Anyone splitting their stay between HRH/PBH and Disney?

[Bstanley]

As the 'planner' of the family I've got us staying at HRH for the first three nights of our trip this Nov/Dec and the next five nights at Disney (1st choice BC, 2nd choice AKL - we'll wait and see what discounts we can get ;-).

In fact I 'pre'-extended the trip two days because of Universal's EE and FOTL perks for hotel guests. Even though we will be at Universal/IOA over Thanksgiving weekend (which I expect to be busy) we should be able to 'Ride the Movies' without fuss because of those wonderful perks!

I don't think it matters much about which one should come first. I think Universal does a great job at their parks. IOA is easily as good as a Disney park - although they do tend to be geared somewhat for older kids. If their hotel partner (Lowe's ?) does as good a job as Disney does we'll probably end up splitting the trip each time from now one.

I would pick which one I do first for 'functional' reasons - i.e. staying at Universal on known 'busier days' to take advantage of the perks. Or discount start dates, etc.

Have Fun!
-bruce

 

[Robinrs]

I originally planned my trip to Disney in May for 7 days at the Dolphin. I always visit IOA/USF regardless, but I was going to spend the entire onsite at Disney.

After receiving the Universal free video and a week of Travel Channel specials, my son starting harping about the FOTL. I thought this late in the game it would be impossible to find a deal. Well, I couldn't get the dates I wanted on the Ent Rate so I thought I was out of luck, but thanks to these boards I checked out www.hoteldiscounts.com which offered me those two sold out days for $139 a nite.

So now the dilemma... we stay at the Hard Rock for our FIRST two days and the Dolphin for 5. My son is now whining that he wants to stay at the Hard Rock longer, and you know what, so do I! I checked and even the prices on that website have gone up so I think we'll stick with the Dolphin. where we have a two room suite but the pull of FOTL beats square footage anyday!!

oh well.....

 

[pixie dust gal!]

My kids loved PBH! Never once did they remark on how quiet it was or that it was more 'adult' oriented.

PBH has the quiet elegance of The Grand Floridian but with a definite european flair. It is sooo peaceful to sit outside in the early evening on the piazza to hear the gentle music playing and enjoying a glass of wine. As a matter of fact, I soooo loved the music they piped in and had playing that I bought the CD for home. It reminds me of our trip every time I listen to it.

There are quite a large number of families at the main pool area and my kids found some pool friends within 5 mintues of being in the pool. I loved this pool because it has 'zero entry' meaning you just walk in and it gradually gets deeper - no steps or anything - like being on a shoreline - and it makes it great for the little ones to sit right in front of you where the water is just inches deep. No matter what time you were at the pool, there were plenty of lounge chairs and it was never crowded (and we went when the hotel was sold out for 3 days!

It is a fabulous place and you won't be sorry!

 

[RhondaS]

We will be staying 7 nights at the WDW Swan hotel, then 2 nights at the HRH, both thanks to Entertainment rates!

I chose to put the Universal hotel last because it will be giving us Front of the Line access on a holiday weekend, when I am counting on it to be simply priceless.

 

[Disney-Kim]

we are staying our first night at HRH and then on to 7 nights at the Polynesian.
We are staying at HRH for the fotl access, so only 1 night. we are going to IOA that next day and on to WDW that night.....

 

[msr709]

My vacation is planned for August 18-Aug. 25, first 5days/4nites at ASMu (with Mary Waring discount code) and then on to HRH 4days/3nits (w/Entertainment discount). I have been to Disney before and I wanted to get it out of my system before I tried something new! I figured the FOTL at USE would make it worth it!

 

[Lalalindica]

We were in Orlando last for Christmas/New Years of last year. We spent Christmas Eve/Day at the Portofino, then spent 5 nights at the Dolphin.

I would definately recommend doing Disney first. FOTL and the convenience of the on-site hotels at Universal does spoil you.

Everything seemed so spread out when we moved our stay to the Dolphin. Getting to and from the parks seemed to take forever, not to mention our impatience with long lines. Another thing: I was letting my kids explore the parks on their own a bit (with walkie-talkies). That would have been unthinkable for me to do at Disney.

