Discounts on Universal Hotels

[Purseval]

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.

That $63 is a Disney APH rate, basicaly comparing the lowest possible rate at one hotel to the highest at another. Priceline would do the same thing so it's not uncommon.

 

[Rip]

That $63 is a Disney APH rate, basicaly comparing the lowest possible rate at one hotel to the highest at another. Priceline would do the same thing so it's not uncommon.

Oh, I know, I checked after I typed that.

 

[taliategan]

Not sure if one of your original questions was answered concerning off-site hotels close to Universal - Doubletree and Hyatt Place are popular because its possible to walk to the parks; Four Points is also popular as well as the Crowne Plaza. Universals' web site also provides a list of off-site hotels which Universal partners with. There are many other hotels close (within a 1/2 mile to a couple miles) to Universal; many of the hotels by the Convention Center are only about a 5-10 minute drive to Universal, depending on traffic. I usually book on Hotwire or Priceline, but I know Hotwire will not allow you to book a room with more than 4 occupants. Priceline bookings only guarantee double occupancy; but, I never had a problem in the Orlando area with 4 in our family. You can usually get a 3* hotel in the Universal or Convention Center area on Hotwire or Priceline for anywhere from $ 35 to $ 50 a night. (I'm sure some people will book a room on Hotwire for 4 and have 5 people stay in the room: but, I never tried since we only have 4 in our family.)

 

[Virgderon]

I factor in the cost of the front of the line when I think about staying on site. I can't do IO/Universal any more without front of the line ( spoiled!), so its worth it to me to get the unlimited FOTL with the price of my room. If I have 4 people, and the 1 time FOTL pass is $25 to $33 each, I feel like I am getting a better deal by staying on site.

 

[Purseval]

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.

Yes, better to make a terribly misleading statement and leave it at that.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Yes, better to make a terribly misleading statement and leave it at that.

Seriously, Dude! Get over it already. You aren't helping answer the question at hand. Don't you have some sarcasm to spread on another thread or something?

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

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.

OK dude, I don't know why you must continually try to start an argument or what don't you get??? The rate I quoted for Universal was the only rate I could get at the time for that particular hotel when I checked.

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.

Our dates are May 13th - 22nd and there were no rooms available from the 19th onwards. The rate I was quoted for the "Stay more, save more" promotion for the dates it was available was $229/night for weekdays and $245/night for Fri/Sat.

Yes, better to make a terribly misleading statement and leave it at that.

Again, I don't understand why you're trying to start an argument - just drop it - you're not contributing anything to the original poster's question

Seriously, Dude! Get over it already. You aren't helping answer the question at hand. Don't you have some sarcasm to spread on another thread or something?

 

[Purseval]

Seriously, Dude! Get over it already. You aren't helping answer the question at hand. Don't you have some sarcasm to spread on another thread or something?

OK dude, I don't know why you must continually try to start an argument or what don't you get??? The rate I quoted for Universal was the only rate I could get at the time for that particular hotel when I checked.

Is there some sort of language problem here? The name is Purseval, I can't think of a country where that translates into "dude" And I'm not the one who dropped a confusing statement into the thread:

Unfortunately the Universal hotels don't offer any discounts close to what you can get with the discounts Disney offers on rooms.

Which isn't true. Universal discounts are as good or better than any ones offered at WDW. Perhaps what you meant was that Universal doesn't have the amount of choices WDW has in every price range. That's understandable enough but it was left to everyone else to figure out. I wasn't trying to start an argument, just figure out where you were coming from, but you couldn't be bothered.

I also don't make a habit of applauding when someone else slams people, even if they deserve it. But you're right, this isn't contributing anything new to the original question. Apologies to the OP if your thread got hijacked.

 

[teacher100]

I think I will try to get a discount on one of the Universal Hotels. I think it will be worth it to get the Express pass for the family. I'll keeping checking the website and call AAA as well for discounts. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Is there some sort of language problem here? The name is Purseval, I can't think of a country where that translates into "dude" And I'm not the one who dropped a confusing statement into the thread:

Which isn't true. Universal discounts are as good or better than any ones offered at WDW. Perhaps what you meant was that Universal doesn't have the amount of choices WDW has in every price range. That's understandable enough but it was left to everyone else to figure out. I wasn't trying to start an argument, just figure out where you were coming from, but you couldn't be bothered.

 

[pixeegrl]

I think I will try to get a discount on one of the Universal Hotels. I think it will be worth it to get the Express pass for the family. I'll keeping checking the website and call AAA as well for discounts. Thanks everyone for the advice!

You can also call the hotels and ask for specials and if you don't care about your view you can ask for an obstructed view for a discount. I think the best rates tend the be the Stay More Save More rates. You can always stay just one night onsite if you are trying to save money and stay offsite the rest of your trip. One night gets you two days of Express.

 

[brucechase]

I just spent the 4 day weekend down there and was originally going to stay at a Universal hotel, but couldn't see the $325 per night they were quoting me.

Instead I picked up a 4 bedroom 3 bath house with pool for about $100 per night. I figured I saved $800 on the room and $500+ on not eating out every meal. More than enough to purchase a Front of Line Pass if I wanted. There are down sides to this (like no maid service, and cleaning up after yourselves, no FOLP), but I'm not sure I will ever spend another night in hotel in central florida after this. I was 6 miles from Disney and 13 from Universal Studios.

If anyone wants any information, please PM me and I'll fill you in.