Staying at Disney Resort while doing Universal?

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We've never used it and we've never missed it ... we've never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes for any ride we go on during the times of year we have been going since 2003 (which is twice a year in May and October). Is skipping ahead of the line for an extra 5 minutes worth it to us? No. We rarely need to use fastpasses at Disney for the same reason. If it's worth it to you to be spending the money then go for it. It isn't to us. I'm just giving our perspective. Just because it's different from yours doesn't mean it's wrong.


Again, I was only giving our perspective. If the OP was looking to do something in the evening with her 10 year old, CityWalk isn't really an option. It's definitely not DTD.


What works for you may not work for someone else. We usually get to Universal/IOA early enough to get in everything we want before noon.

Exactly ... so why are you questioning how we choose to spend our time at Universal??

I never said your perspective was wrong - I was simply trying to understand why you wouldn't use express access if you ride any of the rides. No need to get bent out of shape. We go in the summer - lines are definitely not 5-10 minutes then. Express access saves us at least 30 minutes PER RIDE in the summer, and my kids like to ride their favorites over and over. I'm not questioning whether your choices are right for you - I was simply curious how you tour the parks that express access has no value to you.

City Walk isn't Las Vegas or Pleasure Island, either. We enjoy a nice dinner with our kids and either return to the parks until closing or go back to the resort to swim and hang out. Same as we do at Disney. You either walk through City Walk to get to the parking garage or you walk through City Walk to get to the boats. There is nothing scary or inappropriate about it. We don't hang out at the clubs in the middle of the night, so I can't comment on that, but a famiy with kids shouldn't be afraid of walking through City Walk at park closing, whether it is to the parking garage or to the boats.

Obviously, as you said, what works for you might not work for someone else. Since my kids are similar in age to the OP's son, I thought she might find our perspective useful as well as yours. It is a discussion board, after all.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

This is really making me think we should stay there. Plus, with my son being 10 we're going to have to get a LOT of Harry Potter action in. I am so naive about Universal, time to start some research!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing! If you and/or your son have read the books, you'll be blown away by the attention to detail. HP and the Forbidden Journey is a gret ride, and walking through the castle is so worth it even if you don't ride. As a PP said, the shops are very small to remain faithful to the books. We found it was easier to visit the shops in the late afternoon or in the early morning.

If your son is interested in Ollivander's (there is a show where one person is chosen to have a wand "choose" him), you might want to do that first. Lines get very long, and the queue is in full sun unless they have modified it since last summer. HP and the FJ should be next (or first if you don't do Ollivander's) since there is no express pass. If you stay onsite, you will get in one hour early, which is much better than Disney EMH since there are only 3 onsite hotels. There are two other rides in WWOHP, but we mainly enjoyed looking in the shop windows, watching the shows, and soaking up the atmosphere. Listen for Moaning Myrtle in the bathrooms, look for the shadows of the house elves in Three Broomsticks, take a peek at the ATM (to see the bank name ), enjoy seeing the movie props, and have some frozen Butterbeer. If your DS is a big fan, you could spend all day there. Or you can do the three rides in about an hour with express, but you would miss a lot of the detail that makes it special.

I wouldn't say front of the line is a deal breaker. I AM concerned about getting as much in as we can in the 2 days, while also being able to have a decent break in the hottest part of the afternoon so we aren't completely exhausted. Also, and I don't know if this is true since I haven't been, but I keep hearing that my son may like some stuff at Universal more than Disney. I want to make sure he gets to do all the cool stuff he wants.

The adult night time stuff is definitely not going to be for us though. Such conflicting advice, I'm not sure what to do!

My kids are 12 and 9, and my 12 year old likes Universal better than all the Disney parks except DHS. My 9 year old still prefers Disney, but she is not a thrill ride junkie and doesn't care too much for Harry Potter. They have been going since my younger DD was 3 1/2, and we always find plenty to fill 2-4 days because they like to ride things over and over again. When DD9 was about 4, it was One Fish Two Fish and the Seuss Trolley Train Ride (about 30 times per trip). Last trip, it was Cat in the Hat (because it was about 100 outside and about 60 degrees inside ) and the bigger rides like Spiderman and Mummy.

