room at US just for front of line

[terribm]

Hi,

We are thinking of doing a vacation rental in Kissimmee for our trip next Dec. We will spend most of our time at WDW but want to go over to US/IOA to check out WWofHP. Would it be worth it to book one night at a US hotel during our stay just to have front of the line access? What would you do?

T

 

[jerrifox]

We are going in March and booked one night at one of their resorts to be able to use FOTL for 2 days..but I don't know how the crowds are in
December so it may not be worth it if crowds are low anyway.

The resorts are beautiful, though and you'll probably have a great time anyway!!

 

[englishteacha]

We stayed offsite in August of '07 and had very short lines at Universal. If you're going to get the room, you might as well sleep in it!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We stayed offsite in August of '07 and had very short lines at Universal. If you're going to get the room, you might as well sleep in it!

I agree. Also once you try FOTL you'll never want to wait in line again. It spoiled us instantly. We'll never go to US/IOA without a room key. You have to stay somewhere anyway.
Their hotels are all 4* and 2/3 are an easy walk to the parks with beautiful landscaping along the way.

HRH is our fav.

 

[Purseval]

Even if you don't want to sleep there you can use it to catch some rest during the day then head back out to the parks. You could even take a swim break.

 

[CSI:Jude]

I wouldn't do universal without it now. We used it to it's full advantage so that we could have a meal at bubba gumps and not worry about who's driving and not having a drink.

Be warned though for the first few months - like they are doing with Rip Ride Rockit - that fast pass is likely not to be avaliable for the new rides. Keeps the demand high. On the plus side though the parks will be very very busy the year it opens so it will work in your favor for everything else

 

[BrownDalmatian]

Once I stayed at a US hotel and got the FOTL perk, the following trips to US/IoA were never the same. It's GREAT!

If it's in your budget I say yes, it is worth it if the parks are busy. However, I would also probably try to see if I could rent the vacation home for a few days less and stay in the US hotel for 2-3 nights. The hotels are, IMO anyway, pretty nice. We love Royal Pacific!

I would think that it would be nice to stay in the vacation home for 4 days but then stay in the US hotel for 2-3 days. I'm not sure if there is a "minimum stay" on vacation home rentals though, never stayed in one.

 

[minniemeplus3]

We stayed at the Portofino Bay Hotel last year twice and the FOTL really spoiled us. Even though the crowds were very light,it was great. We were able to turn around and get back on most rides without going back outside. They let us walk back through the babyswap and reride! We rode the Mummy like 11 times!!! My kids thought we were the most awesome parents!! The experience was def worth it! The hotel was Great too!! Be sure and take the surrey bike from your hotel to US!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I agree. Also once you try FOTL you'll never want to wait in line again. It spoiled us instantly. We'll never go to US/IOA without a room key. You have to stay somewhere anyway.
Their hotels are all 4* and 2/3 are an easy walk to the parks with beautiful landscaping along the way.

HRH is our fav.

We also love HRH, and we are spoiled, too. I love walking to the parks, walking on all the rides, and find that we can do everything we want in 2-3 days. Even though we don't like to spend big bucks for a hotel, it is so worth it! I always think of it this way: How much would I pay for each of the 4 of us to not stand in line all day? $25/person? Then I subtract that amount from the room rate (I always get an AP discount) and that is what the room is costing me. A VERY nice room, at that. That's my way of rationalizing it.

 

[GSDRescuer]

It is great to just walk from the resort to the parks!!! The added bonus is FOTL access. That's one of the things we love about US/IOA. Can't wait til DGD is old enough to appreciate those parks!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We also love HRH, and we are spoiled, too. I love walking to the parks, walking on all the rides, and find that we can do everything we want in 2-3 days. Even though we don't like to spend big bucks for a hotel, it is so worth it! I always think of it this way: How much would I pay for each of the 4 of us to not stand in line all day? $25/person? Then I subtract that amount from the room rate (I always get an AP discount) and that is what the room is costing me. A VERY nice room, at that. That's my way of rationalizing it.

APs are a good value. With hotel discounts alone, they paid for themselves!

 

[rie'smom]

We booked a room Thanksgiving night to get 2 days of FOTL. In case you're not aware, you get the night you check in and the next day FOTL. I'd never go w/out it. FOTL is the perfect way to end a trip. Get the hectic WDW part out of the way and then sleep in and go to US/IOA.

 

[indimom]

If you are only doing one or two days at Universal, I would stay in one of their hotels. The FOTL perk will allow you see everything and hit your favorites a couple times as well. We stayed at the Royal Pacific and the hotel pool was really nice. One word of caution, the very first morning we had FOTL, our niece lost her key card (it was in a plastic holder on her lanyard) and we had to waste an hour going back to the hotel and getting a new card issued! They said this happened a lot and punched a hole in the card itself so it could be clipped securely to the lanyard. We had all of our cards punched and had no other problems.