Universal

[tiggerelaine]

Could you lovely people help us my daughter friend and 5 year old grandson are going next august for 10 days staying at Disney but would love to do a day at universal for the Harry Potter stuff, which is the best way for them to do it, I don’t mind paying for a night at one of the hotels to get front of line passes but which are the ones that do it. Any information would be lovely thank you xx

[bella9]

There are 3 premium hotels that come with Front of Line Passes: Hard Rock, Portofino, Royal Pacific. All with different themes, and usually different rates. Have fun choosing. 😊

ETA: 1 day pass will give you 2 days entrance.

[DFussy]

Staying at the premium hotels will give you two days express pass, but they still need to get tickets as they are not included in hotel stay.

If they want to do hogwarts express they need park to park tickets. If they are limited in time, and are mostly hp focused it is possible to do in a
Day, weather permitting, without express passes. Would recommend starting early.

I love staying at universal, but with a ten day trip, it depends if they want to give up two days for staying over at universal.

[Softy]

Originally Posted by bella9

There are 3 premium hotels that come with Front of Line Passes: Hard Rock, Portofino, Royal Pacific. All with different themes, and usually different rates. Have fun choosing. 😊

ETA: 1 day pass will give you 2 days entrance.

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This isn’t very clear/accurate.

1 night in the hotel will give you 2 days of express passes - check in and check out days. You still need to buy the theme park tickets.

[bella9]

Originally Posted by Softy

This isn’t very clear/accurate.

1 night in the hotel will give you 2 days of express passes - check in and check out days. You still need to buy the theme park tickets.

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You're right, I replied quickly before rushing out. However, DFussy has already explained for the OP. Thanks.

[cornishfrogboy]

The easiest and probably best value way to do Universal is this….

On arrival in Orlando, get a taxi or Uber to a Hotel on I Drive towards the Universal end, a Ramada in Aug of 2019 cost me £60 inc breakfast for four.

Next morning at 0700, get a taxi to one of the 3 mentioned Universal Hotels. RPR is generally best value. Check in and leave your suitcases. (You will later receive a text when your room is ready. In probability, this room will cost you around £350.

Go straight to Islands of Adventure, get in and head for Hogwarts. You now have XPress pass for all of that days theme parking and all of the next days.

At the start of day 2, go to Volcano bay in the courtesy shuttle and enjoy it. At the end of your second day, get a taxi to Disney. By this time, you will have probably seen enough of Universal to last you the rest of the vacation as you still have 4 Disney Parks, 2 Disney water parks and Disney Springs to see.

If I was perfectly honest, I would be weighing up the £275pp cost of the Universal Tickets, plus the cost of the Universal Hotel and wondering whether there is value in it. I do not know the ages of your daughter and friend either, or whether they are either tall enough (54”) or old enough for the bigger rides in Universal.

[Claudette]

I often say that a night or two in an express pass hotel is a good idea and certainly it is what we do when we go to Universal.

But am not sure that a night in an express pass hotel is going to be worth it in these particular circumstances. A five year old child is likely to be too short for a number of Universal rides including at least two of the Harry Potter ones. The younger-child friendly rides probably won’t have much of a wait, particularly is this is late August when crowds won’t be too high either, all of which could easily make the express pass a bit of a waste.

So I would recommend no special Universal hotel stay and a day park to park ticket so that the Hogwarts Express can be enjoyed.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Claudette

I often say that a night or two in an express pass hotel is a good idea and certainly it is what we do when we go to Universal.

But am not sure that a night in an express pass hotel is going to be worth it in these particular circumstances. A five year old child is likely to be too short for a number of Universal rides including at least two of the Harry Potter ones. The younger-child friendly rides probably won’t have much of a wait, particularly is this is late August when crowds won’t be too high either, all of which could easily make the express pass a bit of a waste.

So I would recommend no special Universal hotel stay and a day park to park ticket so that the Hogwarts Express can be enjoyed.

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Agree with this. I have a potential Universal visit on an upcoming trip and have no plans to use Express passes. I won't do the vast majority of the rides there and the person who wants to go is only there for the HP sections and is eligible for AAS if they want to ride anything.

Although we will be staying at Universal on those days for the convenience of not having to Uber back and forth. I've allowed two days due to special needs, but realistically most people only need one for HP.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Claudette

I often say that a night or two in an express pass hotel is a good idea and certainly it is what we do when we go to Universal.

But am not sure that a night in an express pass hotel is going to be worth it in these particular circumstances. A five year old child is likely to be too short for a number of Universal rides including at least two of the Harry Potter ones. The younger-child friendly rides probably won’t have much of a wait, particularly is this is late August when crowds won’t be too high either, all of which could easily make the express pass a bit of a waste.

So I would recommend no special Universal hotel stay and a day park to park ticket so that the Hogwarts Express can be enjoyed.

See more...

I also agree with the above.

However, if money is no object, then a night's stay at one of the premium/deluxe hotels to get the Express passes will help save some time waiting in some queues. For example, the Minion ride often has a very long wait and the 5 year-old may want to go on this ride; the Express passes will help there.

Also, the OP may find that one day at both parks may not be enough time. I tend to spend at least two days in total across the two parks. Having a stay at one of the onsite hotels saves having to travel to and from the Disney hotel on the night between those two days. The Universal hotels are quite nice as well.

[Jenksy74]

I personally don't think staying a night in a hotel that costs between 3 and 400 quid to get express passes that cost $69 dollars each makes financial sense... Bear in mind, you only want to get in super early if you absolutely have to go on the main rides here... If the kids just want the thrill of being in and amongst everything that's HP then you really don't need express passes or to stay in a resort hotel... Just a park to park pass... Basically what Claudette said lol.

I have 2wk 3prk tickets for next Apr/May and know it shouldn't be as busy... My boys hate HP so forking out needless cash to get in early would be wasted on us😂😂😂