Best scenario for family of 6

[houseful of boys]

I'm researching adding a couple days to our summer wdw trip and taking my boys to Universal. But I'm not sure what the best/most economical way to do it would be. We are wdw vets and don't like to stand in lines much more than 30 minutes. We are not Harry Potter fans, so, I think we could take or leave that. I don't think my older boys will ride the big coasters, but I'm not sure about that. Depends on the day. I would like to experience both parks over 2 days, I think. This would be in August. I, of course, would love the best price but also want a great experience. The biggest problem I'm running into is the size of our family. 5 seems to be the magic number. What is the best way for a family of 6 to do Universal/IOA?

TIA

 

[macraven]

only place a family of 6 could stay is at Cabana Bay.
you would get early entry if you stayed there.

not sure of which offsite hotels allow 6 in the room.

or maybe, if you have a car and staying offsite near the motherland, drive to the darkside parks for the 2 days you will be visiting there.

i would check out the rides at www.universalorlando.com and have the boys let you know which rides they would be interested in doing.
you and the Mr could divide the family up for specific rides while the rest of you do a different ride in the same area.

August 1st will be crowded.....




ps...i have 4 sons........i know you are busy.....

 

[wookiebeck]

I had researched the onsite suites vs. getting two rooms. The best bang for the buck conclusion for us was two rooms at RPR. You get all of the perks, the lowest price for the onsite hotel and enough bathroom space for everyone. We did one adult in each room and split the kids up.

 

[keishashadow]

I'm researching adding a couple days to our summer wdw trip and taking my boys to Universal. But I'm not sure what the best/most economical way to do it would be. We are wdw vets and don't like to stand in lines much more than 30 minutes. We are not Harry Potter fans, so, I think we could take or leave that. I don't think my older boys will ride the big coasters, but I'm not sure about that. Depends on the day. I would like to experience both parks over 2 days, I think. This would be in August. I, of course, would love the best price but also want a great experience. The biggest problem I'm running into is the size of our family. 5 seems to be the magic number. What is the best way for a family of 6 to do Universal/IOA?

TIA

assume you run into the same stated room occupancy issue as to having 6 in your family if staying onsite @ WDW other than the villas.

with FP+ implementation if you are able to only wait 30 min in line as a standby you are doing very well. The EP lines can get backed up at times at Universal depending on crowd level

as stated above, you will require 2 rooms onsite or book something offsite and buy the express pass which would likely be a wash as to price, if not more for 2 days.

 

[houseful of boys]

assume you run into the same stated room occupancy issue as to having 6 in your family if staying onsite @ WDW other than the villas.

with FP+ implementation if you are able to only wait 30 min in line as a standby you are doing very well. The EP lines can get backed up at times at Universal depending on crowd level

as stated above, you will require 2 rooms onsite or book something offsite and buy the express pass which would likely be a wash as to price, if not more for 2 days.

The difference at Disney is I can book two rooms at a value resort and still get to use fp+. This summer, we are actually staying 10 days at Ft. Wilderness. To spend the cash for 2 rooms at a deluxe is usually outside our budget. Maybe for one night we can swing it.

And yes, we tour strategically with rope drops and fp+ and park hopping and EMH and 7-10 day trips so we really do very well with avoiding long lines.

It's been about 10 years since I've been to Universal but the boys really want to check it out, so we are in the beginnings of discussing. Thus my original question.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far. I priced out 2 rooms at RPR for the night we need and it came to around $650. We would get to use express pass for both check in and check out days? I'm thinking of saving money by doing a base 2 day ticket and skipping the park to park option. For my circumstances, do you think we could just do one park a day?

 

[2girlsmom]

If you want to ride Hogwart's Express, you will have to have a park to park ticket, other than that, the base ticket is fine.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Not sure what week in August you're thinking of going, but a certain travel agency that cannot be named here has an agency special at Universal 8/23 thru 9/3. Last time we booked with them we got RP for $159 a night in August. If you do a Google search for magical + vacation + labor + day and click on the Universal tab they'll give you a quote.

 

[houseful of boys]

Not sure what week in August you're thinking of going, but a certain travel agency that cannot be named here has an agency special at Universal 8/23 thru 9/3. Last time we booked with them we got RP for $159 a night in August. If you do a Google search for magical + vacation + labor + day and click on the Universal tab they'll give you a quote.

That's a great deal! But sadly for us, we are limited by school breaks and kids and teachers have to be home by the third week of August.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Not sure how much more an AP is than a regular ticket, but it may be worth looking into for the discount on hotel rooms. (And maybe someone here can chime in on AP rates for your time period). A 1 night reservation would give you FOTL for both check-in and check-out days.

 

[AthenaBolina]

I thought that families of 6 could stay at Portofino Bay or the HRH? I am pricing out our hotel for a trip this year, and I had no problem finding a room at either of those hotels, as well as CBR.

 

[keishashadow]

The difference at Disney is I can book two rooms at a value resort and still get to use fp+. This summer, we are actually staying 10 days at Ft. Wilderness. To spend the cash for 2 rooms at a deluxe is usually outside our budget. Maybe for one night we can swing it.

And yes, we tour strategically with rope drops and fp+ and park hopping and EMH and 7-10 day trips so we really do very well with avoiding long lines.

It's been about 10 years since I've been to Universal but the boys really want to check it out, so we are in the beginnings of discussing. Thus my original question.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far. I priced out 2 rooms at RPR for the night we need and it came to around $650. We would get to use express pass for both check in and check out days? I'm thinking of saving money by doing a base 2 day ticket and skipping the park to park option. For my circumstances, do you think we could just do one park a day?

one of the nicest things about staying onsite at Universal is there is no need to commando.

weekdays are less $ at Universal. The rate you quote is high, even for 2 rooms, perhaps a convention. Are you AAA? once the AP rates are released, run the numbers to see if buying a power pass for 1 person would be cost effective

 

[houseful of boys]

I do have AAA and the date I'm looking at is Aug 12. We are at Ft Wilderness from Aug 2-12. Thanks for all your advice.