closest resorts to Universal

[melafive]

Could someone tell me which resorts are closest to Universal. We are planning on visiting Disney for one day plus probably another day for downtown Disney and Disney Quest. The rest of the time we want to go to Universal with the week pass and just relax.

Also ideally we would like to rent a house. I understand there are not house rentals close to Universal but does anyone know which neighborhoods are closest that do have rentals?

 

[tracee]

Here's a condo that we rented last month near Universal....We loved it !

http://www.vrbo.com/174597

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Could someone tell me which resorts are closest to Universal. We are planning on visiting Disney for one day plus probably another day for downtown Disney and Disney Quest. The rest of the time we want to go to Universal with the week pass and just relax.

Also ideally we would like to rent a house. I understand there are not house rentals close to Universal but does anyone know which neighborhoods are closest that do have rentals?

We like the space of a house or condo too but I am very willing to give that up for a few days of staying onsite at a US hotel. There are 3, Royal Pacific, Hard Rock Hotel, and Portofino Bay. All are on par with Disney's deluxe and operated by Loew's Hotels. There are no "value" hotels.
RP and HRH are within 5-10 min walk from the parks or take a relaxing water taxi. Also just show your room key and it lets you bypass the reg. lines, like an unlimited fast pass. We've stayed at all 3 and just love HRH.
If you have AAA you can get a discount. Also a 1 night stay gives you 2 full parks days with FOTL access. It really changed the whole flavor of how we tour the parks. We can go very leisurely knowing we can just about walk right on to every ride and so many times my kids say, "let's do that one again!" even 3x!

We'll be staying at RP for 3 nts. over Labor Day weekend for a little getaway before school starts. I can't wait!!!

There is a wealth of info on the Universal Resorts board of the dis.
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=75
Everyone is really nice there, without the cattiness/flaming you see on other boards.

 

[mamaminnie]

We really enjoyed the JW Marriott Grande Lakes resort. It's a 10-15 minute drive to Universal Studios (I'm not sure if there is a shuttle).

There's a huge lazy river pool, the rooms were quite large and nice, it has a very "resort" feel to it (more than just a room and a pool KWIM?)

It shares the property with the Ritz-Carlton so you can walk over there and use their amenities too.

We got great rates through AAA (much less than the 3 Universal hotels)