Universal (How Many Days and is Express a costly benefit)

[lazyboy97o]

Ok, I'm confused.....
I want to Visit the Universal complex for 4 days..... 2 at US and one at each UIOA and VB......
I want to visit Blue Man Group on one of those days......
How could it be cheaper with AP?

It can be cheaper with the discounts offered to pass holders. Multi-day tickets, food, merchandise and Blue Man Group all have passholder discounts that can add up to more than the price difference. You only need one pass to get the discounts for you and your son.

 

[Owl X]

Do able in a day with express?

I don't think you can get everything in during a single day as there are shows with specific start times.
Examples:
The Eight Voyage of Sinbad stunt and Fear Factor Live shows may only operate 3 or 4 times a day.
Animal Actors Live and a Day in the Park with Barney may only operate 5 or 6 times a day.

You can knock out the popular rides in both parks in a Single day with an Express Pass.
Then you could spend a second day without an Express Pass to do shows and less popular rides.
Note that you could spend a day just watching shows.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Just a tip (sorry if I'm repeating):

Consider buying a seasonal annual pass, especially if you plan to visit during a non-holiday time of year when annual passholder hotel discounts are likely to be offered. For my family of four, buying 2-park seasonal annual passes cost something like $20 more per person than the 4-day park-to-park tickets we were considering, AND I was able to book a Universal deluxe (Hard Rock Hotel) at about $250 per night after passholder discounts came out for our visit dates. (I'd initially booked at Royal Pacific for over $300/night at the "stay more save more" rate because we wanted to get the unlimited express pass benefits and were hoping that APH rates would eventually come out for that hotel, but APH rates weren't released at Royal Pacific for all of our dates, so Hard Rock became the least expensive option even though it typically has a higher rack rate than Royal Pacific).

So by buying APH and paying $80 more than we otherwise would have for our park tickets, we saved $165 on our hotel stay cost even though we ended up at a more "expensive" hotel, one which gives us the unlimited express pass for our stay. Not only that, but if we want to come back within a year of our first use of the seasonal APH (subject to blackout dates, although they're mainly for the month of July and for major holidays when we wouldn't want to travel anyway!), we won't have to pay for park tickets. Total win-win and I'd recommend it to anybody.

 

[scritchell]

It can be cheaper with the discounts offered to pass holders. Multi-day tickets, food, merchandise and Blue Man Group all have passholder discounts that can add up to more than the price difference. You only need one pass to get the discounts for you and your son.

Sorry if i sound stupid.... but what exactly do i save, and how can i book all of it? I am a UK visitor

 

[scritchell]

Just a tip (sorry if I'm repeating):

Consider buying a seasonal annual pass, especially if you plan to visit during a non-holiday time of year when annual passholder hotel discounts are likely to be offered. For my family of four, buying 2-park seasonal annual passes cost something like $20 more per person than the 4-day park-to-park tickets we were considering, AND I was able to book a Universal deluxe (Hard Rock Hotel) at about $250 per night after passholder discounts came out for our visit dates. (I'd initially booked at Royal Pacific for over $300/night at the "stay more save more" rate because we wanted to get the unlimited express pass benefits and were hoping that APH rates would eventually come out for that hotel, but APH rates weren't released at Royal Pacific for all of our dates, so Hard Rock became the least expensive option even though it typically has a higher rack rate than Royal Pacific).

So by buying APH and paying $80 more than we otherwise would have for our park tickets, we saved $165 on our hotel stay cost even though we ended up at a more "expensive" hotel, which give us the unlimited express pass for our stay. Not only that, but if we want to come back within a year of our first use of the seasonal APH (subject to blackout dates, although they're mainly for the month of July and for major holidays when we wouldn't want to travel anyway!), we won't have to pay for park tickets. Total win-win and I'd recommend it to anybody.

Hi, It will only be me and my son, so might not be cost effective....
I will be basing us at WDW so ideally want to do 4 days total (1 at US, 1 at UIOA and 1 at VB) ad then a spare day mopping up anything we've missed. I am trying to work out a good value-for-money way of somehow getting a Express pass for 1 day to see most of the rides/attractions etc)

 

[scritchell]

Looking at the Universal site...

https://tickets2.universalorlando.c...r-power/item-flexpay/annual-passes/index.html

For an adult only....
Seasonal Pass (No Express) $285
Power Pass (No Express) $345
Preferred Pass (No Express) $385
Premier Pass $540

The only one that is showing a Express included is the premier....

