One week at Disney is $2500. Three days at Universal is $1850???

[disney4us2002]

Am I doing this correctly? I'm planning a week at Disney Tues - Tues (renting points) and then adding Tues - Fri to Universal and the price I'm getting for Hard Rock and 3 days of tickets is $1850. That seems like quite a bit for 3 days. We want the express pass so we need one of the top three. Any suggestions? We aren't traveling until next October so plenty of time to plan or save up!

 

[TommyJK]

Royal Pacific is the least expensive of the 3 deluxe hotels that give EP so I would suggest checking that one out

Also how are you looking? Are you pricing out as a package? Or separate? It's often better to do it separately with getting the park tickets from elsewhere like undercover tourist.

 

[TommyJK]

Also, what specific dates are you looking for and for how many people? I can take a quick look as if I were booking it to see what looks like the best price.

 

[TommyJK]

Whoah. I just did a hotel lookup for next October from Tuesday to Friday for each week in October. The deluxe rates are really high for some reason...... Seems odd. Perhaps a lot has been booked up already for Halloween Horror nights..... Seems like only suites are available which are expensive rooms.

 

[ruthies12]

You are probably looking at it correctly. Both places have their ticket prices structured so that the longer you stay the cheaper it is. You could upgrade those 3 day tickets to annual passes and stay an entire week at Universal with the only additional cost being the extra nights of the hotel room, if you moved down to a cheaper hotel you'd be likely be spending less than your Disney portion. Alternatively you could do only 3 days at Disney in a deluxe resort with 3 day tickets and probably be looking at spending much more than what you are spending on 3 days at Universal.

It is always cheaper to do one or the other, doing both breaks the bank!

My suggestion since you getting 3 day tickets is to look at getting them on undercover tourist, they usually have a buy 2 days and get the third free going on. Then you can wait for annual passholder rates to come out on the hotels and try to get your room with that rate, you only need to upgrade one person to an annual pass to get the hotel rate though usually the seasonal pass is the same price as their 3 day tickets so you might as well upgrade everybody.

 

[TommyJK]

I see many people say that here but obviously this isn't a mass thought as Disney crowds keep increasing in the grand scheme of things.

You are probably looking at it correctly. Both places have their ticket prices structured so that the longer you stay the cheaper it is. You could upgrade those 3 day tickets to annual passes and stay an entire week at Universal with the only additional cost being the extra nights of the hotel room, if you moved down to a cheaper hotel you'd be likely be spending less than your Disney portion. Alternatively you could do only 3 days at Disney in a deluxe resort with 3 day tickets and probably be looking at spending much more than what you are spending on 3 days at Universal.

It is always cheaper to do one or the other, doing both breaks the bank!

My suggestion since you getting 3 day tickets is to look at getting them on undercover tourist, they usually have a buy 2 days and get the third free going on. Then you can wait for annual passholder rates to come out on the hotels and try to get your room with that rate, you only need to upgrade one person to an annual pass to get the hotel rate though usually the seasonal pass is the same price as their 3 day tickets so you might as well upgrade everybody.

I think the OP was maybe only looking at hotels. They are right. When I do a lookup just for hotels the prices next October are sky high with what looks like no availability for standard rooms (just suites and above). All of the deluxes are over $600/night.

 

[disney4us2002]

Thanks for the replies. Basically, I think I'm just looking too early for any types of deals. I did look at undercover tourist for tickets but the buy 2, get 2 will expire in April '19. I'm looking at 10/22-10/25. The price listed was thru the universalorlando.com site and was a stay and play vacation, something like that. I will keep checking and hopefully a better price will turn up. Maybe in October the express pass isn't necessary and we can look at the value resorts but with so little time, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Our last trip was in 2012 so there is a ton of new stuff.

 

[georgina]

People don't book that early IMO. If only suites are showing available, the standard rooms are probably not booked up, just not showing yet. I booked for Thanksgiving week in May, and my rates are nowhere near that high.During some time frames, the discounts (stay more save more) require a 4 night stay instead of 3, but not sure about your dates.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I booked a standard room on hotels.com for Oct 7-12, 2019 at $263 per night. I'm planning to get tickets from Undercover Tourist in a few months.

 

[macraven]

Whoah. I just did a hotel lookup for next October from Tuesday to Friday for each week in October. The deluxe rates are really high for some reason...... Seems odd. Perhaps a lot has been booked up already for Halloween Horror nights..... Seems like only suites are available which are expensive rooms.

I returned from a stay at RPR last Friday.
Booked my room for next October next day.

