Last minute Just husband & I going only 3 full days (want to do AK, Uni studios, & Epcot) which hotel & is there really no hopping??

[Bmh4796]

We’ve been 3 times with the kids (5 of them) and have always stayed in one of the monorail access resorts. Always had the dining plan and park hoppers. But this time it will just be me and my husband and i don’t have much time to plan. Husband just found out today that he has to go to Orlando on Tuesday, November 3rd for work, so we figured we will vote early, get a sitter, leave the kids and make a long weekend out of it. We will fly down on Friday oct 30th. Have all day to Disney Saturday, Sunday, and all Monday. He has his work/business thing on Tuesday and we fly home Tuesday. What hotel makes the most sense if we want to hit animal kingdom (mainly to do avatar more than once) and universal studios - we’ve never been to universal- and we’d like to eat dinner in Epcot a couple nights. I think I’d like to go to Main Street USA in magic kingdom and really take in the history - you know the “boring stuff” we could never do with the kids — if i can squeeze that in.

Should we stay off site? We’ve never done that before. I had never considered off site since we always had so many kids in tow, but since just the 2 of us and interested in universal, it might be worth considering??

i want to do a few things in a few parks. Not everything in the parks since we will only be there 3 full days, so I’d really like to park hop. But is that really not an option due to covid? No park hopping? And how shortened are the hours. I’m reading different things. Read they were extended then cut back again??

What if we do animal kingdom in the day but have dinner reservations in Epcot?

is magic kingdom doing the princess castle fireworks with Ariel and Ursula? I should remember the name of it. I cry every time. It’s my favorite. but for some reason it escapes me at the moment. I heard there’s no firework shows due to covid? : (
Is that true?

should we even try to go to Star Wars I’ve heard it’s nearly impossible to get on the main attraction there?? i figured we should skip HS altogether and check out universal instead

anyway, if we can’t park hop maybe my husband should just fly there and back for one night for the business trip and we go another time when we can park hop? I’m torn. What say you?

so many questions - i know.
I’ve never tried to plan a Disney trip in less than 2 weeks!!!

appreciate any guidance and opinions. What say you?

 

[Skippyboo]

No park hopping, no fireworks. Maybe just do Universal. Stay in one the onsite hotels that gives you the Express pass since you have limited time.

 

[hereforthechurros]

If your husband’s work is paying for a rental car I’d definitely stay off-site and drive to each park each day. Not many perks, if any, for staying on-site at the moment.

No fireworks or nighttime shows in any parks. No park hopping.

Definitely a personal decision. More cons than pros for going right now. But if you decide to go decide ASAP so you can book park reservations. They may fill up for Halloween weekend.

Not to pry but are you guys cool spending Halloween without the kids? Just something else to consider!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I would make sure to read everything in the link below, including the links at the bottom to more specific topics such as resorts, the park reservation system, dining, etc. Read it once, let it absorb, then read it again. There’s a lot of info there, but it’s all pretty important in terms of planing/what is available right now.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/
Park hours can easily be found here or in the My Disney Experience app:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/day/

 

[zoo2tycoon]

It might let you book dinner at any park, but you are not able to enter a different park just to eat. As others said no fireworks, parades, resort hopping, etc. Read Know before you go on the Disney website. You do know masks mandatory,

 

[serene56]

The weekend will be super crowded. Especially Halloween. Very expensive to get two day tickets at Disney and a one park to park at universal

 

[martikus]

I would stay at one of the universal hotels that gives express passes and just do those parks. Enjoy some pool time and dinners within universal. You won’t be there long enough for both universal and Disney. And with no park hopping and short hours at Disney I think you’d find universal a great couples weekend.

 

[Bmh4796]

Thanks everyone. Maybe we will just do universal for 2 days and animal kingdom one day then because I reallllly reallllly reallllly want to do avatar as many times as possible. I was only ever able to do it once. It was not this past New Years but the New Years before. We got to the park an hour before magic hours.

or is the avatar line still crazy insane?

 

[Bmh4796]

I would stay at one of the universal hotels that gives express passes and just do those parks. Enjoy some pool time and dinners within universal. You won’t be there long enough for both universal and Disney. And with no park hopping and short hours at Disney I think you’d find universal a great couples weekend.

