OT - Trip Combining Disney/Universal

[Seinfeld]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

 

[willi13]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

Go to Europe. Just don’t leave a kid home alone.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Go to Europe. Just don’t leave a kid home alone.

Counter: I recommend leaving all the kids at home.

 

[8dog]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

Never done a combo. All I can say is either do Universal with the express passes or don’t do it at all. That’s one cost not to cut. But I dont think there is any cheaper way. You’d have to do
Them separately so you can stay on each property and get those perks like Express pass included.

 

[aTotal360]

I don't think I would do Disney if it was free.

 

[Mr Todd French]

Family of 4. Just went to Disney at thanksgiving. If you can fly and pull off that trip for 5k you’re like you stated I’m not sure they’re anyway better than that. We sure as hell didn’t

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

$6k stings. Hell of a cheap flight though. I just looked and for $6k I can get flights for 4 to the Big Island, 6 nights at the Royal Kona, and a Jeep rental for the week.

My parents took me against my will to Disney/Epcot 30 years ago. I sure as hell wish they'd taken me to Hawaii instead. If you have already done Disney a few times, maybe it's time to spend the vacation budget on some other experiences?

 

[Seinfeld]

$6k stings. Hell of a cheap flight though. I just looked and for $6k I can get flights for 4 to the Big Island, 6 nights at the Royal Kona, and a Jeep rental for the week.

My parents took me against my will to Disney/Epcot 30 years ago. I sure as hell wish they'd taken me to Hawaii instead. If you have already done Disney a few times, maybe it's time to spend the vacation budget on some other experiences?

Yeah, the tough part is that while we’ve been a couple times, our youngest has never been, so that’s the whole motivation. For that price, though, it does make me wonder if we should do California instead. We’ve never taken a family trip out that way, and I think I read that Disneyland is getting that Mario world park soon. My son would flip over that if we could get in

 

[DawgInThe256]

No easy solution for you. I'm sure you know the Disney hacks. The Express Pass is definitely worth it for Universal, and you can almost do both parks in 1 day with the Express Pass. I remember a couple of the mid-tier hotels come with the Express Passes, so there is some wiggle room on hotel $.

Side note from someone with a daughter who was obsessed with Harry Potter. If I had it to do over again, I would make her (1) read the books, (2) avoid the movies, and (3) go to Universal. I can only imagine how cool it would be for a kid to see the places in the books come to life.

 

[tribaldawg]

Went the week after Thanksgiving and stayed 7 days with 3 people. Spent a little over 6k even with driving instead of flying.

We were going to do the Disney/Universal split but it drove up the price quite a bit. If there is a deal at Disney it has to be the price of tickets once you get to day 6 and beyond. A couple of days our tickets were under $80 total for 3 people.

Best part about the trip was that on the way home I heard the words from my wife that every man wants to hear…”I think I’m over Disney”. Mission accomplished!

 

[GloryDawg]

We never do Disney anymore. Just Universal. About every other year. We stay at one of their resorts. Package for four is around 2400.00. That included five nights and four days at the park. Early entrance and fast pass. Free parking and bus ride to the park. I would not eat at the resort. Each meal for four runs about 100.00. We always go out to eat somewhere away from the resort. They do have some good deals.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Go to Europe. Just don’t leave a kid home alone.

Hmm...

Google flights...

MSY - Europe 2 week Flexible

MSY - Porto round trip $550-- February 26 - March 14.

Hmm...

17 Disney & Universal

 

[patdog]

Good lord. Do you really want to go to Disney that bad?

 

[LocalBeachBum]

How I do it cheaper:

Disney's Fort Wilderness Camper Rental | Camper Rental Adventures of Orlando, FL

camperrentaladventures.com

and I used to drive from central MS. Cheaper than flying.

