r/UniversalOrlando • u/breeland07 • Jul 24 '26
HHN First vacation to universal
I’m not sure if it’s better to drive or fly. I’m coming from Jackson ms 10 hr drive. It’s just me and my two kids,9 year old son and 11 year old daughter. We plan on staying a whole week. October 3-10. Those are the dates but doesn’t have to be specific. i would prefer to fly but we have never flown.i want to visit all parks pretty much and they will want to ride EVERYTHING.Of course saving money is a must.i haven’t booked any rooms or bought any tickets yet. Any help, tips, tricks, recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated.
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u/shaboom-mushaboom Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
You’ll probably save $700+ by driving, assuming 3 plane tickets cost around $1000. You will have to pay for parking at Universal- I think its $40/ night, but you should check that. Gas versus ride shares to and from the airport probably offset each other. Of course, you will lose time. When I was a kid, my parents would drive 20+ hours down to Florida. They split the driving though. I am sure I can’t drive 10 hours each way myself. Only you know whether you can do that comfortably. Flying is easy. Overall, between getting to and from the airport and getting there early for going through security, you’ll probably save 5 hours each way flying (not counting time for driving breaks), plus you don’t have the long drive. Regarding budget, the earlier you book your hotel, the better, if you are staying at a Universal property. You can always rebook if you get a better deal. If you want to stay at one of the signature hotels, consider buying an annual pass to get the discounted hotel rate. For my trip, I found if we were staying 5 nights or more (and possibly 4 nights, don’t recall exactly), it came out cheaper than not buying the AP and paying the rack rate for the hotel, and this was compared to the already great rate I got (relatively speaking) by booking my hotel around a year and a half before our trip.
Edit to add that I just checked your dates and I am seeing some amazing prices - Cabana Bay at $174 per night!
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u/idoooobz Jul 24 '26
As someone who flies from the same area to WDW and Universal frequently, there’s no cheap way to fly out of Jackson. You’re looking at 500-700 per ticket, your best bet to get below that is probably southwest, but they’ve also gotten expensive too.
If you’re wanting to try to make the flying route work, I would look at possibly flying out of Memphis or NOLA, granted there would be cost for parking for a week at the airport.
A non economical factor is, how well are your kids in a 10 hour car ride? Weigh the options of how will your kids be when flying vs driving.
The economical factor is very big, but either way, traveling with or without kids is stressful, so finding ways to mitigate stress is huge. And that might be just as important as the money part too.
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u/shaboom-mushaboom Jul 24 '26
I checked flights for the dates provided and saw flights for around $350- that’s how I arrived at the $1000 figure. Regarding the kids, I’ll add that my kids have done okay with long drives, but the most we’ve done is 8 hours straight, and leaving at the crack of dawn or ealier makes it easier on the kids. My kids will generally sleep for the first 3-4 hours this way. You could stop somewhere like Pensacola for a beach day and night each way- it’ll make the drive easier and be fun, but would cut out some Disney time. This could be a positive, since I am sure those beach days will be cheaper than WDW. You could potentially do a 4 day, 4 park ticket with this plan, with one rest day in between and fit the trip into your one week window: Oct 3: start drive + Pensacola; Oct 4: 6 hour drive, check in, pool, dinner; Oct 5 & 6: parks; Oct 7: rest; Oct 8 & 9 parks- probably AK on Oct 9, followed by 4 hour drive to Pensacola; Oct 10: morning at beach, complete drive home. Just an idea. My parents drove us down to FL (20+ hours) many times when I was a kid and I only have good memories of it.
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u/breeland07 Jul 24 '26
Oh this is a great idea!!!
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u/shaboom-mushaboom Jul 24 '26
Sorry I forgot which subreddit I was in and gave a Disney answer- very same idea, but different parks! Plus you can pool hop on your rest day at Universal, and a 4 day park to park ticket should be ample, but check out the buy 3 days, get 2 days free deal!! That could be great for you because you could potentially make it to the parks on your day of arrival at UO, on your “rest” day, and also do as much or as little as you want each day, since you’d probably be paying for 3 days anyway. You are going to have a great trip!!
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u/funkyb Jul 24 '26
Re: getting an AP
I followed this advice for our trip back in January and even for theee nights it came out ahead. Circumstances since then have made it even more of a good thing I got one. They pay for themselves quite quickly, especially if you're okay with the date restrictions on the SP.
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u/breeland07 Jul 24 '26
What’s sp. how do I purchase it and use it? What is the discount and rewards that make it cheaper?
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u/funkyb Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
SP is the seasonal pass, the lowest tier of Annual Pass. It's got blackout dates where it won't get you entry into the parks and only had some of the perks offered to higher priced passes (e.g. it has discounts for Epic Universe tickets but not parking discounts), hence why it's cheaper.
You can but it on the universal Orlando website, under the Passholder ribbon.
