Express Pass - Desperately trying to cut costs

[PrincessBelle39]

We will be at Universal 23 and 24 June 2017. How important is the Express Pass? If we stay at RPR which includes it, I'm looking at nearly $2100 USD for the two nights with 2 day Park to Park tickets. But if we stay at Cabana Bay, which of course doesn't include it, it comes down to just over $1450 USD. Its a massive difference given that the trip is already costing a fortune.

I know you must get a million of these questions, but I need to cut costs somewhere and this seems excessive.

 

[wilkeliza]

We will be at Universal 23 and 24 June 2017. How important is the Express Pass? If we stay at RPR which includes it, I'm looking at nearly $2100 USD for the two nights with 2 day Park to Park tickets. But if we stay at Cabana Bay, which of course doesn't include it, it comes down to just over $1450 USD. Its a massive difference given that the trip is already costing a fortune.

I know you must get a million of these questions, but I need to cut costs somewhere and this seems excessive.

If you are only going to the parks for those 2 days then you only need to stay on property the night of the 23rd to get 2 days worth of express pass (check in and check out day). You just go check in early on the 23rd and have them hold your luggage while you go to the parks with your express pass. Not sure how many days/where else you may be staying for the vacation but only doing 1 night at a deluxe usually ends up being cheaper.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We are coming in off an international flight (Australia) on the night of 22nd so it is taking us about 24 hours travelling to get there. We then leave on 25th for a cruise. We were planning on leaving the Universal area about 6-7pm on the night of 24th and staying somewhere near the port, again mainly to cut costs. But this is not set in stone. It would certainly save money to do just the one night. But would mean 3 hotels in 3 days and moving luggage between them. We weren't planning on a car for this stay as we didn't think we would get the opportunity to use it and would be paying for parking for nothing. After the cruise we are off to Disney. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

If we did change hotels and got a car, would our luggage be safe left in the car?

 

[damo]

If we did change hotels and got a car, would our luggage be safe left in the car?

It's as safe as anywhere else.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Why don't you stay at the cheaper hotel and then Just buy an express pass for everyone..unless the cost would be equivalent to the amount you are saving? I wouldn't leave luggage in car...but you can just leave it with bellhop either with an early checkin or late check out. But how would you get to port without a car? If it's a Disney cruise, you would you oay $35 A person for transfer. And you have to get to either airport or a Disney hotel for a transfer. So depending on how many people you have a car might be cheaper. You could just stay in the same hotel in Orlando until morning of cruise and then drive it to the port and drop off there, so you would not have to change hotels again. If you really want to cut costs stay farther away from universal and drive there and park. Go to HomeAway to find lots of condos and houses for rent.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

It works out more expensive to buy the express past for 2 days. It works out at just over $200 per person for the two days x 4 of us.
The cruise is Oasis of the Seas.
Car hire for 3 days plus parking is going to cost up around the $300 mark in which case a transfer will be cheaper. I've got a quote for $130 one way. We did think of hiring a car just for the day to get us there. We are happy to stay in Orlando and drive to the port on the morning. We only thought of going the night before to save some money.
We've rented houses before and the drive doesn't bother us. But that is pointless if we need the express pass as it would work out more expensive.

 

[damo]

Okay...I did some investigating for you....

A two day parkhopper is $235
A two day unlimited express is $215 for your dates

However, if you get the bundled ticket with express it is $379. That saves a bit of money!

 

[TommyJK]

How many people in total are you booking for (adults and kids)?

 

[PrincessBelle39]

It is a saving. It comes to $1,516 for the 4 of us. But then we would have accommodation on top of this. It still works out a little cheaper but if we stay offsite at a cheaper hotel we are going to have car hire and parking on top of it. I'm starting to wonder if we just need to suck it up. I can get it a little cheaper by just booking the RPR and then buy tickets through Undercover Tourist. It comes in at about $1900 USD for the two nights.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We are a family of 4. Kids are 12 and 15.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

It is a saving. It comes to $1,516 for the 4 of us. But then we would have accommodation on top of this. It still works out a little cheaper but if we stay offsite at a cheaper hotel we are going to have car hire and parking on top of it. I'm starting to wonder if we just need to suck it up. I can get it a little cheaper by just booking the RPR and then buy tickets through Undercover Tourist. It comes in at about $1900 USD for the two nights.

Actually the UT tickets are not quite equivient. Buying the tickets includes Volcano Bay. But I guess we don't really need this.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Actually the UT tickets are not quite equivient. Buying the tickets includes Volcano Bay. But I guess we don't really need this.

Actually I've just realised I can amend the package tickets on the Universal site and get it down to the same price.

 

[damo]

Actually I've just realised I can amend the package tickets on the Universal site and get it down to the same price.

Have you considered just doing one park a day only?

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Yes tickets through UT are $1001 and RPR is nearly $900 with tax. Only difference is the type of ticket. Universals is 3 park and UT is 2 park. But that is fine. We don't have time really for Volcano Bay.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Have you considered just doing one park a day only?

No, the reason for the visit is Harry Potter and the kids want to ride Hogwarts Express which needs the park to park.

 

[TommyJK]

Ya. Just did a lookup for 2 day P2P w/Unlimited Express combo for 4 people for the dates you are going........ Wow that would be expensive!

It's about the same price as what you searched out for RPR and UT tickets but you'd then have to get a room somewhere on top of it!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We've been talking about it all afternoon. So much money for2 days but we're coming from so far away it's silly to miss it. But when we convert it to AUD it's even more.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's as safe as anywhere else.

Luggage is a lot safer locked away with Bell Services vs being in a trunk of a car.

Actually I've just realised I can amend the package tickets on the Universal site and get it down to the same price.

Wait, stop looking at packages! I mean, keep the info you have, but please now look at room-only and compare costs.

No, the reason for the visit is Harry Potter and the kids want to ride Hogwarts Express which needs the park to park.

Damo asked you about going just one day. You could get a one day park to park ticket and ride the train with that. It doesn't have to be a multi-day pass. If the ONLY reason is Harry Potter and if you aren't going to visit other areas of the parks, you could do both parks in one day.

 

[damo]

Luggage is a lot safer locked away with Bell Services vs being in a trunk of a car.

True....I meant just as safe as any other parking lot.