Express Pass Plus sharing?

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

Hi,

Taking the family to US and IOA for first time March 19 & 20th. I think the crowds will be high b/c this is spring break season?

My DH is very motion sensitive and we have a very short 4 yr old. Therefore he won't ride many rides. We watched youtube videos and found a few rides that he can do (like the "wet" rides, Alien, Disaster, Twister, etc). But our 4 yo can't do many of those either b/c she is too short or will be scared.

So my question is can we just get the express pass plus mostly for me but then he can use it a few times to ride with the older kids?

Also I was wondering if we need express pass plus for all of us for IOA for Suess Island. I know I"m going to get it for the older kids and one adult.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Badge]

They DO NOT allow you to share express passes. Each member of the party must have an express pass to enter the express line. Also, the express passes you purchase only allow you to skip the line for each ride ONCE. So, while you could get away with allowing your DH to use your express pass, just note that is 1) against the rules that they have set and 2) will prevent you from skipping the line later in the day.

Now there is another option, which in your case I think is the best option for you. Staying onsite gives your WHOLE family UNLIMITED express passes so you can ride the same ride over and over again in the same day. Staying onsite ONE night (so check in on 3/19 and out on 3/20) will give you TWO full days off express access with your room key.

The cost to stay onsite for ONE night is $325 after taxes and fees. For a family of four (you did not mention how many you have total. The onsite hotels can have no more than 5 (2 adults and 3 kids)) the cost of express passes for TWO days is $408 during your trip. As you can see, you SAVE money by staying at a deluxe hotel, get better express passes (becuase you can skip the line as many times as you want) plus get some other perks like getting into the HP area one hour early.

I HIGHLY suggest staying onsite for your trip (as long as you do not have more than 5). Even if you have rooms booked at like Disney and will just be taking two days out of Disney to experince US, you will still SAVE money getting an onsite hotel. It is rarely a good idea to purchase express passes for familys of 4 or 5 because it is normally always cheaper to stay onsite. You will save roughly $80 by staying onsite.

 

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

Thanks for your response. We are a family of 6 so staying onsite is VERY expensive.

Does anyone know if any of the "preferred" or "good neighbor" or whatever universal calls hotels nearby that can accommodate a family of 6 (2 adults, 4 kids). I found some that get us in 1 hr early but are there any that include the express pass too????

 

[Badge]

There are no offsite hotels that offer express passes.

Since you are a family of 6, lets crunch some numbers.

The cost of express passes for both days (at both parks) is: $611.88

The cost of 2 rooms (at $325.13 each) is : $650.26

So, the cost difference between the two is: $38.38

It will be impossible to find an offsite hotel for $38.38. Granted this is one night onsite, so you will need to spend your 2nd night offsite (but since you will be done with the parks, you can drive a little ways to get away from the "theme park hotel" prices).

Let say you are able to find an offsite hotel that costs $100 a night (for all 6 of you) for two nights and purchase express passes. The cost will then be $811.88 for the room and express passes. Now, if you were to stay at the same offsite hotel for one night, and spend one night onsite to get two days of express, your cost would be $750.26.

Really, when you want to purchase express passes during a busy time of year when they cost over $50 a person per day, you are always better off just staying onsite. Sure it might seem like a lot of money to spend on ONE night hotel stay ($650.26 for ONE night for a family is insane), but with the perks you get for FREE, it is well worth it.

If spending $650.26 to for one night and the express passes is to much, then you might want to think about not purchasing express passes at all. You will be able to see a decent amount of both parks in two days, but it will be busy and lines can reach 90+ minutes in the afternoon for the big rides.

EDIT:
If thinking about it this way is confusing, think about it like this:

You can spend $611 for express passes and NOT have a place to stay for the night or you could spend $39 more and have two hotel rooms for one night plus UNLIMITED express passes.

 

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

I'm getting the cost of express pass is $166.08 for all of us for 1 day.

So its value for 2 days is $332.

I found the Holiday Inn Suite 1 mile away for $179/night and we get 1 hour early entry to IOA.

So it looks like we can get everything but the UNLIMITED aspect of the express pass for about $510

Am I missing something???

 

[Badge]

The cost of the express passes are based on the DAY you visit. When you start the purchase of express passes, it says "Starting from $25.99" for the "both parks" option. Notice the "Starting from" element.

