Planning 1st Universal vacation...have some newbie questions

acarsme123

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
I am looking to take the family to Universal Orlando for spring break 2020, which is second week of March for us. I am having a difficult time navigating the vacation package/ticket options on Universal's site. We have gone to Disney a couple of times now, and I find their site much more user friendly when it comes to pricing out a vacation. I would plan on arriving to Universal on a Sunday and staying until Friday. I will most likely stay at one of the upper tier resorts, like Hard Rock or Royal Pacific. We never go to the parks on the arrival day. And we are planning on going to Magic Kingdom for one day as well. With that being said, anytime I try to do a vacation package, it always seems to assume I want park tickets for every day of my hotel stay. But since I won't be going to the parks on arrival day, or the day we go to Disney, is there any way to save money and reduce the amount of ticket days the package has? Every time I try to adjust it, the site just tacks on additional tickets instead of replacing the ticket package it already generated. It's really aggravating.

Also, the package picks a 3 park, park-to-park ticket option. I'm not sure how to best play this one because being able to use Volcano Bay might be questionable given the time of year. Last time we went to Disney this time of year, we had a few cold snap days where the pools were unusable. So I'm not sure if it's a waste of money to have all 3 parks or not. Would it be better to just have the 2 parks, and then if the weather is good, buy Volcano Bay tickets on the day of? But once again, I can find no easy way to adjust this.

Along these same lines, I also looked at what the cost difference would be to choose a cheaper resort on-site, but then get the tickets and express passes separately. However I see no easy way to do this either. From what I can tell, the site isn't even letting me buy tickets/express passes individually for that far out....however, it will let me book a vacation package this far out. Or is best just to forget trying to do it this way, and just stick with the upper tier resort to make it easiest?

I also want to ask if now is really the best time to be booking for a March 2020 visit, or if I should wait until later like in October or November? Does Universal ever put better deals out around then? I know for Disney, we could always count on them usually offering some special deal in the fall for spring break time frame. My worry is always waiting too late though and then having no room availability at the resort we want to stay at.

Lastly, and I'm sure this question has been asked a lot, between the three top tier resort options, it seems like Hard Rock or Royal Pacific would be the best options for us. Portofino looks nice, but it just seems like it would be better for a couple's vacation, rather than one with the kid. Between the two, which one would you choose and why? I understand from my research Hard Rock is closest to the parks, which could be super convenient after a long day walking around. I also understand the overall food options at the Hard Rock are better quality than Royal Pacific too from what I've read. I'm not quite sure how much the resort food will matter to us though as I assume we will probably eat mostly in-park or at Citywalk restaurants. Royal Pacific looks cool from the decor standpoint. That theme appeals to me a little more than Hard Rock's.

Thanks for all your assistance.
 
I have always found that the vacation packages are more expensive than buying each element separately, so unless the package is including something that you can’t buy elsewhere then I would avoid it.
Hotel accommodation I book directly with Loewes or whichever hotel I prefer. They have a good cancellation policy if you find a better deal. EPs are included with HRH,RP and PR no matter who you book with, even third party sellers like Priceline.

Tickets should be available on the Universal website. I think that on the US site,,after 5 days UOR offers APs as the cheapest option. You could price out 2 days plus 2 days but it may be more expensive. Also bear in mind that there is no effort involved in going to the parks on arrival day as they are an easy walk away. Often UOR has offers running and the 2 park and 3 park tickets which UOR sells are the same price. You can also buy tickets from third party sellers.

I hope this helps a little.
 
I can`t help you with packages as we have never used one, but many don't recommend it.

Book the hotel on your own and buy whatever park tickets you need separately. There are many vendors who sell tickets.

You do get the EP with your hotel stay at the three deluxe hotels whoever you book through…..

Look at the Stay More Save More rate on the Loews site......the longer you stay the lower the price goes. Also if you book direct with them, you can check the rate and if it goes down you call and have the rate adjusted to the lower amount. So, yes, I would book as soon as you can and keep checking. Mardi Gras is on then and rooms do fill up.

Hotel choice is very personal. PBH is fine with kids....they have the same kids activities that the other hotels do. Some have a perception of it not being kid friendly, but it is.

HRH is closer to the Studios, RP is closer to IOA when walking.

We love the food at RP.....Jake`s, Bula Bar, Orchids Sushi and Islands Dining room are all fabulous and we eat in them a lot. But, RP is our favourite hotel, so I do declare my bias. I find the HRH cold and my least favourite of the deluxe hotels, but many love it.

The Palm is their upmarket restaurant and the best food option there for us. But, again, The Kitchen gets good reviews.

