Express Pass Needed Labor Day Week?

[Poohbear03]

Arriving Saturday before Labor Day and we are staying until that following Saturday are express passes needed after Labor Day? Trying to decide which day to visit and which hotel. We have never stayed at any Universal hotel only Disney.

 

[wagman67]

So, is your question geared more toward your decision as to which onsite hotel to stay at...one that offers EPs versus one that does not? You also only mention visiting a single day out of the week you are there. It's a little confusing with the information you provided, but to answer your question without using any of that information...crowds are usually (not always) lower during this week, so EPs aren't totally necessary.

Now, to paint scenarios based on your information.

If you are only visiting UOR for a single day: there is no need to stay onsite (unless you have an unstated reason), but EPs would help insure that you were able to get through just about anything you would want to do, without worry.

If you are planning to stay onsite a single night, and you stay at a hotel that includes EPs (HRH, RPR and PB), then you have EPs (for all in your party) for the day you arrive and the day you checkout...this is a cost savings if you have more than 2 in your party vs buying EPs separately.

 

[Poohbear03]

So, is your question geared more toward your decision as to which onsite hotel to stay at...one that offers EPs versus one that does not? You also only mention visiting a single day out of the week you are there. It's a little confusing with the information you provided, but to answer your question without using any of that information...crowds are usually (not always) lower during this week, so EPs aren't totally necessary.

Now, to paint scenarios based on your information.

If you are only visiting UOR for a single day: there is no need to stay onsite (unless you have an unstated reason), but EPs would help insure that you were able to get through just about anything you would want to do, without worry.

If you are planning to stay onsite a single night, and you stay at a hotel that includes EPs (HRH, RPR and PB), then you have EPs (for all in your party) for the day you arrive and the day you checkout...this is a cost savings if you have more than 2 in your party vs buying EPs separately.

We may do a split stay between there and Disney we are still working out the details. I was wondering which hotel, there is a big price difference between them all, this is an adult trip. So we are just trying to see what will work the best with hotel, crowds, express pass or not. (example...Sapphire Falls, Royal Pacific, or Portofino? CBB is not totally off either. Never been to Universal so I am not sure what to expect between hotel levels and crowds.

 

[kohlby]

Chances are, you will be fine without express. Most parents don't want to pull their kids from school for a Disney vacation when school has just started. (And aren't big on taking a long weekend right away too). There will likely be more locals during the weekend.

However, the three hotels that offer express are very nice and worth staying at if it's in your budget. We have stayed at Royal Pacific many times and love it. We stayed at Portofino recently and really enjoyed it too - though I don't think it would be worth paying a lot more than RPR as rates sometimes are. We haven't stayed at Sapphire - just walked around their lobby. We stayed at CB as well. And though CB is great for the price, it is a noticeable step down from RPR and PB.

As for prices, play around with prices on the website. Usually, we found RPR to be the cheapest of the three that had express, but that isn't always the case.

 

[macraven]

I have gone during Labor Day time period only once and it was many many years back

From what I have read the past few years, Labor Day holiday time period has the lowest crowds out of all the holidays

I assume it still might be the case

 

[amberlina29307]

We are checking in On Labor Day and have tickets for Mon, Tue, Wed so this is perfect for me. We are staying at CB as of now so no EP. I was hoping we wouldnt need them. thanks for the info