My husband and I have two kids - 7yo and 3yo and we do one 7-14 day Disney vacation each year. We are NOT Star Wars fans and with the opening moving up are thinking it's a great time to try Universal this year, along with Sea World again and maybe another place or two.
Historically at Disney we have NOT valued staying at nicer resorts - we always end up back at value resorts standard rooms. We are looking at Universal options and the main motivation for the Universal Resorts are the Express Passes at the top tier resorts.
My question is - for a mid-September trip is an express pass really that needed? My 3yo can't ride the bigger stuff, my 7yo won't want to ride it, and my husband is 6'4" 280lb husband might not fit some of them. I am willing to single rider line (we will if my husband can fit anyway).
I do like the idea of walking on or nearly walking on rides, but I've also read that the ride lines are nice anyway. I'm concerned about travel time (we never stay offsite at Disney because driving and parking scares me) but feel like maybe Universal won't be the grand scale Disney is..? Also, we have yet to successfully take a mid-day break at Disney for kid naps, so being close for that isn't necessary.
I've found where we can stay at Holiday Inn Resort Orlando Suites - Waterpark for $59 a night. Should I try this route or just stay onsite and get the express passes?
BTW - we HATE moving rooms - so onsite for a few days then offsite is NOT an option.
Historically at Disney we have NOT valued staying at nicer resorts - we always end up back at value resorts standard rooms. We are looking at Universal options and the main motivation for the Universal Resorts are the Express Passes at the top tier resorts.
My question is - for a mid-September trip is an express pass really that needed? My 3yo can't ride the bigger stuff, my 7yo won't want to ride it, and my husband is 6'4" 280lb husband might not fit some of them. I am willing to single rider line (we will if my husband can fit anyway).
I do like the idea of walking on or nearly walking on rides, but I've also read that the ride lines are nice anyway. I'm concerned about travel time (we never stay offsite at Disney because driving and parking scares me) but feel like maybe Universal won't be the grand scale Disney is..? Also, we have yet to successfully take a mid-day break at Disney for kid naps, so being close for that isn't necessary.
I've found where we can stay at Holiday Inn Resort Orlando Suites - Waterpark for $59 a night. Should I try this route or just stay onsite and get the express passes?
BTW - we HATE moving rooms - so onsite for a few days then offsite is NOT an option.