What to do? Express Pass, VIP, Hotel??

[Momto2minniemice]

I hope the knowledge of the board is able to help me make a decision with our upcoming trip. The trip will be 2 girls (teen and tween) and myself aka mom.
We will be driving from the northeast so we will have a car, 5 day park to park for all 3 parks, in late June.

My question is should we have express passes for a couple of days? Are they needed? Or should we do 1 VIP day with no express passes? Or stay on property where we will get the express passes? The cost for the hotel is about 1600$ vs 1000$ for 1-2 days of express passes or VIP? If we do the express passes we would be staying at Disney...... So hard to decide what to do!

Any help would be great!!!

 

[mdsouth]

I am trying to plan a trip to Universal too for the same time as you and have the same question. I have been trying to budget it out both ways using the Universal website for prices and also the Undercover Tourist website for prices. I just not sure what to do. I will be taking my teen daughter for the first time so we can experience the Harry Potter stuff.

 

[bchbetha]

Stay onsite at a hotel that includes Express Passes for the whole trip and call it done! This applies to both posts.

 

[Momto2minniemice]

My girls love HP as well! They spend most of time in that section!

 

[lilsonicfan]

Are you comparing the cost of the hotel at $1600 vs $1000 for express passes while also taking into account staying at Disney? In other words, is staying at Disney free?

If the stay at Disney isn't free then IMO I would consider staying onsite at Universal instead. I would suggest trying to do 1 night at a Premier hotel so you get two days of express pass (check in, and check out days). If you put this on the back end of your trip then you will get to use Express to ride all of the faves again without wait, or if you do it on the front end, then your next few days will be more relaxing. You could do the other days at Cabana Bay or one of the other hotels Universal has to save a bit of money.

 

[Momto2minniemice]

We are DVC, so in a way Disney is free, which makes things harder!

 

[lilsonicfan]

Would you want to use DVC in such a manner though, that is, to stay at Disney but go to Universal? I think but am not sure that EPs can be bought onsite at Universal so you may want to take the 'free' option and then just go to the parks but don't buy Express unless it's crazy busy. Or, maybe renting out the points to stay at Universal?

 

[snoopboop]

We are DVC, so in a way Disney is free, which makes things harder!

JMO - save your DVC points for a future Disney vacay, and stay onsite at Universal at one of the EP hotels, as suggested above. That's the only way to do Universal, in my book!!!

 

[cfoxga]

If I were going to be at Universal for 5 days, I would only consider staying onsite. Driving back-and-forth to Universal would be a deal-breaker. Being onsite means no driving and you have the option of going back to you room for a mid-day break.

If you must stay offsite, then consider booking a throwaway room at a Deluxe Hotel to get 2-days of unlimited EP for up to 5 people at US or IOA. Should be quite a bit cheaper than buying EPs and it gives you a place to rest. You could even pack an overnight bad and sleep there, so you don't have to drive back to Disney. You can probably save money by upgrading one ticket to an Annual Pass, to get the APH discount for the room.

 

[christophfam]

The cost of a five day ticket is about the same or less than the lowest price annual pass. Check annual price discounts on the hotels that offer express pass.

 

[MickyLynn]

We did a split stay OKW/Royal Pacific last month. We bought 2 day park to park from UT, then upgraded to an annual pass for $10 each at the hotel. Those unlimited EPs at Universal are fantastic, but they're not even the whole story.
If you drive from your DVC resort you have to park (I don't remember how much it was) and schlep through the whole parking garage, entrance hub, and City Walk.
If you stay on site at Universal you get a security entrance at your hotel ferry. It drops you off a few hundred feet from the gates. Plus early entry. At that time of year, you may want to go back to the hotel during the heat of the day, which is MUCH easier if you're at a premiere hotel.

It is so worth staying there. I am now spoiled for life. If it isn't too late, bank your points or rent out that DVC stay, at least in part, and maybe make up the difference.

 

[JakeAZ]

If you must stay offsite, then consider booking a throwaway room at a Deluxe Hotel to get 2-days of unlimited EP for up to 5 people at US or IOA. Should be quite a bit cheaper than buying EPs and it gives you a place to rest. You could even pack an overnight bad and sleep there, so you don't have to drive back to Disney. You can probably save money by upgrading one ticket to an Annual Pass, to get the APH discount for the room.

