Please critique my complicated resort accomodation arrangements! Help!

[corinascot]

My sister and I are hoping to visit Universal with our 4 children in June. We are looking for ways to save money, but we would like to stay on site. We will need 2 rooms because there are 6 of us. We want to stay 3 nights and 2 days in the parks. One of our possible plans is to book one room at the Royal Pacific for 2 nights and 1 room for one night. Then we will book an offsite suite for all of us for two nights beginning on the 2nd night.

We will all stay the first night at RP in 2 rooms. The next morning, the vacating room will move stuff to the other room. Then we go to the early Harry Potter opening. During the day, we might return to the room and swim and rest. We will still have one room at RP. That night, my son and I will move to the off site hotel and check in for 2 nights. The next morning, we will meet at the RP, and my sister and family vacating the 2nd room will check out and leave stuff with the bellman. We will all go to Universal Studios. That night, we will go back to the RP and pick up our stuff and then all go to the offsite hotel.

Will this work? We only have 1 car, so I think I can leave RP at the end of the first day and come back the next morning and still park the car since my sister will still be staying at the resort?

And I assume if I check out on a Tuesday morning, I will still be able to return to the hotel and swim that day and visit my sister's room?

Is this a viable plan? What am I missing?

Thanks for input. We are Disney people and new to Universal. My sister and family are new to it all and I want them to have a good time.

 

[damo]

That will definitely work. You are not cheating the system or doing anything wrong, so no one can get up in arms about it. You could just book two rooms one night, skip a night, and then book two rooms again the following night. You wouldn't have a room for during the day the second day but you are still allowed to use the amenities and you will still get 4 days of express passes and early entry.

Purchasing 1 AP might also give you some good deals depending on what the room discounts are for when you are there. Generally, if you get two connecting rooms with adults in one and kids in the other, your AP will get you the discounts on both.

 

[corinascot]

Thanks. I will have to call Universal again. I thought about an AP but when I phone Universal, they told me I needed and AP holder in each room. They didn't have AP rates for my dates yet, but for the previous week I would save $95 on the room.

 

[patster734]

The only minor problem I see with your plan is that on the 3rd day at the parks, your sister and her 3 kids will still be able to use express line at the parks because of their room keys, while you and your son will not be able to.

Other than that, everything else should work. I advise calling when making your reservation as both rooms will require its own ressie, but you can request that both rooms be adjacent to each other. Also, make sure that they email you the confirmation so that you can verify that the rooms are booked correctly.

 

[damo]

The only minor problem I see with your plan is that on the 3rd day at the parks, your sister and her 3 kids will still be able to use express line at the parks because of their room keys, while you and your son will not be able to.

Other than that, everything else should work. I advise calling when making your reservation as both rooms will require its own ressie, but you can request that both rooms be adjacent to each other. Also, make sure that they email you the confirmation so that you can verify that the rooms are booked correctly.

Nor would they get early admission to IOA that third day either. They could keep the son assigned with the sister and 3 kids in the room since 1 adult and 4 kids can all be included in one room without any extra charges as long as the kids are all under 18. Then just the one adult wouldn't get express or early admission on the third day.

Going the day there, day offsite, day there route would give four days of express and early admission for all. Would work out to be a bit more expensive than the other route though and a bit of a pain in the butt with the moving around part.

 

[corinascot]

We're only going to the parks for 2 days, so we don't have to worry about a 3rd day at parks

 

[patster734]

We're only going to the parks for 2 days, so we don't have to worry about a 3rd day at parks

We will all stay the first night at RP in 2 rooms. The next morning, the vacating room will move stuff to the other room. Then we go to the early Harry Potter opening.

The next morning, we will meet at the RP, and my sister and family vacating the 2nd room will check out and leave stuff with the bellman. We will all go to Universal Studios.

I'm confused. What two days do you plan on visiting the parks: The day you check in and the day you check out; or the day you check out and the day your sister checks out?

If you and your sister both plan to visit the park for two days, why not book 1 night for both rooms. Visit one park after you check in, and the other park on the day you both check out.

 

[damo]

I must admit that I didn't read the post correctly the first time either. Sounds like they are checking in later the first day and will not go to the parks that day but will go the next two days.

 

[patster734]

I must admit that I didn't read the post correctly the first time either. Sounds like they are checking in later the first day and will not go to the parks that day but will go the next two days.

Yes, that's how I read it too.

If true, I suggest staying off property (but near Universal) the first night. Getting up early the next day and checking into RPR pronto, leaving the bags at the bellhop desk if the room isn't ready, and then heading over to US. Then get up early the next day, checkout, leave the bags at the bellhop desk, and hightail it to IOA for early entry.

To the OP: The Express Pass line access starts from the moment you check in, and ends at park closing on the day you check out.

 

[damo]

Yes, that's how I read it too.

If true, I suggest staying off property (but near Universal) the first night. Getting up early the next day and checking into RPR pronto, leaving the bags at the bellhop desk if the room isn't ready, and then heading over to US. Then get up early the next day, checkout, leave the bags at the bellhop desk, and hightail it to IOA for early entry.

To the OP: The Express Pass line access starts from the moment you check in, and ends at park closing on the day you check out.

That would be the cheapest way to go. You only need one night onsite if you are only doing two days at the parks. We've stayed at an offsite hotel the first night and then hoofed it over to the hotel for 7 am to get early entrance. It is definitely doable.

I missed the part about 2 days at the park on my first read. If you are only spending 2 days, you don't need three nights. If you were doing 4 days, that would be a different story.

 

[corinascot]

Yes, we are planned on checking in later in the day and going to the park the next day. Maybe staying offsite the night before is a good idea. We'd have to get an early start, though. My niece has autism and it's important to us that we have a access to a pool during the day if she burns out on the parks. She loves to swim. So we could stay offsite the first night, then book 2 rooms for the 2nd night and offsite the last night. It would certainly be cheaper,...

Thanks for something to think about everyone!

 

[AlwaysMoving]

Yes, we are planned on checking in later in the day and going to the park the next day. Maybe staying offsite the night before is a good idea. We'd have to get an early start, though. My niece has autism and it's important to us that we have a access to a pool during the day if she burns out on the parks. She loves to swim. So we could stay offsite the first night, then book 2 rooms for the 2nd night and offsite the last night. It would certainly be cheaper,...

Thanks for something to think about everyone!

The only thing I might add is if, for monetary reasons, you decided to do a cheaper hotel the night before, will the long morning process of packing up stuff at the cheap hotel, transferring to the Universal hotel and check in cause your neice to burn out quicker that first day? Sometimes cheaper is not best in the long run. I hope whatever you decide, it works out for you.

 

[corinascot]

The only thing I might add is if, for monetary reasons, you decided to do a cheaper hotel the night before, will the long morning process of packing up stuff at the cheap hotel, transferring to the Universal hotel and check in cause your neice to burn out quicker that first day? Sometimes cheaper is not best in the long run. I hope whatever you decide, it works out for you.

Thanks! Good thoughts, but my niece will be the only one ready to go early in the morning. She's an early, early riser and she's usually ready for bed early. I have a feeling one of us will be heading back to the hotel at 8 or 9pm so she can go to bed. My sister will be the one who has a hard time getting up early, early.