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.

 

[reddog21]

It really depends on when you’re staying and for how long. We always go in the summer when express passes are pretty pricey. I priced out a two-bedroom (not Dockside/Surfside), and for us, the deluxe is a much better option, even if we get two separate rooms. I love that the deluxe resorts offer unlimited express, not just the one-and-done option.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Universal also offers the early hour entry for resort guests.
I never bother with Disney early entry but definitely think it is helpful at Universal. I always stay on property .

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’d also run the math on cheaper options like sapphire falls, Aventura & cabana bay. You want “resort amenities” so sounds like values are out but those are their mods.

 

[disneyseniors]

I always stay at RPR, our favorite resort, and love the EP and the atmosphere, boats, etc that are there.
I have priced out other resorts at Universal that I want to stay at and it comes out better for ME to stay at RPR.
I think it's all down to what You want. I'm at an age where I want what deluxe resorts provide. I don't travel much and really "do it up" when I visit Universal. I probably have one more trip left in me and I am going to splurge while I am at Universal. If it was the case of trips every year or so, I would probably pick a less expensive resort. I think all their resorts are very nicely done, no matter what the price.

 

[DisneyMom93]

I think it all depends on what you value on your vacation. We recently started getting two rooms now that our daughters are older. It's really about the extra bathroom for us. Four of us sharing one bathroom while trying to get ready to go to the parks is not fun. We also like to be on property. We like using the boats or being able to walk to the parks. And we like the atmosphere.

We also really liked staying at Grand Helios and walking into the park so easily, plus the early entry since we did not do the Express Pass at Epic. (We did two park days and one pool day before we moved to Portofino Bay for the rest of our trip.)

The Unlimited Express Passes are also a bonus. At Portofino Bay they are included.

It also depends on your budget... because it is pretty pricey. Our last trip was for 12 nights. Gulp. But we don't do the parks on the weekends and like to go to the restaurants at the hotels and Citywalk. We like to fit in some relaxing time because when we are in the parks we go early and stay until closing.

We do ask ourselves if it's really worth the money... but one bathroom seems like a deal breaker at this point.

I will also say that when we booked our trip it was REALLY pricey. Even with AP discount. (We got the 3 additional months free so we are doing the exact same trip in 2027 and don't need to purchase park tickets.) We had booked it cheaper for November but had to switch to January because our daughter couldn't go in November (college). Since it wasn't in advance enough to get a great price I checked the rates every single day after I booked and saved $6617 total on all four room bookings (2 rooms at each hotel) by calling and modifying any time the rates went down.

So basically, atmosphere, convenience, and budget are what determines where we stay. I would never book a vacation I actually can't "afford."

 

[Skywalker3]

We love being the 'bubble' at Universal, just as much as Disney, so if we're doing a Universal trip/several days there, just being onsite is worth it, even if it's a value/moderate hotel like Aventura or Cabana Bay. We love being able to have the option to walk to parks, and fairly easily get back to the room for midday breaks. We haven't tried the Epic hotels yet, but maybe on our next trip, if we go in Oct this year. Now that the kids are older, harder to get them up and going for early entry, but we did LOTS of rope dropping IoA, to ride VC, and the HP stuff at early as possible. And did the early entry at Epic recently.
Often we'll do 1 or 2 nights at a premier to get the express pass benefits for US/IoA, But when we go back, we might rethink all of this strategy. I've never bought an express at Universal, but with Epic now part of the planning, we might opt for ticket packages that just include express at all parks....haven't priced this out, so we'll see. But either way, I'd still rather be on site, express or not.
Happy planning!

 

[Rory607]

We prefer to be in the bubble. I have no interest in driving to the parks and dealing with traffic. We sometimes take an afternoon break, so using resort transportation is convenient. We took the grandparents last time and we would all go out in the morning together, enjoy the morning, eat lunch in the parks, and then they would usually head back to the hotel. Our family of four would go back for a shorter break later and then we would go back with everyone in the evening. I can’t imagine leaving to go offsite and returning the same day. But that’s our theme park style and might not be for everyone.

 

[marmentrout85]

We always stay at Universal when we do the Universal parks and typically stay at value resorts (either Endless Summer or Cabana Bay) and I don't think we've ever paid more than $150 per night (other than our Helios stay last summer), and a handful of times we've even paid less than $90/night. We also never have purchased Express Pass (other than the one time we did it for our first-ever Epic Universe day) as we make great use out of the Early Park Admission and have never really felt the need for Express throughout the rest of the day.

Having said all that, the almost $4K in savings that you mentioned would make me want to go that route opposed to whatever Universal hotel you priced out. That's just too much money to ignore in my opinion.

 

[cruising spud]

My husband and I did our first ever Universal trip a few years ago. We went mainly to see Happy Potter. We got the Express pass for two of our five days. So, we get to the parks, and I realize that I really don't like ANY of the rides. They were all too scary for me. I rode the Hogwarts train. Twice. My husband did a few of the Harry Potter rides. We enjoyed our visit, but there was absolutely no reason to have those Express passes. My point-do the grandparents want Express passes?

 

[MamaBear12]

My husband and I did our first ever Universal trip a few years ago. We went mainly to see Happy Potter. We got the Express pass for two of our five days. So, we get to the parks, and I realize that I really don't like ANY of the rides. They were all too scary for me. I rode the Hogwarts train. Twice. My husband did a few of the Harry Potter rides. We enjoyed our visit, but there was absolutely no reason to have those Express passes. My point-do the grandparents want Express passes?

We took them to Universal with us a couple years ago. My mom loves all the crazy rides. My dad, not so much. But I wouldn't want to just get express passes for part of our group and not the other since there are a lot of rides we would want to ride together.

 

[MamaBear12]

Thanks all! Just priced out a Cabana Bay package with 4 day park-to-park tickets and 3-park, 4-day express passes (so not unlimited, but express including Epic every day), and that will be over $2K less than staying at one of the deluxe. Sounds like that might be a good option, but I'll play around with other options.

 

[kolive]

We always rent a timeshare condo for the week when we are there and strategically book "ghost rooms" for the cheapest of the 3 deluxe hotels to get the EPs. Always the cheapest option for us by a mile!