A full week stay at Universal?

Susiequsie60

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Oct 9, 2013
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I tried to search for this, but I'm not very good at it.

What are your thoughts on staying a full week onsite at Universal? I mean for someone who has done the WDW thing many times and is looking to change it up a little.

I'm not a hardcore Disney person. We've been 6 or 7 times over our 25 year marriage, all with our kiddies and enjoyed every second of it.

Don't get me wrong. I still LOVE it - our next trip is just me and my hubby to celebrate our 25 year anniversary. Staying in a deluxe hotel for the first time, February 1-8, which is next week!!! I also look forward to the days when I might have some adorable little grandkids to take trips with. But that's probably a good 5-10 years off.

So, I definitely don't need a lot of the little kiddie stuff - especially character breakfasts and autographs. But just so you know, I do love me some "It's a Small World."

I do sort of feel that WDW has gotten so so darn expensive. And at this point there's not a whole lot of new exciting stuff for us. And I won't even get into my nervousness about the new FP+ system and how it's going to affect our trip next week. So, I'm not saying "NO" to vacations at WDW in the future. Just trying to come up with other options for this type of vacation. And when I say "this type of vacation" I tend to consider cruising to be a similar choice for us.

Price wise, how do things compare? Resort wise? Food wise? And finally, park wise? Is there enough to do for a full week? Part of my "thing" is not having to ever leave my vacation destination once I arrive. I like to park my car at the beginning of my stay, and know that I don't have to get in to it again if I don't want to. (I don't mind driving to a specific park or location once in a while, but basically I don't want to exit the resort area at all.) I like to have lots of food choices! No need for gourmet. Do you need to have a love for "thrill rides" to really appreciate Universal? That's not so much my thing. Also, big Harry Potter fan here.

Again, I did try to search to see if I could find a thread that discusses this topic. I'd appreciate any info you all might provide.

Thanks -
 
And I am trying to plan a week in September. Lots to do. I like to vacation by myself, and I know if I had another person, I don't think a week would be enough.

You can pool hop, and hotel restaurant hop. There are events at the hotels you may enjoy. Spa stuff, hanging around at the pools, etc.

I enjoyed just being at the HP world and just soaking it in. I do like relaxing vacations.

I didn't do a lot of the things available at City Walk, but there is lots there.
 
We stayed onsite only 3 nights last August, but we could have stayed longer. I'd suggest getting an AP and looking for the APH promo rates to save money on the onsite hotels - I saved a ton by doing that, and now we're making another trip in May to get a bit more use out of my AP - and even though we're staying onsite only 1 night this trip, I'm saving over $75 on the room rate!

When my daughter and I went, I thought we'd have lots of time for pool hopping, relaxing, etc, but we had 3 hardcore park days in a row and didn't have much time to do anything else - a longer stay would give you time to explore the three resorts, enjoy their pools, and have some relaxation time built in. We ran ourselves ragged, which wasn't ideal. I think a week is perfect.
 
I cleaned up the duplicate posts and deleted the duplicate thread posted. :thumbsup2

You can stay a whole week at Universal but you will be wise to do other things around town as well. SeaWorld is right around the corner and the onsite hotels offer free shuttles back and forth. You are close to I Drive with many things for tourists to do. The main thing you can do during a week vacation at Universal is relax. You don't have to plan much of anything unlike that place down the highway. Just relax and enjoy yourselves...that's what a vacation is for.
 

I tried to search for this, but I'm not very good at it.

What are your thoughts on staying a full week onsite at Universal? I mean for someone who has done the WDW thing many times and is looking to change it up a little.





I do sort of feel that WDW has gotten so so darn expensive. And at this point there's not a whole lot of new exciting stuff for us. And I won't even get into my nervousness about the new FP+ system and how it's going to affect our trip next week.




