keishashadow
Proud Redhead...yes, I have some bananas!
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
You all have been wonderful in your help!
Peabody58 - I am jealous! September/October is my favorite time to travel, but my daughter starts back to school in August and my parents are very much willing to keep her during the summer (at their house, in the country, with a pool, with cousins, etc), But were a little more hesitant to spend a week at my house during the school year and juggle homework, after school activities, etc. So since they are willing for summer, we are dealing with what we have to work with
I'm afraid this make get tomatoes thrown at me But for the sake of discussion - being's we are not Harry Potter people by nature... how important is staying at a US hotel? We will have a car and I'm noticing offsite hotels with lesser rates and I don't think we would necessarily mind driving - but we never use a car at Disney so I'm hesitant. Also, over dinner last night, DH thought 5 days at US might be too much? I didn't know. I was thinking taking it slow, go in the mornings and evenings, etc. I can't imagine saying you are bored with any orlando theme park, but for the veterans, is 5 days a bit much?
Many here do both U & WDW in every trip. It can get expensive unless u have APs & pro-rate that cost over several trips IMO.
Honestly, 5 days @ U would be too much for me with WDW APs & prepaid (DVC) burning a hole in my pocket lol.
We rarely visit if offsite guests, just not the same experience. We do enjoy SF when it's slower, even without the FOTL perk. It all depends on where your expectations lay as to # of rides completed.
Re the car, make sure to price it out for your dates if that's a consideration as to your budget. Good rental car rates have been difficult to find last 6 months or so. I had to really work at it. Try pricing thru carrentalsavers or auto-slash to get an idea of what's out there.
I find no advantage to staying onsite at Disney. Their transportation is terrible and unless you are staying at a few select parks, you still need to take the bus. As long as you can get your fastpasses that you want with only the 30 day window, you're good.
With Universal, I find staying onsite to be huge. You actually are ON SITE and can walk. In the summer, proximity to the parks is huge. We never do full days, we just wander around and do as we please, when we please and it makes summer touring very enjoyable.
Staying offsite really takes away from enjoyment at Universal, I find. I would follow Mac's advice and stay at least one night at Royal Pacific.
We rent a car. When we do use internal transportation rarely have waited more than 20 minutes for bus. Typically use uber if alcohol is involved or book where we can walk back to resort from park.
30 day window is nearly impossible for many of the Eticket rides, especially busy season. You may find very late slots open but otherwise, pickings are slim