Throw away room for Universal Express?

[paqutte25]

Disney family of 5 that has caught the Universal bug. Planning a last minute trip for August and would like to stay in the top 3 resorts just for the free Universal Express. For our 5 day/4 nite dates, no family suites are available and two queen rooms become too $$$$ ( I know the rooms can hold 5 and we could squeeze into one but mom/dad need some space at end of theme park day ). The new resort, Sapphire Falls has a good looking kids suite for an incredible price. Should I book a cheap, throw away room at one of the top three for the free UE on the first and third day of our stay to get four days of that benefit ( in addition to my Sapphire Falls room ). Still comes out cheaper than two rooms at Royal Pacific and only 300$ more than all of us cramming into a room at RP.
Also, will we be disappointed at Sappire after great experiences at the other three premiums
Thanks

 

[damo]

That kids suite does look great. I'd definitely do a throwaway room for the savings.

 

[macraven]

Me too!

 

[schumigirl]

Although we adore RPR........I really like SF.......it is lovely, so no I don't think you're going to be disappointed with staying there.

The kids suite is really nice, really well done and feels spacious.

 

[EveDallas]

That's exactly what I did during our April stay at Cabana Bay. We had a family suite for room to spread out, and booked throwaway rooms for two non-consecutive days so we'd have four days of express.

 

[DENISEES]

i am in the same boat!- can someone please tell me how this works!-- thanks!

 

[macraven]

i am in the same boat!- can someone please tell me how this works!-- thanks!

book a room and check in that date.

all in your party up to 5 for a standard room will be issued a hotel room key.

create your ep by using the kiosk picture ep with your hotel key in the hotel lobby (usually by the attraction desk.)

rpr, hrh, pbh are the 3 deluxe hotels that offer the free unlimited ep when you are a guest there.

it will cover your dates of check in and day of check out for using the express pass



you do not have to stay in the room but book, check in and pay for the room.
calling it a throw away room is the term we use when you only book a deluxe room for the amenities

 

[1andrea]

Go for it!! x

 

[DENISEES]

Gotcha! thanks so much!

 

[tony67]

Although we adore RPR........I really like SF.......it is lovely, so no I don't think you're going to be disappointed with staying there.

The kids suite is really nice, really well done and feels spacious.

I really wish they offered some sort of up charge to get the express pass (other than buying it outright!)

I am going to choose SF over RPR this year for the $500 savings...but Im thinking I will miss express pass - even as a solo there were times where it came in handy

 

[disneyholic family]

book a room and check in that date.

all in your party up to 5 for a standard room will be issued a hotel room key.

create your ep by using the kiosk picture ep with your hotel key in the hotel lobby (usually by the attraction desk.)

rpr, hrh, pbh are the 3 deluxe hotels that offer the free unlimited ep when you are a guest there.

it will cover your dates of check in and day of check out for using the express pass



you do not have to stay in the room but book, check in and pay for the room.
calling it a throw away room is the term we use when you only book a deluxe room for the amenities

we have a throwaway room for next august (a few weeks from now)..
do you know how early in the morning the kiosk is open for the express pass?
i'm trying to figure out how to do this...
there are 8 in our group, but only two have any interest in going to universal - really only to see the new HP area in universal (they saw IoA HP the last time we were there)..
so the two of them will go to universal while the rest of us will stay at WDW.....

i think i'll go to check them in in the middle of the night...we have sunday night booked, but they're only going to go into universal on monday morning using early entry..

so if i come at about midnight to check them in (they won't sleep there), i'll bring them back the keys (we're staying onsite at disney)...

then at the crack of dawn they'll head for universal with the key in hand..

but will the express pass kiosk in the hotel lobby be available at the crack of dawn?

they'll want to get their express passes before they head for early entry at universal (for gringotts)..

actually, now that i'm thinking about it..
they should take the key to get their express pass, then they should check out (even though it will be the crack of dawn)....and then head over to gringotts...

i wonder if that's doable...
.

 

[disneyholic family]

good i just wrote that....now i realize i should have booked monday night instead of sunday night...
that way, DS can arrive at RFR at 6 am to check in, get his express passes (that i now realize is at a self serve kiosk that he can use at any time)....
then he can head over to universal for early entry and then not have to worry about checking out that day...
pretty cool..
and so i just booked monday night...same rate as i had for sunday night, so that's good...still rooms available for only 2 weeks from now...so i guess maybe the park won't be that busy....here's hoping..
.