This is what we did. Used Chase UR points. Won't stay in the room overnight, but it will be nice to have for afternoon rest. Was just cheaper way to get the EP.

 

[DisBuckMan]

We are DVC as well, but we always do a night at either RPR, HRH, or PBR just for the two days' worth of EP's. We do actually stay that night at Universal, though. We have one night booked for our trip in May at RPR for $219 on AP rate...more than worth it for the 3 of us to have two days' worth of EP's.

I will never, ever do another single day at Universal without EP.

 

[Ellie008]

I would book the hotel with express pass. It was a HUGE benefit on our trip, and the parks weren't even super busy. I am not looking forward to the next time I do Disney and have to stand in lines again...

 

[Cherryb]

Plus if you don't stay onsite and you are planning on driving it is 26 dlls a day for general parking. So that would be $130 just for parking.

 

[mdsouth]

I have one night book this summer for Royal Pacific but I am now thinking about getting an annual pass. When I checked the Universal website, it appears that the seasonal and some levels of the annual passes have blackout dates for the entire month of July. Being a teacher the summer is really the only time I can go.

We did a split stay OKW/Royal Pacific last month. We bought 2 day park to park from UT, then upgraded to an annual pass for $10 each at the hotel. Those unlimited EPs at Universal are fantastic, but they're not even the whole story.
If you drive from your DVC resort you have to park (I don't remember how much it was) and schlep through the whole parking garage, entrance hub, and City Walk.
If you stay on site at Universal you get a security entrance at your hotel ferry. It drops you off a few hundred feet from the gates. Plus early entry. At that time of year, you may want to go back to the hotel during the heat of the day, which is MUCH easier if you're at a premiere hotel.

It is so worth staying there. I am now spoiled for life. If it isn't too late, bank your points or rent out that DVC stay, at least in part, and maybe make up the difference.

Did I understand your message right in that you bought regular 2 day park to park tickets from Undercover and then when you were at Universal, you updated them to the regular Annual pass (not the seasonal one) for only ten dollars each? Was this recently? And if so, what level of the annual pass?

I am guessing that you were unable to get the AP discount for that same hotel stay, right? This would be really too much to wish for I guess.

We are DVC as well, but we always do a night at either RPR, HRH, or PBR just for the two days' worth of EP's. We do actually stay that night at Universal, though. We have one night booked for our trip in May at RPR for $219 on AP rate...more than worth it for the 3 of us to have two days' worth of EP's.

I will never, ever do another single day at Universal without EP.

WOW! 219.00 a night that would be great. The prices I see are regular prices for Royal Pacific in June and July are 459.00 a night. So, if I go in June, I wonder what the discounted AP rate would be? Would it be 35% off the 459.00 rate so, 299.00 a night? Right?

 

[bumbershoot]

I am guessing that you were unable to get the AP discount for that same hotel stay, right? This would be really too much to wish for I guess.

Would it be 35% off the 459.00 rate so, 299.00 a night?

That’s not how AP rates work.

Checkout the APH rates sticky thread. If you see APH rates for your dates pop up in that thread, check to see what your dates would be. (Go to the site and use the APH code for your dates) Calculate what the cost of even one AP would be and if the total makes sense. (Even if the discount plus cost of AP vs ticket makes you even, that can still be good since you indicate you can’t get the cheapest pass, and therefore you’d get merchandise etc discounts with your pass)

If you’re planning to buy or upgrade to an AP, you can use the APH code (if it’s offered during your dates). They’ll tell you at checkin when they need to see the AP

 

[DisBuckMan]

Plus if you don't stay onsite and you are planning on driving it is 26 dlls a day for general parking. So that would be $130 just for parking.

Still pay for parking when staying onsite, though. $28/night at RPR, HRH, and PBR.

 

[DisBuckMan]

WOW! 219.00 a night that would be great. The prices I see are regular prices for Royal Pacific in June and July are 459.00 a night. So, if I go in June, I wonder what the discounted AP rate would be? Would it be 35% off the 459.00 rate so, 299.00 a night? Right?

Probably lower than $299/night. I don't think I've ever paid over $250/night at any of the 3 deluxe hotels that include EP, but I've never gone in the dead of summer, either.

 

[cfoxga]

I rarely see APH rates below $300 when we look (Sprint, Thanksgiving) for the deluxe hotels.