Is onsite at universal worth it?

[4boysrus]

I'm in the very early planning stages of my family's trip to Orlando next year.

This time around we are planning on visiting Sea World, Universal, and Island of Adventure. For our Disney part of the trip, we'll be staying at a WDW resort. My question is should we just spend the whole trip onsite at disney and travel to the other parks when we want to, or are there perks/advantages to staying at Universal for a few days and then moving to WDW?

Thanks in advance!

 

[t-and-a]

It's definitely worth it to stay at Universal. We never stay onsite at Disney, but we do at Universal. You get front of the line privileges when you stay at any of the three Loews hotels onsite.

 

[calgarygary]

First, the 3 Loew's hotels provide a comparable, and in many cases superior, level of service, accomodations and amenities to the resorts at WDW.
Second, the FOTL perk of staying onsite is the single most important perk for experiencing the parks in Orlando. You don't have to worry about waking up early or staying until some ungodly hour or doubling back and forth to get the most out of your park experience. Definitely organize a stay onsite.

 

[DiscoverUSF]

Definately stay onsite at Universal! As mentioned the FOTL line access is key! And the water taxi's are a great feature to accessing the parks compared to walking from the parking garage, through CityWalk, to the parks. Any offer great rooms. And the PBH does offer bigger deluxe rooms.

 

[Cinderella822]

My vote is YES! Definitely stay on-site. If you're going during a busy period, FOTL is priceless. We went in August and never had to wait in line. Plus, everything is so close, you spend less time traveling. If you have AAA, they offer a great savings. We're saving a bundle and are able to afford a nice room at PBH because of it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[keishashadow]

Can't imagine the experience being the same @ U w/o FOTL perc

Curious (not sure if I'm reading you correctly), if you're planning on only visiting SW & U (not WDW); why would you elect to stay @ a Disney resort? Would think your kids would be clamoring to go to the parks if they're emersed in the 'magic' .

Good luck planning your trip.

 

[kirbsam]

it is definately worth it. we just got back from our first trip to universal and stayed onsite. as stated earlier the fotl makes staying onsite worth it. the hotel we stayed at pbh was elegant and relaxing. we have stayed at yc, bc, poly, and bwi at disney and i would say this hotel was better than any of those others. do it.

 

[mayesq]

Absolutely worth it. We just got back from staying at the Hard Rock Hotel yesterday. When the wait for Spiderman was 45 minutes, my dh and ds were in and out of there in 10 minutes. Plus, it was a really nice hotel. The beds were super comfy

 

[LeahA]

Yes, it is definitely worth it! I have 3 young boys and it's awesome not having to wait in lines.

 

[4boysrus]

Curious (not sure if I'm reading you correctly), if you're planning on only visiting SW & U (not WDW); why would you elect to stay @ a Disney resort?

we will be doing 7 nights at disney, which is why we'll be staying onsite there.

Thanks for all the info about staying onsite. i think we'll definately do it!

 

[keishashadow]

we will be doing 7 nights at disney, which is why we'll be staying onsite there.

Thanks for all the info about staying onsite. i think we'll definately do it!

gotcha

one word of advice, don't do U 1st, i tend to get cranky waiting in line @ Disney after that perc.

 

[MouseGirl]

I agree with the last poster - make sure you schedule your time at Universal after your stay at Disney. You'll really resent the lines at WDW if you experience FOTL first.....

 

[Kimberle]

Oh yes. We stayed on site at WDW several times. Last year, we spent a whole week at the RPR. It was wonderful! I was worried we'd miss WDW or get a little bored. We did neither. US is much smaller, so you really can stroll around leasiurly. You don't need to rush. We also spend a lot of time hanging out at the pool. Since pool hopping is allowed , we spend one afternoon at the HR pool. What is sssoooo nice, while you're watching the kids in the pool, if you'd like a little "refreshment" , a waitress will bring you whatever you want, a drink, or even lunch.

 

[TaylorsDad]

We are going this April and will be returning to the Hard Rock Hotel for our Universal trip, despite staying onsite at Disney earlier in the week. We feel the Universal onsite is much more beneficial than Disney onsite(although we still love our time at Disney)
Fotl alone is worth staying onsite if going during a busy time. Also, remember if you only want to try 1 night onsite you still get Fotl for day you check out as well, so 2 days worth of front of the line for 1 night is a great deal.
Fotl is much better than Disney's fastpass because its unlimited and no need to worry about missing your return time window. Also the Hotels are very conveniently located to the parks.

 

[4boysrus]

are fotl passes included in the tickets if you stay onsite, or do you have to pay for them?

 

[Cinderella822]

FOTL privileges are free if you stay on-site. All you have to do is show your room key at the Express Pass entrance. It's good from the day you check in until the end of the day you check out.

 

[Kimberle]

are fotl passes included in the tickets if you stay onsite, or do you have to pay for them?

They are included. No extra charge.

 

[DisneyWacker]

Your room keys are your "Express" passes. As mentioned above, they are unlimited if you are a hotel guest. They do sell Express passes to non-hotel guests for an additional fee above the park entrance ticket, but I believe those tickets are limited to 1 FOTL per ride per day. For hotel guests, you just flash your room key and walk on by.

I just returned from 4 days at Disney (SSR) followed by 2 days at Universal (RPR). I absolutely loved being able to walk right on most rides without a line. I don't think I waited more than 5 minutes in any line at Universal!!!