Could only get 5 of our 6 nights at RPR Club level. Suggestions?

[christykny]

We'll be staying at RPR end of August for 6 nights. We decided to go with Club level, but it's only available for 5 nights - not the first night of our trip. I asked them if we could just stay in another room for the one night and still get the Stay More Play More rate since we'd be at the hotel 6 nights - no. Apparently they'd rather lose me to another hotel for that first night because there's no way I'm paying the non-discounted 1 night rate.

So... I'm trying to decide if we should just drop the Club level ans stay all 6 nights at RPR or stay at another hotel that first night. Our vacation is totally focused on Universal other than a couple trips to Downtown Disney. I was considering staying at Embassy Suites in Lake Buena Vista, doing Downtown Disney and enjoying the breakfast buffet. But then we'd be paying for transportation to Embassy Suites and again to RPR. I can't imagine that there would be ANY hotel that wouldn't require we pay for transportation again to get to RPR would there?

On that same thought, does anyone know the approximate cost to get from RPR to DTD? My husband wants the boys to see DTD and we have Disney Rewards to use there (since I assume they cannot be used in Universal).

Thanks for any feedback and thanks again to all the great advise I've gotten from this forum. You've saved me hundreds and our plans have morphed into something that I think will be a wonderful experience for our first trip to Universal.

Christy

PS. A rental car is an option. We had planned to have one in order to eat a little more cheaply and we were going to go to Kennedy Space Center. But since we had decided on Club level, gotten the 7 day Universal pass and decided to skip Kennedy, we had also decided to drop the expense of the rental car plus parking fees.

 

[damo]

I would just keep calling back to see if someone has cancelled and a room has opened up.

Club is usually really not worth it unless you have kids who eat a ton of stuff.

We have booked a night over at the hotels on Major blvd and then switched. If you leave your offsite hotel early and check in onsite, you still get the early entry for that day as well as your express passes.

 

[shl1108]

We loved the club amenity. I would call and talk to a manager at the hotel about your problem.
If you are going to stay 5-6 nights at their hotel, they should accomodate you no problem with this. If you are talking to the "main reservation line", call the hotel directly and speak to a manager. No doubt you should get the discounted rate if you are reserving for 6 nights total.
(407) 503-3000

 

[christykny]

That's a good idea to call back to see if we can get full 6 nights eventurally. I've been torn on the Club. The pics here make it look like actual meal for dinner while the resort tells me it's only cheese and crackers and won't label it as 'dinner'. We do have 3 boys with us (9,11,12), so the appetites will certainly be there.

 

[christykny]

I did call direct to hotel. When I could not persuade the person on the phone, she put me on hold to ask her 'manager' and I was told the manager agreed that it had to be the same room in order to add on to the discounted rate received on the other 5 nights at Club level. Think I may try again as I may get another person or just ask to speak to manager myself.

Still trying to figure out how to fit in Downtown Disney. I've now learned that it's 20 minutes away and a $40 cab ride. Maybe the one night at a hotel near it isn't such a bad idea.

 

[shl1108]

I just can't imagine they would not give you the discounted rate for the 6 nights total. You could call the Hard Rock or Portofino and ask them as well, just to see the policy.
We stayed 5 nights last month club and loved it with our three kids. We had breakfast there every morning and came back for the evening food too.
I would say that its not a full "dinner" but close depending on what you like. There was always hot food at night and its not just cheese and crackers.
We took advantage of the happy hour too. The Peroni (Italian beer) is great!
I hope it works out for you. I would for sure keep calling and talk to the manager yourself.

 

[damo]

I just can't imagine they would not give you the discounted rate for the 6 nights total. You could call the Hard Rock or Portofino and ask them as well, just to see the policy.
We stayed 5 nights last month club and loved it with our three kids. We had breakfast there every morning and came back for the evening food too.
I would say that its not a full "dinner" but close depending on what you like. There was always hot food at night and its not just cheese and crackers.
We took advantage of the happy hour too. The Peroni (Italian beer) is great!
I hope it works out for you. I would for sure keep calling and talk to the manager yourself.

My daughter had the same issue with the stay more save more deal. The room category she wanted was not available for one day of her stay and the Portofino would not waiver. She would have had to purchase that one day at the different category separately. She ended up changing her dates.

 

[mjohnson96]

Same here, when you look at the fine print it says based on the check in and check out dates of your stay so that is where they get you. They are limited by their stupid reservation system and cannot change the rate. What I would look at doing is seeing if they can give you a room credit or breakfast or something instead to make up that difference. When we stayed a few weeks ago we were staying Sun-Fri but Thrus night was sold out. If I booked Sun-Thurs then it was $159 but if I did Sun-Fri then it was $229 a night...the manager was able to break it up into 2 reservations since I could not do that online, it would not let me book 1 night, and it was less to just pay the one night at rack and the rest of the nights at the lower rate.

Staying that first night in another hotel is not that bad of an option, except for the transportation thing. Maybe see if there are any hotels that are in the middle that offer transportation to both parks. Might be some on the far end of I-drive.

 

[christykny]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'm leaning towards the idea of staying near Downtown Disney and just making that the first part of out trip. Embassy Suites is farther than I thought (couple miles) so would not be walking distance, but I'm pretty sure we'll have a rental car. I was quoted a rate of $70 from Hertz to pick up a car at the airport and return it at RPR the next day when we check in there. Not too bad from what I've heard of taxi/shuttle rates and I haven't dug around for coupons yet.

 

[christykny]

I think I'm on to something here I've got $250 Disney Reward points on my card and one more month to add on. Since we decided not to do Disney theme parks, I figured we'd be able to use them eating at DTD. However, there are apparently only 4 restaurants to choose from for use with points and I'm not excited about them (really wish I could do crab boat but my ds is allergic). Soooo.. I'm thinking I'll use the points to pay for the one night at a Disney hotel! This will get me free transfer from airport to the first hotel, transportation to DTD (I think), the chance to check out the disney resorts and still have some reward points left over for dining that evening or next morning. Still have to work out Disney to RPR and then to airport, but anyone see problems with my 'evil scheme' yet?