WDW, US, and DVC - help me fit it all in (US newbie)- Collins christmas tour

[qv09vvp]

Hi & big thanks in advance for reading & any advice you can give me! This is a first for me but I know someone on here has had a similar problem.

a little background info:
*just hubby & myself this trip ( we still haven't broke it to our college kiddos )
*we've been to WDW several times & we love it all ! rides, shows, FOOD
* we are seriously considering DVC & want to spend time visiting of the resorts before we decide to go Disney or resale (its seriously cool that the Christmas decorations will be up)


Flying in on Saturday (early) Dec 10 and leaving the following Sunday Dec 18.

Snagged Sunday to Sunday at Pop with dining plan currently set with 5 day park hoppers and upgraded to full dining plan.

*Sat arrival day - 11am - No hotel booked (book separate reservation at Pop -or- Universal?)
partial park day at US? worth it?
*Sun - US park day? - (have POP right now but could switch to Universal?)
*Mon -DVC stuff -POP
*Tues - wdw park day -POP
*Wed - wdw park day -POP
*thur - wdw park day -POP
*fri - wdw park day -POP
*sat - wdw park day -POP
*sun - travel home day

We are big Harry Potter fans & I understand if you want to see both Harry Potter areas its 2 different US parks? Somehow I wasn't expecting the sticker shock but ----dang US tickets are expensive!!!

Is it worth it to stay 1 night at US resort , possibly for the express pass? How hard do you think it would be to do Sunday -- check out form US resort, do the US & after the park closes go ahead and transfer all our stuff to Pop? Are the US resorts good about storing your luggage after you check out ?

for that matter, I have no idea the projected park hours for US -- I'm so spoiled by easywdw! Where can I find projected US park hours & attendance?

my mind is exploding with options - If we stay at Pop the whole trip.. but go to US for 1 or 2 days...we do miss the early entry to HP land. Is that really a big advantage - especially at the time frame we are going?

 

[snayak]

Last trip (adults only) we stayed at the Royal Pacific at US for 1 night just for express pass & early entry. The room worked out was cheaper then 4x express passes with a discount, plus we got early entry. We had been to US several times before and so we mainly checked out the new HP land at US and then rode a bunch of coasters in IoA. We finished everything we wanted by 3pm (admittedly not stopping to smelling the roses, just go go go)

So I vote for spending at least 1 night at US on site deluxe for express pass and then the rest of the time at Disney. US tix are expensive, for park to park I think it drops quickly at day 3+.

 

[qv09vvp]

if we check in on Saturday & checkout Sunday...does anyone know if we get an express pass for Saturday & Sunday?

 

[tstidm1]

That time of year I would stay on site at a deluxe hotel even though it's a slower time. If you decided to do a UOR Deluxe, the Express pass would cover both days. With how big your family, you would save money by staying at Portofino or Hard Rock. Unlimted Express pass is $720 for two park days for your family size vs $339 for the night with Breakfast at Hard Rock Hotel. If your kids are into Rock, it's worth staying there. If not, I would say go with Portofino Bay.

 

[qv09vvp]

First off, thank you all for taking the time to give me some much needed input!!!!

Here's something I didn't factor in. free dining. If I stay at wDW the whole time paying rack rate , I get free dining for each day. For me , that almost pays for my WDW room (147 at POP) for the 2 days I would have stayed at Universal. So, I think we will do 2 days at Universal but Uber it over & back from POP. For the timeframe I am going , historically the boards say I won't need their express pass. the only thing I will miss is getting into the US park the hour early--- but its not worth it to me. Besides I will "bank" my TS/CS credits from the days I am Universal which will probably mean I can finally justify spending 2 TS on a signature restaurant.