Universal Stay w/ Express Passes

[jshoemak]

My family of 5 is planning a trip to Universal and hoping to take advantage of Universal's unlimited express passes. We are trying to save money and I would like to see if my scenario seems doable. Stay Sat-Mon(2 nights) at Dockside, then Mon-Tues(1 night) at Royal Pacific, then Tues-Thurs(2 nights) at Dockside. Trying to get a full 2 days with express passes. Our would you start or end your stay with the 1 night at a premier resort? We will have 3-day tickets.

 

[Cottoncandylove]

Honestly, the weekends are the busiest. I would do the premier hotel for Saturday and Sunday so your express passes for Saturday through Monday. Just my thoughts

 

[Darrah]

What days are you planning to go to the park and what time of year? Without any other info to go on, I would do everything I could to use the EPs on a weekend AND try to stay at RP at the beginning or end so I didn't to switch hotels twice.

 

[macraven]

Honestly, the weekends are the busiest. I would do the premier hotel for Saturday and Sunday so your express passes for Saturday through Monday. Just my thoughts

Totally my thought also

There are some of my stays onsite with the premier hotels that I will do a park on a Saturday but leave by noon due to those higher crowds

Even with the EP, some rides and shows are too crowded for my likings

 

[jshoemak]

What days are you planning to go to the park and what time of year? Without any other info to go on, I would do everything I could to use the EPs on a weekend AND try to stay at RP at the beginning or end so I didn't to switch hotels twice.

Our trip is planned for Aug 6-11. I'm thinking we will go to the parks 3 days between the 7th-10th. We may just stay a Sapphire Falls the entire time and not splurge on express passes. If we do decide to switch hotels, I agree that we should either pick the beginning or end to make things easier.

 

[Dawn Peterson]

I would say in August with 3 days you can probably manage without EP. We have done August and September and it is pretty funny how little the EP seems to save. We also avoid weekends and the middle of the day. Easy enough to go early, pool break and go back in. Universal hotels are pretty close to the parks.

 

[lisam70]

Are you going to stay at RP or use it as throwaway for EP?
For either case I don't like to have my EP on day one unless I can get there and check in early or it feels like a bit of a waste especially if it's a weekend. I would choose RP for either Sun/Mon or Mon/Tues. If trying to save money RP will be less expensive weekdays.

 

[jshoemak]

Are you going to stay at RP or use it as throwaway for EP?
For either case I don't like to have my EP on day one unless I can get there and check in early or it feels like a bit of a waste especially if it's a weekend. I would choose RP for either Sun/Mon or Mon/Tues. If trying to save money RP will be less expensive weekdays.

I've considered just using as a throwaway, but then I start thinking that I should at least stay since I'm paying for it, right? My worry is that I won't get to take advantage of early park hours if I need to check in to get my room key.

 

[macraven]

I've considered just using as a throwaway, but then I start thinking that I should at least stay since I'm paying for it, right? My worry is that I won't get to take advantage of early park hours if I need to check in to get my room key.

Check in at the hotel front desk at 6 am
Get set up, get your room key and then off to the park for early entry

If you have a car, leave your luggage in the trunk
If you arrive by car service, have your luggage held for you

You can deal with with that later after you have notified your room is ready

 

[Husker Mike]

I would say in August with 3 days you can probably manage without EP. We have done August and September and it is pretty funny how little the EP seems to save. We also avoid weekends and the middle of the day. Easy enough to go early, pool break and go back in. Universal hotels are pretty close to the parks.

Depends on the ride and what you are looking to do during those days. Two weeks ago, my son was off the Hulk in 10-15 minutes when the posted wait was closer to an hour. We're the type that finds it worth it to pay extra to enjoy more rides.

 

[solosara]

i'm using a similar strategy in a couple of weeks but our park days are during the week. decided to do a split stay that would give us express passes on thursday and friday because it was such a good deal.

 

[rja142]

I'm doing something similar in July/August. We booked an offsite resort package for roughly $170/night for my family of 5. On our second night we will stay at one of the premier resorts to get 2 EP days. Even with the extra cost of the premier resort night+unused night in our offsite resort, we will still be much further ahead financially to do what I've described here. We will stay at the premier resort to take full advantage of its amenities during midday park breaks. It's roughly $600 for the premier night vs. $2000+ for EPs (5 people * 2 days).

 

[ClapYourHands]

Another option is to do more park days. Stay at a value resort and make the most of rope drop and short lines near closing. Use midday to see shows, shop, ride non-headliners, take pool breaks and a nap. The difference between 3 days of park tickets and 5 days of park tickets is a little over $150 total for all 5 of you, which is probably less than the upcharge for one night at a premier resort (and you don’t have to move). I’d rather spend my money on more park days to go at a relaxed pace with pool breaks than two days of EP where we try to jam in as much as possible and the kids get tired and hangry. Plus you’d have to do those two long park days back to back, and my kids get worn out that way. We did a quick 2-day trip in January, and had EP, and found our kids were melting down by the second afternoon. We jammed a lot in there, but they just wanted to go chill in a pool.

Also keep in mind that it rains, often with thunderstorms, pretty much everyday in the summer. If you do more days, you increase your “safer” times - morning and evening - for riding. Whereas, if you bank on blitzing through the parks on your two days with EP, you might be disappointed if a lot of rides shut down for weather delays in the afternoons.