Is it worth it? 7/31 1-day P2P staying at RPR

[BlueFairy]

We are WDW family. DD10 is hooked on HP. DD13 likes it as well, and is also begging to go back to WDW to celebrate her birthday and see Pandora. We have never been to Universal.

SO I mapped out a trip. We have to go while school is out, and I picked the first week of August. Really anytime between Father's Day and 8/10. Or Christmas until 1/7/19. We don't like big coasters and don't feel drawn to Universal outside of all things Wizarding World. And then I did the math. We can stay 5 nights on points at a Starwood Hotel. It is actually cheaper for 4 of us to add a night at RPR and pay for the park-to-park for 1 day than it would be to stay offsite and add on EP at peak pricing.

Now we are at a 6 night vacation. Arrive MCO and checkin to RPR on the first day. Enjoy the resort. Then hit the ground running on day 2 for Wizarding World from early entry to close. Then checkin at the Swan/Dolphin for 5 nights and a couple of WDW park days.

BUT the kicker for me is that just 7/31/18 will cost us around $1100 for the (hotel and tix) or (tix with EP added).

My question - please tell me how this is worth the expense? Can we manage a fantastic day? I've seen not so great comments about how crowded it will be. We could spend this $1100 so many ways at home, and I am having a hard time seeing how I can justify the added expense. With my familys' low tolerance for thrills and coasters, I just don't envision us being the family that truly enjoys a 3-4 day Universal vacation.

What do the experts think?

 

[sherlockmiles]

if you've never gone to universal, 3 days can easily be filled, especially if you take time for interactive wands, shows (frog shoir, celestina, triwizatd, tales of beetle the bard, night time), shops, and food - both HP areas have a different feel in the day and at night. Add in universal parade and night time shows and other street performers (LOVE BEAT BUILDERS!!!), M&G, ride, etc.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi this is a tough question but I will give you my opinion and hope it helps. Most parks put the cost up front on their one day admission then get cheaper as you get on days. Honestly with price you said for staying at the resort and the tickets for 4 people is pretty good. I think if you had a couple of days there is would feel like more bang for your buck. If you stay at Royal Pacific you would get EP on your check in day and check out day. For anybody staying there and doing two days at the parks that is a good deal.

I think the HP worlds are great and if your a fan it's really cool to see these two lands. I also feel that the attractions are diverse as well. Yes it will be crowded then that is the week I usually go. However, with the EP we have a great time. Yes there are thrill rides but there are a lot of screen rides that really aren't thrill rides. The parks are really nice and there are some shows and parades. I would look at all the rides (you tube) and see what there is to offer in both parks. You might be surprised there is more there then you think. I can understand from your point justifying one day at that price but if you look at the whole picture and what you are getting then it is pretty good.

I think if you have high reservations about going and spending the money I wouldn't go then again sometimes you don't know until you try something.

We use to go to Disney every year (it was the best vacation)then we switched back and forth between Disney and Universal and now everyone wants to go to Universal.

Good luck!

 

[damo]

This is really not a decision that somebody else can make for you.

I would never spend the amount needed to go and do Animal Kingdom for one day to do Pandora if I was doing a Universal vacation where lots of people would.

 

[BlueFairy]

Thank you. After reading everyone's comments, I went back and did the numbers switching it around to 3 nights at Universal with 3 day park-to-park, and then 3 nights on points at the Swan with 1 day at AK. Unfortunately, moving those days from WDW to UO increases our costs by another $1000. We save so much money on hotels by staying on points that it's hard to get value in the on-site hotels.

We will look at the Universal rides and see if we'd truly be happy with just 1 day. After that, DH and I have to decide if it's really a good time to go to Orlando. It's not that we can't afford, but more that we have so many other projects going on our house, too. It's going to come down to priorities.

 

[MantaRay]

Another option to consider is utilizing the single rider lines at Universal. Many rides/attractions have them. You may not sit together like EP but can stay at any hotel. The less expensive Universal hotels, and I think some Universal partner hotels, get one hour early entry into Hogsmeade & Diagon Alley which is worth it to get in before the crowds if you plan on purchasing and playing with a wand.

