Pre-Trip WDW/Universal Joint Trip for 5 Adults - Welcoming Feedback

Zipadeelady · Apr 14, 2025

I need a nap just reading your plans.

I've been seeing videos of Epic Universe, and it looks amazing. I hope you get to do everything you want there.

For dinner at HS, I would go with 50's Prime Time. Your GenX family members will love it, and you probably will too. The food is good and if you have a good waiter it will make the experience so fun.

Lunch at MK doesn't have the best options in my opinion but the one that surprised me the most was Casey's. I'm not a corn dog girl but the corn nuggets were soooo good. Or maybe I was just super hungry when I had them last.

If I were 24, I would definitely try to go to Epic again on the last day to get in everything that I missed because the old people were slowing me down. Google Luggage storage near Universal. There are places/stores that will hold your luggage for a few dollars a day. We looked into it when we traveled but never used it.

Tiki Traveler · Apr 15, 2025

Sounds like a great trip! Can’t add much but possible dining options in MK - Harbour House (QS), Liberty Tree (family fav) or Skipper Canteen (On my list to check out the theming).

Looking forward to your trip report!

RememberWhen · Apr 15, 2025

Where are you planning to stay?

For your Epcot day, I would book a LL for FEA if it’s a priority instead of Remy. Remy sometimes has LL availability during the day, but FEA doesn’t. Remy also has a single rider line if you all don’t mind being separated. Much faster. FEA has really long lines… Also if you are entering through the IG and could be close to the front for rope drop you can do remy then.

For DHS if slinky Dog is a priority I would probably make that my LL. You can rope drop Tower and Rockin Roller Coaster if you have a LLSP for Rise (which often is down at opening).

For MK, I believe tron doesn’t open with early entry (assuming you’re on property).

I don’t know if any of the current discounts line up with your dates, but definitely check those and book if they do!

Sounds like so much fun!

WonderWab · Apr 15, 2025

Zipadeelady said:
I need a nap just reading your plans. I've been seeing videos of Epic Universe, and it looks amazing. I hope you get to do everything you want there.

For dinner at HS, I would go with 50's Prime Time. Your GenX family members will love it, and you probably will too. The food is good and if you have a good waiter it will make the experience so fun.

Lunch at MK doesn't have the best options in my opinion but the one that surprised me the most was Casey's. I'm not a corn dog girl but the corn nuggets were soooo good. Or maybe I was just super hungry when I had them last.

If I were 24, I would definitely try to go to Epic again on the last day to get in everything that I missed because the old people were slowing me down. Google Luggage storage near Universal. There are places/stores that will hold your luggage for a few dollars a day. We looked into it when we traveled but never used it.

Yes, my plans are ambitious.

I don't think we will actually ropedrop every day, but the plan is there if we want to go go go.

We haven't been to 50's Prime Time in over a decade, so we might need to check that out!

Casey's is a great choice, so we will likely do that or Pinocchio Village Haus for MK lunch.

I'm definitely thinking about Epic Universe on my last day with a 9:30pm flight out. I have that whole week off from work, so I am fine being stuck in Orlando even if my late night flight is cancelled lol. I've read that sometimes you can store your luggage in Universal Lost and Found at the entrance of the parks, but I'm not sure that will be available for Epic Universe. I'm going to wait until after Epic Universal actually opens to call and check, but I'll do a 3rd party service nearby for storage if necessary.

WonderWab · Apr 15, 2025

Tiki Traveler said:
Sounds like a great trip! Can’t add much but possible dining options in MK - Harbour House (QS), Liberty Tree (family fav) or Skipper Canteen (On my list to check out the theming).

Looking forward to your trip report!

I don't remember the last time we've ate at Harbour House or Liberty Tree, so I'll have to see if my party is interested! I went to Skipper Canteen on my last trip, so we may skip (lol) that one. Thanks for the recs!

WonderWab · Apr 15, 2025

RememberWhen said:
Where are you planning to stay?