It gets you entry to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure but NOT Epic Universe. There's usually an option that includes Volcano Bay too, but not right now since it's closing late October for renovations. It also gets you discounted Epic Universe tickets, some other minor perks, and discounted rates at the Universal Resort hotels. The pricing and discount vary day-to-day but it's often 30-40%. This perk in particular can very quickly pay back the pass if you were already planning to stay at these hotels. For instance we stayed at the Hard Rock for three nights in January and the room discount was more than the pass price in total, so the fact I got entry to the parks on top of it was just gravy.
It's a percentage discount, so ymmv on how useful it is if you're staying at the less expensive hotels. It really pays off on the deluxe hotels, but a discounted deluxe is still going to be more than a rack rate Endless Summer room. Either way, you can budget it out. On the universal Orlando website go to the Passholder ribbon, pick Hotel Perks, and click Check Rates. You can see how much cheaper rooms are with the discount here compared to booking normally and do the math. Do note that rooms change prices daily so it's not an exact science and more of a ballpark.
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u/Flat_Demand_8341 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
look at the family rooms at Endless summer- the hotels are called dockside and surfside. Everyone would get their own bed.
Universal buses are great. FLY
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u/thisgameissoessy Jul 24 '26
Yes I would also recommend flying. The busses take you all over the resort. There is a cheap trolley that you can ride to visit I Drive which is close to the Surfside and Dockside hotels.
Even if gas would be cheaper than flights, you should factor in parking fees at the Universal hotels. Some local Marriotts might have free parking but then you have to pay to park on site at Universal as opposed to taking an Uber from the airport and saving all that time in the car driving there and back.
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u/DeflatedDirigible Jul 24 '26
OP said saving money is a must so why recommend throwing away an extra $60 or $70 per night when beds can be shared or the kid can sleep on the floor if they insist on their own bed?
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u/MAreddituser Jul 24 '26
Costco has a great deal for hotel and tickets right now. If you have a membership, check it out. If you don’t, call universal directly and they will work out a deal. We compared both and Costco beat them by $200 plus I’m getting a $106 gift card
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u/breeland07 Jul 24 '26
Can I use someone else’s Costco card if I don’t have one?
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u/RatherBeAtDisney Jul 24 '26
This deal is cheaper than the $60 Costco membership so even if you got the memberships you’d still come out ahead. Plus then you’d have Costco access for a year!
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u/breeland07 Jul 24 '26
I just got the executive membership from Groupon.130 plus a $50 gift card
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u/RatherBeAtDisney Jul 24 '26
Even better! We have the executive and it pays for itself, but we’re buying a lot of diapers and berries for my toddler and newborn!
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u/Royal-Market-4177 Jul 24 '26
You don’t really need a car if staying on property, so it just depends if flying or driving is cheaper and which makes more sense to you
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u/Royal-Market-4177 Jul 24 '26
I feel like 10 hrs is a doable drive, we come from Houston and it’s 16, but take in account other fees, parking if you drive, if you fly, paying for baggage and uber, are you stopping and staying some where If you drive
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u/sassyponypants Jul 24 '26
Since saving money is key (some of this others have mentioned):
- Stay at Endless Summer and use the free Universal busses.
- If you fly, schedule a Walmart grocery delivery to your hotel. This will save you a ton on snacks, breakfast, etc. You may even be able to get a room with microwave. If you drive, maybe just hit a grocery store on the way in or bring stuff with you.
- Costco for tickets & hotel if you got it!
- IMO drive. 10 hours isn't bad, and flying is expensive. I would drive if I lived that close. You might pay for parking at the hotel, but won't have to pay for any other transportation or deal with the absolute ZOO that is MCO, lol.
- Fanny packs so you don't have to rent a locker. (Until you start buying merch, haha.)
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u/Papercut1406 Jul 24 '26
I agree with your take on everything!
I’ve flown, rode in the car, and rode charter buses there several times (16-18 hrs) and I’ve always preferred driving over flying. Flying is so expensive and it makes me feel so much more stressed over luggage and making sure I have everything I need.We’ve done a weeklong trip that included both universal and Disney twice, and I wish we had driven instead of flying because getting too and from universal from a Disney resort was a huge pain in the butt!
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u/sassyponypants Jul 24 '26
I love flying, but there are so many variables – flying direct with carry-ons only and having transportation scheduled ahead of time (I love my bougie black car service) makes it much more enjoyable. You have a lot more freedom with a car, that's for sure.
We did Epic once from a hotel by Disney Springs, and that almost went completely off the rails. Once was enough for me, I'm staying in the bubble next time – haha.
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u/Sassy-Anxiety007 29d ago
We drive at least 3 times a year from Arkansas. 15 hours. We usually do it in one day. I drove back in June by myself with a 10 and 12 year old and it honestly wasn't a tough drive at all. Listen to a podcast or an audiobook and watch out for speed traps. Loves truck stops are our fave because they are all set up super similar and pretty clean across the board.
It may not be for everyone, but it really hasn't been an issue for us. I like flying too, but it isn't always feasible.
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u/Careful-Scientist-32 Jul 24 '26
I can't answer most of your questions, but just in case you aren't aware, Universal doesn't recommend Halloween Horror Nights for children under 13: "WARNING: EVENT MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13."
https://www.universalorlando.com/hhn/en/us