Help! Lots of questions for Family of 5!

[BuzzLightYear3]

Hi....we're headed to HRH for 5 nights starting on Easter weekend next year. Before I bought my plane tickets, I went ahead and booked a HRH Deluxe Room at a rate of $319. (I didn't want to have buy the airline tix for a busy week without having on-site ressies.) I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get some kind of discount on that room though! Our kids are DS, 10; DD, 6; DS 4. A bunch of questions:

1) I chose the HRH Deluxe over a Std room at the other resort they offered because they indicated the HRH Deluxe had 500+ sq ft instead of 330 sq ft. They said it has 2 Queens and a sleeper sofa. We are really spoiled because we usually stay in a 2BR at Disney, so having all of us in a single room is unusual, and I figured we'd need the extra space. Another reason I picked this room is because it had a sofa bed; others would require us to get a rollaway, and I think that might be less convenient (plus I saw some reference to a $25/day charge for the rollaway.) Did I do the right thing or are the Std rooms fine?

2) I requested a refrigerator at $15/day. My recollection is the space available for extra storage in the minibar is minimal, and we like to eat breakfast in the room and also have drinks/snacks available. Anybody have experiences pro/con with this?

3) What are the best approaches for getting a good rate? I saw the Entertainment rate info; problem is that this ressie is for next April. Will they offer me that rate now when the new books aren't out yet? Do you think that rate would be available Easter Week, or do they block that week? (The 4th night free offer wasn't available.....not sure if it was because it's too far in advance or because of the holiday.)

4) I saw the Universal website offer for tix -- 5 days for the price of 2! Is that likely to go on for a while, or should I buy our tickets now to get a good price?

Any other suggestions regarding resorts, tickets, etc.? We have been to HRH one other time for just a two night stay--it was just intended to be a quick stop before Disney because two of the kids were really young then. This time, the Universal trip is the focus.....the kids are really excited about it since they're all more adventurous now and able to ride more rides. Only concern is that they won't want to go back to Disney after the experience IOA rides and FOTL perks!

Thanks in advance for your advice/suggestions!

 

[gschmerl]

Keep calling the hotel and ask for the Entertainment rates. I would call a couple months before your trip and KEEP CALLING until your dates. You never know when an Entertainment rate will pop up.
The five day bonus passes are a good deal. You can buy them now and that way you'll have them.

 

[PattiPB]

I'm happy to tell you as a family of five we got a GREAT ticket deal thanks to these boards! Mastercard has a great deal---buy 4 5-day passes for $89.95 each and you get the 5th pass FREE!!!! We got tickets for the 5 of us for under $400!

If you go to the official site, there is a mastercard promo link---sorry I don't have it anymore. Anyone have it handy??

Patti

 

[JessicaR]

Mastercard deal

http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/orlando/website/chase_card.html

 

[steelcity5044]

Hi,
We just got back as a family of 5 in a deluxe room. I wouldnt go any smaller than this room. It was me, my husband and our three daughters(3,4,7). We had 2 queens and the pull out sofa. Yes, it was hard all being in one room but really only at bedtime. We didnt rent a fridge but we did stop at a store and buy a styrafoam cooler for about $3 that we filled with ice and kept under the bathroom sink. It worked out fine for milk,pop,juice,fruit,etc. We just left the cooler at check out. We were told by the hotel that they would empty the minibar fridge for us if we would like and we could use that but we already had the cooler. We did buy the 5 day passes through the fan club web site and we used 4 out of the 5 days. Kids liked the pool but they enjoyed the RP pool better. When we go back we will probably stay at PBH or RP.
FOTL was the best perk ever and it will spoil you for any other amusement park.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond.....it's really, really appreciated.

Steelcity5044.....I wondered about the pool.....I appreciate your perspective on that! Two years ago I personally loved it because of the 0 entry and because I had a 1 year old. I am wondering it they won't like it as much now since there aren't too many 'deep' places. The only thing that keeps me from switching RP is the location. It seems further away than HRH, but I don't really have a good perspective because RP didn't exist when we were there last. My guess is that we will spend most of our time at IOA. Factoring in both the pool and the distance do you think RP is a better choice?

Thanks again!

 

[JessicaR]

This is just my opinion. I am sure as my kids get older they are going to want to stay at HRH again. For now they are 6 and 10 and had a ball at RPR! The kids loved the pool area but did miss a slide so we visited the other 2 for a day a pool hopping. We found the RPR to be very family oriented. The surroundings are warm and inviting and suited us perfectly. I have stayed at all 3 and they each hold their own charms for different reasons.

We walked more times to the park then we did take the boat. Its a very easy walk to IOA from RPR. It took under 10 minutes for us. No, it isnt as close as HRH is to Universal but the difference was not a big one. I also like the food options at RPR better than at HRH. The pool is larger and seemed to be less crowded. Again though, HRH was cool and we would stay there again if RPR or PBH was booked. You cant go wrong at any of the 3. But certainly you will have one that appeals more to you and your family.

 

[steelcity5044]

We took the boat from HRH to Citiwalk then took another boat to RP. We walked back from RP to IOA and US. Walkwas not bad at all and actually didnt seem much further than Hard Rock. The pathway comes out right by Margaritaville and is real close to IOA. Seemed to be same distance but on other side from HRH. The pool at RP just seemed most kid friendly. Had 0 feet entrance and outside perimeter no deeper than 3 1/2 feet. There was a little island in center of pool that water surrounding that was around 4 feet. No where deeper. There was no slide but there was a really cool ship to play on that had water falls and water cannons and so forth. Kids really liked that area. Seemed to be more kids at this pool and more teens on up at HRH pool.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

Thanks for all of the input.....you're all convincing me I probably should try to move to RP.

Now I need to figure out what kind of room we need....any suggestions for what we'd need for 5 people? It doesn't look like RP has something similar to the HRH Queen Deluxe. Based on what I could tell from the room descriptions the next option up from Std rooms (or Std on Club Level) is the King Suite. I checked the Universal website, and according to the rate list, a King Suite would be $299/night, so that's less expensive than the Deluxe at HRH anyway. Does anybody know how many people that sleeps? Also, it doesn't look like any of those are currently available according to the online booking. Anybody know if they keep waiting lists?

Thanks again for all the continued help!

 

[JessicaR]

At RPR the Executive King Suite wont be an option. The bedroom has one King bed and the parlor has a full size pull-out sofa. You could get 2 standard rooms (connecting) for about the same price as the suite maybe less with a discounted rate. This way you could get one King room and one double queen and you would have 2 bathrooms. Just another option for you. If this wont work for your family you may have to keep the deluxe at HRH. I cant see 5 people in a standard at RPR being comfortable. Good Luck! Let us know what you decide.

 

[FeeFeeWhite]

Check directly with Loew's Hotels. They are offering specials on 2 rooms when the other has children in them. The cost for 2 rooms with this special at times can be not much more than 1 when they are standard rooms.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

Thanks for all the continued suggestions!

I did call and ask about the connecting standard rooms. Their policy is that they'll request it and note that there are young children in the second room, but they can't guarantee connecting rooms. If we didn't have connecting rooms, DH and I would need to split up. That might be a risk I'd take for a short stay, but for 5 nights that seems like a big risk and not much of a family vacation.

I've had lots of other hotels tell me the same thing about the connecting rooms. Used to be hotels were built with all rooms connecting, and that doesn't seem too common anymore, so I guess they have a room assignment problem. Still seems there should be some way they could figure it out in advance to see if connecting rooms are available or not.

They also said there aren't currently any discounts available for that time.

I figure I'll just keep calling periodically to see if availability (on rooms or discounts) changes.


Thanks again!