Tickets:
Universal tickets 14 days unlimited park to park £85, around $120 (two parks). Works out over two weeks to less than $9 per day.
Disney ticket 14 days unlimited park to park £225, around $360 (four parks, two water parks and DQ). Works out over two week to nearly $26 per day.
Both offer different value for money, but if you don't want to spend every day at Disney and just spend 7 days out of 14 the daily price has doubled to over $50, which is a lot of money even for the 3 of us, whereas 7 days at USF would still work out quite cheap at only $18 a day. In the height of summer it would be expensive to buy express passes for US, but if we get in early enough we shouldn't really need them. Disneys FP are great if you get in early and get to store them up for later in the day, but turn up late and you're stuck with late in the day FPs or none at all and standby lines.
Accomodation:
We have always rented a villa every time we've visited and get a four bed, two bath behind Medieval Times for £400 ($580) per week. We can get up as early as we like, sit outside by the pool and have a coffee and a smoke in our sleep wear. We couldn't do this at any hotel on-site at either WDW or US. It usually takes us a couple of coffees and cigarettes to liven us up in the morning and we don't want to have to get dressed to go and find a smoking area, only to go back to a room to get showered and ready. Personal preference I know, but on-site is not going to be on our radar any time soon. We also like the space to spread out like we do at home. Two weeks in one room would be hell for us (teenage daughter
).
Food:
Although we do like to eat sometimes at Disney, we don't want to plan our lives around meal times 6 months from now, we wouldn't at home, so why should we have to when we're on holiday. I like to eat when I'm hungry, if I eat more than I should for breakfast (which I often do) I won't be ready for a 1pm ADR.
To sum up, we're coming in a little over 3 weeks time, we'll have US/IOA tickets for 14 days, stay in a lovely villa with its own pool and hot-tub and eat when we want to. If we decide that Boardwalk and DTD isn't enough of a Disney fix we'll get a two day ticket at the gate and get there early to get as many FPs as possible and get as much done as we can. We'll only do MK and MGM
Studios as Epcot is not our favourite park and we don't really like the zoo at all.