Resort Rates for April 2017- ICK!

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Considering a trip to Universal in April but prices are terrible at this point- over $200 a night (including parking) at CB and nearly $400 for RP. We will be at Portofino in September and the club room rate is about $300. That is a huge difference. I can stay moderate at Disney in April (or even deluxe, with DVC points rental) for cheaper than I can stay at CB in April.

What are the chances that Universal resort rates will go down closer to spring?

I am pretty familiar with Disney's discount release schedule, but Universal's is not as clear to me. Will rates go down, or is it all uphill from here?

 

[Bluer101]

Spring break time and still kind of early.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Spring break time and still kind of early.

So I can expect to see some discount rates maybe in December or January?

Do they have a set pattern of releasing discounts like Disney does, or is it fairly random?

 

[macraven]

Have seen rates drop around Jan/feb in past years


Have no idea if that will be the case for 2017

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Have seen rates drop around Jan/feb in past years


Have no idea if that will be the case for 2017

Thanks.

Disney just released their spring discounts and they aren't pretty either. AKL is over $100 a night more than we paid in July. May just be an expensive time to travel this year.

Maybe Busch Gardens, Williamsburg . . .

 

[Hikergirl]

The 2nd and 3rd weeks of April will be alot of school districts spring breaks up here.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

The 2nd and 3rd weeks of April will be alot of school districts spring breaks up here.

Ours is the first week and not an Easter week so I was hoping for lower rates.

I've already started exploring other destinations since it looks like the Florida parks are expecting big crowds based on resort rates.

 

[Seeker615]

We are going the last week in April and have not booked anything yet as far as hotel. I really hope the prices come down a bit. I want to stay at Royal Pacific but right now the price is so high. I am hoping for a special deal or something. My four night cruise I booked for after Universal is cheaper than 3 nights at Universal!

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We are going the last week in April and have not booked anything yet as far as hotel. I really hope the prices come down a bit. I want to stay at Royal Pacific but right now the price is so high. I am hoping for a special deal or something. My four night cruise I booked for after Universal is cheaper than 3 nights at Universal!

Isn't it crazy? We stayed at YC and BWI the same week (first week) last April and prices were much more reasonable.

We probably won't do Orlando in April if prices don't come down. Right now I have a two bedroom villa at Disney's Hilton Head Island booked for that week for less than I can stay in a standard deluxe room at Universal. I was looking for a good value for spring break and Disney's Hilton Head resort has won that battle so far.

 

[macraven]

With the UO parks becoming more popular, it can be a guess which weeks will have lower park attendance

 

[juliebee]

Does anyone know if they offer the "Stay More, Save More" deal during late March/early April? We are planning 3 nights at Universal but there are no savings that I can find yet. Or is that too short of a stay for the SMSM deal?

 

[macraven]

Smsm requires a minimum 3 night booking

The discount is not high necessarily but better than rack rate

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Does anyone know if they offer the "Stay More, Save More" deal during late March/early April? We are planning 3 nights at Universal but there are no savings that I can find yet. Or is that too short of a stay for the SMSM deal?

Right now for the first week of April one and three nights at RPR are the same price. Four nights is a whopping savings of $9 per night on a $364 room. That's like, 2.5%! Hardly a savings that creates enthusiasm. Five nights and you save $15 a night. Yippee.

For September 2017 the savings for SMSM are substantial, especially with a seven night stay. Not so much in April.

Theme parks seem to be betting on big crowds for that time.

 

[macraven]

This year for my dates I got the smsm rate for $181.35

I stay onsite for two weeks so smsm is great for me
I would not have a long stay if I had to pay the high rates others do

It has been the time period in October that has the greater discounts in the fall

The high discount weeks/ months vary each month

Look at past date rate thread to get an idea what weeks have the larger smsm discount

 

[wookiebeck]

Thanks.

May just be an expensive time to travel this year.

Maybe Busch Gardens, Williamsburg . . .

We did that trip two years ago. It was wonderful. Keep your vacation options open and willing to explore something new. BGW has tix that give you access to the park and to Colonial Williamsburg. Its like having a park hopper over at WDW. Such fun.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

This year for my dates I got the smsm rate for $181.35

I stay onsite for two weeks so smsm is great for me
I would not have a long stay if I had to pay the high rates others do

It has been the time period in October that has the greater discounts in the fall

The high discount weeks/ months vary each month

Look at past date rate thread to get an idea what weeks have the larger smsm discount

Wow. A two week trip sounds awesome. How much fun that would be to pool hop, relax at the resorts, try a lot of the restaurants, explore City Walk, and visit the parks at open and close.

I will dream about that today and make it happen at some point.

I keep wondering what length of stay at a theme park resort would be enough for me to say "Okay. I'm ready to leave now." We stayed at Disney for ten nights in July (our longest Orlando trip yet) and it still wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

 

[okeydokey]

March dates are super high now too. I was looking at second week in March and they are way higher than the same time last year even though Easter 2017 is later in April.

 

[TommyJK]

March Break up here in Canada is the second week of March this year (11th - 19th). A TON of Canadians go down to Florida for our March Break. Last year it was the 3rd week of March

 

[macraven]

Rates are always listed high this far out from the coming March

Check in January and you should see a drop

If rooms are not filled up to the level hotels want, rates can drop
Once occupancy level hits where the hotels want to be, rates can change again

 

[macraven]

Spring break and Mardi Gras activities will keep rooms filled