For your Epcot day, I would book a LL for FEA if it’s a priority instead of Remy. Remy sometimes has LL availability during the day, but FEA doesn’t. Remy also has a single rider line if you all don’t mind being separated. Much faster. FEA has really long lines… Also if you are entering through the IG and could be close to the front for rope drop you can do remy then.

For DHS if slinky Dog is a priority I would probably make that my LL. You can rope drop Tower and Rockin Roller Coaster if you have a LLSP for Rise (which often is down at opening).

For MK, I believe tron doesn’t open with early entry (assuming you’re on property).

I don’t know if any of the current discounts line up with your dates, but definitely check those and book if they do!

Sounds like so much fun!

We are between All-Stars (we do those most times), Disney's Coronado Springs (stayed there in 2021), and Port Orleans - French Quarter. We are leaning towards Coronado Springs as we would like a resort with pool options, less children, and a more adult vibe. This will be the first trip in a long time for some of our party, and less children is ideal haha. We figure Coronado should providing some relaxing, quiet places after our long days in the parks.

Thanks so much for the recommended Epcot plan!! That makes a lot of sense. Taking the bus from Coronado to Epcot, I think we would be dropped at the park entrance. Is there a reasonable way to get to the IG if we want to ropedrop Remy? I like that plan because if we book an early-as-possible Frozen LL, then we can get to using our first 3 easily to book the additional ones.

For DHS, that is a smart plan too. I don't think my entire party wants to do Tower of Tower or Rockin' Roller Coaster (especially first thing in the day

), but ropedropping those does make sense. I'll check-in with my party about that plan.

For MK, Tron is our white whale that we must ride, so we will very likely book an ILL for that. If we can't ropedrop it, Seven Dwarves Mine Train or Space Mountain will be our go-to. I need to talk to my party about our plan for that day too.

In terms of discounts, we will be getting the "Longer you stay, cheaper price" discount that applies for 5 nights or more, so that is nice. Most other discounts don't start until June 29th, but we still want to check-in June 26th to try to get ahead of some crowds.

RememberWhen · Apr 15, 2025

WonderWab said:
We are between All-Stars (we do those most times), Disney's Coronado Springs (stayed there in 2021), and Port Orleans - French Quarter. We are leaning towards Coronado Springs as we would like a resort with pool options, less children, and a more adult vibe. This will be the first trip in a long time for some of our party, and less children is ideal haha. We figure Coronado should providing some relaxing, quiet places after our long days in the parks.

Thanks so much for the recommended Epcot plan!! That makes a lot of sense. Taking the bus from Coronado to Epcot, I think we would be dropped at the park entrance. Is there a reasonable way to get to the IG if we want to ropedrop Remy? I like that plan because if we book an early-as-possible Frozen LL, then we can get to using our first 3 easily to book the additional ones.

For DHS, that is a smart plan too. I don't think my entire party wants to do Tower of Tower or Rockin' Roller Coaster (especially first thing in the day ), but ropedropping those does make sense. I'll check-in with my party about that plan.

For MK, Tron is our white whale that we must ride, so we will very likely book an ILL for that. If we can't ropedrop it, Seven Dwarves Mine Train or Space Mountain will be our go-to. I need to talk to my party about our plan for that day too.

In terms of discounts, we will be getting the "Longer you stay, cheaper price" discount that applies for 5 nights or more, so that is nice. Most other discounts don't start until June 29th, but we still want to check-in June 26th to try to get ahead of some crowds.

I’m not sure the best way to rope drop the IG if you aren’t on the skyliner/walkable. You could take an uber/lyft to the swan/dolphin and walk from there. Or a Minnie van to the Beach Club.

Also, you just need to tap into your first LL to unlock the tiers and make your next one. You can always hold 3.

Book a LLSP for tron if that’s feasible for you. If you’re at the front of fantasy land rope drop you can do 7DMT with minimal wait. Space is also a reasonable plan. Folks do start lining up for tron at early entry even though it opens with the parks.

Are you a Touringplans member? It’s a great resource for trying out different options and how that will work for your group. Our forum member @lentesta is the mastermind behind it.

