Two Days Away from WDW or Add 2 Nights at Uni?

[vital]

Advice needed, please. We (DS14, me 43) are going to WDW May 23-31 and staying at Animal Kingdom Villas in a studio (with a savanna view for me). We'll be able to save some $$ by eating breakfast and some lunch in the room. We want to try out Universal b/c we both love coasters and new adventures. I'm trying to decide if we should take the Tuesday and Wednesday off from WDW and head to Uni or add a night stay at Uni at the end of our trip. I priced buying 2-day unlimited express passes vs staying onsite 2 nights with tickets and perks. It seems that adding a room for 2 nights is about $300-ish more. I'm thinking spending that money would be worth it to wind down our trip since the reviews on those hotels say they are much more relaxing than the WDW ones. What do y'all think?

Also, I'm already registered on Universal's site so I'm hoping for a PIN number. Do they ever send out PINS for an early June stay?

Thank you for your insight!

 

[damo]

I think those are good decisions. The new Diagon Alley will probably be opening in June and that means the parks will be very, very crowded. You'll want to have the onsite perk of unlimited express pass access to make your trip the best.

 

[Metro West]

Add two nights at Universal after the Disney portion. You will be amazed not having to wait in lines, having unlimited Express and early entry. You will find Universal is what a vacation should be...relaxing.

 

[MinnieGi]

Debating the same issue for our Nov. trip...

Was also leaning towards the Universal stay so we get early entry and unlimited express...

 

[macraven]

op if you make the darkside stay at the end of your motherland trip, that would be May 30-31 which are weekend dates.


Fri/Sa have higher room rates than weeknights.
and weekends have more crowds than during the week while school is still in session.

 

[wiigirl]

Add two nights at Universal after the Disney portion. You will be amazed not having to wait in lines, having unlimited Express and early entry. You will find Universal is what a vacation should be...relaxing.

 

[vital]

op if you make the darkside stay at the end of your motherland trip, that would be May 30-31 which are weekend dates.


Fri/Sa have higher room rates than weeknights.
and weekends have more crowds than during the week while school is still in session.

Great point! This is another thing I am struggling with. We check out of AKL on May 31. If we add on a couple of nights it'd be the 31st and 1st. Here's the breakdown of cost:

One day unlimited park to park: $436
Two day unlimited park to park: $596
Two nights on site park to park: $898

These prices are for 2 people. I'm joining AAA this month b/c we travel so much, but I haven't looked to see what discounts I can get through them yet.

We want to "sample" Uni for a future longer vacation there and I'm thinking maybe just leaving WDW a day or two during the week may be best this time. We'd probably do Tuesday and Wednesday that week to break it up. Yes, we'll be giving up early entry, but we'll still have unlimited express pass for the rides. I forgot to mention we're not big Harry Potter fans, but we'll certainly walk through there to see it.

Can we purchase the unlimited express pass when we arrive or is it only Express
Plus pass that can be purchased at the park? Decisions, decisions.

 

[KorbensMomma]

Maybe I am so used to my AP but your universals figures seem really high. Are they special tickets?

Maybe just one night at RPR, which would give you 2 days of EP.

 

[vital]

Maybe I am so used to my AP but your universals figures seem really high. Are they special tickets?

Maybe just one night at RPR, which would give you 2 days of EP.

Those prices are straight from the Universal site. The final price I didn't explain clearly was the cost of a room for 2 nights and 2-day park to park tickets. I thought the prices were high also, but figured the extra cost of the unlimited express pass would be worth it since we're only going for 2 days and want to see all we can.

I had thought about doing one night and get a cheap hotel off site the night before we drive home. Now that I see you say it I'll research that option as well

 

[itradehilton]

Stay 1 night at universal but show up early & get 2 days of express entrance, the arrival day & the departing day.

 

[Luv2trav]

Stay 1 night at universal but show up early & get 2 days of express entrance, the arrival day & the departing day.

Can you get early entry 2 days doing this? I assume you need to have 2 day passes but 1 night reservation?

 

[bumbershoot]

Can you get early entry 2 days doing this? I assume you need to have 2 day passes but 1 night reservation?

Yes. For official info you can go to the main page for each of the deluxe universal resorts on loewshotels.com, and click on fans from Hotel Overview page. From there you will see two pertinent questions and answers.

Q: I realize check-in does not begin until 4:00 PM, but I wanted to use the Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass to skip the regular lines before that.

A: Please arrive as early as you like the day of check-in and our front desk agent will be happy to pre-register you and assist you with your Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass. The bellman will hold your luggage while you enjoy the parks.


Q: What days is the FREE Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass that serve as Express Access to skip the regular lines valid throughout my stay?

A: Your Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass is valid for Express Access (at participating attractions) from the time issued by the front desk until the Universal Orlando theme parks close, the day of your departure.