Onsite OR cab from Disney!

[bookworm0312]

We will be at US/IOA on October 11 & 12. We are staying at Disney, but, wanted to take a couple of days in the middle of our trip to re-visit Universal! It will be me, DH, DD12 & DGD3. I had originally planned to cab over to RPH on the morning of the 11th, check in for one night, and go to UA. The following morning, early admit to IOA and then cab back to Disney for the rest of our trip after IOA closed.

After reading a couple of other threads about October crowds, it appears that I may not need to spend the minimum $249 to stay onsite and get FOTL. Now I'm thinking about taking a cab back and forth each day and saving some money, since it looks like I may be able to do everything during that time period without having FOTL.

Am I right about this? I'd appreciate some input from people with more experience before I make my final decision.

 

[Metro West]

You won't need to stay onsite during October...the crowds aren't that bad. Early entry for WWoHP is a nice perk but you don't need to spend the extra money for onsite.

 

[christophfam]

I usually don't post when Metro has posted, but I think I disagree with him a bit here. We went last October 20-24 and found the crowds to be quite large. Did an Oct. weekend the year before and it was busy too. Much more so than our recent early June trip. Now we were there over a long weekend and you'll be there during the week so that may make a difference. The only thing with your dates are they are just after Columbus Day weekend and some may make a week of it. If I where you, I'd go to Harry Potter Crowd Report thread sticky at the top of this forum and go back to the 2010 dates - around pg. 80 and see what people where saying when they came back last year around that same time. You may not really need the onsite room, but you may find it to be very nice!

 

[macraven]

We will be at US/IOA on October 11 & 12. We are staying at Disney, but, wanted to take a couple of days in the middle of our trip to re-visit Universal! It will be me, DH, DD12 & DGD3. I had originally planned to cab over to RPH on the morning of the 11th, check in for one night, and go to UA. The following morning, early admit to IOA and then cab back to Disney for the rest of our trip after IOA closed.

After reading a couple of other threads about October crowds, it appears that I may not need to spend the minimum $249 to stay onsite and get FOTL. Now I'm thinking about taking a cab back and forth each day and saving some money, since it looks like I may be able to do everything during that time period without having FOTL.

Am I right about this? I'd appreciate some input from people with more experience before I make my final decision.

hard to say for sure.
it can go both ways of what is best for you.

i am leaving orlando on the 12th. that is a wednesday.
you will be there on tues & wed.

i checked the calendar, and no hell week when you will be there.

keeping that in mind, you won't have large crowds hopefully on the wednesday.

last year and the year before, i was there for day or two after columbus day.
columbus day did have crowds when i was there.
the tuesday after had its share on that afternoon but nothing like monday.


it is an iffy call on what crowds to expect right now for your dates.


but............

i see you will be taking cabs back and forth.
with tip, it could cost you up to $50 each way.
4 one way trips with cabs might cost up to $200 total for the 2 days.


you also have a little, 3 year old.

it might to be to your benefit to get a room for the tuesday night.
you will get 2 days of park early entrance and express line usage then.

you will have a place to go back to and rest if the 3 yo needs some down time. you could spend part of the day with barney and water activites at kidzone. easy to go back to the hotel and change to dry clothes later.

you could spend the evening at the pool with the kidlettes.

it's possible you could get a decent rate at rph during your time period.
the hotel will be hitting higher occupancy by friday due to the hhn event.

if you took mears shuttle or a cab to UO from disney on tuesday, you could return to disney on wednesday evening to finish your stay up there.

of course you still have the costs of a one round trip cab/mears cost.

i don't know how your plans are.
maybe one adult spend time with the 12 yo doing rides and shows that they are able to do while the other adult go to the activites and rides geared more for the 3 yo.

having a room on site might be helpful for rest time for the little.
if you find the younger child not as interested in doing the park and prefers being at the pool at the hotel, and the older child doesn't want to leave the park, having the hotel makes it a compromise for all.
but then, the adults would be splitting up their days from each other.


i know it is difficult to give advice not knowing you.
i always find to do the split vacations for better ease.
i start at the motherland for 7 nights then switch to the darkside for 8 nights.

i have done the day trips from the motherland to the darkside by car and really tired of the travel and down time to get ready and go to another park.
that is when i started booking two different resort hotels.


if the main purpose is to save money, just spend the $200 on transportation and go back and forth the 2 days from the motherland to the darkside.

if it is to explore the parks to the fullest and be able to relax in the evening, stay at the hotel one night.

