Disney World /Universal Studios booking advice?

[RunningBum]

My adult son and I are planning to go to Orlando next spring, to run the Disney Dark Side half marathon and spend a few days at the parks. Any tips on how to get the best travel packages beyond the resort bookings themselves? I'm not looking to go nuts, and I know staying off-site would be cheaper, but I'm willing to spend enough to stay onsite for convenience and making better use of time.

With the race, we're going to be pretty locked in on dates, with the only option whether to stay more days before or after. We would probably do 3 nights at Disney, and then 2-3 at Universal. We've been to both, but it's been quite a few years for me (less for him).

Costco looks to have a good deal for Disney at the Swan and Dolphin hotels. Almost all of the Disney amenities and very nice looking hotels in a great location at a cost not much more than the Disney value hotels, even including the resort and parking fees. It's good enough that I'll probably join Costco to take advantage, unless I find something better. Or if I find reason not to stay at one of those two.

They also have packages for Universal, but hardly any better than going through the resort. For the 2-3 days we are specifically looking at, they only offer off-site hotels, but for a longer stay they offer on-site hotels as well. I'll call them and see if they can arrange a package with both resorts for our dates, but I don't think I can do that until I decide to join Costco. And I want to first make sure I'm not missing another booking source.

Other Disney/Universal advice is welcome, but right now I'm mostly focused on the booking. It's too far in advance to do any restaurant or Fastpass booking, and I know when I can do that.

 

[bclover]

How important are the extras to you? Have you tried the Disney good neighbor hotels?? they're close to Disney springs and easy accesible

 

[Moemg]

I have stayed in the good neighbor hotels several times . They are now called the Disney Springs Hotels . They have regular transportation to Disney and are an easy drive to Universal . They are usually less costly than Disney plus you have access to regular restaurants.

 

[urn2bfree]

Consider DVC rental from an owner. http://dvcrentalstore.com/

 

[tinlizzy]

We stayed at the Dolphin once and it's right next to the back entrance of Epcot. Very convenient.

When we went to Universal Studios we stayed in the least expensive on property hotel because you then get to skip all the lines at the park. Totally worth it!

 

[RunningBum]

Thanks for the suggestions. Will check them out today.

 

[wrigley]

I've been to Disney Orlando three times in the past year. Each time we stayed in a different hotel and never had an issue with commuting back and forth to the parks. There are a MILLION places to stay within a couple miles of all the parks. You only pay for parking once a day and you can come and go as you please and not have to pay again. You can even "park hop" and only pay to park once a day.

I can't help you with ticket costs. I am retired Navy and got my tickets on base at the IT office.

Mike

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I've been to Disney Orlando three times in the past year. Each time we stayed in a different hotel and never had an issue with commuting back and forth to the parks. There are a MILLION places to stay within a couple miles of all the parks. You only pay for parking once a day and you can come and go as you please and not have to pay again. You can even "park hop" and only pay to park once a day.

I can't help you with ticket costs. I am retired Navy and got my tickets on base at the IT office.

Mike

You comment reminded me that it might be worth mentioning that if you are affiliated with the military, you can stay at the Shades of Green (formerly the Disney Inn) for a very reasonable rate. It also includes early entry into the parks and a decent shuttle system.

 

[Ally]

We got a discount on our tickets through my husband's state retiree discounts.

Have you been since WDW uses magic bands and lets you make dining and fast pass reservations through the My Disney Experience app? Then the fast passes and dining reservations are loaded onto your magic bands. It's a whole new world, but it actually makes things a bit easier.

 

[Ally]

Btw, we just stayed at the Coronado Springs resort in April during a Star Wars event and it was less expensive due to being in renovations.

 

[wrigley]

You comment reminded me that it might be worth mentioning that if you are affiliated with the military, you can stay at the Shades of Green (formerly the Disney Inn) for a very reasonable rate. It also includes early entry into the parks and a decent shuttle system.

We looked into Shades of Green the last time we went. I was surprised that it was actually more expensive then a handful of very nice hotels we were considering. We wound up staying at a Residence Inn Suites. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, living room, 3 TVs with cable. Breakfast buffet included. 5 adults, 1 child, $249 for 2 nights.

Mike

 

[RunningBum]

We got a discount on our tickets through my husband's state retiree discounts.

Have you been since WDW uses magic bands and lets you make dining and fast pass reservations through the My Disney Experience app? Then the fast passes and dining reservations are loaded onto your magic bands. It's a whole new world, but it actually makes things a bit easier.

My son has, and says it works great. That's one amenity you don't get with Swan & Dolphin, but we'll probably buy them separately.

 

[DanP]

We've stayed at Swan & Dolphin many times, and I have been doing most of the Run Disney races for many years.

Hotel is great and walking distance to Epcot & Hollywood studios, great location. And an important thing for you is that they do the race shuttles as well.

 

[RunningBum]

Back from our Disney trip, so I thought I'd post a brief follow-up.

We stayed at the Dolphin, with the Costco deal I mentioned in the OP. Great location, with a short boat ride or reasonable walk to Epcot and Hollywood studios, and bus service elsewhere. Easy walk to the Boardwalk. We had a partial view of Epcot fireworks. It's not really Disney themed so smaller kids may miss that experience, but we didn't. The only drawback is that magic bands didn't work as a room key or for charging, so we just used the card ticket. Which was fine until mine slid out of my pocket one day. Went to the front gate and guest services cancelled that one and had a new one linked to my account within 5 minutes. Dolphin/Swan gets the 60 day in advance (from your first day of stay) FastPass, which we got in on at 7am the first day eligible. Good thing as the best rides get grabbed up and may not be available to non-resort guests who can only do it 30 days in advance. You also get the early/late magic hours which go a long ways too. Those 2 benefits plus location made it worthwhile for us to stay onsite, and I would do that again.

Disney is as packed as I remember it and I don't handle crowds well, but with the FastPass and extra hours we rarely dealt with lines. Once Space Mountain claimed a 10 minute wait for the regular line but it turned into about 45 as they were zipping FastPassers through and our line was hardly moving. We couldn't even get a FastPass to Avatar--maybe could've if we hadn't made Animal Kingdom our first day, so we went straight to it on an early hours day. Unfortunately we were about 10 minutes after park open. Longest line I'd seen in my life. They said it was 150 minutes long. We decided to stay and it was really only about 75 minutes. Totally worth it. Unreal visuals on this simulator ride.

The half marathon was fun, though they claimed the last bus was at 3:30 am for a 5:30 start, so it was an early morning with lots of waiting. They had some neat Star Wars stuff going on during the race, and my son got his first half marathon finish, and was still able to do a pretty full day in the park after.

We spent the last 2 days at Universal. Stayed onsite at about $342/night including all taxes, but that also included Express Pass (would have cost a full night's lodging if we bought it separately), which also greatly reduced line time some of the times. Universal has some great rides and doesn't get Disney crowds. The new Harry Potter areas were really neat. But, I had seen reviews that the "Escape from Gringots" ride was incredible, but we were very unimpressed at how tame it was, and nowhere nearly as visually appealing as Disney's Avatar ride.

It was a lot of fun but I doubt I'll go back again, at least for a long time. Not a cheap vacation. About $750/day. We certainly could've done it cheaper, but it still would've been an eye opener and at least this way we didn't make compromises that were important to us.