A little help for a total newbie :)?

[pangyal]

Apologies in advance for being that person that you want to grab and shake and yell, "Did you do a search? DID YOU TRY GOOGLE FIRST?!?" But, I have read through 25+ pages in this forum and have spent literally the past day and a half on the UO website and others trying to get a handle on a trip we are planning for next February, and I still feel lost. So, some questions!

We are planning to go next February (9-18) with Disney first, then UO, then back to Disney. We are looking at staying onsite at UO as it seems like the best way to go. We would take a taxi to UO from WDW early morning on the 12th and stay 2 nights at Universal onsite, then go back to WDW late in the day on the 14th, so three full(ish) days at UO. I checked the Transportation forum and it looks like about $38 each way for the cab.

Here are my questions so far:

-Does anyone have experience using the Fine Hotels program through Amex to book Portofino and get the upgrade/free breakfasts/$100 resort credit for a comparable price to the APH discount? More importantly, is it possible to use the APH discount through this program if it's offered for those dates?

-We are looking at possibly getting the UC 2+1 park hoppers and upgrading them to APs in case we can make it back again within the year and also to get the better rate for the hotel we decide on. Is this price traditionally consistent throughout the year, or would you all suggest buying the tickets now to hedge against increases later in the year? We would want to bridge/upgrade to the Seasonal Pass, and it seems like we could do it for almost the same price as the UC tickets. Universal will credit gate price assuming we use the tickets to enter a park first- is this correct?

-Is it worth staying at one of the premium hotels for the Unlimited Express Pass for these dates, or should we maybe just look at Cabana Bay/Sapphire Falls with the AP rates and hope for the best in terms of crowds, while using the early entry?

-Would we want to build in a lot of resort time with either Portofino or RPR? We usually do parks only in the mornings at WDW and enjoy the resorts in the afternoon...it looks like there is a lot to do at UO overall, so suggestions are appreciated.

-Do the restaurants require calling in to book, or is there an online reservation system I'm not seeing?

-Is it worth signing up for the Loews loyalty program with only a two night stay?

-Our kiddo is going to be 8 and is easily frightened, especially by jump scares. Is Kong out? I know the Mummy ride is probably a no-go...any other rides that have things that jump out? I have read here that the HP dragon ride is scary, but I am not quite sure what makes it so.

Thank you all in advance for your patience with this total UO newbie!

 

[janicept]

*spoiler alert for some rides toward the end*

I can't answer some of your questions but I can help some. The ticket prices have already gone up twice in about a year. The most recent one was likely due to Volcano Bay opening soon. It's still not clear if that will be included in passes or not. If you know that you want to make a second trip I would just buy the seasonal pass. I use to go down to Orlando at that time of the year and it's pretty slow. You should not feel the need to stay somewhere to get the unlimited EPs if it's not in the budget. At that time of the year I believe the parks close around 6 pm during the week so you will have time in the evening to hang around CityWalk or the resorts. Of course the final times won't come out until closer to February. If you only plan on staying in the parks in the morning you may want to stay at a hotel that give unlimited EPs. It really just depends on how much you want to see/do in the parks. I was there with my family around Thanksgiving and it was really busy but open late. We stayed one full and long day at Studios but only about 6 hours at IoA the following day since there's not as much we wanted to do there. With park hopper or AP you can go back to Studios and ride things again. They did not have that upgrade. I talked them into buying 2-day, 1 park passes instead of 1-day park hopper.

Some of the restaurants take reservations. Once you know what restaurants you want to go to you can see if you can reserve through Universal's website or try the restaurant's website. I just checked Antojitos and they have online ressies. I know Emerils does. If you're not sure where you want to go but have a timeframe you can wait until you get to the hotel and talk to the concierge to see what you can get. That time of the year is slow but some places still book up at prime time. I just checked some other ones and a lot of the sit down places at CityWalk take reservations. Toothsome doesn't seem to take them. The main Harry Potter restaurants are technically quick service so no reservations. Places like Lombards and Finnagans I believe to take them.

I got Loews perks years ago but you have to stay a lot of nights before it kicks in. 2 nights is nowhere close but it doesn't hurt to sign up it doesn't cost anything.

