Universal from Disney

[IloveJack]

We're planning an early December trip, and I want to go to US one day simply to see the WWoHP. I've been there before, but DH hasn't. We will have a (barely) 2 year old, and I plan to be pregnant, so there'll be no thrill rides (for me and DD, at least). After reading the other recent posts about when to go during a trip, I think we'll do MVMCP on our arrival day, then go to US, then back to WDW.

So, could someone tell me about how much a taxi ride is from Pop to US and back? I'm hoping we can afford to fly, and if so, we'll be using ME. (If not, then we'll drive, and this question won't be as important. )

Also, how much is a one-day ticket to US for adults? I'm assuming a 2-year-old is free there, as in WDW.

I've also read about staying in a US hotel to get their "fastpass." How does their hotel rate in cost to WDW? We're planning to stay at Pop, and I don't want to fork over a lot of money just to get to skip lines (especially since we won't be doing thrill rides).

And lastly (at least for now), what does US do for Christmas? We'll probably spend an entire day there, but we may return to do some shopping at DTD. Just wondering what we should miss out on...

[NJGIRL]

You don't want to go to Universal Studio if you want to see Harry Potter you will want to go to Universal Islands of Adventure. A one day ticket to one park only is $79 for adults. If you want a one day ticket to "park hop" it's $109 per adult. Of course just like Disney the more days you go the cheaper the tickets are. A 2 year old will be free.

I just booked a room at the Hard Rock Hotel (which is their mid priced hotel out of the three on property) in Oct and the room price during the week is $269 and during the weekend is $289. That is without taxes.

When we visit a Universal Theme Park we spend the whole day so going back to DTD to do shopping is something we don't attempt. You have to go through City Walk to get back to your car and it has restaurants and shopping, so we spend some time there.

We always rent a car in Orlando so I don't know what a cab would cost you but I know WDW & Universal are about 10 miles apart. Usually it takes us 20 mins to get from one to another but if you drive in rush hour traffic down I-4 it may take you 30 mins.

From what I am hearing at least two out of the three attrations that will first open up in HP will be thrill rides. The third may be as well.

[faline]

We went to Universal in January a couple of years ago. My brother and his newly pregnant wife were with us for the trip and my brother wanted to go for the day. While my brother and husband went off to thrill rides, we attempted to find rides that were okay for my sister-in-law. What we discovered was that Universal puts prohibions on ALL their rides for pregnant women - even their kiddie rides - so it was hard to get any real guidance on what she could safely ride and what she should stay away from. We ended up riding a few of the kiddie rides (even though they listed prohibitions for those who were pregnant) and took in a couple of shows.

[bdm@pga]

You are better off getting a taxi form Down Town Disney. Its a little cheaper.

[princess0511]

You could rent a car for one day. We did that and it worked out great. No waiting for the taxi. Alamo has a rental site on Disney property and they will pick you up from your hotel to get the car. We only payed around 40$. Well worth it.

[Mammabruski]

So can anyone answer the question, "How much does a cab cost from Pop to Universal?" We are also doing a mini trip to the World and Universal this September (our first trip to Universal, should be interesting, but gotta see Harry). Leaving from DTD would be impossible since we're checking into a Universal Hotel (can't bring luggage on a regular Disney bus).

So, once again, How much does a cab cost from Pop to Universal?

[mom2morgan]

I believe it was about $35 when we were there last year. (that's one way). We considered using Mears, but since they charge per person, the taxi actually ended up cheaper for us.

[Mfarquar]

The actual cab cost us about $35 - $40 each way as well when we did it four years ago. We found it to be quite pricey. The next year, we did a town car through Happy Limo for about $5 more (we were leaving VERY late b/c of Halloween Horror Nights and found this to be easier) - plus we were traveling during rush hour one way that year and wanted to be guaranteed a price (not paying extra in a cab for traffic).

One of the posters above is right - you can save a bit more by leaving from DTD - it's closer to Universal and you'll shave a good bit off.

In the end though, we've gone with RENTING a car for a day or two through Alamo the past couple of years, and we can't say enough about it. Alamo is located ON the Disney property. They will send a shuttle for you pretty much whenever you want and its about a 5 minute ride to the location (it's closest to MK). Simply return the car to this location and they give you a free shuttle right away to any of the Disney parks or hotels. I wonder if they would do the same for Universal guests?

We have stayed at Royal Pacific on the Universal property and I seem to remember there being a car rental desk somewhere around there... Might be worth checking out.

We saved TONS doing this (usually use a Costco or AAA code when booking online to save even more) and really enjoyed the mobility it gave us. We felt like we had a lot of freedom and on the way home from Universal, even stopped to get some badly needed cold medicine that wasn't available on the Disney property.