For YOUR days (March 19th and March 20th) the costs of express passes are:

March 19th--$55.99 per person for the both parks option total of: $335.94
March 20th--$45.99 per person for the both parks option total of: $275.94

For a grand total of $611.88

These prices come direct from the Universal Orlando website. If you found your prices from an outside company for that cheap, I would say it has a 99% chance of being a scam.

So, using the hotel you found for $179 a night plus the purchase of the express passes, you are looking at a grand total for two nights of: $969.88

If you stay onsite for one night and then at your hotel you found for the 2nd night, your grand total for the trip would be: $829.26

So, staying onsite and getting unlimited express pass tickets for one night and then staying offsite for the 2nd night will save you $140.62.

Since the prices of express passes were not what you thought they were, I have a feeling you will just drop them and go without, which will be perfectly fine. If you decide you still want them, go with staying onsite one night. It will save you money, and get you better express passes.

 

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

Ok I see why our numbers are different....

I don't want EP for BOTH parks BOTH days. We are looking at EP for US on the 19th and EP for IOA on the 20th.....much less $$$.

I'm not interested in "hoping" between the two parks.

I'm a travel agent and I'm getting my numbers from a TA booking engine.

Thanks for helping me figure this out!

 

[RMulieri]

Just remember that the price of the Express Pass can increase between now and then if the park crowds projections increase.The EP are only Good for the DATE of purchase and the park they are purchased for as well.

 

[Tramp68]

A certain amount of sharing can definately be gotten away with. But, the pass can only be used once. We have used the smaller kids passes for the older ones to ride a more intense ride a second time. So, the adult passes could be used for the little kids to ride in seussland as long as the donator does not want to ride also.

I do, however, agree with one of the other posts. I would book a room for the unlimited passes. You could either sneak 1 person into the room littleangel and buy them an EP or keep your other hotel accomodations and just use the room for the EPs....

 

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

Ok...I'm getting close to booking a room at Port Royal for 5 of us but DH and DD4 will stay at my convention hotel. This also helps so we don't have to pack everything up...which is a bit of an ordeal for 6 people!!

So.....here is what I'm coming up with.

DH & DD4 stay at offsite hotel $125 1 room (we would need 2 rooms here for all of us)
Myself, 3 older kids stay at Port Royal (DH is on ressie too in order to get his Express pass) - $278
Total for room = $403 (express pass included!)

So by doing this is costs us $154 more than what we would spend on 2 rooms at the convention hotel. If I bought EP pass now for all us for just ONE park it is $166. And I know I would buy EP for the older 3 kids for US as well. So it does save us money and now the older 3 kids and I can go to HP 1 hr EARLY and DH & DD4 will come into the park at opening since DD4 isn't on the Port Royal Ressie.

Questions I have now...should I buy DD4 an EP for IOA, specifically for Suess? What about all us having EP for the shows (Sinbad & Poseidon's Fury) and DD4 doesn't? Im guessing she will be ok seeing these shows? She does get frightened pretty easily.

I'm not seeing an advantage for EP for DD4 for US? Do we REALLY need it for ANimal Actors, Barney Show, or anything else?

I want to make sure I'm reading this correctly. ONLY IOA opens 1 hr early, correct? And with the hotel express pass we don't have to predetermine which day we are going to which park?

Thanks to all of you sooo much! I know Disney forwards & backwards but all this Universal stuff is brand new to me!!!

 

[Tramp68]

Ok...I'm getting close to booking a room at Port Royal for 5 of us but DH and DD4 will stay at my convention hotel. This also helps so we don't have to pack everything up...which is a bit of an ordeal for 6 people!!

So.....here is what I'm coming up with.

DH & DD4 stay at offsite hotel $125 1 room (we would need 2 rooms here for all of us)
Myself, 3 older kids stay at Port Royal (DH is on ressie too in order to get his Express pass) - $278
Total for room = $403 (express pass included!)

So by doing this is costs us $154 more than what we would spend on 2 rooms at the convention hotel. If I bought EP pass now for all us for just ONE park it is $166. And I know I would buy EP for the older 3 kids for US as well. So it does save us money and now the older 3 kids and I can go to HP 1 hr EARLY and DH & DD4 will come into the park at opening since DD4 isn't on the Port Royal Ressie.

