UPH as the best ticket deal?

[disneycrazed139]

I have read just about everything there is to read about tickets, know where all the best deals can be obtained, etc., and am wonderin if anybody else has come to this same conclusion???:

....that UPH passes may cost slightly more, but are the best deal because of the flexibility that they give. We are going in late June, and from what I hear, the combination of the heat/rain may warrant having some flexibility in daily itineraries.
I am thinking that we have NO idea what parks we will do when; how many days we will want to go the water park; how many days we will do Disney Quest, etc., based mainly on the weather (heat and/or rain)

Anyone else feel this way? We are going for a week. I figure, with the UPHs, we can go to Disney Quest whenever it rains/is too hot, do water parks in the heat, and not use entire days of a park hopper and feel that any were "wasted" because it pours all day (or is just too hot to take advantage of the whole day)

Anytime I have bought hoppers, we have tried to get the most out of each day, by visiting more than 1 park. It seems like a waste to not use it. I figure with the UPHs in June, the pressure will be off! More freedom, better vacation.

 

[BethR]

Many people certainly feel the way that you do, disneycrazed - but not me!

We always buy hoppers, but I have feel no pressure to hop. If we do, fine, if we don't, fine.

What I WOULD feel pressure about is if I bought a UMP and did not feel like going to a park that day - if I was sick, or tired, or just "parked out" - I WOULD feel pressure to go anyway. Because I have paid for that day. Whether I use it or not.

I prefer the park hoppers because the days never expire. And if I want to go to any of the other places, I will pay the extra - and still save money over if we would have bought UMPs.

Our family does not jump around enough to even consider the UMPs.

(BUT if I were booking the Fairytale package, I would be happy with the UMPs because it would end up not costing any more than what I would spend on 5 day hoppers.)

But as I said, there are many who are willing to spend the money on the UMPs to have the flexibility. It all depends on your priorities.

 

[Fearthisss]

I totally agree with you, disneycrazed. Unlike many on this board, going to WDW is not an every day occurance for my family and I. This will probably be a one-shot deal (I just don't know where these people get their money!!), so the "value" of days never expiring with PH's holds no value for me whatsoever.

Plus, we're going in the off-season, when I know park hours will be shorter. My 9-year-old DS and I are really looking forward to visiting DisneyQuest several nights during our visit, which is included in the UPH and NOT the PH. At $30-$40 a pop for DisneyQuest that's added value for me right there.

Not to mention with a UPH you come and go as you please. With a PH I'd have to keep track of what park I've been to, how many "pluses" I have left, etc...

Nahhhhhhhhh, I like the UPH. Yes, it costs a little more, but with unlimited park hopping, visits to Pleasure Island and DisneyQuest, and just the overall convenience (IMHO), for me, it's worth it.

Mark

 

[10drum]

The good thing about the uph is that it is your key to the world.

All I carry is my roomcard/uph and an ID. No wallet, no car keys, and no cash. Everything goes on the card. We take each day as it comes and plan for that day (ps in whichever park or resturaunt we feel like). I usually don't even know what day it is, till that envelope is on our door the last day, indicating vacation ends today. We love our wdw vacations because the freedom the uph gives us.

Four tickets to Disney quest or PI is more than the difference in price.

 

[disneycrazed139]

Thanks for all the input. I think I am going to stick to the UPH, by virtue of unlimited Disney Quest Visits. My other option was buying 5 day PHP plus and then ALSO perhaps purchasing an Annual Pass to Disney Quest, which costs about $85. You can get the DQ passes at various discounts, but I am not convinced that we will go less than 4 times, so I figure the annual pass is an option. However, that still comes out to a little MORE than the UPH. I am not sure if we are going back to Disney within a year--so I think we will just get the UPH and have them take off the first day when we arrive (since we are going to the LUAU the first night!!)

THANKS!! Only 30 more days!

 

[Gillian]

It may not be the best deal for everyone, but it sounds like it will work for you!

One thing you said worries me though, that you have no idea what parks you will do when. I would seriously reconsider your position on that!! I understand concerns about rain & heat, but they really don't take away from your enjoyment of the parks unless you let them. And maybe it's overcast today, but it could be pouring tomorrow, so don't let it keep you from your plans.

