Ticket Gurus... a humble beginner needs some advice

[ForMyBoys]

Hi All, I need some advice from ticket gurus out there to see if my plans here will work. We are going to universal over Easter 2018 and we want to stay on-site. Since the park is predicted to be crazy we also want express passes. We are a family of 5 and will be there for 7 full days. We would want two connecting rooms or a family suite. I know we could fit 5 in a single room but we stayed in one room at PBH a couple of years ago and for a whole week we found it to be too close for comfort.

The cheapest I can find for two connecting pool view rooms at a resort w/ express pass is at Royal Pacific. The price of the hotel + explorer pass = 7593.00.

If we stay at Cabana bay family suite (tower pool view) w/ 4 day ticket w/ express pass = 4,678.00. So significantly less expensive and gives us express pass for 4 days. However, since we will be on-site for 7 days, 4 park days might not be enough.

After we use the 4 days I'm assuming we could upgrade on that last day to a 5 day ticket right? I can see the 3 park, park to park, 2 day + 2 day free w/o express pass = 294.99 PP and the 5 day is 334.99 PP so I assume it would cost $40 + tax to upgrade each ticket, or $200 + tax for a family of 5. Is that how it would work? So $200 to add the extra day?

Or we could alternatively upgrade to a preferred annual pass which is 483.99 PP so I think upgrade cost would be $189PP, or $945 + tax. So around $1000. This seems fairly steep and we would only do this if we thought we might come back within a year, but it seems even doing this would be significantly less expensive then staying at Royal Pacific. Is my logic right here?

Is there any other combo w/ express passes that includes what we want and would be less expensive? Thanks for the help/advice!!!

 

[bchbetha]

I think 4 days of EP is fine. Enjoy shows, Harry Potter stuff and smaller details on the days without them. You can plan strategically to enjoy days with and without EPs.

 

[damo]

Have you checked the combo ticket with express pass? Often that is the cheaper way to go.

 

[Bethany10]

Keep in mind too that EP doesn't work at Volcano bay, so if you went with the 4 day option, you could use that 5th day for VB without EP.

Undercover tourist is running a 4 day park to park ticket plus extra day for 304.16 for adults, again no EP but you'd get that 5th day free.

 

[GoldmanTrust]

You also get A LOT done by doing early entry. Maybe you don't need express for all of the days. Cabana Bay is also a great family place.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I think 4 days of EP is fine. Enjoy shows, Harry Potter stuff and smaller details on the days without them. You can plan strategically to enjoy days with and without EPs.

Thanks! Yeah I think 4 days of EP is fine, what I'm worried about is that the bundled ticket w/ express pass being offered right now is only 4 days and am thinking 4 days total isn't enough, so wanted to upgrade to add an extra day w/o express pass.

Have you checked the combo ticket with express pass? Often that is the cheaper way to go.

Hi! Yes, the quote I gave above is the 2 days + 2 days free w/ express pass. It is much cheaper it appears than buying the days separately as for a family of 5 its almost 500 to add express pass to a day.

Keep in mind too that EP doesn't work at Volcano bay, so if you went with the 4 day option, you could use that 5th day for VB without EP.

Undercover tourist is running a 4 day park to park ticket plus extra day for 304.16 for adults, again no EP but you'd get that 5th day free.

So yes, this is what I was thinking. Great minds think alike! I figured we'd do days 1-4 w/ EP and upgrade the ticket to add an extra day and do that one at VB. If we decided not to get express passes I'd probably just get the explorer ticket since we can book the hotel @ universal and get the 14 day ticket then we can go on any day and hit the park early and late to avoid lines.

You also get A LOT done by doing early entry. Maybe you don't need express for all of the days. Cabana Bay is also a great family place.

Yeah I'm considering this, but what worries me is that most of the days we are there the crowd calendar says 9 or 10. But we are there an entire week so perhaps we could get away w/ a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening and avoid mid-day when waits the highest? I'd love to hear from others who have done easter/spring break week at universal w/o fast passes.