I wouldn't choose a hotel on distance or pools as you can use the boats and pool hop. And it`s very easy to do that.

Check the website....it has the whole resort layout and will give you a better idea of where everything is and a rough idea of park layout, hotel proximity and Citywalk along with an abundance of other info.
 


I checked the price on Lowe's website for just the hotel, and when I add the total with the park tickets, it's $200 more than going through Universal's Stay N Play package. And I couldn't even select the Express Pass option on the calendar this far out when trying to piece it together myself....so that would be even significantly more you'd have to factor in. Seems like the only possible savings might come from choosing not as many days/parks as I had mentioned in my original post. But I'm not sure how much overall savings it would be or if it would be worth the hassle of trying to piece everything together.
 
I think I`m confused...why are you adding in the EP option?

If you stay at Portofino, Hard Rock or Royal Pacific, you have the EP included with your stay there. No need to add that in.

Or am I reading you wrong.
 
I am comparing prices between getting a package through universal....vs piecing it together myself.
I went to Lowe's Hotel web site and got the total price for my days. I then went to Universal's web site and got the price of tickets for that length of stay. I wanted to compare apples to apples, so I selected the same number of days, 3 park, park-to-park option....which is the same I'd get in the Universal package.

The hotel price combined with just the ticket price, no express pass included (cause I couldn't pick it out on a calendar this far out), is already more expensive than the package deal through Universal
 


I am comparing prices between getting a package through universal....vs piecing it together myself.
I went to Lowe's Hotel web site and got the total price for my days. I then went to Universal's web site and got the price of tickets for that length of stay. I wanted to compare apples to apples, so I selected the same number of days, 3 park, park-to-park option....which is the same I'd get in the Universal package.

The hotel price combined with just the ticket price, no express pass included (cause I couldn't pick it out on a calendar this far out), is already more expensive than the package deal through Universal
Hi, but if you book one of the three hotels EPs are already included in the price and are valid for the whole of check in day ( from about 6 am) and the whole of check out day.

I saw that there is a four day ticket which can be used over 7 days. Maybe that would work for you.
 
Yes, I know. Once again I was comparing putting together my own package vs Universal's packages based on the initial responses I got that putting together my own package was usually cheaper than going through one of Univeral's packages....but from what I am seeing as of this time, the opposite seems to be true.

I have always found that the vacation packages are more expensive than buying each element separately, so unless the package is including something that you can’t buy elsewhere then I would avoid it.


Hi, but if you book one of the three hotels EPs are already included in the price and are valid for the whole of check in day ( from about 6 am) and the whole of check out day.

I saw that there is a four day ticket which can be used over 7 days. Maybe that would work for you.
 
There are fees with package changes. Packages give you less flexibility.
I’m still confused. At no point would you need to be selecting dates for Express Passes if booking on your own. You book the hotel directly. You buy tickets (park to park or regular) on Universal, Undercover Tourist, AAA, Costco...you don’t do anything with Express Passes.

It’s 2 steps vs one- hotel and tickets vs 1 for a package :)

You can price out packages on Costco if you’re a member. That’s awesome my exception for packages as they usually give you some extras.
 
Ahhh. Ok. I must have glossed over the part about if you book the hotel yourself that you still get the Express Pass, right? Do you still get early park entry? If that’s the case then yes I can see how I could save money doing it separately if I reduced the number of tickets I need. I could probably get more discounted park tickets through work possibly too
 
Make it simple and book room with uo reservations or Loews site

Buy your park tickets from one of the discount sellers
Undercover tourist, etc

Once you have booked a hotel room. check prices occasionally
If rates go down. call and modify your hotel rate
 
No matter where you book, you get all those onsite benefits- early entry, Express Passes... :)
To throw a wrench into things is to price out an Annual Pass. It doesn’t take many days for the price to be comparable to day passes and you get even more perks, including a hotel discount. Often one member of the family gets an AP, the rest get regular tickets. Just one AP for the discounts. There are black out dates so I’ll let someone else speak with more knowledge about them.
 
Yes, I know. Once again I was comparing putting together my own package vs Universal's packages based on the initial responses I got that putting together my own package was usually cheaper than going through one of Univeral's packages....but from what I am seeing as of this time, the opposite seems to be true.

When you are pricing it out on your own, what hotels are you checking? If you are still looking at either RPR or HRH, there is no need to price out EPs - they are a benefit of staying at the hotel, regardless of where you purchase your tickets.

I usually book hotel through Loews and then purchase my tickets through UnderCover Tourist. This year, I booked a package through Costco as it was cheaper and I get a Costco card card when I return.
 
