Discounts on Universal Hotels

[teacher100]

I just got 7 day tickets for Universal for 99.00. Since I have 7 days I am thinking about staying onsite at Universal rather than Disney. Are there specials like Disney. The rack rates are extremely to high. We do have AAA. We are also a family of 5 making rooms harder to find. I'm kind of thinking about skipping Disney this year since I have the 7 day tickets, but if we can't stay onsite, I really don't want to fight the lines for a week. We originally planned just to spend one day at IOA, but the deal on the tickets I couldn't pass up. What are some good places to stay off site near Universal?

 

[loveysbydesign]

I can't help you but would love to hear the repsonses. A friend of mine recommends staying onsite for 1-2 nights to reap the benefits and then switching to offsite if you need something cheaper!
Alos, may i ask where were you able to still find the $99 tix???

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

I just got 7 day tickets for Universal for 99.00. Since I have 7 days I am thinking about staying onsite at Universal rather than Disney. Are there specials like Disney. The rack rates are extremely to high. We do have AAA. We are also a family of 5 making rooms harder to find. I'm kind of thinking about skipping Disney this year since I have the 7 day tickets, but if we can't stay onsite, I really don't want to fight the lines for a week. We originally planned just to spend one day at IOA, but the deal on the tickets I couldn't pass up. What are some good places to stay off site near Universal?

Unfortunately the Universal hotels don't offer any discounts close to what you can get with the discounts Disney offers on rooms. We always split our time between Universal and Disney, but because of the discounts on resort rooms (we are usually able to get an AP discount), we stay the entire time on-site at Disney. We also, however, have a rental car, so transportation to Universal isn't an issue.

We just can't see spending an extra $200/night on a room at Universal just for front of the line access.

 

[tink1957]

There's a special going on at the on site hotels where you can save 42% off the cost of your stay for a 7 night stay or 40% for a 5 night stay. I've stayed off site at the Doubletree Universal and it was pretty close to everything, plus they have a shuttle to take you to Universal, Seaworld & Wet & Wild. It's a good hotel for the money, comfy beds on par with Disney mods.

Have a great time, whatever you decide.

 

[amshowers]

You can stay in any Universal hotel standard room with 5 people with no additional charge as long as there are not more then 2 adults. I am paying 394.20 total AAA rate for 2 nights standard room at Royal Pacific Resort. Our family of 5 is doing a split Disney/Universal trip, and with Harry Potter opening it will definitely be worth staying 2 nights to get 3 days of fotl. RPR is a beautiful hotel and compares to Disney deluxe resorts, plus it's only a 5 min. walk to the parks.

 

[Purseval]

Unfortunately the Universal hotels don't offer any discounts close to what you can get with the discounts Disney offers on rooms. We always split our time between Universal and Disney, but because of the discounts on resort rooms (we are usually able to get an AP discount), we stay the entire time on-site at Disney. We also, however, have a rental car, so transportation to Universal isn't an issue.

We just can't see spending an extra $200/night on a room at Universal just for front of the line access.

What hotels at WDW are you comparing the Universal Hotels to? I'd love to know what WDW hotel you can get that's as good as the Hard Rock, for instance, for $200 less. I paid $239 for 1 night at the HRH March 6. People booking stays longer than 4 days get to pay a lot less. What is the comparable WDW hotel?

 

[Rip]

What hotels at WDW are you comparing the Universal Hotels to? I'd love to know what WDW hotel you can get that's as good as the Hard Rock, for instance, for $200 less. I paid $239 for 1 night at the HRH March 6. People booking stays longer than 4 days get to pay a lot less. What is the comparable WDW hotel?

I just paid $139/night for a room at the RPR for 2 nights. I think too many people try to compare rooms at the Pop Century (which were $120/night this past weekend for AP holders) to the hotels at UO.

While it is true that UO doesn't have "value" resorts, you can get hotels that are, IMO, better than Disney's "deluxe" resorts for a fraction of the cost.

