highlanderfil

Hello, all Looking for a present for some occasion or another for the wife and, given she's dropped some rather substantial hints about wanting to go to HPWW, figured I'd make a stop at FT for some advice. We've been looking on their official site and so far haven't been able to put together a package that we want, so maybe you can help.

We plan on going for four days, in the parks for 3. Saw that there's a 2+1 offer right now on park tickets, which is perfect. In an ideal world, I'd like to put together the following package:

- 2+1 park tix with early admission
- Hotel with points (there's a decent-looking Holiday Inn nearby) or (less likely) with money but on my own, rather than as a package deal
- A breakfast at each of the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks

This is what I've been able to surmise so far (their website leaves much to be desired):
- The only breakfast option is available with a larger package that includes other stuff we aren't interested in.
- In order for us to get park early admission, we have to book a hotel as part of a package. If accurate, in a pinch it will do, but will I, for example, earn points/nights at the HI?
- Apparently the breakfasts can be booked individually through hotels, but which hotels is a bit of a mystery.
- Using reward points of any kind is going to be a challenge if not impossible.

So, as you can tell, we've done some research but wanted to get some of the collective wisdom of the forum. Thanks!

bthomas362

I actually got on here for the first time in months to look into this exact topic. I'm going there just for a weekend in early March and plan to stay at the Hyatt Place Orland/Universal for 8,000 points/night which includes free breakfast, and is pretty close for not being in the park. My biggest question is where to find the best deal on tickets.

hhoope01

Some thoughts to think about:

Can or will you make a second trip within a year of this trip? Or even make use of more than 3 day's park access? The Power Pass (annual pass - $239) is just about the same cost as a 4-day 2-park ticket would cost. While this pass does have some black-out dates, they are dates I would never want to go to the parks anyways (i.e. the most crowded days of the year like around Christmas/New Years, Easter, weekends in Summer, etc.). But you get access to both parks for a whole year plus some potential on-site hotel and other discounts.

As you've already found out, using points for your hotel presents a problem if you want the early access or Unlimited Express Pass from on-site hotels. There are some options that may or may not be worth it to you.

• Pick a slow time (i.e. say the 1st week of February). The crowds will be less and you might be able to get by without having to wait in lines all day just for a couple of rides. Note that as more and more people/families are visiting these parks, even the less crowded days can still have lines developing especially for the most popular rides.
  
• Check out staying at the new Cabana Bay hotel. Rates there can be around $100/night (especially if you have the annual pass and can get the Annual Passholders discount.) The Cabana Bay hotel comes with early access, but does NOT come with the Unlimited Express passes the other hotels come with. (OK, the Sapphire Falls hotel hasn't opened yet, but will this Summer and it also will NOT have the Unlimited Express passes either.) Note that while the Cabana Bay is "Prime" value hotel (i.e. lower cost and lower benefits) the hotel is almost a destination to itself. The pools are truly spectacular and it even has its own bowling alleys.
  
• If you want to reduce your costs but get some of the on-site hotel benefits and if you aren't averse to switching hotels daily, you can using points on alternating nights and stay on-site the other nights. For example, points for 1st night, on-site for 2nd night, points 3rd night, on-site 4th night, etc. The benefit here is that Universal provides the on-site hotel benefits for both the days you check-in and check-out. Thus you will get early access and depending on the on-site hotel Unlimited Express passes every day of your stay. The kicker here is that the on-site hotels are more expensive for shorter stays. So you'd need to verify there is availability and at what cost for each of the nights.
  
• A possible variation of the above option is to use points for the whole trip, but pay for an on-site room 1 or two nights (alternating or consecutive depending on your needs/desires.) Obviously paying for 2 rooms on some nights will cost more (in either points or cash), but it allows you to not have to switch hotels every day. And depending on your hotel program of choice, some of them have reduced points for longer stays (i.e. stay 4 nights get 5th night free, etc.)
  
• Finally, as you've already figured out, you can just bite the bullet and purchase a vacation package directly from Universal. It does come with some benefits like early park access, but it may have a higher out of pocket cost as well plus getting to/from the parks isn't as quick or easy as if you were in one of the on-site hotels.

I will say, even though the cost is more, I almost always try to stay in one of the on-site hotels that provides the Unlimited Express passes as even during the slower times, having those passes means I don't care nearly as much about crowds and can basically ride most all the rides as many times as I want and when I want. (Yes, some of the rides especially the newest/biggest rides in the HP sections, don't allow Express Passes, but overall most all the other rides do. The only thing here is that with Universal recently adding the Cabana Bay and about to add the Sapphire Falls hotels, they have started jacking up the rates on the other on-site hotels. I used to be able to get the Royal Pacific for about $115 or so per night, but now, the best I can normally see (with the Annual Pass discount) is about $170/night. And you have to be flexible in your travels to get that cheap even now.)

toomanybooks

Have you taken advantage of the Loews frequent stay program called "YouFirst"?

10 stays (Platinum) appears to get $100 food/beverage credit per stay, which looks pretty good if you have a one-night stay at one of the cheaper hotels.

Thanks.

CRAZ8

I just visited here in December.

For the breakfast, frankly, it's not the best food in the world. For me, the best bit of breakfast was the black pudding, which, if you look up on the internet, you almost certainly won't even want on your plate!