Ok I didn’t read all the replies.... but you can add whatever tickets you want to pick with the drop down arrow options (from what I recall) and then there’s a REMOVE option for the tickets they added originally.

I think the only advantage to a package is you can cancel the hotel and park tickets. When booking separately you can’t cancel the park tickets. From what I know you’re stuck with them.
 
We were able to save quite a bit buying tickets on undercover tourist.

And I like knowing we can cancel hotel by booking it only. We love RPR. Volcano bay is fun but I agree March weather can be iffy. We’d be fine with just pool. In fact lunch by RPR pool is a great way to relax.

We find the walk easy to RPR or boat so being closer with hard rock wouldn’t impact my decision.

Have fun. We LOVE how relaxing a universal vacation is over Disney.
 
We just did 5 days/4 nights at PBH, club level, through Costco Travel. It was 3k. We loved club level at PBH and the EP made it totally worth staying at one of the upper tier resorts. We qualified for the buy 2, get 3 day free tickets and the stay more, save more,
 
I keep pricing things with booking the hotel separately and the tickets separately....I still can't beat Universal's package....seems like it keeps coming in $200 cheaper than what I can do on my own. I guess for the time being going through one of Universal's packages it is.
 
I didn't see how old your child was but we starting Universal when mine was 6 (he is 12 now and we go once or twice a year)and he starting enjoying the vibe more than Disney. It was trial and error for us. RP was our first hotel - it was nice. Main drawback no waterslide at the pool (now I know you can pool hop but we never do). Next time was Portfino. This was my favorite. Huge rooms and bathrooms but it is very spread out so beware. My husband has a small foot issue and you can walk a little to get to the boats. Food was great, it has a waterslide and it was very enjoyable. Main drawback was it is a little fancy for kids or at least for me. Next, we tried Hard Rock and for me as a adult it may come in second to Portfino because it is loud, people are everywhere and it can get hectic. That being said it is perfect for kids. They can run around, pitch a fit, talk loud and just be kids and no one really notices. They have a waterslide and great pool and in general it is the best walk for my husband by far. It is not very spread out so closer to everything within the hotel. Also, not sure how you feel about switching hotels but when Cabana Bay opened we had to do a night or two there because my child could live there (if it had Express Pass). Lazy River, huge pools, waterslides and get theming all the way around. We normally stay there for a few days before going to parks and move over. Two years ago we tried club level at Hard Rock also and would never switch now. All the rooms for club are on the same floor as the club room, GREAT FOOD, the nightly appetizers are a meal (and yes everyone does it , with chicken wings, grilled chicken, sushi, etc). If you don't like it just ask, they brought me a salad many times for supper when I asked. They do not mind if you get more and take it back to the room for later and also my son would go in there just to hang out if he wanted to get on his phone away from us for a hour of so. He would go sit in the room and just chill out. (Also, free beer for my hubby and shirley temples for my child makes it worth the extra $100 roughly a night. I would say we only eat a light lunch in the parks when we go (we save $100 a day eating).


For the tickets, try looking at the annual passes. It took us 2 years to figure out but a) they are unlimited park to park and b)if you think this will be recurring trip it is cheaper to renew than to but a 4 day pass. Renewing for us is cheaper(the base level pass) even we are just going to one trip in a year. We don't do the 3 park only the 2 park also. Also, go to the hotels board and there is a link to the AP rates that is a sticky. Take a look at the first link (it is a universal website I think) and try your dates before you decide. I find IF I can get a Annual Pass rate it saves anywhere from $25-$100 a night which is great.

Sorry for the long post but I have found after years of trying this with a boy that gets a year older each year we are always changing our trips, however Hard Rock, club level and AP's seem to have become our staple for 4 years now and he will not stay at the others now. Even as he gets older and calms down he just loves the vibe at the Hard Rock and says he doesn't feel like anyone is watching him constantly waiting on him to do something wrong.

Lastly, enjoy. I went from a Disney (still love Disney though) planning parent 12 months in advance to a fly but the seat vacation person. No more 6am alarm clocks, if we get to the park at 11am so be it, we have express passes. If we want to leave and go to the other park its a 5 minute walk then we go back to the other park again no big deal. We now go for Halloween Horror nights and to be honest all I have at the point is our hotel and AP planned. I plan nothing anymore which is great!!
 
For the number of days we are going, I reserved my room only as a “stay more save rate” which was less than the AP rate. I long ago figured out that a Seasonal Pass was a better deal than a 5 day park to park with Volcano Bay.
Just be sure you will not be there on a blackout day.

My first time in many years I booked a Harry Potter package. The next two trips, we booked components separately for a better value.
 

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