You only need two days at Universal. It'll get boring after that.

You can save money by staying at Cabana Bay in one of the rooms with a kitchenette. We loved ours! We ate breakfast in so we could sleep a bit later and still have time to eat before getting to the parks when they open.

We drove so we brought food with us and then I did stop by the grocery to buy smores fixings rather than pay the hotel prices for marshmallows and graham crackers. We roasted marshmallows at the fire pit.

The Trader Joes is not far and, of course, there's Publix and a nearby Whole Foods.

We stayed at Cabana Bay twice and loved all the pools and the lazy river. NOTE: They have added a hotel there but not increased the number of pools so it does get crowded!

I've stayed at another Universal hotel and like Cabana Bay the best. One drawback is that the check in is frequently slooooow.

Touring plans says 10/10 for Universal Studios and 8/10 for Islands of Adventure.

How busy is it likely to be the Friday of Thanksgiving week?
It’s our first time going and we’re just doing a day.

We have been to universal five times and stayed at Royal Pacific, Portofolino, and Cabana Bay. Stay one night at express pass hotel and the rest at Cabana Bay. The meal options there and pools are perfect for families. My kids like Cabana Bay the best and it has a separate entrance to Volcano Bay. We literally walked to Royal pacific with our suitcases one time, but they also have a shuttle you can use. (The hotels are all close together.)

You do not need an express pass every day you are there. This summer we were there for five days and did not get it at all.

Here is my spring break report fwiw. I say express pass all the way.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1124996.page

How old are your kids?

I wouldn’t switch hotels- the hassle probably isn’t worth the savings

We have done every ride and seen everything at both parks in a day. Just make it a quick 2-3 day thing. Spend a day hanging out at pool. Parks one day.

OP, are you going to do the rest of the parks too? If not 2 days in HP is plenty. 3-4 days is fine if you like coasters and the water rides and will enjoy the rest of the parks.

We have no idea your financial situation and how harmful (or not) this expenditure is. Will you be using credit card debt and unable to pay bills on time if you do it? How are retirement and college savings looking?

I just got back, we did 3 nights (4 days) at a hotel with express passes, first day was a half day, last day was just 90 minutes before heading to the airport and we rode everything (and all the HP stuff multiple times).

You can definitely do 1 night in the expensive hotel (2 days of passes) and the rest in a cheaper hotel. You do not need express pass every day-on your non pass days focus on wandering through Hogsmeade /Diagonal Alley, watching shows, riding the less busy stuff. But I would not go back and forth between hotels so much. If you do decide to switch, Just do airport to Portofino to whatever is cheapest. You HP fan will want to ride the HP rides right away, so do that on the first 2 days with express pass even if the crowd calendar isn’t perfect.

Or do it all in a cheaper hotel and just buy 1 day of express pass for the busy rides and then you don’t have to deal with switching hotels. Get to that parks when they open and you can get a bunch of rides in when they have no wait. Lots of them don’t even have the express pass running early in the morning because there isn’t enough of a line. Also, if your kid is old enough, lots of the busier rides have single rider lines which is another way to get on faster if there is a long wait. And the cheaper hotels have more fun (for kids) pools anyway!

How many days are you planning on spending in the park? My other parks on this trip?

I've only done Universal in California, not Orlando - is Orlando much bigger? We easily did Universal in one day with express passes. Without express passes we would have probably needed another day. But not more than that. We went on almost every ride (skipped a couple of little kid rides with my tweens). How old is the kid and do they love all rides or would they skip some? Do you go go go from one ride to the next or do you move slower and wander?

If it's similar to the California one, I think one day with the express pass is perfect.

Holy cow 5 days with express. What a waste - you will be bored out of your mind!!!

I think these amusement parks are so over rated. You could do 2-3 vacations. I wouldn’t go, honestly. Unless you have a lot of disposable income don’t do it, it’s not worth it.

Aww, wish my DH was a softie. $1k I know is not a small amount but it’s an already expensive trip (looks like it’s not something you will likely repeat) why not do it right. My 2 cents. Don’t switch so many hotels. It’s ok to go from your airport hotel to LP hotel. Put your bags and start the day.

You're already spending a lot to go. Don't spend your whole visit in line

Not good at this kind of vacation planning. We are on a budget, single income for now but spouse would like to splurge for express passes late October trip. Difference is $1k+. it’s not a huge sum for some I know.

Crowd calendar was different on 2 different sites and even then switched from 6-7 to 4-5 rating to back. Not sure what to believe.

Total with airfare, airport hotel stay due to late arrival and tickets plus 4 night stay at Portofino is about $4k which DH twisted my arm to get but can be canceled. We haven’t spent that on an any vacay. Not counting food and other expenses. All this is for the HP fan whose birthday will be during the trip.

I know people mix and match hotels for the passes. That would mean we would switch hotels twice or thrice - from airport hotel 1 to universal hotel 2 to hotel 3 for express and if we were going strictly by crowd calendar then back to universal hotel 2.

Yeah am a little tightly wound buy Please tell me I am right and we need to re-do this (I would cancel this trip entirely but DH is a softie with our kid).

TIA