Seasonal Passes/Black out Dates/Best Way

[CAB73]

Hi all,

First time going to Universal - mostly because of 10 year old daughter loving HP, also traveling with 4 year old. Upgraded to seasonal passes because I thought it'd give me more flexibility, but now I'm not so sure. Would appreciate any guidance.

I booked on-property hotel (no express, but early entry) for Tuesday Feb 13 - Sunday Feb 18th, with originally 2 park, 3 day park to park tickets (not interested in water park). Then after booking I see the seasonal passes and thought I should check into it because there are hotel savings. The long and short of it is that even though I couldn't take advantage of the hotel savings because of cancellation fees I would end up incurring, I upgraded my tickets because in clarifying with the rep, I thought for a $60 charge, I wouldn't have to worry about picking the specific 3 days, we could come and go as we wanted over the 6 days. There is a strong chance I won't revisit the park before the seasonal pass expires - I was really looking to maximize the experience on this trip.

Now I see that there are black out dates for the seasonal passes for Universal Florida - which means we're limited in when we can do Diagon Alley as well as Hogwarts Express since we are blocked on Saturday the 17th and Feb 18th because they have concerts that night. I was going to call Universal because I kept attempting to clarify with the rep what I would be getting and feel I was misled/things weren't disclosed. She knew what my reservation dates were, and told me she didn't see any black out dates on her end.

Prior to our change - my plan was to spread out our 3 days with a day in between to relax at the pool and go to the parks Wednesday, Thurs, Saturday or Wed, Fri, Sat. I didn't think 3 straight days back to back at the parks would be a good idea.

Now, with the seasonal passes, the only days we really can go to Universal Florida (less the 1 hour we have on Tuesday) - is Wednesday, Thursday Friday. We will still be able to visit IAO during the black out.

I'm concerned that with 2 days left on the trip, we are blocked from visiting half of the attractions we're most interested in, and my family will be exhausted doing it back to back 3 days. Wondering if I should contact Universal and see if I can get my "regular" tickets back, or suck it up and keep the seasonals, and just manage to getting our fill of Diagon Alley/Hogwart Express the 3 consecutive days.

Thanks so much for entertaining my question. Appreciate your feedback.

 

[NHMouse]

Thats too bad the rep didn't disclose the black out dates for you. Its hard for me to follow how much of savings it was for you. As far as getting around the parks- you will be able to see everything for sure in 3 days. I know it can be long days with a 4 year old but if he/she can rest in stroller may make it easier. Staying on site it also possible to go back to resort and rest for a bit if needed. Not sure that answers all your questions. Let me know if you have any more.

 

[CAB73]

Thats too bad the rep didn't disclose the black out dates for you. Its hard for me to follow how much of savings it was for you. As far as getting around the parks- you will be able to see everything for sure in 3 days. I know it can be long days with a 4 year old but if he/she can rest in stroller may make it easier. Staying on site it also possible to go back to resort and rest for a bit if needed. Not sure that answers all your questions. Let me know if you have any more.

Thanks for the reply. I ended up not saving anything, because I'm within 45 days of the reservation and the cancellation of the existing reservation would have incurred a fee. I actually just paid $60 more over my existing reservation to upgrade my tickets to seasonal....with the black out dates during our stay.

 

[NHMouse]

Awe man, that is unfortunate. Have you asked about new cancelation policy in light of their mistake? Could try re booking with a proper package?

 

[Weather_Lady]

I'm so sorry this wrench has been thrown into your planning! The blackout dates are annoying (I bought our APs before they'd even been released for 2018 -- a bit of a gamble, for sure.)

I really think, though, that you'll be able to plan your way around it in a way that won't leave your family exhausted or bored. The fact is, you could do everything in USF and IOA in just two days if you had to (if you stayed from opening to close and toured like a real commando). With 3-6 days, you'll still have plenty of time for leisurely afternoon nap/pool breaks, relaxing sit-down meals, etc., and even full-day breaks.

Just as an example: I've been using touringplans.com's personalized touring plans (with input from UndercoverTourist.com's free 2-day, 2-park, park-to-park touring plan) to work out my family's upcoming Universal trip, and see how long it will take to get the most out of the parks. We'll have just 2-and-a-half days of park time, and even with the parks closing early (7pm) on our arrival day, we'll have done almost every attraction and show in both parks -- plus devoted 2 or 3 hours to the wand experiences in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and enjoyed two table service dinners -- by the end of day 2, leaving the morning of day 3 to revisit favorite attractions, go back to the 3 or 4 things we decided to skip, or just relax. (*Full disclosure: we're staying at RPR, so we'll have unlimited Express Passes. However, even without that perk, it wouldn't take us very much longer to do everything -- we'd just have to stick to a touring plan, do things in a different order, and do a bit more cris-crossing of each park during the first hour or two when lines are at their shortest.)