 

[hhoope01]

There is another option. Since you are only staying 3 nights at the Swan, you will be saving 12K SPG points over the 5 nights you originally planned. For about 10K points you can get 3 nights at the 4-Points on International Drive very close to Universal. Get only 1 night at RPR (instead of 3). That should save you a bundle on cost as you will only be paying cash for 1 night at the RPR with the other 5 nights using points. This should provide you with 2 full days of EP and still get you 3 days at Universal. The day you don't have the EP, focus on the shows, sites, stores, and the rides that don't have long lines.

BTW, you can save a bit more SPG points (10K/night over 12K/night by staying at the Dolphin instead of the Swan though I do admit I like the 2-Queen rooms at the Swan better than the 2-double rooms at the Dolphin).

 

[BlueFairy]

Another option to consider is utilizing the single rider lines at Universal. Many rides/attractions have them. You may not sit together like EP but can stay at any hotel. The less expensive Universal hotels, and I think some Universal partner hotels, get one hour early entry into Hogsmeade & Diagon Alley which is worth it to get in before the crowds if you plan on purchasing and playing with a wand.

I don't think the age of my youngest would lend us to use single rider, though it might help if we are splitting up. Thanks for the tip on EE. I didn't know other hotels besides the top tier had it.

There is another option. Since you are only staying 3 nights at the Swan, you will be saving 12K SPG points over the 5 nights you originally planned. For about 10K points you can get 3 nights at the 4-Points on International Drive very close to Universal. Get only 1 night at RPR (instead of 3). That should save you a bundle on cost as you will only be paying cash for 1 night at the RPR with the other 5 nights using points. This should provide you with 2 full days of EP and still get you 3 days at Universal. The day you don't have the EP, focus on the shows, sites, stores, and the rides that don't have long lines.

BTW, you can save a bit more SPG points (10K/night over 12K/night by staying at the Dolphin instead of the Swan though I do admit I like the 2-Queen rooms at the Swan better than the 2-double rooms at the Dolphin).

We are considering the Dolphin. It's their "pay for 4 nights and get 5" policy that is making it so hard to just pay for 3. I can stay 5 nights at Swan on the same points as your I-drive idea without having to move hotels.

 

[hhoope01]

We are considering the Dolphin. It's their "pay for 4 nights and get 5" policy that is making it so hard to just pay for 3. I can stay 5 nights at Swan on the same points as your I-drive idea without having to move hotels.

I understand and sympathize with you on that decision as I've had the same quandary a few times in the past myself. I'd suggest focusing on maximizing your enjoyment of the parks you will be visiting and then try to find ways to minimize the cost as much as possible (which is what my suggestion was an attempt at.)

But your decision really boils down to whether you want to visit Universal or not. If you do then getting Unlimited EP access through an RPR stay will be very helpful in your enjoyment of your Universal visit. With a one night stay, you get 2-days of EP access and if you haven't really been to Universal before, having 2 or more days, even with EPs, will probably make those days easier and less stressful while giving you the time to really see both parks (assuming you don't want to visit Volcano Bay.) It just seems a waste to stay the night but not make use of that 2nd day of EP. Your updated decision to spend 3 nights at RPR, but lamenting the price, is what I was trying to help out with. If you are going to do that, then my option gives you EP for 2 out of the 3 days you would be there with the only added expense being 1 night's cost at RPR and 3-day park-to-park Universal tickets rather than paying for 3 nights. And I bet that won't be that much more expensive than your original plan of spending 1 day at Universal (the extra expense being a multi-day ticket rather than single day.) Do note that since the 4-Points on I-drive is a lower category, staying 3 nights there plus 3 nights at the Swalphin will basically cost you the same amount of points as staying 5 nights in the Swalphin alone. That may help ease the pain of losing out on that "5th night free' award.

My suggestion would be to decide if you really want to visit Universal on this trip or not. If you do, then I'd spend more than 1 day visiting to maximize the expense and the enjoyment of adding Universal. Otherwise, hold off on Universal for this trip and plan a Universal trip at a future point (maybe you can include Volcano Bay in that future trip as your kids will probably enjoy it.)