The i have to add the cost of a child ticket???

Unless i am looking at it wrong?

 

[Weather_Lady]

Looking at the Universal site...

https://tickets2.universalorlando.c...r-power/item-flexpay/annual-passes/index.html

For an adult only....
Seasonal Pass (No Express) $285
Power Pass (No Express) $345
Preferred Pass (No Express) $385
Premier Pass $540

The only one that is showing a Express included is the premier....

The i have to add the cost of a child ticket???

Unless i am looking at it wrong?

You're reading it correctly -- the Express Pass is included only for Premier APH holders. Sorry if my post was confusing: we will have Express Pass only because we are staying at a Universal "Premier" hotel (Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino Bay are the hotels in that category). Guests of those hotels (passholder or not) get unlimited Express Pass as a "perk" for staying there. Our Seasonal Annual Passes just allowed us to get our Premier room at a special discounted rate - a rate that saved us even more money than the few extra dollars we'd spent to buy Seasonal Annual Passes instead of 4-day, 2-park, park-to-park tickets.

In your situation, if you're not staying on-property at Universal in a "Premier" hotel, the only way to purchase Express access will be to buy it as an add-on to your tickets.

 

[scritchell]

You're reading it correctly -- the Express Pass is included only for Premier APH holders. Sorry if my post was confusing: we will have Express Pass only because we used our seasonal APH to get a discounted room at a Universal "Premier" hotel (Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino Bay are the hotels in that category), and guests of those hotels get unlimited Express Pass as a "perk" for staying there.

In your situation, if you're not staying on-property at Universal in a "Premier" hotel, the only way to purchase Express access will be to buy it as an add-on to your tickets.

Thanks, I think I'll look at UK based sites to get a good deal for Universal tickets, and then buy a 1 day express pass, does that make sense?
Also, am i allowed to do that? buy Universal tickets from somewhere other than the official sites, but buy the express separately from the Universal site at a later date?

 

[JoeCamel]

Thanks, I think I'll look at UK based sites to get a good deal for Universal tickets, and then buy a 1 day express pass, does that make sense?
Also, am i allowed to do that? buy Universal tickets from somewhere other than the official sites, but buy the express separately from the Universal site at a later date?

Yes you can buy Express ala carte. You can wait til you are at the park, it does not need to be purchased in advance. I don't know how long you will be at WDW but Attractions Tickets has very good deals for the UK with their multiple day tickets. You can tailor their deals to match what you want to do and even if you toss away a couple of days it can be the best way to get all your parks tickets.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Sorry if i sound stupid.... but what exactly do i save, and how can i book all of it? I am a UK visitor

I can’t say how much money you would save. You’d have to price out what you plan to do, what you plan to spend and then make the comparison. Just remember that since you wouldn’t be returning within a year you only need a pass for yourself to get the discounts.

 

[scritchell]

We're just giving you options for those of us west of the pond. I understand you probably don't want to get to crazy with with planning, Disney is your base and you are taking the Disney transport to and from Disney. You want to to see Universal as a side trip with not much involved. For what everyone is saying you would need to do some research on what you want to do and what a seasonal pass may provide discount wise. You said Blueman group, seasonal pass holders get a discount. It adds up quick.

If you want to stay only at Disney then the AP's aren't probably worth it for you. The big hook there for us is the discounted rooms with express passes. I stayed at the Portofino which is equal or better then Disney's high end hotels for $200 a night during Thanksgiving and included EP's. With my seasonal passes, rack rate something like $360 at that time. Thanksgiving being a major holiday in November here but not else where in the world.

I think you got enough info to make your own decision. Back to your original question is I wouldn't spend the money on buying EP's if budget is a concern. If you get to the parks and disagree with that you can upgrade to an EP on the spot simple as that. Pretty much will double your ticket price....

I might EP for one of the days... i know its expensive but someone on here said it turns a 60min queue into a 10min queue even in the summer... so i think it may be worthwhile for 1 day?
Thoughts?

 

[JoeCamel]

Yes, that is correct. If the queue is longer then the EP line may be longer but it is proportional in reducing your wait