Considering a Split Stay in Orlando? Here Are the Pros and Cons!

Hi we stayed disney, Universal and clearwater this year with two kids and loved but quite rushed(18 nights in total) looking for next year so do you think 9 nights disney /9 nights Universal Resort but expensive so thinking 7nigjts disney and 11 nights Universal Resort as saves quite a bit but is 11 nights too long to hang around Universal/use as a base?

We are Staying at Riverside/Disney for 6 days, we have a 3 day WDW parks and 2days @Universal.

Because we will have to Uber to and from Universal, is it possible to do all of the Harry Potter stuff ( our primary reason for needing a 2 day pass) in just one day? Our family is just not into all the rides Universal has to offer. Thank you!

We've been to Disney a few times (staying on property), but have never been to Universal. We're thinking of a trip where we spend a few days at the Universal parks and then a week or so at the Disney parks. Rather than a split stay, how well would it work to stay at Universal the entire time? The hotels seem more reasonably priced than the equivalent Disney hotels. I would miss being in the Disney "bubble" though. What do you think?

We are considering a split stay for October. We are staying 9 nights so thinking 4 then 5. Are we still able to make our advance dining reservations for the whole stay 60 days before our first check in [÷ will we only be able to do them for the first 4 days and have to wait for the second element? If we have to wait, is this likely to impact availability for the harder to get reservations? Many thanks

Hi.

Planning a trip for December. Originally we were planning on doing both parks and stay for. 7 days, now we are thinking of Universal and staying there the 7 days. Does it make sense to hotel Hope among the 3 premier 3 and 4 days? Would it be more accommodating if we don’t have to rush through the parks in the 3 days? I would assume that we would get tickets and express pass at 1 then do the same at the next?

Hi we are arriving to Orlando at 9pm. Does it make sense not to stay at Universal our first because of the cost, and check in the next day?

We are considering extending our upcoming Disney stay. If we stay off site the first part of our trip and then on Disney property the second half of our trip (the extension), when can we book Individual Lightning Lane? Will it vary during the trip based on where we stay or all be the same? Also, same question for the early entry perk.

Planning on going to Orlando 24th April for 12 nights children are 16 , 14, and 12. We only want to visit universal 3 parks would you recommend staying in universal hotel to get express passes for full duration of stay or would you recommend changing hotels after a few days

I am planning a split stay(two ticketless packages) at the same resort because I want to go off property, to St. Augustine, for a couple of days. Will I have a problem storing part of my luggage a Fort Wilderness until my return, if you happen to know how they will handle that?

We are planning a trip. Our children will be 10 and 8 at time of travel. We are planning on doing both Disney and universal, however are a little worried about downtime. We have been to Disney twice and once, with one day off, and the other (the most recent), no break. We came back exhausted. Should I plan Universal towards the end of the trip? We would likely to 7 days total .

Thanks!

We're doing our first and probably only trip to Orlando in Dec. We plan on doing 4 nights at a Disney property, then checking out and moving over to the Hard Rock at Universal. My question is, on the day we check in to Universal, can we arrive early (before official check in which is what, like 3pm?) drop our bags, and still have all the amenities of being a hotel guest at the park (express pass) even though technically we are not checked in as guests yet?

If you book airline outside of Disney resort, how can you get the ride back to airport?

Is it included without booking thru disney?

If you check out of a Universal Hotel and plan at staying a different hotel that night, will the Universal Hotel hold onto your bags during the day of check-out? We will be checking out of a Universal Hotel (Cabana Bay), going straight to Universal Studios theme park, then after the them park picking up our bags and heading to our new hotel that night.

if I have a split stay between a Disney and non-Disney resort, can I get advance fp+ reservation for my entire trip?

Hi there

We're planning our first and probably only visit to WDW in April 17 and want to do a split stay. We are thinking 2 nights LEGOLAND, 2 nights Hard Rock, 6 nights Beach Club and 3 night Animal Kingdom. Does this sound ok?

