Disney, Universal and Legoland in Dec

[Poeticxpassion]

Hi all! 

DH, DS and I want to go to Disney, universal and Legoland in the beginning of December of this year. Is it too early to book? 

I grew up, going to the Disney parks every weekend, but I haven’t been in several years and now I have MS, which makes mobility a factor as well as waiting in lines in the heat. I am overwhelmed. Trying to figure out how to make this all work.

Does anyone have any suggestions of where to start? I remember there being some Disney travel agents on this board if anyone has any recommendations. We want to fly in from Denver to Orlando, hit the parks then rent a car, drive down to Legoland and then go visit my parents who are near Clearwater Beach. Total would probably be 10 days. Budget is very flexible.

[roo54]

It's not too early to book, in face in some cases depending on where you want to stay/what week in December it could be too late. I'd say the first step would be to figure out what level hotel you want to stay at (value, moderate, deluxe) and go from there.

I'm not the main travel agent that has been recommended on this board over and over again, but I am a travel agent as well and would be happy to help you. I can send you a private message if you'd like more information.

[mrsslocombe]

I highly recommend TamiTaylor as a Disney Travel Agent.

It's definitely not too early to book now, and especially if you work with an agent, they can make adjustments if you want to change your resort, park days, etc in the future.

I would start with figuring out the answer to these questions:
1. Do you want to stay on Disney property, or off?
2. What sort of hotel experience do you want-on property Disney hotels range from around $150 to $800+ per night.
3. Do you want to stay at the same hotel for Disney and Universal, or do you want to switch? Personally I favor staying in the same hotel the whole time, and just using Uber (it's about $20-25 each way from Disney to Universal).
4. How many park days at Disney, how many days at Universal?

Once you have those answers, you can focus on the other things later.

One thing to keep in mind is that they have the Very Merry Christmas Party certain nights at the Magic Kingdom, which is a separate ticketed event. There are special characters and parades during the party, but it is an evening/nighttime thing, so I would either plan on that being your ONLY park that day, or use that day to go to another park during the day. They have not announced dates for that event yet. But you can schedule around that at a later date.

It must be so overwhelming to try to figure out how to do everything, here is just a sample of what I would do:

Day 1: Orlando arrival-check out pools, Disney Springs, maybe a fun dinner
Day 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3: Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, depending on interest
Day 4. Epcot
Day 5: Magic Kingdom
Day 6: Rest day
Day 7: Universal
Day 8: Legoland (don't think you need a full day here, so would travel to Clearwater after the park)
Day 9: Clearwater
Day 10: Travel to Orlando/Fly Home

[momin2013]

How old is your DS? We took our DS to Universal last year when he was 9, and he was at the beginning of the perfect age for it, IMO.

You mention renting a car after visiting the parks, so I assume your plan is to take a taxi from Orlando airport to your first resort location, then again to a second resort near the other park/s? Without a car you’ll likely want to stay on property for both the Disney parks and Universal, then take the shuttle into your park each day. I’d say that should work fine.

We stayed at Cabana Bay, and really liked it. It was reasonable, and the shuttle to Universal was easy and convenient. We’re not really into thrill rides, so we got one day park-to-park passes and easily hit everything we wanted to (we skipped most of the thrill rides). If you want to hit more of the big rides you might want two days to do both Universal and IofA. Cabana Bay also backs onto Volcano Bay but we’re not big water park people so we skipped that park.

We haven’t done Disney in several years so I don’t have much advice there. I do think you should be able to get accommodations/wheelchair if you like for any parks you go to, so definitely check into that when buying your park tickets.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

I think it’s a good idea to get started now. One tip I’m going to offer up (since I haven’t been in 12 years and am learning as i go) If you decide to try and get a disability pass (at Disney it’s called DAS) focus on the difficulty waiting in line, not the mobility factor. That’s what the pass is intended to help with.

I hope that you guys have a great time!

[TamiTaylor]

Mar 16, 2023 14:58:57 GMT -5 mrsslocombe said:

I highly recommend TamiTaylor as a Disney Travel Agent.

It's definitely not too early to book now, and especially if you work with an agent, they can make adjustments if you want to change your resort, park days, etc in the future.

I would start with figuring out the answer to these questions:
1. Do you want to stay on Disney property, or off?
2. What sort of hotel experience do you want-on property Disney hotels range from around $150 to $800+ per night.
3. Do you want to stay at the same hotel for Disney and Universal, or do you want to switch? Personally I favor staying in the same hotel the whole time, and just using Uber (it's about $20-25 each way from Disney to Universal).
4. How many park days at Disney, how many days at Universal?

Once you have those answers, you can focus on the other things later.

One thing to keep in mind is that they have the Very Merry Christmas Party certain nights at the Magic Kingdom, which is a separate ticketed event. There are special characters and parades during the party, but it is an evening/nighttime thing, so I would either plan on that being your ONLY park that day, or use that day to go to another park during the day. They have not announced dates for that event yet. But you can schedule around that at a later date.

It must be so overwhelming to try to figure out how to do everything, here is just a sample of what I would do:

Day 1: Orlando arrival-check out pools, Disney Springs, maybe a fun dinner
Day 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3: Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, depending on interest
Day 4. Epcot
Day 5: Magic Kingdom
Day 6: Rest day
Day 7: Universal
Day 8: Legoland (don't think you need a full day here, so would travel to Clearwater after the park)
Day 9: Clearwater
Day 10: Travel to Orlando/Fly Home

Thank you! Poeticxpassion PM if you would like any help, remember it’s free to use a travel agent.