Question about buying a season pass for hotel discount for Royal Pacific in May

[JAG107]

I am planning a father son trip (DS10, first time to USO) for the second weekend in May. With all of the research I've done, I have found inconclusive results whether 1. it will be worth it to pay over $400 for a night at Royal Pacific to get two days of express passes for us, or if we should stick with a local $60 per night room off site or 2. if there will be a season pass discount released between now and May where I can buy one season pass ( we are going for 3 days, the difference is negligible between a 3 day hopper ticket and season pass) and get a discount on a RP room. It seems that I just need to have a season pass upon check in to get the discount, if there will be one.
Will the crowds be heavy enough on a friday through Sunday the week after Mothers Day where it would make a significant difference to have Unlimited Express Pass, or will we be ok without the express pass and early entry where we can see everything in 3 days?

TIA! We are WDW and DLR vets but new to the USO planning.

 

[macraven]

To get a room discount for RP, you need to book the room in advance

Not all rooms are available for discounts

Showing the ap when you check in, does not automatically give you the AP discount rate for a room

Quite a few guests will book one night only at the premiere hotels for the perks in the park
Guests can get the free unlimited usage of the express lines for rides and shows for the day you check in and the day you check out of the hotel

Rooms are cheaper during the week
Friday and Saturday hotel room rates go for a higher price

 

[Nabas]

Will the crowds be heavy enough on a friday through Sunday the week after Mothers Day where it would make a significant difference to have Unlimited Express Pass, or will we be ok without the express pass and early entry where we can see everything in 3 days?

Universal generally is more crowded on the weekends, being more of a "local" theme park than WDW. You will wait in lines on Saturday and Sunday.

Crowds for early May tend to be a bit on the lighter side but see previous comment about the weekend. Since the Friday before and Monday after Mother's Day weekend are not national or local holidays (i.e. no work or school days off), Mother's Day weekend is unlikely to be more crowded than the weekend before or the weekend after.

It usually is difficult to get an annual pass discount rate for a weekend night at a Deluxe Resort. Universal's Deluxe Resorts tend to book up on weekends, especially on Saturday nights, without annual pass discounts. In general, you have a much better chance getting a Universal hotel annual pass discount on Sunday to Thursday nights.

Annual pass discounts tend to be released 1 to 3 months ahead of time.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

If you book the offsite room for $60/night would you buy express passes? Looks like the rack rate for RP for your dates costs roughly the same as the cheaper hotel plus the cost of express passes for a few days.

The rack rate you see now for RP isn't necessarily the rate you will see in a few months, it could go up by then so you may want to book that now and adjust later if savvy traveler or AP discounts become available for your dates. By staying on site you also get the benefit of early park admission.

A few things to note:
- The price of each tier of annual passes for non-Florida residents just increased by about $50 the other day so if your trip is only 3 days and you don't plan on coming back this year the seasonal AP might not be worth it for you. A lot info and advice on Universal is using pre- or sightly post-Covid numbers when seasonal APs cost only $250 (the cost of our 15 month seasonal APs in Sept 2020) and room rates were much lower and that advice isn't as useful now.
- AP discounts on rooms aren't released as far in advance as they used to be and it appears they are releasing fewer of them (or perhaps the demand is greater) but they are harder to come by.
- AP rates aren't as deeply discounted as they once were. The rack rate is higher now for most nights so the resulting discount isn't as great of a deal as it once was at least for the multiple dates I've been tracking

 

[sandyplayer]

I booked Royal Pacific for my mother son trip in 2019 because express passes were a must. Love the walking everywhere aspect as well. we booked February with an annual pass discount for Portofino because the cost of the pass above a 3 day was about $250-300 and the savings on the hotel was $675. That doesn't even consider the % off food and stuff. Just run the numbers but I have to say that being walking distance is part of the amazing experience. If you can do it, it's worth it. We also have done Hard Rock twice with my whole family (husband and daughters)and that is a great location/hotel as well.

 

[kimmhic]

If you book the offsite room for $60/night would you buy express passes? Looks like the rack rate for RP for your dates costs roughly the same as the cheaper hotel plus the cost of express passes for a few days.