As far as scary rides a lot of the ones with taller ride requirements might be out. Studios: Minions, Shrek, Fallon, MIB (if she likes Jimmy Neutron), Simpson's, ET, and anything in the kids area near ET should be fine. RRR is a roller coaster that even my husband won't ride. Mummy is pretty dark and has mummies, fire, and loud effects. Transformers is a simulator ride but you move around from space to space. It's not worse than the Transformers movie if that's ok for her. Gringott's is an excellent ride with one drop at the beginning. There is some dark areas where you spin around a little. Transformers is like Shrek but it's pretty loud and has fake guns and smoke effects. IoA: Anything in Suess Landing and Spiderman should be good. FJ (castle ride) makes me slightly nauseated but I haven't ridden since they fixed it. Dragon Challenge is two roller coasters, There is another small roller coaster next to the castle that should be fine but you can see the whole thing from the line so she can decide there. Jurassic Park is a ride kindof like jungle cruise but it does get intense at the end with really loud dinosaurs and a big drop to finish. You an see the drop from the outside so she can see how bad it is. Kong is a simulator ride that you are on a truck. The movie is a little intense like when Kong kills one of the dinosaurs. She could just close her eyes. I've ridden when some kids were crying. There's a drop tower thing that she probably wouldn't like. Hulk is a coaster. There is a ride near Hulk that I believe that is like the tea cups at Disney. Honestly I've never ridden it. Now that I think of it if she won't ride most of these things you definitely don't need express passes and will have plenty of time to hang at the resorts. There are some shows. The pet show is cute. There's a Sinbad show that is similar to Indiana Jones at HS. Ollivanders' show is cut. They have them at both parks in HP area but the Diagon Alley one is bigger so you don't have to wait as long. That's the main things I can think other than some kids play areas or display type things for kids. I don't have kids so I don't usually go to those areas. Just do the main things first then walk around and explore. The parks are small compared to Disney so it's not too bad to walk around a couple times.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our kiddo is going to be 8 and is easily frightened, especially by jump scares. Is Kong out? I know the Mummy ride is probably a no-go...any other rides that have things that jump out?

The kong line has some people that startle you. But the express pass line does not. That alone would be worth having the EP.

Mummmy I think there's only one mummy poppin out at you happens. Well I guess on film there's another at the end. Not sure about the line; I've only used Single Rider or EP for it.


I don't think you can use a TA (Amex) and aph rate at the same time.

It's always worth joining a frequent stayer program imo.

 

[bchbetha]

Just a quick tip- Uber or Lyft are lots cheaper than a taxi and extremely easy to deal with.

 

[gotomu212]

We looked at the AMEX rate for Portofino and the AP rate was cheaper (by a lot-just can't remember exactly how much). We could not combine the two deals.

We always find time to chill at the resorts and definitely think it's worthwhile. The UO parks close earlier so we sometimes call it a day early evening and still have enough resort time. You can also pool hop at all the different hotels so we've taken time to do that too.

Our family feels like Express Passes are invaluable. We personally wouldn't go without them...but everyone has different trade offs and you don't have to have them (still it's SO NICE).

You can make reservations through universal online, usually through open table, or by calling BUT they don't accept reservations until I think 2 months out, and we make ours a day or two out without a problem (no need for 6-month ADR planning-yay).

Lastly, once you decide where to stay you really don't have to plan much!! So the universal portion will be a lot more laid back for you.

 

[nene0182]

Just a quick tip- Uber or Lyft are lots cheaper than a taxi and extremely easy to deal with.

I'll second this. We used Uber to get to Universal from AKL two days last week and back. Our most expensive ride was $18 something and the cheapest was $15 something. Totally easy and all 4 drivers were great

 

[pangyal]

So if we are getting free breakfast through the Amex deal for three people each day plus a resort credit, it might be worth booking that and then changing it to an AP rate if that works for our dates. I just don't want to end up homeless if we wait too long!

Is there any chance that Universal will stop price bridging tickets? Or is it better to maybe buy the tickets from UCT now and hold on to them until our trip- or do they expire within a certain time frame even if unused?

Does the APH rate come out for all resorts at once or selected ones- as in, do we have a better chance of it landing for RPR than Portofino, for example? Or is it a resort-wide promo?

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Just a question and I'm sure you have a good reason, but why are you going to Disney first, then packing up and moving over to Universal, then packing up and moving back to Disney?? With the time required for packing, checking out/in, waiting for room to be ready, getting a taxi or Uber, etc. it seems as if you have a lot of unproductive time built in to your plan. Wouldn't it be easier just to move once?

We recently did a split stay, Universal for three days then Disney for three days. We first stayed at Royal Pacific and highly recommend it. The Universal hotels are so pleasant and easy to get back and forth from the parks, great if you like to spend time at the resort like you said you do. From RP it is a short beautiful boat ride or ten minute walk. The included express pass was great too. We then packed up and moved over to Disney (we had a car so easier). It worked out well, but it takes time to do everything, we enjoyed the day off in between but one moving day was enough!

 

[pangyal]

Just a question and I'm sure you have a good reason, but why are you going to Disney first, then packing up and moving over to Universal, then packing up and moving back to Disney?? With the time required for packing, checking out/in, waiting for room to be ready, getting a taxi or Uber, etc. it seems as if you have a lot of unproductive time built in to your plan. Wouldn't it be easier just to move once?

