Old hat at WDW...new to US/IoA..need some imput please..

[goofy4tink]

After a ton of trips to WDW, my dh as requested some time at US/IoA after our Disney cruise next April. I know all the in's and out's of staying and booking at WDW. I don't book packages there, always stay onsite. BUT....US/IoA is a whole new thing to me.
So.....here are my questions..
1. am I better off just biting the bullet and booking a pkg when they come out?
2. How about offsite, but close to the parks?

I'm just really perplexed here. I know that if we stay onsite, we get FoTL with the resort stay. But, we pay for parking and the rooms are kind of expensive. I do have AAA, so that might help? We could stay offsite and buy the Express thingie but that now adds to the overall room cost. We'll be there Thurs through Sun.

Can you tell I'm confused? It will be myself, my dh and my 17 y/o dd. Any thoughts????

 

[Magpie]

After a ton of trips to WDW, my dh as requested some time at US/IoA after our Disney cruise next April. I know all the in's and out's of staying and booking at WDW. I don't book packages there, always stay onsite. BUT....US/IoA is a whole new thing to me.
So.....here are my questions..
1. am I better off just biting the bullet and booking a pkg when they come out?
2. How about offsite, but close to the parks?

I'm just really perplexed here. I know that if we stay onsite, we get FoTL with the resort stay. But, we pay for parking and the rooms are kind of expensive. I do have AAA, so that might help? We could stay offsite and buy the Express thingie but that now adds to the overall room cost. We'll be there Thurs through Sun.

Can you tell I'm confused? It will be myself, my dh and my 17 y/o dd. Any thoughts????

We've decided to bite the bullet and stay on-site. Here's why...

1. The Express Pass you get with the resort is unlimited. That means you get to take the fast line as often as you like, all day long. The Express Pass you buy in the park can only be used once on each ride. After that you have to stand in the regular line with everyone else.

2. The on-site resorts look gorgeous. And they're all within easy walking distance of the parks (or you can take a boat, for free).

3. We'll be staying during a time period when the park closes early, at 6pm. The on-site resorts have other entertainment options, such as music, a luau, "dive-in" movies, etc, to keep us amused in the evenings.

4. Pool-hopping is apparently encouraged, between all three resorts.

We've decided to skip getting a rental car altogether, and save on the parking fees.

 

[damo]

April is an expensive month at Disney and Universal. It is difficult to get a good deal. Packages are not usually cheaper, so don't expect that. It is probably a good idea to just bite the bullet and stay on site because unlimited express pass is worth every penny when the crowds are so high.

 

[francie57]

We go to Universal at the beginning of every trip to Disney. We always stay at the HRH and love it. The Express Pass is worth every cent of staying on-site. If you are a AAA member you will be able to get a room discount at the hotels. We booked a package our first two times and then decided it wasn't worth the money. We now book our room through AAA for the discount (unless Universal offers a better deal), buy our tickets at our local AAA office since they give a discount, and at the parks your AAA card will get you a 10% discount at the restaurants in the parks, snack carts, and stores. It will also get you the 10% discount at most City Walk restaurants, except the few really expensive ones. We found the package to be more expensive and the only extra we got was a free picture from one of the rides. We have never stayed off-site. As I said, we love the HRH. The rooms are really nice and big so you would have plenty of room. My husband loves the fact that they have a Keurig coffee machine in the room with a full assortment of coffees. Hope this helps with your decision. The one thing you will find is that once you decide what you are going to do you don't really have to plan much more for Universal since it is more relaxing than Disney. If you decide to stay on-site you will have more than enough time with the express pass to do the parks and enjoy the pool and City Walk.

 

[kmc]

another vote for staying onsite--it really makes the entire trip less stressful which is priceless to me

doing it seperate usually turns out cheaper than a package-at least the few times I priced things out.

 

[goofy4tink]

Good points. I do have a AAA membership, so perhaps I'll just adhere to my WDW mentality and book piecemeal. I have yet to find packages to be cheaper.

 

[mjohnson96]

We always book our US/IOA trip piece part. Last year we went with me getting an AP for the room discount and other merchandise/food discounts. That pretty much paid for that ticket.

We love staying at the hotels onsite, I got my mom to go last year and now she doesn't want to stay anywhere else when we go to Orlando, except when visiting WDW.

The walk to the parks are nice or to reduce your walk there are boats or pedi cabs available. Also, between City Walk and the resorts there are tons of food choice options in about every budget range.

 

[glocon]

With the AAA card- do you just show it when you are paying the bill, or do you show it before the bill is given to you so that a discount can be applied? (I mean in the restaurants). Thanks!

 

[Metro West]

With the AAA card- do you just show it when you are paying the bill, or do you show it before the bill is given to you so that a discount can be applied? (I mean in the restaurants). Thanks!

I would show it to the waiter when the order is taken...just to let them know there will be a discount that needs to be applied. I usually do that with my AP but they often forget but it's not a big deal to have them take off the discount.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

In April I would definitely stay onsite. The unlimited express pass during that time will be worth it.

We book seperately.

I start with booking directly getting a discount with my AAA card by calling.

Then if discounts come out for the stay more, save more rates come out I call and if it's cheaper have my room changed to that. (when you stay 3 nights or more, you get a bigger discount).

We buy our tickets seperately through the Universal website usually.