Book a room at Universal, while keeping a room at WDW?

[aubriee]

My mom and I will be at WDW May 10th-20th. However, I have an Universal AP and have purchased her one of those 'buy 2 days, get the 3rd day free' Universal tickets. My mom will be using an ECV and does not do the rides, but enjoys just looking around. I was thinking to keep my mom from having to wait so long for me, while I'm riding, that front of the line pass might be nice. Plus we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and will have a rental car, but I'm unsure about driving off property all the way over to Universal three different days and would just as soon avoid it if possible. With my AP I could probably get a discount for a Universal resort, but then would be paying for two nights at Bonnet Creek for the same two nights, when we wouldn't even be there. How are the lines midMay and would it be worth it to have rooms at both Bonnet Creek and Universal rented for the same two nights, just to get front of the line pass and to avoid having to drive back and forth from WDW to Universal? or is FOTL pass not needed and we should just drive back and forth those two or three days?

How long does it take drive over there anyway? I booked the ten nights at Bonnet Creek through a third party, so canceling two of our nights at BC is not an option. The change fee would be more than the extra two nights at BC.

 

[abwilliams22]

I am in similar situation, so I'm interested in others responses. We will be in Orlando the first week in June. We are renting a house for 7 nights, & for our price, can't do less nights. There will 5 of us (me & dh, dd 9, 5, & 1) and our friends (family of 3 - ds 8 yrs) My family will be doing Disney - probably each park in 4 days. I am a Disney & other than me spending 1 day at US in 1992, this will be everyone else's 1st trip. We will be buying the 2 day with 3rd free, but I plan to only go 2 days unless kids love it & wanna go back. We will be going to universal on Sunday & Monday. Just wondering if getting a hotel room for Sunday night would be worth it - for the passes on Sunday & Monday, plus a place to take the baby during the day to nap. Also the kids could possibly swim when resting from park. We would probably go back to house on Sunday night (may have to think it through).

 

[LaurenT]

I am in a similar situation, though I'm not sure if my answer will help....
I'm actually taking my DD for a Disney trip - just the two of us - for a week in a July. This was basically a free trip which is why I decided to add it (Southwest points, unused 1 bedroom part of my 3 bedroom timeshare, Annual Pass already paid for....)
We do have our family vacation staying at AKL for 9 days in late August. This will be DH, DD and me in one studio and my friend, her DH and DD in another.

With so much Disney and my DD just turned 10, I thought the time was right to try US. I was thinking we'd go for a couple of days during the July trip, but then I learned about the benefit of early access and Unlimited express pass. But the timeshare was already paid for, so I felt very wasteful. Also, I thought it would be rushed....run out to US very early to check in and get our pass, then run around trying to see everything in those two days....

I asked DH what I should do. His solution? Add four nights onto our August trip. See our friends off to the airport and then go check in at US! So, that's what we're doing. It went from a day or two in the middle of our July trip to an extra four days at the end of our August trip! We did get the 20% off for staying 4 nights, and the rates were a little lower I think because it's the very end of August. Plus the crowds should be much lower than mid July. So, it's costing way more than my original thinking, but it's going to be so much more enjoyable for us!

 

[Herbie]

Sounds like a waste of money to me....

The drive over there is not very long...15 min maybe? just dont use i-4 during rush hours. Parking at US is very easy. Buy an express pass for one day and see if you need it after that.

 

[Lynne G]

I wouldn't pay for a night on site. First, you pay for parking whether at the hotel or in the garage. The drive from BC shouldn't be that long. Get there early. The walk from the garages can be long. Express passes can be bought in the parks, so I wait to see if I need them. If you do all the most popular things first thing, the lines won't be that bad. Remember, the only get you wet (really wet sometimes) rides are only in IOA. You may want to use a locker, or take a change of clothes.

The FJ ride does not have express pass, so if that's what you'd like to ride, do it first. You will see the crowds pass through Suessland and Dinoland to quickly arrive in Potterland. If your kids want to see the wand show, go there first. The lines can be long, as the shop is small, and there is no shade.

Enjoy the shows too, the animal one (in US), I would think most kids would enjoy. Also, the Suess area and Marvel area in IOA are great for finding characters and lots of bold colors to see.

Have a great time! My family really enjoys the parks.

