Help, please...EP question

[#1DopeyFan]

On a whim due to a SUPER cheap flight, planning a quick trip for my middle child's birthday in May. We'll be there the 6th-9th...I've been weighing out every hotel/ticket option possible, on site/off site, paying for EP, etc. Currently what I'm leaning towards is the first 2 nights off property and the last night on property. My question is, if I buy our tickets ahead of time from UT (the buy 2 get 3rd free) and we use them the first day and then check in early at Royal Pacific the second day before heading to the parks, is there any problems with the EP's? Are they tied to your tickets somehow, or something separate that isn't affected by what type of ticket you have?
Sorry if this is a dumb or repeated question...I have spent a TON of time the past 3 days weighing this all out and I just want to make sure I'm not creating a problem.

 

[macraven]

there are no dumb questions period.

we all have had to start somewhere to get information and there are always someone on this board that can help out.
you would be better off to stay onsite at the beginning of your stay.
when you stay onsite at one of the 3 deluxe hotels, all hotel guest receive specific perks.

all in your party on the reservation will get a hotel key card.
and, with that hotel card, you make a photo id express pass in the lobby after you check in.
that express pass allows you to use all the express lines as much as you want.
it will list the dates of your stay.
(check in and check out dates)

the other thing is you are allowed one hour for an early entry into the parks.
you show your hotel card to prove you are an onsite hotel guest.

you can buy your park tickets anywhere.
Ut is a great place to save money on tickets.

park tickets are not tied into the hotel stay.

if you stay at RPR, you get the hotel perks for the day you check in and they continue for the day you check out
they do not lapse until the park closes that day.

if you stay onsite one night at RPR, you can use two days of the ep and ee.
one night onsite and then move offsite and still take advantage of those 2 perks.
have you considered staying at the value resort on the darkside?
Cabana Bay provides bus shuttles to the parks.
stay at one of the deluxe hotels and then move to CBay
Cbay allows the early entry but does not include the free unlimited of the ep's
first night you move over to Cbay, you will still have usage form the ep's you printed at RPR.


maybe if you start the trip onsite and move offsite for the last 2 nights, you will be able to see everything and still be able to take your time.

it might be cheaper starting the vacation onsite as you won't need to buy the ep's for 2 days of your vacation time.

if you have more questions, do come back and ask.
you'll be a pro with this system before you ever get to the darkside parks and hotels.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

Well, I chose the 3rd night because the first night we won't even check in until 9pm, so staying on property would only have the one day perk as opposed to 2. The other option was one night off, one night on and then one night off again...didn't figure that would be much fun, lol. If we stay the 3rd night we'll have the 2nd full day and 3rd day until 5pm to take advantage of the EP's.
That being said...if we decide to forego any nights on property, can you just pay for EP's day by day if we decide we need/want them?

 

[macraven]

yes you can buy the basic express pass which is a one time use only per ride and show per park.
or you can buy the unlimited express pass per park.


you do have the option of buying either of the above passes that is for both days, but that runs higher.

looking at the ep site, all the dates you listed are:
$70 each day per person for unimited express passes at ioa
$80 at studios
$90 as above for unlimited if you buy the both parks ep

$60 each day per person for basic one time usage of express passes at the studios only
$50 as above for ioa only
$70 as above if you buy for both parks same day

so if you can wait and buy the tickets the day you are in the parks
or buy in advance.

but if you want the unlimited express, you might come out ahead by staying one night on site in the deluxe and get it for free.
if there are 4 in your group, staying on site is the way to go if you would need the express passes in the park.
move off site for the 3rd night stay and still get the hotel benefits.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

There will only be the 2 of us, so that makes it a bit tougher.

Decisions, decisions...I just don't know, it's making me crazy. Lol

Thanks so much for all your advice!!

 

[macraven]

hopefully others will post here to help you make a decision.

i know i had to think about the money when i started doing solo trips.
i bit the bullet and booked on site for the conveniences it gave me.

i'm sure there were cheaper ways to do my lodging but i wanted to feel safe and secure doing my trips alone.
my well being was my first concern.

stayed onsite every since.

what ever decision you make, will be the right one for you.
all you have to do is go on the trip and have a lot of fun!

 

[Duanerice]

We just went through this. Day offsite, day onsite, etc. In the end we decided for 2 days at RPR. Yea a bit more than we wanted but the convenience of walking to the park outweighed the cost. I also get Florida Resident so the cost was not too crazy.

I'm also going with my wife who doesn't like to get up early so going with kid is different.
enjoy

 

[Liz Vogel]

Before I commented, I did some research. The days that you are going will not be extremely extremely busy due to most schools still being in session. Looking at crowd calendars the 8th would be a great day to go to IOA and more than likely have fairly short waits even without EPs. What I suggest is to stay off property for two nights, then stay on property to get EP's for your last day. I would go to IOA on the second day until a little before 4, head to Royal Pacific and check in and then head back to Universal and enjoy either park and use the EPs for the rest of that day and then your last day. Your first day you can chose to get EPs or just enjoy the theming of the parks, walking around the parks, and enjoying rides in which you'd really like to see the cue and rides that do not have an express pass entrance such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

 

[macraven]

i don't think that May 8th will be that great of a day as it is one of the Gradventures date. (middle school graduation party)

kids can enter the park as early as 4:00 pm that day.

middle schools will have the parks from 7:00 pm to midnight in both parks.

both parks close to the public at 6:00 that night,.



during the day, local schools usually do day field trips to the darkside in May on Fridays.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

So do you guys think EPs would be worth it these days?
It's almost an exact wash if we stay off property all 3 days and go ahead and buy the 2 day plus 3rd free WITH the unlimited EPs, as it is to stay 2 days off and 1 on and get the EPs for the 2 days.
So I'm leaning towards the staying off property and going ahead and splurging on the tickets, but it's a tough call. I'm assuming if I buy just the regular ticket ahead of time from UT and then want to upgrade to unlimited EPs, that they're going to charge me for all THREE days instead of getting one free, is that correct? (I know we pay by the day and don't HAVE to do all 3, but assuming we did, would they would charge us for all and not get the 3rd free???)

 

[macraven]

the unlimited ep will cost $360 for 2 days of your trip.
then factor in the park ticket costs.

on the site you can buy the park tickets and the upper unlimited ep for each park
or do the combo for both parks with unlimited ep for each day
times it by 2 and decide the cheapest way to handle your total costs