WDW and Universal Trip... ADVICE needed

[parkjunkie]

Anyone that has tons of Orlando parks experience, your advise is needed.

 

Heading to Orlando for the first time in 9 years and we are going for 3 days next week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We are hitting Universal Monday and Tuesday with the multipark pass, and then on Wednesday we plan on hitting up a few of the WDW parks with a park hopper.

 

My first question is for Universal. Should we spend one day hitting all the Harry Potter stuff at both parks and then use the 2nd day for all other attractions, or would it be easier to hit 1 park each day. I was leaning towards a Harry Potter day and an everything else day.

 

My 2nd question is for WDW. Since we scored free tickets with the park hopper and want to try and fit as much in as possible, this is what we had in mind.... mind you we are driving our own car to park...... So we want to park the car at Epcot around 830, take a bus to Animal Kingdom. AK from 9-12, then head to MK by bus from 12-6/7 then end the day at Epcot by taking the monorail, where we parked the car earlier that day. Does this sound somewhat logical, or would there be a better way?

 

Any other input about this short but packed trip would be appreciated as well....

[BlahBlahson]

Question 1: There's more "non Potter" stuff to do than Potter stuff, in the end. You will probably have time to see all the magic in one day and get some rides on the coasters. Two days is plenty to see all of Universal in early February, however you move about the parks. No stress. Don't miss Disaster or Twister, as these two are likely to be removed before you swing by again. Despicable Me is the best single attraction to ride at opening, always generates long waits with no single rider line. Beware that the Toon Lagoon water rides are WET, and many universal attractions require free l o c ker usage so pack accordingly. If you see one traditional show...make it the Horror Make Up Show.

 

http://www.orlandoinformer.com/ has every Universal-specific tip in the book.

 

Question 2: You can do that, but I'd recommend arriving maybe 15 minutes earlier than 8:30 to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom, they can be absent (and I don't know for positive if they run before each park opens, you could call Disney and ask). Bus from DAK to MK would be more efficient than driving your car from DAK to another parking lot, then taking a monorail or two, so that's the big benefit of your circular plan. DAK has resort-early access that day so Everest and Kilamanjaro might already have a small wait, but the better choice is to reserve your Fastpasses in advance for Magic Kingdom which you will be at in the middle of the day. Be Our Guest accepts walk-ins for lunch around 2 pm. Seven Dwarves coaster will be at least an hour without fastpass.

[Stu K]

2 days should be more than enough ! we did one day with park hopping beginning of January . If you start at Gringots and Diagon alley then take the train next door it is fun to stay in the Potter bubble then hit the rest of the parks! Or maybe the other way around as the Hotel guests start in Gringots.

 

Stu

[OrlandoGuy]

If I were you, I'd park at Magic Kingdom rather than Epcot, then go from AK to Epcot via bus and finish up at Magic Kingdom by taking the monorail there from Epcot. MK is open later, you don't want to be bound by Epcot's closing times there. But I personally wouldn't rule out just driving from park to park yourself. It's generally faster and you only have to pay for parking once per day if that was an issue.

[Bubba]

Anyone that has tons of Orlando parks experience, your advise is needed.

 

Heading to Orlando for the first time in 9 years and we are going for 3 days next week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We are hitting Universal Monday and Tuesday with the multipark pass, and then on Wednesday we plan on hitting up a few of the WDW parks with a park hopper.

 

My first question is for Universal. Should we spend one day hitting all the Harry Potter stuff at both parks and then use the 2nd day for all other attractions, or would it be easier to hit 1 park each day. I was leaning towards a Harry Potter day and an everything else day.

 

My 2nd question is for WDW. Since we scored free tickets with the park hopper and want to try and fit as much in as possible, this is what we had in mind.... mind you we are driving our own car to park...... So we want to park the car at Epcot around 830, take a bus to Animal Kingdom. AK from 9-12, then head to MK by bus from 12-6/7 then end the day at Epcot by taking the monorail, where we parked the car earlier that day. Does this sound somewhat logical, or would there be a better way?

 

Any other input about this short but packed trip would be appreciated as well....

I hardly have any Orlando themepark experience as I'm a newb to it all, but I did just take my first trip in June which included 4 days at Universal & 2 days at WDW. We had to fit a lot in for WDW as well, being our first time at the parks.

 

1) I think you'll be better off hitting them by park. It depends if you are planning to arrive at opening as well. I suggest hitting Diagon Alley early due to it being new but we actually waited for FJ during the last hour & got on 3 times in a row. Yes we had to walk through again but there wasn't a wait. Dragon Challenge should hardly have a line throughout the day as well making Hogsmede a little easier to explore. The land is beautiful at night & IOA has so many rides that can get long lines so you can hit those first (Spiderman, Hulk, water rides...). Also, hotel guests already get in an hour early so I'm not sure how busy the lands would be already once the park has officially opened, I'm sure someone has better input on this.

