Good Bye to Onsite at Universal

[Immelman]

there is now. disney's 'magical express'. it's brand new in 05.

 

[Cass]

you should get 10 nights at an allstar for every one night you give up at a Universal resort they cannot compare.

 

[TaurusSES_Sport]

there is now. disney's 'magical express'. it's brand new in 05.

I thought that didn't start until May 5th...?

http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20041228/FLTU00728122004-1.html

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041228/fltu007_1.html

 

[klfrech]

I couldn't agree more!! Universal is going to lose alot of business because their onsite hotels are too expensive. I will definitely be staying offsite this trip, but, having never done that before, I need to know the ins and outs of still having FOLT using express passes. Can anyone fill me in? Any other tips (will be staying at Disney also and traveling to US) will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Immelman]

I thought that didn't start until May 5th...?
]

my bad, I didn't know they were timing that with the rest of the 50th celebration. that's pretty stupid, IMHO.

 

[Immelman]

Universal is going to lose alot of business because their onsite hotels are too expensive. I will definitely be staying offsite this trip, but, having never done that before, I need to know the ins and outs of still having FOLT using express passes. Can anyone fill me in? Any other tips (will be staying at Disney also and traveling to US) will be greatly appreciated!

UO's resorts are not expensive when you factor in you're staying in at least a AAA 4 diamond resort, with the FOTL as an added perk. they're obviously doing something right, when you look at how disney is responding with their new resort perks. during peak times at WDW, whatever park is open late is still going to be mobbed. how many resort rooms does disney have compared to UO?

as far as the express passes, they work much like a fastpass. swipe your ticket, pick your time, and return during that one hour window.

 

[NUHuskies#1]

you should get 10 nights at an allstar for every one night you give up at a Universal resort they cannot compare.

Don't need ten nights at the All Star, as we have a 2 brd Villa at BC booked for five nights the second leg of the trip through DVC. To me, THAT is no comparison to the HRH. Why would I need TWO deluxe resorts when I can save ton of cash by staying over WDW for a couple of nights and driving over to UO/IOA and buying an express pass?

 

[EEyorelover22]

They seem to be filling up even at full price. I tried for 2 dates in June at HRH and there were no rooms available. The room I have booked at HRH is the same price as a poolview at AKL. I'm pretty sure though that I will get a code for AKL...I'm thinking I won't for HRH at this point though.

 

[MickeyMagic]

Well, I'm jumping on the bandwagon! A couple years ago, we were attracted to USO by the buy one year, get one free AP deal. We were able to reserve rooms at the onsite resorts for a decent price using our APs or ENT cards. So we split our vacations between Disney and Universal, even though we are Disney Vacation club members. It was working well, UNTIL NOW!!

We have a couple trips planned to Orlando before our USO AP's expire in Auguts. We had every intent of renewing them, but unless something changes, we'll probably let them lapse. I was hoping to get an AP rate for RPR or HRH and split our stay between Disney and Universal in March and again in June. Now, besides the high price of onsite accomodations at USO, I need to factor in the fact that I can get free transfers to/from Disney. I think Disney is winning the race!!

Furthermore, we feel we won't enjoy USO without the FOTL benefits that we have come to love, so we might skip USO altogether!! I do not like this new method of releasing AP rates at the last minute. I need to have my plans finalized long before that!!

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Our vacations may actually be more relaxing if we don't try to split them up. So it may turn into a good thing.

 

[Bonnie40]

I think that the fact that the resorts are showing full is not quite accurate. I think alot of people have made reservations at rack rate and are waiting to see if better rates appear. UO is going to find that alot of people cancel their reservations when nothing better appears! Empty rooms and last minute deals for those who can take advantage of them. We will visit UO for the day, but Disney's got the room and I can't believe that's how it's turned out!

 

[themepark]

Our APs expire in August and I honestly don't know if we will make it back. If we do and the rates stay as high as they are, we will only book one night to get FOTL for 2 days. UO will be losing alot of my business as we do EVERYTHING onsite (eat all meals, souvenirs, etc..) when we stay at RPR for 4-5 days. In Orlando, I can get a 3* hotel which suits our needs on Priceline for $32-$40 a night or a 4* for $60-$75. We LOVE Universal and really enjoy staying at RPR but cannot afford to pay double what we paid last year to stay there.

 

[gschmerl]

Disney.
Furthermore, we feel we won't enjoy USO without the FOTL benefits that we have come to love, so we might skip USO altogether!!.

If you can still enjoy WDW using FastPass, then you can still enjoy Universl using the Express Pass machines. I know I wait WAY longer in lines at WDW than I do at Universal.

 

[FeeFeeWhite]

The best thing I see happening is that USO will probably start to feel these DW changes and adjust their pricing also. Wow I can't wait to start getting those Loew's deals like we used to see!

 

[mainelyj]

Thanks for the comment from Lori about renting onsite at Disney for a car rental vs going back to the airport to rent our car. However, at this time, to rent a car on the same day and same time and picking up onsite Disney cost about $30 more - go figure, this is for the same rental company. I will continue to watch prices, as we all know, these decrease as you get closer to our trip.

Thanks though. Any more insight would be appreciated.

Donna in Maine

 

[Mainebound]

The best thing I see happening is that USO will probably start to feel these DW changes and adjust their pricing also. Wow I can't wait to start getting those Loew's deals like we used to see!

I can only hope you are right. For sure, the changes at WDw had the effect of taking us offsite at Universal (Wilderness Lodge was $800 cheaper than Hard Rock with my AP rate for two rooms), cutting our planned days at USF from 5 to 2, and extending our planned days at WDW from 5 to 7.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Count us in as one of the people who will probably be cancelling our HRH reservations. We have APs for Disney and with the AAA rate of $336 per night it would simply be cheaper for add more Disney nights on than to pay that price and pay for the tickets. Originally we thought we would buy APs for US also this year but there doesn't seem to be any incentive. I don't think we would do US/IOA without FOTL access in July so Universal will not only lose the hotel money also all the souveniers and restaurants. I hope they will turn around for next year. I really like the HRH too, it seems a shame.

 

[NUHuskies#1]

I did it! Cut my HRH ressies from 2 nights to 1 night (still 2 days FOTL) and added 3 nights at WDW. Considering the cost it is to stay onsite at UO/IOA with food and souveniers it was just way too much. We had those 1/2 price GCs for Citywalk Restaurants last year, which helped out considerably and the way things are going, I just don't see Universal being the good deal that WDW is this year. I added 3 nights at the ASM, 3 days of dining (which a portion of can be used for character dining each day) and 5 days of WDW parks for about $1400 for the five of us. The other nights will be spent at our DVC.

 

[d4est]

What is ASM?

 

[Motherfletcher]

All Star Music? Another shoddy motel?

 

[robvia]

I'd rent the car from the airport for the entire stay. The convience of having it is really nice in terms of freedom. I wouldn't cancel the visit to IOA/USF just because of the FOTL. Instead, you wake up early on those mornings, get to the parking garage by 8am, take a lap, then go back to Disney for the evening.

As to USF turning it around for next year, they need to build that 4th hotel next to the RPR, and make it a budget property like the All Star resorts.