You have every right to be annoyed that the blackout dates weren't disclosed to you when you upgraded, and obviously it's going to limit your ability to spontaneously decide which park to visit each day (at least, for 2 days of your stay), but I am confident that it's not going to have a big impact on the pace or enjoyment of your vacation. You'll still be able to do everything you want -- multiple times -- with plenty of leisure time in between.

 

[CAB73]

I'm so sorry this wrench has been thrown into your planning! The blackout dates are annoying (I bought our APs before they'd even been released for 2018 -- a bit of a gamble, for sure.)

I really think, though, that you'll be able to plan your way around it in a way that won't leave your family exhausted or bored. The fact is, you could do everything in USF and IOA in just two days if you had to (if you stayed from opening to close and toured like a real commando). With 3-6 days, you'll still have plenty of time for leisurely afternoon nap/pool breaks, relaxing sit-down meals, etc., and even full-day breaks.

Just as an example: I've been using touringplans.com's personalized touring plans (with input from UndercoverTourist.com's free 2-day, 2-park, park-to-park touring plan) to work out my family's upcoming Universal trip, and see how long it will take to get the most out of the parks. We'll have just 2-and-a-half days of park time, and even with the parks closing early (7pm) on our arrival day, we'll have done almost every attraction and show in both parks -- plus devoted 2 or 3 hours to the wand experiences in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and enjoyed two table service dinners -- by the end of day 2, leaving the morning of day 3 to revisit favorite attractions, go back to the 3 or 4 things we decided to skip, or just relax. (*Full disclosure: we're staying at RPR, so we'll have unlimited Express Passes. However, even without that perk, it wouldn't take us very much longer to do everything -- we'd just have to stick to a touring plan, do things in a different order, and do a bit more cris-crossing of each park during the first hour or two when lines are at their shortest.)

You have every right to be annoyed that the blackout dates weren't disclosed to you when you upgraded, and obviously it's going to limit your ability to spontaneously decide which park to visit each day (at least, for 2 days of your stay), but I am confident that it's not going to have a big impact on the pace or enjoyment of your vacation. You'll still be able to do everything you want -- multiple times -- with plenty of leisure time in between.

Thanks so much! That really helps. I will check out the touring plan as well!

 

[CAB73]

Awe man, that is unfortunate. Have you asked about new cancelation policy in light of their mistake? Could try re booking with a proper package?

I thought I replied but it doesn't look like it posted. Yes, that was kind of my question - if I should call Universal and see if I could get my original ticket configuration back, or if I should just suck it up and work with the seasonal ones. Sounds like sticking with the seasonal should be fine.

 

[JoeCamel]

So you booked a package and it has a 45 day cancellation period? I have never done one but I stay onsite often and the hotels are five days or more is a full refund.

At least you can go to IOA during your blackouts and get DA in on the non blackout time. Not a total loss. Plenty of other things to do as well.

 

[CAB73]

So you booked a package and it has a 45 day cancellation period? I have never done one but I stay onsite often and the hotels are five days or more is a full refund.

At least you can go to IOA during your blackouts and get DA in on the non blackout time. Not a total loss. Plenty of other things to do as well.

So you booked a package and it has a 45 day cancellation period? I have never done one but I stay onsite often and the hotels are five days or more is a full refund.

At least you can go to IOA during your blackouts and get DA in on the non blackout time. Not a total loss. Plenty of other things to do as well.

Thanks. Yes, booked a package and $200 reservation cancellation fee if done within 45 days. I thought I had done all my homework prior to booking, but apparently not. Truth be told, I hate the website and how it's all laid out for booking.

 

[JoeCamel]

Thanks. Yes, booked a package and $200 reservation cancellation fee if done within 45 days. I thought I had done all my homework prior to booking, but apparently not. Truth be told, I hate the website and how it's all laid out for booking.

I agree, the site is about as bad as WDW's. Well at least you can work around the blackout and know better next time. I have never seen an advantage to getting a package but what is done is done so have a good time even though.
For plenty of planning reading check out Orlando Informer. They have Universal all mapped out. Everything you could possibly want to know.

 

[teebin]

Thanks so much! That really helps. I will check out the touring plan as well!

Be sure to come back and post how your trip turned out!