Is this dumb to consider.....

[hippieck12]

Hi, we are staying at pop 8/27 - 9/6, want to do the 2 universal parks in the middle of our trip because we have things going on in the beginning and end, considered the free shuttle deal ($174 per person) for two day hopper or 2 day base ticket at undercover tourist $127 with mears shuttle, $20 r/t per person per day ($167), considered doing one park with hopper and express pass which runs $36 at time we are there OR getting the $127 tickets with undercover tourist, take mears shuttle $20 and pay $215 to stay overnight at the royal pacific and get fol, I would be paying for a night at disney that we wouldn't be there........is this foolish or what???? there are four of us and the night at universal hotel would be $67 a piece to get the fol, is it worth it??? I don't think I can modify my disney reservation because I'd have to make a new reservation and we're getting free dining which the time limit is over to book ??thanks

 

[macraven]

Hi, we are staying at pop 8/27 - 9/6, want to do the 2 universal parks in the middle of our trip because we have things going on in the beginning and end, considered the free shuttle deal ($174 per person) for two day hopper or 2 day base ticket at undercover tourist $127 with mears shuttle, $20 r/t per person per day ($167), considered doing one park with hopper and express pass which runs $36 at time we are there OR getting the $127 tickets with undercover tourist, take mears shuttle $20 and pay $215 to stay overnight at the royal pacific and get fol, I would be paying for a night at disney that we wouldn't be there........is this foolish or what???? there are four of us and the night at universal hotel would be $67 a piece to get the fol, is it worth it??? I don't think I can modify my disney reservation because I'd have to make a new reservation and we're getting free dining which the time limit is over to book ??thanks

i answered a question for you in another thread but in this question, you gave more details.

for the time period you are going, end of august early september, you won't be facing large crowds during the week.
the lowest crowd days are usually tue, wed, thurs.

if you go to universal on august 28 abd 29, the express pass won't be a necessity.

go on the first shuttle you can from the motherland.
schedule your return shuttle for a bit after when the parks close.

looking at your siggie, you have 2 adults and 2 kids.
is the entire family going to universal?

i glanced at the numbers you gave above on breaking down the costs.
multiply your costs by the number of peeps that will be doing universal.

in the long run, you might be better off in booking one night on site.

if you use the Mears shuttle, you can't take luggage on board.
i assume you can use a bag of some sort for overnight needs if you stay onsite.
or use a taxi which could run you about $35 - $50 a way.


since you are going in a low period time to universal, could you just do a one day 2 park ticket?
if you decide that the family needs another day in the parks, you could upgrade those one day two park tickets to a 2 day 2 park pass.
you would do the upgrade at guest services but you would need to do this before you leave the park that day you are there.

 

[hippieck12]

i answered a question for you in another thread but in this question, you gave more details.

for the time period you are going, end of august early september, you won't be facing large crowds during the week.
the lowest crowd days are usually tue, wed, thurs.

if you go to universal on august 28 abd 29, the express pass won't be a necessity.

go on the first shuttle you can from the motherland.
schedule your return shuttle for a bit after when the parks close.

looking at your siggie, you have 2 adults and 2 kids.
is the entire family going to universal?

i glanced at the numbers you gave above on breaking down the costs.
multiply your costs by the number of peeps that will be doing universal.

in the long run, you might be better off in booking one night on site.

if you use the Mears shuttle, you can't take luggage on board.
i assume you can use a bag of some sort for overnight needs if you stay onsite.
or use a taxi which could run you about $35 - $50 a way.


since you are going in a low period time to universal, could you just do a one day 2 park ticket?
if you decide that the family needs another day in the parks, you could upgrade those one day two park tickets to a 2 day 2 park pass.
you would do the upgrade at guest services but you would need to do this before you leave the park that day you are there.

Thank you, this has been a great help, I am going to sit down and figure out all options, there are four of us going - my 29 yr. old daughter, her bf, my 15 yr. old son and myself, of course now my son is all hyped up - he wants to stay at the hardrock to use their pool! thanks for the advise on the express pass, I probably would have bought them online and wouldn't need them!

