Help me choose a hotel and room for family of 5

[kajohn]

This will be our first stay at Universal. We just got back from our Thanksgiving trip to WDW staying at the Poly.

I have 3 boys who will be ages 8, 10 and 13 when we travel.

I'm leaning towards PBR since the rooms are big, even bigger than the POLY which seemed like plenty of room for us this year. The POLY had a day bed in the room which was great, since we didn't need a roll away.

What are our options for a family of 5 without breaking the bank? I need to keep the rate under $350 a night if at all possible for the weekend and days leading up to Thanksgiving, so I don't think we could swing the suites.

PBR seems really fancy, will my boys be in the minority their? or are there lots of families staying there?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[gschmerl]

I think your children would love the Hard Rock Hotel. Children that age seem to like the "coolness" of it there. You can't go wrong with any of the three on site hotels though. We decided we like the Royal Pacific the best. Both the Hard Rock and Royal Pacific are an easy walk to the parks. The Portofino is a bit further and not a walk I'd especially want to take after a long day at the parks. They all have the water taxi service to City Walk. However, if there is lightening, the water taxis don't run.

 

[lindalinda]

I have taken pre-teen boys twice to the Hard Rock Hotel and am returning in June this year. Ages this year will be 14 ,12 ,and 12. They love it there. PBH is beautiful, but not quite as easy access to the parks. The boys love just running right in. We staying in a regular room once, pool view, and in a deluxe once. You might want a deluxe room , it has a sleeper sofa, or you can get a roll-away. This time we are trying the club level room for the first time. I figure with 3 boys it will be worth it for breakfast and snacks. (And lord knows, I'll be imbibing a little wine in the evenings as well). They dont have deluxe rooms on the club level tho, so we are back to the regular ones with a rollaway I guess, but i figure its still worth trying at least once. Good luck, I'm sure you'll love any of them

 

[2boyshere]

So..............at any of the 3 Universal on site hotels you can get a rollaway for the 5th person? Which rooms/properties have a pullout couch? Do they still have the special "fastpass" when you stay on property? Thanks!