Help - planning on a budget!

[ArielDreams]

I am a very experienced Disney planner and know what I am doing but have never planned a Universal vacation before so I really don't know what I am doing! I will be going to Disney in August with my mom (so no budget!) but the BF really wants to go to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff (I - don't hate - am not an HP fan but I still think it's pretty cool). We are looking to take a short 5 day trip somewhere in late July and want to see if Universal will be an option given our budget. Any help you seasoned planners can offer would be awesome!

- Our budget will not allow staying on property. However, we also wouldn't want to rent a car/deal with parking so we'd probably want to stay within walking distance of the parks. Any suggestions on nice, cheap hotels within walking distance? We are both 20-somethings, in good shape with no kids so as much as a 20 minute walk isn't an issue.

- I've been to both the original park and IOA on two separate Disney trips just for a day. I can't envision spending more than 2 full days covering both parks. Therefore, we'd like to add Sea World (I haven't been since 1999, I know a lot has changed!) for a day. Are there tickets that include the Universal parks and Sea World all in one? What about transportation - do most hotels in the area have Sea World shuttles or would we have to take a cab?

- Any website recommendations for budget travel? I'm a AAA member and will be checking them out. Who has the best deals?

Thanks!

 

[lcj19]

Check out the Orlando flex passes.

 

[Badge]

I am not sure about walking into the parks. From some of the ON-SITE hotels, you are looking at at least a 10 minute walk. I would try and find a hotel that offers a shuttle bus.

Also, since you will be going in the middle of summer, the parks will be PACKED! You can EASILY spend more than 2 full days covering both parks. With the crowds at HP, you could easily spend half a day just seeing the HP stuff. Also, since you are not staying on-site, you will not get the front of the line pass that hotel guests get. When we went last summer, a lot of the rides had a wait of over an hour. I would plan on spending at least three days in the parks.

Also, the Flex Ticket costs $100 MORE than the 7 day park-to-park ticket for just Universal. Sea World IS NOT worth the $100 cost if that is the only thing you plan on doing. I suggest just going to Universal for the full 5 nights. This way you can take your time and relax. Spend some time riding your favorites over again and stuff like that. Plus you will save on taxi fare without going to Sea World. If you really must do Sea World, just buy Sea World tickets stand alone. The Flex Pass is not worth it if you only want to do Universal and Sea World parks.

Depending on the hotel rate you find, you might want to think about staying on-site. I priced 5 nights at the end of July and it was around $1600. This was with theme park tickets as well. This will also give you the front of the line passes. Of course, if you can find a hotel in the middle of summer for less than $100, then pick that. Its just something to think about if you are getting close to the $1600 mark with the cost of an off-site hotel, tickets, and cabs/shuttle fees to and from the parks. Also, the hotels off AAA discounts from time to time. You might want to check the rates they offer.

 

[ky07]

I am a very experienced Disney planner and know what I am doing but have never planned a Universal vacation before so I really don't know what I am doing! I will be going to Disney in August with my mom (so no budget!) but the BF really wants to go to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff (I - don't hate - am not an HP fan but I still think it's pretty cool). We are looking to take a short 5 day trip somewhere in late July and want to see if Universal will be an option given our budget. Any help you seasoned planners can offer would be awesome!

- Our budget will not allow staying on property. However, we also wouldn't want to rent a car/deal with parking so we'd probably want to stay within walking distance of the parks. Any suggestions on nice, cheap hotels within walking distance? We are both 20-somethings, in good shape with no kids so as much as a 20 minute walk isn't an issue.

- I've been to both the original park and IOA on two separate Disney trips just for a day. I can't envision spending more than 2 full days covering both parks. Therefore, we'd like to add Sea World (I haven't been since 1999, I know a lot has changed!) for a day. Are there tickets that include the Universal parks and Sea World all in one? What about transportation - do most hotels in the area have Sea World shuttles or would we have to take a cab?

- Any website recommendations for budget travel? I'm a AAA member and will be checking them out. Who has the best deals?

Thanks!

There are hotels within walking distance and the ones I know of are The doubletree at the entrance to universal , The holiday inn and suites main gate Universal and the hyatt place universal and I have stayed at the doublrtree and its a nice clean hotel and there are several web sites you can go to get deals and the one I used was Orbitz .
when checking out the hotel just look and see if they have shuttles to the parks cause I do know the 3 I mentioned does have shuttles to universal and seaworld

 

[tinydancer09]

I am not sure about walking into the parks. From some of the ON-SITE hotels, you are looking at at least a 10 minute walk. I would try and find a hotel that offers a shuttle bus.