The reason we started off at the Portofino is that I wanted us to be on Disney property for New Year's Eve/Day . (Portofino's prices for New Year's Eve made the decision easier - something like $444 a night, while I was able to stay at the Dolphin at a government rate of $119.00. )

My kids (then ages 10 & 11) loved the Portofino! How can you not love it, no matter what age - it's the most gorgeous hotel I've ever been to!

This year we are headed for Orlando in July. We are going to be staying at the Wyndham Palace & Resort for 3 nights (through priceline) and then we're going to try the HRH for two nights! I cant' wait!
inkbounc

 

[beattyfamily]

We split our vacation last December; 2 days USF and then 6 days WDW.

This year we're doing the same except now we're staying onsite at HRH 2 nights then 4 days at the GF and then 3 day DCL cruise. Can't wait!!

We prefer to do Universal first. Just our preference.

 

[No11's Mom]

I'm so jealous of all you guys going in the next few months. We have to wait until next March! Right now we have 5 night reserved at WDW - Port Orleans/French Quarter, and 4 nights at HRH. Unfortunately there are no discounts available at either resort as of yet - but I will keep trying. I agree with the other posters, I think the lines at WDW would be too much of an aggravation after FOTL. Plus we just like the Universal parks better than WDW, so we're saving the best for last. If it weren't for the fact that my sister's family is traveling with us, and she has a 6 year old that has never seen WDW, I'm sure we would be spending the majority of the vacation at HRH.

 

[Peggy Sue]

We are heading down to Orlando 11/27 - 12/9. We are Disney Vacation Club members. We were planning to stay at OKW for 12 nights, but after reading about FOTL, we decided to cut our OKW stay to 10 nights and I just booked a Garden View room at the Universal PB.

We will go to Disney first, and then PB.

Why?...Well, we want to be at Disney to particpate in the DIS gathering of Friends convention that begins on 11/28. So, that put Diseny at the beginning of our trip.

The other reason is, we are going to PB for Fri/Sat night, and DVC reservations require higher point usage for Fri/Sat nights...so, we are moving to a deluxe hotel, saving on DVC points that can be used for future trips.

We think after spending 10 nights at Disney we will be ready to try another location, and we hear Portofino Bay is a beautiful resort. Can't wait!

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

We're going in early June....the first day of my 8 yo DS' summer vacation. We'll spend 3 nights at HRH and then 6 nights at BWV. We ended up adding on the HRH hotel segment of the trip after the BWV trip was already planned....wanted to see Universal/IOA and take advantage of FOTL and we needed to take vacation days to cover my DS' school break anyway, so the only reason we are going to HRH first is for scheduling reasons.

Seems like good reasoning to save FOTL for late in the trip.

With our kids being young...just turned 8, just turned 4, and 21 months, I'm viewing Universal/IOA as more park-intensive days early in the trip. We won't even go into Disney parks some of the days we're at BWV....some of those will be more relaxing play-at-the-pool days, so I rationalized that that will be better towards the end of the trip.

I'm sure it will be a great vacation either way! Have fun!

 

[pixie dust gal!]

We did this last year and are doing it again this year.

We stayed at Poly/BC/PBH! how is that for exhausting? It really wasn't bad at all. We do this for convenience sake - Poly for MK, then BC for Epcot/MGM and PBH for Universal. We just love PBH and splitting our stay. I am glad we did Disney first because getting used to FOTL and then having to WAIT on lines at Disney, you will start whining about how great it was at Universal even though there isn't anything like Disney Magic, the lines can really tire you out; especially in the heat. The other way you end your vacation saying, "wow, that was the BEST".

As mentioned, I will be doing the same again this year except doing Poly/HRH - my ds wants HRH so badly - otherwise, I would kill to go back to PBH - nothing like it. You won't regret your decision.

 

[Pugsley]

One factor I would consider is crowds. It might make sense to stay at Universal during the more crowded portion of your trip (i.e. over the weekend) since you'll have FOTL privileges.