 

[macraven]

I am in similar situation, so I'm interested in others responses. We will be in Orlando the first week in June. We are renting a house for 7 nights, & for our price, can't do less nights. There will 5 of us (me & dh, dd 9, 5, & 1) and our friends (family of 3 - ds 8 yrs) My family will be doing Disney - probably each park in 4 days. I am a Disney & other than me spending 1 day at US in 1992, this will be everyone else's 1st trip. We will be buying the 2 day with 3rd free, but I plan to only go 2 days unless kids love it & wanna go back. We will be going to universal on Sunday & Monday. Just wondering if getting a hotel room for Sunday night would be worth it - for the passes on Sunday & Monday, plus a place to take the baby during the day to nap. Also the kids could possibly swim when resting from park. We would probably go back to house on Sunday night (may have to think it through).

if all 8 (both famiies) want to do the Sunday night onsite hotel, you would have to book 2 rooms.
probably would be better off doing the driving from the rental house to UO.
would end up cheaper in the long run.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

We have this exact situation. We are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Sat-Thurs. Already paid for. $475 for 5 nights in a 2 bed/2 bath condo with a kitchen and laundry in the room. We do not want to move or cram in a hotel room for 1 night. The cost of Express pass Would be $200 each day=$400. Parking $15 each day=$30.

I know we may not need Express Pass but I also think it will make touring a park we have never been to much easier and less stressful. We will check in on Sun am and use the hotel as a day room so we can take a mid-day break and swim. We can have early entry and swim the 2nd day as well (using the facilities near the pool to change.) They only charge for parking at midnight so 2 days parking is only 1 charge.

Room is $297 with AAA (though hoping Sunday's sale brings it down.) Parking =$18 and now we have unlimited Express Pass.

We will use our 3rd day of entry later in the week w/o express pass but that will be a low key just hit our favorites again kind of day.

The price difference in park tickets from 3 day at Universal vs 3 days at Disney pretty much makes up for the cost of the room, at least that is how I justify it to myself

 

[bumbershoot]

I asked DH what I should do. His solution? Add four nights onto our August trip. See our friends off to the airport and then go check in at US! So, that's what we're doing.

Now that's a good husband!



Here's a good website for checking all onsite hotels in one shot. For anyone with an AP (or who might consider it), use APH code in the code box to see if/when an AP rate comes available.

 

[Metro West]

I'm going to move this thread over to the Universal Resorts board which would be more appropriate.

 

[aubriee]

Sounds like a waste of money to me....

The drive over there is not very long...15 min maybe? just dont use i-4 during rush hours. Parking at US is very easy. Buy an express pass for one day and see if you need it after that.

What other route is there? Could you give very specific directions? I have no sense of direcion, so will have to go the way my GPS tells me, unless I have very clear written directions for another route.

I wouldn't pay for a night on site. First, you pay for parking whether at the hotel or in the garage. The drive from BC shouldn't be that long. Get there early. The walk from the garages can be long. Express passes can be bought in the parks, so I wait to see if I need them. If you do all the most popular things first thing, the lines won't be that bad.

The FJ ride does not have express pass, so if that's what you'd like to ride, do it first .

Actually I have a preferred Annual Pass, so while I would have to pay for parking if we stayed at one of the hotels, I would not have to pay to park if I drove from WDW to Universal. As far as the walk from the garages being long, my mom will have her ECV and we'll be using her handicap parking tag, so should be able to park fairly close to an elevator. The problem with Express passes purchased in the parks is that they are only good for riding once and there are some rides I want to repeat. Since my mom doesn't do rides, I'll be able to use single rider for the rides that have SR though. I was just thinking about not having my mom wait so long for me and avoiding having to fight traffic for those three days if we stayed onsite. At the same time, since we'd also have those nights already paid for at Bonnet Creek, it sort of seemed like a waste to book another room. Just wasn't sure if it'd be worth it just for FOTL pass and to avoid traffic in midMay.

 

[madelyn]

Last June we had a week at Marriott's Harbor Lake resort. The week was purchased through Interval International through their Getaways (my sister in law is a member through her timeshare). We moved here after staying 4 nights on-site at Disney. After we had settled into the Marriott, we checked into a 1 night's stay at Hard Rock Hotel(annual passholder rate). My adult brother and sister were staying with us for part of our trip so our total party was 7 people. My sister and I ended up staying with my kids at the Hard Rock that night. My husband and my brother went back to stay at the Marriott. My sister took my oldest son into Harry Potter early in the morning while I stayed with my 2 younger kids. They made use of the early entry for resort guests and we were able to use the Express pass for the next 2 days (check-in and check-out day). It ended up raining very heavily so I don't think that the Express pass was necessary for most rides. That morning my husband and brother drove back with the car, picked up our luggage and then went to go park in the park parking garage (free parking for passholders). We went back to the Marriott after the parks closed that night. Seems like a complicated situation but it worked out well and I have no regrets. Would love to stay longer at the Universal on-site hotels next time!

 

[damo]

What other route is there? Could you give very specific directions? I have no sense of direcion, so will have to go the way my GPS tells me, unless I have very clear written directions for another route.

This is the way we go.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=W...universal&t=h&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=12&via=1&z=13

 

[aubriee]

This is the way we go.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=W...universal&t=h&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=12&via=1&z=13

Sounds easy enough. Thank you so much!