 

2) I suggest driving to AK first. Once you've paid for parking, you are good the whole day. Also, AK is so far out from the other park it will actually save you time and stress. Park at Epcot after, then take monorail to MK & back. You might even get done with AK earlier if you're just looking for the top rides, but the park is huge if thoroughly explored. Being limited on time, we hit the KS first, Everest, & Dinosaur & got to our car by 11.30 as we felt other attractions could be saved for our next trip. So driving back to Epcot after will definitely give you bit more time rather than taking bus. Epcot & MK are so huge I'd like to spend as much time as I could with those two parks rather than AK.

[parkjunkie]

Thanks for the help guys, I did not know you only had to pay once for parking for all the parks. Someone had told me you had to pay at each park. So driving ourselves does sound easier.

[BlahBlahson]

MK and Epcot have the same closing time that night. Finish with the park that has the fireworks show you want to see more.

 

Again, while the first bus from Epcot to DAK at 815 might be annoying (call and check they have one at that time), the mid-afternoon bus directly from DAK main entrance to MK main entrance will be easier than: DAK parking tram to your car, drive to epcot, walk to epcot monorail station,take first monorail to TTC, take second monorail to MK entrance. That's one step in the middle of the day vs five.

 

Oh and plus one for Diagon Alley at night. Its getting dark here now about six so you would have one hour to see the pretty lights.

[BugEyed]

I'll be at WDW next Tuesday and Wednesday (as well). It's my first trip there as an adult and this conversation has pretty much solidified many of the tentative plans I've already made on my own.

 

Here's what I have in mind, so far:

 

The first day we plan on driving to Animal Kingdom and parking just before opening; hitting EE, KS and Dinosaur.

 

From there we'll drive and repark at Hollywood Studios, ride ToT and Rock N' Roller and then grab the car and repark at EPCOT.

 

Once at EPCOT we'll immediately bus it to Magic Kingdom, spend as much time as possible then head back to EPCOT for IllumiNations at 9PM, grab the car and head out.

 

Day 2 will be all EPCOT. If things go well and there's time left in the late afternoon or early evening we'll decide in the moment to head back to one of the previous 3 parks and spontaneously do whatever.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? As the only seasoned theme park enthusiast in a group of newbies it's been entirely left to me to make all of the advanced plans (even though I've not been to WDW in more than 20 years).

 

Oh, and I've already made FastPass+ reservations for the first stop at AK (EE, KS and Dinosaur). Does that even make sense? Maybe my FastPass+ would be better used for Hollywood Studios (TOT/Rock N' Roller)?

 

Thanks!

[OrlandoGuy]

^Couple things.

 

1. if youre gonna spend all of day 2 at Epcot, cant you just see Illuminations then? It seems like a hassle to park at Epcot and bus to MK on day 1.

 

2. what times are your AK FP+'s for? It's hard to determine how they'll fit with your schedule if you're parkhopping. I would try to get them for Hollywood Studios instead, since the lines at AK shouldn't be bad right at opening (so long as you go Safari, then Everest, then Dinosaur).

[GwaziBSRider1]

Oh, and I've already made FastPass+ reservations for the first stop at AK (EE, KS and Dinosaur). Does that even make sense? Maybe my FastPass+ would be better used for Hollywood Studios (TOT/Rock N' Roller)?

 

I'm definitely not a Disney expert, but I'd definitely change those FP+ reservations. I went this time last year, and AK was pretty much dead at opening, but got pretty crowded about an hour after opening. If you follow the Safari-Everest-Dinosaur plan, you should easily be able to do that fairly quickly.

 

Personally, I'd use your FP+ for TOT, Rock n' Roller Coaster, and Toy Story. That way, you can hammer out DHS quickly and have plenty of time to enjoy Magic Kingdom.

[BugEyed]

^Couple things.

 

1. if youre gonna spend all of day 2 at Epcot, cant you just see Illuminations then? It seems like a hassle to park at Epcot and bus to MK on day 1.

 

I'm hoping we'll get enough done at EPCOT in the first 3/4 of the day to be able to drive to one of the other parks to close out day 2.

 

I really want to see IllumiNations, which is why we're going to do it day 1. If possible I'd like to end day 2 with Nighttime Spectacular at MK, but I know I'll probably be pushing my luck with the others by that point.

 

In other words, I'm strategically parking the car at EPCOT that day so they'll have no choice but to be dragged back kicking and screaming for IllumiNations. I realise it's entirely selfish, but also the only way that I can ensure I'll get to see it. )

[BugEyed]

I'm definitely not a Disney expert, but I'd definitely change those FP+ reservations. I went this time last year, and AK was pretty much dead at opening, but got pretty crowded about an hour after opening. If you follow the Safari-Everest-Dinosaur plan, you should easily be able to do that fairly quickly.

 

Personally, I'd use your FP+ for TOT, Rock n' Roller Coaster, and Toy Story. That way, you can hammer out DHS quickly and have plenty of time to enjoy Magic Kingdom.

 

I've been flip-flopping back and forth about doing exactly that. SOLD! Thanks for the reassurance.