1st time trip in June 19 - would love some input!

[Louisville]

Our family has done a lot of Disney trips, but this year we will finally get Universal off the bucket list. 5 folks in our party - Grandma, mom and dad, 17 year old and a 6 year old (both HP fans). I am really just starting to plan this trip and I have a ton of questions already. We will arrive on a Tuesday and are staying nearby in Kissimmee (Windsor Palms condo). We are going on a cruise Friday through Monday, then fly home the following Tuesday.

First big decision is how many days and what ticket to buy. Grandma has an annual pass from a previous trip, but no one else in the party does. We are strongly considering purchasing a hotel night at Royal Pacific (probably Wednesday night) in order to get unlimited express passes for all 5 of us (my sister's recommendation). Assume we will do this and have the express pass.

One day park to park ticket seems to be in the $170s per person. If you spend another $100 you not only get the second day but two free days. So essentially four days versus one.

If we get the two day park to park with two free days, I assume they don't have to be consecutive? We could use on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and the following Monday? If we do this, Wednesday and Thursday we would have express pass unlimited (and early entry?), while Tuesday and the following Monday we would not, correct?

I'm trying to weigh whether spending the extra $100ish times four people, to get the extra days in the parks, is worth it to me. Or with the express pass and early entry, will we get so much done in one day I may want to just save the money and do other things (enjoy the pool at Windsor Palms, outlets, doing other things in Orlando area, before we get on the boat).

I know this is highly subjective but I would love to hear from folks who have been how they would parse this.

 

[iona]

With HP fans I’d definitely pay the extra and do more than one day. One thing to think about is that you don’t have to do all four days in the park (or at least not four full days) given that you’re getting two of them free - that would still give you time to do other things.

 

[CPanther95]

If it's even remotely worth $170 for a single day, it's real hard to pass up getting 3 more days at $33 a day.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Personally, I'd rather have 3-4 days non express than 1 day express. So if you're looking to save, that might be something to consider. Also, you may need 2 rooms for 5 people, or a suite, so the costs are higyer. However, you can check for AP rates since you have grandma's AP.

4 day tickets: "Ticket is valid for any four (4) calendar days during a seven (7) consecutive calendar day period which includes the first day any portion of the ticket is used. "

 

[CyndiLooWho]

I would get the 4 day ticket and skip the room at RPR unless you are there during a really busy week. We go the 2nd wk in June, stay offsite with no EP and still ride everything we want to ride with a 4-7 day ticket (we get what's the best deal). The only ride we've missed that we wanted to ride was MM, and we skip the biggest coasters, so I don't know their wait times. But if we get there close to park opening (we never actually make RD), we can ride loads of rides, have lunch, ride a few more (with a longer wait) and be out of the park by 2 or pm to enjoy the lazy river at our condo. We can re-use the parking pass from the morning to come back to eat at City Walk or ride more rides (or both).

It's so relaxing to be able to say "ok, don't have to pack in any more today, let's take a nap and try for MM tomorrow morning." We are also able to pick one day to use just for wet rides when we have those "spare days", and we ride until we're tired of getting wet and leave to shower and come back later, or not.

 

[ucancallmeflower]

We also are big WDW people and last spring my husband I splurged for one day at and Universal. The problem was.... we ended up paying $500 for the two of us for one day ( we got express tix) and at 6pm were told that HP world and Marvel were closing early for some special event. Talk about being upset!!!
I called today to plan for this year and was told that basically there is no guarantee that wont happen again. So we wont be going to Universal

 

[Louisville]

Thanks all for the input. It sounds like most are saying do two to four days instead of trying to do it all in one. I think I am sold on that now as the best decision for us. Probably a no brainer for many but for some reason I wasn't convinced at first. In our case you the vacation planner (me - dad) isn't quite as excited about HP and super heroes as the rest of my house will be. In the end though I usually come around and enjoy seeing them having fun so it will all be good! One way I entertain myself is figuring out how to maximize the fun and minimize the waiting in line. I don't like waiting in line (who does?) and that is magnified in the hot summer sun. I am a tightwad at heart but I think I'm going to splurge on the express passes anyway, and the throw away hotel room seems like the cheapest way to get them.

@ucancallmeflower I totally get where you are coming from. On our Disney trips I have always looked a lot at trying to combine Universal with Disney and it just never has seemed to be comparable cost/benefit wise versus just adding days at Disney. There is a purpose on both sides in the way they price tickets I'm sure, their goal being to keep you in their park spending money rather than running over to their competitors. This is the year though finally I think we are going to try Universal instead of Disney. The six year old boy is on the fourth book now and has seen the first three movies. He is going to be mesmerized I think. The 17 year old has also read three of the books and seen all of the movies, so I know she is going to enjoy too.

Ok, so now imagine Wednesday and Thursdays are our big days where we spend most of the day at the park those days. Wednesday morning we will start the day checking in and grabbing our express passes at Royal Pacific. Tuesday our flight arrives around 1PM. We'll have a rental car and grandma's annual pass that covers parking. Parks close at 9:00 that week. Thinking we might devote two to four hours to the park that evening. No reason to do anything with a big line since we have the passes for that the next day. What would you recommend to a first timer for that first night (Tuesday), to do in that time frame (2 to 4 hours)?

 

[Monykalyn]

What is the type of annual pass your family member has? The higher levels include parking (or cheaper parking).
Even none HP fans love the areas. Plan now for the kiddos to want the interactive wands. If you do get those maybe plan on getting those Tuesday night? And spend a bit of time to practice spells? If weather nice maybe catch the newer night time show around the lagoon at Studios? Hop in any lines with shorter waits. Get a feel for what you want to do when you get Express the next morning.
If you plan on heading straight back to condo at the end of night Tuesday (and not stop for dinner somewhere) maybe even do a water ride or two-you can and usually do get soaked! I managed to escape Jurassic falls with just a few sprinkles but husband drenched.
Having unlimited express is awesome!! You will get to do your fave rides over and over, then on last day you won’t express you can pick and choose what you’d like to experience again, or even devote more of that day to catch shows (in HP area, Blues brothers show is fantastic, the best builders are fun, the Hollywood make up show is cute).

Have a fantastic trip!

 

[Louisville]

Grandma's annual pass is "preferred". Her and my sister shared that it should get us free parking and 10% off of your food.

Getting the wand and catching the show at Studios sound like great suggestions!

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Don't worry, Dad, even if you don't like HP, you'll have a blast. I brought my mom the first time we went bc hubby was working overseas. Mom was in her mid-60s, doesn't do roller coasters, doesn't like HP, and really only went so I would not be the only adult in the car on a 16 hr drive (boys were 11 and 13). She LOVED it. We had a really nice time, and she volunteered to come back again with me and my sister to do a girls trip this fall.

There's plenty of other stuff to do - good coasters (can't wait to get on Hulk since my kids still want no part of even though they are HS/College age), fun shows, lots of atmosphere, and iced butterbeer! Mom hasn't been since they had the butterbeer ice cream and opened Diagon Alley. It's going to be such a fun trip!

 

[glocon]

And unlimited ep is a game changer! Shorter times in lines are always welcome. You’ll love it!!!