Am I missing something?

[georgina]

Good for you, but I'm not sure how you say my point is "not really relevant," when we are comparing costs of Disney and Universal. It's factual information and very relevant to this discussion.

You compared Universal hotel rates to a Disney AP discount rate? Universal has AP discounts also. AND UNIVERSAL IS ACTUALLY SELLING AP'S! I used to have a Disney AP pre-covid, don't think I could get one now if I wanted. So your special AP rate is not available to all of us.

I went to Disnay last May with a 5 day park hopper. Did the Halloween party in August while I was at Universal. In Dec I bought a MVMCP ticket and a 1 day Epcot ticket. In Feb/March I have a 3 day hopper and an after hours ticket. No, Disney is NOT a better value than my Universal AP.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

As far as cost per day Disney> UO> SW/BG
But as mentioned APs figure largely in how much difference.

Disney APs essentially are unavailable unless you have one and the benefits decrease regularly while prices increase. Onsite is nothing more than a convenience

UO APs are available and give significant value.
Onsite stays vary in value but the EPs more than make up for the expense of staying @RP HR or PB

SeaWorld/Busch Gardens passes offer amazing benefits that icrease the higher tier you go. No real benefits to partner hotels other than convenience.

 

[buzzrelly]

You compared Universal hotel rates to a Disney AP discount rate? Universal has AP discounts also

Universal was NOT offering AP rates for the time frame I was looking at...that was my whole point. If they were, I might have considered booking there instead.

And for what it's worth, WDW was not only offering discounts for PH during my time frame, there is also another 25% discount going on. I personally never seem to find any real discounts at UO.

 

[mom2rtk]

For a one day visit, the price is going to be comparable. Meaning high.

It's on longer trips that the difference becomes apparent. Last year when we bought our USO APs, they were only $6 more than the 3 day park to park tickets we were already purchasing. With that AP, we got an AP rate at Hard Rock Hotel, which gave us free express pass for the duration of our visit. We are just back from a second visit with those APs, and we were able to get Hard Rock for $290/night. Which is not that much more than what we paid at Pop Century for our visit. And we got free express pass once again.

 

[StarCruzer]

Honestly, you have to take into consideration a lot of things on your vacation to calculate: How many days you need tickets for, how many nights at a hotel, etc. As others have said, comparing during spring break is not a great time, simply because Universal has fewer onsite hotels and thus, prices skyrocket a bit faster. The Express Pass Unlimited cost is also at peak pricing, which only happens twice per year.

There are plenty of hotels near Universal--for example, Clarion Inn and Suites is listed as walkable from Universal, has a free theme park shuttle, and for April 2-8 have prices at $110/night through Hotels.com. That can easily save you $1k (more if you planned on staying at a premium resort), which is enough for 3 EPUs

For many, the value comes with the pacing. Staying at Cabana Bay with early entry, we were able to do all the rides we wanted to in a single park by about 1 p.m. (Including Hagrid's Motorbike and x2 Velocicoaster). So for us, being able to hit all the attractions we wanted to do quickly and easily in 2-3 days does have some value.

So in terms of what you get for your money during non peak times, Universal holds better value--which is a little different from being "less expensive" (although it certainly can be).

Other cost-related pros/cons:

Better theme park transportation--we've never needed to take a rideshare between parks/resorts at Universal
Car rental desks in hotel lobbies, so you can get the car when you're done in Universal
Parking is now more expensive at Universal resorts
Unlimited Express Pass included with "Deluxe" equivalent hotels (more expensive that G+ but you can just hit your favorite ride over and over all day--again, you can easily hit all the big ticket rides in a half day or less, depending on crowds))

 

[notatallmagic]

I think the poster meant not really relevant as far as comparing fairly: if one is comparing Disney AP hotel rate with UO hotel rate, then it’s only fair to compare with UO AP rate… apples to apples. I don’t believe UO AP April rates have been released yet.

I could be wrong, but I think I booked an AP rate in May? I check every day. I know there's nothing for June yet...

 

[notatallmagic]

Certainly it's hard to compare apples to apples, but as (former) Disney AP holders, and just starting our year as Universal AP holders, I do find Universal to be a better value. Yes, I get there are four parks compared to 2; but overall many of the reasons have been mentioned.

I can say that the AP rates for Universal hotels seem excellent; and the ability to stay at a "Deluxe" and get free Express Passes is superior. As some have said, you could even split stay and use Express Pass to ride everything, and then have your pool day/days at a Cabana Bay moderate or equivalent. Since you can pool hop at Universal resorts, there's no downside. And for ease of planning and less trip "stress" - Universal is a big win for me. I despise having my phone/kids' phones out every minute on vacation, and Universal makes that possible and easy.

We found on site transportation and proximity to be a Universal win, as well as the ease, quality, and closeness of dining; merchandise quality/prices; Starbucks in the resorts with little/no wait (we only do Starbucks on vacations, so that's a thing for us ) and an easy, short Uber/Lyft from the airport. We also enjoyed the quality of the immersion in the Harry Potter lands, the Passholder Lounge, the resort pool areas; and the Hagrids ride. I also have a 17 and 20 year old, and the 17 year old like the rides/themes at Universal much better (Transformers, Minions, and Simpsons especially). He'd be fine never going back to Disney.