 

[Metro West]

I usually don't post when Metro has posted, but I think I disagree with him a bit here.

Please don't let me stop you from posting. That's the whole point...different ideas.

 

[macraven]

I usually don't post when Metro has posted, but I think I disagree with him a bit here.

Please don't let me stop you from posting. That's the whole point...different ideas.

ya, metro isn't like this.....

or like this......

more like:

.......

type of homie..


and he is usually like this.....

the only thing you should fear is the dark....

 

[christophfam]

ya, metro isn't like this.....

or like this......

more like:

.......

type of homie..


and he is usually like this.....

the only thing you should fear is the dark....

Too funny! Yes, I agree. I just hated to disagree with him since he always gives the best advice! Advice I have taken many times myself!!

 

[brenda1966]

I'm new to the US parks, but we went last year Oct 25 and 26, a monday and a tuesday.

Staying onsite was totally worth the extra money. One morning Forbidden Journey didn't even open, so you can imagine what the line was like by the time we left the area 30 minutes after general opening -- it was snaking back and out through the gate to Harry Potter. When we came back that night to ride, we got in line 1 hour before closing and it took 45 minutes to ride.

There were times of day when the lines for other rides where quite short, but there were other times of day when lines for Spidey were 30-40 minutes.

So, I guess it also depends on how much you want to see and do. We wanted to do it all, several times over, so early entry and express pass was well worth it for us.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

You also need to keep in mind that in October last year, the WWOHP had just been open for a few months and was still very new. I think the crowds may be less this October with the WWOHP having been open for 16 months by the time you arrive. I'm sure it will still be busy, but not nearly as busy as last October.

 

[Bluer101]

It all depends on how you want to enjoy your vacation at Universal. We would never visit Universal without staying onsite anymore. We have been while it's extremely busy and slow all while onsite. There is more to enjoy onsite without FOTL and early entry. Don't get me wrong they are nice but there is more to it.

But like I said is all depends on how you want to spend your time.

 

[bookworm0312]

Thanks to everyone who has responded! If we were going for more than two days we would DEFINITELY stay on-site as we did the last time ('07).

I stay at Pop Century while visiting at Disney because I just can't justify spending the money for a room that we spend only a few hours in each day! So, I think that's at the heart of my problem!

As far as cab fare goes, only two of the trips are "extra" if I stay at Disney and take a cab because I was going to have to pay for two to get there and back even if staying on-site!

I wonder if I were to decide when we arrive on the first day that it was too busy and I wanted FOTL if I could just try to make a reservation at one of the on-site hotels? I wonder if they sell out during that time?

 

[macraven]

Thanks to everyone who has responded! If we were going for more than two days we would DEFINITELY stay on-site as we did the last time ('07).

I stay at Pop Century while visiting at Disney because I just can't justify spending the money for a room that we spend only a few hours in each day! So, I think that's at the heart of my problem!

As far as cab fare goes, only two of the trips are "extra" if I stay at Disney and take a cab because I was going to have to pay for two to get there and back even if staying on-site!

I wonder if I were to decide when we arrive on the first day that it was too busy and I wanted FOTL if I could just try to make a reservation at one of the on-site hotels? I wonder if they sell out during that time?

looking at your siggie, 3 months, 3 days to wdw and uo makes you in orlando around the week after columbus day.
(i'll be there in 85 days.)

if you are thinking of trying to book a room onsite while you visit the park during that time period, you might be out of luck unless you stay a weekday.
possibly a tues/wed.

hhn brings in many homies and the hotels fill up.
peeps book in advance for their rooms many times.

for the time period i will be onsite, rph doesn't have standard rooms available. those basic rooms are sold out already.

but, i do see rooms available now for hrh and pbh open.

play it by ear.
go and have fun.
if the crowds become to great for you, use the single rider lines.
no ep needed for it.

you can make a ressie now and pay the one night fee.
you can always cancel and have a full refund if you cancel 5 days out of your ressie.