One night on site

[blademankev]

We are staying at AKL in July 2007 and want to have 2 days at Universal. Now that their Fast Pass system is on a pay basis, would we be as well to book into one of their hotels for the night, and does this include two days (day of arrival & day of departure) of using your key to fast pass the rides?

 

[antmaril]

You will have FOTL privileges for the day of arrival and day of departure.

It is a great perk - I highly recommend staying onsite at Universal. All three of the hotels are fantastic.

 

[blademankev]

Is there a set time for checking in or will they let you check in early & have your room later so that you can have your key & get into the parks (hope that makes sense!!)

 

[subtchr]

You can "check in" as early as you arrive, leave your bags with bell services, and head to the park. We transferred from a WDW hotel, arriving at HRH around 9:30. We got our room keys, headed to the parks, and the desk just called my cell phone with the room number when it was ready, around 1:30. So when we came back to the hotel, we just went straight up to the room and called bell services to bring our bags. It was great!

 

[blademankev]

Sounds like the thing to do, as it will work out at the same price as buying fast pass tickets for the two days, and we can have a night out there too. Which is the best hotel to stay in? Our boy is 12 years old. Is there a good way of booking a night in the hotels and do we need to do it well in advance?

Thanks for the advice

 

[robvia]

Of coarse you want to book it early. I'd say start checking in January or February. If you have an AAA card, then enter AAA in the coupon box when you try booking online.
RPR is the lowest priced.
The HRH is more hip with the music playing everywhere. And it's the closest to the parks.
Put the Universal stay at the end of your trip because you'll be spoiled with FOTL. Two nights would be better to get the full effect. One night will be over in a blink.
Check in early on your first day at 8am, then head to the parks with your magic keys. If your room is not ready, they'll call you, most likely between noon and 2pm. I know this sounds hard to believe, but the 12 year old will like Universal better. It's just that the parents don't know what they're missing, so they keep going back to Disney. Think about booking 2 nights at the HRH.

 

[blademankev]

to be honest, it's our first time staying on Disney. We have always been in private villa's before, but we havn't been for three years, & as it is my 50th birthday we decided to try the luxury life!!

Looking forward to it immensely, & I agree that Universal is probably better for our boy, but will be on a tight budget, so I am hoping to get relatives to club in for the night in the Universal hotel for my birthday pressie.

The last time we went the Universal fast passes were free, so it came as a bit of a shock to find out that we would have to pay, so we might as well experience a Universal hotel for around the same money as buying the fast passes. This may convince us to stay there in future.