Family of four with two teens. We have an August family trip to Yosemite and Sequoia Natl Parks planned, but given all the cuts and madness, I’m starting to realize I need a back up plan. Hello Universal Orlando!
We’d likely be looking at a split stay over maybe 6 nights in mid-August. I’m seeing ~$500 a night for Helios. And more in the $700 range for Portofino and Royal Pacific. (Willing to splurge a little and get the express passes with the latter.)
So my questions, as someone quite familiar with how WDW works but who hasn’t been to UO since Jan. 2017:
– If I booked now, are my hotel rooms easily refundable like WDW?
– Is there any benefit to getting a package vs. booking room only?
– If so, I assume a package would complicate any refund?
– Are there any other benefits to waiting to book, like maybe in terms of price?
Honestly, my inclination would be to wait at least a few months to put this all together, but I don’t want to miss out on anything by not doing it now or soon. And I am a planner. Also, still hoping we will go to the natl parks, but it’s kinda fun – and crazy – to think our backup could be UO and a new Epic.
Even more so! You can cancel up to 5 days before your stay. WDW cancellation is 30 days!
If you are visiting four days in the parks and hotel then packages tend to give a discount
No. Everything can be cancelled and refunded the same as the hotel. Universal is much more relaxed about these things…
If you are doing a package, then whatever you book now is probably the best price. I don’t foresee any more / better deals once Epic opens in about 90 days. They shouldn’t need to discount. However, I am only speculating…
If you are doing a room only those rates are best at around 120 days in advance. You can book now and if you see a better rate in the next couple of months you can call and rebook it for the better rate. I do this all the time…
I’d wait until after Easter, if you want a package, to book to see if any better rates / discounts to be certain.
I’m going in Sept. for HHN and will start looking at room rates in about a month from now. (Late March)
Perfect! Thanks so much for the thorough info. Exactly what I needed.
So, yeah, maybe I’ll wait. And in the meantime, I’ll continue to monitor. Including for all the latest intel here on this forum. Looking forward to it!
I’m thinking of going in Dec the week before Christmas (Kids get out of college Dec 14) but really want 2 days in Epic. But I might go ahead and book the package and then when single day tickets come out book an extra ticket. I, like you, want to stay in Helios but also express pass is more expensive for four people to purchase individually than to stay in the Premier hotels. But just FYI those hotels won’t get you Express pass in the new Epic Universe Park. There is rumored to not even be express pass there for a while after opening but I did see some talk online of VIP operators training so if I can only get one day. I will probably be investigating this as I find Universals group VIP tours pretty affordable compared to Disney and they come with meals.
I’m not a fan of the packages as modifying those are slightly more of a pain than if you book hotels and tickets separately, but packages aren’t a rip off or bad deal and it’s just a trade off.
the pro is it gets you the tickets now for only the $50pp sunk cost and you can trash the whole thing if you want or a better piecemeal deal comes along and your $50pp back. If you buy the tickets, from my experience I had to go to citywalk customer service booth to get my money back when I bought express pass i didn’t use.
