Stay at WDW, day trip to USO?

[2vets]

Hi, all -

Every two years, DH and I attend a conference in Orlando - no kids, and cost isn't really a factor to us (no big suites or anything, but we prefer CL in deluxe resorts). The last two times, we've added on a little jaunt to WDW. We stayed first at BC CL (3 nights), and the next time at Poly CL (4 nights). Both of those trips took place during FWF. DH tolerates these and is a great sport, but the reality is that I'm the addict. On the 4-day trip, we ran out of things to do after a few days. Insane, I know, but there you are. He definitely preferred staying in the Epcot area over MK area.

I've been visiting WDW since the 70's, and every time I go, the crowds seem to worsen. And DH's tolerance can tank out pretty fast in crowds... On our last trip, we vowed to visit USO next time we were in Orlando (gasp, heresy). DH has never been there - more rides, but he's not into Harry Potter, so I don't know that he'd need more time than just for roller coasters and MIB!

That trip is coming up in mid-Nov. This could be a sweet spot in terms of crowds, but I suspect that it will overlap the beginning of the holiday festivities.

I'm booking something coming up in a few days, arriving on a Saturday and departing first thing Tuesday. I was looking at Portofino Bay in USO, but then I started thinking about the lack of fireworks. The lack of magic of Disney and the WDW resorts. And I started bumming - hard! I am seriously considering booking a room in the Epcot area with maybe a 2-day parkhopper, then buying a one-day pass with express option for USO. I started thinking about BC, or YC, or maybe BWI CL...

Seriously, how insane an idea is this? I mean, it's clearly not the cheapest way to go, but is this nuts?

Thanks for helping me feed my Disney Resort addiction, no matter your responses.

 

[fizzymint]

I think that with every trip we make to Orlando, we'll always do a day at UO (probably two when the new park opens), but I'll always want to stay at WDW. Since it sounds like you're going to do at least a day in the parks there, I don't see why this would be crazy.

Full disclosure, I worked at UO for a few years in the early 2000s and did love Portofino Bay at the time. But all the Disney perks are too great for me to want to stay there if I'm doing WDW as well.

 

[2vets]

Thank you so much! If memory serves, if we're not much into shows and we have an Express Pass, we should be able to get quite a bit done in one day...but my memory is pre-all Harry Potter stuff. What's your opinion?

 

[fizzymint]

It depends on your interest in things -- we don't love the really big coasters, so one day with express passes is absolutely enough for us (Harry Potter, ET, MIB, and Spider-Man being our favorite rides, and walking around The Simpsons/Jurassic Park is fun). I do think that right now, unless you want to do literally everything, you're safe spending a day there with the express pass. You just might have a long day!

 

[2vets]

OK - thanks so much. Dh is only tolerant of so many prodding questions, but I'll see if I can get a feel for his interest in the various rides/lands before I decide.

 

[kaytieeldr]

With all your trips being to your happy place, with him tolerating, why not make this trip about him? Study up on Universal, maybe get a couple of specific guidebooks, focus on everything USO has to offer, not what ut doesn't?

 

[2vets]

With all your trips being to your happy place, with him tolerating, why not make this trip about him? Study up on Universal, maybe get a couple of specific guidebooks, focus on everything USO has to offer, not what ut doesn't?

You're absolutely right - this is what I did last night, so I'm glad you put this here. I talked to him about all 3 options (only USO/IA, stay at WDW and take a day at USO/IA, only WDW). He's excited to revisit some things at WDW and VERY excited about the potential that Star Wars stuff will be open during our trip, and he wants to see USO/IA and ride some of the bigger coasters - and a return to Shula's was also one of the first things he mentioned. He was excited about the idea of doing both and staying at an Epcot hotel, so that's what we're doing. As the trip approaches (and once we're sure the new land will be open in mid-Nov), I'll see if we can watch some of the Star Wars movies together - I am behind on many of the newer ones - so we can appreciate the new "land" despite the inevitable madhouse it'll be right after it opens!!! He even selected the hotel (I think we're going to do BWI deluxe CL), so we should be all set

 

[FSU Girl]

I think the deluxe Universal hotels are nicer than the Disney ones. I love Portofino and Royal Pacific. The themeing is amazing and I've only experienced great service. They also have club level if that's a requirement to stay there. One thing I love about staying in those hotels is the Express Pass thats included. This would help your husband with the crowds not having to wait in long lines. Hard Rock is really nice too, but I've only visited never stayed there. If the focus of the trip is Universal I would definitely stay at one of their hotels. Even for one night it would be worth it since you'd get the Express Pass for check in and check out dates.

 

[2vets]

Thanks so much, FSU Girl. It's more about wanting to be able to easily do just the items we want to do, which include Universal - and DH really loves CL, so that part's not optional. I have stayed at all three of the the deluxe-like USO resorts (though back in the 00's) and recall them all being fantastic, especially Portofino Bay. But with 2.5 park days, a DH who finds Harry Potter "annoying", and no real nighttime fireworks at Universal, we decided last night that a 100% USO/IA visit isn't the best option. We can always buy an Express Pass and probably will if the crowd calendars indicate that it would be beneficial. This is clearly not the least expensive way to do any of this, but we only visit Orlando for a few days every 2 years, so we can afford to splurge on those days.

 

[AngiTN]

We do it all the time
We hold AP to both. Stay at Disney and hop in a car to universal for the afternoon (our ap includes Express pass after 4)