Opinions on 5 day trip

[borgthe]

We are going August 16-21. Will upgrade to annual passes when we get there. Just the basic annual pass, not the one that has express after 4. My question is, since we will be there for a relatively long time, do you think we need to stay at a hotel with EP? I can get a super deal on a timeshare, about $200 for a whole week. Right now I have a reservation with Portofino for $1600 for the 5 nights. So I would save $1400 in this scenario.

What would you do?

Thanks!

 

[georgina]

I would go with the timeshare. Later in August crowds thin out some. You could always spring for one day of EP once you get there if you feel you need it. I was there last August staying at Cabana Bay (so no EP) and got a lot done in the mornings and evenings without EP.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You can do a lot over that time frame. 5 mornings at park opening is golden. Hit the busiest rides then. Afterwards, having the Universal App will help as you wander at your leisure.

 

[borgthe]

Thanks. I was figuring we wouldn't need it. We are also going to volcano bay a couple times but even with that I think we may be fine.

 

[glocon]

Or you could just do one night at PB and get 2 days of ep. then stay at the timeshare the other nights.

 

[borgthe]

Or you could just do one night at PB and get 2 days of ep. then stay at the timeshare the other nights.

That's a great idea!!!

 

[jcc0621]

You could do one night at RPR, HRH or PB and get 2 days of EP. The crowd calendars I have seen have the crowds as being 6 and 7 on those dates.

 

[pattyw]

With that time frame and the amount of park days, you would probably be fine without EP. That said, one night at a deluxe will get you 2 full days of EP and you could also enjoy the onsite pools, etc.!

 

[rdevine10]

We are going the end of July for 5 days and opted to do one night at RPH and the rest at a much cheaper offsite. So we get 2 days of express pass and 3 days of leisure touring (which will likely include rope drops etc). We figured this was the best of both worlds and MUCH cheaper than the whole trip onsite this time.

 

[sandam1]

What is the size/make of your party? If you are able (and willing) to use single rider lines, you are all set. If not, you're still probably okay. I know that a lot of people swear by EP, but I would rather do multiple short trips during the year and roll the $$ that I would have spent on an EP hotel into an additional trip. If you already have the AP, it's actually quite cost effective to do subsequent trips.

 

[klo1335]

We always stay offsite at a condo and don't have EP. We have a group of 9 going over the Thanksgiving week this year and back in 2016 we had a group of 6 w/o EP. We got there for park open and did all the headliners with little to no wait. Then we just wandered around the rest of the time. We always go for 4-5 days as well so we don't feel rushed.