Universal Hotel and Villa, which first?

[Emmaabb]

Starting to plan our first ever Orlando holiday, after many years of trying to convince my husband (and to a lesser extent kids) to go.

We are a group of 9 - 4 adults, 4 teens and a 5 year old and looking at end of July/beginning of August summer holidays next year.

We are going to DIY it and hope to book flights in September this year to get the best deal.

Idea will be to do 12 nights in a villa and 2 nights at one of the Universal hotels to take advantage of the fastpasses. (Probably Loews Pacific)

Originally I had thought to tag the hotel part on to the end of the holiday almost as a bit of luxury to finish off with. However I’m now rethinking that and would like to hear from anyone who has done similar.

I did think if we did Universal first, if we really loved it, we would have the opportunity to visit again later on in the holiday. People keep telling me that the Universal parks are better suited to older kids (and ours will be 17, 16, 14 and 13) so I have a feeling they would want to go back.

My only concern is the jetlag aspect of those first few days and would we be mad to jump straight into full on chaotic theme parks for 3 days solid at the beginning?

Has anyone done this type of thing and if so what were the advantages/disadvantages to each?

Thanks

[NewtoOrlando]

We’ve always done it first. We usually start at universal for 2 nights - have stayed at the Hard Rock and Royal Pacific. Then go to Disney - do 5 nights with free dining and then move to a villa for 9-11 nights. I’d rather get the hotel stays out of the way, and then enjoy what the villa has to offer and have the space of the villa towards the end when we’re all tired and need more chill time! The start of the holiday we’re up and out early and don’t spend much time in the hotels, after a week of parks we’re all knackered & need some lie ins and general chill time. Has always worked for us!

Doing the same this year, 2 nights lake Buena vista, 3 nights Disney, 8 nights villa! Kids will be 13 & 11 this year.

[Gemski]

We stayed at the Hard Rock hotel last year for two nights before moving on to a villa. For our first night we just booked a cheap hotel on international drive (Rosen Inn @ Pointe). We were all up early our first morning, had breakfast then went and checked in at Hard Rock. Bags left with them, front of line passes collected and in the park for early opening. It was fantastic. We did universal studios that morning and left early afternoon. Back to the room, quick nap then back to city walk. We loved our 2 nights here and thought it was well worth the money. We managed to get all three universal parks done in the two nights/three days. The early our into Volcano bay was very beneficial. We decided to stay at the beginning of our holiday in case we felt we wanted to go back to the parks.

[Emmaabb]

Ahh that’s a good point you make about staying in a cheaper hotel for the first night! Obviously we would loose the full day at Universal the day we arrive so that makes sense... great idea thanks

[lovedisney]

We have always done one night in the middle and just taken an overnight case then gone back to the villa.

[florida addict]

I find I have much more energy at the beginning of the holiday and get lazier as time goes on. If it were me I would stay in a cheap hotel on the first night and then check in early next day to get full day and fast pass benefit of hotel stay...you can blitz the parks for 3 days and then decide which are the best parts if you fancy going again further into your holiday

[Web Owls]

We are staying at Disney's Yacht club then moving to Hard Rock, and for the last week staying in a villa so we can relax before coming home.

[beswicky2k]

we usually book the villa for the whole holiday and just leave it empty for the night we spend at the Universal hotel. We did only do one night though and had 2 whole days with the express passes. We also visited Universal other days but managed without the express passes on these days.

[sijen]

We book the villa for the 2 weeks and go in the middle usually. If you need to save money though go to the hotel at the beginning - you will be buzzing for the first few days believe me ! You get more tired as the holiday goes on and there's nothing better than relaxing in the villa after a day in the parks - wonderful ! Awww lovely thought - in the pool after the parks...

[JLH]

We are doing it on our third day , I am doing it at the beginning just because if I am paying £250 per ticket I hope to visit more than two days just to get my money’s worth ! We like to visit the universal after six p.m. as it can be less busy and like to see Harry Potter stuff in the dark .