First time at Universal!

[Zosha]

We are going to Universal for the first time in December. We will be there on the 28th and 29th and are staying onsite at RPR. I was hoping we will be able to drive over in the morning from WDW and park our car in the car park at RPR and then head over to the parks and check in later. Does anybody know if that's possible? Will bell services store our luggage during the day? Would we have to go to the hotel first anyway to get our express passes before we head to the gates, if we only have the print@home tickets? It looks like Universal opens at 8am that day so how long should we allow to drive from WDW to RPR and get our passes sorted etc?
I appreciate any tips you all might have for me. I know we are coming at a very busy time!

 

[bumbershoot]

You have to checkin to get your express passes (you use your room keycard for that). So get there nice and early. Bell services will keep your bags for you, absolutely.

I personally would leave at 6 to make absolutely sure you have enough time for everything. Get over there, park in the lot, take bags to hotel (or pull up front and let bell people take bags), check in, get EP, walk/boat to the parks!

 

[BagOLaughs]

There are will call kiosks in the hotel which is usually staffed by a team member between certain times. It will save you time picking up your park tickets at the park which will have bigger queues.

 

[Zosha]

Thanks for your responses. The tickets I have printed out say to go direct to gate not to a will call desk. But if I need to go and check in to get my express pass then I will just double check about the tickets while there. I'm very excited but regretting not staying the extra night at universal (ie the 27th) so we could just go straight to the parks in the morning. I have spent the past few days reading up on TRs and it just looks amazing!!