Headed back after 4 years! ? about Universal

[WDWorld2003]

Have been absent from this board and Disney for awhile. We are headed back to the Boardwalk Villas (with a Boardwalk view!) with extended family after a 4 year absence and are very excited. It looks like I have a lot of reading to do as many things have changed... Fast Pass on phones, etc. etc.

Also, Harry Potter has since opened at Universal and we are all big fans. Trying to decide if we should just stay at Disney and rent a car and head over or do we need to stay on property at Universal? We hate moving but if it will make things easier we are game. We are going March 12-17 so I expect parks to be busy of course.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[k3chantal]

Have been absent from this board and Disney for awhile. We are headed back to the Boardwalk Villas (with a Boardwalk view!) with extended family after a 4 year absence and are very excited. It looks like I have a lot of reading to do as many things have changed... Fast Pass on phones, etc. etc.

Also, Harry Potter has since opened at Universal and we are all big fans. Trying to decide if we should just stay at Disney and rent a car and head over or do we need to stay on property at Universal? We hate moving but if it will make things easier we are game. We are going March 12-17 so I expect parks to be busy of course.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Highly recommend moving to a Universal hotel when you head over there.
Two reasons:
1. their version of a fast pass called an Express Pass is 'free' when you stay onsite.
2. You get into Harry Potter 'land' an hour early than everyone else. Follow the solid stream of people heading for the big Harry Potter ride in Hogwarts Castle.

We did this on our last trip in May. We stayed 6 nights in AKL and then had a Mears SUV pick us up at 9 am. The Royal Pacific hotel was able to give us our room keys at 10 am and by 10:45 am we were in the Universal park. We did not buy park hoppers so the next day (when we could use the get in the park early option) we went to Islands of Adventure and did the Harry Potter rides.

Very fun but very expensive. Disney looks reasonable especially with the TiW card for discounted restaurants after going to Universal. But it was very fun and my whole family agreed that we would go again.

 

[Caren90]

I also vote for staying on-site at Universal. The front of the line access with the hotel room key is a HUGE perk.

Stephen

 

[stormer]

Another vote for staying at Universal. It is definately worth it. Even if you just stay there one night you get the Express Pass (or whatever it is called) for the day before and the day after the night you are staying onsite.

 

[TexasErin]

My kids really liked the Hard Rock Hotel. It was pretty cool- I liked the awesome Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Beatles pictures- way cool!

It was so awesome to be able to skip to the front of the line since we stayed there. We rode The Mummy several times in a row- I hate to admit this, but I loved the Mummy almost as much as I love Soarin' and Test Track (which is REALLY saying a lot, lol)

 

[DMKEDM]

We did this just 6 weeks ago...the decision was helped a lot by one night of no availability at OKW during our week-long stay! We booked that night at the Royal Pacific--it was smack in the middle of our week (Tuesday night)...

We had two villas at OKW...one we could and did keep for the entire week...the other had the "missing night..."

We left OKW, via a cab we called that picked us up outside our Turtle Pond villa, at 6:15 a.m. My friends/guests left their luggage in my villa and off we went...(when they got back Wed evening, they were given the exact same room! We got a kick out of that--)

All four of us (two adults, two kids) were booked into the Royal Pacific room, so when we got there we all got the early entrance/front-of-the-line passes...I wound up returning to OKW to my villa Tuesday night (too much togetherness is too much togetherness!), while my friend & her two kids (teenagers) stayed at the Royal Pacific...

We LOVED Harry Potter land...would go back again in a heartbeat, and spend the same HUGE amount of money to do so. Less impressed w/both Islands of Adventure itself and Universal Studios...liked them, but wouldn't return any time soon were it not for Harry Potter.

All told the costs were high: the 2-day/2-park tix were around $90 each; the cab from OKW to RP was $45 (return was higher--$55, because the hotel put me in a town car rather than calling me a cab...learned to insist on a cab "the hard way!")...the hotel room was just shy of $300...so, for the four of us, total cost was just shy of $1000...my personal cost was about $200 (park ticket and extra cab from/to RP-OKW for Tuesday night)...my friend paid for the cab to/from OKW-RP Tues morning and Wed evening, and for the hotel room (I'd provided the OKW accommodations for the whole week, so I didn't mind accepting that--and she also paid for 3 2-day/2-park tix for herself and her kids)...I'm not counting the cost of food cuz we'd have incurred that cost at WDW, too...we didn't find food prices or choices all that different (altho I like WDW food better, that may be because I'm biased, or because I know it better and therefore know where to go to get "the best" food)...

RP is less expensive than the other US/IoA hotel choices, and a bit further away to walk over to the theme parks (like maybe 10 minutes instead of 7 or so...not a lot of difference, and a pretty walk thru landscaping and water/canal path)...Mears transportation is considerably less expensive than cabs for a single person--less of a difference for a party of four--and, cabs really cut down on the time it takes to do the move...RP is a nice hotel, but way less wonderful (we thought) than OKW (or any of the WDW DVC resorts)...

