AP,EP, staying on site -options

[kristennn]

My parents are renting a condo in florida for two weeks in late feb/early march. We are coming for ten days to go to disney and universal. We have been to disney many times - and been to universal twice. Because we are not staying onsite at Disney and my parents have a car - its a good time for a Universal visit - even though we've mostly been all about disney in the past. (my girls both love harry potter though, and I really love dr suess)
So I was debating doing 2 day/1 park tickets, 2 day/2 park tickets, or a 1 day 2 park tickets. Then I was thinking about express passes - which led me to thinking about staying onsite one night even though we already have accommodations, and from there I started looking into AP passes - first i thought maybe just one for me - then decided maybe for me and the girls and we will make a second short trip before next march when our AP passes would expire.

So now I am thinking I will buy myself a 2 park preferred pass ( 150 more than 2 day/1park) which also gets me discounts on food/merch. I will buy my girls seasonal AP passes (about $60more than 2 day /1 park) and can use my discount to purchase my parents 2 day/1 park tickets at gate. I know I get discount but not sure how much. Would it be smarter to purchase my girls 2 day/1 park tickets with my AP discount and then upgrade them to seasonal AP? Also is the preferred pass for just me ($90 increase over seasonal) worth it for food/merch discounts? We will be there two days and will likely eat there and purchase souvenirs - and we will very likely come a second time. I would PLAN to come a second time to use those AP passes.

Then - I am thinking I will use my AP to book a hotel room at Pacific (have stayed there before and loved it) and will book for 5 (to include my parents) even though they likely wouldnt actually sleep there. Myself and daughters would for sure stay there and swim/enjoy the hotel and not driving back and forth. My understanding is we would be able to use the express passes for two days since you can technically check in very early in morning, and that we would be able to pay $28 for overnight parking which would get us parking for 2 days. Without AP the one night would cost $529, with AP it would cost $331

So I feel like this is kind of a good deal - however I also went from purchasing 5 2day/1 park tickets to purchasing - 3 annual passes, 2 - 2day/1 park tickets, 1 hotel night and a whole nother vacation.

Is this a smart plan? Have I gone done the rabbit hole?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The food / merchandise discounts are mostly 10%. If you see yourself spending $900 on food / merc (not including alcohol) over your 2 trips, the discount will break even. If on the next trip you will park in the garage, the preferred AP offers free parking, and in that case it is definitely worth the upgrade.

 

[cfoxga]

That sounds like a great plan to me, very similar to our first trip. The APs gave us room discounts but allowed us to add a second trip. We took a break for 18 months after the APs expired and then did it again in 2019, with a potential 3rd trip on this AP in a couple weeks (Covid willing).

We considered single park tickets on our first trip, but quickly learned about the value of the annual passes at Universal. When paired with EPs from the Deluxe Hotel, you are all set for they most relaxing way to do Universal. The beauty is if you want more days, or additional trips within 12 months, you don't need to buy tickets. Makes for a cheap return trip.

Agree with CAPSLOCK about the need for Preferred vs Seasonal AP. You'll be using the RPR parking lot for your two days, so no savings there. So probably won't break even on the first trip, even with 5 people.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

I’d buy tickets and see how you enjoy it first. Then before your tickets expire decide if you want to upgrade to season passes.

 

[Lynne G]

OP, to confirm, yes, you get the express pass from the time you check in until the close of the parks the day you checkout. 2 days of express. Your room key is the express pass, and the dates you check in and out are printed in the room key. The key is the size of a credit card. I keep my pass in my lanyard and swap out the room key from it each time I visit. Fun reminder as room key is yours to keep, as have a character on it.

 

[Erica Ladd]

We just went with 5 seasonal APs for my family and planned on staying at a premier every time. No merchant/food discounts but I don’t think it would have equaled out even with multiple visits. I’m not sure kids will go more than one more time but even still one more time would more than break even. Plus DH and I can go for short trips and that will definitely make up for for the kids tix. This way if they want to go they can

 

[cfoxga]

When we (myself, DW, and two DD) went for Thanksgiving 2019, we had to upgrade from Seasonal to Power APs to avoid the blockout dates. At that point, it was only $40 to upgrade to Preferred for one of us, so we did that. Over the course of our 4 night stay, I'd say we definitely saved more than $40 on the food/merchandise discounts. We then used is again for Thanksgiving 2020, so we ended up saving more than the $90 difference between a Seasonal and Preferred AP. So next time we get APs, we will probably get one Preferred again because of the number of days we stay in a year...

 

[OrlandoGirl357]

Universal is currently offering a 15 month deal on annual passes so that gives you even more time to enjoy the pass.
You can buy tickets from discount retailers and upgrade them at the park. The upgrade would cost you the difference between the face value of the ticket and the annual pass.
I would contact universal before doing this and make sure that an upgraded ticket can get the 15 month annual pass. You could save 20 dollars per ticket this way, and have the tickets ahead of time, which means you won't be waiting in line at the park entrance to get tickets.
Universal will require seeing the annual pass before you check out, so I would see if you could upgrade the ticket at the hotel, before checking in, or buy 1 pass outright to show them at the front desk.
Do keep in mind that for more than 2 adults in a room, you will be charged an extra $40 for each adult.

 

[kristennn]

Universal is currently offering a 15 month deal on annual passes so that gives you even more time to enjoy the pass.
You can buy tickets from discount retailers and upgrade them at the park. The upgrade would cost you the difference between the face value of the ticket and the annual pass.
I would contact universal before doing this and make sure that an upgraded ticket can get the 15 month annual pass. You could save 20 dollars per ticket this way, and have the tickets ahead of time, which means you won't be waiting in line at the park entrance to get tickets.
Universal will require seeing the annual pass before you check out, so I would see if you could upgrade the ticket at the hotel, before checking in, or buy 1 pass outright to show them at the front desk.
Do keep in mind that for more than 2 adults in a room, you will be charged an extra $40 for each adult.

I wasnt even thinking about the 15 month deal. I bought the seasonal pass for me, and was going to use my discount to buy the other 4 2 day tickets and then decide if I wanted to upgrade to annual passes for my daughters - thinking it was very likely I would. However I DO want that 15 month instead of 12 month ... so I may just buy them the seasonal passes ahead of time. I did pay around $50 more for us to have 5 at the hotel instead of 4, but I figure the express passes are worth it. They wont actually stay at the hotel with us, but they may hang out there and swim, have dinner etc. if they want to.