Good luck and keep asking questions! There are lots of folks here who are happy to help!

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 15, 2025

i know you said many WDW visits, but have you used the latest version of LLMP?

When you book LLMP, the system assigns you 3 pass times. Same if you buy LLMP+an ILL. I have found, that taking the 3 passes in the order they are given to you is the best option. If I tried to change the pass order, the system just gave me worse and worse times with every change I made.

On later visits, I quickly accepted the times I was initially offered, and wound up with much better times. EVERYONE is trying to book LLMP at 7am, so the times quickly jump around.

AFTER one accepts the times, then you can go back and try to move them up, but I have not had much luck in general, in my opinion. I was able to move my passes like 5-10 minutes earlier. I think one time I also swapped two passes because it had me going from Nemo to Remy and then back to the Land.

Mostly, I would not worry about assigned ride order too much. If you want Slinky- at all - then that has to be your LLMP choice. Otherwise, you will be looking at something like a 70 min wait in June/July heat. (Or ride it very late)

If your group is not familiar with WDW in summer, then that could also be a factor. In summer, mind I like summer, but afternoon downpour storms are also a factor. Many rides stop running during lightning. No boats, no swimming, etc. So I always try to do rides as early as possible. ALWAYS an afternoon break. Then we always return to a park for the after dark hours. After dark, the temps are again enjoyable. Parks also look great. Best time to ride HM and pirates.

You say you don't care about Express Pass, but your plans say otherwise, especially given you are going in summer and most of your group is 50ish. If the rides you list are must-do's then Express Pass will be a big help. That said, the way to get it is to stay at one of the deluxe hotels. Another big plus of the 3 EP hotels is that they are a short walk or boat ride to the parks. that's really helpful in summer, and makes it easy to get a short break during storm o' clock.

Make sure everyone knows to pack quality walking sandals that are water tolerant and have adjustable straps. I consider them a FL summer essential.

One more personal suggestion...alcohol and FL summer heat + theme park can be a challenging/stressful combo if your group isn't used to doing that. Dehydration, and dehydration sickness is really easy. I speak from the experience of many summer trips. When someone gets sick, there goes a lot of money. One thing that helps is electrolytes. I make sure to get a case of electrolyte infused water, and lots of juice (apple, pineapple, real lemonade are all great, but not the artificial sugar-free lemonade WDW sells). We usually do a pick up order at a grocery store/Target, then I also make sure everyone has at least something like an apple juice PLUS water with lunch. That has made a big difference for us. In WDW, the Voss water sold in Epcot's Norway is $$$, but SO good in summer.

Mostly touring Universal with EP and park hoppers is super easy. Mostly, we just wander wherever we feel like being. In the morning, I have had good luck starting the day w Velocicoaster, and THEN going to Hagrid's late morning. Even if you aren't going on Velocicoaster, the one ride to avoid first is Hagrid's. Everyone else goes there, so it has the longest line. if maybe you are at the very front of the pack, okay. If not, you can do better going elsewhere in the park. It is especially bad if you get in line for Hagrid's and Hagrid's has a delayed opening. Argh! If you do go there, and the ride isn't up - BAIL- right away! For that matter, we had great luck skipping early entry, and just starting the morning at US at park opening. You can walk-on Mummy, then over to Diagon Alley maybe. Minions is also good to hit early. Then we do Hagrid's a little later- but before any afternoon storms.

erstwo · Apr 15, 2025

MickeyLuv'r said:
i know you said many WDW visits, but have you used the latest version of LLMP?

When you book LLMP, the system assigns you 3 pass times. Same if you buy LLMP+an ILL. I have found, that taking the 3 passes in the order they are given to you is the best option. If I tried to change the pass order, the system just gave me worse and worse times with every change I made.

On later visits, I quickly accepted the times I was initially offered, and wound up with much better times. EVERYONE is trying to book LLMP at 7am, so the times quickly jump around.

