Sea World and Universal Hotel questions

[scoobydooby]

Hi All. We have only stayed on Disney property for the last decade and I Drive before that, but in 2015 I am planning a 20 night trip with 4 nights at a Universal hotel and 3 nights at a Sea World Partner hotel. The purpose of both these bookings will be the front of line access in the respective parks. So my question are:

Can I book the hotels from any broker and still get the front of line access?

Can I buy a 5 park Orlando Flexi Ticket and still get front of line access?

I did a dummy run for Seaworld Renaissance for this summer and Trip Advisor is nearly half the price of booking direct with the hotel so ideally I don't want to have to do this!

All advice appreciated. My detailed Orlando knowledge ends at the Disney archway really!!!

 

[chmurf]

Can I book the hotels from any broker and still get the front of line access?

Can I buy a 5 park Orlando Flexi Ticket and still get front of line access?

yes

the FOTL passes are tied to your hotel room reservation, not your park tickets.

All you need to get those passes is a room key.
The park tickets are only a way into the parks in order to use those FOTL passes.

 

[scoobydooby]

Excellent thank you

 

[chmurf]

I will just add this

when you arrive at your universal hotel. You will check in and be given your room key

once you have your key, you'll need to go to an automated kiosk on the side of the lobby
you will need to insert the room key in the machine. It will take a picture of you and print/issue your Unlimited Express Card. Each party member will need to do this with their own key. Express passes cannot be issued twice, don't lose it.

you'll need to carry that card along in the parks, and show it to team members at express lines, they will scan it to verify that it's valid. So it's a good idea to wear it around your neck on a lanyard. (you'll see so many guests do that at universal). They sell them with cristal pockets for around $10 so if you have one (pin trading lanyard for instance), take it with you and save.

you only need your tickets to access the parks, once you're in, you only need your unlimited express pass.

you'll need your room key to pass the checkpoint at Citywalk for early entry. Just show your room key to a team member and they'll let you through.

it's never useless to say that only Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino get unlimited express passes. Cabana Bay does not.


Seaworld's Quick Queue pass will also be delivered upon check in at your seaworld partner hotel where you will be given directions on how to get it.

 

[scoobydooby]

Are you familiar with these three Universal hotels and if so can you tell me which has the best pools? Thanks

 

[wilma-bride]

Are you familiar with these three Universal hotels and if so can you tell me which has the best pools? Thanks

Personally, I think Royal Pacific has the best pool for kids/families.

 

[chmurf]

Are you familiar with these three Universal hotels and if so can you tell me which has the best pools? Thanks

whichever hotel you choose, as an onsite Universal guest, you can pool hop to any of the 4 onsite resort hotel pools.

My favorite is Portofino Bay, for the whole hotel theming.

 

[Kath2003]

Hi All. We have only stayed on Disney property for the last decade and I Drive before that, but in 2015 I am planning a 20 night trip with 4 nights at a Universal hotel and 3 nights at a Sea World Partner hotel. The purpose of both these bookings will be the front of line access in the respective parks. So my question are:

Can I book the hotels from any broker and still get the front of line access?

Can I buy a 5 park Orlando Flexi Ticket and still get front of line access?

I did a dummy run for Seaworld Renaissance for this summer and Trip Advisor is nearly half the price of booking direct with the hotel so ideally I don't want to have to do this!

All advice appreciated. My detailed Orlando knowledge ends at the Disney archway really!!!

You really, really won't need 7 nights to do everything at those parks with FOTL access. You can do each of them in a day.

 

[wilma-bride]

You really, really won't need 7 nights to do everything at those parks with FOTL access. You can do each of them in a day.

That might well be the case but we tend to stop at RPR for at least 3 nights on our trips now, because we actually like to spend time at the resort as well as in the parks. We like the fact that we can go in and out as we please and spend some time at the pool in the afternoons.

 

[scoobydooby]

That might well be the case but we tend to stop at RPR for at least 3 nights on our trips now, because we actually like to spend time at the resort as well as in the parks. We like the fact that we can go in and out as we please and spend some time at the pool in the afternoons.

This is our plan too. Now I own two teenagers they just can't enjoy a holiday which involves getting up at the crack of dawn every day and they like hotel/pool time as much as the parks. I'm a rope dropper personally and would do that daily but these are family holidays so we now do one early start and one sleep in day to keep everyone happy. We plan to drive out to Busch Gardens as well one of these days as we've never been there yet but the kids LOVE scary roller coasters now so I think it's time we have it a go.