Rates were low last week when I did that.
$203 for weekdays and think it was $230 weekend nights. (plus taxes)

Probably rates will change from what you saw today and drop back down.

I guess many have been booking return trips for hhn 2019 and when that dies down, rates will be more in line to a decent rate like I snagged.


Sometimes you will find a substantial drop in room prices 3 or 4 months out when conventions are canceled and those held rooms are released to the public.

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the replies. Basically, I think I'm just looking too early for any types of deals. I did look at undercover tourist for tickets but the buy 2, get 2 will expire in April '19. I'm looking at 10/22-10/25. The price listed was thru the universalorlando.com site and was a stay and play vacation, something like that. I will keep checking and hopefully a better price will turn up. Maybe in October the express pass isn't necessary and we can look at the value resorts but with so little time, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Our last trip was in 2012 so there is a ton of new stuff.

October 24 and 25 will have the studios closing at 5:00 due to it being a hhn event.
IOA will have normal park hours.

Your Monday and Tuesday should not be crowded if it follows the same pattern of past years.

You could book a value room for your first two nights and not worry about needing the ep for Monday and Tuesday.
You could switch to one night at one of the deluxe rooms for Wednesday and get free ep for all in your group which would cover Wednesday and Thursday for both parks.
Move back to a value onsite or offsite for Thursday night.

 

[damo]

Rates are always pretty high in October due to HHN. If you can go in September or November-early December, you'll find that prices are much cheaper.

 

[macraven]

The SMSM rates are available for stays including September dates
The discount varies based on the number of days you stay

It’s either 3 or 4 nights booked that gives the basic level of discount

If you have 7 or more nights booked, 35% discount
Start your at end of September and rate will carry over into October

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm planning a week at Disney Tues - Tues (renting points)

Ahem. You are renting DVC points? That's not a great way to compare prices. Renting points either gets you a great deal on a smaller room, or gets you a bigger timeshare space for the price of a smaller space. You're comparing renting points to full price. Maybe check out the cost Disney would charge for the rooms you're hoping to rent this November and then compare? And since renting points is usually a PIF situation with NO cancelation allowed, be sure to compare that to getting a room-only reservation at Universal.

People don't book that early IMO.

Agreed. I doubt if the prices will persist.

 

[REINALDO MONTANO]

I would try the renting DVC points way, in order to obtain any opportunity that matches my needs. Good luck

 

[Lewisc]

You booked the Hard Rock because it included unlimited express pass access. Are you comparing it with a WDW resort offering the same amenity. Even concierge level at the GF doesn't offer that benefit, at least yet. For the sack of comparison you need to look at a comparable Universal Hotel.
Likewise a 7 night vs a 3 nights isn't a fair comparison. Universal offer discounts for stays of 4 night or more. The price of upgrading your Universal pass to more nights or even an AP isn't much more.

Including Universal with a Disney trip. or Disney with a Universal trip, can get expensive. Both are pricing for longer visits.

 

[soniam]

Ahem. You are renting DVC points? That's not a great way to compare prices. Renting points either gets you a great deal on a smaller room, or gets you a bigger timeshare space for the price of a smaller space. You're comparing renting points to full price. Maybe check out the cost Disney would charge for the rooms you're hoping to rent this November and then compare? And since renting points is usually a PIF situation with NO cancelation allowed, be sure to compare that to getting a room-only reservation at Universal.

That's what I was going to say. DVC rates are pretty cheap, even if you are renting points. October is an expensive month at Universal due to Halloween Horror Nights, and that's one of the busiest weeks, with it being closer to Halloween. At least that's what we are seeing right now. I don't know if you have already rented the DVC points or not. If so, then I guess you can't change your dates. Hard Rock is not a good example. It's one of the most popular and tends to have the highest rates and the least discounts. It also can book up quicker. Royal Pacific is cheaper, and sometimes Portofino will have better deals as it gets closer. You probably don't have to book immediately but don't wait until the middle of next summer to book.

 

[TommyJK]

Also note. I just did a quick search in mid October (as an example I did Oct 8 - 12) and the rates are now MUCH lower. Looks like this is because standard rooms appear to be available now. A standard Queen room at RPR is $262/night. HRH is $289/night. Portofino is showing at $338/night for that time frame with the Stay More, Save More discount.

 

[Nsaudra]

depending on your dates look at the annual pass it may be cheaper than the ticket price you are looking at and you get a really good discount on the hotel our discount was about 100 off a night.

 

[keishashadow]

Older thread but just wanted to say good luck renting DVC studio at popular resort in October for a week outside of the 11 month opening window