I'm surprised that they were told they couldn't advance purchase UPHs, perhaps they could try again. Combining PH passes will not save money over a UPH over this timeframe, however, the AP makes sense, particularly if they can't get the advance purchase rate. It looks like the resort purchase 8-day/7-night UPH and the AP rates are virtually identical, in which case they should get the AP as it contains a number of other potential discounts. Plus, even if they do not currently intend to return to WDW within the next year, you never know what might happen. We went last May with no intention of returning within a year and now we have a 2-week vacation planned for next March!!! In addition, we had some airline vouchers that we had to use, so DW took DS for an impromptu 3-day trip to Orlando. Suffice it to say, APs would have saved us a lot of money.