Trip Dilemma - are a few hrs really worth it? -Problem solved

[HayGan]

Here is my dilemma:

We (me, DH and 2 boys - 10 & 12) are heading down to Orlando for my 40th birthday in October. We will be staying at BLT but then the plan was to move over to the RPH at US/IOA for one night to get 2 days of FOTL access. This plan gives us 1 day at IOA and then 1 day at US. This plan has a number of issues making me question what we really should do. (I should say this will be our fourth trip to US/IOA in 3 years and we will be going back later next year so this isn't a now or never kind of decision.)

There are few issues at play and we essentially have two options. I'm debating what option really makes sense. Our first option is to stick to the plan as outlined (spend Fri night at RPH.) The problem with this plan is that we will have to leave US on the day of departure at about 2pm to get to the airport for our flight home. We aren't too worried about not being able to do what we want at US because we will utilize the early entry and the FOTL throughout the day. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get the later flight for a reasonable cost. This option has us spending $230 for (2) 2-day adult tix for US/IOA, the room at RPH (~$250) and an extra day of the car (~$30.) So the total cost for this option is ~$500. (There are additional costs of food, airport parking, etc. as well but I'm really not factoring that in.)

The other option is to take the last flight home on Friday night after spending the day at either US or IOA. We lose a night and can only do one of the parks but we have no ticket costs because we have (4) 1-day passes that I won from MCR as well as no hotel costs for that night. To me not having FOTL access is the biggest loss in this scenario.

So essentialy, 1 additional day at US (or IOA) + 1 night at RPH will cost me over $500. My mind is telling me to be logical and save the $500+ and go home on Friday. However, my heart (and my guys) are telling me to stay the night since we are already there and just enjoy it as this is my BIG birthday trip. I really need to decide soon and just stick with the decision! So that is why I'm asking to see what those who wouldn't be the beneficiaries (or disappointed) of my decision would do! Any and all opinons would be greatly appreciated

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, Do they still have the FOTL pass book that you can buy?? I believe it gives u one FOTL for each ride?? Not as good as staying onsite but a lot cheaper option!! Joan

 

[riley2008]

You'll be going in October? Shouldn't be crowded at all. Fly out late IMO and spend the $500+ elsewhere - get a good rest before Monday.

 

[Kellydelly]

I don't think you would even need FOTL access in October, unless you have your trip planned over Columbus Day week (Canadian Thanksgiving week). I would not waste the extra $$$ staying onsite, get a cheaper hotel in that area and get your extra day in that you want.

 

[hsmamato2]

wow.... book the late flight on Friday and save your money! Just plan on getting to the pork as rope drop and ride what you want to ride early!

 

[surfgirl]

are your boys HP freaks? If so, that is a great perk!

We recently did just this - or something similar -

We checked into PBH Saturday afternoon and just swam there. Had a nice, normal dinner at PBH. We were up early Sunday AM - at entrance to IOA at 7:30am - they opened the gates at 7:45am - and we were riding FJ at 8am. We rode FJ twice, the taller ones rode DD, then we did Hippogriff. We had made 9:30am reservations at Three Broomsticks, so we hightailed it over to Pteradon Flyers and rode that 3x (were the first ones on it!), walked back to breakfast at Three Broomsticks (pancakes went down really fast by then!). We then rode all the rides using FOTL privileges, and left about 12/12:30.

Walked over to US - and didn't ride a ton there, but the RnR was awesome! We rode it twice and were able to walk on even though FoTL didn't work there. As for the rest of the park... meh.

So.... thinking about all this - could you only do one day at Universal instead? Instead of 2 separate days requiring 2 days of tickets, could you commando it to save the $$ ? Another time that people recommend at WWoHP is the last hour of the day and there aren't lines there... you could do everything else on Saturday using FoTL and save that for the last hour?

Just thinking out loud - I know my kids were excited to do WWoHP and that is what all their friends asked about.

good luck -

 

[Kellydelly]

are your boys HP freaks? If so, that is a great perk!

We recently did just this - or something similar -

We checked into PBH Saturday afternoon and just swam there. Had a nice, normal dinner at PBH. We were up early Sunday AM - at entrance to IOA at 7:30am - they opened the gates at 7:45am - and we were riding FJ at 8am. We rode FJ twice, the taller ones rode DD, then we did Hippogriff. We had made 9:30am reservations at Three Broomsticks, so we hightailed it over to Pteradon Flyers and rode that 3x (were the first ones on it!), walked back to breakfast at Three Broomsticks (pancakes went down really fast by then!). We then rode all the rides using FOTL privileges, and left about 12/12:30.

