1st Universal trip advice - how many days?

[theme_park_mom]

We are planning our first trip to Universal! YAY! we have 7 days to spend, and we are getting annual passes.

A few questions for you smart universal people because I am pretty clueless!
1. Is 7 days too many days at Universal? we want to do EVERYTHING and take our time. But, we are thinking we should add a day or two at SeaWorld or Disney.
2. We have a free place to stay (Hilton points), but are toying with splurging at Portofino the last two nights so we can use the EP and enjoy the Minion suite. Is this a good idea? or, am I spending too much money on this for no good reason?

another Question on #2, if we check in on a thursday morning (leave our luggage with front desk), and check out Saturday, can we use early entry to HP and EP for those thursday and Friday? Perhaps I am not planning this correctly??

Thank you so much!!

 

[snoopboop]

1. Some here will tell you that 7 days is overkill. NOT ME! For me, 5-6 days is the sweet spot. If I were going for 7 days, I'd probably do 6 at Universal and 1 at Sea World or Busch Gardens.

2. I wouldn't do the Minion Suite - When I've checked, it's been ridiculously expensive. I'd just do a standard room at one of the onsite deluxe hotels (maybe doing a standard room instead of the Minion Suite would allow you to do 3-4 nights onsite instead of 2 for that price??). If you want to splurge, I'd do Club Level instead of the suite.

YES - You will have EP as soon as you check in, and it's good through the time that the park closes on check-out day. You are also entitled to Early Entry on all days of your stay, including check-in day, if you check in early enough!!!

 

[theme_park_mom]

@snoopboop - this is so helpful, thank you!!!
yes, that minion suite looked so expensive! this is great advice, thank you!

 

[macraven]

glad snooboop answered first.
my replies usually aren't received as well as i stay onsite for 14 days.......

never run out of things to do during that time.
usually at the last day in the park, i am rushing to buy things and do things i missed earlier or want another round of something.

a 7 day stay will allow you to take your time and not be rushed or concerned on the ride waits in the regular lines.
once you are on site, whole different story for using express lines.


the character suites really aren't worth it for long stays.
it is cute if you have a short stay and feel the money is not an issue.

if you want larger rooms, pbh would be the first one to check out
for the 2 day stay you want, any size room will work.

go with what is cheapest if you don't plan to use the room except for sleeping basically.

if you do plan to spend time in the hotel and room, then a character suite could be nice...

 

[theme_park_mom]

thank you, @macraven !!! at first we were just going to do 3 days, then it grew to 5, and now I just want to do 7 Thank you for justifying my decision ! HA!

We haven't decided on the room type yet, but we have narrowed it down to either Portofino or Royal Pacific for the last two day splurge, and to take advantage of the EP and early hours at HP. Which one is closer to the parks? I am not interested in waiting a long time for buses (Disney kills me with the long waits for buses!), but Hard Rock is just a little too busy for us, even though it is so close.

What is your preference? PBH or RP?

 

[snoopboop]

Not @macraven, but .....

Portofino is the farthest of the three deluxe hotels from either of the parks. It's the longest walk and the longest boat ride. That being said, it's still a 10-20 minute walk, tops. Royal Pacific is closest to IOA, and Hard Rock is closest to USF. Portofino is past Hard Rock - It's approximately twice as far from USF as Hard Rock is.

Unless there's inclement weather, you won't want to take the buses... It's the water taxis you're after. Our usual approach is that if a water taxi happens to be waiting at the dock, or if we see one pulling up, we'll take the water taxi. Otherwise, we just walk.

The theming at PBH can't be beat. It's stunning. But RPR is also beautiful! One thing that hadn't occurred to me before I actually stayed at PBH is that if you want to eat at an onsite restaurant, literally the only choice is Italian! That may not matter to some, but it's worth noting!

You really can't go wrong with either option. I'd go for whichever has the best deal... and sometimes, believe it or not, that actually can be PBH!

 

[macraven]

i have stayed at all three and my home away from home is RPR.
it is a short walk of about 7 minutes to IOA.
add another 2 minutes to that and you will be at the studios.

the water taxi is also available.
it drops you in city walk dock.
if you want to do the studios, take the water taxi as it will let you off to the point it is nearer the studios.
off of the water taxi, walk up the sidewalk and left to the studios.
if you want to do ioa, you get off the water taxi, walk up to the level of city walk, turn right for IOA.

really, neither one is much of a walk.
we are talking about 3 minutes possibly.

