But if I buy in advance, I can get it for lower (I paid $130 for unlimited express pass for my next trip) and I don’t need to sit glued to my phone hoping for a convenient time to pop up on the screen. I have never even paid for it before this because I stay deluxe usually.
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There are definitely benefits to EP over G+, but you pay for them with cold hard cash. It’s not surprising to me that some prefer one over the other cause people have different preferences.
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Very true. I was a big, big fan of Fastpass. But I’m not a fan of Genie+. I have my single day at Epcot and we will pay for the ILL for GOTG because that is the whole purpose of my trip, but after the price hike we decided that we will forgo Genie+ for the day.
As for the cold hard cash, my deluxe resorts have been between $200-$300 per day. I pay way over that for Disney deluxe nowadays and still have to pay for Genie + on top of it - I pay nothing additional for what I consider a better product in Express Pass (again, all in the eye of the beholder for the ‘better’ part).
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I stay Deluxe as well and it is a great value, especially if you have a full room. Assuming you can afford Deluxe (really, Moderate, compared to Disney) pricing.
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I’d personally give it a few weeks to see the effects. They sprung this on guests while on vacation, so many may be paying the increased price because they feel it would be a waste of vacation to change plans now.
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Good point. But then we’re getting into the holiday crowds so people may also be willing to spring for it.
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Given that they seem to think most purchasers of G+ use 2-3 LL a day, that’s still going to encourage them to price every ride quite high…
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This and some of those will be thinking “this is likely our last trip here because of the price hikes so we need to do it all now.”
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This is me.
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You’ll pay way over that for a Universal premier hotel these days as well. The lowest non-AP rate I’ve seen since reopening has been over $400/night unless you stay at least 5 nights.
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I have 2 upcoming stays, December and February, both on MVT deals and they are both under $400/night.
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Well, I did specify non-AP rates. Those rates are still well above the $200-300 range, anyway. Even with AP rates I’ve calculated that it’s almost never actually less expensive to stay at a UXP resort than Sapphire Falls or Aventura unless you have 3 or more people and will use the UXP every day of the stay.
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How much is EP going for these days (usually if purchased before your trip)?
So, they sell 1-Park or 2-Park, and there’s regular (one use per ride) or unlimited, and they use dynamic pricing so it changes as more people buy it for that day.
2-park unlimited is anywhere from $120 to $290 (current rate for Christmas week) per person. They also seem to use dynamic pricing for resorts… “seasonal rate” can vary within the same week at the same hotel.
Assuming the price increases at Disney starts to drive more people to Universal, UOR is not going to have any choice but to start raising prices or start limiting attendance somehow…or have lines so long people will stop enjoying going there as well. As much as UOR has become the one seen as doing things right, the fact is they cannot handle the kind of capacity that Disney could shed.
So… Disney’s actions could end up harming the UOR experience dramatically. And when Epic Universe opens, people will just prolong their vacations…meaning it won’t help much with crowds.
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We have never found EP needed at all at UOR. And the pricing limits sales enough to have negligible impact on standby waits…unlike G+. So, I see the EP model at UOR far superior to G+ at Disney.
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People have already been complaining about the crowds and lines at Universal. The week we were there the lines were much longer at Universal on weekdays than they were at WDW even on the weekend. On Saturday at Universal we had Express and we still waited at least 10-20 minutes for most things.
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At $120 a day for 2 people, a 2 night 3 day trip would be an extra $720 for EP? Would SF be $360 less a night than RPR?
Or would you skip EP some days?
My AP rate for SF next month is $169/189/189 for a total of $615 with tax. I haven’t seen any premier hotel with an AP rate for those nights and at this point it looks like none of the premier hotels are even available for any Th-Su weekend in November, at any rate. When I look at my January dates, which is the same nights of the week, the premiers are available starting at $445/night (no AP rates available)… $1502 with tax, or $886 more than SF.
2-park UXP for 2 people for 2 park days (we arrive late on the 17th, and leave at midday on the 20th, so we wouldn’t use it those days) would cost me $664 with tax. If we take an early flight on the 17th and used it that day (at a value of $240) we’d basically break even.
Edit to add that I would buy Express from a 3rd party that gives a small discount, like $10-15/day
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