Walked over to US - and didn't ride a ton there, but the RnR was awesome! We rode it twice and were able to walk on even though FoTL didn't work there. As for the rest of the park... meh.

So.... thinking about all this - could you only do one day at Universal instead? Instead of 2 separate days requiring 2 days of tickets, could you commando it to save the $$ ? Another time that people recommend at WWoHP is the last hour of the day and there aren't lines there... you could do everything else on Saturday using FoTL and save that for the last hour?

Just thinking out loud - I know my kids were excited to do WWoHP and that is what all their friends asked about.

good luck -

You didn't ride the Mummy, Men in Black, E.T., or the Simpsons ?

 

[seashoreCM]

Note that if you choose the Friday flight home, you lose several Friday night hours at Universal as well as the Saturday hours.

Grab something to eat (Danish, etc.) instead of sitting down for breakfast, and also delay lunch until after you get to the airport inside security (there's a little food court at the tram station).

 

[surfgirl]

You didn't ride the Mummy, Men in Black, E.T., or the Simpsons

loved MIB - would ride that again. we all had fun trying to beat each others' scores!
ET - cute, but not remarkable.
Simpsons - funny, but we were behind a HUGE man and lost many of the effects. pre-show seemed to take forever. (may have had something to do with the fact that we were tired by this point).
Mummy - didn't ride.

 

[HayGan]

Thanks for all the advice We are still undecided as to what to do. I looked into getting another night at BLT but none are available so that option is out for now (unless I consider waitlisting.) SW's fares are a bit higher now than when I booked so I have to take into account the cost differential of flights if we decide to leave on Friday instead of Saturday as it is now. Then to top it all off my kids (and DH) saw a commercial for Blue Man Group last night and now they are talking about wanting to do Blue Man Group if we stay Friday night as well (OMG - this extra night is getting REALLY expensive!)

In regards to the question about we would really want to do, we have done everything at US/IOA that we would want to do plenty of times. We have stayed on-site everytime we have gone and we are absolutely spoiled by FOTL. That is what is so hard in thinking about going without it. Plus, if we go to only 1 park (our 1 day tix are non-hoppers) it will be really hard to pick which park to go to and which one to skip! We have plenty of days on our Disney tix (including the Plus option) so it isn't as if we will be searching for ways to fill up our time!

The decision keeps getting harder rather than easier!

 

[CarolineB]

simpsons ride -- if you get seated behind a big person -- just let the employees know and they'll let you ride again -- this is one ride that I try to position myself by the exit door when I'm in the elevator so at least my son gets to sit in the front

 

[englishteacha]

We've been to Universal twice, both times staying off site, and never had trouble with lines. You could stay somewhere off site this time, yet near Universal. We stayed at The Enclave last Feb. It's older, a bit run down, but it was $50 a night and we could see Hogwarts from our balcony. I would have a hard time paying $500+ for one extra night, knowing that I wouldn't have a full day the second day. Could you add your extra night on at the beginning of your vacation instead? That might give you more options.

 

[Larrabe]

Eh, go with your heart. See those big boys in my picture? One graduates this year and the other next year. Time really does fly, so spending $500 for an awesome extra vacation day is a nothing compared to the memories it brings.

I say go for it! You can be frugual somewhere else.

 

[HayGan]

UPDATE

After lots of debating and researching, I finally solved the dilemma. I have booked the Four Points by Sheraton right by Universal for the Friday night using some of my Starpoints so the cost for that is $0! It has great reviews and is close to US - it even has free parking! We will spend Friday using one of the remaining days on our Disney YES tickets (either one of the parks or DQ.) We will then check into the Sheraton Friday night and use our free tix to US on Saturday before we head off to the airport.

So - I found a way to stay the extra day, do the one day at Universal and not spend any more $$$ or change our airline reservations! We don't get FOTL but that is ok. If we find that we need the FOTL access ($25.99/person according to the US website) we can buy it with the $500 savings from not buying the extra day at US or paying for a hotel. It really couldn't have worked out much better

Of course my boys think we should use the savings to go to Cedar Point Halloweekends again this year (but I don't think that is happening!)