One week at RPR, 7 day passes...

[Bren's Mom]

We're planning Sat-Sat at RPR next April. Will be getting 7 day US passes. There are 4 of us; myself, dh, dss (14) and ds (4). In addition to whatever time in the parks the boys want we'll have some pool time for sure and some time at City Walk. We'll have a car, so I want to do Downtown Disney since I didn't get there on our last trip. Disney tickets are SO expensive we've decided to skip them for this trip. Aside from maybe some meals off-site, even maybe at Chef Mickey's or something for ds, do we need to plan for other parks/day things to do? (Like Sea World?) I know some people say they're done with the US parks in 2 or 3 days. We won't be going all day every day. Should I plan (budget) for anything else? And how many days?

One thing I'm considering is if we're only going to really want 3-4 days in the US parks before the kids get bored with them is moving offsite for the 2nd half of our stay. Saving alot of money. I don't mind paying if they'll be wanting to be at US/IOA every day, though.

 

[torinsmom]

We did Universal in July for 6 days and spent time at the parks everyday. We stayed at the Hyatt PLace Universal right across the street. Got it through Priceline for $30/nt and it was an amazing hotel. If you wanted to move, that could be a good choice. We didn't have long waits even without FOTL because we just got there at opening every day.

Marsha

 

[nmartin]

We're planning Sat-Sat at RPR next April. Will be getting 7 day US passes. There are 4 of us; myself, dh, dss (14) and ds (4). In addition to whatever time in the parks the boys want we'll have some pool time for sure and some time at City Walk. We'll have a car, so I want to do Downtown Disney since I didn't get there on our last trip. Disney tickets are SO expensive we've decided to skip them for this trip. Aside from maybe some meals off-site, even maybe at Chef Mickey's or something for ds, do we need to plan for other parks/day things to do? (Like Sea World?) I know some people say they're done with the US parks in 2 or 3 days. We won't be going all day every day. Should I plan (budget) for anything else? And how many days?

One thing I'm considering is if we're only going to really want 3-4 days in the US parks before the kids get bored with them is moving offsite for the 2nd half of our stay. Saving alot of money. I don't mind paying if they'll be wanting to be at US/IOA every day, though.

I also would be interested in hearing what others think we are planning 6 days at RPH in Sept 2010 and am wondering if this going to be to long for DS 9 and DS 7. I personally could sit by the pool 24 hrs a day reading a good book but this is not really realistic in my life.

 

[damo]

We've done Universal for 7 days. We do lots of other things such as go shopping offsite and usually add one more other park in there. Last time it was Sea World and the time before it was the Pirates and Princess Party.

I don't think you need to, however.

So many people are used to the go, go, go from Disney that they forget that vacationing is supposed to be about relaxing as well. Taking time to spend at the hotel pools is a great idea. Each one is a different experience and you can visit them all as long as you are staying onsite. There are also other activities such as beach volleyball down at the pools.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Thanks for the reply. Believe me, I do not want to GO GO GO! LOL But I don't want bored kids either.

It's hard to decide! We can do a full week at a rental resort like Bonnet Creek for $840 for a 2 BR. $700-900 for 2-3 bedrooms, or more, at some other off-site rental communities. A full week at RPR in a kid's suite (not negotiable, we have to have 2 bedrooms minimum) is $2590.

That's a $1,750 difference. I'm thinking parking is a wash either way, pay for onsite parking or pay when you get to the park.

There is, of course, no accounting for the convenience of being onsite. And the novely of the kid's suite. The FOTL is great, but will it be needed in late April? On the other hand, it's expensive for a 7 night onsite stay if we won't be using FOTL for several of those days because the kids are tired of the US/IOA parks. If we're going to spend alot of time offsite, why not just stay offsite?

Aaarrrgggghhh! LOL

 

[damo]

Since you are going in April, Spring Break month, staying onsite will be well worth it. Lines are horrific.

If you want a Universal vacation, stay onsite. If you just want a Florida vacation with a few days at the park, stay offsite.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Thanks for the reply. Believe me, I do not want to GO GO GO! LOL But I don't want bored kids either.

