express pass cost

[Lulubelle17]

Can you still book one night and still get EP for the check-in day and the check out day (so 2 days of EPs with one night hotel)?

 

[schumigirl]

Can you still book one night and still get EP for the check-in day and the check out day (so 2 days of EPs with one night hotel)?

Yes, absolutely.

 

[CarolynFH]

Can you still book one night and still get EP for the check-in day and the check out day (so 2 days of EPs with one night hotel)?

Yes, that’s what we’ve done. On our last trip I looked at the daily cost of EPs for the week we’d actually be in Orlando so I could pick the two most expensive EP days for our UOR hotel stay.

 

[nkereina]

Staying at a premier resort or booking a throwaway room is absolutely the way to go for EPs in most cases. If you compare those costs to the costs of buying the unlimited EPs per person per day, I would assert most scenarios would come out cheaper with the hotel.

A couple minor caveats with a throwaway room in order to truly compare costs:

1) Everyone who needs an EP will need to be a registered guest on the hotel reservation. If the room's max occupancy is 4 and you have 5 people, then you need a larger room or you need two rooms. You're still limited to the maximum occupancy, even if you don't stay in the hotel room.

2) If you have more than 2 adults age 18+ in the room, you are subject to extra adult fees, even if you aren't staying in the room.

Also remember you need to check into the hotel and obtain room keys before you go to the park. Whether you're coming from another Universal hotel or a Disney hotel or wherever, you can check in as early as 6am and get the room keys which act as your EP. If the room is not ready for access yet, they will still give you keys to use for EP purposes, but they will not be programmed for a room yet.

Lastly, keep in mind that the 3 premier resorts are the closest resorts in walking distance (or water taxi ride) from the parks. Even if you are staying somewhere else and don't want to spend the night in the throwaway room, you are still able to use it for an afternoon break once the room is ready if you wanted to. Or even use the pool! Just a nice option to have a place to relax if you plan to have a full day at Universal.

 

[TheNotSoGreatGonzo]

Thank you for the great advice in this thread.

As I mentioned, we already had a 3-night package with 4-day tickets at Cabana Bay. We just added a throwaway 1-night stay for Night 1 at $1500 (incl tax) for the 6 of us at Hard Rock (2-bedroom suite). Given that I was probably going to end up biting the bullet and paying $250 per person (total $1500) for our Day 1 express passes, I not only break even in terms of $ out of pocket, but I also pick up express passes for the Day 2 as well at no cost. And we get to go check out Hard Rock in the middle of the day (maybe get some pool time, probably let our teens stay there while my wife and I head back to Cabana Bay to the other room for a better night's sleep).

That's a win in my book!

 

[Homemom]

For $700 I would see how much a vip tour would cost the two of you. We just did it last week for $214 a person. Valet parking, breakfast, lunch, front of the line for 10 rides, (only waited two minutes for Hagrid’s) and then had the express pass to use the rest of the day when the tour was over.

 

[mamapenguin]

For $700 I would see how much a vip tour would cost the two of you. We just did it last week for $214 a person. Valet parking, breakfast, lunch, front of the line for 10 rides, (only waited two minutes for Hagrid’s) and then had the express pass to use the rest of the day when the tour was over.

How long was the tour and was it one park or both?

 

[cfoxga]

Thank you for the great advice in this thread.

As I mentioned, we already had a 3-night package with 4-day tickets at Cabana Bay. We just added a throwaway 1-night stay for Night 1 at $1500 (incl tax) for the 6 of us at Hard Rock (2-bedroom suite). Given that I was probably going to end up biting the bullet and paying $250 per person (total $1500) for our Day 1 express passes, I not only break even in terms of $ out of pocket, but I also pick up express passes for the Day 2 as well at no cost. And we get to go check out Hard Rock in the middle of the day (maybe get some pool time, probably let our teens stay there while my wife and I head back to Cabana Bay to the other room for a better night's sleep).

That's a win in my book!

$1500 sounds quite high for 1 night. Wouldn't it be cheaper to get two regular rooms at HRH instead (or RPR since it is usually cheaper)? Have you considered upgrading to at least 1 Annual Pass to get an APH rate? They usually save 30-45%, which would be a lot in your case.

 

[JennCa]

Not trying to pry but do you happen to be going between May 28th-30th?

Jenn

 

[Homemom]

How long was the tour and was it one park or both?

This was both parks. We ate breakfast and then the tour went from 9:30 to 4:30.

 

[MoeJ]

For $700 I would see how much a vip tour would cost the two of you. We just did it last week for $214 a person. Valet parking, breakfast, lunch, front of the line for 10 rides, (only waited two minutes for Hagrid’s) and then had the express pass to use the rest of the day when the tour was over.

Wow, that's amazing! So, you get a tour with FOL access, looks behind the scenes, 2 meals, parking AND an EP for the rest of the day for less than the cost of the standalone EP.

I've done the RIP tour for HHN before (my feet are still recovering ;-)), but that just seems like an amazing deal!

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/vip-experience/vip-guided-tours

 

[TheNotSoGreatGonzo]

$1500 sounds quite high for 1 night. Wouldn't it be cheaper to get two regular rooms at HRH instead (or RPR since it is usually cheaper)? Have you considered upgrading to at least 1 Annual Pass to get an APH rate? They usually save 30-45%, which would be a lot in your case.

You bring up a good point. My rate was $1350+tax. If I were to book 2 rooms, it could have been $1100. I might look into this as that difference would pay for a meal for my 6.