 

[rynodawg]

Yeah, the tough part is that while we’ve been a couple times, our youngest has never been, so that’s the whole motivation. For that price, though, it does make me wonder if we should do California instead. We’ve never taken a family trip out that way, and I think I read that Disneyland is getting that Mario world park soon. My son would flip over that if we could get in

The Super Nintendo World will be open early this year at Universal Hollywood. That park can definitely be done in a single day, and if you want additional thrill rides (that is cheaper than Disney), Knotts Berry Farm is pretty good. Plus there are plenty of non-theme park activities to fill up a week there if you take the West Coast option.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

How I do it cheaper:

Disney's Fort Wilderness Camper Rental | Camper Rental Adventures of Orlando, FL

camperrentaladventures.com

and I used to drive from central MS. Cheaper than flying.

Same, if four or more, drive. Load the kids up on Ambien, Benadryl, whisky or whatever, load up car the night before and leave super early (leave Jxn at 0400 and get to Disney by 5 or 6pm that day).

 

[benatmsu]

If you can drive, do that. Then don't stay on property. There are some new hotels at the Flamingo Crossing development that are reasonably priced and are about a 10-15 minute drive from the Disney parks. The only thing I like about staying at the Disney resorts is the transportation and not having to pay for parking at the parks. But what you save in not staying on property you can easily pay $20 a day to park at the parks. There's also a couple of breweries nearby - one within walking distance - so when you've had enough you can head over there to take the edge off.

You could also stay in the Disney Springs area...while not technically on Disney property, they're usually a little cheaper than the resorts themselves and there's a bus route from most of them to the Disney parks. Plus you can walk over to Disney Springs from there.

 

[johnson86-1]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

Can't do Disney and Universal in the same trip economically. If you are going to do the express pass at Universal, you'll probably be better off staying at one of the higher end Universal hotels that comes with express pass for those days.

Needing to fly really makes it hard to be worth it. Even though your flights look to be dirt cheap, you either need a rental car or you need to stay on property and get a shuttle from the airport. I've never truly stayed on disney property, but I just don't see how it can be worth it unless you have kids at an age where they can go to the property or hotel by themselves and don't want everybody to be tied to the same schedule. If you have to pay for a rental car that will fit a family and luggage for week, that's just more costs that make it hard to do economically.

I have enjoyed the experience of going to disney with little kids, but we have always done it "cheap" and if it was in the range of a family vacation to europe, there's no way I'd be able to justify it. Just too many cool things to take them to see and do at that range. My kind of internal hurdle is if I can do it as cheap or cheaper than a nice beach trip, Disney or Universal is a possibility. Anything more expensive, when you throw in the hassle, waiting in lines, crowds, etc., it just doesn't seem worth it. Once the kids are at an age where they don't find the characters or theming magical (which honestly is probably going to happen at about the age at which they will actually remember it anyway), I'm not sure there is a price that would make Disney worth it.

 

[Bulldog45]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

As mentioned you can stay at one of the premier (or whatever they call it) resorts and get the express passes included. When I looked during the summer you could use the express passes on the day of arrival and departure, so I think you can pull off having express passes for two days with a one night reservation. Not certain but that’s how I read it. Also, you can save money eating at universal by leaving the park and eating at city walk which is connected to the parks. I’d recommend going to Toothsomes while you are there but they’ve got Burger King, Panda Express etc. at city walk vs park food prices.

biggest issue I have doing a split is the fact that the more days you buy a ticket for the “cheaper” it gets, so extending a 4 day Disney ticket to 6 or 7 costs little to nothing but doing a Disney 4 plus Universal 2 is a kick in the pants.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

There's only one solution to this quandary...

Click Here

 

[sfnsfn]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

There's a reason they both give a big price break for staying longer...neither wants you going to the other. If you do, you pay for it big time.

Only way to make it cheaper is to NOT stay at a Disney resort. Check out the Flamingo Crossing area for nice, new hotels that are reasonably priced. Disney resorts are way overpriced especially considering that they've cut out a lot of the benefits for staying on property.

