Hi all! I haven’t been on the UOR side of the forum in a long time as our last trip was June 2021, but we are planning to go again sometime summer 2023. I cannot believe the jump in accommodation prices! We’ve always stayed at Royal Pacific as we love the relaxed atmosphere and included express tickets, but a trip for next summer looks like it will cost nearly $2000 more than it did in 2021. Am I missing something somewhere, and does this seem accurate? Thanks!
Edit to add: When I ordered our package in December 2020 for our trip in June 2021 (through undercover tourist), the cost for 5 nights with 5 day/2 park tickets was exactly $3003.57. For June 2023 it is looking to be a little over $5000!!
Prices recently went up for their hotels, but I also believe that discounts for dates that far out also haven’t been announced, so I would anticipate you’ll see some drops in those prices. If you are going more than a few days, check your dates against the annual passes…it might also be worth it to pay for, say, the seasonal pass so that you can get the discounts (when announced) for passholders.
Having said that…we are going May 2023, and I had booked Endless Summer months ago. Since then, prices have gone up, and the “discounted” rooms are now the same price that I paid several months ago.
Truth is, UOR is experiencing the same kind of revenge travel demand increase that Disney is, so their prices are going up accordingly.
The recent Comcast earnings report included a big jump in parks revenue. Sadly the hotels are following the trend. There are some deals but not as many and not as big savings. Lots of folks dipping their toes into Universal these days!
I expected the prices to have increased but just not by that much! I realize 5 nights at UOR is probably more than necessary, but our UOR trips have been SO relaxed compared to Disney. It is great to sleep in or have half days at the pool and then just walk to the parks with no plans having express passes. I will definitely look into an annual pass and hoping for ap discounts next summer. I’ve tried following for when those are released, and it seems like a few months ahead?
Right now, APH rates are out to mid December. APH rates usually come out 2-4 months in advance. If you can afford to do it, I would book the rooms now a price you can pay, and then rebook if cheaper rates come out. However, have others have mentioned prices have gone up a lot in the past two years.
Disney gets a lot of flak (and Chapek specifically) for their rising prices and nickle and diming…but Universal is quietly following suit. It is just their prices aren’t YET as high. Smartly, UOR is kind of marketing itself as a cheaper alternative to Disney for those fed up with Disney…but they are still raising prices as well.
June 2021 was probably heavily discounted as a lot of folks weren’t comfortable traveling, especially booking in Dec 2020 when vaccines weren’t available yet.
As everyone has noticed, that’s definitely not the case anymore! Travel demand is way way up. So it makes sense that prices are a lot higher, especially for the top tier hotels with Express Pass.
I was considering one night at Royal Pacific for the Jurassic Suite and was over $1000 for 1 night. We’ll just stay at Disney which seems like a bargain.
I’m probably going to purchase an annual pass at least for me-maybe for DS as well and time it so we get two trips within 12 months. I have a few questions regarding annual passes:
Is there a “ better” time to purchase them during the year, as in do they ever go on sale? Two years ago I bought the Universal photo pass on Black Friday as it was good for 15 months once activated. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of any special sales or anything like that for the actual annual passes, though.
Once I purchase an annual pass, how long can I hold onto it before activating it? I assume once activated it is good for 12 months from that point on?
Which annual pass is best to get? I think some have blackout dates, and we are limited to taking vacations during DS’s school breaks especially now that he’s older and taking some advanced classes this year.
For 2, there is no verbiage limiting how long you wait to activate it. I think the risk in waiting is that they only guarantee the benefits for the upcoming year. (At least, they only list the benefits for through the end of the current calendar year, which gives them the right to change the benefits…not sure if they actually ever have modified them or not.)
For 3, all of the passes have some level of blackout dates except the highest tier, so you actually need to go and look at the blackout dates for each one to know if it works for you.
So, if I’m wanting to use them in the summer of 2023 and then again Spring of 2024, I should probably wait at least until the start of 2023 to purchase? I don’t want TOO long and risk a price increase. Is there any particular time of year that annual passes have historically increased in price?
Costco has a good deal on hotel plus ticket packages (around 15% off) for Cabana Bay & Aventura. Travel dates are from now til mid February excluding holidays. Deal expires in 2 weeks.
I booked June 2023 back in January for a savvy traveler rate of $395 a night at Royal Pacific. The same room now is $662 a night, no savvy traveler rates for 2 queen standard rooms are left. The least expensive savvy traveler rates left for my dates are king rooms for $655.77/nt.
You’ll need to book premier rooms far ahead of time to get discounts at Universal anymore. Lot of people that used to vacation at Disney are now going to Universal (myself included). They are capitalizing on the increase in travelers, especially those that are priced out by Disney.