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A few months ago, I wrote about the vacation destination we kept putting off for another time: Universal Orlando. I had a hard time justifying the money for park tickets plus the cost of an on-site hotel that provides Universal Express Pass.
Well, after having a very uneventful travel-free fall and an isolated holiday season, we had a change of heart. We decided to invest some time and money into a longer Universal experience while we are in already in Orlando for our Disney World trip this summer.
Promo Tickets and On-site Hotel.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, one day park-to-park tickets at Universal would cost my family of five almost $1000. And that’s just for one day! However, I found the current promotion slightly more palatable.
Through January 6, Universal has promo park admission tickets that are “buy two days, get three days free”. The park-to-park version of this costs $1500 for my family on Undercover Tourist, but we get five days out of it. We have to use the 5 days within a 7-day period. There are no blackout dates, and the tickets can be used through 8/31/21. Note: I highly recommend buying tickets at a slight discount on Undercover Tourist.
We plan to use the tickets at least three days. Two of those days will be partial days when we arrive and depart. We may also use the tickets a 4th day while we are staying at Disney if the mood strikes us. We likely won’t need all of those days for rides, but we could spend some hours with the interactive wands.
For lodging, I booked two nights at the Hard Rock Hotel. This will get us Express Passes for three park days.
This clearly is a big splurge. I’m blaming 2020. At least we used miles and points for our flights.
The Big Reveal
Since this will be a new experience for our kids (they’ve never been to Universal), I decided to make the reveal special. In the past, we’ve made scavenger hunts, puzzles and other surprises to reveal our upcoming vacation destinations.
For this trip reveal, I ordered Hogwarts acceptance letters for my kids on Etsy. The letters were personalized for each kid to describe their room.
My kids also received chocolate frogs and Harry Potter jelly slugs in their Christmas stockings.
I fully expect us to be wearing masks in the parks this summer. But right now, almost any type of travel sounds good to us.
Have you added any travel splurges into your 2021 travel plans?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I think this is a great choice for a family vacation. I hope you will have a good rest!
Thanks, Linas!
The wands are so cool. I went to a conference and spent an extra 2 days, telling myself I wouldn’t buy a wand. Of course I did.
One suggestion, I got up early and got there at park opening and went to use the wand because most stations are crowded during the day. There were few people who had them out and some kids thought I was an actual wizard when I made a second story room light up and water drop down. There is no other word, it was magical. About an hour in, it was crazy crowded, but it was so neat early on.
Thanks for the tip, Beth! The early bird catches the worm with those wands, sounds like.
Went to WDW May ’19. Really went all out, club level, club passes, blah, blah blah. It was fine.
Went to Uni as soon as they opened in June. Had a blast. Of course, super low crowds had a lot to do with that but we upgraded to APs, went back a few months later, and have ANOTHER trip planned for spring.
Aside from shows and character meals, Uni is a MUCH better fit for our family. (And Dis gutted those for now) I thought our 5 yo would be too young, but he wasnt at all. I loved he was still young enough to enjoy Seuss Landing but big enough for most rides. And VB is awesome.
I really, really like the EP. WDW fast pass system is pretty awful. We like that uni’s 2 parks are within walking distance of the deluxe hotels. We also prefer DL over WDW with ease of park hopping and their “fast pass” system. With shows like HDDR gone, the only thing I really miss about WDW is Haunted Mansion. Uni could use a really great dark ride.
I think your kids will have a blast! We are not HP fans but LOVED it at Uni!
@Lindy I’m glad to hear you had such a fantastic time at Universal! I hope we love it as well. I am looking forward to those Express Passes for sure.
If it’s not too personal, what did the hotel run? I’m trying to figure the value proposition regarding the express pass. Also, I imagine you know this but it’s going to be hot and muggy. Extra masks that are dry may be prudent between rain and sweat.
It’s always worth it to see what the AP rates are for the hotel and consider whether upgrading one of your tickets to that to get that rate can save you $.
@Christian HRH for our dates is around $550 a night with taxes. With 5 in my family, it works out to be cheaper than buying Express Pass for 2 days. Royal Pacific is a little cheaper, but the rooms aren’t as big.
I just booked our big summer splurge trip, nine days at Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. The splurge is on nice AirBnbs. I was able to use points for the airline tickets and rental car at least. I just hope we don’t have to cancel.
@Jennifer Nice! Sounds dreamy.
Awesome! A big Universal trip is on our list, though maybe another two years out once all of our kids are a bit older. We’re looking at a 5 night trip, and really do it up big. This will allow plenty of time to explore all three parks and have some chill pool time.
@projectx If we weren’t going to Disney on this trip, we would probably stay 4-5 nights. My daughter might still be too young for Universal, but she’s really into Harry Potter lately so we’re going for it.