Thinking about stepping outside the bubble...

[1911]

and going to universal next year and possibly seaworld. please tell me about universal, is it a whole week experience? 2 day? 3 day?
we go to universal Hollywood all the time and it is at best a one day park if it's really crowded.

 

[skylock]

2 days, maybe 3 if you do all day. We usually do 4 with express passes, but we like to go do other things or go back to the hotel for a while.

 

[damo]

We like 3 days. If you throw in one at SeaWorld and one at Volcano Bay, it is easily 5 days.

 

[gotomu212]

It may depend on where you stay and when you are going as well. If you’re staying at one of the UO hotels with EP you can cover a lot in the parks quickly and may need less time. The pools onsite are great if you’re into that and we like a few afternoons to enjoy them too.

 

[DisBuckMan]

We absolutely love UO, but 2 full days per trip is enough for us. We stay one night at either RPR, HRH, or PB so we get Express Passes, and we're able to do everything...multiple times...and that's plenty for us. We usually are leaving by 6 or so the 2nd afternoon, too.

We go 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[rwdavis2]

The best attractions at Universal are better than almost all the ones at WDW. IMHO. Theming is not quite so prevalent as it is in WDW.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We are here now and it’s our first Universal trip not staying on Universal property (we are staying at Disney and doing a couple of Universal days).

I can’t recommend enough staying on Universal property, no matter what. The parking garage is a madhouse, and traffic around Universal is terrible. It is so much easier to stay on site.

Once we are here, though, we can get so much done. We’ve only been here about twelve hours over two days and we’ve done everything we wanted to do (and we didn’t have express passes).

The Universal resorts have great pools, so if you stay on site, you will want to schedule in some good pool time.

 

[soniam]

I prefer 2.5-3 days at a minimum, and we always stay on site at a deluxe to get Express Pass. I really prefer more than 3. Universal is so much like a vacation within a vacation. We almost always do Universal and Disney during the same trip.

 

[AllieBoo]

We went for our first trip a few weeks ago and did 3 full days in the parks. That was plenty of time for us to see everything. We stayed at Royal Pacific, so we had EP and were able to ride things multiple times. Four days would've been too much for us I think.

 

[damo]

We went for our first trip a few weeks ago and did 3 full days in the parks. That was plenty of time for us to see everything. We stayed at Royal Pacific, so we had EP and were able to ride things multiple times. Four days would've been too much for us I think.

Did you do Volcano Bay?

 

[AllieBoo]

Did you do Volcano Bay?

No, we did not

 

[pattyw]

I would pick 3 days at Universal. This will give you plenty of time to see all the attractions. And if you're onsite deluxe with unlimited EP, even better!!

We've done Sea World in one day, but it's hard to see all the shows and do the rides in one day. You can upgrade and purchase reserved seating at the shows which will save you time.

 

[1911]

we would stay onsite if we went,my concern was how do we fill our week? we have no problems at Disneyworld finding ways to occupy our time.

 

[nkereina]

3 days for us - usually spend a full day at Universal, 1/2-3/4 of a day at IOA, and a third day to revisit our favorite attractions. We go at a slower pace and find time to enjoy the resort pool as well. If time is of the essence, I think 2 days is doable as well.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I like 3-4 days. I would say that if you consider Hollywood to be a 1 day visit, you will consider Orlando to be a 2 day visit. It has more rides and they are spread over 2 parks. It has more "lands" similar to the Harry Potter area in Hollywood where there is tons of theming that is fun to get immersed in.

 

[TommyJK]

Our optimal breakdown is 3-4 Days in the 2 parks, with Express Pass Staying on-site.

For each of those 3-4 park days we like to take a few hour break mid-day back at the resort (when its hottest so we can enjoy some downtime at the pools).

This IMO is more than enough time to do everything we'd want to do, multiple times (because who wants to ride all of the awesome attractions only once each????)

 

[maverik85]

Depends on how you like to do your trips. You can cover the theme parks easily in 2 days, possibly one if lines are short but would be rushed. If you want a more relaxed pace and see all the shows then 3 days is a good amount. If you like to hang out around the resorts, really check out CityWalk, and hit up Volcano Bay (plus throw in a day at Sea World) and you could easily turn it into a 5/6 day trip. If you have time and like going around shops like at CityWalk, I definitely would recommend stopping by Disney Springs as well. It is an awesome area with lots of great shops and dining. It is just down the street from Universal and parking is free (at least last time I was there).

 

[tarak]

We’ve been to Universal twice and only planned for two days. Next trip, we’re planning to stay four nights, so we’ll have three full days at the parks, plus some time the day we arrive and check out to explore a bit. We’ve made over a dozen trips to WDW and were very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Universal. Our last trip, our youngest was too short to ride a good number of rides, but she should be good for the majority of attractions. We absolutely plan to stay on site (probably RPR), so we can use the express pass. I can’t see making a week of just those parks. But if you stay onsite and take day trips, absolutely.

 

[1911]

how does city walk compare to disney springs? city walk in hollywood really isn't much IMO.

 

[tarak]

how does city walk compare to disney springs? city walk in hollywood really isn't much IMO.

I wasn’t impressed, but I don’t think I’m the target audience (mid-forties, traveling with younger kids). For me, Disney Springs has something for every age. I would have enjoyed City Walk in my 20s, most likely. I haven’t been since 2016, though, so it might have changed in the last two years.