Wanna be Ariel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2010
New to the universal world and new AP holder. What are the chances of getting a good rate for next Frida /Saturday this late in the game? Would like one of the nicer resorts. Any help would be great.
How many in your party? By "nicer" do you mean one of the Premiers that offer Express Pass? Took a quick look & I don't see any AP rates at any of the premier hotels for next Fri & Sat (9/24-25), probably because it's HHN & a VERY busy time- I do see a Lagoon View 2 Queen at Sapphire Falls for $163.35/night APH. SF has boat transportation but no XP. We stayed there last year in August in a 2Q LV room & it's a BEAUTIFUL resort - my favorite so far .New to the universal world and new AP holder. What are the chances of getting a good rate for next Frida /Saturday this late in the game? Would like one of the nicer resorts. Any help would be great.
4- 2 kids 2 adults. Yes I was thinking one of the resorts that offer the express pass would be nice. I kinda figured it would be busy, but did not know if rooms just show up. I am still trying to understand everything Universal. It’s been 16 years since my hubby and I where there last . Lots has changed.How many in your party? By "nicer" do you mean one of the Premiers that offer Express Pass? Took a quick look & I don't see any AP rates at any of the premier hotels for next Fri & Sat (9/24-25), probably because it's HHN & a VERY busy time- I do see a Lagoon View 2 Queen at Sapphire Falls for $163.35/night APH. SF has boat transportation but no XP. We stayed there last year in August in a 2Q LV room & it's a BEAUTIFUL resort - my favorite so far .
4- 2 kids 2 adults. Yes I was thinking one of the resorts that offer the express pass would be nice. I kinda figured it would be busy, but did not know if rooms just show up. I am still trying to understand everything Universal. It’s been 16 years since my hubby and I where there last . Lots has changed.
There's always the possibility of last minute cancelations if someone's plans change4- 2 kids 2 adults. Yes I was thinking one of the resorts that offer the express pass would be nice. I kinda figured it would be busy, but did not know if rooms just show up. I am still trying to understand everything Universal. It’s been 16 years since my hubby and I where there last . Lots has changed.
New to the universal world and new AP holder. What are the chances of getting a good rate for next Frida /Saturday this late in the game? Would like one of the nicer resorts. Any help would be great.
Does anyone know, in regards to booking multiple rooms under the APH rate.. if I book a two bedroom suite (say for example it's a "two bedroom suite" which breaks down as a Sapphire suite + connecting queen), does that count as two rooms and would therefore need to present two passes for the discount? Or just one pass for the discount?
In the past I’ve seen some great rates pop up after the 5 day cancellation is imposed. Keep checking but, perhaps book something cancellable a day or two prior offsiteLook for individual days. The last day to cancel without penalty is 5 days out. So you will see some room shuffling until then. After 5 days out, it becomes less likely that something will turn up.
Any thot on booking that night first, then a value for the next two?Just had Portofino pop up for one of our dates with a rate of $244. It's been showing as $489 - a 50% savings! The days on either side of that day are still $489. Unless those drop, we'll plan on resort hopping 3 times. Not ideal, but it will save us a nice chunk of money - as it stands, 3 hops would save us over $700 for those two nights.
The one night at PBR would get us EP for our two park days, so it's perfect.
Still not locked in on this trip, but I grabbed the rate and we'll discuss tonight. The nice discount on that one night helps lean towards "Let's do it"
The PBH night would be our middle night. If we do it, the plan would be:Any thot on booking that night first, then a value for the next two?
Unless we have family or friends along we no longer bother doing regular park hours other than heading in around 2or 3pmit's exhausting and expensive - you almost have to do 2 nights or get EP or a tour if you want to see everything and not have to be there for 10 hours (from the time you enter a S&S corral to HHN close).
That's definitely our problem - we want to do both! I wouldn't know what to do with myself between waking up and 2 or 3 if we didn't head to the parks lol. I'm not at all interested in hanging out at a pool - I want to ride some rides!Unless we have family or friends along we no longer bother doing regular park hours other than heading in around 2or 3pm
While it would cost a little more, you might consider a value resort for all 3 nights and use PBH as a "throw-away" for the EPs...The PBH night would be our middle night. If we do it, the plan would be:
The next question would be if we want to do HHN. We've loved going in the past, but it's exhausting and expensive - you almost have to do 2 nights or get EP or a tour if you want to see everything and not have to be there for 10 hours (from the time you enter a S&S corral to HHN close).
- Arrive late on 10/13 (driving down and would get there ~10:00 or so) and stay at a value. Values are currently around $100
- AM on 10/14, check out and move to PBH and hit early park admission
- AM on 10/15, check out, move to a value, and hit EPA. Values are currently around $130. Sapphire isn't much more, so we might consider that since we've never stayed there.
- AM on 10/16, check out. I'm sure I'll want to rope drop IOA to get in one more ride on Velocicoaster and/or Hagrid's, but we'll see how it goes
That's what we did in May - SOOOO worth it to us to not have to "pack-n'move-n-pack-n-move, etc", LOL.While it would cost a little more, you might consider a value resort for all 3 nights and use PBH as a "throw-away" for the EPs...
That’s what we often do. We just pack an overnight bag.That's what we did in May - SOOOO worth it to us to not have to "pack-n'move-n-pack-n-move, etc", LOL.
When are you going Magical?As people wait for January AP rates, I just wanted to share that Southwest released dates from the first week of January through mid-April.
We have had a room held at RP for a few months for MLK weekend in January. We have been on the fence about going to FL but we are all vaccinated so we booked our airfare today. We stayed at PB last time and really loved it. We are happy with the current RP rate but of course if an AP rate comes out we will try to book the lower rate and may switch hotels.