Summer stay

[isabellea]

Right now, our plan for July is to stay at WDW (ASMo) for 7 nights with a 5 days base tickets then transferring to Universal. It will be our first time as a family at Universal and I'm undecided on what to do. I currently have enough reward points (Airmiles) to book 2 nights at Cabana Bay + 1 night at Royal Pacific (ticket: 4 days 3-parks ticket) or 2 nights at Royal Pacific (ticket: 3 days 3-parks ticket). Which combination would you choose? More days total but only 2 days with Express Pass or EP the whole time we are there?

Finally, is it better to visit early or late July? Our only constraint for dates is that we have to check-in at WDW before July 22nd (my youngest 10th birthday) since we already have a Canadian no-expiry child ticket for her and if I upgrade to an adult ticket, I loose the discount we got back then and pay the price difference between 2018 and 2021 ($$$).

 

[Susan2771]

I would select Express Pass the whole stay.

 

[AJA]

Will your kids want to use wands (magic windows) and explore in both Harry Potter areas? Keep in mind express passes don’t work for those, if you know you’ll have half a day devoted to that you really don’t “need” express that day.

Free Express with the deluxe hotel does not apply to Volcano Bay, so that day doesn’t really matter.

Can you work the 1 night Royal Pacific stay to get 2 days of express passes (day you check in and day you checkout). If so I would go with 4 days total, 2 days of express and 2 days without using the days w/o as your Volcano Bay day and your “all things Harry Potter day”.

Go later in July, avoid July 4th. Southern schools are usually back in session by the first week in August so the end of July would probably be a tiny bit less crowded than the first.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I would opt for 4 days, assuming you don't mind the hotel change.
1. As noted above, EP won't work at VB or for exploring / spells
2. In early AM / late PM, ride lines are shorter
3. If you intend to take mid-day breaks, you will want that extra time to enjoy the pools (or VB...)

Weather is hot any time in July, so choose the days that work best. As noted above, avoid July 4th if possible.
If you look at the prices Universal is charging for daily express passes and/or tickets, it'll give you an idea of how busy they expect the parks to be. I find that to be the best crowd predictor.

 

[macraven]

Great info !