1. With four days, will we have time to see everything in the parks, as well as having lots of pool time?
2. Do you think it would be worth the money to make it two nights at RP, and one at CB, for an extra day of express pass?
3. Would park-to-park be so much better, or not worth the extra money?
Thanks!
1. Yes, you will have plenty of time for the pool.
2. Yes, if you plan on spending a lot of time on rides, especially if you want to do repeat rides or headliners, and don't like waiting in line. If you are ok waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5hr, you could probably get by with a little planning. Personally, I like the peace of mind the passes offer. I'm not worrying if we sleep in late or trying to rush to fit something in. We can just go where we want when we want. I always miss my pass on the days we don't get one. We still have fun, but never seem to do as much, and those days always seem more rushed and hectic. If you are good spending a slower low key day in the park - catching a few shows, seeing characters, watching parades, visiting less popular attractions, or just hanging by the pool, I wouldn't bother.
3. YES!!! At Disney I can easily stay in one park and never hop, but not at Universal. I'm not sure why it happens, but I feel like we probably end up hopping back and forth anywhere from 2 to 4 times each day. Part of it is the convenience. Both parks are so close together. From the front of one park to the other feels more like switching lands at Disney than switching parks. If I remember right, it's only about a 5-10 minute walk between the 2 parks. The train makes switching from the back of both parks quick and easy as well. Since it is so convenient, we usually end up doing it a lot. We will switch to go to specific restaurants, or to revisit a gift shop, or to get certain rides in during a less crowded or better time. For instance, we were rained out one time, but because of the park to park it was no big deal. We just did all the indoor attractions in both parks. Without access to both parks our available attraction options would have been cut in two, and we probably would have ended up leaving early.
Some thoughts:
I also second 1 person getting an AP pass to get the room discount. It is only about $50 to $100 more than a 3 day, but your savings can be in the hundreds of dollars per night on room cost alone. I just booked APH rate for July 4th week at $250 a night at Portifino. Rack rate was $400 and something a night. EP for my dates were close to $100 a person, making 2 days of EP close to $800 for 4 people (maximum room occupancy). The extra $100 I spent was well worth the $130 I saved per night, plus the $400 per each park day on free EP. Then on top of that, there are also discounts on restaurants, souvenirs, and parking.
As far as tickets, currently there is a discounted 14 day park to park ticket being offered that even includes the Wet n Wild Waterpark. It is about the same price as a 3 day park to park ticket, $250. That would be my recommendation. The only catch is it must be used this year. The fine print says first visit must be by 12-18-16 and ticket expires the last day of December 2016.