It's hard to decide! We can do a full week at a rental resort like Bonnet Creek for $840 for a 2 BR. $700-900 for 2-3 bedrooms, or more, at some other off-site rental communities. A full week at RPR in a kid's suite (not negotiable, we have to have 2 bedrooms minimum) is $2590.

That's a $1,750 difference. I'm thinking parking is a wash either way, pay for onsite parking or pay when you get to the park.

There is, of course, no accounting for the convenience of being onsite. And the novely of the kid's suite. The FOTL is great, but will it be needed in late April? On the other hand, it's expensive for a 7 night onsite stay if we won't be using FOTL for several of those days because the kids are tired of the US/IOA parks. If we're going to spend alot of time offsite, why not just stay offsite?

Aaarrrgggghhh! LOL

Well I am a budget planner so that savings right here would already make my mind up. I will say April may be busy time but if you get at opening each day then for that amount of time you should have plenty of time to get everything done.

However if you can afford it then there is no substitute for the convenience of staying onsite. My last trip for a day I actually did not rush to get there at opening and it was a pleasure to be able to sleep in a little and enjoy the pool in the morning before a day at Universal. Then again I didn't get everything I wanted done.

Staying onsite is great and convenient just have to figure out if its worth the money for you. If you get at opening and leave early each day you will have time to do other stuff later in day.

Also consider purchasing an AP either way, you would save over $70 in parking if you stay offsite plus discounts on what you buy in park...food etc. Also they give good deal on hotel discounts so it may be cheaper to have the AP to stay onsite.

 

[maggieb9975]

I always book my US/IOA trip AFTER Disney...it is like night and day. You can relax, sleep in and wander to parks whenever you want. You can instantly change your plans because of FOTL and you can "walk up" to a reataurant and get in. I love Disney but I spend months planning my days there, tour strategies, restaurant bookings etc. WHen it comes to Universal the only thing I have to decide is which hotel

I think your kids will love Universal and if they love pools they can spend lots of time there. If you want to go back and forth between parks and hotel/pool it only takes a few minutes!

If you are pllanning Seaworld and Wet n wild, you will have just the right amount of days....perhaps if you are really worried about boredom and budget , stay 4 days at Universal and then with.....

Sorry this got so long, but until you have been there you really cannot appreciate the freedom and relaxation of a FOTL vacation

 

[macraven]

i'm staying on site at universal in a suite for 5 nights.
my cost per night is $147.xx
add tax and the extra rate charge for a saturday night and all i'm paying is $850 for everything.

that is a much better deal than what i am paying at disney for staying there prior to switching to universal.

at disney, i am staying in a value room at the rate of well over $100 a night.
looking at my confirmation i have it at $120.xx a night plus tax which brings each night to $126.20 (and staying for 8 nights.)


i'm going in regular season and booked disney for 8 nights and universal for 5 nights.
comparing the base cost of $120 to $147 for the 2 places is very close in cost.
i'm no where near the amount you gave for staying onsite at universal.

you can get some sweet deals by checking out the website to see what promos are going on for the time period you are interested in.

the supersaver rates are one of the best.
the longer you stay, the lower the rates.

if you look at the season chart, just stay away from the holiday rate time period. i don't know your dates in april so i can't compare them at this point.

if the discounts are not out now, all you have are the rack rates listed.

i book close to 11 months out on my trips and the rates are high.
once the discounts are listed, i modify my ressie for the lower adjustment.


if you feel that universal will be too high for you to stay onsite, then you should book your place where ever you feel comfortable.

i would never tell someone how to spend their money.
it's your trip and your decision.

i just wanted to point out that the universal hotels do have promos each year that gives the guest a cheaper rate than what is listed on the website for hotels.
next year it is rumored that the parry hotter island will have some things in place. will that make the rates go up at the UO hotels, don't know, but would imagine we will see an impact due to that.

if you don't want to take a chance on what the UO rooms would cost next year, i don't blame you. an off site place with 2 bedrooms sounds like what you feel is best for your family. go with what makes you have a great vacation.

if you do stay offsite, you should think of booking by the end of this year. spring break crowd could occur when you are in orlando.
the sooner you book off site, will secure you a place to stay in april.

