Stay at HRH travel to Disney??

[CarltonFamily5]

Hey guys...

Hoping you can help! My family of 5 will be in Orlando 12/1-12/8. We are planning on doing 4+ days at the Disney parks but do NOT want to stay on property with them because of the rather blah in room dining options and lack of pay per view and smallish rooms, etc.

We're currently booked off-site in an executive suite at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes but now that I have been poking around here and the Universal Orlando site, I think we are nearly convinced we want a kid's suite at the HRH for our trip.

Soooo for all of you experienced Universal travelers (it will be our first time EVER at USF & IOA) tell me everything. Will we love HRH? Will our kids 7, 4 & 2 enjoy the hotel too? How is the in-room dining & restaurants? Has anyone stayed in a kid's suite? Will the drive from HRH to the Disney parks be ok? We'd love any insight you might be able to offer us

Thanks so much!
Robin

 

[damo]

Yes, you will love it. Room service is very good. Kid's suites are nice. Pool is great. The drive to Disney is about 20 minutes. Are you planning on doing Universal at all?

 

[CarltonFamily5]

Hi Damo Thanks for the info! We're planning on doing Disney parks Sun-Wed and Universal Thursday and Friday. My husband and I dont care for the Disney hotels (we've stayed GF, WL and AKL) and while we love the theming and convenience of the transportation...we dont like the room ammenities (Disney TV & food kinda sucks as it's mostly the same food with a different name on it no matter where you eat in the world LOL).

So anyhow, we decided last time we were there ('03) that the next time we visited we would stay off-site because loving our hotel is a BIG part of our vacation for my husband and I. The JW looks really awesome but now that I have seen the Hard Rock's kid suites and read about the convenience of walking throughout all of the properties at Universal, I am thinking it might be more fun to stay where there is lots to do back at the hotel. Even on a Disney day, I think it will be great to have dinner at CityWalk and so on.

My main concern was the drive and I just wanted to make sure that it's not silly to plan on "living" at universal and commuting to Disney. Anyone out there who has done this and thought "no big deal".

Thanks so much for your replies!
Robin

 

[goofy!]

We always stay at Universal and drive over to Disney if we get the urge to see the Mouse.

Last year, a cousin & wife celebrated their 5th anniversary. We all went down to help celebrate. Most of the family stayed at the Beach Club. We stayed at the Portofino. It wasn't a big deal shuttling back and forth to Disney to join the family functions.

And when the Disney Fanatic family came over to Universal and saw the hotels there, first words out of their mouths "We are never staying at Disney again."

You will love the convenience of Universal and CityWalk!

 

[CarltonFamily5]

Hey Goofy!!

Thanks sooooo much for your reassurance WE are so excited about our kids suite at the HRH and now that we know we're going to love it and the drive isnt bad, we're just that much more excited about the whole thing! I appreciate you taking the time to reply!

Robin