First time doing Disney/Universal

[Fedupoftheshits]

Hi all,

We are looking to go to Disney World and Universal in last two weeks of August 2027. There’s 4 of us, 2 adults 2 DC 14 and 9

Quite like the thought of staying at an onsite hotel at each resort for a week so 14 days total.

Currently thinking of Pop Century at Disney and Cabana Bay at Orlando - Prices are coming out around £12k with Virgin, that’s a standard room in each hotel and park tickets.

As I’ve never been before, I’m not sure if this is a good price or not? Does it pay to book so early in advance? Or should we hold off until this time next year to book? I’ve noticed that Disney has 25% off tickets for this year so wonder if they do that every year?

I’ve had a look on forums and YouTube but I’m still feeling overwhelmed by all the different options to be honest!

That sounds about right price=wise and a good plan for first timers.

We just assemble our own packages now (been 5 times). The food prices are stupidly expensive for generally low quality. We now rent a villa at WDW with our own lounge and kitchen. Day 1 we shop at Publix or Walmart (get an uber). Then again, we just relax in the morning and hit the parks after a cooked lunch. You'll want to be hitting the parks at rope-drop to get as much in as possible.

If you'd like to see how the other half live (joking!). Look up OWK 1 Bed in YT. And if it appeals then check the costs on https://dvcrequest.com/dvc-guests/cost-calculator

Have a great time. The kids will love it. You might too!

Do you really want to do 2 weeks in one room with one bathroom and will the kids happily share a bed?

in Disney I’d be looking at a hotel that has skyliner access. Disney is 4 big parks so you’ll probably want more days there than universal. If budget allows it might be worth looking at a premium universal hotel that includes express passes for the 2 older parks

If you DO decide to go, then take out an Amex Platinum Credit card (look for 100K MR Points incentive). The annual fee is daft. However all you need to do is the spend the 10K for your holiday, get the points, transfer them to Avios or Virgin and then cancel the account to get a pro-rata refund of that fee. It's the cheapest way to rack up airmails that I know. Rinse and repeat every two years.

It’s very expensive end of. Self catering will save you money if you’re up for it but I just went for less time and paid for food, we combined the parks with a cruise (4 days of Disney really was enough, only so much I can deal with!) we didn’t do universal as my theme park tolerance isn’t that high. We cruised from port canaveral

True. Self-catering is better for subsequent trips.

Personally, I'm on a mission with WDW. The more they try to open my wallet to pay for low quality items (think merch and food) and things that used to be free such as fast paths, the more tightly I close my wallet. My best days are where I enjoy the parks and spend nothing more than the £50 I pad to get in.

Hi we went with Virgin last year. Family of 6. We paid £5800 for Virgin flights and hotel (Holiday Inn was fab). Then park tickets (did 6 days mixture of Disney and Universal) was £2000. All in less than 8k. Used to Uber to get around which was another £100-150 roughly. Had some pool and shopping days. Been a few times. Always do this. Enjoy 😊

Sorry. Should have said. This was July. School holidays so peak time!

Check your dates carefully as there is usually a price drop mid-late August at the end of peak season. Great if you can make it home just in time for start of school term. And you might see the decor change to Halloween.

Food is expensive but there are plenty of ways to save. When it’s hot you won’t feel like eating! Stuff like cinnamon buns for breakfast are huge and shareable depending on appetite. Order the kids quick service meals or share platters for lunch if you don’t have huge appetites. Outside the parks in Disney Springs the quick service places for pizzas, chicken, burgers, sandwiches, noodles etc are affordable. Check out Disney Food Blog, it’s easy to avoid fast food. Obviously you can go off-site but then have to factor in Uber/Lyft x2 which eats into any savings. Also supermarkets are very expensive so we usually just buy snacks (crisps, fruit, cereal bars) to take with us.

POP Century is a great pick, but the rooms have a double and a double pull down bed which isn’t huge if the DC are sharing. We’ve taken an airbed in the past when DC refused to share and asked for extra bedding. If you want separate beds and your 9yo is 5’ or under, have a look at the 5-sleepers at Port Orleans Riverside which have 2 doubles and a Murphy bed. Cannot beat POP for value and location IMO.

For Universal, check if it still the case that you get front of line passes in the premium hotels. A cheeky wheeze is to arrive very early morning and leave late on final day as the pass is valid for both arrival and departure days. This may be beneficial in peak season as the passes alone are £££.

Pop century is fun, we stayed there in September our boys shared as it’s 2 big king beds ( maybe bigger) was really handy for the sky liner and we have a great time, we’ve only done the dockside universal hotel which I didn’t really like. Price things up separately as sometimes you can get better prices that way. I’m sure Disney are doing 25% off just now so look into that.
have a lovely time when you go

You might find this useful, it includes accommodation recs to:

https://onceuponaplanuk.etsy.com/listing/4375256156