Also, since you will be going in the middle of summer, the parks will be PACKED! You can EASILY spend more than 2 full days covering both parks. With the crowds at HP, you could easily spend half a day just seeing the HP stuff. Also, since you are not staying on-site, you will not get the front of the line pass that hotel guests get. When we went last summer, a lot of the rides had a wait of over an hour. I would plan on spending at least three days in the parks.

Also, the Flex Ticket costs $100 MORE than the 7 day park-to-park ticket for just Universal. Sea World IS NOT worth the $100 cost if that is the only thing you plan on doing. I suggest just going to Universal for the full 5 nights. This way you can take your time and relax. Spend some time riding your favorites over again and stuff like that. Plus you will save on taxi fare without going to Sea World. If you really must do Sea World, just buy Sea World tickets stand alone. The Flex Pass is not worth it if you only want to do Universal and Sea World parks.

Depending on the hotel rate you find, you might want to think about staying on-site. I priced 5 nights at the end of July and it was around $1600. This was with theme park tickets as well. This will also give you the front of the line passes. Of course, if you can find a hotel in the middle of summer for less than $100, then pick that. Its just something to think about if you are getting close to the $1600 mark with the cost of an off-site hotel, tickets, and cabs/shuttle fees to and from the parks. Also, the hotels off AAA discounts from time to time. You might want to check the rates they offer.

Did you price this doing a package or hotels then tickets? If you price the hotel separately you can also use the promo going on now "Stay more Save more." I'm not sure if you can throw the AAA rate ontop of that or not.

Also what I always tel people to do is to have one person in the party buy an Annual Pass. Now let me start this off by saying it does not always save money, but in many cases it does. You will have to run your numbers and estimate how much you would save and see if it's worth the extra $55 bucks you'd spend on ticket.

With that said, by purchasing a Preferred Pass you will save a lot of money on food, tickets, merchandise, and hotel stay. Here's the list for the preferred pass:
-10% off Food Purchases- On most City Walk and all in park restaurants (except some carts)
-10% off merchandise
-10% off single day tickets
-15% off multiday tickets
-up to 30% off on-site hotels
-Free Self parking- after your annual pass has been activated

Now, a 7 day universal ticket costs $175, at the gate it would cost $185. A Preferred Annual Pass costs $229 (all without taxes). So you would spend roughly $55 more on that one ticket- however! You would save $28 bucks on the other 7 day ticket, you have to buy it at the turnstiles so going off gate prices, so it would cost $157. So you spent $55 bucks more on the AP ticket, you just saved $28 (18 if you want to count against online) now you only have to save $27 ($37 against online) to make up for your losses and make revenue.

Like I said though it may not be beneficial to you. You'll have to estimate food and merch expenses, if you will be bringing a car, if you get a hotel discount, and if you will ever use it in the next year. Oh and if it helps to know its only $170 bucks to renew a preferred annual pass.

 

[Badge]

Did you price this doing a package or hotels then tickets? If you price the hotel separately you can also use the promo going on now "Stay more Save more." I'm not sure if you can throw the AAA rate ontop of that or not.

This was just a quick check on a package. I just checked it again and will go into details below.

Package:

Total cost with 7 Day Park 2 Park Tickets - - $1,606.68

Non-Package:
Room - - $1,228.50

Tickets - - $350

Total - - $1578.50

Both of these prices are for two adults from July 25-30 and both feature the same hotel with the same ticket option.

I doubt I will ever understand why booking a package always is worst than booking room and tickets differently. It always seems cheaper at both Universal and Disney to not book a package unless Disney is offering the Free Dining or something.

Now, just to give you an idea, I also priced the Holiday Inn near Universal. The price for this hotel WITH tickets is $870.94. They offer bus service to Universal as well. The express pass option is not worth the extra costs of staying onsite. If you want to purchase the express pass, it will cost $560. So, add the express to the cost of the Holiday Inn and you will be at $1,430.94. So, if you want the express pass, I would stay ONSITE. The roughly $100 extra will give you the benefit on UNLIMITED express. With the one you purchase, you can only ride each ride once a day with express. With the room key, you can ride it over and over.

