HELP!. big storm coming. moved flight up a day

[mtquinn]

Hi all. We are going to Disney this Saturday, but needed to fly out on Friday to avoid a huge storm hitting Philly. We want to stay at Universal for the night before heading to Disney, and need hotel recommendations, please! Location is key, and price matters, too.

Also, how do we get from Universal to Disney? There are seven of us...two families. Thanks so much!

 

[dvcnewgirl]

Hi all. We are going to Disney this Saturday, but needed to fly out on Friday to avoid a huge storm hitting Philly. We want to stay at Universal for the night before heading to Disney, and need hotel recommendations, please! Location is key, and price matters, too.

Also, how do we get from Universal to Disney? There are seven of us...two families. Thanks so much!

I would use Hotwire and pick the universal area. That way you get the location that you want at a very good price. I usually only book 3 1/2 stars or higher so I know I am at a nice place. Good Luck!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

We hotwired a room last time we had to go early. You might check the towncar places for transport. With so many it might be cheaper than mears to veg fro
place to place. We love universal. Have fun there before you go to wdw!

 

[HayGan]

We stayed at this Quality Inn last year for one night and were very pleased with it. http://www.orlandoqualityinn.com/subpages/factsheet.htm It was fairly close to Universal and is a good, very reasonably priced hotel for one night.

 

[soccerchick]

We stayed at a Country Inn and Suites very close to Universal - has been a few years, so I know things can change, but it was nice (and new) then.

You can also check Trip Advisor!

Lucky you getting out of here before the storm!

 

[bamor]

Hotwire! Use betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com to help figure out which hotel prior to purchase. Sometimes, going in and searching as a package will help you figure out which hotel it is.
Transportation.........rent a car from MCO return to the Dolphin. Go with Alamo....check mousesavers.com for codes. One out right now is for weekend rentals in bold red letters or book the free upgrade (midsize to a standard) and use the Walmart ID.

 

[java]

Are you going to go into Universal?
My number one tip is to stay onsite! That FOTL access you get is well worth the price.
Royal Pacific is the more reasonably priced one and it's actually very nice.

 

[mtquinn]

Are you going to go into Universal?
My number one tip is to stay onsite! That FOTL access you get is well worth the price.
Royal Pacific is the more reasonably priced one and it's actually very nice.

forgive me, but does FOTL mean front of the line?

 

[java]

forgive me, but does FOTL mean front of the line?

Oh Yes sorry it's Front of the line access. Meaning you walk straight through an Express lane- never have waited more than 5 minutes for rides and we go right in the middle of the summer. It's how I wish Disney could do it- but with the volume of resorts they have it wouldn't work the same way.

 

[mtquinn]

that's tempting, but hotels like the Marriott are so much cheaper than a Universal hotel. i don't think we can swing that much money for one night. FOTL sounds nice, though. (

 

[SandrA9810]

there's also an alamo/national at the TTC. Once you drop off, there's a shuttle to take you to your resort. I'd suggest dropping every one else off at the hotel to get checked in and settled.

Crowds should not be a problem, disney is pretty quiet and so is sea world.

Wouldn't you get free parking for staying onsite?? I'd suggest getting a large van, so you only pay one fee. Which is 14 bucks.

 

[bamor]

HI
Hotwire has a 4* Universal I drive north for $69.00 for Friday night.

Car....alamo.com
2/5 to 2/7, pickup at MCO return to Dolphin
ID # 430710....coupon code AU2789SDM
$97.13 for a full size
OR
2/5 to 2/8, pickup at MCO return to Dolphin (added a day)
ID # 430710....coupon code AD5691JDV
$119.00 for a full size

Use ME to return to airport for your return flight.

 

[Suz D]

Are you staying at Disney for the rest of your trip? If so, would it be cheaper to take Magical Express and pay for an extra night at Disney rather than pay for transportation to a Universal hotel and then transportation to Disney? It might be close to a wash and will get you into the magic sooner!

 

[squirrel]

If you aren't going to go to Universal, I would stick with a Disney Resort. No need to rent a car or pay for car service.

I stayed at the Best Western (I think the name has changed) located across the street from Universal in 1999. We were able to walk to Universal each morning instead of relying on the shuttle service.

 

[MarilIncredible]

I've stayed at both the Doubletree and the Hyatt Place near Universal and they were both very nice.

Mears has a shuttle, but that might get pricey with so many people. Probably better off getting a rental car. Have you checked Dollar? Theya re usually pretty cheap.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Just got back from Disney last night and the crowds were great. Never waited more than 10 mins for a ride.
I would not rent from the Car Care Center. I priced a vehicle from there and the price was $235 yet the same car at the airport $70.00. So we got a car at the airport. Used the Alamo $25 off a weekly rental coupon which is on their web site plus we did the pay now option. Walked up to the kiosk completed our rental in 5 minutes and out to the car we went..

 

[snowman1035]

If you are staying on Disney property, I would check to see if they have any rooms available for that night. There have been several times that we arrived a day early and we were able to get a room and then just changed rooms the next day. Have a great time on your trip!

 

[miksilver]

I stayed at the Doubletree right outside of Universal last July with a co-worker. I got a really nice deal through Dreams Unlimited Travel. I want to say it was around $100 with taxes a night. It was a nice Doubletree hotel, pretty big, has a Starbucks and a few other counter service places inside. There is also a TGI Fridays across the road that you can walk to as well as another shopping center that has a few restaurants.

I think you can walk about 10-15 minutes and get to Universal from there, but I never did that. We had a rental car and parked a few times at Universal ($12 a day), but then we realized that we could get a cab to and from Universal for just $5 each way. With tipping a $1 that was the same as parking. Plus we were closer to the park entrance when we were dropped off in the taxi area. The Doubletree did have a shuttle to take you to Universal, but we didn't want to wait around for it or sign-up for it.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Airtran has just posted the travel advisery on there web page.

 

[IDoDis]

Last summer I booked a room for 2 nights that was 1 1/2 miles from Universal via Hotwire for around $29 per night. I can't remember the exact amount but it was cheap. There was a nice pool with a Tiki Bar & grill at the pool, free breakfast and the room was a mini-suite with a pull-out couch. Check for those features on Hotwire. The hotel also had a free shuttle to the park, but we opted to drive.