Is it worth it to stay at a universal hotel?

[MamaBear12]

Hi all. I’ve been to universal FL a couple times but have never stayed in one of their hotels. Is it really worth it? I’ve heard that the deluxe are worth it for the included unlimited pass. We will be traveling for sure as a family of 4 (in which case we would go for it), but we may be bringing grandparents along and would need two rooms if we stay at one of the deluxe. I priced it out and we could buy tickets, the regular express pass including Epic universe (which we would have to pay for on top of the deluxe universal hotel anyway because it’s not included), and stay at a nice offsite condo with resort amenities for almost $4K less (5 night stay, 4 park days). So from a cost standpoint, I’m not really seeing the benefit of staying onsite. We do stay at Disney resorts when we go to WDW for the early entry, extended hours, transportation, and bubble and definitely think it’s worth it. So, what are the onsite benefits I’m not thinking of? Is the universal transportation and hotel theming worth it?

 

[eticketplease]

Hi all. I’ve been to universal FL a couple times but have never stayed in one of their hotels. Is it really worth it? I’ve heard that the deluxe are worth it for the included unlimited pass. We will be traveling for sure as a family of 4 (in which case we would go for it), but we may be bringing grandparents along and would need two rooms if we stay at one of the deluxe. I priced it out and we could buy tickets, the regular express pass including Epic universe (which we would have to pay for on top of the deluxe universal hotel anyway because it’s not included), and stay at a nice offsite condo with resort amenities for almost $4K less (5 night stay, 4 park days). So from a cost standpoint, I’m not really seeing the benefit of staying onsite. We do stay at Disney resorts when we go to WDW for the early entry, extended hours, transportation, and bubble and definitely think it’s worth it. So, what are the onsite benefits I’m not thinking of? Is the universal transportation and hotel theming worth it?

In your case since you would have to add a second room I don’t think it would be.

A lot also has to depend on when you are going as Express Pass fluctuates a lot by demand.

When we went Express Pass Unlimited was $250 the first day and $330 the second so for a party of 4 for two days the EPU would have been $2,320. We stayed 1 night at Royal Pacific for under a $1,000 which covered those 2 days of EPU.

The room was nice but without the EPU we probably would have just commuted from a DVC room as they were a little on the smaller side.