I am planning a Disney trip for myself and 2 kids aged 11 and 8 at the time of travel. My plans are to go at the end of August or in the month of Sepember and stay in Disney. We are only going for 3 nights and 4 days so I'm thinking 3 parks unless we can squeeze a 4th. I've been doing some reading and I think my 11 year old will benefit most from Universal Studios. I was reading that AK and DHS can be done in a shorter time frame. I definitely want to plan a full day at MK. I was then thinking Epcot and Universal Studios. If, depending on flights, we have enough time to visit a 4th, I was thinking DHS. Maybe on the day we arrive or leave as we will have less time.
Also is there free of charge transportation from the Disney resort to Universal S? We plan to stay in a Disney hotel.
Can someone with experience provide their opinion on whether or not this plan makes sense? Am I not thinking of something? Is this even doable?
Thanks in advance and I'm sorry if this question has been asked before.
Keep in mind, this is a WDW forum, not a Universal forum.
We love Universal and go often. I can't say which experience you would value more, because that is personal.
Before you decide, make sure you know the prices.
If you are already spending 3 days at WDW, adding AK will cost less than a day at Universal.
You will need transportation, and that will cost $. You can go with something like an Uber, there are also buses (I don't suggest), shuttles , and you could also get a rental car for the day or week.
While a rental car costs the most, it can sometimes be partly offset by a trip to the grocery store. A case of water at the grocery store costs $5 or less(24). Bottled water in WDW costs something like $2.50/bottle. So just buying one case of water in a store vs. buying 24 bottles in the parks = a (potential) crazy savings of $55.
One offsite meal can also cost less than onsite. It isn't for me to say that any offsite eatery = a princess buffet, but we often feel offsite meals offer better quality for less $. Mind, we only eat one or two meals offsite, like on the way to the airport, not every meal, because:
Time is $.
It is totally doable to go to both WDW and Universal. If your family loves HP, then the HP lands are both just super-amazing.
As WDW has 4 parks, Universal has 2. If you are trying to decide on one of the 2 Universal parks, and HP is a big factor- then I suggest choosing Diagon Alley (The Universal Studios side of US) over the park called Islands of Adventure.
I have been to both places many times...so maybe not a newcomer. Universal and WDW are a little ways apart, but we often do WWD split stays. It isn't all that hard to go form one to the other, as long as you have priced out both options.