Splitting family between 2 hotels -crazy?

[edisneydreaming]

We are planning to spend a day at Universal at the start of our Disney trip in August. My ds has his heart set on the Nick hotel. My dd wants to see HP. To make the most of the two nights/one park day I am thinking about registering 4 of us (dh, ds, dd and myself) at Nick for the two nights. I will then register my mother, dh and dd at one of the Universal Hotels so they get early opening and front of line passes. I can buy a front of line pass for ds and I when we arrive later. Is this crazy? Am I making my life way too difficult? I thought that dd and my mom would actually stay at the other hotel. Everytime I put together the cost for this part of the trip I freak and don't actually book it!

Thanks for any advice!

 

[damo]

Make sure to have them get a key for your son too. No sense in buying him an express pass when he can be included free in their reservation.

 

[edamethyst]

if you register them at the HRH you can add both your son and your self to the reservation even if you dont stay there (they allow 5 in a room) and you won't have to buy any extra express passes.

 

[edisneydreaming]

Thanks so much - I thought they only allowed 4 in a room!

 

[damo]

Thanks so much - I thought they only allowed 4 in a room!

They allow a max of 2 adults and 3 kids without any extra charge. Adding an extra adult will be an extra $25/night. But that will give you two days of express pass access which will be cheaper that purchasing the express pass.

 

[nytimez]

It sounds like an unnecessarily expensive compromise to a problem that just requires you to put your foot down.

I'd tell DS he's outta luck this time but he gets to pick next time, or he can pick something else on this trip that everyone has to do. Or trade a Disney hotel night for a night at the Nick.

 

[bumbershoot]

I considered Nick Hotel for a day or so on our upcoming trip, but *to me*, looking at what they have to offer, IMO the Nick Hotel is for days that you aren't going anywhere else. If I got my son there, he would NOT want to leave, he would want to play there all day. So for us, it will be put at some future date into a vacation on days when we aren't going to WDW or Universal, when we can just hang out and get our money's worth right there.

That's my opinion.

 

[edisneydreaming]

Thanks for the advice - we aren't doing a lot for ds this trip so he gets this hotel. I originally planned for all of us to stay at the Nick Hotel. I only added the Universal Hotel when I started reading about how bad the lines could be at Harry Potter. If we all stay at Nick can we still get early entry to Universal? If we can it might be cheaper to all stay at Nick and purchase the front of line bands for the day.

I do agree that getting ds to leave Nick will be a challenge! I am hoping that a half day on Friday, Saturday evening and Sunday morning will be enough (I think it will be more than enough for me!).

 

[francie57]

One big thing to consider is - are you going to have a car? Not sure if you know where the Nick hotel is located but it is closer to Disney than to Universal. We drive by it every trip getting to the airport from Disney. I maybe wrong, but I don't think the Nick hotel is affiliated with Universal so you wouldn't get the early entrance. Some one will have the correct info if I am wrong. Are you a member of AAA? They offer room discounts at Universal and also have tickets for Universal at a discounted price - we get ours at our local AAA office before each trip.

 

[nytimez]

Thanks for the advice - we aren't doing a lot for ds this trip so he gets this hotel. I originally planned for all of us to stay at the Nick Hotel. I only added the Universal Hotel when I started reading about how bad the lines could be at Harry Potter. If we all stay at Nick can we still get early entry to Universal? If we can it might be cheaper to all stay at Nick and purchase the front of line bands for the day.

I do agree that getting ds to leave Nick will be a challenge! I am hoping that a half day on Friday, Saturday evening and Sunday morning will be enough (I think it will be more than enough for me!).

You can't get early entry if you stay at Nick, and there is no front-of-the-line access for the main attraction in Harry Potter, even if you buy the Express Pass.

 

[damo]

Actually you can get early entry staying at the Nick hotel but you have to book a package through Universal.

http://www.universalorlando.com/Flo...ay.aspx?ComponentId=6651&SourcePageId=21151#8