Questions about staying at Royal Pacific, parking, FOTL...

[mom2mikel]

I think I've talked my sis into staying 1 night at Royal Pacific to take advantage of the FOTL perks

We're both staying off site in rental homes. We'll be reserving the hotel room for Sunday night. The park opens at 9 am. What time should we plan to be at the hotel for check in to ensure we have enough time to get to the park for opening? And so I understand it -- we will get room keys at check in that can be used for FOTL access the day of check in and check out (Sun & Mon). Will they tell us in advance our room number or do we have to call or stop at front desk later?

Also, where do we park and what is the fee? Do we pay for parking both Sunday & Monday? (We will most likely go back to the rental homes to sleep Sunday night)

Generally, what is the earliest we can get into the hotel room in case we want to take an afternoon break?

How do we get from the hotel to the parks?

TIA!!

 

[rpbert1]

You can checkin early, some i have read checked in at 7 am, its only minutes to walk to the parks, prob 10mins to Universal studios.
You will get room keys, but rooms for checkin is 4 pm, although you might be lucky and get a room straight away, otherwise you will need to return to front desk to find out your room, or they can call you on your cell phone. Fotl is available for both days.
Parking is per night, so you will be charged, i think its $15 a night.
You get to the parks by either walking, free water taxi, or rickshaws where they work for tips, the walk to Citywalk is about 7 mins[thats what it took me]brings you out at Margaritaville, then across the bridge to IOA

 

[mom2mikel]

Thanks I assume the parking is different than the garage for US/IOA? Would we have to pay daily parking as well since we'll be visiting the parks? Or, is it a single night charge that will cover both days? Does it matter if we leave and come back in morning?

Thanks again....

 

[rpbert1]

The hotels have their own parking areas, you pay 1 nights parking for your stay, no need to park in the Universal parking garage.

Does it matter if we leave and come back in morning?

if you do not use the room that night. then i doubt you would have to pay for parking, as you will not have used the parking lot.
I am sure someone will be along to tell you how this would work.

 

[macraven]

you would pay the parking fee when you check out.
you can leave your car at the hotel parking area that day while you are in the parks on monday.


it is cheaper to pay the over night fee than the visitor fee for the hotel parking. You would be paying for sunday night parking only.
i read a trip report where it was stated the daily visitor hotel parking fee was $20 each day.


i check in to the hotel between 7 - 7:20 am on each of my trips.
i do not get my room at that time but i get my room key which is needed for the FOTL in the park.

i store my belongings with the bell hops and get a claim check.

i go to city walk and hit a coffee shop at 8 and then head to ioa.
if the line to enter is long, many times guests are allowed into the park around 8:30ish.
there are more rides open at ioa than at the studios side when that happens.

 

[macraven]

The hotels have their own parking areas, you pay 1 nights parking for your stay, no need to park in the Universal parking garage.

Does it matter if we leave and come back in morning?

if you do not use the room that night. then i doubt you would have to pay for parking, as you will not have used the parking lot.
I am sure someone will be along to tell you how this would work.

robert, if they don't pay for the one night of parking, they might get stuck with that daily visitor charge for having their car at the hotel parking lot. what type of ticket stub are they going to show when they leave the lot if the attendant in the booth questions them?

 

[rpbert1]

OK mac, was not sure about it.
Have never had a stub when entering RPR, is this something they have started, as someone else said about recieving one when they where there.

 

[mom2mikel]

Trying to wrap my mind around this so early on a Monday morning - bear with me

So, on Sunday I will check in early, park at the hotel and go to the parks. We will likely leave around 6-7pm to go have dinner and sleep in the villa we've rented. Will I have to pay for parking when we leave that day? How would they differentiate between someone who is leaving for the night vs someone who is just leaving to go grab a bite to eat?

Then, on Monday do we park back at in the hotel lot and then proceed to the parks? If I've paid a daily parking rate on Sunday at the hotel, it would probably be easier to park in the US/IOA parking garage on Monday. I just want to ensure i understand how they charge for parking. I certainly do not want to pay more than I have to due to having a hotel ressie.

Thanks again!

