express passes/staying onsite

[ltkl7]

We are going to Universal in July but staying off site. There are several families going. We are considering getting a room at Universal and not staying there just for the express passes and early entry to HP. There is six of us all together. The rooms will accommodate five.

One of the parents was only going to go one day to Universal. Are the express passes issued while you stay on property transferable?

 

[damo]

With a normal room you can get two adult room keys and 3 children (under 18) room keys. To get more than 2 adult's room keys you have to pay an extra $25 per day. You can have a max of 4 adults in a room or 5 people total.

Your name is on your room key, and they aren't supposed to be transferable. The purchased express passes are.

 

[Badge]

Ok, a few things here:

1) A room is going to cost about $319 a night. This is for four adults and 1 child.

2) The room keys have each persons name on them and you are not allowed to share them. They do look at the names and dates on the room key, so if a female shows a room key with the name Josh on it, they might not let you go.

3) Why not stay at Universal? If you are going to be paying so much for the room, it would be a better idea to stay in the room and cancel your offsite hotel. From what you said, there will be more than one family going, but a total of six people. I would assume that each family has a different hotel room. So, if one family had two adult and one kid, the price of the room would drop to $269 a night.

If only YOUR family is thinking about getting the express passes, I do not think that will go over very well with the rest of the group. They will have to wait in lines while you can skip them all.

Basically, it makes no sense to pay for two hotels room each night. Either way you are going to be spending a lot for the Universal one, so why not STAY there and save some money by not staying offsite? Plus, you will not have the long walk from the parking area to the parks each morning. In July, IOA opens at 9am. So, for hotel guests thats 8am. If you plan on staying offsite, you need to plan on arriving to the parking area around 7am so you can do the long walk to the park. If you are staying at the hotel onsite, you do not need to get up as early since the park is right there.

 

[ltkl7]

Actually we were only going to get one room. It is me and my two older kids/ my wife is staying at the condo we rented for the week with our two younger ones. I was going to split the room with another family (mom/dad and 12 year old kid). Since there is a total of six of us we thought someone else could just buy an additional express pass.

I may stay at the hotel room with my two just so I don't drive all the way back to the condo and get up and drive back in the morning. Both of our families already have condos that have been paid for the week. I just thought because when you stay at the hotel you get express passes and early entry it would be cheaper than buying the regular express pass for those not staying on property.

 

[damo]

You'll get two days of early entry and unlimited express. It does make a big difference.

 

[Bluer101]

Also early entry will only work for the 5 of you, or the ones with hotel keys, one would have to wait till regular opening.

 

[Badge]

The express passes you buy can only be used ONCE per ride, per day. The express you get with the hotel stay can be used an unlimited amount of times each day. Also, like somebody else said, only the people with room keys will be allowed into the park early, so that is something to keep in mind.

 

[macraven]

Actually we were only going to get one room. It is me and my two older kids/ my wife is staying at the condo we rented for the week with our two younger ones. I was going to split the room with another family (mom/dad and 12 year old kid). Since there is a total of six of us we thought someone else could just buy an additional express pass.

I may stay at the hotel room with my two just so I don't drive all the way back to the condo and get up and drive back in the morning. Both of our families already have condos that have been paid for the week. I just thought because when you stay at the hotel you get express passes and early entry it would be cheaper than buying the regular express pass for those not staying on property.

sorry, it won't work.
due to fire codes, only 5 in a room.

one of the rules on the dis is not to circumvent ways to beat the system.
regular posters in this forum wouldn't encourage you in any way to do something illegal.

people that have more than 5 for the room usually get caught one way or the other.

the employees usually notice when that happens, especially housekeeping.

it's not worth it getting caught with 6 in the room.

if you all want to be together onsite, get two rooms.

