Family of 3, New to Universal

[PollyannaMom]

Hi! We are a family of 3 - me, DH, and DS(9), looking at adding a couple of days at Universal to a Florida trip in April. (The rest of trip is visiting family a little over an hour from Orlando.) DH and I have been to Universal as a day outing, on an off-site Disney trip over 10 years ago; DS has never been. (He has been to Disney a few times.)

We are considering the on-site hotels to get the express line advantage, but don't know anything about them. We wouldn't be spending at lot of time a the hotel, but would probably swim a bit, would not need kids' clubs, and would want to stay 2-3 nights. We have AAA. Which of the 3 hotels would you recommend? Or would you stay somewhere else and buy the express add-on (if that is even an option)?

Any other advice for newbies would be welcome as well! Thank you in advance.

 

[damo]

April is a very busy, long line month. I would stay on site -- probably at the Royal Pacific, if I were you.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that the Royal Pacific is a good choice too but all three are excellent resorts. You can also pool hop.