I have never strayed over here before- but I wanna go to Universal!

[Magpie]

It's going to be our first time, too, and we're planning the same thing you are! I don't know if I got the best prices or not, but just for comparison here's what we paid...

Harry Potter package
2 adults, 2 teenagers

2,512.66

That gets us...

7 nights at the Royal Pacific Resort
7 day's worth of 2 park tickets for four people
CityWalk Party Pass (I think that's just admission to clubs - but it might be nice to check out a band)
A Commemorative Ticket
Early Park Admission
One breakfast at the 3 Broomsticks
and of course the Universal Express Ride Access

Oh, and we went through CAA (like AAA), which got us a hundred dollars in "Universal dollars".

I thought about upgrading to a multipark pass so that we could see SeaWorld and Busch Gardens and so forth, but it was a fair bit more money (and would mean renting a car and paying for parking, etc.) so we decided to cut it. Ditto for the Blue Man Group - not this year!

I am a tiny bit concerned that we'll run out of things to do... but not very! We're going in December, so there will be all sorts of Christmas stuff going on. I'm also hoping it'll be warm enough to swim!

I'm hoping it'll be a nice change of pace to relax at Universal for a week and enjoy the shows, instead of doing our usual "Storming the Beaches" version of Disney with checklists and schedules. We can putter around in the morning, come back to the hotel for a nap, and do a couple more things before dinner. Then maybe take in a show at CityWalk, or see what the hotel has to offer by way of entertainment. I also want to take a walk around the grounds of the other hotels at least once during our vacation.

 

[2005s4]

Disney is only about 20 minutes away so even if there wasn't much to do and you had a rental car you could always wander over..

 

[phamton]

Please note that the jokes about higher class and less annoying guests is an insider joke. No one here really thinks that either Disney or Universal caters to a higher class of guests than the other park.

 

[mjohnson96]

We are going back to Universal this June after Harry Potter opens and I am using the AP rate of $159 for our room, and the Florida Resident rate of $159 for my parents room. I already have an AP, so we bought some of the power passes for everyone else for $115 that is good from April to April and the blackout dates are not when we go so that is good news.

We have a blast staying onsite, last year was the first year and we stayed for 4 nights at RPH and it was great. My DH is not a huge theme park fan so it was nice that he could just head back to the hotel and hang out by the pool bar, the one at Hard Rock is awesome , or take a nap.

We just took our time those 5 days and saw everything, this year my DD 7 will be over 48 inches so she is excited to ride the Mummy. We are also heading over to Disney this time so I know that the first 3 nights will be calm and then the next 4 nights at Disney will be hetic, but that is the difference between the 2 parks.

Last year I saved by buying the AP, which the room discount paid for the pass, and it also helped us with food and merchandise.

Have a great trip