Express Pass - Sorry

[PrincessBelle39]

Sorry, I know this is a question that everyone must get sick of. Its just hard planning from the other side of the world not knowing when Holidays/Spring Break etc are and how they affect things. I know Good Friday isn't until 14th April.

We are travelling to Orlando in March/April 2017. At this stage it looks like our days at Universal will be Friday 24th and Saturday 25th March. This will be our 4th trip, the last being in 2012. My girls will be 12 and 14 this time so I imagine they will get a lot more out of it than they did the last times. The priority for the older one is Harry Potter.

We've stayed at the Royal Pacific in the past giving us Express Pass. This time, the kids love the look of Cabana Bay Beach Resort. Would Express Pass be something we would really miss at this time of the year?

 

[macraven]

Take advantage of early entry and use the SRL when available

If the crowds are high and line waits long, yes, you would miss the ep

 

[phillymummer]

I have never traveled that time of year, but I can tell you that Easter is April 16. So you will miss families who have their spring breaks around Easter. I know many universities have a spring break in March and many school districts also have a spring break in March (regardless of when Easter falls).

I'm watching this bc I may plan a short weekend trip during this time in the next year or two.

 

[gigi from canada]

In my opinion I would make an executive decision and go to one of the hotels that has EP. It's a busy time and given that you just have 2 days you really need the EP! Plus your kids are at an age that they'll want to do all the big rides. My 2 girls are 11 and 13.

With 2 days how much time are you really going to spend at the hotel?

We were there in March this year and stayed 4 days at the Hard Rock and the short walking distance along with the EP was blissfull. It wasn't even a busy week but the EP was still quite useful.

We later came back at the end of our Florida trip and stayed at Cabana Bay. We stayed there because the EP issuing resorts were way to expensive and we were only going in the parks in the evening. We missed the EP and the walking path to the park considering that 2 weeks prior we had EP and staying basically next door to USF.

We did get an upgrade to a suite at CBR which was nice but my girls still prefered the feel of HRH.

We are going again for a quick trip at the end of August. Staying at RPR. Would have stayed at HRH again but prices were considerably higher.

 

[tinydancer09]

I run a beach vacation rental business in North Florida. My dates do differ a bit from Universal as I do not get international traffic, but spring breaks usually stay the same.

We are estimating March 25 and April 1 to be the most popular grade school spring breaks. April 8 I think it will be a little more popular than it was this year, but that's not saying much. March 4, 11, and 18 are college spring breaks. Grade school spring breaks influence it more than college spring breaks.

Check out express pass calendars on universal site. The higher the price for Unlimited EP the higher they're expecting crowds. They seem to think march will be mild/moderate.

As Gigi from Canada said.. how much will you be in the room? I'd trump the kids and consider visiting the CB pool as a compromise.

OH... and Mardi Gras is going to effect your stay. If there is a "big name" concert on Saturday crowds for the parks will be higher. That schedule doesn't get released for a while... That starts in Feb and goes through end of April select Saturday/Sunday nights. The parade is one of the best I've seen. watch out for the beads.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Thanks everyone. Looks like we are staying at Royal Pacific. We've got 3 nights right at the beginning of our trip with 2 full days in the park. Then on the Sunday we are off on a cruise. I have thought about splitting the stay and having the first 2 nights at RP and then the last at Cabana Bay. But then that would get messy with moving luggage etc. Is there an easy way to get it across?

 

[macraven]

It's not bad to change hotels

Some have posted they call a taxi to move them fro rpr to Cbay for $5

 

[tinydancer09]

Thanks everyone. Looks like we are staying at Royal Pacific. We've got 3 nights right at the beginning of our trip with 2 full days in the park. Then on the Sunday we are off on a cruise. I have thought about splitting the stay and having the first 2 nights at RP and then the last at Cabana Bay. But then that would get messy with moving luggage etc. Is there an easy way to get it across?

I might suggest packing one smaller bag with a nights change of clothes and all of your toiletries. When you get ready to switch put your bigger bags in the car and just take the smaller. Might make it more manageable. Might make it a bigger hassle depending how much stuffs your girls "need." I'm one of those that needs a lot so... Im right there with all those people. Just a thought. My sister and I will be doing this for our one night at universal then 6 at disney We'll leave our big suitcases in the car with all of our clothes and shoes and then just take in our toiletries and small bag of clothes. If we feel we've forgotten anything it's right downstairs in the car!