AFTER one accepts the times, then you can go back and try to move them up, but I have not had much luck in general, in my opinion. I was able to move my passes like 5-10 minutes earlier. I think one time I also swapped two passes because it had me going from Nemo to Remy and then back to the Land.

Mostly, I would not worry about assigned ride order too much. If you want Slinky- at all - then that has to be your LLMP choice. Otherwise, you will be looking at something like a 70 min wait in June/July heat. (Or ride it very late)

If your group is not familiar with WDW in summer, then that could also be a factor. In summer, mind I like summer, but afternoon downpour storms are also a factor. Many rides stop running during lightning. No boats, no swimming, etc. So I always try to do rides as early as possible. ALWAYS an afternoon break. Then we always return to a park for the after dark hours. After dark, the temps are again enjoyable. Parks also look great. Best time to ride HM and pirates.

You say you don't care about Express Pass, but your plans say otherwise, especially given you are going in summer and most of your group is 50ish. If the rides you list are must-do's then Express Pass will be a big help. That said, the way to get it is to stay at one of the deluxe hotels. Another big plus of the 3 EP hotels is that they are a short walk or boat ride to the parks. that's really helpful in summer, and makes it easy to get a short break during storm o' clock.

Make sure everyone knows to pack quality walking sandals that are water tolerant and have adjustable straps. I consider them a FL summer essential.

One more personal suggestion...alcohol and FL summer heat + theme park can be a challenging/stressful combo if your group isn't used to doing that. Dehydration, and dehydration sickness is really easy. I speak from the experience of many summer trips. When someone gets sick, there goes a lot of money. One thing that helps is electrolytes. I make sure to get a case of electrolyte infused water, and lots of juice (apple, pineapple, real lemonade are all great, but not the artificial sugar-free lemonade WDW sells). We usually do a pick up order at a grocery store/Target, then I also make sure everyone has at least something like an apple juice PLUS water with lunch. That has made a big difference for us. In WDW, the Voss water sold in Epcot's Norway is $$$, but SO good in summer.

Mostly touring Universal with EP and park hoppers is super easy. Mostly, we just wander wherever we feel like being. In the morning, I have had good luck starting the day w Velocicoaster, and THEN going to Hagrid's late morning. Even if you aren't going on Velocicoaster, the one ride to avoid first is Hagrid's. Everyone else goes there, so it has the longest line. if maybe you are at the very front of the pack, okay. If not, you can do better going elsewhere in the park. It is especially bad if you get in line for Hagrid's and Hagrid's has a delayed opening. Argh! If you do go there, and the ride isn't up - BAIL- right away! For that matter, we had great luck skipping early entry, and just starting the morning at US at park opening. You can walk-on Mummy, then over to Diagon Alley maybe. Minions is also good to hit early. Then we do Hagrid's a little later- but before any afternoon storms.

I agree about Express Pass. Express Pass made the trip for my group. If we were asked to go to Universal in the summer heat without Express Pass - I’m not sure we would think it was worth it. It would make for a very long, hot tiring day.
Hagrids is worth the wait though. My favorite coaster ever.

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 16, 2025

erstwo said:
I agree about Express Pass. Express Pass made the trip for my group. If we were asked to go to Universal in the summer heat without Express Pass - I’m not sure we would think it was worth it. It would make for a very long, hot tiring day.
Hagrids is worth the wait though. My favorite coaster ever.

Hagrid's is very worthwhile, yes. I was only mentioning it in terms of strategy.
1. Mostly at Universal, if we have EP, we just wander the park and go on whatever rides we want - as opposed to touring WDW where we are beholden to LLMP.
2. What I have found is that generally speaking, if we use rope drop strategy, it is best to zig when the crowd zags. At pre-Epic Universal, most of the crowd heads to Hagrid's at the start of early entry/rope drop. Within 2 minutes, the wait for Hagrid's is often more than an hour long, especially if Hagrid's doesn't open on time.

Meanwhile there is no wait for Forbidden Journey or Hippogriff. There is some wait for Velocicoaster, but not nearly as bad as it gets after 10am.