 

[Planogirl]

The perfect amount of time for me is 6 days at Disney and 4 at Universal. We tour hard though.

When we stayed onsite, my guys were happy to spend a whole day or two in the Universal pools. Don't forget that you can pool hop. I get a kick out of getting offsite at least one day too to see some of the "lesser" attractions in and around Orlando.

The Universal hotels are lovely. Personally I'd love to spend a week at one.

 

[Darcy03231]

We went in April this year for our spring break and were at the Hard Rock for 5 nights. Honestly, I could have used another couple of days. I have teens who really like to sleep in the morning. We had a wonderful vacation just taking our time in the parks, hanging out at the pool and just enjoying our resort. We did spend one day at WDW (1 day park hoppers - we did four parks in one day), but other than that the kids were happy to hang out at US/IOA and ride their favorite rides or go hang out at the pool. When we got home I didn't feel like I needed a vacation from my vacation as I do when we go to WDW.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'm suffering from 'extreme frugal mommy panicking over spending alot of money' syndrome. I'm just one of those 'why not save money if you can' kind of person.

Given what you've all said, the potential for crowds, my desire to have a truly stress free vacation and with my dh's input we're going to stay onsite for the week. If anything changes financially between now and then and we need to cut back we can always cancel some days and move offsite for the 2nd half of the week getting 2 Priceline rooms or something.

I already have a kid's suite booked. I called back when the 'stay more save more' rate came out a couple of weeks ago and it's now down to $355.50 weeknights and $370.50 for the weekend nights.

We are going from April 17-24, 2010. We're considering Sea World, haven't made a final decision on that. We also may do some local Orlando things.

Can any price gurus tell me if it's likely going to be any better than what I've got right now pricewise for our week??

 

[wdw&sonny]

You may want to consider adding Seaworld and Wet n Wild, depending on the week...weather and hours. The last week of April may be 9-6.

We added Seaworld and Wet n Wild as part of the 4 park flex ticket for our week in 7/07. I think they were about $200. We had 2 days at each of US and IoA and also a night at each. We spent every afternoon at the hotel/pool. We stayed off-site and still got on every ride and repeated many of them 2-3 times throughout the week. One day at WnW was enough, but it was nice to have the option to spend a day at Seaworld then come back later in the week for the night time shows. There's quite a lot to do at Seaworld.

 

[SNylund]

We could actually spend a solid 14 days there onsite, but we are theme park geeks too.

But there is a lot to do and I don't think the kids will get bored. Remember City Walk is almost like a 3rd park and has lots to do, especially nighttime. You can easily take 2 days per park too, maybe even 3 per park. And as someone already mentioned there are 3 very unique and fabulous swimming pools at the 3 different onsite resorts, and it is OK to pool hop as long as you stay at one of the hotels on site.

Also, each hotel is a very cool resort, you can spend a lot of time meandering around the hotels and walking around the paths. I can kill 1 or 2 days just doing that and the pools easy, if not 3 or 4.

The parks have a LOT to do, though, I like to just go sit in Jurassic Park and hang at the bar or restaurant for several hours, lots of ways to kill time easy there.

Oh forgot to add, Hard Rock has rock bands quite often, check the schedule you may be able to catch a concert, and I think CItyWalk has a major theater to catch movies, I know the one in Hollyweird does, can't remember about Orlando, but pretty sure.

 

[macraven]

spring break is going to vary every year.
hopefully you won't be affected by it when you go.

our spring break for 2010 will be in the first week of April next year.

 

[Darcy03231]

We ate at BB Kings House of Blues one night. Its not far from US/IOA and is right on International Drive. My kids (15 & 17 at the time) loved it! It can be a bit loud if you're seated near the band. I got a certificate for it at www.restaurant.com. Food was good and plentiful, service was wonderful and the band was pretty good!

The other thing my kids really liked was sitting on the deck area at Margaritaville, listening to the music, sipping frozen (non-alcoholic) drinks and having appetizers.