 

[ky07]

Trying to wrap my mind around this so early on a Monday morning - bear with me

So, on Sunday I will check in early, park at the hotel and go to the parks. We will likely leave around 6-7pm to go have dinner and sleep in the villa we've rented. Will I have to pay for parking when we leave that day? How would they differentiate between someone who is leaving for the night vs someone who is just leaving to go grab a bite to eat?

Then, on Monday do we park back at in the hotel lot and then proceed to the parks? If I've paid a daily parking rate on Sunday at the hotel, it would probably be easier to park in the US/IOA parking garage on Monday. I just want to ensure i understand how they charge for parking. I certainly do not want to pay more than I have to due to having a hotel ressie.

Thanks again!

Ok now I am why rent a room for the night and not use it and I know you want FOTL but doesn't make sense not to use the room for the night

 

[mom2mikel]

Ok now I am why rent a room for the night and not use it and I know you want FOTL but doesn't make sense not to use the room for the night

Because, we already have a 4 bedroom house rented for our entire stay. I'd rather not have to pack up my DH's CPAP machine, toiletries, clothing, etc and then have to squeeze us the four of us onto 2 beds. (Plus, I struggle sleeping with the noise of his CPAP machine - we normally sleep in different rooms)

 

[ky07]

Because, we already have a 4 bedroom house rented for our entire stay. I'd rather not have to pack up my DH's CPAP machine, toiletries, clothing, etc and then have to squeeze us the four of us onto 2 beds. (Plus, I struggle sleeping with the noise of his CPAP machine - we normally sleep in different rooms)

Ok sorry that clears it up cause I thought it was just the 2 of you

 

[mom2mikel]

No problem We *can* all sleep in a hotel room if necessary, but I just find we do better with more rooms. We're still trying to adjust to his CPAP machine -- hoping someday I can sleep with the white noise it makes.

I just want to make sure we are not charged for each day of parking plus an overnight charge -- I have no issues paying for both days we'll be at the parks -just trying to figure out the best way to do it!

 

[macraven]

Talk to the front desk manager when you check in to the hotel.

Tell them you will be in the room but not spending the night there.

Let it be known that you will be leaving the hotel parking lot around 7ish in the evening to go back to your rental house.

Maybe the manager will cut you a break on the parking then.
It would be good to give it a try.
You'll never know if you can have the parking charge waived unless you ask them.

 

[mareed]

We got a room at RPR last March for the FOTL access and didn't sleep there either. We did pay for one day parking and left our car there the first day. One other thing that ended up being a bit tricky was checking out of the hotel since we didn't go there the departure day at all. We tried to explain, and they supposedly set something up to check us out automatically or something, but they couldn't officially check us out until after midnight, I think. I remember that there ended up being some other charge besides the room & parking that I was expecting that showed up on the credit card, but since I didn't actually have an official bill since we didn't check out in person, I never actually followed up on it to see what it was. Seems like it was for $10 - $15 and just wasn't worth the hassle to figure out what it was. Maybe housekeeping watched a movie in our room since we weren't there.

 

[macraven]

if you go to the room at the hotel, you can check your charges and bill on the hotel channel on the tv.


it wouldn't surprise me if the housekeepers did rent a movie in your room...


i never do the express check out.
i always want to see my total bill before i leave.

 

[mareed]

if you go to the room at the hotel, you can check your charges and bill on the hotel channel on the tv.


it wouldn't surprise me if the housekeepers did rent a movie in your room...


i never do the express check out.
i always want to see my total bill before i leave.

Our problem and I think also with the OP was that we were not going to be sleeping in the room and we were not going to the hotel at all on checkout day. We were going directly to the park to use our 2nd day of FOTL. Didn't want to spend the extra time going to the hotel just to check out. I think I could have called to check out over the phone, but we tried to take care of it ahead of time and didn't want to spend any extra time on the 2nd day.

 

[macraven]

I understand now.
sometimes i am so blonde i kill myself.....


Why don't you talk to the front end manager when you check in?

Have it noted on your file that you will be calling to check your final bill on that 2nd day while you are in the park.

Tell the TM you need to know what charges will be put on your cc.

(Is it possible that you can call the hotel front desk from gs that 2nd day?)


Get to the parking garage by 7:40-5 on that second day. You will be about the 4-5 car in line. Once the garage opens at 8, you'll be in, parked and out within 5 minutes.