Advice Needed [to buy or not to buy Express Pass?] - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Advice Needed [to buy or not to buy Express Pass?]
I'm planning a trip for June 2017 to Universal. I'm having some trouble with pricing and the Express Pass (to buy or not to buy) and need some advice.
Plans:
2 kids- 11 & 14, 1 adult
Main focus for adult is Harry Potter (I've been before, so I know I will spend as much time in here as the kids will allow).
Main focus for the 11 year old will be rides outside of Harry Potter area and thrill rides, but since he has no one to ride with they will have to be tame enough to convince the 14 year old to ride (this means no roller coasters). Neither kid has been to Universal so all of this will be new to them.
Staying on-site to allow the most time to visit when crowds are not at their worst. We will be taking mid-day breaks and swimming so morning and evening touring will work best.
Hotel Choices:
Royal Pacific would give us the Express included with the room.
Cabana Bay would not have the Express pass (either buy separately or go without) but would give us a separate sleeping area, more bathroom space and mini kitchen which would come in handy with a teenager (adult is an early riser and teen not)
I'm leaning toward Cabana Bay because of the separate sleeping area.
Staying 5 nights:
Plan is for 3 days in the park (3 day park-to-park passes) and 1 day for swimming/resting. Driving in from La, check-in Saturday evening, Sunday - Tuesday touring, Wednesday resting/swimming, driving home Thursday.
I know this question is relative but since I have only been to Universal once (in March) and was only interested in Harry Potter area (did not ride any other rides) I had absolutely no interest in Express Pass. This time will be different with kids and their interest will be the other rides and since the Express Pass will allow us to skip the lines for some of these I'm on the fence about purchasing the Express Pass.
After pricing out the two rooms and buying the Express Pass (1 day only) it is still cheaper to stay at Cabana Bay and buy the 1 day for the Express Pass than to stay at Royal Pacific.
We just went in June, my first time. Here are my thoughts....
We stayed at the Royal Pacific at the suggestion of friends who were there with us. Having the Express pass was AMAZING in the scorching heat. I don't know the difference in cost between the 2 resorts, but we purchased our passes thru Undercover tourist and paid for a 2day but got the 3rd day free, so that was big savings. Having the express pass made such a difference in the lines and having the early entry was great as well.
I wasn't aware about the express pass, just followed the guidance of our friends and it was worth it. The RP is a very nice hotel as well, and the room size was nice. There were 4 of us, 2 adults a 17year old and 11yr old. the pool area was very nice as well.
We also visited in late May/early June, and I have to concur that the Express Pass is definitely worth it. We also stayed at RPR. It is nice, but I didn't know enough about room locations, so I didn't request anything, and our room was on the 1st floor, which I did not like. 1st floor is essentially the basement. The level of the lobby is 3rd floor, so consider that if you stay there. I thought the hallways and room view of our location made it feel dungeon-like.
I hear many good things about Cabana Bay, but if you are truly going in June, I would advise you to get the Express Pass. However, it is very expensive to add on. I priced it and found that it would actually have cost us more to stay at Cabana Bay and add on Express. In the June heat, we felt like Express was more than worth having. That feature alone trumps everything for me at Universal, because even though you don't use it on the two biggest Harry Potter attractions (not available on those) it makes everything else very quick and you can get a lot done in a little time.
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I've stayed at both resorts and toured very much like you want to, parks in am and evening, pool in the afternoon. Both have great pool areas, but Cabana Bay is probably more what your kids will like. CB also has a great food court which you won't find at RPR.
I've never ever bought Express passes when staying where they aren't offered. I've stayed offsite a few times for Universal too. I've never really felt that I needed to spend that extra money (and it could add up). You can't use them for the Harry Potter stuff and they might mostly be needed for the coaster, which you think you won't be doing. Three days in the parks will be a good amount of time for touring and if by any chance you find you can't get to everything by the last day, then you could buy the EP for that last day to finish up the rides you didn't get to.
Just get the kids up early and hit the parks at opening. The busiest times are between 11-4, you'll find the early hours and the evenings are pretty good for getting to rides without much wait.
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We've only gone once without the express passes, and that was one time too many. And we loved the Royal Pacific. You can load your tickets and passes in a kiosk right off the main lobby. So easy! My DS Loved the pool there too. But I've heard good things about Cabana Bay. We just prefer the Loews hotels and the express pass.
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We just went in June, my first time. Here are my thoughts....
We stayed at the Royal Pacific at the suggestion of friends who were there with us. Having the Express pass was AMAZING in the scorching heat. I don't know the difference in cost between the 2 resorts, but we purchased our passes thru Undercover tourist and paid for a 2day but got the 3rd day free, so that was big savings. Having the express pass made such a difference in the lines and having the early entry was great as well.
I wasn't aware about the express pass, just followed the guidance of our friends and it was worth it. The RP is a very nice hotel as well, and the room size was nice. There were 4 of us, 2 adults a 17year old and 11yr old. the pool area was very nice as well.
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I haven't been since Harry Potter but have stayed at RPR and PBR and think they are both wonderful hotels. The service we got at both was outstanding and far out-shined any Disney experience we had.
I don't know room location but we had a room at RPR that overlooked IOA-I enjoyed sitting and watching the hulk.
When staying at Universal, we have been shown a map and asked to pick our room, but that was some time ago. I've never been below the 5th floor at RPR.
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