Disney to Universal travel logistics

[DisneyMama811]

tentatively planning a trip for next year, original plan was just do WDW but DD7 has gone Harry Potter crazy and is begging to also do HP stuff at Universal.... this will likely be a "once in a childhood" trip for our kids and we aren't opposed to the idea, I'm just trying to figure out logistics, we are planning to stay at All Star movies and weren't planning to rent a car.... so now I'm trying to figure out what transportation options there would be from Disney to Universal, (would Uber go that far?) or do I tack Universal on to the end of the trip (planning to set two days for Universal) and move to a cheaper hotel closer to Universal for the end of the trip? do I just bite the bullet and rent a car..

 

[daae3]

You can Uber to Universal from Disney. I did it from Pop. It’s not terribly expensive. We took a taxi back because there was a huge line of them available as we left. I liked tacking on Universal at the end of the trip better than the one day. HP covers 2 parks, so you need the park to park pass...also, check the universal board for more advice, but we chose to stay at a universal deluxe hotel to get the express pass included...universal is like Disney in that the longer you stay, the less your per day ticket cost is...

 

[Marthasor]

If you plan on doing two days at Uni, I would recommend booking a hotel closer to that park and do a WDW/Uni split. The Uni hotels tend to be less expensive than WDW hotels and some come with the Uni express pass.

 

[CarolynFH]

Another vote for a UOR hotel night. The three deluxe hotels give everyone in the room an Unlimited Express Pass, which is like a FP but better. You have to do the math, but many times the room costs about the same or less than buying the passes for everyone. Check out the boards here: Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure and
Universal Orlando Resorts and Hotels for more information about all of the hotels, not just the UOR deluxe ones, and touring the parks.

 

[kanerf]

There is a city bus line that goes from Disney (I think it is from Disney Springs) to Universal.

 

[RNTeacher]

We were Staying at CR and rented a car for the day to go to UO. A shuttle picked DH up and took him to the car rental center. We spent the day at UO and then DH returned the car that night and took a shuttle back to CR. Of course, all this was pre COVID.

 

[Jennkneefir]

I agree with the folks above who said split stay. Ive done both disney and universal, and are planning a family trip for next year where we plan to do a split stay. The Universal hotels are way cheaper than disney, and most are walkable to the parks. It makes it so easy to take a midday break or to pop back in the evening. Universal is also pretty mellow as far as planning goes, but its nice to have 2 or 3 days to explore. Our last trip we stayed at Adventura hotel, and would highly recommend. You can walk across the street to Sapphire Falls and take the boat to and from the parks. Its a really nice way to start and end the day. Way better than going through the hassle of the main entrance security.

 

[bdiddy]

We just did a 10 day trip at Universal and Disney. We've done it before and we like to end with Disney so we always go to Universal first. But we just take an uber from the airport to our Universal resort (Cabana Bay) and then use their onsite buses (super easy and fast!) and then we uber from Cabana Bay over to our Disney Resort and then when it's time to leave we take the Magic Express to the airport. You could always do that in reverse though.

 

[bdiddy]

I also wanted to say - check the Universal deals because when we went last month (booked in Feb), it was $1600 for the 4 of us for a 4 day pass (only used 3 days) including the park-to-park (hopper) and the resort stay. There are 4 of us and I thought that was a great deal considering I was about to buy tickets for just two days and it was almost $1000 and that didn't include the offsite hotel I was going to book.

 

[Akck]

Another vote for doing UO as an add-on any staying at a Universal deluxe resort. When we did it in December, the Express Pass made every ride virtually a walk-on. The Royal Pacific Resort is likely the cheapest of the deluxe resorts and if you look at the cost to buy the Express Pass, it can make the resort stay free. We did a 3 night stay and we were able to leisurely visit the parks.

 

[rwdavis2]

Yes, I would add 2 days to the end of the trip and stay at one of the hotels that jas free Express Pass: Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, or Portifino.

 

[joelkfla]

There is a city bus line that goes from Disney (I think it is from Disney Springs) to Universal.

No, it goes to SeaWorld, but not to Universal.