Help me with my math - is it worth it?

[gappedout]

We are heading down next Friday (6/26) and staying through 7/1. Two adults, a 17 year old and a 9 year old.

I currently have a vacation package booked through Universal Studios for five nights at the Hard Rock Hotel in a garden queen room with a 4 day - 3 park to park pass. Our vacation package total is $3,832 and has a $50 resort credit.

I have been toying around with the idea of getting seasonal passes to take advantage of discounts but want to make sure I am doing the math correct - AND - not blocking ourselves out on any dates.

Hard Rock Hotel has a APH rate for the same room for $1,963 (including tax). If I buy one Preferred Pass and three seasonal passes, that totals $1,689 (including taxes). So with the room - our total would be $3,652 - a savings of $180 plus the discounts at the theme parks with the preferred pass.

The only blockout date I see is on the Seasonal Pass on our July 1 date for Volcano Bay.

Is there something I am missing? Is it worth the hassle to cancel our package through Universal and go this route (and know it will take forever to refund my credit card)? Just want to see if there is a catch or another option that I am missing to maybe save some money going the annual pass route.

Thanks!

 

[Bethany10]

No catch, it's my understanding that the packages aren't really that good of a deal. We did get an email that they were lifting the blackout dates for V Bay, I'm sure due to how long they were closed. Trust but verify on that one. Also, you only need one AP to get the room rate, so an alternative is to price out tickets plus one AP.

Dealing with Universal isn't actually a hassle, I've changed reservations multiple times, especially in the last 3 months, and every-time I call there has been very little wait and everyone is pleasant. It's certainly worth 180 bucks to make a phone call (to me).

 

[nkereina]

You aren't missing anything. I agree with PP that the refund hasn't taken that long in my experience as well. The only thing I would caution is that I don't believe the seasonal pass blackout dates for 2021 are out yet. If you have any intention of using them in 2021, just take note of what they are for 2020. It usually blacks out whenever there are concerts during Mardi Gras, and some of the busier weeks of the year.

Also, take a close look at the discounts offered by the preferred pass and compare that against the cost of just buying four seasonal passes. The season passes include some discounts as well. We usually just buy two seasonal passes, as long as the blackout dates don't affect us.

 

[Iluvshoes531]

No catch at all....I had a package booked thru universal for RPR for Aug 1 - 5. It was actually cheaper for me to book APH and upgrade to HRH and buy us three seasonal passes than the original package with RPR thru universal. We also received three extra months on our Annual pass......so we will be booking next year too!. I was able to just buy the seasonal pass because they just lifted the Blackout dates for Volcano Bay that were originally in place for our trip! I try to pass this information along to anyone that will listen to me...lol. It saves a lot of money..... it just takes a little research. I hope you have a great time!

 

[gappedout]

You aren't missing anything. I agree with PP that the refund hasn't taken that long in my experience as well. The only thing I would caution is that I don't believe the seasonal pass blackout dates for 2021 are out yet. If you have any intention of using them in 2021, just take note of what they are for 2020. It usually blacks out whenever there are concerts during Mardi Gras, and some of the busier weeks of the year.

Also, take a close look at the discounts offered by the preferred pass and compare that against the cost of just buying four seasonal passes. The season passes include some discounts as well. We usually just buy two seasonal passes, as long as the blackout dates don't affect us.

Thanks! The only reason why I was thinking of one preferred was to get the additional food discounts in park. The difference between one preferred + 3 seasonal and 4 seasonal is $96. Assume I could maybe save or break even on food discounts?

 

[nkereina]

Thanks! The only reason why I was thinking of one preferred was to get the additional food discounts in park. The difference between one preferred + 3 seasonal and 4 seasonal is $96. Assume I could maybe save or break even on food discounts?

Gotcha, I wasn't sure what the cost difference was between seasonal and preferred. With preferred, you'd get 10% off food/drinks in the parks, certain resort restaurants, and CityWalk, excluding alcohol. With the seasonal, you'd only get 10% off at certain resort restaurants. With a family of 4 over 4 days, I agree you'd likely save more than the $96 difference or it will be pretty close. It just depends on how you eat and whether you prefer TS or QS.

With the resort credit at HRH, I would recommend using that towards breakfast at the Kitchen! My favorite on property. They used to have tableside magicians on Friday nights during dinner which was a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if they still do that.

 

[Elliemay2]

We did get an email that they were lifting the blackout dates for V Bay

What dates were lifted?

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

If you can see the AP discounted rooms now, book them before they disappear. Then tackle the package.

 

[Bethany10]

What dates were lifted?

Looks like they removed June and August blackout dates for the seasonal. July is still in place.
for the power and preferred it's before 4 PM for July

 

[gappedout]

Update for anyone interested

I decided to take the plunge and cancel our vacation package....and book with a Passholder rate and purchase the seasonal annual passes. I was going to move down to a standard room from a garden room at HRH and estimated by savings to be about $360 in total.

When I called the vacation package line to cancel...they told me they have a new annual pass vacation acquisition package. They were able to convert my vacation package of hotel and 4 day 3 park passes to the annual passholder rate and 4 seasonal passes with the 15-month length plus give me a $75 discount for purchasing a 3 park pass. So my total savings for my same trip went to $436!!!!

And now we can go on our check-in and check-out dates since we have the annual pass vs. just our four full days. I am likely going to try and upgrade one seasonal to a preferred pass when we pick them up.

Crazy that becoming a seasonal passholder is pocketing us $436! Just thought I would share!

 

[schumigirl]

Update for anyone interested

I decided to take the plunge and cancel our vacation package....and book with a Passholder rate and purchase the seasonal annual passes. I was going to move down to a standard room from a garden room at HRH and estimated by savings to be about $360 in total.

When I called the vacation package line to cancel...they told me they have a new annual pass vacation acquisition package. They were able to convert my vacation package of hotel and 4 day 3 park passes to the annual passholder rate and 4 seasonal passes with the 15-month length plus give me a $75 discount for purchasing a 3 park pass. So my total savings for my same trip went to $436!!!!

And now we can go on our check-in and check-out dates since we have the annual pass vs. just our four full days. I am likely going to try and upgrade one seasonal to a preferred pass when we pick them up.

Crazy that becoming a seasonal passholder is pocketing us $436! Just thought I would share!

Excellent news.......glad you got a good deal!

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Update for anyone interested

I decided to take the plunge and cancel our vacation package....and book with a Passholder rate and purchase the seasonal annual passes. I was going to move down to a standard room from a garden room at HRH and estimated by savings to be about $360 in total.

When I called the vacation package line to cancel...they told me they have a new annual pass vacation acquisition package. They were able to convert my vacation package of hotel and 4 day 3 park passes to the annual passholder rate and 4 seasonal passes with the 15-month length plus give me a $75 discount for purchasing a 3 park pass. So my total savings for my same trip went to $436!!!!

And now we can go on our check-in and check-out dates since we have the annual pass vs. just our four full days. I am likely going to try and upgrade one seasonal to a preferred pass when we pick them up.

Crazy that becoming a seasonal passholder is pocketing us $436! Just thought I would share!

Wow! What does annual pass vacation acquisition package mean exactly?

 

[gappedout]

Wow! What does annual pass vacation acquisition package mean exactly?

They just said that they now have the ability to convert vacation packages into an annual pass package and gave an additional $75 off for buying a three day pass. The benefit to me was that I just need to wait on a refund of the difference in savings vs the entire package being canceled and purchasing separately. Plus the $75 additional savings. They said refunds are taking 4 - 6 weeks.