Tickets question... Help

[Doofenshmirtz]

ok... We are staying at HRH in a few weeks for 5 nights. This is our first time at US. We are used to WDW where everything is on one card or now the magicbands. How does Universal do room keys, tickets, express pass, etc.

Thanks much for any information.

 

[flateacher]

I think they are all separate. We have annual passes and they are paper type things (don't get me started on this...even Legoland has plastic cards). When we stay at a hotel on site we get real plastic room keys with our names on them and different characters (my kids love them... the little one keeps getting the hulk - too funny!). THEN you go to the kiosk and get express passes which are a separate piece of paper. It sounds like a lot to keep track of - but really you only take your tickets out to enter the park (or ride hogwarts). The room keys I keep tucked away. The only thing you need handy in the park is the express pass. I am not sure if you can charge to your room... we have never tried - we just take out our cc. We have a premium pass so I also show that to get our discount.

Again, sounds annoying - but speaking as someone who has more than 5 sets of those mickey bands... I like this system better. My husband hates wearing the band. I am always afraid the little one is going to lose hers. One family members band somehow never worked with the loaded fastpasses (usually mine even though I am the one who made them). Now we have BOXES of them and have no idea what to do with them all....

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Ok. Thanks. 2 more questions....

What about the dining plan? Another card?

Also... Are you allowed to carry food / water bottles into the parks at US?

Thanks

 

[damo]

Yes, everything is separate. Nothing is combined other than room key and room charging are on the same card. You can take food and water in just like at WDW.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Thanks!

3 more questions..... Is there a market or convenience store in the HRH? Is there a grocery store near by? What is the easiest way to get from US to WDW?

We will not have a car unless we rent one going from US to WDW.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Can anyone answer these 3 questions??

Is there a market or convenience store in the HRH?

Or is there a grocery store near by?

What is the easiest way to get from US to WDW?

We will not have a car unless we rent one going from US to WDW.

Thanks!

 

[macraven]

there is a small strip mall not far from pbh.
very walkable.

last year i walked there and taxi back for $5

 

[2girlsmom]

There is a small market at HRH, can't speak to how astronomical the prices are, though. We walked through just to check it out when we stayed club level last December.

 

[damo]

You can take a cab from Universal to WDW. They have town cars at the hotel that can take you also.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Is there anywhere to find out the cost from Universal to WDW?

 

[damo]

Is there anywhere to find out the cost from Universal to WDW?

http://www.mearstransportation.com/taxi-services/taxi-fare-estimator/

 

[Monykalyn]

We ended up with lanyards and the plastic pouches that zip to keep our passes, room key and tickets straight. Plus I carried the photopass card. Oh and the dining cards are separate too. We put our room key in between the express pass and ticket with the code/name facing out so we didn't have to dig them out everytime we did EP on a ride. This is a MUST for water rides as you will get soaked to the bone lol. Frankly we missed the MB from Disney! But...even with the minor hassle of so many separate tickets to keep track of we LOVED Universal and staying onsite! So much easier to get around.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Do you get lanyards in the parks or did you bring them?

Thanks

 

[mlamanna1701]

Is there anywhere to find out the cost from Universal to WDW?

I used Mears and prepaid before I left for the trip. It cost around $50 from HRH to WDW; we stayed at the Contemporary. I believe I had a 10% coupon code I found online.

 

[crazywig]

Do you get lanyards in the parks or did you bring them?

Thanks

I bought Avengers lanyards at my local Party City for $1 each, and got these pouches from ebay for $5. My son didn't like the party city ones so I did let him pick out a lanyard at Universal, it was $10.95 I think. We are a family of four and I really didn't want to spend $40 on lanyards so this worked out great thanks to tips I found on this board.

 

[Monykalyn]

We ended up buying lanyards from onsite-but we will use them when we go back-and my older ones need lanyards for school ID's anyway so they can use their Hogwarts ones I am the budget minded one-had brought a couple lanyards with pouches with us but everyone wanted "real" ones anyway...including DH!

 

[TXTransplant]

I purchased tickets online prior to our visit and had to print them out at home and carry them around our whole trip (two tickets, so two 8.5x11 pieces of paper that don't fit in a lanyard). I was worried I was going to lose or damage them. Also, the scanner they have at the entry gates is terrible...the line to enter the park really backed up because they were having trouble scanning the "tickets" like ours. I was annoyed that they couldn't somehow transfer our ticket information onto our room keys.

As another poster said, the Express Passes are a separate item, a small paper card. These cards to fit in the lanyards, and if I remember correctely, if you positioned them with your picture facing out, you do not have to take them out of the lanyard.

The ticket situation was probably the most (and really only) frustrating aspect of our visit, especially because of how it backed up the lines for park entry. But, if you get there early (I would say at least 30 min before the park is supposed to open), you still shouldn't have to wait long. Maybe they have upgraded the ticket scanners since last November.

You can take snacks and water bottles into the parks, but with each passing day, I found myself taking less and less with me. This is because you have to store everything in a locker to go on many of the rides. Having all of that extra stuff just became a liability, so I had incentive to pare down. We did buy one of the freestyle mugs and carried that around for drinks, though. Our first day in the park, we stopped to have a late breakfast at Leaky Cauldron. The hostess there automatically rang up our order as part of a "meal plan" (I don't know what all this includes since I never looked it up), but we did end up with some beverage "credits." I used these to get the freestyle mug at about 1/2 of the regular cost, and then we purchased the unlimited refills the other days we were in the parks. It was very easy for two people to share this mug, and since I don't drink any caffeine, this was pretty much my only option if I wanted carbonated beverages.

 

[elaine amj]

and don't be like my husband, PLEASE bring ALL the pieces of paper with you to the parks!

Our first morning, DH left the tickets behind in the room. When I asked for them at the entrance, he was shocked - thinking the room key was enough ("but that's how it is in Disney"). UGH...I had a 20 min roundtrip walk back to our room (thankfully in HRH, albeit at the end of several long corridors) to get the tix when I was just itching to get inside the park! Of course, DH couldn't do the walk since his feet were hurting