Adding an additional person to reservation later

[WNYDisneyDad]

Hello -

I have a high school senior graduating this spring and my wife and I wanted to surprise him with a "senior trip" to Universal Orlando. We have done WDW numerous times (and thus understand the ins and outs) but this will be their first time at Universal (I went on a solo trip when I attended a conference in Orlando a few years ago.) My question is this:

My mother in law was recently diagnosed with a somewhat serious, and immediate, medical condition. So my wife is going to be tied up with caring for her mother for the foreseeable future. But we don't know how she will be in May, especially since my MIL is the person that would have to watch my other 3 kids while we were away. If we were to book my son and I's on-site hotel and park tickets now, how difficult would it be to add my wife to the reservation later? I'm unclear how the hotel pricing works and if it is a flat price whether it's a solo traveler or the max allowed in the room or if it's priced per person. I know someone might say that my wife could just come and the hotel would never know, but for my conscience, I want to do it right, if that makes sense. I'm also curious how early park admission is handled. I know that Disney scans one person's magicband and then lets our whole group through. But I don't know how this works at USO and if they will check to see if there's 3 people on the reservation and then lets us through or if they're just checking that "someone" is staying on prem. If we purchased my wife's tickets at a later date, would she still be able to enter the parks early, even if she isn't officially on the hotel reservation?

Thank you in advance!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Since your son is (I assume) over 16yr, there will be an additional charge for adding an additional adult to the room. I believe all the hotel rooms are priced for up to 2 adults, and a third (or more) adult is the extra fee. The premier hotels have a higher extra adult fee than the lower tier hotels.

I would book the hotel and tickets separately. Booking room only gives much more flexibility. If the rates go down, or if you find a better deal at another hotel, you can rebook up to 5 days out with no penalty. If the rates go up, you just hold on to the existing booking. You could add a separate room-only day before/after your initial booking with no trouble. You can add additional people to the hotel room at any time, up to the max room capacity. If the room rate were to have increased, you can just wait until arrival to add the additional person at check in - you will still pay the extra adult fee, but the original booked room rate will still be valid.

But if you have a package, you have to modify the whole thing to make any changes - which means that if the ticket prices have gone up, you would have to pay the increase - and the terms are not as generous if you have to cancel/change. If you add a day, package tickets might not be valid on dates outside your initial package booking.

For admission, everyone will be scanned to get into the park - they don't check for early admission at the ticket gate. To get into the early entry areas, they ask to see your room key. IME they look at everyone's room key although I'm not sure how closely they look. The room key is your early admission credential. It's not linked to your ticket or a package or anything - anyone staying onsite has early admission. Presumably she would be staying in the same room?

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

Since your son is (I assume) over 16yr, there will be an additional charge for adding an additional adult to the room. I believe all the hotel rooms are priced for up to 2 adults, and a third (or more) adult is the extra fee. The premier hotels have a higher extra adult fee than the lower tier hotels.

I would book the hotel and tickets separately. Booking room only gives much more flexibility. If the rates go down, or if you find a better deal at another hotel, you can rebook up to 5 days out with no penalty. If the rates go up, you just hold on to the existing booking. You could add a separate room-only day before/after your initial booking with no trouble. You can add additional people to the hotel room at any time, up to the max room capacity. If the room rate were to have increased, you can just wait until arrival to add the additional person at check in - you will still pay the extra adult fee, but the original booked room rate will still be valid.

But if you have a package, you have to modify the whole thing to make any changes - which means that if the ticket prices have gone up, you would have to pay the increase - and the terms are not as generous if you have to cancel/change. If you add a day, package tickets might not be valid on dates outside your initial package booking.

For admission, everyone will be scanned to get into the park - they don't check for early admission at the ticket gate. To get into the early entry areas, they ask to see your room key. IME they look at everyone's room key although I'm not sure how closely they look. The room key is your early admission credential. It's not linked to your ticket or a package or anything - anyone staying onsite has early admission. Presumably she would be staying in the same room?

This is extremely helpful. Thank you very much!