All in all, it really depends on what you want to spend. Do you mind waiting in long lines (over an hour or more for major rides) or would you rather pay some more to skip them? Do you want a short walk or wait for a boat back to your hotel or do you want a long walk and waiting for a scheduled bus pick up and drop off time?

The Annual Pass idea is a good option, but in July, they don't offer good hotel discounts. I also do not know how to check the AAA rates, so the prices I have listed here might be cheaper.

What is your budget? It would make it easier to figure out the best option that will give you the most perks.

 

[tinydancer09]

Badge I don't know either. When I talked to to the lady on the phone she told me that you have to book through the hotel, pretty much any way except a package, to get the Stay more Save More discount but with it being less than 50 bucks different I'm not sure why that is. I noticed this when I started planning my next trip and couldn't ever figure out why...

 

[torinsmom]

We stayed at Hyatt Place Universal in 2009, and we walked to the parks a few times. Took about 15 minutes. They also had a shuttle that ran a few times a day. This year, we are staying at the Holiday Inn Maingate to Universal. Got it for $45/night on Priceline. It is in the same area, so walking would be possible. We are going with Annual Passes, because we'll be doing Disney/Universal again next summer, and its cheaper than buying 2 3 day tickets, so we'll get free parking.

BTW, a cab from to/from Universal and this area was $5 the two times we used one.

 

[macraven]

Badge I don't know either. When I talked to to the lady on the phone she told me that you have to book through the hotel, pretty much any way except a package, to get the Stay more Save More discount but with it being less than 50 bucks different I'm not sure why that is. I noticed this when I started planning my next trip and couldn't ever figure out why...

i never heard of that, booking directly through the hotel for the SMSM promo.

i booked through the Universal orlando phone number.

the only time i contact the hotel direct is for the special requests.
booking i have always had to go through UO.

 

[maryann92201]

Don't you have to be a Florida resident to get an Annual Pass? I can only find information on the US website for AP if your a Florida resident. I was thinking this would be a good way for us to save money on our December trip. If I buy one AP it would be $236.40 with tax. Then I still have to buy 1 adult and 2 children 4 day park to park passes. I'd pay $75 more for the AP but the other tickets would save me $67.42 with the 15% off. Not to mention we were going to stay at either HR or RPR so I'd save on the room. Plus the saving for meals because I know my Mom wants to go to Bubba Gump, Margarittaville and Emerils. That's 10% savings there as well. This is kind of a no brainer for me, but I'm not a Florida resident.


***I found the information I was looking for. It would actually cost $247.09 for a non resident AP but I still think it would be worth the extra cost for the savings. What are your thoughts?***

 

[tinydancer09]

i never heard of that, booking directly through the hotel for the SMSM promo.

i booked through the Universal orlando phone number.

the only time i contact the hotel direct is for the special requests.
booking i have always had to go through UO.

Thats correct. The lady on the phone told me I had to do it directly through the hotel but I have since learned that you can also do it through the online UO page, Loews page, and UO phone number. You just cant do it through the package for some reason. I guess they use a different type of promo.

 

[torinsmom]

Don't you have to be a Florida resident to get an Annual Pass? I can only find information on the US website for AP if your a Florida resident. I was thinking this would be a good way for us to save money on our December trip. If I buy one AP it would be $236.40 with tax. Then I still have to buy 1 adult and 2 children 4 day park to park passes. I'd pay $75 more for the AP but the other tickets would save me $67.42 with the 15% off. Not to mention we were going to stay at either HR or RPR so I'd save on the room. Plus the saving for meals because I know my Mom wants to go to Bubba Gump, Margarittaville and Emerils. That's 10% savings there as well. This is kind of a no brainer for me, but I'm not a Florida resident.


***I found the information I was looking for. It would actually cost $247.09 for a non resident AP but I still think it would be worth the extra cost for the savings. What are your thoughts?***

Here's the link to APs for non-Florida residents for anyone who needs it.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Tickets/Annual_Passholders/non_fl_annualpass.aspx?ComponentId=12956&SourcePageId=7805#5

We're going next year as well, so it's definitely cheaper than 2 7 day tickets, plus free parking is worth $14 per day for me.

 

[Seeker615]

Go to Universal's web-site and compare packages. We got a great deal in August for the Holiday Inn Maingate Universal that includes 4 day park to park access, the hotel and also early entry to Harry Potter and breakfast at the three broomsticks. The site allows you to compare packages and hotels. It is really easy.