We never went into the Leaky Cauldron - frankly it smelled a bit fishy when we stuck our nose in (and not in a good way!)

Butterbeer is an addiction - be prepared for this!

We did the early access through staying in a Universal hotel - the only way to get this. It was clearly much quieter at 8:30am than it was at 2:30. Only one of the HP areas will be open for the early access, for us it was Hogsmeade. The 3 Broomsticks opened up about 8:30 or so, 30 minutes after the park opened. The cool thing about being in there early for breakfast is that the place is empty of muggles.

Universal has a photo package. Do Not Pay For It! We did, and it really wasn't useful. Disney does this so much better. At Universal, skip it.

If you like rides, then staying at a Universal hotel that provides the Express Pass is really useful. They do this better than Disney, as you can't book ahead, you just show up and move to close to the front of the regular line. I never used my Disney FastPass+ because we just don't plan our vacations that way. As mentioned, this works on both your first and last days, so a single night gives you 2 days (more like 1.5, as you have to checkin to get the pass) of Express Pass, plus an early park entry for HP.

I absolutely recommend doing this. I'm not a huge fan of rides, and my first visit to Disney World is likely to be my last, but I would go back to Universal and Harry Potter.

highlanderfil

So the question, I guess, is can you get into the breakfast places without booking a package? That's what we're struggling with. We just wanted the basic package of Early Admission without all the extra stuff like the photos, but wanted to at least check out the breakfasts to say we've done it.

highlanderfil

Went through Costco and came up with $741 for the Holiday Inn across from the parks, but doesn't seem to include early access... Trying to figure out if the tickets are the same as on the official website...is the HP World just part of Universal Orlando or how does it work?

hhoope01

While I try to hit Universal at least a couple of times a year, my kids are not big on breakfast. So we don't really hit the restaurants much at breakfast time.

Note that most of the restaurants in the 2 Universal Parks are not really table service. They are quick service oriented. And I think even the 3 Broomsticks is quick service. So that means no reservations. If it is open, you just go up, stand in line, then order.

With that said, I do believe Universal did sell some specific HP vacation packages and those did include breakfast at the 3 Broomsticks, but those were special and AFAIK, that was the only way to get an actual "reservation" there.

As for early access, if you purchase a vacation package through 3rd party vendors (i.e. Costco), those won't include early access. You have to purchase the package directly through Universal to get the early access (and that includes packages for offsite hotels too.)

hhoope01

Given the OP is trying to keep costs down and not stay at one of the Loews hotels (and I get the feeling that Loews is not a normal hotel chain the OP stays at), I'm assuming your asking me that question.

If so, just check out my listed programs under my name and you will see what elite level I am with YouFirst.

For most, 10 stays a year at a Loews hotel is pretty hard to make given their very limited footprint and no real "points" earning capability with their program. It is a very niche hotel chain and program, but I do agree that their Platinum status is very nice to have. And not only do you get that $100/stay, but you also get to check for suite upgrades at the time you make your reservation, NOT at check-in. ^

highlanderfil

Got it. Looks like it's bite the bullet time. Will I at least earn my IHG night stay credits for booking at that Holiday Inn?

hhoope01

That also depends on how you book the hotel stay. It is very possible that if you book a "package" deal, you won't get any points/stay credits for that stay.

highlanderfil

I meant, if I book through the Universal official site.

bigguyinpasadena

We hit the Harry Potter Experience this past weekend-totally unaware that it was a special Harry Potter weekend

It was my first visit to Universal Orlando and I( a middle aged,temporarily disabled, fat man with no interest in HP) had a great time.I thought the attention to detail in the attractions were great-much better than the LA Universal Park. I rode all of the non-roller coaster rides and enjoyed the shows. very much.

I thought lunch at both the Three Broomsticks and The Leaky Cauldron were okay (especially for institutional food) with a slight nod towards The leaky Cauldron.

I was amazed at the number of South Americans in the parks-even on a weekday. I guess this is big attraction for them.

Mary2e

I think it's break time in Brazil. There were probably hoards of young people in groups chanting as they moved along. They go to both Disney and Universal and for a time, were really not behaving very well. I think the group leaders were told to keep the kids in line or no more perks for them

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm thinking of visiting again after not going for at least 10 years. Disney's changes have left me looking for somewhere else to go for a long weekend.

hhoope01

I've moved to doing 4 "long weekend" trips to Universal a year rather than 2 longer trips. With a non-Florida Res AP costing about $230/pp plus the Cabana Bay hotel is very reasonably priced (can be had for about $100-110/night), a long weekend can work very nicely.

While the Cabana Bay won't come with the Unlimited Express Pass, it does come with early hours access. And even on weekends, the morning crowds all head directly to the HP sections. So we hit HP before general opening and then hit the other rides before the crowds move to the rest of the parks. By lunch time we will have ridden everything in the park we wanted and some rides more than once. ^ Then we focus on which shows we want to watch.

OK, on one of those trips a year we will still stay at the Royal Pacific and get the Express Passes and then we don't plan for anything (except the some of the HP rides). My daughter does make me to do a "get wet" day where we have to hit Bluto's Barge, the Ripsaw Falls, and the Jurassic Park water rides 4 or 5 times each. She loves to run between them and get totally soaked. And having the EPs really helps with that.