Questions I have now...should I buy DD4 an EP for IOA, specifically for Suess? What about all us having EP for the shows (Sinbad & Poseidon's Fury) and DD4 doesn't? Im guessing she will be ok seeing these shows? She does get frightened pretty easily.

I'm not seeing an advantage for EP for DD4 for US? Do we REALLY need it for ANimal Actors, Barney Show, or anything else?

I want to make sure I'm reading this correctly. ONLY IOA opens 1 hr early, correct? And with the hotel express pass we don't have to predetermine which day we are going to which park?

Thanks to all of you sooo much! I know Disney forwards & backwards but all this Universal stuff is brand new to me!!!

Only WWoHP opens 1 hour early. NOTHING else. So you can get into IoA but are only able to go straight to Harry Potter. Keep in mind that EP does not work on FJ or Pteranadon Fliers in IoA or RipRideRockIt in US.

The Room keys will work as Early admission and EP for the day you check in and the day after in both parks, so there is no need to pick when/where you are going ahead of time. There are no pictures on the room keys and the ride attendents only scan the card, they barely glance at it enough to know where to point the scanner, so you could easily "borrow" one to use for the 4yo.

I would NOT get EP for a 4 year old. You can use one of the adult room keys to get into Barney and such. If you need to use a key to get into the shows for the 4 YO you can use one of the other room keys (send an extra person in to carry out the extra room key as soon as they get in)

I would avoid Poseiden's Fury for the 4yo. I find that most young kids get scared in the dark and enclosed area. Plus it is a little loud.

 

[damo]

I don't think I would be having a child use an adult pass and vice versa. It does say adult or child(with an age) on the hotel keys. Not worth taking a chance, IMO.

 

[Badge]

Ok...I'm getting close to booking a room at Port Royal for 5 of us but DH and DD4 will stay at my convention hotel. This also helps so we don't have to pack everything up...which is a bit of an ordeal for 6 people!!

So.....here is what I'm coming up with.

DH & DD4 stay at offsite hotel $125 1 room (we would need 2 rooms here for all of us)
Myself, 3 older kids stay at Port Royal (DH is on ressie too in order to get his Express pass) - $278
Total for room = $403 (express pass included!)

So by doing this is costs us $154 more than what we would spend on 2 rooms at the convention hotel. If I bought EP pass now for all us for just ONE park it is $166. And I know I would buy EP for the older 3 kids for US as well. So it does save us money and now the older 3 kids and I can go to HP 1 hr EARLY and DH & DD4 will come into the park at opening since DD4 isn't on the Port Royal Ressie.

Questions I have now...should I buy DD4 an EP for IOA, specifically for Suess? What about all us having EP for the shows (Sinbad & Poseidon's Fury) and DD4 doesn't? Im guessing she will be ok seeing these shows? She does get frightened pretty easily.

I'm not seeing an advantage for EP for DD4 for US? Do we REALLY need it for ANimal Actors, Barney Show, or anything else?

I want to make sure I'm reading this correctly. ONLY IOA opens 1 hr early, correct? And with the hotel express pass we don't have to predetermine which day we are going to which park?

Thanks to all of you sooo much! I know Disney forwards & backwards but all this Universal stuff is brand new to me!!!

The way you have it planned now with staying at Royal Pacific (assuming thats what you meant when you said Port Royal) sounds like the best option.

You do not need an EP for the DD4. Since the hotel room keys are unlimited express, you could take the three older kids on a ride, then get off and hand one of the other childs express passes to your DH so the DD4 has one as well and then the two of them can go on the same ride you just did.

Your express passes for the hotel allow you to hop between the parks, so you do not need to pick a park or anything like that. You can go to whatever park you want, when you want to. Since your express passes allow you to do this, you might want to consider spending a little extra to get park hopper passes for a few reasons.

1) IOA remains open an hour later than US. Since the parks are a 3-5 minute walk from each other, you can easily spend 45+ minutes in IOA to ride a few rdies after US closes.

2) With express passes, you will be flying through the rides. Nearly every time we visit, we can ride almost every ride (skipping shows) at both parks in one day with time to spare. We then use our extra days to ride the rides we like the most. I rode Men in Black 12 rides in a row last trip because I was trying to get a perfect score.

