Just back-my observations/experience

[dgrissom17]

Just back from the Dark side! Went 11/17-11/21

This was our 1st trip staying on site. Have been to Universal many times tho-usually just a quick pop over from Disney. Let me start with the great things...

HRH-awesome location! Can't beat it for distance to park (Universal) and citywalk. Beautifully landscaped! Pool looked great-didn't get to use it-was closed due to cold weather . Staff/housekeeping were friendly and helpful-always smiling and saying good morning etc. Even printed out our boarding passes and allowed a return of a sundry item even though no returns on sundries. Rooms clean and well taken care of-had a fridge and Keurig.

Park-amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no lines ever!!! FOTL pass was awesome-went on rides numerous times. Had a 3 day PTP pass and loved it-Train ride: no words to describe. They really spared no expense on the new HP section.

Not so great things...

HRH-called a deluxe hotel, but most definitely not IMO. Not really into the theme (wanted RPR) but it really could have been a moderate nice hotel anywhere. Beds and pillows were extremely soft. Woke up each morning with a back ache. I feel the reason for the high price is definitely location and park perks only. Food-only have sit-down restaurants and 1 snack bar-and I use that term loosely. Didn't eat in the restaurants or "snack bar" so I cannot attest to the food quality.

Citywalk-not impressed. Overpriced restaurants and retail stores.

Summary:

We had an awesome time-we love Universal parks/rides/shows. You cannot beat the park perks. I was not impressed enough with the staying on site to ever want to come back and do it again. My opinion is this-if you are a Disney lover-this is not a Disney experience. And I do realize that some of you may be looking for something different. I feel that Universal does not deliver an immersive magical experience and that is what I want when I go there. I would rather just pop on over for a day next time. My biggest disappointment was that there was no food court at the hotel or at least a faster service place. After trekking thru parks all day with kids and being exhausted (happily) the LAST thing we want to do is sit down in a noisy restaurant and wait to be served. Just want to grab a quick bite and go up to the room. More choices for everyone that way, faster service, and you can even eat in your room if you want. Some of the restaurants had 30 minute waits-and this was an extremely slow not busy time. There were a couple of fast choices-BK or Panda Express (no thanx). Even a Panera would have been welcome.
Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed the parks and would certainly return, just not stay on site.

Thank you

 

[Poppins2010]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a great time.
I didn't know that they closed the pool in bad weather. Yikes... I wonder how often that happens. Did you notice if the hot tubs were open?

 

[schumigirl]

Glad you had a nice time at the parks

 

[ArwenMarie]

I've never stayed at HRH, so I can't comment on that.

But we love staying at Portofino. Immersive, magical, you name it, it's got it. It's the best theme park hotel in Orlando IMO.

But you are right, Universal is absolutely not Disney. It's just different, some see it better, some see it less than.

Glad you had fun at the parks!

 

[kgcarlso1]

Great info - we are headed there in 2 weeks; cannot wait! Also glad to hear about Portofino being great. Stayed at Royal last time and not totally impressed. Tried to get into Hard Rock (DS19 and DD 14 - love rock-n-roll), but went for the bigger rooms at Portofino.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[johnvree]

I've never stayed at HRH, so I can't comment on that.

But we love staying at Portofino. Immersive, magical, you name it, it's got it. It's the best theme park hotel in Orlando IMO.

But you are right, Universal is absolutely not Disney. It's just different, some see it better, some see it less than.

Glad you had fun at the parks!

We have also stayed at the Portofino a bunch of times (as well as the RPR), and I fell like the theming was pretty immersive. I also think the Portofino is better than the WDW deluxes. It just seems like a slightly better hotel than the Polynesian (which is my favorite WDW hotel).

I'm a big fan of staying on site at USO. To me, the Express Pass and the cost (compared to WDW's resorts and tickets) makes it a no-brainer. I also think the parks are incredible, especially when you have older kids or no kids at all. The rides are just cooler.

Having said all of that, for me, Universal still is not WDW (and I'm not just talking about the size/number of parks). It's not quite that total experience that is WDW. I think there are two main culprits. The first is Universal feels like it shuts down at a certain point each night and if you are there outside of peak season, that point is too early. On days when the parks close at 6:00, there's not too much to do on property. At WDW, it feels like there is always a park open until 10 or later and there is never enough time to do the things you want.

The second culprit/disadvantage is USO does not have the lovable and unforgettable childhood character and movie base that WDW has. For me, the Simpsons, SpongeBob, Curious George, Barney, Woody Woodpecker and Cat in the Hat are nowhere near the 1000 Disney characters you see roaming around the WDW parks. I am not waiting in line for my kids to hug SpongeBog, but I wouldn't let them miss Woody and Buzz. I'm not sure why a couple of rats and a duck are more lovable than monkey and a purple dinosaur. But, again for me, they are not even close.

So while I am a huge fan of USO, I agree it is still lacking something in the magic department.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We were there 11/18, you are so right, super quiet, we did everything we wanted to, loved the WWoHP so much. We did a day trip from Disney, we have never stayed on site at US but we love going every time we are in Florida. Food options are hard there, we usually snack all day there then eat when we get back to our resort at Disney.