I'm REALLY glad we got to Harry Potter (we went both mornings, and the early entrance made a HUGE difference...we were there at the end of June, and in the midst of a very rainy week, so crowds were probably about as high, season-wise, as you'd expect, but lessened due to the crummy weather--we were wet almost all the time, all week, and lived in our ponchos)...and while I certainly did not dislike US or IoA, I'd not give up a minute of Disney time to go there, were it not for Harry Potter...

When doing the planning, and before finding out about the missing night of availability at OKW for one of the two studios we needed, we thought about going to US/IoA for the start or end of our trip...but that messed up Magical Express (which made the cab cost to/from WDW a wash)...

Anyway, that was our experience--expensive but VERY worth it, to us!

Good luck!

 

[zavandor]

1. their version of a fast pass called an Express Pass is 'free' when you stay onsite.
2. You get into Harry Potter 'land' an hour early than everyone else. Follow the solid stream of people heading for the big Harry Potter ride in Hogwarts Castle.

The Express Pass Plus is much better than a Fast Pass, if you have it. You don't have to take a ticket to get an appointment to go back. You show your room key to the CM and enter. You also have reserved seatings for the shows.
And the pass you get with the hotel is unlimited, you can skip lines as many times you want.
The only exception is the attraction Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It has no express pass entry, so your advantage here is being able to enter the park one hour before the crowds. In that hour you'll ride it and, even most important, have a chance to visit Hogesmead without much crowd. JK Rowlings wanted the shops to give the feeling of being real, that meaning that they are very small. In January with mostly empty parks I found difficult to visit the shops. I cannot imagine how they are during Spring Break, Easter or other holidays!

So if your budget allows it, I support staying onsite.

 

[k3chantal]

The Express Pass Plus is much better than a Fast Pass, if you have it. You don't have to take a ticket to get an appointment to go back. You show your room key to the CM and enter. You also have reserved seatings for the shows.
And the pass you get with the hotel is unlimited, you can skip lines as many times you want.
The only exception is the attraction Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It has no express pass entry, so your advantage here is being able to enter the park one hour before the crowds. In that hour you'll ride it and, even most important, have a chance to visit Hogesmead without much crowd. JK Rowlings wanted the shops to give the feeling of being real, that meaning that they are very small. In January with mostly empty parks I found difficult to visit the shops. I cannot imagine how they are during Spring Break, Easter or other holidays!

So if your budget allows it, I support staying onsite.

I agree and should have explained how much more wonderful it is!

 

[WDWorld2003]

Thanks for the great advice everyone - really appreciate it. One more question, would you choose staying at Universal at the beginning or end of the trip? We will be have a 2 bdrm. and studio at Disney. Probably would only get two rooms at Universal due to cost.

 

[tajz90]

Thanks for the great advice everyone - really appreciate it. One more question, would you choose staying at Universal at the beginning or end of the trip? We will be have a 2 bdrm. and studio at Disney. Probably would only get two rooms at Universal due to cost.

We always stay at the end. With the express pass, you don't have to work as hard to see attractions so it actually is more relaxing It's a nice way to unwind from the Disney Rush.

 

[k3chantal]

Thanks for the great advice everyone - really appreciate it. One more question, would you choose staying at Universal at the beginning or end of the trip? We will be have a 2 bdrm. and studio at Disney. Probably would only get two rooms at Universal due to cost.

We stayed at the end of our trip. We left Kidani Village at 9 am by Mears SUV, Royal Pacific let us check in early 10 ish and we were in the Universal park by 11 am.
The next day we got up early, packed, left our luggage with the bell service and went to Islands of Adventure by 8 am. We felt we got to see the whole park even though we left at 3:30 and had Mears pick us up by SUV to the airport at 4 pm. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7.

One of the advantages of going at the end is that if you are using the Magical Express to get there, you are still able to use it and have them deliver your luggage to the Disney resort. And then you only miss using the Magical Express on the way back to the airport.

To use Mears to go to Royal Pacific cost around 60 dollars and to get from there to the airport cost 70 dollars.

 

[smj2610]

I purchased an annual pass at universal for around 250.00 for our two days at the park and the AP discount I got on my room saved me a majority of the cost of my pass, you also get a 10% discount at multiple resturants and stores which really adds up(you can also use AAA to get the 10% discounts at alot of the same locations but there are more places that give the AP discount than the AAA discount)

 

[Caren90]

I purchased an annual pass at universal for around 250.00 for our two days at the park and the AP discount I got on my room saved me a majority of the cost of my pass, you also get a 10% discount at multiple resturants and stores which really adds up(you can also use AAA to get the 10% discounts at alot of the same locations but there are more places that give the AP discount than the AAA discount)

Interesting, I did not know that about the AP. We usually use the AAA discounts. We also stay at club level at the Portofino and this saves us on breakfast and dinners. we usually just have one meal in the parks, a late lunch.