 

[macraven]

Thank you, this has been a great help, I am going to sit down and figure out all options, there are four of us going - my 29 yr. old daughter, her bf, my 15 yr. old son and myself, of course now my son is all hyped up - he wants to stay at the hardrock to use their pool! thanks for the advise on the express pass, I probably would have bought them online and wouldn't need them!

you can have 5 in the room at universal hotels.
if you have more than 2 adults in the room, there is a additional nightly fee for the extra (3rd) adult of $25.

since you are already paying for the motherland hotel for the night you would stay at the darkside, choose the least expensive hotel at UO.
you'll have that add on fee for a 3rd adult...

pool hopping is encouraged.
no matter which hotel you stay at, you can go to the pools at the other hotels.
just take your room key so you can get towels there.

play with the numbers on the hotel and see what you come up with.

if you have AAA or Military, you can call and ask about those discounted rates.

since you have the dining plan at the motherland, i assume you have a package for that stay.
and, it would be prepaid 45 days out.

so, if you stayed one night at uo, think of it as money spent for a souvineer....

it might be wise to book the cheapest room onsite at the darkside and use a taxi to get there.
you can check into the hotel anytime.
i have checked in before 7:00 am before.
well, many times that is.

your room won't be ready but valet will store your belongings when you check in.
you will receive your hotel key cards at check in.

then you can use the early entry of one hour opening of parry hotter land and spiderman before the general public can enter.
that alone will alleviate long lines for FJ and Ollivanders shop.

if you are going to pay for the room, take advantage of that EE perk the first day.
use that EE the next day.
check out early and have valet hold your belongings until you return to the park to get them.
the staff can call a cab for you from the hotel.

i have read on the transportation board that peeps that do day trips to UO from disney get a lower taxi rate by getting the taxi from dtd to UO.
a couple stated it was $35.

quite a few of the private car services do a round trip from one resort to the other for about $110. that also includes a grocery stop.

you can take over night bags and do a grocery stop for snacks when you go to the darkside hotel for the one night stay.
then you could do a return back to the motherland resort later in the day and still take advantage of your free dining plan that day.

play with the numbers and see what works best for your budget.

 

[hippieck12]

Thank you, ur awesome , I will take your advice and get the cheapest rate they offered with AAA which was at the royal pacific and then my ds can just hop over to the Hard Rock's pool! and yes, we can return to disney when we're through the following day and get our free food! Trying to stay within the budget

 

[amycakes]

We are actually doing what you are thinking of doing! Also at the end of August. Free Dining too!

We are staying one night at the HRH (because my 12yo boy wants to be there) and we are doing it for early entry and the express pass option. We purchased a 2 day ticket park to park. I learned here that we could check in early and that we could also leave our bags after check out.

We went in August a couple of years ago for the first time and stayed at the Royal Pacific. We thought it was great and we walked to IOA. We hate to wait in line and the EP was a-ma-zing!! My son is a multiple rider and he just loved it..... over and over again. So did the rest of us!

At Harry Potter, we went to Ollivander's first and I believe we were the second, but could have been the third, group to enter. My daughter was picked! We then headed right to Forbidden Journey and rode it Stdby (no EP here but the queue is amazing) a couple of times then explored the area. We then rode it single rider and both the kids were fine with this since you can't see much of the people next to you. Dad went first, then the kiddies, then me. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!! Boy, did it get bust after opening.... it might be better now. I mean REALLY busy!!

We decided we could do what we wanted to do in 2 days this time and we so enjoyed the EP last time that we could not give it up!!! So we decided we would pack up a carry on and enjoy the HRH for a night. It definitely is worth it to us

 

[ajpa]

The nice thing about having the Disney room there while you spend a night at Universal is that you don't have to go thru the hassle of packing up all your stuff. Just grab some overnight stuff.

I wish we were doing that.

 

[hippieck12]

We are actually doing what you are thinking of doing! Also at the end of August. Free Dining too!

We are staying one night at the HRH (because my 12yo boy wants to be there) and we are doing it for early entry and the express pass option. We purchased a 2 day ticket park to park. I learned here that we could check in early and that we could also leave our bags after check out.

We went in August a couple of years ago for the first time and stayed at the Royal Pacific. We thought it was great and we walked to IOA. We hate to wait in line and the EP was a-ma-zing!! My son is a multiple rider and he just loved it..... over and over again. So did the rest of us!