The rack rate you see now for RP isn't necessarily the rate you will see in a few months, it could go up by then so you may want to book that now and adjust later if savvy traveler or AP discounts become available for your dates. By staying on site you also get the benefit of early park admission.

A few things to note:
- The price of each tier of annual passes for non-Florida residents just increased by about $50 the other day so if your trip is only 3 days and you don't plan on coming back this year the seasonal AP might not be worth it for you. A lot info and advice on Universal is using pre- or sightly post-Covid numbers when seasonal APs cost only $250 (the cost of our 15 month seasonal APs in Sept 2020) and room rates were much lower and that advice isn't as useful now.
- AP discounts on rooms aren't released as far in advance as they used to be and it appears they are releasing fewer of them (or perhaps the demand is greater) but they are harder to come by.
- AP rates aren't as deeply discounted as they once were. The rack rate is higher now for most nights so the resulting discount isn't as great of a deal as it once was at least for the multiple dates I've been tracking

Hi hoping you can advise me I live in Ireland and am travelling to Orlando 2nd August to 17th we were going to buy cheapest 2day Park to park we could get and stay in royal pacific for express pass there are 7 of us looking at annual passes I was wondering would we be better to buy 1 pass and get discount on 6 other tickets and at the moment there is no discount on royal pacific are you guaranteed discount on hotel
Would really appreciate advice

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Hotel discounts depend on when & if Universal decides to offer on any given day, they are not guaranteed. I would check daily, you never know when something could pop up. Try whatever days would work - there may be a discount on a Thurs night but not Wed, but you won't know if you don't check all your options.

Also be aware that the gate price is higher than the online price, so the discounted tickets may not save much - you would need to do the math.

 

[georgina]

Hi hoping you can advise me I live in Ireland and am travelling to Orlando 2nd August to 17th we were going to buy cheapest 2day Park to park we could get and stay in royal pacific for express pass there are 7 of us looking at annual passes I was wondering would we be better to buy 1 pass and get discount on 6 other tickets and at the moment there is no discount on royal pacific are you guaranteed discount on hotel
Would really appreciate advice

You are never guaranteed a discount on a hotel, unfortunately. If you are spending 14 nights at Universal the Savvy traveler discount is probably better, if you can book it. It usually just comes up on the website. For that length of time seasonal APs are probably better than regular park tickets. It is not necessary to have the annual pass before booking the AP discount.

 

[kimmhic]

Hotel discounts depend on when & if Universal decides to offer on any given day, they are not guaranteed. I would check daily, you never know when something could pop up. Try whatever days would work - there may be a discount on a Thurs night but not Wed, but you won't know if you don't check all your options.

Also be aware that the gate price is higher than the online price, so the discounted tickets may not save much - you would need to do the math.

Thanks can I just ask about buying tickets with annual pass i was thinking of buying 2 day park to park would they give discount on that or would i have to buy one day park to park and then another on second day

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I think they give discounts only on multi-day tickets. Plus it would be much, much more expensive to buy 2 separate 1 day tickets.

 

[Jangles]

I am planning a father son trip (DS10, first time to USO) for the second weekend in May. With all of the research I've done, I have found inconclusive results whether 1. it will be worth it to pay over $400 for a night at Royal Pacific to get two days of express passes for us, or if we should stick with a local $60 per night room off site or 2. if there will be a season pass discount released between now and May where I can buy one season pass ( we are going for 3 days, the difference is negligible between a 3 day hopper ticket and season pass) and get a discount on a RP room. It seems that I just need to have a season pass upon check in to get the discount, if there will be one.
Will the crowds be heavy enough on a friday through Sunday the week after Mothers Day where it would make a significant difference to have Unlimited Express Pass, or will we be ok without the express pass and early entry where we can see everything in 3 days?

TIA! We are WDW and DLR vets but new to the USO planning.

You can check whether an AP discount for the hotel you want is available here….
https://res.windsurfercrs.com/ibe/d...ls=&ada=0&currid=0&vouchercode=&attendeeCode=