Long story short, we have the opportunity to hit up US for 1 day on Feb 17.
I was here once at age 20… so 19 years ago! And been dying to ride Spider-Man again since! I preferred US to wdw then.
I would never not do express pass. It is a given as that’s how I did park at 19…
My 6 yo is super skittish and doubt will go on rides. Obvs my 1 year old will sit with whichever parent isn’t riding… strangely my 6 yo is begging to go…
So it will be a crowd level 9 which I normally would NEVER do ever…
6yo would be very into hp but likely not the rides… pricing it out gives us sticker shock… for not being able to fully partake in everything… I told hubby it is completely worth it and he’s down but $1000 for 1 day is ALOT! 
So, where can I take advantage of discounts? Tickets, hotels? I think it’s worth paying the “cheap” luxury hotel over buying express unlimited…
Hubby wants to know “does everyone buy express? Since you can…why would you not?”
I can answer this bit. No, not everyone does. Why wouldn’t you? Because it is horrendously expensive to buy, and most of the time not really needed, although I would agree if you just have one day you would need it.
4 Likes
Lol… that’s exactly what I said to him. 
. Hubby lives in a world different than most.
So even on a crowd 9 day you’d say express not necessary but for only one day in the park you’d totally need it?
Thanks!!
It would make a CL9 day easier, but I’ve been many times on a 9 day without one and haven’t struggled to do what we want. Bear in mind that a 9 at US is more like a 7 at WDW, the parks are less crowded.
If you want to do both parks in one day though (which I’m not clear on), you would definitely need express pass to get everything done.
Yes we do… if only to ride hog warts… we won’t be coming back for 4 years… and I personally think us/ioa is worth every penny! Unless it’s changed dramatically for the worse since 2000? 
The worst Disney crowd I’ve done I think was an 8 and it was awful! Of course I experienced a 1 that same trip so it was stark!
1 Like
It would be 10 cheaper to stay at not the hard rock but the other instead of buying express so I’ll probably do that…
Kinda hope the 6 year old feels adventurous with at least the experiencey rides…
1 Like
DEFINITELY look into this. It will often be cheaper to book the room for the Express Passes, even if you never set foot in the room, than to pay out of pocket for the Express Passes.
I struggled with this a lot b/c I wanted to do 1 day out of a WDW trip but I also wanted express, and we have a big family. I ended up putting 2 nights at the Portofino at the start of the trip so that we could get express and early park admission. It was a good decision; the hotel cost was much less than the express passes would have been, and we were able to do a lot with the passes. But my kids were older (13, 11, 8). There isn’t that much that 6 and 1 yr olds can do, although we loved the Dr. Seuss area and I wish we’d had time to do the Curious George play area for my DD8. At their ages the most fun at WWOHP might be things like the shows or the spells. We loved the spells! That was for me the highlight of WWOHP, that and the Hogwards projection show (which was Xmas themed when we went).
Yes it’s definitely an older park…
The one year old comes because well it’s a baby. . 6 year old will dig hp and suess and will either ride or endure child swap.
We’ll go again in a few years… my hubby just didn’t want to be at cocoa beach for three days… since we are going to see Saturn v… he’s finally at peace with the cost of universal…
I recently bought WDW tickets from Undercover Tourist for a large group (8 people for 8 days), and they sent me a “Secret Offer” after the booking. The offer was for 1 day, 2 parks at Universal for $130 per adult. This is significantly cheaper than anything else I found for savings for Universal. Not sure if this helps you. Undercover Tourist has excellent customer service. Maybe you could call and ask what you have to purchase to get that offer? Buy your hotel for Universal at UT to get the deal? I don’t know if that will work, but it is worth a phone call. Good luck!
That would be incredible! Thank you!