Onsite stay question

[shelly3girls]

I am new to this board and I have a question that I was hoping someone could help with. We will be staying in Disney for a 10 night stay in May (DVC). I just saw that I can get a room at PBH for $149. Would it be worth it to get this room for our 1 day at Universal even though we couldn't check in until 9am and get a room at 4pm? This way we would have access to the rides with no wait. My DD's are 2 and 4, would this access even make a difference to us? Would it be worth it to miss the opening of the park (have to be at PBH to check in at 9am earliest)? We would most like just use the room for a nap for a late nap for the little one and check out that night or maybe stay until the next day. I would appreciate any opinions. Thanks!

I forgot to mention that this will be our first time at Universal so I really don't know anything!

 

[FindingNemo]

Tough question!


As a certified and registered Universal-a-holic I would say go for it, but as regular old semi-sane me I'd weigh the pros and cons.

What time of the year will you be vacationing in Orlando?

With children so young what are you planning on catching, show and attraction wise?

Do your children love the Nicktoons or any of the other Universal mascots?

First I would visit the offical website www.universalorlando.com and check out(if you haven't already) what the resort overall has to offer for your one day of patronage.

The $149 a nite for the Portofino is an excellent rate and I'm sure others will be able to help you more.

 

[Paris]

One night at the hotel gives you two days of front-of-the-line access because you can pre-check-in when you arrive and it's also good the day you check out.

As for waiting until 4pm for the nap, my experiences have been that if you don't have a specific room preference there will be an available room earlier than 4pm (but don't count on it, officially).

Is it worth it? With a 2 and a 4 year old? You bet. If their patience wears thin during the long lines at Disney it will be a welcome respite to not have to revolve your entire day around the 2-3 FastPasses you were able to acquire.

Since you mention being a Universal newbie you should know that Universal has some great stuff in both of its parks for kids -- Seuss Landings (and it's three rides), Shrek (opening next month), Jimmy Neutron (the 2 year-old will need to sit with a parent up in the non-moving seats upfront -- but the NickToons play area awaits), the Barney show (and the play area), Curious George, etc.

 

[shelly3girls]

Thank you so much for the advice! We booked the room, I think it will make our visit to US much more enjoyable. I have learned so much just from checking out this board over the past two days. Thanks again for everyone's advice.

 

[ksdave]

Shelly;
Definitely get to PBH as early in the morning as possible. Last Feb, we went to pre-check in at 7:30 AM, and they gave us our room right then, no extra charge or anything. It was so cool having the room right away. The bellhop had our bags in the room, we were mostly unpacked, and on our way to the parks via the water taxi by 8:30 AM. It also made for a much more relaxing afternoon, being able to just go back to the room and head to the pool by 1:30 PM.

 

[D&D's Mom]

YES ! Definitely worth it, you made a smart decision!