 

[damo]

sorry, it won't work.
due to fire codes, only 5 in a room.

one of the rules on the dis is not to circumvent ways to beat the system.
regular posters in this forum wouldn't encourage you in any way to do something illegal.

people that have more than 5 for the room usually get caught one way or the other.

the employees usually notice when that happens, especially housekeeping.

it's not worth it getting caught with 6 in the room.

if you all want to be together onsite, get two rooms.

I don't think they were even going to stay in the room or if they were it was only 3 of them. They already are staying offsite. They were more interested in saving money getting the unlimited express for two days instead of purchasing the express passes.

At least that's how I read it.

 

[macraven]

that's what i started to think but in the second post of:


I may stay at the hotel room with my two just so I don't drive all the way back to the condo and get up and drive back in the morning.


it lead me to believe that they could/would with possibly with the other family

just wanted to give the poster a heads up that it is risky.

last year one family was removed from the room on my floor due to more in the room than what was listed at check in.

 

[ltkl7]

Hopefully I can explain this better. If anybody stays in the room it will be just me and my two kids. The other family will stay in their condo.

We understand about only have five express passes per room and how the regular express passes work differently than for those staying onsite.

The other family is a mom, dad, and their son. The Mom would like to use the express pass (the one included with the room) for the first day when we go to Harry Potter, the dad will come into the park during regular entry hours. The second day we are doing Universal (not IOA) and the Mom does not care to go, she would like for the husband to be able to use the room express pass that day. My question is can the switch the pass back and forth on the two different days?

 

[damo]

Hopefully I can explain this better. If anybody stays in the room it will be just me and my two kids. The other family will stay in their condo.

We understand about only have five express passes per room and how the regular express passes work differently than for those staying onsite.

The other family is a mom, dad, and their son. The Mom would like to use the express pass (the one included with the room) for the first day when we go to Harry Potter, the dad will come into the park during regular entry hours. The second day we are doing Universal (not IOA) and the Mom does not care to go, she would like for the husband to be able to use the room express pass that day. My question is can the switch the pass back and forth on the two different days?

Technically, no. There will be a name on the room key.

 

[Bluer101]

Hopefully I can explain this better. If anybody stays in the room it will be just me and my two kids. The other family will stay in their condo.

We understand about only have five express passes per room and how the regular express passes work differently than for those staying onsite.

The other family is a mom, dad, and their son. The Mom would like to use the express pass (the one included with the room) for the first day when we go to Harry Potter, the dad will come into the park during regular entry hours. The second day we are doing Universal (not IOA) and the Mom does not care to go, she would like for the husband to be able to use the room express pass that day. My question is can the switch the pass back and forth on the two different days?

Have the husband dress up in drag.

In all honesty it is not going to work.

 

[Badge]

The only way for that to work would be for you to say that there will be 3 adults and 2 kids in the room. Then, put both of their names as a guest staying in the room. This way they both get express access and they both can get into the park early. However, their son would not be able to get into the parks early or skip the lines. They do check the names, and they will not allow a male into the park if the room key has a females name on it. They of course do not know your name, but its normally really easy to tell when something fishy is going on. Its better not to risk it. The cost of a third adult will be I think $25, which will reflect in the cost of the room at the time of booking. Tell the other family to just pay you the $25 back. Its a lot cheaper that purchasing express and they will not be breaking any rules.

However, the best option would be just for the other family to stay onsite as well. They will not get much use out of the express since their son will not be able to use it. That kinda defeats the whole purpose of skipping the lines when a member of the party can't.

 

[damo]

The back of the key says, "Nontransferable. Must be used by the same person on any and all days."

Is the other Mom's name Pat, Alex, Taylor, Jamie or something similar?

The biggest problem will be early entry because everyone needs their own room key card.

 

[Bluer101]

I have a way of getting 6 keys per room. We have done it before but not for the reason for 6 people. I get an extra key (a duplicate of the mine or head of the room, same card, same name) just for opening the room door. We don't like having to keep removing the hotel keys from the lanyards to get into the room. So I have an extra in my wallet just for that.