Yeah, I know, I'm preaching to the choir.

 

[Poohbug]

Check the Universal Orlando website often-sometimes they have specials like-buy three nights-get two free, etc. If you have AAA you can get a discount at hotels and stores, restaurants. Universal resorts will let you have 5 in a room. The rooms do not have alot of extra space for the extra bed tho, and if your kids are older it will be crowded.

If you are going in the summer or a busy time the Express Pass is really nice. Don't count on it to get you into Harry Potter-most new attractions are not available for express pass.


You can just buy an express pass to go along with your ticket, however you can only use express one time per ride. If you stay onsite you can use express as many times as you want.

 

[teacher100]

I can't help you but would love to hear the repsonses. A friend of mine recommends staying onsite for 1-2 nights to reap the benefits and then switching to offsite if you need something cheaper!
Alos, may i ask where were you able to still find the $99 tix???

I got the tickets at our AAA office. They said they were left over before they went up, but they have a limited number.

 

[Purseval]

I just paid $139/night for a room at the RPR for 2 nights. I think too many people try to compare rooms at the Pop Century (which were $120/night this past weekend for AP holders) to the hotels at UO.

Comparing the Pop Century to RPR is like comparing the Peabody to Motel 6 You need a minimum of a moderate to even make it close and I can't think of a WDW moderate that is a value compared to any UO hotel.

 

[pixeegrl]

I just got 7 day tickets for Universal for 99.00. Since I have 7 days I am thinking about staying onsite at Universal rather than Disney. Are there specials like Disney. The rack rates are extremely to high. We do have AAA. We are also a family of 5 making rooms harder to find. I'm kind of thinking about skipping Disney this year since I have the 7 day tickets, but if we can't stay onsite, I really don't want to fight the lines for a week. We originally planned just to spend one day at IOA, but the deal on the tickets I couldn't pass up. What are some good places to stay off site near Universal?

What dates are you going? Depending on your days you can get the RPR for as low as $125 a night if you stay 7 days.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Comparing the Pop Century to RPR is like comparing the Peabody to Motel 6 You need a minimum of a moderate to even make it close and I can't think of a WDW moderate that is a value compared to any UO hotel.

French Quarter, Riverside, Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs are all comparable to HRH standard room. Disney's moderate resorts are around $140-$155/ night for the "average Joe". Canadian Pooh has an annual pass at Disney (I believe) which means she would get even better rates than that!

 

[rpbert1]

I have stayed at FQ, and while i find rooms similar in a lot of hotels, you most certainly could not compare any Universal resort to a Disney moderate, when you look at what you have on offer at the universal resorts.
We did a split with RPR and FQ on our first trip, and there was no comparison, FQ did not even come close to RPR for luxury and facilities, since then we have always stayed onsite at Universal.

 

[TaylorsDad]

French Quarter, Riverside, Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs are all comparable to HRH standard room. Disney's moderate resorts are around $140-$155/ night for the "average Joe". Canadian Pooh has an annual pass at Disney (I believe) which means she would get even better rates than that!

Sorry to disagree but I have stayed at French Quarter, and usually stay at a standard room at HRH. FQ isnt even close to to being comparable. Sorry cant comment on any of Disney's other mods as this was the only moderate WDW hotel we have ever stayed at. I will be staying at HRH in a standard room for 4 this Oct for $161/night. Also other than WDW deluxes how many hotels are within walking distance of the parks like Uni/IOA. We can never justify the costs of deluxes at Disney but find the value of Universals onsite hotels too good a deal to pass up.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

What hotels at WDW are you comparing the Universal Hotels to? I'd love to know what WDW hotel you can get that's as good as the Hard Rock, for instance, for $200 less. I paid $239 for 1 night at the HRH March 6. People booking stays longer than 4 days get to pay a lot less. What is the comparable WDW hotel?

