Total newbie but I think I figured it out. One question though.

[Patience]

We are planning a trip to Universal and Legoland February 21-26. I initially booked Cabana Bay on Orbitz but canceled because I somehow thought a package was a better deal and booked a 5 night package through Universal at Cabana instead. Then I started researching how crowded our week is likely to be and found out it is probably going to be busy because of President's Day, Mardi Gras, and a half marathon. Based upon some feedback here, I then decided I needed to book a couple of nights at Royal Pacific for the express passes.

Long story short, I ended up booking Royal Pacific for 2 nights which will give us 3 days of express passes to use with our 3 day park to park tickets. After our 2 nights at the Royal Pacific, we are moving to the Drury Inn & Suites for the remaining 3 nights of our trip. I hope I am going to like the Drury Inn. It gets really good reviews on trip advisor and yelp (opinions on the Drury?).

My final question concerns the timing of purchasing our tickets. How far in advance do you recommend ordering tickets from Undercover Tourist? I notice that they currently have a free day with the purchase of a 2 day park to park ticket but I am wondering if Undercover Tourists runs specials like that very often or if it is a rare thing? I've never purchased tickets from them before and would prefer to buy them closer to our dates of travel but if they run sales infrequently, I'll buy the tickets now.

Thanks for reading!

 

[pcstang]

We are planning a trip to Universal and Legoland February 21-26. I initially booked Cabana Bay on Orbitz but canceled because I somehow thought a package was a better deal and booked a 5 night package through Universal at Cabana instead. Then I started researching how crowded our week is likely to be and found out it is probably going to be busy because of President's Day, Mardi Gras, and a half marathon. Based upon some feedback here, I then decided I needed to book a couple of nights at Royal Pacific for the express passes.

Long story short, I ended up booking Royal Pacific for 2 nights which will give us 3 days of express passes to use with our 3 day park to park tickets. After our 2 nights at the Royal Pacific, we are moving to the Drury Inn & Suites for the remaining 3 nights of our trip. I hope I am going to like the Drury Inn. It gets really good reviews on trip advisor and yelp (opinions on the Drury?).

My final question concerns the timing of purchasing our tickets. How far in advance do you recommend ordering tickets from Undercover Tourist? I notice that they currently have a free day with the purchase of a 2 day park to park ticket but I am wondering if Undercover Tourists runs specials like that very often or if it is a rare thing? I've never purchased tickets from them before and would prefer to buy them closer to our dates of travel but if they run sales infrequently, I'll buy the tickets now.

Thanks for reading!

Drury Inn is very nice and the staff were excellent.

 

[TommyJK]

Right now UT has buy 2 days get 2 days free. That's probably about the best deal you will find.

I don't ever recall seeing them discount beyond their posted rates.

 

[wookiebeck]

I also suggest pulling the trigger on the UT tickets as soon as you can afford to do so. Their prices are the best around to begin with. The extra day deal is another $10 or so savings on each ticket and buying now is a hedge against price increases since keeping the money in the bank at 0.01% interest is pretty dull these days.

 

[avic77]

My final question concerns the timing of purchasing our tickets. How far in advance do you recommend ordering tickets from Undercover Tourist? I notice that they currently have a free day with the purchase of a 2 day park to park ticket but I am wondering if Undercover Tourists runs specials like that very often or if it is a rare thing? I've never purchased tickets from them before and would prefer to buy them closer to our dates of travel but if they run sales infrequently, I'll buy the tickets now.

Thanks for reading!

Buy ASAP...here is why. I knew I was going to buy Annual passes. I was going to wait and order just before we left. Then i saw a leaked blog about new Annual Pass price increases, I immediately ordered, the next morning the prices went up! They never go down. When that buy 2 get 2 is gone your not going to see a "better deal" most likely. You will see a comparable deal...maybe, but not likely to see a better deal.
That buy 2 get 2 can NOT be upgraded to Annual pass so be aware of that.

 

[2Gma]

Buy your tickets now and don't look back! That's a great deal if you're not planning to upgrade.

 

[Patience]

Thank you for the heads up about the tickets. I will buy them when we get home from ballet tonight. I see the 2 + 2 days free tickets are e-tickets. Can someone tell me how those work? Will we have to carry the papers around the parks or can we exchange them for a hard ticket once we are at the parks? I'm not wild about the idea of carrying pieces of paper around for 4 days but I will if I have to. Thanks!