So everyone heads to Hagrid's, most wait 50+, then they follow the crowd and go to FJ, then Hippogriff. Even with EP, at 10am there can be a substantial wait for Hippogriff. Last visit, a relatively slow day overall, the EP wait for Hippogriff was 60minutes at 10am! If instead one walks-on FJ and Hippogriff at start of EE, yes you will wait 50+mintes for Hagrid's, but I find I come out ahead.
So I do Velocicoaster, then FJ, Hippogriff during EE, then often Kong, and then Hagrid's.

3. Unlimited EP = unlimited re-rides!

With EP, that is just about the only touring strategy I use. On the other hand, we sometimes go to Uni without EP, and we still have fun. I would not opt to pay $150+ for stand-alone Express Pass. I'm also sorry to see how much the cost of Uni's hotels have gone up. OP says they go often to Uni, so hopefully they have an AP, and can get the AP hotel discount.

WonderWab · Apr 16, 2025

MickeyLuv'r said:
Hagrid's is very worthwhile, yes. I was only mentioning it in terms of strategy.
1. Mostly at Universal, if we have EP, we just wander the park and go on whatever rides we want - as opposed to touring WDW where we are beholden to LLMP.
2. What I have found is that generally speaking, if we use rope drop strategy, it is best to zig when the crowd zags. At pre-Epic Universal, most of the crowd heads to Hagrid's at the start of early entry/rope drop. Within 2 minutes, the wait for Hagrid's is often more than an hour long, especially if Hagrid's doesn't open on time.

Meanwhile there is no wait for Forbidden Journey or Hippogriff. There is some wait for Velocicoaster, but not nearly as bad as it gets after 10am.

So everyone heads to Hagrid's, most wait 50+, then they follow the crowd and go to FJ, then Hippogriff. Even with EP, at 10am there can be a substantial wait for Hippogriff. Last visit, a relatively slow day overall, the EP wait for Hippogriff was 60minutes at 10am! If instead one walks-on FJ and Hippogriff at start of EE, yes you will wait 50+mintes for Hagrid's, but I find I come out ahead.
So I do Velocicoaster, then FJ, Hippogriff during EE, then often Kong, and then Hagrid's.

3. Unlimited EP = unlimited re-rides!

With EP, that is just about the only touring strategy I use. On the other hand, we sometimes go to Uni without EP, and we still have fun. I would not opt to pay $150+ for stand-alone Express Pass. I'm also sorry to see how much the cost of Uni's hotels have gone up. OP says they go often to Uni, so hopefully they have an AP, and can get the AP hotel discount.

I haven't been to Uni in over a decade actually, but I really like your strategy! If we got EP for our IoA/Studios day, it would be over $1k for 5 of us (on top of the tickets themselves) which is hard for us to justify for one day. I get EP is a great service, but that is expensive for one day of the trip. I'd rather we spend that money on upgrading from All-Star resorts to Coronado Springs.

I looked into booking one night at one of the Universal resorts that give complimentary EP, and I like the idea, but the rest of my party would rather we stay at our same Disney resort the entire time.

I will really just look into scaling back our must-dos. Part of our group is "go, go, go" people while the other half wants to have a relaxing time (as much as it can be lol). As any ride would be a new experience for us, I think just prioritizing FJ and Velocicoaster first, then Hagrid's late morning is our best bet. Then, I'd be happy for us to just follow the lower wait times where we can find them, grab a butterbeer, and just take our time the rest of the day at IoA and Studios.

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 16, 2025

WonderWab said:
I haven't been to Uni in over a decade actually, but I really like your strategy! If we got EP for our IoA/Studios day, it would be over $1k for 5 of us (on top of the tickets themselves) which is hard for us to justify for one day. I get EP is a great service, but that is expensive for one day of the trip. I'd rather we spend that money on upgrading from All-Star resorts to Coronado Springs.

I hear you. the way to get EP is to do a split stay- if possible. Stay 1 night at Universal. You don't even have to actually step foot in the hotel.

