Tell me about getting a "Throwaway Room" for EE and FOTL . . . .

[Minniesgal]

If doing the throwaway room, does everyone in your party need to be present at check in? Can one person just go check in and also print the express passes for everyone else in the party? Or does it require taking your picture?

You all need to be there to get your FOLP as they take your photos to put on them

 

[schumigirl]

Is there still a machine in the park to do pictures for Express Pass?

I seem to remember someone saying they went to the hotel on their own to check in grab the room keys and then met her family at the park to do the pictures for Express Pass.........or did I imagine that?

 

[cheerky]

We did a "throw away" room on Jan. 18-19 at RPR. My teen daughter had two friends traveling with us otherwise we would have spent the night in the room. Check-in was very quick. We were offered a roll-away bed at check-in, which we declined. All of us needed to be present to get our express passes from the kiosk which took 5 minutes. Parking was $20 total and we were able to enter and exit the lot using our room key til midnight on the 19th. We used the water taxi from the resort both days...huge benefit as you will bypass the metal detector chaos at the parking decks. (The check-in process at the hotel was much faster than the metal detector process we had experienced at the parking deck on Sat. the 16th) We walked around the resort and went up and checked out the room. The resort is beautiful and we cannot wait to actually stay there next time. I booked the room online so it was prepaid. I did not have to return for check-out.

 

[CarlaT]

We are planning a Disney and Universal Studios trip in Nov. We will be staying in Disney on DVC points. I was then thinking 2 full days in the Universal Parks. The "throw away" room sounds like an option for us. My question is were do you purchase your Universal park passes? By booking the Universal Resort the price is for the room only and with booking room only the perks are still included? This will be our first trip to Universal. If I'm correct 3 resorts offer Express Pass? All 4 resorts offer early morning entry? Thanks.

 

[schumigirl]

Carla, There are many places to buy tickets......buy them anywhere. Undercover Tourist, Orbitz and Cheaptickets are a few I see mentioned. And of course Universal themselves.

Yes, you get EP for the duration of your stay with the Portofino, Hard Rock and Royal Pacific......staying at Sapphire Falls or Cabana Bay will only get you Early Entry.

 

[rinnythepooh]

Very simple - take an overnight bag with swimming trunks and change of clothes. Put the do not disturb sign on your Disney hotel, and come back in 40 hours. Why not just sleep there and casually enjoy the evening on Wednesday? On check out day, give your overnight bag to luggage services, hit EE, and when you are ready to leave, stop back for your bag and go back to Disney.

I think your desire to be back in Disney on Wednesday night is what is making the logistics seem more complicated. Also, we use a car service so we don't pay parking. From the time you arrive at the hotel to the time you get to the park is about 20-30 minutes, it is very efficient.

I have done this on 6 occasions and it works great. Granted, I have been there many times and I have a different perspective now, but an evening swim and sushi at Orchid Court is very relaxing. Personally, I have never had trouble at my "home" hotel. I tell them what we are doing, the do not disturb sign has been honored, and I have all of my valuables with me.

My husband and myself did this and it worked out GREAT!! We kept our French Quarter room and took a cab to Royal Pacific early AM.We just packed a change of clothes in a backpack and left it at the Royal Pacific luggage service. We enjoyed two days of EE and really enjoyed staying at the Royal Pacific for one night. Then we took a cab back to our French Quarter room when we were done at US the second day. We DID NOT LEAVE THE DO NOT DISTURB SIGN on our French Quarter room. We DID NOT TELL ANYONE WE WERE NOT SLEEPING THERE THAT NIGHT. On our return to the French Quarter, our room was cleaned as usual and all luggage and personal items were in perfect shape.