Thanks -

i'm not the best one to answer your question.......
i stay at the motherland then switch to a longer stay at the darkside resorts on my trips.

this month i was at disney and found the fp experience too limiting for us.
long waits, systems going down in the park for it, and a lot of wasted time.
hopefuly, it will get the glitches out and the increase of the # of fp for the hotel guests.
hopefully, your stay there will turn out better than what i went through.


i stayed at rph 11 days last october, 4 days this month and have a booked stay for october this year for 12 days.

i don't run out of things to do for entertainment.
for me, it is an extremely relaxing vacation.
i don't have to plan in advance like i do at disney.

i break up my days for going to the parks.
i do it in different time sections during my stay.
i do rides and shows in the parks, watch "the mini parades" at the studios near Mels/Horror Make up show, watch the celebrity look alikes, picture take, watch the main parade, evening cinematic show, explore the stores, etc.
at ioa, i always catch an hour of the Mystic Fountain and guests reactions to it. watch the super heroes enter marvel area, hit both shows, time with parry hotter, do repeat rides, etc

when warm, i do a water ride day.
hit the water rides in appropriate clothing then return to the hotel to change.

city walk has dining, cinema, mini golf, shopping, open entertainment on some weekends.
sometimes i explore the other hotels, watch the calling of the conch at rph (free), lounge at one of the pools, etc.

depending on the dates you go, you might find nightime entertainment in the parks for their concerts.

you can leave the park and use the free shuttle from the onsite hotels to seaworld, aquatica, wet and wild.

we all do our vacations differently.
what works for me on solo trips, might not be as useful for others.
some days i am up early for early entry to the parks, and then i have days where i sleep in and start my day at noon.


since i do disney first on my vacation, i need a relaxing portion after that to recover...........catching busses, park hopping time at the motherland, line waiting is all behind me when i switch resorts.

if a person only wants to do rides and shows in the park and not explore all of universal, this can be done easily in a 3 day time frame.
not everyone hits all the rides or goes at an easy pace.

 
We do a week onsite at Universal.We do 4 park days and lots of downtime to enjoy the resort/Citywalk .The current 3 resorts at Universal are deluxe ( Hard rock, Royal Pacific, Portofino bay).They are just as nice as Disney Deluxe ( we stay at Beach club at Disney).They are cheaper than Disney deluxe at certain times of year.Universal resorts are all within a short walking distance,or a short dedicated resort boat ride.The resort employees are fantastic.Pool Hopping is allowed and encouraged.The parks are literally nextdoor to each other, making park hopping a breeze.The food is very good, some of the resort restaurants are better than disney.Citywalk has minigolf, restaurants, a movie theater and at night is popular with adults.
 
You would love staying a week on site at Universal.

There is so much to do other than the parks. Take your time and enjoy the resorts, have some pool time and Citywalk is a lot of fun at night.

You don't need to be a thrill ride lover to enjoy the parks........there is so many things in the parks to enjoy.........sit and watch the Talking Fountain in IOA.......many of us are hooked on watching him interact with peeps....very funny.

Mini golf at citywalk is very good.

Lots of good food choices in the resort hotels and Citywalk.

We stay a lot longer every year and never get bored :thumbsup2
 
Thanks to all for the advice.

And thanks especially for fixing my double post/thread. I don't know how I did that!!!
 
We have stayed between 5 - 7 nights at both Hard Rock Hotel and Royal Pacific Resort. The 7 night trip was enjoyed by us all after a 14 day WDW on-site trip.

Universal and especially IOA has much to offer.
We used the chance to go to the Outlets and Malls while further up the strip.

I cannot imagine our Orlando trips without an onsite Universal stay :goodvibes
 
We're DVC members, but I also find we're going to Universal more and more often. Honestly, there just seems to be too much nonsense involved with Disney now. We stay onsite at Universal and their unlimited front of the line perk can't be beat. Don't get me wrong, we love WDW, but Universal just has so much going for it; the rides are 100x better, the theming is better, etc. Disney may be classic, but Universal is cool.
 