If you book Royal Pacific for 1 night, you get 2 days of unlimited EP. There is an extra adult fee, but you can have up to 5 people in 1 room at Royal Pacific.

Looking at June 30-July 1, the rate for 5 adults is $911 with tax. So for $911, you'd get 2 full days of EP for 5 people. Your room probably won't be ready, but you can check in to RP before the parks open, then go directly to IoA in time for Early Entry.

WonderWab · Apr 16, 2025

MickeyLuv'r said:
I hear you. the way to get EP is to do a split stay- if possible. Stay 1 night at Universal. You don't even have to actually step foot in the hotel.

If you book Royal Pacific for 1 night, you get 2 days of unlimited EP. There is an extra adult fee, but you can have up to 5 people in 1 room at Royal Pacific.

Looking at June 30-July 1, the rate for 5 adults is $911 with tax. So for $911, you'd get 2 full days of EP for 5 people. Your room probably won't be ready, but you can check in to RP before the parks open, then go directly to IoA in time for Early Entry.

I do like that idea. We plan to do IoA and Studios in 1 day and Epic Universe the other day, so the EP would really be only for 1 day. It's a shame that we don't know yet if the Universal hotels will provide Express for Epic Universe like they do for the other parks. I expect that they won't extend that perk for the foreseeable future though.

So, if we do book a room, it would be to use Express for one day. That June 30-July 1st rate means we would do Epic Universe on Sunday, and then IoA/Studios on Monday. For June 29-30th, the hotel room is a little over $1k after tax, so that $911 rate sounds better. I'll check with my party and see what they think!

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 16, 2025

WonderWab said:
I do like that idea. We plan to do IoA and Studios in 1 day and Epic Universe the other day, so the EP would really be only for 1 day. It's a shame that we don't know yet if the Universal hotels will provide Express for Epic Universe like they do for the other parks. I expect that they won't extend that perk for the foreseeable future though.

So, if we do book a room, it would be to use Express for one day. That June 30-July 1st rate means we would do Epic Universe on Sunday, and then IoA/Studios on Monday. For June 29-30th, the hotel room is a little over $1k after tax, so that $911 rate sounds better. I'll check with my party and see what they think!

I just pulled up 6/30 as an example. Rates at both Uni and WDW hotels are higher on weekends. If you are flexible with your days, then you can play around with which day or days are best for Universal vs. WDW.

Also, having 5 people actually stay in a room at RP would be rather tight. I regularly do 4 ppl, and that's fine, but 5 would = a rollaway. Mind, for the savings, I'd happily do it for 1 night myself, but that might not work for your group.

WonderWab · Apr 16, 2025

MickeyLuv'r said:
I just pulled up 6/30 as an example. Rates at both Uni and WDW hotels are higher on weekends. If you are flexible with your days, then you can play around with which day or days are best for Universal vs. WDW.

Also, having 5 people actually stay in a room at RP would be rather tight. I regularly do 4 ppl, and that's fine, but 5 would = a rollaway. Mind, for the savings, I'd happily do it for 1 night myself, but that might not work for your group.

The truth is that our party of 5 is really two rooms. My aunt and her boyfriend in one; myself, my mom, and stepdad in another. We had been planning to visit WDW separately, but then decided we should just combine our trips a bit. We likely won't spend every minute together, but the hope is we overlap our plans a bit.

My aunt and her boyfriend have booked their stay at All-Stars, but my group of 3 are looking to book at Coronado. If we did book RP for one night, it wouldn't really matter to us who uses the room, but it wouldn't be all 5 of us at once.

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 16, 2025

At present, if you want to go to Epic, and you are not an AP holder then the shortest duration ticket option is a 3 day park ticket. I did not read your initial post carefully enough. I thought you were planning 1 day at Islands, 1 day at Epic and 1 day at US.

***********************************

One more option to consider, if you haven't bought your Universal tickets yet- is to consider buying a single AP just for yourself.

I priced that out as well, but then deleted it because I thought you had probably already bought your tickets.