It's very helpful to know what parks have early entry and when they are open late. If you just plan around that a little bit, I'll feel so much better.

A friend of mine recently returned. They go about every 2-3 years, but were never big planners. This time I made her a grid with park hours, EE park, special events, blanks for the park(s) they were going to & places for their priority seating confirmation #s. When they came home they were so happy with how helpful it was to have all of this info in one place, not on 20 million little pieces of paper. They stayed flexible, but knew what was going on in the World at all times.

 

[disneycrazed139]

Maybe I overstated it when I said we had NO plan. We usually plan down to the last detail, but that was only when we didn't have a lot of time. What I meant is, since we have a little over a week, I just want to relax a little more--so everything is "penciled in," rather than set in stone!

I know which days I want to do which parks, etc., but I have a feeling we are not going to stick to the plan as much as we usually do. If anyone knows of a list of "rain rides" for each park, that would be great!

 

[10drum]

disneycrazed139,

The rain usually happens between 3pm and 6pm. We would go to the resort for the afternoon and when it started to cloud up we'd head to a park. Usually, it'd be raining or just starting, we would where ponchos and act like it wasn't raining, as everone else is heading to the exits.

There is always something to do even in the rain. Mk- future world has lots of indoor stuff, AK- its fun to walk through the trails or go to bugs life. MGM- star tours, RnR, milliuonare..ect.. Epcot- you can see or do about everything.

The first year we went when during summer rainy season we were worried, but the rain makes kind of fun.

 

[georgina]

Originally posted by Fearthisss
This will probably be a one-shot deal (I just don't know where these people get their money!!), so the "value" of days never expiring with PH's holds no value for me whatsoever.


I can't speak for everyone else, but we get our money by working and saving! You may be surprised..I started planning a second trip to Disney World just after we returned from the first one. UPH's are convenient, but not the most economical route.

 

[peachgirl]

UPH's are convenient, but not the most economical route.

For some, UPH's may not be the most economical route, but until we purchased PAP's they certainly were for us!

The UPH is suited perfectly to our style of visiting WDW. We like to visit one park in the mornings (usually the ee park), then head to a water park for the afternoon and then back to another park in the evening after a break in our room. Depending on when the parks close, we often get in a couple of hours at Disney Quest.


We have a rough outline of which parks we want to visit on which days, but it usually gets thrown to the wayside because the UPH's allow us the freedom to come and go as we please.

The money we save on DQ alone more than pays the difference between an UPH and a regular PHP. Add to that the convenience of being able to go to the water parks as often as we want for as short a time as we want and the UPH is a bargain for us!

 

[goofy4tink]

It almost seems the DQ is a deciding factor in the type of ticket one buys. We've been to WDW twice now, and going back in Aug., and we've never been to DQ. First visit we used UPHs in a pkg. Last trip, in '01, we bought 6 day plus's. Still have one park visist and two water park visits on those. But, this FT pkg. has changed things for us. I did find myself saying....'Well, I've paid for these, so I should be in the parks all day, every day.' I've gotten past that now and we're trying to put some time for relaxation in. With what the FT pkg is costing, I think it's actually cheaper than my buying park hoppers this time. And since this is our last big family trip to WDW we won't be needing those left-over days! As far as how we can go more than once....we will have gone a grand total of 3 times. We spend on average for 2 adults/1 child about $3000 total (resort, airfare, passes, food). Now we want to start traveling around the country. I would expect that's what we'll spend each time we do that. We treat our vacation time as just another bill to pay! Sometimes we have more, sometimes less. We just make adjustments.

 

[Rneighh]

Unless I am reading this wrong --- some of you think you can't park hop with park hoppers. You can go from park to park with the PH just like UPHs.

The last few trips we have gone for 5 nights/6 days. We stay at the resort and relax the first day and shop the last day. That way we have only purchased 4 day hoppers. Water Parks are out because it is usally too chilly for a whole day swiming -- we go in Feb.

If they have a similar package in Feb as FT package we will get the UPH and enjoy DQ on one or both days.

