Contemplating staying at RPR for 1 night

[KapBoy77]

Hey everyone!

I'm hoping some of you can help a guy out here with a few questions I have. My family and I will be staying at BC for 15 days in December. Since I'm not staying onsite at a WDW resort this year I had a few bucks to splurge on other things. So I decided to get the family a two day pass at Universal. The more I started looking into the situation the more a stay at RPR seemed like a good idea. I don't mind leaving BC for a night (even though I paid for it) if it means it will be more convenient to stay at Universal. My questions are these:

1. On the day of check in can we arrive at anytime and park the car then get our express passes for the day? I'm assuming the room won't be ready if we get there too early.

2. On the second day would we leave our car in the Hotel parking lot or would we drive it to the parks lot instead? Or can we just come back at the end of the day to pick up our car?

3. Is deciding to stay at PRP even a good idea? Or should we just drive back to our own resort and come back the next day?

I should maybe mention that I am planning on checking in on the 10th of December.

Thanks in advance for any feedback everyone!

 

[KapBoy77]

Oh! And another thing... Will the express passes be valid for both days even if we are staying one night?

Thanks!

 

[bumbershoot]

I like giving official sources: http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Royal-Pacific-Resort/index/faqs

Q: I realize check-in does not begin until 4:00 PM, but I wanted to use the Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass to skip the regular lines before that.

A: Please arrive as early as you like the day of check-in and our front desk agent will be happy to pre-register you and assist you with your Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass. The bellman will hold your luggage while you enjoy the parks.

Q: What days is the FREE Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass that serve as Express Access to skip the regular lines valid throughout my stay?

A: Your Universal ExpressSM Unlimited pass is valid for Express Access (at participating attractions) from the time issued by the front desk until the Universal Orlando theme parks close, the day of your departure.

The parking fee for the hotel lot is charged at midnight. So you will get the one charge on the night of checkin, and as long as you are out of the lot by midnight the day of checkout, you won't be charged again (since you are only having the one night). Just leave it in the hotel lot; moving to the themepark lot wouldn't save you any time, and would be another parking fee.


Oh and assuming you check in early enough, you get the Early Entrance to Wizarding World on each day of your stay, including checkin and checkout.


Staying onsite is a great idea, IMO.

 

[Herbie]

we have stayed for just one night before. we got there at 8am, got our express passes and went to the park. they called at 11;30 and gave us our room number. the next day we went to the park for early entry, went back to the hotel for check out, put our stuff in the car, left it sit and went back to the park for the rest of the day. it all worked very well.

 

[KapBoy77]

Thanks for the replies both of you. Very much appreciated.

 

[aubriee]

I just did that exact same thing last week. I had booked eight nights at Bonnet Creek for a really good price. I left the condo empty and spent the night over at RPR last Thursday night, getting front of the line pass for both Thursday and Friday. I arrived about 8:00am and was surprised to find my room ready. I quickly dropped my stuff off in the room and then took the boat over to IoA. It worked out great.

We did the exact same thing last May, except we spent two nights over at RPR (getting front of the line pass for three days). We had gotten a great deal on the condo over at Bonnet Creek, so just left it vacant for two nights and spent two nights in the middle of the week (Tues and Wed) over at Universal. We arrived even earlier that trip, getting to RPR about 7:00am. Once again we got lucky and our room was ready, so we took a few minutes to drop our stuff off and check out the room, before running over to the parks.

We'll be doing the same thing in Dec. We have Bonnet Creek booked for Dec 6th-16th, but will spend Dec 9th or 10th over at RPR, leaving the BC condo empty that night. Alot of people book their Universal stay at the beginning or the end of their WDW trip, but we found we like staying over there in the middle of the trip. The weekend is usually more crowded and the rooms are also a little more expensive. We prefer the lower midweek crowds and also saving a little on the room.

 

[donaldduck352]

I just did that exact same thing last week. I had booked eight nights at Bonnet Creek for a really good price. I left the condo empty and spent the night over at RPR last Thursday night, getting front of the line pass for both Thursday and Friday. I arrived about 8:00am and was surprised to find my room ready. I quickly dropped my stuff off in the room and then took the boat over to IoA. It worked out great.

We did the exact same thing last May, except we spent two nights over at RPR (getting front of the line pass for three days). We had gotten a great deal on the condo over at Bonnet Creek, so just left it vacant for two nights and spent two nights in the middle of the week (Tues and Wed) over at Universal. We arrived even earlier that trip, getting to RPR about 7:00am. Once again we got lucky and our room was ready, so we took a few minutes to drop our stuff off and check out the room, before running over to the parks.

We'll be doing the same thing in Dec. We have Bonnet Creek booked for Dec 6th-16th, but will spend Dec 9th or 10th over at RPR, leaving the BC condo empty that night. Alot of people book their Universal stay at the beginning or the end of their WDW trip, but we found we like staying over there in the middle of the trip. The weekend is usually more crowded and the rooms are also a little more expensive. We prefer the lower midweek crowds and also saving a little on the room.

Gotta love the perks that UO offers!!!

 

[Mainebound]

We did this in 2012. We had a house for a week in Kissimmee, but drove up to USO midweek, staying one night at RPR, visiting Universal parks for two days. I was worried that it would be inconvenient, but it was WELL worth it.

We've been way too spoiled by onsite hotels and privileges at Universal to do it any other way (and yes, I've even bought those Express Passes in the past).

Just looking now to book another couple nights at RPR in Feb, but operator told me discounts would be loaded soon, so am waiting for that.

 

[KapBoy77]

So we booked out room! Feels like we won't regret it! I'm actually a little excited since it feels like we are booking a mini vacation within our vacation lol

Again thanks for the responses everybody!

 

[Bluer101]

So we booked out room! Feels like we won't regret it! I'm actually a little excited since it feels like we are booking a mini vacation within our vacation lol Again thanks for the responses everybody!

Congrats, there is one problem though with your plan. You will be spoiled and not want to stay offsite again, be fair warned.

 

[KapBoy77]

Haha thanks for the warning.

 

[derekburgan]

Very jealous. The amenities and atmosphere or the RPR can't be beat. You are going to have an awesome time.

 

[stormer]

You can just leave your bags with the bellman when you check out and pick them up when you are ready to get your car and leave. Much easier.

 

[glocon]

You will definitely not regret it... and you will probably want to do it again!

 

[KapBoy77]

I must admit that since booking the room and adding all this to my plans I'm getting super excited to go. I've been checking out some of Popsong1's walkthroughs and I'm loving what I'm seeing. Some of the details are amazing! I don't get why so many people hate on these parks!?