I just paid $139/night for a room at the RPR for 2 nights. I think too many people try to compare rooms at the Pop Century (which were $120/night this past weekend for AP holders) to the hotels at UO.

While it is true that UO doesn't have "value" resorts, you can get hotels that are, IMO, better than Disney's "deluxe" resorts for a fraction of the cost.

Yeah, I know, I'm preaching to the choir.

Comparing the Pop Century to RPR is like comparing the Peabody to Motel 6 You need a minimum of a moderate to even make it close and I can't think of a WDW moderate that is a value compared to any UO hotel.

I never said the hotel rooms were comparable and I'm also not going to get into a discussion about which park's hotels are better/worse.

Bottom line is it all depends on what is best for your family and what you are looking for in a hotel. For the two of us, we choose not to make use of any of the amenities at our hotel when we are down in Florida, a value resort is just fine for sleeping and showering. Are the rooms nicer at Universal than at a Disney value?? Yes, however, we don't spend enough time in the room (or hotel) to justify paying the extra money. Disney rooms are clean, comfortable and affordable.

For our upcoming May trip we are getting a room at Pop Century for $63/night during the week and $72/night on Fri & Sat. Hard Rock seasonal rate for the same time is $269/night, and $289/night Fri & Sat for a Standard 2 Queen bed room. Over 9 days, staying at Pop Century saves us $1800!!

 

[Purseval]

So you're comparing your AP pass discounted value rate to a Universal hotel's standard rack rate, as if you couldn't possibly get any discounts at Universal. If that's the way you calculate your discounts I guess you're right.

 

[Mad Hattered]

"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti"

I don't even like liver, let alone who has the better place to rest one's head. It comes down to the bottom line. $1,800 seems like one heck of a line in this case.

But no....I am unaware of any discounts other than AAA.

 

[Rip]

Comparing the Pop Century to RPR is like comparing the Peabody to Motel 6 You need a minimum of a moderate to even make it close and I can't think of a WDW moderate that is a value compared to any UO hotel.

Yup. Personally, after staying at all of the MK "deluxe" resorts over the years, there isn't a single resort on Disney property that compares with RPR, HRH, or the Portofino IMO.

 

[Rip]

I never said the hotel rooms were comparable and I'm also not going to get into a discussion about which park's hotels are better/worse.

Bottom line is it all depends on what is best for your family and what you are looking for in a hotel. For the two of us, we choose not to make use of any of the amenities at our hotel when we are down in Florida, a value resort is just fine for sleeping and showering. Are the rooms nicer at Universal than at a Disney value?? Yes, however, we don't spend enough time in the room (or hotel) to justify paying the extra money. Disney rooms are clean, comfortable and affordable.

For our upcoming May trip we are getting a room at Pop Century for $63/night during the week and $72/night on Fri & Sat. Hard Rock seasonal rate for the same time is $269/night, and $289/night Fri & Sat for a Standard 2 Queen bed room. Over 9 days, staying at Pop Century saves us $1800!!

What are your dates? I don't believe that rack rate at the Pop is $63/night, so that wouldn't be a fair comparison.

I just picked May 23-June 1 and got an AP rate of $159 for HRH. Without an AP, the RPR has rooms for $142 on their "Stay more, save more" promotion, which as available to anyone. Keep in mind that WWHP is opening this spring, so the promotions are going to be less that they normally are. Looking at Disney, a room at the Pop is $105/night for week days and $120/night for the weekends. So when comparing rack rates to rack rates, you're paying an average of $34/night more for a truly deluxe hotel. We don't utilize very many amenities either, but being able to walk to everything and having unlimited Express for everyone in your party are perks that you can't even buy at Disney, and they come at no extra charge for that $34/night difference.

Like I said, I realize that UO doesn't have value resorts, but I think that they stack up very nicely on a dollar for dollar basis.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

The Universal on-site hotels are DELUXE in every sense of the word. I got a great rate for my June trip which I can not wait for!