I never thought about the cost of one day etc. every time we’ve gone it’s been for a week. I always assumed a one day pass was the same no matter what. It’s the sort of thing though buy in bulk Is cheaper?

 

[Bmh4796]

If your husband’s work is paying for a rental car I’d definitely stay off-site and drive to each park each day. Not many perks, if any, for staying on-site at the moment.

No fireworks or nighttime shows in any parks. No park hopping.

Definitely a personal decision. More cons than pros for going right now. But if you decide to go decide ASAP so you can book park reservations. They may fill up for Halloween weekend.

Not to pry but are you guys cool spending Halloween without the kids? Just something else to consider!

I do will/would feel kind of icky missing Halloween. Our 3 oldest are 18,17, and 12 so they don’t “count” as much for Halloween. But our 8 year old and 4 year old.....

We’ve never missed a Halloween before. I wouldn’t feel as bad about it if my parents could come but they can’t because my dad is having back surgery. They’d have to trick or treat with our neighbors and their cousins. And my sister in law just told me they are going out of town.

so yeh. It’s starting to feel like it’s not meant to be. Oh well. C’est la vie!

 

[SugarSweetLee]

I never thought about the cost of one day etc. every time we’ve gone it’s been for a week. I always assumed a one day pass was the same no matter what. It’s the sort of thing though buy in bulk Is cheaper?

Yes, the average price per day for your vacation starts to decrease when you get around 5+ days, since it costs much less to add additional days at that point compared to what the avg cost breakdown for days 1-4 is.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

Thanks everyone. Maybe we will just do universal for 2 days and animal kingdom one day then because I reallllly reallllly reallllly want to do avatar as many times as possible. I was only ever able to do it once. It was not this past New Years but the New Years before. We got to the park an hour before magic hours.

or is the avatar line still crazy insane?

You can follow the average wait times on the Disney app or sites like easywdw. They have been steadily rising and it doesn't appear to be a walk-on any longer like it briefly was earlier in summer. You can ride it as many times as you are willing to spend the time waiting in line for it.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

I do will/would feel kind of icky missing Halloween. Our 3 oldest are 18,17, and 12 so they don’t “count” as much for Halloween. But our 8 year old and 4 year old.....

We’ve never missed a Halloween before. I wouldn’t feel as bad about it if my parents could come but they can’t because my dad is having back surgery. They’d have to trick or treat with our neighbors and their cousins. And my sister in law just told me they are going out of town.

so yeh. It’s starting to feel like it’s not meant to be. Oh well. C’est la vie!

Well it was an exciting and fun 10 minutes to read and think about.

 

[BobaFettuciniAlfredo]

So me and my wife have started going more by ourselves since our kids are getting older. We usually go down to Orlando once or twice a year, but I would stick to either Universal or Disney. We usually alternate, but have been going to Disney more now. In my opinion, it's a pain getting from one park to the other and traffic in Orlando can suck. I avoid driving in Orlando, if at all possible when I'm on vacation. And yes, the price per day goes down when you buy more days. And I've stayed onsite a couple of times and have sworn it off for either park. It's worth the money to stay onsite. The hotel transportation is super unreliable. I have ended up having to wait forever for a bus or just end up driving to the park because I couldn't get one. One time we walked. And if you aren't planning on spending a lot of time at the hotel (which we NEVER do), I would just get the cheapest resort.

 

[SmartyBacon]

.

 

[hereforthechurros]

I do will/would feel kind of icky missing Halloween. Our 3 oldest are 18,17, and 12 so they don’t “count” as much for Halloween. But our 8 year old and 4 year old.....

We’ve never missed a Halloween before. I wouldn’t feel as bad about it if my parents could come but they can’t because my dad is having back surgery. They’d have to trick or treat with our neighbors and their cousins. And my sister in law just told me they are going out of town.

so yeh. It’s starting to feel like it’s not meant to be. Oh well. C’est la vie!

My husband had to miss halloween last year because he was out of town for business so it happens, no judgment!

Break from the kids is good for mom and dad's sanity. If this trip doesn't work out I hope you can book another one soon.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't forget you need park reservations to enter any of the Disney parks. For that weekend, there might not be any reservations left. You need a ticket in order to make a reservation. On site guests may have a better chance at getting park reservations.