal?
We won't be doing volcano bay.
And yes we love Harry Potter so I'm looking forward to that.

Edit. Let me add I'm 51 she is 44 but we both love thrill rides.

I'm seriously conflicted here. We haven't been to wdw since 2016, and I'm hearing some pretty negative things about it now.
I'm hearing pretty much only positive about universal.
Help me out here. Your opinions will help me decide.

I think 4 days is the perfect amount of time if you want to be in "vacation mode" - i.e. being able to sleep in one day, maybe take a mid-day nap, do a couple of leisurely meals, spend some time at the pool, re-ride your favorite rides 2, 3, 4 or more time. We usually do 5 days (flying in early on day one and leaving early evening on day five) and never seem to have enough time to do everything (after 10+ trips I still have yet to make s'mores by the pool in the evening). But we love to spend an hour or so one morning each trip practicing our wand work, can ride Men in Black 4 times in a row, enjoy seeing all of the shows, and try to do the evening entertainment as many evenings as we can. You are also going during the holiday events so you definitely don't want to miss the Grinchmas show (we usually try to go twice) and the Macy's parade. And if you are going over a weekend, check and see if there is going to be a Mannheim Steamroller concert while you are there.

As someone mentioned, you could do a Disney Christmas party, but honestly, I think you might regret trying to jam Disney into a relatively short trip.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We spent five days at UO last January and had a great time. I think four days would be perfect. Jake's is a great place to eat at RP. We also really enjoyed Toothsome and Bubba Gump Shrimp in City Walk.

 

[Skywalker3]

Just back from 3 full days, and 2 half days at Universal, and still missed a few things. We love both Universal and Disney, but don't do them in the same trip due to time/costs. There's a little bit of wistfulness when we think about Disney just down the road, but we're more than happy at only Universal. we did consider Disney Spring one day, or maybe a meal at Animal Kingdom lodge, but just didn't make it work, but that might get a little bit of a Disney fix for you.
It takes a bit of time if you're going to do all the HP stuff, and really take it in:
There are several HP stage shows that you may want to see, and need to time them right, Plus trying all the HP themed snack, food, etc. Just walking through queues a few times is great, there are SO many details.
Even w almost 4 full days last time, we still somehow didn't get to Bourne! or Minions, or any water rides.
Universal is SOOOOOO much fun, and HP is just the best. I think 4 days is a good amount of time to really take it all in and enjoy everything w/o rushing

 

[maverik85]

4 days is good for Universal. I've usually done 3 day trips so far (pre-volcano Bay) and it has felt perfect. Having an extra day to either spread stuff out more and take your time or a day dedicated to just relaxing around the resorts/pools would be nice. If you want something more to do as well there is always SeaWorld that is fairly inexpensive comparatively for a single day that has a lot of great coasters/thrills that could be something new to check out as well. If you really need a Disney fix you can always go to Disney springs for a day, bus to a resort and ride the monorail, check out decorations at the MK resorts, etc. We are actually planning to do that for a day during a trip later this month.

 

[glocon]

Agree 4 days is a good amount of time. You can sleep in and not worry about waking up to start reserving rides. Have a leisurely breakfast or brunch, pool time if it’s nice enough out. Then head to the parks after that. So many good places to eat, both at the parks and at all the different resorts. Lots of new things to see and explore. Maybe DS at night would be fun, but there’s lots to see and do at UO.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We have done 5 days and 3 days. We are going back for 6 nights so 5 days again in less than 2 months. we felt the last time for 3 days just wasn't enough. On our 5 day we did 2 park days, one resort day then 2 park days again. We never closed the parks so we had time to go to the pool in the evening a few times and had some nice dinners at City Walk. 4 days will be great!

 

[PolyNeverGirl]

We are going for a 8 day trip in Orlando and will spend 2 days at Universal. Should I do one day per park or two parks one day ticket for two days? Cost is quite different. Thx.

 

[RogueX]

For me, I would say to enjoy your time at Universal. Sure, with the express pass you'll get on the rides fast enough, but if you're wife is a Harry Potter fan, there are so many little details that people overlook as they go through those areas. I've done the Disney/Universal combination trip and while fun, there are factors that only you can decide if you want to deal with (parking, driving, getting there at a certain time for what you want, etc.).

Have fun, no matter what you choose!

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Lots of great feedback! We are at Universal now, and planned on doing universal only, but I just couldn’t help myself and did an after hours very Merriest Christmas party Monday night at MK.It was fantastic. I was so happy to get my Disney fix, and now we are enjoying Universal. We booked one night at Royal Palms to get the express passes for two days. We have season passes because pricing it out after three days you might as well money wise. With express passes you can get a lot done. Look at booking that after hours party! Ride lines were basically walk Ons, no Genie plus , no lightning lane you have to worry about, snacks and Waters, soda, hot chocolate all included. You are allowed in at 7pm and it goes to 1am.

 

[hildarumpole]

We are going for a 8 day trip in Orlando and will spend 2 days at Universal. Should I do one day per park or two parks one day ticket for two days? Cost is quite different. Thx.

If you want to ride Hogwarts Express which travels between the parks you will need 2 park 2 day tickets.

 

[maverik85]

If you want to ride Hogwarts Express which travels between the parks you will need 2 park 2 day tickets.

In addition to this, the parks are right next to each other so it is much easier to park hop here than it is at Disney World. You can take the train between or just do a short walk between the two parks. You can do one park per day and be ok if you don't care about the train, but it's nice there having the option to go between. Especially if the day you picked to do one park, if a ride is down for some reason you have the next day as well to try to hop over and ride it.

 

[stinkpickle]

Four days would be fine, especially if it's a Mon-Thur. We had five days planned, but American Airlines kept cancelling our flights, so we ended up with three days. Three wasn't enough for us.

 

[kbelle8995]

Early Dec is a great time to go to Universal. The Christmas Decorations are really beautiful. Four days is perfect for Universal. You can take your time and re-ride things and if you stay at one of the Universal Hotels you can also spend some great time hanging out at the resort.
Everything is really close at Universal except the Dockside and Surfside which is farther away. The bus system is great.

 

[Chad819]

Four days is certainly not too much. I will be staying for 10 days in early December. Not all at Universal but probably about 6 days at the Universal parks and a visit to Seaworld and some other smaller things in the area. Disney is bigger of course but I can spend just as much time or more on a Universal trip. They have more rides that I like to call re rideables. Rides that I can ride many times on a trip. For me most Disney rides are one and done. Maybe two on my favorites with a few exceptions for more.

Being this will be your first trip in a long time, there is very much to see and do. Its so much different and better than the last time you were there. You are Harry Potter fans and you like thrill rides. Its the perfect place! It used to be when I was in Orlando I could not think of skipping Disney. Now when I am in Orlando it is I could not think of skipping Universal.