Worth it to pay for Express pass or to stay in participating resort?

[riogirl]

We are going the second week of August- wondering if we should just stay at Cabana Bay since the price is right? Or should we pay more $$ to stay at a resort that offers the Express Pass? Wondering if crowds are manageable at this time (Aug 12-14) ? any advice would help!
Thanks

 

[trr1]

We are going the second week of August- wondering if we should just stay at Cabana Bay since the price is right? Or should we pay more $$ to stay at a resort that offers the Express Pass? Wondering if crowds are manageable at this time (Aug 12-14) ? any advice would help!
Thanks

the second week look very busy by this prediction if you can go the 3rd week it says it will be slow. If you have to go the second week I would upgrade to a resort that has express pass

 

[RustySpork]

I'd upgrade, when you add up the cost of the express pass for each member of your party it will probably cost more than the difference between Cabana Bay and Royal Pacific. If it's only one or two of you staying onsite, the price difference may be negligible or it may cost less to buy express for a few days and stay at Cabana Bay.

 

[fosse76]

If it's just you, I'd say crunch the numbers. I have an AP discount, but the last few times I've gone, Cabana Bay and separately purchasing Express Pass, was pretty even with just staying at Royal Pacific. But that was also a result of my not visiting any parks on my arrival day. So with more than one person, you definitely would be paying more if you stayed at Cabana Bay and bought the Express Pass in the park than if you stayed at Royal Pacific.

 

[JoeCamel]

If it's just you, I'd say crunch the numbers. I have an AP discount, but the last few times I've gone, Cabana Bay and separately purchasing Express Pass, was pretty even with just staying at Royal Pacific. But that was also a result of my not visiting any parks on my arrival day. So with more than one person, you definitely would be paying more if you stayed at Cabana Bay and bought the Express Pass in the park than if you stayed at Royal Pacific.

You have to be careful of what express you get. There is the unlimited you get with a deluxe room and a single use per ride you can purchase. You can also purchase unlimited so compare apples to apples

 

[Disneyhead'71]

One thing to remember, you get EPs for everyone in the room for both check in day and check out day. So 2 days of EP for one night stay.

 

[Ekohlby]

I would strongly recommend staying at a hotel with express. I don't know how long your trip is. If you are planning 6 days in the parks, then you can work it staying at CB. But if you have three or less days in the parks, then get express in some form. Staying at a hotel that offers express is often the cheapest way to do it. (Not always, crunch the numbers). If I were planning that week, I'd plan one night at RPR to get two days worth of express and the rest of the time at CB. That way, it's a good balance of being thrifty and not dealing with long lines as much. Also consider that a busy time can be harder to handle when crowds are high. I was in the parks two days over Presidents' Day weekend and the calendar said high crowds and it wasn't a big deal. Add twenty degrees - or more - to that temperature and it would have been an issue.

Edited to add: Just noticed you said August 12-14. That means you're doing park days three days or less. Yes, stay at RPR or another hotel with express included.

 

[danpam1024]

We are going to in June- this was the FIRST TIME I crunched the numbers and CBBR and buying EP was actually cheaper than HRH. By almost $300. I think it's because we're only staying 3 nights and don't qualify for stay more save more. We are 3- 2 adults and 1 teen (passholders). In Oct, the boy is bringing a friend. staying at CBBR worked out financially for that trip by quite a bit.

 

[thomas998]

We've never been able to justify the higher priced hotels just for the express pass... Our plan to deal with it is to get an express pass for one of the days we stay and then use it to hit the difficult rides and then just deal with lines on the other days for the lesser rides. Keep in mind that on some rides even having an express pass doesn't get you on instantly because the popular rides will have a lot of people at those express pass resort standing in line on the express lines. In fact the last few times Minions always seemed to have a fairly long express pass line.

 

[StingraySam]

I am with the "stay at the Premier Resort and get the Express Pass" group. As others have stated already, depending upon how many are in your group the cost of a Premier Hotel can be signifigantly less than staying elsewhere and purchasing an Express Pass. If waiting in line or using the Single Rider Lane is not an issue then don't bother with the Express Pass and stay at Cabana Bay or Saphirre Falls, both great resorts by the way. I would rather have the advantage of the Unlimited Express Pass that you get by staying at the Premier Hotel. If I have done all that I wanted to do for the day earlier than planned then I have time to go back do things again or go back and enjoy the resort that I paid a premium for.