1/2 day Universal: is staying at Express Pass hotel worth it?

alon86

PHM - Feb 2022! First runDisney!
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Hi! My family of 8 (6 adults + DD10, DD6) will be staying at a Universal hotel for 1 night before our Disney DVC stay. Our trip is late Sept.

We will have from 1-8pm to spend at Universal (if we're lucky - flight lands at 11:30am). Primarily going to Universal for all things Harry Potter. This is our first time at Universal.

Planning to stay at Lowes Royal Pacific, which is $639 for 2 rooms (1 night). This will give us the Express Pass to use in the parks.

Alternatively, we would stay at the Fairfield Inn (b/c we are Marriott people), which is for $245 for 2 rooms (plus free breakfast).

Is the $400 for the Unlimited Express pass worth it, because we will only be a the park for 6-7 hours? Would love to hear people's thoughts.

Oh, and the day we will be there is Sunday, and a Halloween night, so US closes at 5pm, and IA closes at 8pm. We would do the HP side of US first, obviously, then take Hogwarts Express to IA.

Thank you!
 
You wouldn't necessarily need it due to the timing of it being Sept and it being less busy and it does seem like you would save a lot by going to Fairfield Inn rather than Royal Pacific, however due to the limited time you have it might be more enjoyable to do it with EP, as you'll definitely be able to breeze through the EP line, which is useful if you're trying to achieve as much as possible at not just one, but two parks.

Also, if you were on site, you'll also be enjoying Universal faster than if you did do Fairfield Inn and took the time to check in prior to going into the parks. I can see that easily taking over an hour out, if you combine the time it would take to go there from air port, check in, setting in, travel to Universal, park, and then walk to the park.

Also, unlimited EP for each person for both parks is $99 a piece if you were purchasing it separately.
 
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Also, if you were on site, you'll also be enjoying Universal faster than if you did do Fairfield Inn and took the time to check in prior to going into the parks. I can see that easily taking over an hour out, if you combine the time it would take to go there from air port, check in, setting in, travel to Universal, park, and then walk to the park.
That's a good point - saving additional time by being closer to the park...

I accidentally posted this on a different board first, and one poster commented that the crowds will be terrible in the late afternoon hours before the horror night... I hope that's not always true but would love other's opinions on this...
 
Hi! My family of 8 (6 adults + DD10, DD6) will be staying at a Universal hotel for 1 night before our Disney DVC stay. Our trip is late Sept.

We will have from 1-8pm to spend at Universal (if we're lucky - flight lands at 11:30am). Primarily going to Universal for all things Harry Potter. This is our first time at Universal.

Planning to stay at Lowes Royal Pacific, which is $639 for 2 rooms (1 night). This will give us the Express Pass to use in the parks.

Alternatively, we would stay at the Fairfield Inn (b/c we are Marriott people), which is for $245 for 2 rooms (plus free breakfast).

Is the $400 for the Unlimited Express pass worth it, because we will only be a the park for 6-7 hours? Would love to hear people's thoughts.

Oh, and the day we will be there is Sunday, and a Halloween night, so US closes at 5pm, and IA closes at 8pm. We would do the HP side of US first, obviously, then take Hogwarts Express to IA.

Thank you!
I would do the express pass since you have such limited time and with the kids ages I don’t think single rider would be the best approach. Side note, you may want to plan to ride the Hogwarts Express in both directions, the ride is different.
 


I forgot about HHN, but it's Sunday, so it shouldn't be too bad. Typically, Sunday and Monday are the slower days since most people are going back home those days if they've been on vacation, or if they're local they have to go back to work / school by Monday. However, at the same time, since it is HHN season it might affect the crowd, but I do not think that drastically.

Also, as @SG131 said, single rider is typically an option and is one I frequently do, but might not be the best for an option for a family of eight, especially on HHN evening. As people know the tip of single rider being a quicker wait time typically, so during some times and seasons a lot of people take advantage and when that happens and if there's more people in the line, then that line is not so much of a quick wait anymore. Besides it's offered at select rides, not all rides.
 
Keep the EP hotel.

You will be arriving at the busiest time of the day. Your hotel will be very close to the parks.

It is only $50 per person more and you will find it well worth it.

I would cut down on something else before I gave up EP no matter what time of the year and if your plan is two parks, it will definitely be needed if you have any hope of seeing what Universal has to offer.
 
That's a good point - saving additional time by being closer to the park...

I accidentally posted this on a different board first, and one poster commented that the crowds will be terrible in the late afternoon hours before the horror night... I hope that's not always true but would love other's opinions on this...

Crowds don't really matter when you have the express pass.
 


Express passes will cut your wait time in half (if not more).

Since you have limited time on a single day and Universal is closing early for HHN, you might want to just get single park tickets for just Islands of Adventure.
  • Park to Park ticket: $170
  • Single Park ticket: $115
Then if you want to want to stay up later, you could purchase HHN night tickets for Universal Studios.
Some of the Universal rides are open during HHN including Escape from Gringotts, Transformers, Men in Black & Revenge of the Mummy.
Right now, Universal has a special on HHN tickets where you get a second non-Saturday night:
https://orlando.halloweenhorrornights.com/site/hhn/products/event-tickets
So later in your Disney stay, you could head back over to Universal for the 2nd HHN.
 
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It would only be a good idea to be spending more bank on that ($115 + $81 = $196), if they're really into HHN and if they have the time / energy to do it again prior to leaving (arriving in the afternoon and potentially being up until almost midnight). Also, we have to remember there is a ten and six year old involved here in this scenerio. Which may, or may not be a problem, but is something to think about.

Also, while a lot of my favorites are open during HHN, not everything is open during HHN, so it depends also on what they want to experience at Universal.
 
Do you have hard Disney plans the next day ? You won't be able to get the room until later in the day, so you could spend another half day at Universal... Plus if stay at RPH you'll have Express passes for that day also, along with early entry. Depending on how commando want to be, could do first half day at Universal and second half at Disney if have the tickets for it all.
 
Being an HHN night, Universal will get crowded late afternoon up until park close. HHN attendees with APs or park tickets will want to be inside the park before it closes because HHN has special "holding areas" these people can go once the park closes which gives them a jump start on the HHN festivities. So it behooves people with park admission to be in the park before it closes for HHN. Once Universal closes, those not attending HHN may flock to IOA so I would expect IOA to get busy at night.

Because the parks may be busy and because you have such a short amount of time, EP would certainly help you get more attractions done and maximize your time. But it's quite a cost difference for such a short time. Sorry if I missed it, but did you price out how much it would be to stay at the Fairfield and just purchase EP? If there is a savings, that might be the route I'd go. If the savings is negligible, I'd go with Royal Pacific.
 
Agree with getting tickets for the next morning if it is in your budget. We actually just decided to do the same thing, and this way we are less stressed Sunday knowing we can make up for any missed time with early hours plus a few more before moving to Disney on Monday. Also staying at RPH to get 2 days of EPs...helps it feel more like a bargain.
 
Agree with getting tickets for the next morning if it is in your budget. We actually just decided to do the same thing, and this way we are less stressed Sunday knowing we can make up for any missed time with early hours plus a few more before moving to Disney on Monday. Also staying at RPH to get 2 days of EPs...helps it feel more like a bargain.
Thanks - this is my original plan exactly. But not sure how much energy we will have to do both Universal and Disney on Monday (with a 6yo and my father who is 77). I have time to figure it out! We've already bought the Disney tickets but not Universal. We will stay at RPH for the EP, but it's an additional $600 for us to go back the next morning too... not sure if that's worth it.
 

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