Can someone please help me run the numbers??

[SignMeUp]

We are a family of 4... me, dh and our 2 boys that will be 7 & 8yo during our trip. We will be spending 4 nights at RPR with 3 day park-to-park tix. I've changed our dates AGAIN to take advantage of lower hotel rates and airfare, so now we are planning to go Feb 12-16.

I am trying to figure out the least expensive method for purchasing hotel, airfare & tix but I'm missing some important figures...

Option #1 is to buy one AP. What is the cost of an AP? And do I need to purchase it in person or can I do it via phone or online? When I go to this website and try to purchase the Preferred Pass it tells me I must be a FL resident . If I purchase the AP, then I'd need to purchase additional 3 day PtP tix for 1 adult and 2 children. Damo was nice enough to tell me that the adult ticket will be $140 using the AP discount. What about the child tix? How much are those w/the AP discount? 4 nights at RPR w/an AP discount is $664.89 and airfare for 4 is $1191.60 for a total of $1856.49 plus the AP and three additional tix (which needs to be less than $629 to make this option better than option #2 below).

Option #2 is to buy a vacation package through the airline and get the tix through UT. Air and 4 nights at RPR through the airline is $1928.04 and 3 day PtP tix for 2 adults and 2 children through UT is $557.81 for a total of $2485.85.

I know you get extra discounts with an AP, but we have AAA. Aren't the discounts similar? What additional discounts would we get w/an AP that we wouldn't get using our AAA cards?

Thanks for any help! I want to get this booked and be done with crunching the numbers.

 

[damo]

Here is the page for non-Florida residents annual pass. http://www.universalorlando.com/Tic...s.aspx?ComponentId=12956&SourcePageId=13636#8

You can buy it online, by phone or in person.

Here are gate prices, including tax:

Ticket Type Adults Kids (ages 3-9)
1-Day/1-Park Pass $87.33 $78.81
1-Day/2-Park Pass $119.28 $110.76
2-Day/1-Park Pass $133.11 $119.27
2-Day/2-Park Pass $154.41 $140.57
3-Day/1-Park Pass $149.09 $133.11
3-Day/2-Park Pass $165.06 $149.09
4-Day/1-Park Pass $159.74 $141.63
4-Day/2-Park Pass $170.39 $152.28
7-Day/2-Park Pass $197.01 $175.71
Power Annual Pass^ $149.09 $149.09
Preferred Annual Pass $247.00 $247.00


Your ticket prices will be $627.55 (including tax) using the AP discount (1 adult, 2 kids, 1 annual pass,,,(.85 x 165) + (2 x .85 x 149) + 247 = 640.55
using the AP discount.

 

[HeatherBean]

I would purchse the AP. This would be a good reason to sneak back down sometime later in the year

 

[Rahel]

Okay bear with me, I'm going to run the numbers the best I can for you.

Option #1:
There are 2 AP options for you as a non-FL resident, the Preferred and the Premier. Both have no blackout dates and discounts, but the Premier has a free HHN ticket, free valet parking and free Express for the passholder, once per attraction after 4pm (excluding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, and Pteranodon Fliers). The prices for the two AP are $229.99 and $289.99, respectively.

With both APs, the discount on multi-day tickets is 15% off each ticket. If I did the math correctly it would be around $124 for the adult 3 day P2P ticket and around $111 for each child ticket (plus add tax of 6.5% to those ticket prices).

This would bring your total to approximately $576 (give or take) plus tax if you went with the cheaper AP.


As for the the AAA discount, it's only $4 off each multi-day ticket so your savings are much better with an AP.

 

[Rahel]

Hey damo, the price you quoted for the Preferred AP is only for FL residents isn't it? $219.99 plus tax?

 

[damo]

Hey damo, the price you quoted for the Preferred AP is only for FL residents isn't it? $219.99 plus tax?

That could very well be. Looks like it should be 247 including tax. I just copied and pasted those rates from mousesavers...I assumed they were correct. Should never do that, lol. Maybe the gate price of the annual pass is different?

I will go back and edit.

The discount is off of gate prices for tickets with the AP, so you can't use the universal website ticket prices which have their own discount.

 

[SignMeUp]

Thanks everyone!

So it looks like Option #1 w/an AP will come out to a grand total of $2497 and Option #2 w/out the AP is $2486... a difference of only ~$11. Hmmmm.

I realize the AP tix discount is greater than the AAA tix discount, but what about the other discounts on dining and merchandise... aren't those about the same?

Sell me on the AP . Where will I get that $11 back? I don't know if/when we'll return to UO. I've been to the Studios before (but not IoA and it was many years ago) and this is the first visit for the rest of my family. If we love it we could plan another visit w/in a year but that's impossible to know until after this trip.