We also did the Blue Man Group which was another big hit. Definitely worth seeing if its in the budget. Maybe you and DH could split up one night and one of you take the oldest to see BMG while the other does Chef Mickey's with the little one.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I'm hoping we'll be after most of the spring breakers as we're going toward the latter part of the month. I'll just keep my fingers crossed!

Thanks for all the great ideas. BBKings is a great suggestion, I will be sure to watch for the restaurant.com deals before we go!

Will it be warm enough for the water parks in mid-late April? We're still debating the flex tickets. One is not big into water parks, the little one is still too little for much of it. He'll be 4.5. So we're 'eh' on the water parks. More enthusiastic about Sea World.

Blue Man Group was AWESOME! I took dss, our older son, a while back here in CT and we both loved it. If we hadn't been already I'd surely want to take him this trip. We do split up alot, can't be helped with kids 10 years apart. It's fine by us. We take turns with the little guy. He's a pool kid all the way, so I don't mind hanging out while daddy gets to do all the 'lose the lunch' rides with the older one! LOL We're also looking forward to having a few dinners alone, dh and I, since we can put the little guy to bed and leave the 15 yo in our part of the kid suite to watch a movie while we go downstairs to eat onsite.

 

[Lisa0620]

Look at it this way, in early April you'd be paying over $800 more, so it's practically a savings...

We're debating a split stay also, but I think I'd put the off-site part first in one of the suites near Sea World and then move to RPR. (Wait in line there first to further appreciate FOTL, get the offsite part over with and then relax...) It's so much nicer to just unpack once, though. If we can swing it we will also stay onsite the whole time.

You probably saw this in the Sea World forum too, but it looks like there's a good deal on Sea World tickets at the gate with a SW Airlines rapid rewards card. You could just go ahead with your Universal tix and play it by ear during the week if you want to add SW without committing to prepaid tix.

I hope you write a trip report or room review because there's a lot of us dying to know about the kids suite and there's not too much info out there! Good luck!

 

[Bren's Mom]

Look at it this way, in early April you'd be paying over $800 more, so it's practically a savings...

We're debating a split stay also, but I think I'd put the off-site part first in one of the suites near Sea World and then move to RPR. (Wait in line there first to further appreciate FOTL, get the offsite part over with and then relax...) It's so much nicer to just unpack once, though. If we can swing it we will also stay onsite the whole time.

You probably saw this in the Sea World forum too, but it looks like there's a good deal on Sea World tickets at the gate with a SW Airlines rapid rewards card. You could just go ahead with your Universal tix and play it by ear during the week if you want to add SW without committing to prepaid tix.

I hope you write a trip report or room review because there's a lot of us dying to know about the kids suite and there's not too much info out there! Good luck!

True! Last year our teens April vacation fell connected to Easter. That was why we decided to wait until 2010. We knew it would be better both cost and crowd wise.

I thought about doing off-site first as well. (Knowing it would be less luxurious and not wanting disappointment when we moved from the beautiful RPR to someplace so-so.) But since both kids are so keen on Universal I thought maybe that wasn't a great idea...we have 7 day passes so we'd be offsite with them (especially our older son) wanting to go to Universal right away. I'm just sucking it up, I *know* I have to let us stay onsite for the whole week. LOL

That's a great tip about the SW tickets. That's what I was thinking...don't spend the money until I'm sure we need to.

For sure I will write a trip report...I can't wait!

 

[Darcy03231]

We were there the last week in April and it was plenty warm enough for the water parks, water rides and pool. We found the crowds were light to moderate that week.

We did Wet n' Wild a couple of years ago and my kids weren't at all impressed. They didn't think it was any better than our local water parks. They're teens (16 & 18 now) and I asked them if they'd rather do SeaWorld or Wet n' Wild. SeaWorld won (by a small margin).

If they really had a choice they'd do Busch Gardens. I don't know if you want to drive that far, but they loved it! Its about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half from US/IOA. Its an easy drive straight across I-4. We were in the Orlando area for two weeks (16 days) in 2007 and we went twice.

We also did the Kennedy Space Center, which your older son might like. We left my niece (3.5 at the time) back at the rental home with Nana (she'd already been and didn't want to go) and they had a rest/pool day.