Which of these two initial plans looks best?

[CocoJack]

Any advice would be much appreciated. Planning a 12-night stay in Feb with husband and daughter (age 9). We're staying at Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and plan to get Ubers to the parks. We like to take things at a relaxed pace so have tried to build in rest days. We're all Harry Potter fans so are considering Universal but think it might be better to focus purely on Disney as it's our first time.

As we'll be relying on Ubers, I've tried to avoid park hopping.

Plan A (without Universal)
Feb 4 - Arrive
Feb 5 - Magic Kingdon
Feb 6 - Animal Kingdom
Feb 7 - DHS
Feb 8 - Rest Day (or perhaps a water park and possibly MK in evening for fireworks)
Feb 9 - Epcot
Feb 10th - ? (not sure yet - maybe MK again)
Feb 11th - Rest Day/Disney Springs
Feb 12th DHS and DHS fireworks
Feb 13th - Water park
Feb 14th - Epcot and Epcot fireworks
Feb 15th - Magic Kingdom/Disney Springs
Feb 16th - Return home

Plan B (with Universal)
Feb 4 - Arrive
Feb 5 - Magic Kingdon
Feb 6 - Animal Kingdom
Feb 7 - DHS
Feb 8 - Rest Day (or perhaps a water park and possibly MK in evening for fireworks)
Feb 9 - Epcot and Epcot fireworks
Feb 10th - MK
Feb 11th - DHS and DHS fireworks
Feb 12th - Rest Day
Feb 13th - Universal
Feb 14th - Universal
Feb 15th - Magic Kingdom/Disney Springs
Feb 16th - Return home

Any feedback on these plans would be appreciated! Thank you!

[minnie moomoo]

With 12 nights I would suggest maybe just sticking with Disney. Those tickets are so expensive.
You have 11 full days and each park really needs more than one visit.
With 2 days per park and 1 waterpark day that's already 9 days.
We are visiting Animal Kingdom 4 days again this trip as it's our favourite.

If this is your first trip I would really think about focusing on just Disney.

We don't do rest days. We do half days everyday with either a pool morning or afternoon with visits to the outlets/Springs/Walmart mixed in.

Going in February when the weather isn't as oppressive you may find that you can do long days without returning to your hotel.
One park in the morning and use onsite busses if you want to park hop, or visit a resort for a rest and a snack to get you out of the parks.

I know how hard it is to miss out Universal when you really like Harry potter.
We had 16 nights our first trip we got Universal tickets in the end but only managed 3 half days, although we enjoyed ourselves we felt rushed.

But this is all my family going August/September when it's face melting hot and all the kids want to do is swim in the pool.

[Homer'sWife]

I agree with minnie moomoo, for 12 days I would stick to just Disney. If you are anything like us your first visit to Orlando will have you hooked and then you can go back another year and stay at Universal that time. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Mortimer Mouse]

I agree with Disney only, especially as 2 sets of park tickets is SO expensive now and 12 days isn't enough time to do both justice.

We have done a non Disney trip before and bought Universal and Discovery Cove tickets which gave us more than enough to fill our days, as the DC ticket includes admission to Seaworld,Aquatica and Busch Gardens too.

Have you looked into the current Disney dining credit deal for 2023, instead of staying offsite? The price differences might not be as much as you think once you factor in each Uber trip of at least $9.

We've been before in February and found it very comfortable weather to tour the parks. Bear in mind that Presidents Day weekend is very busy, so the onsite early entry perk might be useful.

[sunshines]

Agree with all previous posters. 12 days is the perfect amount to really do Disney (and water park) fully without rushing around or missing out. If you tried to stick Universal in there too it wouldn't be as nice. Save Universal for next time.

[FAcup14]

If you are massive HP fans. Go do Universal! Maybe look at it like you have 6 parks(and 2 water parks) to choose from. Rank them. If the Universal parks both come out on top. Get the Universal ticket. Then maybe individual tickets to the other parks.

[CocoJack]

Thanks for all the advice. I think this time, we'll stick to Disney only. And then hopefully make a trip back another year for Universal.

[7SeasSailor]

Hopefully won't come into it once you are hooked like the rest of us. 🏃🏃🩳🩱🍕🍔🥓🍹😂🙄

[cornishfrogboy]

I would stick to Disney this time….

And next time, skip Disney, concentrating on Universal, Islands, Volcano Bay, Discovery Cove, Aquatica, Busch, Seaworld.