Stephen

 

[DMKEDM]

As noted earlier, we did our jaunt to US/IoA in the middle of our trip...I'm glad we didn't end w/it, as going back to WDW was really wonderful. For us, WDW is SO much better (despite the wonder of Harry Potter)...so I'd suggest doing US/IoA at the start of your trip...

One possible way to get the best of all worlds: take a late-arriving flight in to Orlando and stay at a DVC resort on points...you can then take ME to the resort...then head to US/IoA the next day, stay there overnight, and then head back for the bulk of your time at Disney--and that way you also get ME for your trip back to the airport...

Good luck!

 

[bumbershoot]

We definitely stay at Universal to do Universal. The perks are too good.


There's two different thoughts on when to do the Uni part of a trip. If you do it at the beginning, you won't be bothered by the normal hotel room size, because you haven't been staying at a 2 bedroom villa beforehand. BUT it's hard to go to clunky and sad fastpass, when you've had Express Pass (hotel version). But staying at the end, you are in dismay over the relatively tiny hotel room compared to the villa...on the other hand, Express Pass gives you a vacation from your vacation!

We stayed in the middle of our long first trip, which gave us both good things and both bad things!


Before buying an AP for the discounts on the room, be sure there IS an AP discount and be sure to book it. Only once you have that rate should you go forward with buying an AP. So check here and enter the code APH in the code field, to see if there's an AP rate. If there is one, it will show up with that code. If there isn't, there will be no AP code, and it will just show you the other rates. That site will give you the best rate of all 3 onsite hotels available at that time. If the price is doable for you, book it. Then keep on checking for a better rate, including APH. If a better rate comes up, you can change it by calling.

Buying one or two day tickets to *any* themepark is going to be annoyingly expensive. We stayed at Boardwalk the night before a Universal-only stay, and despite being *right there* we couldn't bring ourselves to buy a one day ticket to go to Epcot. It was painful, but the cost of one day tickets for each of us was more painful, mentally!

If there is an AP rate, by the way, be sure to ask about the AP discount whenever you are spending money at Universal. Food and merchandise can count! So ask ask ask!

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh, and the APs that give you hotel discounts are the Preferred and Premium (premier? whatever it's called). The info on the Preferred doesn't say that it includes hotel discounts, but it does. You do NOT want to get the Power Pass, as that doesn't give you the discounts, but Preferred and above APs do.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Thanks for the great replies.... sounds like it might be better at the beginning of the stay - not sure we want to scrunch into two hotel rooms at the end as there are 8 of us with a 2 bdrm. and studio at BWV.

I checked on prices and I will be looking for the Annual Pass discount... a room at that time of year right now is well over $400 at the Royal Pacific - ouch! We need two rooms.

 

[tajz90]

Thanks for the great replies.... sounds like it might be better at the beginning of the stay - not sure we want to scrunch into two hotel rooms at the end as there are 8 of us with a 2 bdrm. and studio at BWV.

I checked on prices and I will be looking for the Annual Pass discount... a room at that time of year right now is well over $400 at the Royal Pacific - ouch! We need two rooms.

Rooms are huge compared to regular hotels

 

[StormalongKay]

Chcecked into the Hard Rock hotel at 6pm after our flight and enjoyed their pool, which was great for teens. We did 5 in one room with a cot, and it was bearable. The next morning, we arrived at islands before opening and went straight to HP. It was worth it as the crowds were huge by lunch. We had About 3 morning hours to enjoy with moderate crowds. Spent the afternoon at the other Islands attractions, and then moved on to BLT that evening. We spent the next 6 nights spread Out in our 2 BR. I didn't really unpack until we got to BLT, so I liked doing Universal first.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Nov 2011...Thanksgiving week...(when kids are in hi school and college your choices are fewer for travel) we took 13 KIDS AND GR KIDS all considered adults to WDW for 6 days....we drove our cars over to Universal on that Tues. i believe.
..i had pruchased Universal tix thur UCT for both parks..ouch!!! we were at the gate at 8:45am...by the time we walked over to WWoHP the line for FJ was 1-1/2hrs long....the crowds were large ...we were surprised how small the shops were and you could bearly move in them...some are not even open they are just a pretend!! we did manage to eat lunch at 3 Broomsticks which was nice and got butter beer....stood in line for that.
I hear they are expanding this attraction...If i was able to move 13 people over there to stay a few days i would have. The younger adults are huge Harry Potter fans so i knew we just had to go there...
Its awesome but smaller than we imagined...