At Universal, a preferred AP is $671, I think. But you can then book RP at the AP rate, which for 6/30 knocks $272 off the room rate at RP. The current AP's do NOT include Epic though, so 1day Epic for an AP holder is another $162.

So your AP $671+ Epic/for AP holder $162 would be $833.
the ticket you are currently considering- 2day park hopper+1day Epic will cost $558.

So buying an AP would- out of the gate save $3, PLUS you'd get 10% off all your food and 10% off all merchandise, plus you would have a full year of admission.

AND if you returned to Universal before your AP expires, say late May next year, you would again be able to book the AP rate at any of the Universal hotels. At Universal, the savings for AP holders is significant.

WonderWab · Apr 16, 2025

MickeyLuv'r said:
At present, if you want to go to Epic, and you are not an AP holder then the shortest duration ticket option is a 3 day park ticket. I did not read your initial post carefully enough. I thought you were planning 1 day at Islands, 1 day at Epic and 1 day at US.

***********************************

One more option to consider, if you haven't bought your Universal tickets yet- is to consider buying a single AP just for yourself.

I priced that out as well, but then deleted it because I thought you had probably already bought your tickets.

At Universal, a preferred AP is $671, I think. But you can then book RP at the AP rate, which for 6/30 knocks $272 off the room rate at RP. The current AP's do NOT include Epic though, so 1day Epic for an AP holder is another $162.

So your AP $671+ Epic/for AP holder $162 would be $833.
the ticket you are currently considering- 2day park hopper+1day Epic will cost $558.

So buying an AP would- out of the gate save $3, PLUS you'd get 10% off all your food and 10% off all merchandise, plus you would have a full year of admission.

AND if you returned to Universal before your AP expires, say late May next year, you would again be able to book the AP rate at any of the Universal hotels. At Universal, the savings for AP holders is significant.

I'm pretty sure I can book a two-day ticket pictured below. I went through all of the process except submitting at checkout. Looks purchasable to me.

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 16, 2025

WonderWab said:
The truth is that our party of 5 is really two rooms. My aunt and her boyfriend in one; myself, my mom, and stepdad in another. We had been planning to visit WDW separately, but then decided we should just combine our trips a bit. We likely won't spend every minute together, but the hope is we overlap our plans a bit.

My aunt and her boyfriend have booked their stay at All-Stars, but my group of 3 are looking to book at Coronado. If we did book RP for one night, it wouldn't really matter to us who uses the room, but it wouldn't be all 5 of us at once.

that's even better! You would have to list them on the room and pay the extra adult fee for them to get the EP, but they don't actually have to go there.

By the way, the Universal hotels are very nice. I also really like Coronado. Though I gotta add, I especially like the new tower. I liked the non-tower rooms before it opened, but the new tower feels like a deluxe hotel. If you are looking to have cocktails, the bars there are gorgeous. I was just there last month. Coronado is also my favorite WDW pool!

Royal Pacific has a very pretty courtyard. Also, you get a small (but real) dorm-size fridge there.

Oh, if you will have a car, there's a really great place to get pho soup a short drive from Universal called Pho 16 Express on I-Drive. The pho is excellent, and you get a huge bowl for about $15. The atmosphere is nothing fancy, but food and portions are excellent.

MickeyLuv'r · Apr 16, 2025

WonderWab said:
I'm pretty sure I can book a two-day ticket pictured below. I went through all of the process except submitting at checkout. Looks purchasable to me.
View attachment 853590

my bad. I have an AP.

My math is off then. I think the AP w/ hotel discount rate would be about $150 more than your current plan.
(Though you could offset a portion of that with the 10% dining and merchandise discount.)

Pre-Trip WDW/Universal Joint Trip for 5 Adults - Welcoming Feedback

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member

Tiki Traveler

Well-Known Member

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member

WonderWab

Active Member

WonderWab

Active Member

WonderWab

Active Member

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member

erstwo

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MickeyLuv'r

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WonderWab

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MickeyLuv'r

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WonderWab

Active Member

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member

WonderWab

Active Member

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member

WonderWab

Active Member

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member