Y’all don’t need the whole back story.
If I went to USO for a few days between 10/30 and 11/4, and I mostly wanted to see Epic, how would you approach this?
I realize Hallowe’en is in there, and likely a bigger deal at USO than WDW.
Should I go cheap? (Endless Summer is very inexpensive.) Or is some kind of express pass offered elsewhere that makes it better to stay somewhere else?
I have been looking at Undercover Tourist tickets and hotels, vs the USO site itself.
Terra Luna and Stella Nova and Cabana Bay all look nice.
We’d use a pool day (if weather allows).
I’ll take all guidance, keeping in mind that we aren’t trying to do “All the Things,” as much as we would like a time away from house/job/school AND it would be nice to see Epic (and maybe US and IOA).
How would you break it up in that window of travelable days, please?
If you are going to spend a lot of time at Epic I would not stay at ne of the expensive express pass resorts since Epic is not included, but I would consider a multi park one ride for each park per day express, if you can afford it.
I love Stella Luna. It is a nice resort and it is an easy, short, flat walk to Epic.
I just saw that you have to pay to park at Universal Hotels. That is so lame.
What differences, if any, are there between Stella Luna and Terra Nova? It isn’t apparent as I am looking at them.
If I stayed at either of those, how would I get to the other parks?
I’ve only done one day ever at Cabana Bay, and it was a pool day, not park day. All our experience with Universal included parking in the garage and then walking to the entrances through City Walk.
I think they have a pretty decent bus system. We stayed at Endless Summer Surfside for one night as a transition during our trip, and, while I saw a lot of buses, we didn’t actually take any of them so I can’t speak to that. They appeared plentiful.
Yes! I thought that this couldn’t possibly be true when we stayed at Cabana Bay. I had a cheap rental car from work and wanted to keep it but it would end up costing so much that I returned it!
Also - you can legally pool hop to the fancy resorts from Cabana Bay but not Dockside and I don’t think the two value Epic hotels either.
Cabana Bay is better. BUT, we had a nice pool evening at Surfside. It’s a very clean place, large pool, plenty of seating, and we liked it a lot for the little time we were there. The only downside is people aren’t joking about the noise proofing–it’s quite loud in the rooms. We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite–lots of room for everyone, very clean and nice. I paid like $137 all in, AP rate (I started stalking a year earlier).
If you want to go to Epic, make sure to budget for express passes. That park is amazing and so much fun, but I would never go without express if I wanted to ride anything. I was just there for 3 days with 2 other liners (my 2nd multiday trip with Epic this year), the park still has some kinks to work out. Many delays, some weather related, some not. The non-weather related ones are the hardest to deal with. Every ride has downtime every day it seems. We felt like we waited a lot some of the days is the express line. The standby lines are in length. Our first day 9/4 the HP ride didn’t open until 4 pm! Not a weather issue, it’s inside. Anywho, buy express.
I have stayed at Stella Nova twice now and quite like it. But as others might have mentioned, it’s perfect for 2 people. Bathroom counter is small for more than that. I love it’s location and being able to walk to Epic, although the buses are great too. But you want to park your car and not take it out again due to all the charges. Buses will take you anymore you need to go on property. Pool looked nice.
Yes. The biggest offenders are the Donkey Kong coaster and the Harry Potter Ride. Not uncommon to be 120-180 minutes, and that was during a lower crowd time. When we were there during a crazy busy time right after New Years, those rides were easily an hour wait with express, and 3 hours standby. Having more than 1 day of express is also beneficial as they still have so many issues.
Epic is beautiful, but we have no desire to return there unless they make some significant changes or additions (but keeping crowd levels the same). They focused nicely on aesthetics, but the experience of it was no bueno.
I would have to agree that to work around the problems, Express Pass becomes a must.
Buses are not an issue at the hotels. No need to drive to City walk. I am not sure driving would even save you any time even if you didn’t mind paying again to park.
in length. Our first day 9/4 the HP ride didn’t open until 4 pm! Not a weather issue, it’s inside. Anywho, buy express.
