one night stay for the whole Unlimited Express (worth it?)

[toonaspie]

We are doing what is mostly a Disney vacation (staying on property) but we wanna do a full day at Universal, both parks, with Unlimited Express. I understand the price for two people to do whatever we want at Universal both parks for a whole day with Unlimited Express would be $400 total if we're not on property and often it is suggested that it would be a better deal to stay onsite. But if we wanted to stay onsite for only one night is it really a better deal? Because I know that park admission is not included with your hotel stay so we would still have to pay for that. So if the unlimited express perk is complimentary with your hotel stay, then what is the price tag of the tickets for two we would have to buy at the gate for one day at Universal? Would we still have to buy park to park tickets or do we buy one park tickets?

Keep in mind that we are staying at a Value Resort on Disney property (we don't have a car so we are reliant on Disney transportation except when we go to Uni) which means that a night on Disney property plus transportation plus two Unlimited Express passes for one day would equate to a sum of around $550. The cheapest Universal hotel room for the day that we are going would be at $274 (and that depends on if it will still be available). So adding the tickets for two we would have to buy into the mix what is the savings that it amounts to? I'm not sure if my friend will be a fan of switching resorts (Disney to Universal then back to Disney) just to save only a small amount of money. The savings would have to be more than worth it to make the switch. Thanks.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, you'll either pay for your hotel offsite and the ticket+unlimited express pass you're looking at (either 1 park or 2 parks), or you pay for tickets (either 1 park or 2 parks) and the cost of the onsite hotel. there are no tickets included with the hotel stay, unless you get a package deal, and I've never managed to price out a package that's cheaper than doing it a la carte.

Check here periodically for the cost of the night you're looking at; it shows all 3 hotels at once. I doubt if it would work out financially, but for fun you can use "APH" in the code field, just to see if an AP rate pops up and what it might be. Know the difference between the one day ticket and the Preferred (or higher) AP so you can quickly figure out if one person upgrading to the AP would result in a total savings. (if it's close, remember that the AP gives you discounts on most food and merchandise, too)


I figure you're using ME to get back to the airport, therefore you wouldn't want to dump a night at Disney and just move to Universal.


Oh, and if you do one night onsite at Universal, you get the Early Entry perk both days (of course you would have to move over early!) and you get the unlimited Express Pass perk both days as well. And access to all the pools at all 3 hotels. Of course, you would then need a two day pass, but it's worth knowing.

 

[damo]

If you just want to do one park, buy a one park ticket. If you want to do both parks, buy a park to park ticket. With one night's stay onsite, you get two full days of unlimited express and early admission. You do not get your park tickets.

You really need to do the math. Depending on when you go, the express pass may not even make that much of a difference.

Your options are:
1. Stay offsite and buy the VIP ticket which includes unlimited express and admission.
2. Stay offsite and buy the normal express ticket as well as your admission.
3. Stay offsite and just buy admission.
4. Stay onsite.

You need to price out all of these options. The prices are all available on the www.universalorlando.com website.

 

[macraven]

if you have AAA, you can use it for a room discount for the darkside hotels.


it would be cheaper to add a night at UO at the end of your disney vacation.




to cut that $550 price you posted and still keep your room at wdw, book the round trip shuttle ride from your hotel to universal.
it is $19 per person.
no car rental, no parking cost by using the rt shuttle service.


take the shuttle to UO and a backpack with clothes for an overnight stay at the darkside hotel.
no luggage is allowed on the Mears shuttle busses for this ride.

return the next day on the Mears shuttle back to your disney hotel.

 

[toonaspie]

I did the math...and here is the comparison of my original plan versus a Universal stay (with discounts)

These prices are not 100% accurate

6 nights at Disney Value resort (with 5 day park passes for two) = a little over $1200
plus 2 Unlimited Express Bundle passes to Universal (one day) = $400
total = a little over $1600

4 nights at Disney Value resort (with 5 day park passes for two) = $980
1 night at Universal hotel with discount = $230
2 park to park passes for two days (UT) = $300
1 night back at Disney Value again = $120
total = a little over $1600

So basically it doesn't make a difference price wise unless we want to do more than one day at Universal in which case it's a little more of a value. Again not sure if it's worth the hassle to move around resorts (especially since shuttle wont let us take our luggage) just for an additional day at Universal with all the amenities. The additional day would probably occur on our half day at DAK. The plan would be to go to DAK and then switch resorts mid afternoon with the option of hitting the parks later that evening. If the difference was more than $100 I would consider it but it doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Metro West]

Just curious as to why you are wanting unlimited Express for the day? If you're planning on both parks, you won't really be able to take advantage of doing rides over and over. At some point you'll need to leave for the other park. If you were doing two days (one day per park) I could see wanting to have unlimited Express but not two parks in a single day.

Clue me in here.

 

[toonaspie]

Just curious as to why you are wanting unlimited Express for the day? If you're planning on both parks, you won't really be able to take advantage of doing rides over and over. At some point you'll need to leave for the other park. If you were doing two days (one day per park) I could see wanting to have unlimited Express but not two parks in a single day.

Clue me in here.

We don't plan on doing EVERY single attraction in both parks. Just the handful between the two that we're interested in. There is the possibility of doing repeats of those selected handful. I don't like the idea of doing one park per day. I want it to be flexible but also save on time.

 

[Metro West]

We don't plan on doing EVERY single attraction in both parks. Just the handful between the two that we're interested in. There is the possibility of doing repeats of those selected handful. I don't like the idea of doing one park per day. I want it to be flexible but also save on time.

When are you visiting? I don't believe I saw where you mentioned that. Unlimited Express is pricey but could come in handy during the busiest travel periods.

 

[macraven]

op, i read your pre trip report and think you can save some money by making some changes.

you don't need to have a preferred room at the values as many rooms are regular rooms and close to the lobby.

you can save $$ there at the motherland stay.


you also wrote about your friend/mom? has the AAA card.
be added to that card and you can use it.


disney allows AAA discounts for the rooms as does UO.
in fact, UO hotels, park restaurants, some of city walk will let you have a 10% discount off of food and merch.
the hotel discount is sometimes more than 10%.

you listed the dates of May 13 for the start of the week.
rates are not bad for UO in that period if you stay away from the weekends.


right there alone, you would see that $100 difference.

 

[toonaspie]

It's going to be in May (during what's considered the regular season)

 

[Metro West]

It's going to be in May (during what's considered the regular season)

Early to mid May isn't a very busy time and checking the website, EPs are at their lowest price which indicates light crowds. I really think you would be over doing it to spend the money on unlimited Express when you don't know what the lines will be like ahead of time. I always recommend waiting until you arrive before purchasing the EP. If you really want unlimited Express, just purchase the tickets for $179.99 per person that include unlimited Express and take a cab over from Disney.