Let’s start by saying we were probably raving mad doing Walt Disney World and Universal in a Week. But, sometimes, needs must; you want to visit the Orlando theme parks, but for whatever reason, time is limited. We travelled this time as a family of three: mum, dad, and 18-year-old son, plus our friends, and also a family of 3 and set a Disney and Universal 6 Day Itinerary.

The initial plan was a cruise and a couple of nights in Miami, but as our friends had never visited Orlando before, we decided we would also visit the parks. If you have been before, you will know that visiting the parks in a week is ambitious, but it is doable. Today, I am going to share our Disney and Universal 6 Day Itinerary and how we planned our trip to visit all four Disney Parks and both Universal Parks, plus a rest day.

Our Disney and Universal 6 Day Itinerary

We knew we were packing in, but as lovers of the parks, we decided that we couldn’t go and not make the most of the trip. We set a solid plan to get everything we could done in a week, and then relax on the cruise. And despite being exhausted by the time we got to bed every night, we had the most incredible week and would do it all again. Here is how we did it.

How We Planned Our Trip

We were governed by flights as we used our BA Airmiles to book the flights. If you don’t collect any kind of air miles, then you need to check them out. We used our air miles and paid £450 in return for all three of us to fly from Gatwick to Orlando. Yes, that’s £150 per person return, it’s crazy but easily doable. This meant we flew out a day later than we would have liked due to availability, but it was worth it for the saving.

As we had visited Disney several times, we bought a two day park hopper Disney Ticket direct from the US and were gifted a two-day Universal Ticket. But you can also buy two and three-day tickets for Universal. Our friends wanted to spend six days in the parks, so they bought a multi-park ticket from AttractionTix.

Plus we also used our Digital Orlando Planning Guide. I uploaded it to Goodnotes into a folder and added all of our booking documents along with hyperlinks on the planner so we could easily access all our booking details.

Where We Stayed

We chose to stay at Sapphire Falls in Universal Orlando. Our friends stayed at the Adventurer Hotel next door. We couldn’t decide which hotel we liked best so we agreed as they were next door to go with what we liked. This worked well, the hotels were a stone’s throw from each other, and we were able to get the water taxi to the Universal Parks and City Walk or meet in reception to get an Uber to Disney.

The Universal Parks were more affordable and of higher quality than the Disney Hotels we had stayed in before. Everything felt a little fresher and more modern; Sapphire Falls and Adventura Hotel are fantastic hotels I would definitely book either hotel again. Plus, to get a great deal, use your Tesco Club Card Points on Hotels.com. We saved £380 on the price of Sapphire Falls by using our vouchers.

Our Disney and Universal 6 Day Itinerary Plan Was

• Day 1. Travel Day and chill on arrival ( This was hampered when BA cancelled our flight, we arrived at midnight after a long day of travelling and unplanned connections.
• Day 2. Chill Day, our friends spent the day at Magic Kingdom, however we lazed around the pool and had drinks at City Walk, and tapas back at the hotel. Which was welcome after the stress on travel day.
• Day 3. Hollywood Studios from rope drop until 1 pm, heading to Magic Kingdom after lunch and staying to see the fireworks.
• Day 4. Animal Kingdom From Rope Drop till 1 pm, heading to Epcot for afternoon cocktails and a trip round the world.
• Day 5. Islands of Adventure and back to the pool for 5 pm to chill. Then Dinner at the top roof restaurant of the Adventurer Hotel.
• Day 6. Universal Studios till 2 pm then an early dinner the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, beck to the hotel for a chill then pack.
• Day 7. Taxi to Port Canveral to catch our cruise.

Getting Around Between The Disney And Universal Parks

We had hired a car in Orlando several times before, and decided that this time we would opt out. Staying on-site at Universal helped as the Sapphire Falls hotel is on the river system meant we could just jump on a boat which was less than 10 minutes from the parks and Universal City Walk.

The rest of the time we got an Uber, and when you factor in the price or hiring a car and parking costs at the Disney Parks the cost was similar but without the stress of driving.

Uber Costs

• UberXL from the Airport to Sapphire Falls, UberXL for 4 with luggage around $60 (Depending on time)
• UberXL from Sapphire Falls to Magic Kingdom, around $23 (depending on time, this fit 6 of us in so split between 2 families)
• Uber XL Sapphire Falls To Port Canaveral $100 (Depending on time)

Was Doing Disney and Universal in 6 Days Do-Able

It was 100% doable; the days were long, and at times, my ankles ached (I was thankfull for Ibuprofen Gel at night). But we had a fabulous time and with a little strategy we did all the parks. It helped that we travelled off peak, I am not sure this would have worked at peak busy times.

• It helped to target one busier rides at rope drop, run straight to the ride and queue
• Look for any virtual queues and get in them as soon as they open, Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy
• We bought a Genie Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy and it was worth it. (Our time slot was really late)
• Use the app to choose rides with the shortest queues
• Get The Universal Express Pass it is worth every penny
• Consider investing in the Genie Plus and avoid all the queues
• We chose Animal Kingdon in the Morning to do the safari early when the animal are more awake
• Do Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the afternoon to catch the fireworks at night.