I know this question is asked all the time but here I go...

[2 princes 1 princess]

I know a lot of people ask about the front of the line perk and I think it would be great, but is it really worth it to stay onsite only for that perk? Is there anything else besides FOTL that would make me pay over $200 a night when I am allready spending that much at Disney?
Here is our situation:
This is our first Universal visit and I know my 7 year old will love it. I'm not too sure about the 4 and 2 year olds. I have a feeling that my son will beg over and over to go back Universal and we are heading back to Orlando several times this year. We have Disney APs so my confusion is whether or not I should just get 1 Universal AP in order to get a room discount (if they offer one). Or stay in a cheap hotel since we are already spending alot at Disney?

 

[PMart]

Hello,

The FOTL is well worth it when going to Universal , especially during more crowded times. We just took our first family Universal trip this past Jan.2006 (I have two girls 5 and 8) Anyway, we did stay on property at RPH and it was wonderful. I have to tell you we are huge Disney freaks (well I am ) and this summer my kids begged me to take them to Universal again , my 8 yo said she hates waiting in line and at Universal she really did not have too. Oh and your little ones will love Suess landing, Barney, and the outdoor water play areas.

I know it is hard to decide, but I hope this helped a little lol
PMart

 

[goNDmay9]

I have to agree. I cannot put a price tag on FOTL. My family (there are six of us - my parents and three brothers) now prefers universal to disney just because of the FOTL. To put it in perspective, my parents have a timeshare at westgate - we are staying onsite at portofino june 20 - 22 just so we can go to universal and have the FOTL. We have the timeshare for the entire week so essentially we are double paying. But we love it. We are HUGE disney fans - but the perks on staying onsite at Universal have swayed us a bit.

Plus, when you use the FOTL, you can ride what you want - and then relax at the resort. You do not spend the entire day at the park standing in line so it seems that you have a more relaxing time.

Suess landing is awesome for the kids. They love it. This year our family has expanded and i have a two year old niece. I cannot wait to see her reaction. We are also going to disney but Universal starts to spoil you with the FOTL.

We have the AP b/c we found that we kept coming back to universal. Their AP is more affordable for us and have i mentioned that we love that FOTL! You will have to let us know what you decide!

 

[Kewz1]

Hello,

The FOTL is well worth it when going to Universal , especially during more crowded times. We just took our first family Universal trip this past Jan.2006 (I have two girls 5 and 8) Anyway, we did stay on property at RPH and it was wonderful. I have to tell you we are huge Disney freaks (well I am ) and this summer my kids begged me to take them to Universal again , my 8 yo said she hates waiting in line and at Universal she really did not have too. Oh and your little ones will love Suess landing, Barney, and the outdoor water play areas.

I know it is hard to decide, but I hope this helped a little lol
PMart

Hi there! Would you mind telling me what kind of rate you received for your January trip? I'm in the process of planning for January 07 and the rates aren't out yet.

Thanks!

Kristen

 

[PMart]

Kewz 1,

I honestly can not remember what I paid lol. I will look to see if I have the paperwork . I know it had to be $250 or more , we stayed club level and had a Fl resident discount. I can tell you it was money well spent we relaxed more on our Universal trip than we ever have at Disney. (and like I said I love Disney) Oh one thing about Jan. this past year was a bit chilly , so most water rides were off limits. We saw some families go on popeye and get completely soaked , some were so cold they literally bought new sweat pants when they got off of the ride. But you never know it may be warm when you go lol

PMart

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Yes, the FOTL is great, no doubt about it. The other great thing about being on site is that everything is an easy walk, or short boatride away. FOTL makes it feasible to just spend a couple hours here and there at the parks, the proximity of the parks to the hotels makes going back to the hotel to swim or relax very easy. It is a very relaxing vacation.

 

[themepark]

Staying onsite is worth every penny you spend. I agree with goNDmay9, there is no price tag for FOTL and the convenience of being a short walk or water taxi ride away. I would check the AP discounts for the time you want to visit before buying the AP. We always received significant savings with ours but sometimes the AP rate is hard to get.

 

[Kewz1]

Kewz 1,

I honestly can not remember what I paid lol. I will look to see if I have the paperwork . I know it had to be $250 or more , we stayed club level and had a Fl resident discount. I can tell you it was money well spent we relaxed more on our Universal trip than we ever have at Disney. (and like I said I love Disney) Oh one thing about Jan. this past year was a bit chilly , so most water rides were off limits. We saw some families go on popeye and get completely soaked , some were so cold they literally bought new sweat pants when they got off of the ride. But you never know it may be warm when you go lol

PMart

Thanks for the response!

We've been going in January for a while and I know how hard it can be to pack for that time of year!

Kristen

 

[Sleepy]

Is there anything else besides FOTL that would make me pay over $200 a night when I am allready spending that much at Disney?

I view Universal in the same light as Disney. If I would be willing to spend $200 a night for the ONsite convenience at WDW, why not do the same at Universal? At least with Universal you get the added bonus of all day express pass.

 

[t-and-a]

We just returned from vacation and stayed at RPR for 3 nights. We purchased a Preferred AP and it saved us $100 per night. Check the rates and type in APH on the promotional code area to see what you would save versus the rack rate. The Preferred AP will also get you a 20% discount on merchandise in the parks, 15% off food in the parks and discounts at City Walk restaurants too. The AP was well worth it for us.

 

[shregister]

Do you know what's the cheapest rate I could possibly get at the Hard Rock Hotel in the first week in December, 2006?

Thanks!

 

[shregister]

What's a Preferred AP when trying to get a better hotel rate?

Thanks so much for your help !

 

[t-and-a]

What's a Preferred AP when trying to get a better hotel rate?

Thanks so much for your help !

There are two different types of AP's, one I believe is called a Power Pass, it's around $120 (on the Universal site) and doesn't include any discounts and has some blackout dates. The Preferred pass is about $180 (on the Universal site) and has no blackout dates and includes all the discounts.

 

[OhioTony]

Look into a AAA membership..Stay 1 night at a super discounted rate, covering your membership, and you get front of the line access for the day of check in AND check out! Well worth it that way!

 

[shregister]

Do you know the cheapest rate possible for the Hard Rock Hotel for the time around the first week of December, 2006?

Thanks!

 

[mouse1]

I just came back from Universal and we stayed at PBH. There were waits as long as 75 min but we waited not more then 5 min. I will never go to universal without staying at one of their hotels. Not to mention that I just love the PBH.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

Maybe it's just the time of year for us (mid Oct/06) but the AP and AAA rate only give us a $333 (club) or $233 (garden view) as opposed to $359/$259 without using this. And we don't get the "Play 4 free" so it ends up more expensive to use either of these discounts - am I doing something wrong??? I really hate to spend more than I need to, especially when paying this amount of money a night it somewhere out in lala land for us.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

Maybe it's just the time of year for us (mid Oct/06) but the AP and AAA rate only give us a $333 (club) or $233 (garden view) as opposed to $359/$259 without using this. And we don't get the "Play 4 free" so it ends up more expensive to use either of these discounts - am I doing something wrong??? I really hate to spend more than I need to, especially when paying this amount of money a night it somewhere out in lala land for us.

What are your dates? I'm sure the rates you found are high due to HHN's. Sometimes if you check each individual date you can get a better overall rate. I've ben attempting to book for Oct and am having a hard time, some nights are even sold out already.