Staying at cabana bay but would you book 1 night at Royal Pacific?

natanddaz · 5 Oct 20, 02:21 PM

Hello trying to keep positive and looking forward to our August trip 🤞. We have a package booked with ba staying for 18 nights at cabana bay which we were attracted to due to the direct access to volcano bay. Did consider splitting our stay but we have 3 kids in tow and probably no hire car and tbh after this year a relaxing 18 night stay in one spot appealed to us! Anyway its my birthday while we are their so im considering booking just 1 night at royal pacific to gain the express passes- does this sound nuts when we are already staying onsite? Also if we go ahead is it worth upgrading to club level? Think its about an extra �70.

Many thanks for any info

**dismamx2** · 5 Oct 20, 02:56 PM

If you are planning on spending most of your 18 nt stay at Universal parks I wouldn't bother with EP for 2 days, you will have enough time to get through everything. Unless you want it mainly for the hotel stay for a nice treat for your birthday

We've never done club level at RPR but if you are doing the stay mainly for EP and intend to be at the parks mostly then you may miss out on CL offerings but it depends on how much you would eat etc.

Enjoy planning your trip

lizzie145 · 5 Oct 20, 03:50 PM

As above if only doing universal then you would get it done especially if up early and then back to the hotel pool for the afternoon.
Locals dont go early so it would only be those on holiday generally.

Guest · 6 Oct 20, 04:28 AM

I always book an express pass hotel when I go to Universal. However I am not sure I see the point in a double booking when you are already there for 18 nights.

natanddaz · 6 Oct 20, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by Claudette

I always book an express pass hotel when I go to Universal. However I am not sure I see the point in a double booking when you are already there for 18 nights.

My eldest has asd and doesnt do big roller coasters (any thing that goes upside down), and i do therefore think there will be a number of rides that we will have to split up for so i guess i was thinking if the ques where long for the big rides we could save them and do them when we have the express passes so no one is hanging around waiting for too long. It did occur to me that maybe i could book it towards the end of our stay and if we find the ques etc not problem then cancel the booking maybe. We have never done universal so its hard for me to judge ques etc.

littlelish0544 · 6 Oct 20, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by natanddaz

My eldest has asd and doesnt do big roller coasters (any thing that goes upside down), and i do therefore think there will be a number of rides that we will have to split up for so i guess i was thinking if the ques where long for the big rides we could save them and do them when we have the express passes so no one is hanging around waiting for too long. It did occur to me that maybe i could book it towards the end of our stay and if we find the ques etc not problem then cancel the booking maybe. We have never done universal so its hard for me to judge ques etc.

You will have plenty of time to do everything more than once being there for that long without any queue bother. The parks app will tell you the current waiting times for all the rides and allow you to accomodate your son-also you can go to guest services and get a pass for your son, so you can book a timed slot for rides and will be able to avoid the queues. It can have up to five other members of the party included too. So between that and the app you should be fine. Ive not been to volcano bay as not interested in water parks, but universal and islands of adventure you will get to know like the back of your hand well before the end of an 18 days stay... have a fab time...crossing everything that we are past all the chaos by then for you xx (my husband doesnt do the big/upside down coasters either)

Simon & Suzann · 7 Oct 20, 08:34 AM

As others have said, you're there for such a long time that you'll have plenty of time to do everything. Although you will end up waiting in lines at some point for bigger rides ie hulk. There are options for single riders on some if that applies to you.
The later in Aug you go the quieter it gets with schools opening up. Although over the years it's getting busier we're finding and lines are getting quite hefty for some rides (just personal thoughts).

If you did decide to do RPR we stayed on RPR and HRH last year and found the EP amazing tbh. We did prefer HRH if we had to pick one but honestly both were great.
Also club level u mentioned for �70 for 5 of you (hope I got that right?) Is brilliant. It's not 3 course meals but the drinks alone is worth it. Then u got a small choice breakfast and snacks plus an evening meal sort of thing then you also got a happy hour kind of thing. On both days!

A little tip - we're normally a big group and in past trips we've bought walkie talkies. But these days with wi-fi everywhere phones are just as good to stay in touch so if group A is still waiting in line it's just a quick roger roger or WhatsApp/kik message to let group B know to ride something else.

Also you mention ASD, I'm not sure what it's called but there's some kind of ticketing system where you can get slots for rides without lining up. Might be worth looking into more or hopefully someone will come along with more info. I'm not sure on the rules but u could book the big rides for everyone then if your son decides not to ride last minute then the others could still go on.

natanddaz · 7 Oct 20, 09:26 AM

Thanks everyone thats really helpful. 👍

6 Oct 20, 04:28 AM	#4
	6 Oct 20, 04:28 AM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	I always book an express pass hotel when I go to Universal. However I am not sure I see the point in a double booking when you are already there for 18 nights.