September 2018 - Disney & Universal

[VS075]

Hi All

Here is our plan for September – we don’t plan meals or generally dine at Disney, so our plan is quite flexible as we don’t need to make reservations.

We’ll pop into Universal/Islands of Adventure if we fancy it after dining at City Walk some evenings and may pool hop between the Universal hotels if we feel like it on the day. We'll also do the new Universal show as and when we can depending on park days and when we're in City Walk on an evening.

We’ll do a bit of light shopping and visit Disney Springs when we feel up to it, rather than planning everything to the dot.

I’ve planned using crowd calendars, fast passes selection (throw away booking at Disney) and doing more Disney than Universal as we did a Universal only trip in May 2018.

I’m confident this plan will work for us, but open to any suggestions!


2 Adults.
14 nights at Cabana Bay, Universal Resort.


Week 1 – Monday
- Manchester to Orlando, VS075 (obviously…) arriving at 14:05.
- Check in at Cabana Bay.
- Head to Islands of Adventure – this has become our norm and our way to welcome us ‘home’.
- May watch Cinematic Spectacular depending on how HHN may affect the shows when it begins.

Week 1 – Tuesday
- Rope Drop Magic Kingdom.
- Leave mid-afternoon to relax.

Week 1 – Wednesday
- Rope Drop Animal Kingdom.
- Leave mid-afternoon to relax.

Week 1 – Thursday
- Early Park Admission into Universal Studios.
- Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure.
- Leave mid-afternoon to relax. (Can you see a trend yet?)

Week 1 – Friday
- Rope Drop Hollywood Studios.
- Leave mid-afternoon to relax.

Week 1 – Saturday
- Rope Drop Epcot.
- Leave mid-afternoon to Magic Kingdom.
- Happily Ever After.

Week 1 – Sunday
- Islands of Adventure.
- Hogwarts Express to Universal Studios.
- Leave mid-afternoon to relax.
- Halloween Horror Nights (Night 1).

Week 2 – Monday
- Early Park Admission into Volcano Bay.
- Return to resort early afternoon.
- Orlando Star Flyer and International Drive in evening.

Week 2 – Tuesday
- Animal Kingdom
- FP in the middle of the day so may go early or late depending on how we feel.

Week 2 – Wednesday
- Hollywood Studios (Afternoon and Evening).
- Fantasmic show. (Can always do another day if weather isn’t playing ball).

Week 2 – Thursday
- FREE DAY – FP’s for Magic Kingdom as an option, we may also do a Universal or a non-park day.
- Halloween Horror Nights (Night 2).

Week 2 – Friday
- Typhoon Lagoon.
- Return to resort early afternoon.

Week 2 – Saturday
- Magic Kingdom (Afternoon and Evening).
- Happily Ever After.

Week 2 – Sunday
- FREE DAY –Animal Kingdom as an option if we want to do Flight of Passage again or we may also do a Universal/Islands of Adventure day.
- Halloween Horror Nights (Back Up if the weather hasn’t been good one of the other nights).

Week 3 – Monday
- Check out of Cabana Bay.
- Early Park Admission into Universal Studios.
- Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure.
- Head to MCO in the afternoon and fly on VS076 back to Manchester, landing Tuesday morning.


Thanks for looking.

Sam

[Pantaloons]

Whilst I think its a great idea to leave the parks mid-day to relax, are you planning on returning that evening.

Given Epcot Foot and Drinks Festival is on, we found ourselves going there most nights. Its beautiful to walk World Showcase at a leisurely pace, getting food, having a drink and sitting out to watch the fireworks.

Aside from Epcot, both Disney Springs and Universal City Walk were great to walk about and take in sights, sounds, or a show.

I also think its worth returning to AK at night to see Pandora. Its fantastic in the evening with the lights and sounds.

[VS075]

Hi

Thanks for the reply - we don't actually go to a Disney park - hotel - Disney park as we stay off site at Universal and couldn't be bothered with the drive back and forth. (Plan to stay onsite at Disney next time!). We also tend to eat our evening meal outside of the Disney bubble so our main draw for doing evenings in the parks is the HEE/fireworks. We may however do Disney park - hotel - Universal park in one day.

Good to hear you enjoy food and wine - we didn't find ourselves wanting to spend a huge amount of time there last year, but will have a re-think about this year.

We also did Pandora at night last September and were disappointed to be honest - we waited (and time lapsed) the floating mountains over the course of 1 hour at sunset to watch the mountains light up as I'd seen on pictures and I felt so underwhelmed by the poor lighting (maybe it had broke as it was pitch black?). I'll agree that the atmosphere and ground lighting was cool though so I might add it for our last evening!

Thanks once again for your feedback.

[caitlinsmummy]

I think it seems really good, ours is similar for the first week, but we know if we feel up to it we can head back to a park

Have a fab time x