I tried to search for this, but I'm not very good at it. What are your thoughts on staying a full week onsite at Universal? I mean for someone who has done the WDW thing many times and is looking to change it up a little. I'm not a hardcore Disney person. We've been 6 or 7 times over our 25 year marriage, all with our kiddies and enjoyed every second of it. Don't get me wrong. I still LOVE it - our next trip is just me and my hubby to celebrate our 25 year anniversary. Staying in a deluxe hotel for the first time, February 1-8, which is next week!!! I also look forward to the days when I might have some adorable little grandkids to take trips with. But that's probably a good 5-10 years off. So, I definitely don't need a lot of the little kiddie stuff - especially character breakfasts and autographs. But just so you know, I do love me some "It's a Small World." I do sort of feel that WDW has gotten so so darn expensive. And at this point there's not a whole lot of new exciting stuff for us. And I won't even get into my nervousness about the new FP+ system and how it's going to affect our trip next week. So, I'm not saying "NO" to vacations at WDW in the future. Just trying to come up with other options for this type of vacation. And when I say "this type of vacation" I tend to consider cruising to be a similar choice for us. Price wise, how do things compare? Resort wise? Food wise? And finally, park wise? Is there enough to do for a full week? Part of my "thing" is not having to ever leave my vacation destination once I arrive. I like to park my car at the beginning of my stay, and know that I don't have to get in to it again if I don't want to. (I don't mind driving to a specific park or location once in a while, but basically I don't want to exit the resort area at all.) I like to have lots of food choices! No need for gourmet. Do you need to have a love for "thrill rides" to really appreciate Universal? That's not so much my thing. Also, big Harry Potter fan here. Again, I did try to search to see if I could find a thread that discusses this topic. I'd appreciate any info you all might provide. Thanks -

We are Disney Regulars...there was nothing new and exciting to bring us back to WDW this January so we decided to try Universal.

We are currently at Hard Rock Hotel.

Pro's
soooo close to the park.
Huge hotel with a great vibe.
The rooms are a great size.
3 HUGE scoops of Ice Cream for $5
Express pass awesome

Cons- paying $18 per night for parking.
This hotel is showing its age.
Carpets are dirty in the hall way..
Nothing too bad but considering the regular price..it should be kept up better.
We would stay here again though.


We went to Island Of Adventure today.
This is the Harry Potter Celebration weekend so there were wizards everywhere ;)
We took advantage of the early entry at went to the park for 8 am. The early entry allowed us to ride Forbidden Journey twice.
I think the cold scared everyone off cause the wait times were 10 min long with out express pass all day.

We rode multiple rides , multiple times. We had seen the whole park by 2 pm ..we were done by 3pm
This was not what I was expecting considering we've never been here before. I thought come 6 pm we'd be wanting more.

I.O.A. Was awesome!
I'm not a thrill ride lover..I watched the boys go on the coasters. I enjoyed taking pictures and checking things out while they went,

Food is similar to Disney prices.

The park closed at 6 pm. Which is ok cause we are all tired now anyways.

Tomorrow is universal. Based on today I think the maximum park pass we'd buy is a 3 day park to park. There is not enough to keep us busy in the parks for a week. 1 park each day then the 3rd day to deride the favorites.

Disney is easy cause there's 4 parks. Takes more time.


The vibe is so different then Disney.
Hard to compare. We are definitely happy we made the choice to give the dark side a try. We had a blast in the park today.

We are heading on a Disney cruise in a couple of days so were still getting our .disney fix ;)
 
I'll be doing a week this May. It will be the third time I've spent a whole week doing nothing but Universal (well, the other 2 times I did do day trips to other parks). I love Universal because it's so easy to get around, you don't need to plan your face off like at Disney, and to me it just feels more immersive than Disney. I've never been truly bored at Universal. I can always find something to do that's entertaining, even if it's just relaxing with a drink and people watching in the parks.
 
We are Disney Regulars...there was nothing new and exciting to bring us back to WDW this January so we decided to try Universal. We are currently at Hard Rock Hotel. Pro's soooo close to the park. Huge hotel with a great vibe. The rooms are a great size. 3 HUGE scoops of Ice Cream for $5 Express pass awesome Cons- paying $18 per night for parking. This hotel is showing its age. Carpets are dirty in the hall way.. Nothing too bad but considering the regular price..it should be kept up better. We would stay here again though. We went to Island Of Adventure today. This is the Harry Potter Celebration weekend so there were wizards everywhere ;) We took advantage of the early entry at went to the park for 8 am. The early entry allowed us to ride Forbidden Journey twice. I think the cold scared everyone off cause the wait times were 10 min long with out express pass all day. We rode multiple rides , multiple times. We had seen the whole park by 2 pm ..we were done by 3pm This was not what I was expecting considering we've never been here before. I thought come 6 pm we'd be wanting more. I.O.A. Was awesome! I'm not a thrill ride lover..I watched the boys go on the coasters. I enjoyed taking pictures and checking things out while they went, Food is similar to Disney prices. The park closed at 6 pm. Which is ok cause we are all tired now anyways. Tomorrow is universal. Based on today I think the maximum park pass we'd buy is a 3 day park to park. There is not enough to keep us busy in the parks for a week. 1 park each day then the 3rd day to deride the favorites. Disney is easy cause there's 4 parks. Takes more time. The vibe is so different then Disney. Hard to compare. We are definitely happy we made the choice to give the dark side a try. We had a blast in the park today. We are heading on a Disney cruise in a couple of days so were still getting our .disney fix ;)
Today was day 2- we did Universal today. Again we saw the whole park, rode everything we could and today we were done at 4. Today the Express pass was a heaven sent. 60 min wait on Despicable me by 10 am. Longest we waited for anything was 20 min. This was because Transformers had some problem and they had to stop the ride.