PBH is fine but i am not fond of the eateries there at the hotel.
i have an allergy to mushrooms and can't risk the sauces they use on some foods i would eat.

the water taxi is the best way from this hotel to the parks or city walk.
if you miss it or it is full and you don't want to wait for another one, could be up to a 15 minute walk back to the hotel.

when i am done with the park, even walking back to rpr is a struggle for me.
feet and legs tired and want to sit down....lol

i just find RPR convenient for my needs.
i go solo and have all the time in the world when i am there.
if i decide at 10 at night to grab something to eat at city walk, i can walk it in less than 7 minutes.
the walkway to it from RPR lets you out at the side of Margaritaville in city walk.
i like the food places at rpr.
bula bar is by the pool.
want food, order it there and it is made at Jakes inside the hotel.
Jakes is open until 1:30 in the morning most nights.
islands i like the breakfast buffet and the wok experience when they have it.
chef table set up and you choose what you want made (in front of you.)

room sizes are smaller at rpr and room sizes are larger at pbh.
both have nice lobbies and pools.
pbh has 3 pools
rpr had one main pool and one kiddie pool.

even though i go solo i always book a king suite.
it has a bedroom with door to it and a living room.
two ac/heat controls for both rooms.
only had the regular room at pbh, never a suite.

as long as you are on site, you can't go wrong with your choice of hotel.
look at the layout on the website and see if you favor the set up of one over the other.
check and see where room locations are from the lobby.

pbh is spread out more than rpr.
not a bad walk to the lobby at that hotel.

rpr has one main lobby and elevators to all three towers from the lobby.
easy to go from your room to outside to the pool or shops along the outskirts of the pool area.

check prices to see which would be the better deal for you.

not everyone enjoys the rpr as much as i do.
i stay with that hotel due to eateries, location to city walk and ioa and usually get decent rates.

 

[theme_park_mom]

WOW! thank you thank you thank you for all of this great information! I was leaning towards RPR because the prices looked better, but everyone was so crazy about PBH that I thought I might be missing something! I am going to look into it all again, and I thank you both so much for your time!

 

[macraven]

for trusting us to help you......snoopboop has been to the parks and hotels a lot.
she knows a lot of info as others that post to help newbies.
if she gives you info, you can count on it.

come back if you have more questions.
we all love to share our knowledge with others.

 

[Parker Clan]

Another vote for RPR! We're sort of Universal newbies, this will be our third year staying on site, 6th at going to the parks. All I can say is be prepared to be hooked!! It's so amazing!!

 

[damo]

We did a week in a villa suite at Portofino and let me tell you, it was the best vacation ever! (We were upgraded....started with a normal room and our platinum status and a generous manager got us that suite).

You can't go wrong with any of the hotels. Just take a good look and choose the one that best suits your fancy and your budget.

 

[macraven]

If you have 5 in your group and staying onsite, the regular rooms at pbh are larger and you won't be crowded there.

just figure out what are the needs of your family and start from there.

 

[theme_park_mom]

You guys are the best!! thank you

is there a discount for annual pass holders?

 

[macraven]

hotels honor the ap discounts if they are available.

i have not been able to get a good ap discount for my fall time period for early to mid october.
with the smsm general public code, i have been using that and getting a large discount.
the smsm kicks in once you have 3 days booked, then discount inccreases at 5 day booked stays and the top discount is at a 7 might booked stay.

different dates in the year are different amounts for ap or smsm

 

[theme_park_mom]

I didn't even consider Hard Rock because we have kids (12 and 9) and didn't think it would be great for them, but maybe I am wrong? the locations seems amazing!

 

[angryduck71]

I have stayed at Hard Rock and Royal Pacific. Loved both. My son is 9 -- he LOVES Royal Pacific. We are going again in May. I asked him the other day what he thinks is the "ideal" amount of time in the park. He said, "how long would you let me stay?" But then said, "well, three days MINIMUM to really get to see everything and be relaxed about it. I prefer 5 to really get to ride things over and over and goof off and hang out at Diagon Alley and by the fountain." (He's talking about the talking fountains whose name I'm spacing on right now.) We're right now planning a LONG vacation to celebrate his graduating elementary school and a little bit of a late 10th birthday. We're planning on 7 nights at Universal and MAYBE 2 nights at Disney (I can stay at Shades of Green). He's pretty much OVER Disney, but likes the thrill rides, so we're going to do the Ultimate Thrill Tour one day at Disney and see Cirque one night. The rest of the time, we'll do Universal. He didn't really like Sea World -- but that was years ago, and we had the misfortune of being there when Shamu killed his trainer.

Anyway, with kids that age, if they like rollercoasters and love Harry Potter, they'll LOVE having that long at Universal I think. And, you can plan pool time/mini golf time. IF you can use your Hilton points elsewhere, you MIGHT look into how much it'd be with the annual pass discount to stay at Royal Pacific the whole time. The longer you stay, the cheaper it is.

 

[theme_park_mom]

and we had the misfortune of being there when Shamu killed his trainer.

I am so sorry to hear that. how terrible

 

[theme_park_mom]

@angryduck71 THANK YOU so much. such great advice!

 

[luvmy2boyzz]

We are Universal newbie's, first time was last July. We've been to Disney several times and always stay onsite and utilize the buses. I could not believe what it meant to stay onsite at Universal! Stayed at Royal Pacific and it literally took my son and I about 6 minutes to walk to IOA! We did usually take the water taxi back to the hotel but even that was a very short and pleasant ride. We never returned midday at Disney to swim or nap but found because it was so convenient that we returned several times during our stay at Royal Pacific. We did 3 days in the parks and were happy with what we were able to accomplish. Did all the rides on our list multiple times and saw several shows. This is not to say I would not choose to stay longer if I could get more days off work! Going back in August! Can't wait

 

[macraven]

I think you are hooked and will do more trips after your August stay

Did you buy an AP yet?

I enjoy hearing peeps like the darkside especially the hotels