Using my contract for the 1st time next year, but also looking to visit Universal

[Bobb_o]

My wife wants to see the new Harry Potter stuff (She's only been when the first land opened, I couldn't care less) and since we've gone to Disney a lot she wants to spend some time there. I really only want to spend a day in those parks (we're planning on a week in May) and looking up what it would cost for tickets+express pass it's going to be ~$300 per person which seems like a lot.

I see that to stay on a Sunday at one of their deluxes to get the free express pass it would be $381/night which considering the basic express pass would be $200 it seems like it would make sense to stay there for a night. So what I'm thinking is if we aren't using all of our points for a DVC stay should I try and sell some to help pay for a night at Universal? I own at AKV so I know they're not the most valuable and that selling a low amount might not be easy.

Going at the beginning of our trip would mean that we'd then need to have transportation from the airport so that's an additional cost. For those who have done Universal during Disney trips what has been your strategy? We don't need to do everything but would like to hit the biggest rides which is why I think we'd need the express pass.

 

[CraigInPA]

My wife and I did a Mears shuttle to Portofino Bay, and then uber'd from Portofino Bay to Poly to solve the transportation issue caused by starting at Universal. I wasn't thrilled with Mears. They stopped all over the place, and we were the last people in the van. It took over an hour and a half to go from the airport to Portofino Bay because of all the stops. We did Magical Express from Poly to the airport for the trip home.

We did 3 days at Universal. With the express pass included because we were staying at Portofino Bay, we saw everything we wanted to see pretty much walk-on (Harry Potter was exempted from express pass). We hit Harry Potter first thing in the morning, in the hour open to resort guests and not the general public, so had minimal wait times even for that. Later in the day, I was seeing 90+ minute waits for various rides, but still almost walk-on for express pass. Had we known how much of a time saver it was, we probably could have done it all in 2 days. On the last day, we put our luggage with bell services, and went to the park. Upon return, we called for the uber, and sprung our luggage from bell services. They insisted on taking it to the portico for us, and my wife insisted on tipping them to do it.

Whether you rent points to pay for the cost of the Universal side-trip is something you'll have to decide for yourself. For my wife and I, we just extended our normal 10 night trip to 12 nights to accommodate the 2 nights spent at Universal.

 

[Bobb_o]

My wife and I did a Mears shuttle to Portofino Bay, and then uber'd from Portofino Bay to Poly to solve the transportation issue caused by starting at Universal. I wasn't thrilled with Mears. They stopped all over the place, and we were the last people in the van. It took over an hour and a half to go from the airport to Portofino Bay because of all the stops. We did Magical Express from Poly to the airport for the trip home.

We did 3 days at Universal. With the express pass included because we were staying at Portofino Bay, we saw everything we wanted to see pretty much walk-on (Harry Potter was exempted from express pass). We hit Harry Potter first thing in the morning, in the hour open to resort guests and not the general public, so had minimal wait times even for that. Later in the day, I was seeing 90+ minute waits for various rides, but still almost walk-on for express pass. Had we known how much of a time saver it was, we probably could have done it all in 2 days. On the last day, we put our luggage with bell services, and went to the park. Upon return, we called for the uber, and sprung our luggage from bell services. They insisted on taking it to the portico for us, and my wife insisted on tipping them to do it.

Whether you rent points to pay for the cost of the Universal side-trip is something you'll have to decide for yourself. For my wife and I, we just extended our normal 10 night trip to 12 nights to accommodate the 2 nights spent at Universal.

The more I'm thinking of it the way you did it might be worth it. We were planning on arriving Sunday to Sunday but we could arrive Friday and do a day at each park. I forgot that just because Disney Parks aren't on Chase's portal doesn't mean Universal's aren't, and I do have a lot of points so we could use them to stay there.

 

[bumbershoot]

So what I'm thinking is if we aren't using all of our points for a DVC stay should I try and sell some to help pay for a night at Universal?

You certainly could.

For those who have done Universal during Disney trips what has been your strategy?

Go at the END. Express Pass is amazing, and you will hate fastpass after it.

We went from an OKW two bedroom to a normal room at Royal Pacific, and while it was a size difference that took a couple hours to get used to, getting used to FP after EP is much harder.

Also, one night deluxe gets you TWO days of unlimited express pass, so make your wife happy and buy two day tickets. You'd get early entrance both days, unlimited EP both days, and loads of fun. Plus access to butterbeer and the Big Pink Donut from Simpsons.

Harry Potter was exempted from express pass

While Hagrid's ride will probably not have EP anytime soon, the rest of Wizarding World accepts EP now.

 

[aoconnor]

Agreed that $381 for two Expresss Passes (four really, since you get them both days) is definitely worth it. You'd be surprised how easy it may be renting a small amount of points to cover the cost- ask David's what they think. They may have people looking for just a night or two.

AKV is considered a premium resort for them so you get $14.50 per point, would need to rent 26 points to cover the whole thing.