On the AP, I think it would be about $300+ to upgrade to AP, and then I assume it's going to only be a 30% discount on a room (July), so that would save $330-$400 - not nothing when coming to a differential of $30-100, but probably not something I want to deal with the hassle of given that I'm out-of-state and don't know how easy that is to upgrade over the phone to an annual pass when I don't even have a physical ticket # (booked as a package).

 

[macraven]

You booked a package, correct?
Did it include air fare?

UO has a “cancel for any reason “ for packages
Airfare is not included in this refund

contact UO and ask how you can change your booking so you can lower your total trip costs

Have them go over the numbers with you and see how you can lower this trip cost since you are interested in buying the AP and would like room only

 

[TheNotSoGreatGonzo]

You booked a package, correct?
Did it include air fare?

UO has a “cancel for any reason “ for packages
Airfare is not included in this refund

contact UO and ask how you can change your booking so you can lower your total trip costs

Have them go over the numbers with you and see how you can lower this trip cost since you are interested in buying the AP and would like room only

Yes...good idea. Is the concept of a throwaway room frowned upon by Universal. In other words, if I upgrade to an AP and take a discount on Cabana Bay room, can I book a 2nd room at Hard Rock through them or will they tell me that isn't allowed?

 

[macraven]

The hotels are aware people do throw away rooms for the premier hotels.

I have read it’s not a conflict with the hotels

One thing I need to tell you is just because you have the AP, does not mean you automatically get the ap room
discount.
You need to lock in your reservation for when dates the ap can be applied

Not all dates are available to book your reservation with the AP

 

[Pooh's World]

If someone wants to throw away a room at Hard Rock or Portofino, I'll sleep in it.

 

[cfoxga]

You bring up a good point. My rate was $1350+tax. If I were to book 2 rooms, it could have been $1100. I might look into this as that difference would pay for a meal for my 6.

On the AP, I think it would be about $300+ to upgrade to AP, and then I assume it's going to only be a 30% discount on a room (July), so that would save $330-$400 - not nothing when coming to a differential of $30-100, but probably not something I want to deal with the hassle of given that I'm out-of-state and don't know how easy that is to upgrade over the phone to an annual pass when I don't even have a physical ticket # (booked as a package).

Even with the increased AP rates, I don't see how upgrading a ticket to a Power AP would be anywhere near $300. I would expect it to be in the $100-150 range. Unfortunately, because you booked a package, it is hard to know for sure. It is usually cheaper to book the room and tickets separately.

You don't mention the dates for your trip, but I put in July 12 and see PBH for $279 (https://res.windsurfercrs.com/ibe/d...ls=&ada=0&currid=1&vouchercode=&attendeeCode=). The APH rate saves about 40%. So two rooms would be less than $600. Saturday July 3rd was only $359 a night per room. Even with the AP upgrade cost, you might come out way ahead...

 

[shawthorne44]

I think it is so interesting how visitors have to book their hotel for a night to get the EP and it is cheaper than buying individual EP's. We are staying at Disney but want to go to Universal for a couple of days and it is so cost-prohibitive to add on EPs. Ugh!

Think of EP like adding Fast Passes for all rides and all time periods. Then the price makes more sense.

 

[TheNotSoGreatGonzo]

Even with the increased AP rates, I don't see how upgrading a ticket to a Power AP would be anywhere near $300. I would expect it to be in the $100-150 range. Unfortunately, because you booked a package, it is hard to know for sure. It is usually cheaper to book the room and tickets separately.

You don't mention the dates for your trip, but I put in July 12 and see PBH for $279 (https://res.windsurfercrs.com/ibe/default.aspx?hgID=641&langID=1&checkin=7/12/2021&nights=1&rooms=1&adults=2&children=1&promo=aph&iata=&group=&hotels=&ada=0&currid=1&vouchercode=&attendeeCode=). The APH rate saves about 40%. So two rooms would be less than $600. Saturday July 3rd was only $359 a night per room. Even with the AP upgrade cost, you might come out way ahead...

I was thinking I'd need to get the premier pass due to blockout dates. Upon looking at it, it seems like it only impacts Volcano Bay, so I guess I'd need to buy a separate Volcano Bay ticket or two for me to enter during my trip with my family. We paid $3181 for 4 people 10+ and 2 people (3-9) in 1 Cabana Bay room (Family Suite Interior Entry) with 4-day park-to-park 3-park tickets for July 16-20. We since added a throwaway room for first night at $1500 in a Hard Rock 2-bedroom suite with pool view in order to get 2 days of EPs.

If I book separately,
$648 (using AP discount) for Cabana Bay room for 4 nights
$853 (using AP discount) for HRH throwaway two rooms (we prefer HRH proximity over others)
$2040 for 3 "adult", 2 "kid" 4-day 3-park park-to-park tickets
$400 Power AP 2-park for me
$170 for two 1-day Volcano Bay tickets for me since my Power AP wouldn't let me enter until 4pm

Total - $4,411 (compared to $4,681 as I have it now)

Before I make this switch, is there anything I need to be worried about or thinking through differently? Can I book the AP-discounted rooms through the link you sent? I assume it's like WDW where you just have to get your AP activated as you check-in (I assume this can be done at hotel?).

 

[macraven]

If the AP is available for your dates, you can book it and buy the ap before you are there

your rates will hold once you show your ap at
check in time