 

[kired]

For a family of 4, it's hard to do a weeklong trip to disney / universal for much less than $10k after you add in all the extras, unless you drive and get a cheap hotel. All the extra stuff is where they kill you. Genie+, lightning lane, etc. Then the food if you want to do a couple of the character dining experiences. Adds up quick.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Find another family of 4, go down to Disney World for two nights, and split the price for a 10 hour VIP tour with the other family. You'll get to do everything you want there and it will cost you less in the end.

 

[Irondawg]

It's just expensive - doing kind of the same thing for Spring Break and then hopefully that's it for a while as the kids are getting older and I'd much rather take them to Europe or Hawaii or something in the future.

Some small savings can be had on food at Disney but just ordering kids meals for everyone. Usually about half the price and still big enough to get you by. At the quick service noboby will ever question it.

You can try to cut a day or two somewhere by doing the 2-park pass at Universal or Park Hopper at Disney but just depends on how you want to manage that with the experiences and the family demands. Combine that with Epcot and MK having extended hours for Disney Hotel guest makes shaving a day easier. I haven't compared 3 park hopper passes to 4 -single park tickets so I don't know what kind of savings that would bring.

Note that an Universal even with the Express Pass you wouldn't be able to do everything in both parks in 1-day but we can usually hit a good 70-80% of it and there are some rides/experiences that you can skip and not miss anything.

Offsite hotels as mentioned are probably the biggest saver but then you have to get transportation to the parks on your own if your hotel doesn't offer them.

 

[Irondawg]

That's actually a pretty good idea I've never looked into

 

[Bulldog45]

It's just expensive - doing kind of the same thing for Spring Break and then hopefully that's it for a while as the kids are getting older and I'd much rather take them to Europe or Hawaii or something in the future.

Some small savings can be had on food at Disney but just ordering kids meals for everyone. Usually about half the price and still big enough to get you by. At the quick service noboby will ever question it.

You can try to cut a day or two somewhere by doing the 2-park pass at Universal or Park Hopper at Disney but just depends on how you want to manage that with the experiences and the family demands. Combine that with Epcot and MK having extended hours for Disney Hotel guest makes shaving a day easier. I haven't compared 3 park hopper passes to 4 -single park tickets so I don't know what kind of savings that would bring.

Note that an Universal even with the Express Pass you wouldn't be able to do everything in both parks in 1-day but we can usually hit a good 70-80% of it and there are some rides/experiences that you can skip and not miss anything.

Offsite hotels as mentioned are probably the biggest saver but then you have to get transportation to the parks on your own if your hotel doesn't offer them.

Airbnbs are relatively cheap in the Orlando area. You’ve also got easier access to a washer and dryer and a full kitchen to defer some cost.
It will cost $25/day to park at the parks but now that Disney charges for resort parking that’s a wash. We always take snacks and eat mid-late afternoon at a restaurant. Easier to get a reservation not to mention save by only eating once a day at a restaurant.

 

[msugrad2003]

Never done a combo. All I can say is either do Universal with the express passes or don’t do it at all. That’s one cost not to cut. But I dont think there is any cheaper way. You’d have to do
Them separately so you can stay on each property and get those perks like Express pass included.

What he said. We did the combo and didn’t do express passes at Univ. Worst experience of my life

 

[johnson86-1]

Airbnbs are relatively cheap in the Orlando area. You’ve also got easier access to a washer and dryer and a full kitchen to defer some cost.
It will cost $25/day to park at the parks but now that Disney charges for resort parking that’s a wash. We always take snacks and eat mid-late afternoon at a restaurant. Easier to get a reservation not to mention save by only eating once a day at a restaurant.

In addition to air bnb, there are a lot of vacation communities within 20 minutes of the parks that are basically set up for rentals. If you've got younger kids and aren't going to do the 12 hour park days, it's really nice to come back to a 3 BR/2Bath condo and have decent food and relax a little bit. And a lot of them have good amenities if you're doing a longer trip and are going to have a day where you rest and don't go to the park.