For a direct annual comparison, for our budget, we could fit two eight day trips into a year with Disney passes at Pop Century (budget level); we are doing 5 trips to Universal this year - all five days, with all moderate and several Deluxe resort stays. And we have three more sets of airfare as well; and we eat better quality meals at Universal.

For a weekend though - I would highly encourage stalking rates at the Universal Deluxe resorts. Happy trip planning!

 

[notatallmagic]

For example - I get it's last minute, and a Tuesday in January, but Royal Pacific is showing $254 for tonight - AP rate! That's a Deluxe with free express pass. I can't imagine seeing a Disney Deluxe for that price with any promo - and no free unlimited front of the line!

 

[StarCruzer]

Have to add that if you're a military family like we are, Universal is a no-brainer. The $200 Freedom pass is absolute insanity.

 

[Tatum20]

I do think most of the time Universal is going to be less expensive than Disney, but we are speaking relatively here- still a very, very expensive day. Also, I think Disney visitors may be satisfied with a single park if they are only there for a day (when my kids were young we went to Magic Kingdom a few times on a whim), whereas for UO, you really wouldn't want to be limited to just one park.

Further, I believe once you get past two days at UO, the daily rate drops considerably. We started with two days (both parks) then upgraded twice- to go from 2 days to 3 was around $35 a person, and then from 3 to 4 was $28 pp. While you would pay less per day on a 3-4 day trip to Disney than 1-2 days, the price savings isn't as much. Doing a quick look at Disney- prices are still $100+ per day for the 3rd and 4th day.

I mean, we are still talking about spending a huge chunk of money regardless. But I do agree UO is slightly less in most cases, the one obvious exception being a one day park hopper ticket.

 

[Tatum20]

Since you can pool hop at Universal resorts, there's no downside.

You can???? I did not know this. Is this all the time?

 

[DoryGirl1963]

You can???? I did not know this. Is this all the time?

Yes except for those staying at the Endless Summer resort (Surfside & Dockside.)

 

[notatallmagic]

You can???? I did not know this. Is this all the time?

I was told this at Christmas by a Cast Member; so I guess? I believe you have to ask for some sort of pass at your home resort? Haven't tried it, but pretty cool if true. We've stayed at several Disney Moderate/Deluxe Disney resorts and my son LOVES hot tubs...and the hot tubs weren't open/closed for service issues. It was a real bummer. Having that flexibility would have solved that issue, but it was just handled like a "sucks to be you" type of thing.

 

[wdwrule]

I could be wrong, but I think I booked an AP rate in May? I check every day. I know there's nothing for June yet...

Yes I was mistaken. I had randomly looked at a week in April (probably busy Easter week) and didn’t see an AP rate… so that week must’ve been sold out of AP rate.

 

[wdwrule]

I was told this at Christmas by a Cast Member; so I guess? I believe you have to ask for some sort of pass at your home resort? Haven't tried it, but pretty cool if true. We've stayed at several Disney Moderate/Deluxe Disney resorts and my son LOVES hot tubs...and the hot tubs weren't open/closed for service issues. It was a real bummer. Having that flexibility would have solved that issue, but it was just handled like a "sucks to be you" type of thing.

I just visit the concierge desk at the UO resort I’m pool hopping at and show my room key. They then give you a card key to enter their pool area. For example, we’ve stayed at Aventura then walked across the parking lot to Sapphire Falls. Then went to SF’s front desk and showed our Aventura room key. They gave us their pool card and off we went… and down their water slide.

As @DoryGirl1963 mentioned above, not permissible though from Endless Summer Resorts.

 

[notatallmagic]

I just visit the concierge desk at the UO resort I’m pool hopping at and show my room key. They then give you a card key to enter their pool area. For example, we’ve stayed at Aventura then walked across the parking lot to Sapphire Falls. Then went to SF’s front desk and showed our Aventura room key. They gave us their pool card and off we went… and down their water slide.

As @DoryGirl1963 mentioned above, not permissible though from Endless Summer Resorts.

Thanks so much for the information! We have Adventura booked for a short trip in May, and this would be SO much fun! Yay!

 

[notatallmagic]

Highly recommend checking on AP rates every day!

We have a trip booked in about a month; booked at the Savvy Traveler rate, and have been checking twice a day to see if an AP rate pops up! Today was like Christmas morning - sure enough, an AP rate popped up for our stay at Royal Pacific. Since we're somewhat new to Universal, I called the number I had, got a real person right away, and they modified the rate - saved $300 on a four night stay and the whole thing took maybe 5 minutes! Loving this!!!

 

[cschaaf]

Highly recommend checking on AP rates every day!

Agreed! Use the link in the AP Rate post and set up your dates/number of guests, then bookmark the site.

Then it takes only a few seconds to check. If you have multiple dates you're considering, save each as a bookmark and put them in a folder. Then you can open the whole folder at one time and check them all in a few seconds. Takes a few extra seconds to set up the first time (you're already checking them, just bit Bookmark), from then on, you'll save the time that it takes to set up the dates.