I'm booked at the Nick.... but thinking Universal..or WDW?

[Papa Deuce]

We have an 8 day vacation planned for early December. It is booked at the Nick, but now I am wondering if we made the right choice.

We have an average price of $157 per night.

Now, I am thinking that I like the looks of Universal better.... or maybe even WDW.

We picked the Nick because :

1. The Water Park..... HUGE REASON ( they have heated pools )
2. Kids eat free at the buffet.... moderate reason
3. Free transportation to WDW, Seaworld, Universal

Oh, and my kids love many of the Nick Characters...... they are 5.

 

[tinaluis]

I'm not sure what the rates are for the onsite Universal hotels in December, but they may be worth a shot. The Nick characters are at Universal so your kids can see them there without your having to spend all your time at the Nick Hotel. (I've read some pretty negative things about it here lately). How about a split stay -- WDW and Universal?

 

[Papa Deuce]

I'm not sure what the rates are for the onsite Universal hotels in December, but they may be worth a shot. The Nick characters are at Universal so your kids can see them there without your having to spend all your time at the Nick Hotel. (I've read some pretty negative things about it here lately). How about a split stay -- WDW and Universal?

Hmmn. I did not know that! Thanks!

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

PD.

I responded to you on Community Board but check out the room photo at the Bahama Bay on the post below. This is similar to the restsorts I mentioned on the other post.

 

[Figment22]

Another vote for one of the Universal hotels; we've stayed at all three and my kids just love them. As mentioned, many of the Nick characters are at Universal Studios; Jimmy Neutron has his own ride which includes a number of the Nickolodeon characters. I know that at the park they can see Jimmy, Dora the Explorer, Chuckie, Tommy and Angelica from Rugrats and several others that are escaping me right now.

I know that the Nick pool looks pretty good but the pools at the Universal hotels are amazing. My kids loved the slides at Portofino Bay and the Hard Rock Hotel. The Hard Rock's pool is my personal favorite as it has underwater speakers; as you float around in the pool you can hear great rock and roll! The Royal Pacific's pool doesn't have a slide but it does have a water feature area for the kids where they can dump and shoot water at each other. My preference would be for HRH or PBH. All the Universal Hotel pools are heated too.

The best perk of staying at any of the Universal hotels is Front of the line access to all of the attractions in USF and IOA. Show your magic hotel card and you get express access! It is by far the best perk in Orlando! (Of course, if you go to Disney World after you hit the Universal parks, you'll be frustrated by the crowds with no FOTL access.) And in early December, I'll bet you can get a better rate at any of the UO hotels than you'd get at the Nick hotel.

Here's a link to the thread on the Universal Resorts forum that has input from the lucky travelers who've stayed at all three of the Universal hotels (you'll notice that yours truly is a card carrying member of the "I've been to all three club!" )

http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?t=383959

Check out the sticky threads at the top of the Universal Hotels forum page for info on each of the three hotels individually.

 

[Snoopymom]

Definitely Universal!

and as I posted below, I think the Hard Rock hotel is a great adult/kid compromise. Just back for the first time and we loved it!

Not sure if it would be the same in December, but the pool had a dj with hoolahoop contests, air guitar contests with blow up guitars, songs for the kids to sing along with, a great outdoor bar/restaurant steps from the pool, under water music, zero entry, only 3 feet deep with a slide, and they have movies on a big screen at the pool on Friday nights.

but the best part is that it's classy and nice so you feel like it's your vacation too!

It's literally a 5 minute shady walk to the parks, and at the end of the sidewalk...boom, Dora, Curious George and Jimmy Neutron right there signing autographs, just awesome!

Front of the line, especially with small kids is priceless!

Having said all that, I think 8 days at Universal or anywhere for that matter would be too much, but it's only a 7 hour drive for us, so we usually take long weekend trips or stay in a pool home for longer vacations since we have a car.

As Figment suggested, check out the Univ boards. They're great because you also get the diehard Disney opinions too.

 

[MV_Tom]

I never spend all 7/8 nights in the same hotel. I would recommend splitting the time up between Nick and one of the Universal hotels. You would still get the aforementioned Universal Park benefits if you go on the days you are staying at their hotel.