We recently did a split stay, Universal for three days then Disney for three days. We first stayed at Royal Pacific and highly recommend it. The Universal hotels are so pleasant and easy to get back and forth from the parks, great if you like to spend time at the resort like you said you do. From RP it is a short beautiful boat ride or ten minute walk. The included express pass was great too. We then packed up and moved over to Disney (we had a car so easier). It worked out well, but it takes time to do everything, we enjoyed the day off in between but one moving day was enough!

It's a very good question!

We would prefer to take MDE to and from the airport due to cost and ease, and definitely won'r have a car rented, so it seems easier to begin and end the trip at Disney. Plus, we usually do a split stay at WDW anyway, so this is just one extra move .

So you all would recommend getting the UCT tickets now rather than waiting? Is there a chance they wouldn't let us price bridge them to APs, or do they expire?

 

[damo]

I don't think that Universal will stop bridging as long as WDW is doing it.

 

[macraven]

Ap rates come out at various times

Some we can assume those time periods while others we can not

 

[bchbetha]

I get wanting to take Magic Express but Uber only cost us $15 to get to the airport. I feel that $15 is a small price to pay for convenience.

 

[steviethegreat]

I get wanting to take Magic Express but Uber only cost us $15 to get to the airport. I feel that $15 is a small price to pay for convenience.

It's more expensive getting from the airport, though. It's $60 plus tip with Tony Hinds for my friend and I in April. And I've heard the taxis are more expensive. If you take the USO shuttle, it's $20 per person, I believe, which can add up, depending on how many people are going. But yes, going BACK to the airport is a lot cheaper, for sure.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I get wanting to take Magic Express but Uber only cost us $15 to get to the airport. I feel that $15 is a small price to pay for convenience.

Definitely agree! You could start your trip off at Disney using the ME, then check out and move to Universal, then go from Universal to the airport. This gives you more time at each of the resorts and far less hassle with moving around.

 

[bchbetha]

It's more expensive getting from the airport, though. It's $60 plus tip with Tony Hinds for my friend and I in April. And I've heard the taxis are more expensive. If you take the USO shuttle, it's $20 per person, I believe, which can add up, depending on how many people are going. But yes, going BACK to the airport is a lot cheaper, for sure.

Right, OP will already be taking DME from the airport to hotel so it's just the return trip that she'd need to worry about. Moving back and forth and back again seems like a ton of work to save $15 just for the free lift back to the airport via Disney.

 

[pangyal]

I understand what everybody is saying about moving, but with using our DVC points to stay at Disney, we can book only two nights at a UO resort and get three full days, whereas if we go straight there or leave for home from there, we would feel like we are wasting the nightly UO rate to just sleep at the resort for one of those nights. If we go back and forth, we can arrive good and early on day 1, spend the whole day, spend day 2, and spend all of day 3, returning in the evening to WDW. I hope this makes more sense, as I feel I'm not explaining it well. We might even just keep our room at WDW that we booked with points throughout the time we are at UO so we don't even have to worry about what time we want to return.

 

[steviethegreat]

Right, OP will already be taking DME from the airport to hotel so it's just the return trip that she'd need to worry about. Moving back and forth and back again seems like a ton of work to save $15 just for the free lift back to the airport via Disney.

It just depends on if OP wants to end at Universal or at Disney. I personally always end at Disney, but I always start with Universal. I can't imagine doing the middle-of-the-trip switch thing, though. I hate packing once. Twice is enough for me.

OP, I bought my tickets from UCT for Disney and Universal and saved a bit of money. I also highly recommend RPR. It's kind of like the Polynesian, but for a much MUCH better price. Obviously, no Ohana, but there's definitely a lot of food options around the Citywalk and even in the hotel. I haven't been to Portofino, but a lot of people here like it!

And YES, definitely get the express pass if you plan on riding anything that uses it. I startle very easily. People walking around the side of a cubicle when I'm not expecting it can be momentarily terrifying. But the Mummy ride was one of my favorite rides after I rode it the first time. I would recommend ear plugs because it's SO loud. All of the HP rides are amazing. And the theming there alone is worth spending a good chunk of time just between the restaurants and gift shops. If you're big fans, considering getting at least one interactive wand. It's a lot of fun to feel like a real wizard, if only for a moment.

The dragon challenge isn't scary unless you're unnerved by roller coasters. But then that means almost all of the coasters are out. I -will- say that my dad and I went to Universal for the first time (as an adult) in 2014. We didn't ride a single roller coaster outside of dragon challenge and we still hit a ton of the parks in one day. So there's a bunch to see and do. Maybe watch the online POV of the rides before going? The HP rides aren't really done justice via POV, but the Hogwarts one is still scary to me. (Not to others, though. Scary is definitely in the eye of the beholder.)

Any way you look at it though, you're likely to find some AMAZING things at Universal. I add an extra day every time I go. I hope you have a great time! The lack of planning is definitely a nice break since I have to plan every second of my vacation with Disney.