Critique my UO plan please before I pull the trigger!

[wintersongbird]

Hello all,

I used this site to plan an excellent Easter Disney trip three years ago, and now my kids want to go to Universal. Husband refuses to go any other time because of the heat and his work schedule, so I know it's going to be crowded. Please tell me if this touring plan sounds feasible or if I should bite the bullet and pay for a hotel that includes Express Passes. My family of 4 includes 11 yr old son (his bday trip, loves rides) and 9 yr old daughter (meh about riding).

Stay on site value, use early admission every day

Day 1 (UO, then IOA):
Gringotts
Ollivanders
Breakfast at Leaky Cauldron
Do some quick shopping
Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade
Walk around, use the wands, see the shows
back to hotel till dinner
Dinner at Three Broomsticks
ride anything with short waits
see Castle projection

Day 2 (IOA, then UO):
Forbidden Journey
Flight of the Hippogriff
Some bigger rides if they have short wait times
Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley
See Diagon Alley Shows, use wands
get lunch, ride short wait rides
back to hotel till dinner
Dinner reservation at Mythos
ride shorter wait rides at night

Day 3: (UO then by ear)
Despicable Me
Transformers
Mummy
Rest of park by wait times
back to hotel for lunch
Return to WWOHP very late to re-ride if we want

Day 4:
Kong, Spiderman, Hulk, Jurassic Park stuff, maybe with child swap
Rest of park by ear

Alternately, we could spend an extra $450 on a throw away luxury room to have express passes for two of these days. That's basically what I'm trying to decide. Is this way too ambitious? We're going the four days before Easter.

 

[skylock]

With 4 days, you should be fine without express pass.

You can also do single rider lines when available.

 

[davper]

Could you accomplish your plan, sure. But why wait in some of the longest lines of the year when for just a few hundred more, you can skip the lines.

Look at getting an AP to get AP hotel rates. You will only need one pass to qualify. Plus you get shopping and dinning discounts.

 

[georgina]

An AP might be a good idea IF you can get an AP room discount for that time of year (you can book an AP rate before you buy the pass.) The seasonal and Power passes can't be used at Easter though, so it would have to be at least a preferred pass, which may not be cost effective. I would look at the room rates, even if only staying value. I was unable to get an AP rate at Thanksgiving.

Hopefully they will have early entry at both parks since it will be a busy time, but those hours have not been officially announced yet. Your plan looks doable to me if you don't want to spring for the deluxe. You can certainly get everything in, but your son may not be able to ride his favorites multiple times.

 

[wintersongbird]

Thanks everybody! I think we may do the HP package with a value hotel so we have some scheduled things to look forward to and can use early morning and late night to ride.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi honestly if you have express pass you really don't need to even have a schedule. I did exactly that two years ago. We stayed at Cabana Bay for a week then had a throw away room at Royal Pacific. I thought it was the best money I spent. It was nice to have the express pass for two days. I was in the summer which was a very busy time of year also.

Just be aware that when you do a package deal with universal there cancellation policy is much stricter then room only reservations.

 

[nkereina]

We've become spoiled with express pass, so I would never go without them. Especially not during spring break. Express Pass will allow you to ride whatever you want whenever you want, multiple times, with no need to get up early to make rope drop. We always sleep in and wander over whenever we're ready. Plus, we love the on-site resorts that offer EP anyway which makes the decision that much easier for us.

If budget is really a concern, a one night throwaway room for two days of EP is better than nothing IMO.

 

[skylock]

We've become spoiled with express pass, so I would never go without them. Especially not during spring break. Express Pass will allow you to ride whatever you want whenever you want, multiple times, with no need to get up early to make rope drop. We always sleep in and wander over whenever we're ready. Plus, we love the on-site resorts that offer EP anyway which makes the decision that much easier for us.

If budget is really a concern, a one night throwaway room for two days of EP is better than nothing IMO.

I fully agree. And I do not even mind waiting in lines. but the ability to sleep in, do everything we want to do and still leave the parks early, is worth the extra we pay for a throw away room.

I loved Kong this go around, not that I think the ride is that great, but when that big ape jumps over the car and attacks that dinosaur, I loved seeing that so we rode 5 times in a row. We could not have done that without EP.

We were there Thanksgiving week. It would have probably taken the whole day to ride it 5 times that week.