More questions on which hotel to pick???

[TSM]

We are taking our first Universal trip in the fall. We have went to Disney the past 4 years and have stayed in value and moderates. We are going for 4 days and I can't decide where to stay. It is me, my husband, and my daughter who will be 9. Does Royal Pacific have a waterslide? Hard Rock only seems to be about 20.00 more per night and it has a fridge now(right?) which we will want so if Royal pacific charges 16.00 per night we are almost even???? And then Cabana Bay looks fun with the water slide and the lazy River. We do like some down time between parks!! We hate lines at the parks(I'm sure everyone does) and I had the fastpass system mastered so I think we would like Express pass BUT we are going in Sept so do we need it????? UUGG!!!!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We love HRH! There is a wonderful walking path to the parks, took me 3 1/2min to get to security to get in to the US area. It is so nice to be able to walk to the parks and be so close. There are boats, but we have never had to take one at HRH.

HRH does have a fridge that is open now, it used to be full of stuff for you to buy (which we never did). There is a great pool area, water slide, pool games and eatery/bar for good food and drinks poolside. We take a daily break and are back in the hotels pretty early as the park hours have early closures. We find plenty to do at HRH and Citywalk at night.

The Express pass for us is a must, the EP you get for staying at HRH/RPH/PBH is an unlimited EP. We use it to ride our favorite rides over and over and over. When we go in Oct, the lines for the big rides/shows are still long Hulk 60min, Spiderman 60 min....where the EP line is 5min tops. We are crazy planners at WDW, but once we get to US the planning is very little. We plan our AM at the HP areas and then just tour as we want with the EP in hand.

 

[TSM]

Hard Rock sounds amazing!!! I am really leaning towards it!!

 

[Nomarian]

We just go back from early March. We have to say that we loved the hotel as well. The refurbishment is very nice and the rooms are almost brand new. We loved the beds and bathroom and the kids loved the pool area. There are always activities going on like scavenger hunts and contests. Both my boys are 10 and 13 and had a blast. You can't go wrong with HRH.

 

[TSM]

Thank You!!! Sounds wonderful!!

 

[marchingstar]

we did a WDW/USO split stay last summer, and we're doing another next month. absolutely loved it! i would go with a deluxe universal resort--the express pass makes me feel like a celebrity! hah. but really, after the intensive planning of a WDW trip, it's great to not have to plan anything. my only suggestion--do US at the end of your trip.

edit: I'm not sure if you're doing a split stay or just US. if just US, the order stuff obviously doesn't apply

 

[macraven]

hrh and pbh have slides.
rpr does not.

you can use any of the hotel pools if you are staying onsite.
just show your hotel key card to get towels from the attendant at the other pools.

some dates in sept the ep will come in handy.

 

[stormer]

We love the Hard Rock. My boys love the pool slide. Cabana Bay looks really great, but I would never be able to give up the EP!

 

[TSM]

I know!! The more I have been reading up on it the more I have to have the EP!! Haha!!! It's down to PRR and HRR.

 

[macraven]

all 3 hotels have games and activities for the kids.
i know at rpr they also have them for the adults.
(the other 2 probably do also, but not sure on that)


but when an adult wins, they win an adult beverage.....

 

[TSM]

Nice!!!!! That is always greatly needed on theme park vacations!!!lol!!! Or any vacation!

 

[TSM]

all 3 hotels have games and activities for the kids.
i know at rpr they also have them for the adults.
(the other 2 probably do also, but not sure on that)


but when an adult wins, they win an adult beverage.....

Does 708.00 for 4 nights in a standard room(early sept) at RPR sound like a good deal?

 

[bumbershoot]

By fall Royal will likely be done with their renovation and all rooms will have fridges, yes?

Like Mac said, you can pool-hop, so don't let one pool sway you from a place you want to be.

HRH's slide was good, but the pool isn't for swimming. If you like *swimming*, go elsewhere. (villa pool at Portofino, IMO) We actually hopped to HRH during a PBH stay, but when we stayed at HRH we ended up not swimming. And we didn't like staying at the hotel, so it was a lose lose situation. Sad.

708 for 4 nights sounds decent to me. Be sure to check often (I book directly through http://uo.loewshotels.com/en/booking/uo?hotel=UEPBH,UEHRH,UERPR) and see if lower rates are available. A quick call will get your rate updated.

 

[macraven]

Does 708.00 for 4 nights in a standard room(early sept) at RPR sound like a good deal?

$177 a night is good.
i would go for it.
the lowest i have ever had in september was around $157 some years back.

prices seem like they have risen the past two years unless you can grab a discount.

the period after labor day should have reasonable rates.

 

[TSM]

Awesome!!!! Thanks for all of your help!! The lowest I can get it on the direct booking is 878.00 for the 4 nights so 170.00 cheaper through cheaptickets is much better. If it goes lower than that or a better discount comes out at direct booking, I'm guessing I just cancel this reservation and start over???? I think I saw it was free cancellation until Aug31?? It's funny because my husband said yes to the Universal idea because I told him I wouldn't obsess or overplan and I am starting early and don't know anything about it so I will be more obsessed!! Haha!!!

 

[RMulieri]

Keep in mind ALL of the resorts charge nightly parking.So factor that into your budget!

 

[TSM]

Keep in mind ALL of the resorts charge nightly parking.So factor that into your budget!

We will be flying and not renting a car. Thank you though!

 

[TSM]

When you talk about pool hopping(which I want to do), are we talking walking to the other resorts or is it getting on the boat. In terms of distance? For Disney people is it like staying at French Quarter and getting to Riverside?

 

[TSM]

$177 a night is good.
i would go for it.
the lowest i have ever had in september was around $157 some years back.

prices seem like they have risen the past two years unless you can grab a discount.

the period after labor day should have reasonable rates.

The cheaptickets price went up 20.00 since last night(total) with exact same room and promo code!!! I know it's not that big of difference but geez!!!! What's up with that!!!

 

[pcstang]

When you talk about pool hopping(which I want to do), are we talking walking to the other resorts or is it getting on the boat. In terms of distance? For Disney people is it like staying at French Quarter and getting to Riverside?

Although I've stayed at riverside several times I've never walked over to FQ. That being said, I would walk to PBH and take a boat to citywalk and then the RPR boat to get to RPR. It is all walkable but I would boat over to RPR myself.