Intro Offer: Free Breakfast at Sapphire Falls

NJGIRL;2473496 wrote: I have to disagree with you. If you are paying more for the top three hotels it is a level playing field. The hotels that don't have the free Express Pass are cheaper....You actually are already paying for the Express Pass in your hotel cost. Right now it is a nice perk because only three hotels are offering it. By offering it to all hotels not only will it water down the perk but will make people in the regular lines wait longer.

It's not that clear. When I stayed at Cabana Bay, our room was $135/night. There were two of us. Royal Pacific would have been $220/night. Express Pass for the days we went would have cost $89/person. The "deluxe" resorts are simply more expensive because they are nicer, rooms are more luxurious, tye amenities are better, etc. They are not more expensive because they include express pass. Frankly, with Sapphire Falls, rooms will be very close in price to Royal Pacific. And still, no express pass? Doesn't make sense. Giving Express Pass as a free perk to onsite guests made sense when there was low attendance and only 3 hotels. Things have changed. They should revamp the express pass system to make this perk something all resort guests can take advantage of.

BrerGnat;2473497 wrote: It's not that clear. When I stayed at Cabana Bay, our room was $135/night. There were two of us. Royal Pacific would have been $220/night. Express Pass for the days we went would have cost $89/person. The "deluxe" resorts are simply more expensive because they are nicer, rooms are more luxurious, tye amenities are better, etc. They are not more expensive because they include express pass. Frankly, with Sapphire Falls, rooms will be very close in price to Royal Pacific. And still, no express pass? Doesn't make sense. Giving Express Pass as a free perk to onsite guests made sense when there was low attendance and only 3 hotels. Things have changed. They should revamp the express pass system to make this perk something all resort guests can take advantage of.

Call me crazy but I NEVER endorse a vendor taking away a perk from a customer. If you feel the SF will not be a value without the EP you can just stay at one of the Deluxe resorts. And I guess we will just have to disagree why the Deluxe Hotels and their perks are more expensive than the other onsite properties. Extending the EP to five hotels will water the perk down.

NJGIRL;2473576 wrote: Call me crazy but I NEVER endorse a vendor taking away a perk from a customer. If you feel the SF will not be a value without the EP you can just stay at one of the Deluxe resorts. And I guess we will just have to disagree why the Deluxe Hotels and their perks are more expensive than the other onsite properties. Extending the EP to five hotels will water the perk down.

I totally agree with you - the cost of EP is not a free perk for the original Universal Resorts, it's something we pay more money to get. It'll be very interesting to see where the room prices for SF level off. They might start with the same cost structure as Portofino and Hard Rock, but they'll be hard-pressed to get those rates without EP. I'm sure SF will be a beautiful resort, but I have to figure a large percentage of people stay on site at Universal for the advantages it offers at the parks. The only advantage that I see listed is getting into the park an hour early first thing in the morning - certainly not worth an extra $100+ per night over other options in the area.

I also agree that 5 hotels with EP would not be a very good thing.....

At least they could offer the LIMITED (one entry per attraction) Express Pass for Cabana Bay and Sapphire Fals. Let the other three resorts keep their UNLIMITED Express Pass.