Thanks

Hi there, planning a 6 day trip to parks - was thinking 2 Universal, 4 Disney in that order based on crowds but just saw post about no airport transport to Universal hotels so may rethink. If doing split stay is it best to check out early, get over to new hotel, leave bags there and come back to check into room later? Thanks

I am planning a Disney vacation for me and my fiance for May 2017. This will be his christmas gift. We are going to go for 8 days Fri to Fri. He, as we talk just in general about always wanting to go to Disney wants to stay half in Disney, half in Universal. My friend just got back from 5 days at Cabana Bay and just went to Universal and said it can be done in one day. I was going to book the Carribbean Beach Resort on Disney property and stay there the entire time. We are in our thirties and although the packing and moving to universal dont bother me too much. Im worried if we move to universal lets say for 4 days its going to be the same rides etc over and over versues staying in Disney, with all thats there and maybe going to Universal only for a day or two and not staying. Someone please help! Thank you!

I am planning a trip to Universal for my daughter and I when we are dropping off my older daughter at college in Daytona. I am wanting to stay at Cabana Bay to get the benefits, but am also trying to save money. (for tuition!!)

If we plan to go to HPW on the day we check out, and store our luggage in our car, can we leave our car in the parking lot and use the shuttle that day back to our car? We will be going to a cheaper hotel that night since we will be leaving the next morning early to head back home.

Thanks for your help!

Thank you for your advice. i learned alot and i am grateful. i was wondering does the walkway to universal have just stairs or can a motor wheelchair be used? Also, Does Cabana Bay have a billards table? Or is there any other Universal hotel that had billards? Thank you.

Do you know if there is a service that will pick up just your bags from a Disney Resort hotel and deliver them to a Universal Hotel, so you could drop your bags off at the front desk on the day of check out and still be free to go to a park without having to come back to the hotel to get you bags, and just cab (or uber) directly from the park to Universal and meet your bags there?

So if we decided to spend The first few days of our 7 day stay at a Disney resort BEFORE we move off property completely, BUT would be spending all of our days at the Disney parks regardless, would we still be able to take advantage of the ADR 180 + 10 for on property guests? Or would we be cut off from making dining reservations after our Disney hotel stay ends? For example if we arrive on a sun and stay on property until tues, can I still book all of my dining through sat with the 180 + 10?? Thanks!

We are doing a split stay next month, with 7 nights in Bonnet Creek and then 2 in Caribbean Beach. We have 7 days in the WDW parks. So, I have a question- do any of the benefits like free parking, EMH, and charging to our magic bands kick in our earlier days in the parks, or do they only start the day of our check in at CB? We have already enjoyed the 60 day FP+ reservations, so at least that was a nice perk! :)

we will be staying in orlando for 6 nights and will be having 1 night in All Star Sports, 1 night in All Star Music, 1 night at All Star Movies & 3 nights at the Grand Floridian Main Building Concierge!

We are planning on doing a split stay this summer, for the reasons mentioned in your article - to get the benefits from staying at an onsite resort hotel. We thought about renting a car for the two days we would be spending at Universal and then returning it and using Magical Express, but the cost difference to keep the car for the whole week was less than $100. This seemed worth the hassle and vacation time lost to us, so we will keep the car until the end of our vacation. We hope that keeping the car will also give us a little more park time on our last day - normally you have to be back at your resort 3 hours before your flight to take the Magical Express back to the airport. In prior visits to the World, we had stayed at monorail hotels to make transportation easier. Keeping the car made us feel adventurous enough to try a Disney hotel that would normally have a longer ride to the parks. Parking at the parks is free for resort guests, so we can drive to them.

We are doing a split stay. I am planning on packing our bags by days instead of by people. So day one clothing will all go in one bag. This way we can pack it up and leave it in the car when we go to the next hotel and we won't have to rummage through 4 suitcases each day.

My brother and I recently (last October) did a split stay 3 days at Universal's Cabana Bay and 3 days at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. The taxi in between resorts was only $23.00. This article is certainly correct in using the benefits of both locations, without staying at Cabana Bay, we would not have gotten early access to Diagon Alley, a must see for us and special line for Halloween Horror Nights, which saved us at least an hour. Then at Disney being able to reserve fast pass plus 30 days earlier than non resort guest ensured us a fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Truly the best of both worlds in one vacation and it was logistically easier than I anticipated.