 

[macraven]

you can book 5 in the room on the ressie.
anyone 18 and over is considered an adult.

only 2 adults and 3 kids, under 18 in the room without addtional charges.

so if you put 5 adults on the ressie, you will have an additional $25 per person + tax on each person that is 18 and up.

if you are only listing 2 adults on the room, not an issue at all for extra charge.



you answered the other questions already......lol


i know the systems go down for a few hours during the night so don't know if you can check in right at 6 am that morning.

i have gone to check in at 5:40 am once before but had to wait until the system was up
not a long wait as i think it was 6:05 i could check in.
and.....this was over 4 years ago i experienced it.

things change all the time and this might be one of the things that has also, so take it with a grain of salt.


if a hotel guest loses their hotel ep, it can be reported to guest services and there is a kiosk there that you can recreate the photo id for ep.
people lose things frequently but you don't have to hike back to the hotel to remake a new ep.
(TM at guest services would be the one making the replacement card)

the original will be invalid and if you thought you lost it and had it replaced, that "lost" photo ep will not scan active
so only use the current photo pass.

 

[Liberator]

I know this topic is rather old, but I have a question about a throwaway room

Do hotels care about it? Is it common practice?

I consider this an option on our day of visit. One Unlimited Express Pass is 160$+ according their website. With 4 adults this adds up and I will check for RPR prices now for that date.

Do I have to feel bad about booking a throwaway room?

I am just thinking it would be great to have a room where one of our group who gets grumpy when he is tired might take a nap after room-ready time

 

[disneyholic family]

I know this topic is rather old, but I have a question about a throwaway room

Do hotels care about it? Is it common practice?

I consider this an option on our day of visit. One Unlimited Express Pass is 160$+ according their website. With 4 adults this adds up and I will check for RPR prices now for that date.

Do I have to feel bad about booking a throwaway room?

I am just thinking it would be great to have a room where one of our group who gets grumpy when he is tired might take a nap after room-ready time

no you don't have to feel bad about a 'throwaway' room at universal..
they're making a LOT of money off that room....
they're all set up for the throwaway people, so they know it's going on and of course they don't care..
they're getting full price for a room that isn't even being used....that's perfect as far as they're concerned...

 

[nkereina]

I know this topic is rather old, but I have a question about a throwaway room

Do hotels care about it? Is it common practice?

I consider this an option on our day of visit. One Unlimited Express Pass is 160$+ according their website. With 4 adults this adds up and I will check for RPR prices now for that date.

Do I have to feel bad about booking a throwaway room?

I am just thinking it would be great to have a room where one of our group who gets grumpy when he is tired might take a nap after room-ready time

I'm not sure what the hotels think but I doubt if they care. For one, I doubt they even know most of the time when its a throwaway room. I would suspect most people aren't announcing their intentions when checking in, and the hotel isn't really tracking whether you actually sleep in the room. That don't really have a way to know. And either way, they are getting the revenue from your booking.

 

[schumigirl]

I know this topic is rather old, but I have a question about a throwaway room

Do hotels care about it? Is it common practice?

I consider this an option on our day of visit. One Unlimited Express Pass is 160$+ according their website. With 4 adults this adds up and I will check for RPR prices now for that date.

Do I have to feel bad about booking a throwaway room?

I am just thinking it would be great to have a room where one of our group who gets grumpy when he is tired might take a nap after room-ready time

Oh my goodness don’t feel bad about it!

As previous posters have said, it makes sense to do it price wise........

And yes, it would be ideal if someone in your group wanted to nap for a bit during the day.......the hotel is very close to make this totally feasible.

Hope you get it sorted........

 

[disneyholic family]

we did a throwaway room at RPR in august - it was obvious they knew we weren't planning on using the room...
we arrived early in the morning to check in- without luggage or anything...(all our stuff was back at saratoga springs)..
they're so set up for it, with the picture kiosk right in the lobby...
the desk clerk knew and even talked about it....and of course they don't care.....geez...that room was several hundred dollars...why would they care????????????????????

 

[Liberator]

Thank you for all your input!

Makes me feel better ;-)

 

[schumigirl]

Thank you for all your input!

Makes me feel better ;-)

Enjoy it