I agree..there is no crazy planning at Universal and the Express pass is brilliant. It crushes Disney's fast pass.

After day 2 I still think that we'd max out at 3 days.

It is worth the visit. We found the rides more fun then Disney's. But we've been to Disney so many times.
 
We are planning 6 days at RPH in June. (Our first Universal experience). Looking forward to pool time and going at a little slower pace than we do at WDW. Also planning to hit SeaWorld and at least one water park.
 
We are planning 6 days at RPH in June. (Our first Universal experience). Looking forward to pool time and going at a little slower pace than we do at WDW. Also planning to hit SeaWorld and at least one water park.

I highly recommend Aquatica!
 
I tried to search for this, but I'm not very good at it.

What are your thoughts on staying a full week onsite at Universal? I mean for someone who has done the WDW thing many times and is looking to change it up a little.

I'm not a hardcore Disney person. We've been 6 or 7 times over our 25 year marriage, all with our kiddies and enjoyed every second of it.

Don't get me wrong. I still LOVE it - our next trip is just me and my hubby to celebrate our 25 year anniversary. Staying in a deluxe hotel for the first time, February 1-8, which is next week!!! I also look forward to the days when I might have some adorable little grandkids to take trips with. But that's probably a good 5-10 years off.

So, I definitely don't need a lot of the little kiddie stuff - especially character breakfasts and autographs. But just so you know, I do love me some "It's a Small World."

I do sort of feel that WDW has gotten so so darn expensive. And at this point there's not a whole lot of new exciting stuff for us. And I won't even get into my nervousness about the new FP+ system and how it's going to affect our trip next week. So, I'm not saying "NO" to vacations at WDW in the future. Just trying to come up with other options for this type of vacation. And when I say "this type of vacation" I tend to consider cruising to be a similar choice for us.

Price wise, how do things compare? Resort wise? Food wise? And finally, park wise? Is there enough to do for a full week? Part of my "thing" is not having to ever leave my vacation destination once I arrive. I like to park my car at the beginning of my stay, and know that I don't have to get in to it again if I don't want to. (I don't mind driving to a specific park or location once in a while, but basically I don't want to exit the resort area at all.) I like to have lots of food choices! No need for gourmet. Do you need to have a love for "thrill rides" to really appreciate Universal? That's not so much my thing. Also, big Harry Potter fan here.

Again, I did try to search to see if I could find a thread that discusses this topic. I'd appreciate any info you all might provide.

Thanks -

I am not a trill ride person and I am done with both parks about mid the second day. The resorts are nice. That said, we would never go to FL for a week to just do Universal. We go about once every 5 years to Universal. We go about the same to Busch Gardens Tampa. Sea World is a must do each trip.

Thanks again everyone! How do you all think it compares money-wise to your Disney vacations? Comparable?

For us, the burn rate at Universal is much more than our burn rate at WDW or Sea World.
 
We are planning to got for 7 days at Christmas this year. I know very busy but Christmas at home last year was such a mess we decided to just get away this year. I think we can keep ourselves busy for 7 days. A bit of time at parks the back to the onsite resort to relax at pool. I hope the weather stays warm for December this year but we will go with the follow. We would never not stay onsite. Got to love that express pass.
 
We are planning to got for 7 days at Christmas this year. I know very busy but Christmas at home last year was such a mess we decided to just get away this year. I think we can keep ourselves busy for 7 days. A bit of time at parks the back to the onsite resort to relax at pool. I hope the weather stays warm for December this year but we will go with the follow. We would never not stay onsite. Got to love that express pass.

Sounds good mischief..........yep I'll bet you can keep yourselves busy while you're there.........and plenty of time to relax too :thumbsup2
 





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