3) If you pick IOA the first day and find that it is just to busy at the time, you can head over to US and spend a few hours over there before going back to IOA.

 

[kkendle]

I don't have time to crunch numbers like you all did to figure out how much this would cost but I'll just throw out there what I did for our upcoming March 20-23 trip...family of 5 in 1 room at RPH.

I am getting a preferred annual pass for myself to save a substantial amount on the room. We are all staying in the same room....bringing an air mattress for the extra person. We will ALL gave the espress option because of staying onsite. I am purchasing the 2 day park to park passes at our local AAA office for the other 4 in mt group for $136 each.

I found that by spending the extra $$ on the annual pass for me more than covered what we would be saving for the discount on the hotel room. Plus...then you get the annual pass discounts...although AAA discounts are just as good many places.

Just thought I would throw that out there....maybe wouldn't be a good option but who knows.

Sounds like the OP trip is right before us....have a great time!

 

[Badge]

I tried the AP option and the discount is not worth it in this case. The difference between the 2 day park to park tickets and the AP is $90 and the room discount is only $67. While you MIGHT be able to make up the remaining cost in discounts for food and stuff, its just not worth it.

The AP option is great when you are planning a trip longer than 3 or 4 days.

 

[TinkerSouthernBelle]

Thanks everyone! I feel so much better about this trip now. I do have to wait until monday to make sure I can cancel that one night at the convention hotel before booking Royal Pacific (don't know where I got Port Royal...Disney on the brain always!)

This feels so much more relaxed now knowing we don't have to stress so much about crowds & lines. I'm an off season Disney girl and totally spoiled going during low seasons. This is the first time I've ever gone during any high season!

DH is a "take is slow" participant. He's already complaining that we are doing 3 park days in a row (we're doing Legoland on the 18th)

I keep telling him that he and DD4 can just chill in the Suess area and it looks to be a bit more relaxed at US.

Thanks to the poster with the warning about Poseidon show for DD4. Any other shows we should avoid with her? Terminator or the Horror Make up?

Since y'all have been so kind answering my questions I have a couple more...
Will 100 yrs of Movies or Superstar Parade be open when we are there? all I could find was "March 2012".

Any shows at IOA or US that you do NOT like and recommend not wasting our time?

And lastly....any tips for Legoland

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Having dealt with my 7 year old (who goes back and forth on bravery) nearly jumping out of his skin at the NOISE of Poseidon's Fury, there's no chance I'd take a 4 year old on it. Though I'd definitely get her earplugs, just in case you take her on something that turns out to be loud. Gosh, just the Seuss stuff is LOUD, even if it's not *scary*.

Don't forget the kid area in the Studios as well. Play areas, water play areas (bring her swimsuit and shoes that can get wet!!!!), a little coaster, Barney (you can get wet in the pre-show for that, too), the Curious George area (encompasses another water play area as well as a ball playing area with soft soft soft foam balls you can shoot in the air and at each other without being hurt or hurting others)... DS could easily spend hours in there.

I don't think I would be having a child use an adult pass and vice versa. It does say adult or child(with an age) on the hotel keys. Not worth taking a chance, IMO.

I wouldn't take the chance either. Ds's age was right there on his keycard...

 

[damo]

I'd skip the Terminator Ride as well-motorcycles and shooting. Twister can be loud but I think it is pretty cool for a 4 year old to see a cow flying through the air.

 

[Senator Tressel]

Maybe I'm reading your question wrong, but there is nothing wrong with buying two adult express passes (for example) and then having different people use them for different rides. The responses you've gotten in this thread leave me to think I'm missing something, but I've read your post several times and I don't think I am. As long as you're not paying for a child pass and then trying to have an adult use it, you are fine.

 

[damo]

Maybe I'm reading your question wrong, but there is nothing wrong with buying two adult express passes (for example) and then having different people use them for different rides. The responses you've gotten in this thread leave me to think I'm missing something, but I've read your post several times and I don't think I am. As long as you're not paying for a child pass and then trying to have an adult use it, you are fine.

It is more sharing your unlimited express hotel key passes that you get from staying onsite, with people who aren't staying onsite, that could create a problem.