How to change domains successfully and keep cookies/login working

[moondragon13]

I am renaming my site and have tried several test and I can never login. Here is what I did:

1. Copied the database
2. Manually edited the cookie settings and path in the database
3. Copied the vB directory to a different domain root
4. Connected to the new database from the new domain

Is this the wrong way to do it? I was thinking I could do the following:

1. Point the new domain to the existing directory
2. Login from the original domain and go to the Admin CP and change the URL and cookie settings there
3. Immediately after changing the settings in the Admin CP have the old domain forward to the new domain in Apache

I can't really test this method so I have to know it will work. Ideas?