 

[Benny.sixpack]

Did a Universal personal tour over the summer.. it was amazing. Basically you have a guide showing you around to anything/everything you want to see. As soon as you walk up to a ride for example, you will be on it in the next batch. They only do like 5-6 private groups a day. Definitely wouldn't do Universal again unless I did it that way.

 

[goodknight]

If you’ve done Disney do Universal and Busch

 

[Irondawg]

Busch Tampa or Seaworld Orlando?

 

[411dawg]

Like others have said, staying off property is the best. We try to stay at Reunion. It doesn't take much longer to drive to the parks than standing and waiting for buses.

 

[Dawgg]

Our family’s done Disney a couple times, so we’re well aware of how that all works, but we’re planning a trip this Fall where we want to spend a couple days at Universal as well.

I was getting some pricing together yesterday, and dear lord… it gets expensive fast when you try to do both. $1400 for plane tickets, $3000 for hotel and Disney passes for a couple days, then $1600 for two days of Universal with express passes.

Have any of y’all done this before and somehow figured out a way for a family trip to Europe to not be cheaper?

Too good for Dollywood?***

 

[SirBarksalot]

Yeah, the tough part is that while we’ve been a couple times, our youngest has never been, so that’s the whole motivation. For that price, though, it does make me wonder if we should do California instead. We’ve never taken a family trip out that way, and I think I read that Disneyland is getting that Mario world park soon. My son would flip over that if we could get in

My youngest has never been…she’s 12. She’s doing just fine….of course, she doesn’t have any older siblings to rub it in her face.

 

[kired]

Busch Tampa or Seaworld Orlando?

I cannot recommend Seaworld unless you just really want to experience it.

I’ve been 3 times. Absolutely loved it back 10+ years ago. But last time (2016) it sucked in comparison. Decided that would probably be our last visit. (Whether you agree with the animal rights stuff or not - it’s definitely made it a less entertaining theme park)

 

[Irondawg]

I cannot recommend Seaworld unless you just really want to experience it.

I’ve been 3 times. Absolutely loved it back 10+ years ago. But last time (2016) it sucked in comparison. Decided that would probably be our last visit. (Whether you agree with the animal rights stuff or not - it’s definitely made it a less entertaining theme park)

I’m a coaster guy and both seaworld and Busch Tampa have a few of interest.

 

[AstroDog]

I don't have kids, don't do Disney, don't do beaches/sand, etc. I spent about $750 including airfare, hotel, car, and food for 2 days. Nice weather, but to be honest, I have just as good a time or better going to the Liberty or Music City Bowl. I guess to each his own.

 

[Bulldog45]

I’m a coaster guy and both seaworld and Busch Tampa have a few of interest.

I’ve been to Seaworld a couple of years ago and liked it. I highly recommend Discovery Cove too if you want something a little more relaxing. I’m not a water person but I enjoyed it.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

if you want to save a little money for Disney and have a decent size group then stay off campus at a rental house. You can get a 4 bedroom house for the price of one “budget” hotel room on property at Disney. Pretty much all on campus benefits are gone at this point.

Prepare thy anus for spending another 2k once you get there on food, genie and lightening lanes. Especially if you decide to do the fancy or character dinners. Most of those are $80 a person.

You might consider actually staying on property for your time at universal. I read that you can get the fast passes for free if you stay at one of their hotels. I didn’t research it yet because our kids are too young but do the numbers and it could save you some money.

 

[Bulldog45]

Especially if you decide to do the fancy or character dinners. Most of those are $80 a person.

another strategy for this, do character breakfast vs dinners. At least they used to be cheaper, but maybe they’ve jacked the price on those up too. Also can just do one adult vs two attending if you don’t mind doing so.