Universal - 1 Night Onsite or Upgrade Pass?

[RayVisions]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for some opinions and rational guidance as to what option, if any, you would choose if you were in the same situation.

Going next month (2 adults) and I'm lucky enough to have more spending money than I had anticipated (very, very unusual for someone like me!) roughly £500.

I've worked out that it would be around £500 in total to upgrade our 2 three park seasonal passes to 2 three park Premier Passes.

We need to upgrade to a higher tier anyway as the seasonal pass has us blocked out of Volcano Bay and we can't be having that! Other passes let you in after 4pm but unsure if we would bother going to a water park at that time, or am I too picky?

Premier Pass is of course their highest tier and offers all the bells and whistles
(no block out times, one use express pass after 4pm every day in US + IOA, early entry every day, 15% discount off food in parks)

or spend roughly £400 on one night at a Universal hotel for the two day unlimited Express Pass.

We are also doing Disney + Busch Gardens, at least one day per Disney park depending on queues, interest and FP+ availability. Universal will be our usual multiple visits parks over a two week period.

If you were in my shoes which would you go for, or would you not bother with any? We are staying on i-drive for 2 weeks, not renting a car, and I want to add something a bit special to this years trip.

Or, would you forget both of those options and put it towards something else, ideas welcome!

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read and reply!

[itsmeGAV]

Well it's whatever is more beneficial for you and your family I guess!

Myself and my partner wouldn't upgrade out US tickets to AP as we won't get the full use out of them, but we are 100% booking 1 night in the Hard Rock Hotel for both the experience and the unlimited fast passes for the two days either side for when we go next year.

[smevs]

Personally I love Hard Rock Hotel - just a shame that we can only afford one night in it
It is nice to only be a short boat trip away from the hotel where you can relax around the great pool, or watch a movie from the pool later on. We have booked a garden view room for less than £400 that sleeps 4.

Last time we were there we checked in at about 8am and put our bags in their storage and then hit the parks with our passes

[TheDisneyCouple]

Easy question for us. Onsite every time. Can't beat the proximity to the parks!

[sandshal]

Are there no AP rates for the hotel? £400 seems crazy for HRH. We’re paying $259 for 4 people (granted in September) that’s for Portofino

[OB1LukeLucas]

When does your seasonal annual pass expire? Are you going to be able to use your annual pass again for another trip?
We had a 2 park seasonal pass last year and coped fine without going into Volcano Bay. We had Disney tickets so did Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon instead, not sure if that is an option for you?
How many times realistically would you want to visit VB? Is it not cheaper to buy a day ticket for there? (I have a feeling it is silly money so perhaps the plan of the premier pass upgrade may work out cheaper!)
I have a similar dilemma this year as to whether to upgrade my ticket to an annual pass again but our next visit is in July so I can’t go for the seasonal one this time
I would probably treat myself to a night in one of the hotels to get the express passes but if your going to get a few trips out of the annual pass it may be worth the further upgrade instead. As others have said perhaps you can get a better rate for the hotel with your annual pass or look at Travel Bag as they had good prices for August.

[rafjen]

I'd consider a day pass to volcano bay if you really need to do it.

[RayVisions]

Thanks for all your replies, appreciate it! Gives me some more thinking to do.

The annual passes expire in August so it would only be to get the benefits for this trip with no renewal as we won't be back for a few years.

Volcano Bay is already on our passes, and upgrading would let us visit more than once (after 4pm if any other pass other than premier) instead of a day ticket, which is priced at $80 on their website.

I can't seem to ever get the APH code working on their site, the prices come in pretty high, so not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've found it on Travelbag for £100 cheaper though, I assume that would be the best prices around at the moment?

I've never stayed anywhere fancy before so maybe the one night on site is slightly winning in my mind at the minute!

[lizzie145]

Contact them direct as they often have better deals than online.

As i hate water parks i would opt for the hotel. Plus i think it would be a waste of money to upgrade just for a couple of weeks to go to volcano bay. Perhaps you could try the new water park Island H20?

[claireyfairy8]

If you aren't getting a second trip out of the AP then I would stay at HRH and get the EP.

I think the AP only gives you the opportunity to EP each ride once? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.