HELP, I'm so confused about what to do!

[#4'smom]

DH, DD (17), her friend (17) and I are heading to US in March. I think we will need 3 days at US to see it all. (???)

DH doesn't want to stay in the same room as DD and her friend so currently we have 2 rooms for 3 nights booked at the Royal Pacific for a total cost of $1757.00 (that's with 2 nights at AAA rate)! We were going to do 2 days at US, 1 Resort Day and last day at US after checking out.

The more I think about the huge cost of these rooms, the more I question our sanity! We still need to buy 3 day passes on top of this. I do realize the huge perk we're getting with the FOTL though. I have thought about just booking 1room for 1 night and using it only as a resting point then staying off site. We would then use our 3rd day at US under the regular ticket way (standing in line)....

Does anyone have any suggestion or recommendations about what we should do? I was looking at the Wyndham Bonnett Creek but it is a little far from US. What would be a nice resort style in the US area with 2 bedroom suites or regular hotel with nice pool area???

 

[IdesOmarch]

Try looking into a 2 room suite, or staying off site isn't the end of the world, 3 days should give you time to do most everything. Staying onsite is always better. I would not do less than 3. Orrrrrrrr (drum roll) put the kids in a cheaper hotel across the street. And you guys stay on site to get the room key fast pass advantage.

 

[#4'smom]

2 Bedroom Suite was $554.00 + tax - so it's cheaper for us to have 2 rooms. Thanks for the thought though.

Been thinking about booking first night at Royal Pacific because we get into Orlando at 7am. Then we can head straight to the hotel, check-in and go right over to US. Now we'd have the use of the room keys FOTL until the end of day 2. (We'll be exhausted by that point because our flight is an overnighter!)

Then moving to the Staybridge Suites Orlando which has a 2 bedroom suite complete with breakfast, dinner and happy hour...

 

[IdesOmarch]

That is definitely one way to go. I like to break up my trips at different hotels, partially to save money sometimes, partially for change of pace. But yes splitting the stay could save $$$.

 

[damo]

I think just booking the one room for one night is a great idea. Because the kids are under 18, you will get two days of FOTL and early entry included for al 4 of you at no extra cost.

Check into the nearby hotels for connecting rooms. The ones on Major Blvd are really close.

 

[#4'smom]

I'm wondering if we will be able to get a lot of the attractions in within the 2 days that will have FOTL? The first day will be a Sunday but I thought it would be best to do IOA that day and WWHP on the Monday. Then on our
3rd day, when we're staying off site and will be using the regular lines, we would do Universal.

The Royal Pacific looks so beautiful and it's so hard to make a decision about spending the money and staying longer because the thought of a day around their beautiful pool seems soooo inviting considering we're coming from the WET West Coast of Canada.

 

[damo]

You should be able to do pretty much everything.

 

[momof3girls6712]

We stayed at Bonnet Creek and it wasn't that far to US everyday. I think the max it took was 15 minutes. We had 4 kids for a total of 6 people so it was worth it for us to have the extra room. We try to only go when crowds are low and we just wander the parks and ride/do whatever has a short line so the FOTL passes weren't important to us. It really depends on your families likes and dislikes.

 

[#4'smom]

How was the time share pressure at Wynham Bonnet Creek? Did they have activities going on around the pool area in the day? It looks like a beautiful resort and the 2 bedrooms look spectacular....

 

[Hemlock]

Have you considered purchasing one AP just for the room discount (up to 30%)? You will also get a discount (I believe 15%) on the tickets for the rest of you party (up to 6 people).

 

[melissapealo]

We've stayed at Windsor Palms and Windsor Hills before and loved both places. Our last trip was 10 days at Windsor Palms and cost 750.00 to rent a 3 bedroom condo. You rent directly from the owners so prices will vary but they all want your business so will all negotiate pricing as well. You can go to their website and look at individual condos, or even private homes so you know what your renting. You can also view pictures of the resorts there, which are very nice. If you did that then you could always purchase the vip tickets to Universal which would still allow the front of the line access. It's about 100.00 more per ticket but would save a huge amount and give you the space and privacy your looking for. The pool areas at both places were busy at night when everyone returned from the park. During the day not as busy. Of course I've found that everywhere near Disney. Maybe you could even extend your stay to a full week by staying elsewhere and enjoy some time just relaxing. Looking for a nice pool area I'd go with Windsor Hills. The pool is very nice and has water slides to enjoy as well. They also have an arcade, tennis court, basketball, volleyball, movie theater, etc.

 

[momof3girls6712]

We were prepared for the pressured sales pitches, but never once did anyone mention it. It was a really fabulous stay. There were activities all week long around the resort. There was a movie on the lawn, a pool party, karaoke, and more. We planned on spending a day at the resort, but the kids ended up wanting to go to the parks instead. The parks were not that busy last weekend and they wanted to take advantage as much as possible. We liked it so much that we are already planning another trip for the end of this month/beginning of March. We debated staying onsite again, but the small room lost again.

 

[GinaBean]

When we go, we stay at the Royal Pacific for one night to get to the two days of FOTL, then stay elsewhere for the rest of the time.

 

[MarthaJr.]

Don't know if this will help you with your decision making, but I stumbled into a deal on 4 day US park to park tickets good thru 08-11-2011 for $135 on travelzoo. Click on the entertainment tab and scroll down to "more" and then to the listing from best of orlando. (This is like getting 2 days for free) Perhaps if you have the extra day you won't feel as rushed to get through the parks.
-or-

I don't know if you are aware that if you go to the US site you can book with their partner hotels and get 1 hr. early park admission which is apparently the thing to do in order to have decent wait times for HP. (I believe you do have to buy your park tickets from the partner hotel---may be worth a phone call...) BTW it is my understanding that there are no FOTL privileges in HP anyway. Personally, I would split my stay and use RPH for the days I would do other attractions for the FOTL and a pool day and then off site for my HP days.

Hope you have an awesome time!

 

[Devra]

Staying in a Universal hotel is pretty much essential for the Wizarding World if you do not want to wait on any lines. Getting in one hour before the park opens for everyone else allows you to get into Forbidden Journey (which had no express access otherwise in February 2011) right away. We rode it twice, once with virtually no wait and then with a 15minute wait starting in the greenhouse. By 9 a.m., regular opening, there was already a substantial wait. The Wizarding World gets so crowded, in the stores, etc., that the private hour makes the whole experience so much more pleasant. And then you can use Your hotel key to ride everything else in the parks with no wait as often as you like.