At Harry Potter, we went to Ollivander's first and I believe we were the second, but could have been the third, group to enter. My daughter was picked! We then headed right to Forbidden Journey and rode it Stdby (no EP here but the queue is amazing) a couple of times then explored the area. We then rode it single rider and both the kids were fine with this since you can't see much of the people next to you. Dad went first, then the kiddies, then me. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!! Boy, did it get bust after opening.... it might be better now. I mean REALLY busy!!

We decided we could do what we wanted to do in 2 days this time and we so enjoyed the EP last time that we could not give it up!!! So we decided we would pack up a carry on and enjoy the HRH for a night. It definitely is worth it to us

After getting all this great advice I decided to book one night at the royal pacific, they gave me a AAA rate of $215, I'm getting 2 day non hopper tickets from Undercover Tourist for $127 and taking the $19 r/t shuttle from disney with overnight bags, with the four of us it will only be about $62 a piece for the hotel. I think it will be worth it, my son is looking forward to the pools and we're all looking forward to the early entry and fol, thank you all for the great advice!!! What is Ollivanders??? And I can't wait to try the butter beer!!!!

 

[hippieck12]

We are actually doing what you are thinking of doing! Also at the end of August. Free Dining too!

We are staying one night at the HRH (because my 12yo boy wants to be there) and we are doing it for early entry and the express pass option. We purchased a 2 day ticket park to park. I learned here that we could check in early and that we could also leave our bags after check out.

We went in August a couple of years ago for the first time and stayed at the Royal Pacific. We thought it was great and we walked to IOA. We hate to wait in line and the EP was a-ma-zing!! My son is a multiple rider and he just loved it..... over and over again. So did the rest of us!

At Harry Potter, we went to Ollivander's first and I believe we were the second, but could have been the third, group to enter. My daughter was picked! We then headed right to Forbidden Journey and rode it Stdby (no EP here but the queue is amazing) a couple of times then explored the area. We then rode it single rider and both the kids were fine with this since you can't see much of the people next to you. Dad went first, then the kiddies, then me. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!! Boy, did it get bust after opening.... it might be better now. I mean REALLY busy!!

We decided we could do what we wanted to do in 2 days this time and we so enjoyed the EP last time that we could not give it up!!! So we decided we would pack up a carry on and enjoy the HRH for a night. It definitely is worth it to us

I noticed you're from Nova Scotia, my grandmother was from there ,still have family there somewhere, I always wanted to visit!! From what I've been told it's beautiful..

 

[macraven]

Ollivanders is a show.

about 20-5 peeps can enter the room for the show and one will be chosed by the wizard.
it's a short presentation of having a wand pic the person.

it empties into the gift shop.

if you plan to do this show at ollivanders, do it first as the line does grow by the minute.

some homies rave about it while others will say a one time attendance of it was fine for them.

just personal preference.


if you are chosen for the participant in the show, you can not buy the wand at the show but at the store this empties into.



about the shuttle.
i don't think you can take any overnight bags/luggage with you on it.

you can take a large bag like you would in the parks.
that would not be a problem.
a backpack would be acceptable from what i have read.

you would not be allowed to take one of those rolling bags like you would on the airplane.

 

[amycakes]

We love living in Nova Scotia. I drive by the ocean every day on my way to work and the seasons are beautiful here......although I could do with a shorter winter You should come for a visit and time it with the arrival of the tall ships in the harbor.... a sight to see for sure. A Canadian cruise of the maritime provinces is a fun way to see and explore from what I hear.... definitely put it on your bucket list.


I hope we both have a great time in August

P.S. macraven explains it all so well...... We would not have wanted to miss Ollivanders as my kids are both huge Harry Potter fans. Not sure how much it would mean to you if you are not a fan. That being said my kids only went once and that was enough for them..... and they don't want to see it again this trip. If you want to see it.... DO NOT BE TEMPTED to run to Forbidden Journey and then do it after. The line is outside.... and slow moving....and gets long fast. You won't want to stand in it later!

We looovvveee frozen butterbeer sweet enough to split one with the kids..... but beware of the brain freeze...... it was killer!

 

[DonnaBoo]

Wow what a great thread. I can't believe how much I learned.
DH and I will be at POP from Aug 25th to Sept 25th.
Planning to do IOA and US in the middle of Sept, then HHN Sept 21 and 22nd. Got some great ideas from reading this thread.