Renee

 

[grinningghost]

I really love the UPH's. The DQ option is a big reason for that, as is unlimited waterpark hopping. We go in summer during the stormy season, and you are absolutely correct that the weather can be tricky - it's not easy to plan ahead. They will probably prove to be even more valuable this trip because we're traveling with two teenagers who will want to do their own thing. No pressure. The use of the UPH as room key and charge card is great too. Less stuff to carry.

 

[Gillian]

I think most people realize that you can park hop at the 4 major parks. However, your water park visits are limited to the number of plusses, and they don't include DQ.

So for people who like to go to water parks every day, or maybe want to visit TL & BB in the same day without using 2 plus features, it's another reason to choose the UPH over a regular park hopper plus.

When our kids are old enough for DQ, we will be more interested in the UPH passes. For now, a regular AP is the best value for us.

 

[Fearthisss]

I'd have to agree with goofy4tink. For me the passes to DQ being included with the UPH's is definately the deciding factor for my family. That was also a big factor in determining what resort we stayed at. We ultimately decided on POR (we wanted POFQ, but we all know what happened there) because of the easy transportation to and from Downtown Disney (the boat that runs from POR to DD).

Six more months to go!!

Mark

 

[peachgirl]

Unless I am reading this wrong --- some of you think you can't park hop with park hoppers. You can go from park to park with the PH just like UPHs.

I knew you could park hop with php's. It's the flexibility to go to a water park every day just for a couple of hours and to go to Disney Quest at night that makes up the savings for us.

 

[Kaycee]

Ahhh...you sound just like us when we were planning our June 2001 trip. It was to be our family's one-and-only WDW trip. How could it be otherwise? We sure couldn't spend that kind of money on a regular basis! I would read the boards and think, "Who are these people? How can they afford to do this?" Maybe you'll still feel the same after your trip, but that's not the way it went for us. We went on that trip expecting it to be the only one of its kind. Now, we're taking our third trip in two years! And I've already started thinking about when we'll take our fourth trip. What happened? Well, we got there and found out what a great deal Disney really is. Yeah, the budget looks ugly on paper. But when we got there and saw just how magical a vacation can be, we realized that there's nothing better we can do with our money. We're not rich by any means, and we have to really scrimp and save to take our WDW trips. But for us, there's nothing better for our dollar.

 

[Fearthisss]

LOL I know most of the posters on this board are, for lack of a better word, fanatics about WDW. I'm certainly not going to put anybody down for that, and think it's great if that's your thing. I visited WDW back in 1983 (I can't believe it was 20 years ago!) with my then-wife (wifey #1...only on #2, so don't crucify me! LOL). I enjoyed my stay, and I'm aware that a lot has changed and lots has been added since then.

However, without going into a whole biography of my life, I've lived and been all over this great place we call the United States in my 41 years. My wife has not. We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon (many, many moons ago) and that was the first time my wife had done anything like that...at that point, she was hooked. LOL She wanted to see things and go places that she'd never done or been before. And I want my 9-year-old son to experience as much of this great land as I can possibly provide to him.

We have a limited budget. And there's soooooooooooo many things to experience across this land that I want my family to enjoy, but we have to carefully plan and budget our vacations. So, having said that, I'm sure that we'll have a GREAT time at WDW, but I just can't envision another trip to WDW in the near future. Quite honestly, our honeymoon to Hawaii was the absolute best vacation I've ever been on in my lifetime, but that was 16 years ago and we haven't been back. Why? The phrase "been there, done that" comes to mind. I hope to do it again...but it's not a priority. And it cost me HALF of what this WDW vacation is going to cost me! LOL

As for those who choose to make WDW their regular vacation spot, hey, that's great! I certainly don't begrudge them and wish them well. I just think there's lots more out there that I want my family to experience, and I hope others don't begrudge me for wanting that.

This board is chocked full of great information and friendly conversation. That makes this board virtually priceless! I can't wait for December to get here! LOL

Mark

 

[10drum]

Kaycee, I tell people, "How can you put a price on making you feel 12 years old again?" As a 50+ years old, that is how I feel at wdw.

You'll like coronado springs, other than the location, it is as nice as most of the deluxes.