Disney 5-Day or Universal 5-Day?

This December, the day after Christmas me and my family will be travelling via air to Orlando.

I was wondering if it's better to go to Universal Orlando, Sea World, BGT, and Wet 'n' Wild

or

the 4 Disney Parks and a Waterpark or DisneyQuest.

I've been to all of the parks I want to go too, but I never really got to appreciate Disney, but Front of the Line sounds really tempting too.

I have about 5 days to spend in Orlando.

Remember that BGT is not IN Orlando, you will need a whole day devoted to that just due to the drive.

Uh, were going for the whole...taking shuttles and such...we don't wanna drive or rent one taxi.

I think the best way is a Disney 4 day park hopper and then go to IOA on the 5th day. You'll be dissapointed if you miss any of those.

As for the shuttles, I tried that one time and ended up in a world of confusion. Try taking a town car. Mears Transportation (www.mearstransportation.com) offers reliable travel accomodations. I'm not too sure how efficient the taxi system is.

Edit: I forgot to add. If you're not driving yourself or renting a car, stay on Disney property. It's not expensive (to relative hotels) and the Disney free bus system to all the parks and Downtown Disney is really convienient.

*** Edited 8/2/2004 4:45:58 PM UTC by one sided soldier***

Is there even a shuttle or taxi that goes from Orlando --> Tampa?

No shuttles from Orlando to Tampa, you can get a town car which will for a price, or there is other limited means.

Here is the shuttle you can take from orlando to busch gardens it free if you have the 5-park flex ticket.

http://www.atlasmc.com/bgse/

Unless you concider renting a car, don't go to the Universal/BGT/Sea World/Wet n' Wild combo. Also, just go to Disney for 4 days, then IOA one day. It's the best idea. Also, stay on site for Disney, it just works better, even if it does cost slightly more.

BGT is about one hour from the I-Drive area, not bad at all. We did Sea World and BGT the same day in November and had no problem hitting most of the good stuff at both.

Do keep in mind that in terms of sheer value, I don't think anything in Orlando beats the $95 tickets you can buy online that cover five days. You can't buy them at the park, only online.

Disney has more to see! The Universal stuff is more thrilling if you are in it for coasters! I'll be there for about 20 days the same time you are. We usually buy a season pass to both as this is the cheapest method. If you have not done Disney before, I would suggest that this is the way to go. However, Islands of Adventure alone is worth a one day taxi ride!

JMO!

Well, I have already did Disney, and my Parents now like the idea of Universal. So, we will be going there. We will obviously get a travel agent for this because my parents live by travel agents. But, is there any good method of getting down to Busch Gardens from Universal without paying an extravagant amount of money or driving yourself. Because we will be flying there and my dad doesn't want to drive around down there because he doesn't want to learn how to, and I will only be staying 5 or 6 days because of school starting January 4th.

P.S. Which is the best hotel to stay at on property for Universal. I have heard some bad things about Hard Rock.

P.P.S. Are the front of the line cards unlimited for as many times you want to go ride a ride. Say if I wanted to ride Hulk 100 times in a row for instance, because that helped make our decision too. We rather have front of the line then fastpass from Disney.

Thanks for all the help guys!

I can't say anything bad about the Hard Rock hotel. I've been down to Universal three times now, and I stayed at the Hard Rock twice.

The other stay was at the Portifino Bay hotel, which was also nice, but NOT within easy walking distance to either of the parks. Sure, it is possible to go around the lagoon, but it is quite a hike from either the Portifino or Royal Pacific.

The Hard Rock is the only one that will not require a water taxi from the CityWalk area, and as much as it seems like it wouldn't be a problem, when you have a lot of people waiting for such a slow boat... Good Lord, it gets annoying.

Edited to answer another question...
The front of the line passes you get with your hotel's room key are good for as many rides as you want. The only thing stopping you from riding Hulk 100 times in a row is your own feeling of guilt and the stares of the other riders...

Keep in mind, however, that during particularly busy times at the hotels, there will be a line for the Express pass users too. When I was there last week, it was about 15-20 minutes (but the park was packed). When I went in mid-January of this year, it was 0-5.

If you decide to go there from the Disney property (there is, supposedly, bus transportation, but I haven't seen it) you can also use the Disney-style system (insert pass, get time, come back later), or the Six Flags system (pay).

Last week, I got to IOA at 10:00 AM (1 hr. after opening), the park was packed, and the first reservation for Hulk was for 8:30 PM. On the other hand, I decided to buy a front-of-line pass (about $30) which gave me one line-skip on each Express attraction any time I wanted to use it.

Understand that, if you decide to stay at a Universal hotel, having unlimited FOL uses will pretty much get you done with each park in one day (two absolutely tops). If you want to go to Sea World (and you should; Kraken is great), Universal DOES offer a free shuttle service from their hotels. *** Edited 8/3/2004 12:12:39 AM UTC by I-Nar***

What about Busch Gardens?

Holy blackout date, Batman!

$109.95 woulda got you an Annual Power Pass that would admit you for a whole year except summer weekends, Spring Break and uh, the week you'll be going. That must suck.

-'Playa

*** Edited 8/3/2004 12:46:37 AM UTC by CoastaPlaya***

Dude that sucks, but im going to all 4 parks anyway...

In that case, the 5 Park Flex ticket might be worth shopping for....but note that I said might. It's good for each park you mentioned plus Wet n' Wild Orlando for 14 days. At first blush, I'm seeing online prices of $211, so you might do better getting admission a la carte.

-'Playa

I have to admit that the thing that has kept me from revisiting Disney is that I don't know where the good deals are in terms of multi-day tickets. The Universal thing was a no-brainer for me, but I can't find anything that screams "good deal" like that for Disney.

They have no 'good deal'. Their theory is that they have the superior product, and people will pay for it. Its kind of a shame, becauseI myself with IAAPA every year, I would love a 2 day park hopper.

With the Universal season pass, 2 days visiting, free parking, and food and merch. discounts pay for itself. Disney misses out on a lot of action by wanting the full 5 day hopper. Their commercials are good, however, with that yellow ticket guy running around.

I couldn't tell you about BGT, as I've only ever been there through Naples. (Which is probably a much longer drive anyway, at 2.5 hours.)

Disney's park hopper tickets (the ultimate ones, which include the 4 parks, 2 water parks, and DisneyQuest) will run you around $60 per day for the length of your stay. I had some for 4 days and they turned out being just under $240 a person. Not a horrible price, but certainly no bargain. Anything you'll find at Universal is better.

Your other option is always taking a cab/bus to Disney from the Universal complex if you REALLY want to see something (Mission: Space is pretty good... once.) Just be warned: If you're the first person that your cab driver takes into the Disney property on that day, you'll be stuck with an extra $8 parking charge. Any subsequent visitor will get to get in for free, because Disney hands out all-day parking passes for cabs after they pay the initial $8 fee.

(If you're curious, I know this because our driver from the Disney complex to Universal was extremely adament about how much he hated this policy.)

I was just watching the Travel Channel Secrets: Universal Studios. They mentioned smoething about a VIP tour. Is that VIP tour worth the money?

Also, does any one have more information on what it is?