The adult night time stuff shouldn't be a concern. No one is going to be handing out leaflets like they do in Las Vegas. I doubt my kids even noticed the clubs (come to think of it, I can't think of any right now either). We did eat at Magaritaville and they enjoyed watching the pitcher fill up and the volcano explode, but we went early (6ish). It might get rowdier at night, but it is very family friendly at dinner time. They even had a parrot outside the restaurant that they put on each of the girls shoulders (and wanted to charge a fortune for the photo, but that's another story). We would either take the boat back to the resort to swim after dinner or we would go back to the parks.

You can do the trip either way and have a great time - Universal has so much to offer, and your son is a great age to enjoy it all. Since we have done it both ways, we think that staying onsite is a much better use of time and money, particularly with kids who like to ride rides over and over again. Just my opinion, of course.

If you do decide to stay onsite, they usually have very good AAA rates that are not available online. You would need to call to get a AAA rate. Rates should have dropped by late August just as they do at Disney.

 

[bdink921]

We stayed at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort for 2 nights prior to our Disney Dream cruise last year. Beautiful resort and the access to the parks was fantastic. It was nice to walk or boat to both parks, leave for a while and then come back at night. The WWoHP and the whole Islands of Adventure park is gorgeous at night -- and far less crowded than during the day, especially the last 2 hours. We went during Easter break, parks were packed, and we walked on to everything. For us, that FOTL access was totally worth it!! The pool area was great for an afternoon break. We did get up early for the early entry to WWoHP one morning -- didn't really even need to do that because the park was so empty at night. I love WDW best but if visiting Universal, will stay at a Universal resort. We also went to Universal before as an off site day guest -- had fun but it wasn't relaxing at all. Had to get up early, parks were crowded, no afternoon break at the pool, long lines unless we bought the FOTL passes (which can be expensive). Just my $0.02.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

We have stayed at the Portofino Bay Hotel (our favorite) many times and just stayed at the Hard Rock in June for our DS16. DH and I weren't crazy about the HR but our DS loved it of course. I have to say staying on site, for us, is worth every penny. Our friends were down in June as well and stayed at the Royal Pacific hotel and they loved it. The RP is the cheapest of the three on site hotels.

Harry Potter was amazing. When we stayed at the PBH in March 2009, they were building Harry Potter and we were so excited. Being able to see it in June was great. Like a PP stated, the shops are very small and you have to wait in line for the wand shop. My DH and DS got up early to be there by 7:10 to ride the roller coaster in the castle and they said they just walked on. There is a lot to do between the two parks and if you and your DS love roller coasters, the FOTL access is perfect. Our DS went on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit many times and the Hulk which he said he would never go on. This was the first year that he truly ventured toward the bigger roller coasters. I think having his friends there helped as well.

Here's http://www.universalorlando.com/Hotels/Three-World-Class-Hotels.aspx for you to look around. A lot of info on this site.

For us personally, we think staying on site can't be beat. No matter where you stay I am sure you and your DS will have a great time.

Happy Planning.

 

[RMulieri]

A few things I want to point out..Royal Pacific is NOT always the cheapest.Most times yes, but actually depending on bookings they can vary on which is cheapest.When I booked my last trip, Portofino Bay happened to be the cheapest .Sometimes Hard Rock is cheapest..Simply depends.
Citywalk ( as I mentioned earlier) now has a Mini golf course that just opened.Looks like lots of fun and we can't wait to try it.
Universal studios has a parade that will be starting sometime early summer as well as a nighttime fireworks type show.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

A few things I want to point out..Royal Pacific is NOT always the cheapest.Most times yes, but actually depending on bookings they can vary on which is cheapest.When I booked my last trip, Portofino Bay happened to be the cheapest .Sometimes Hard Rock is cheapest..Simply depends.
Citywalk ( as I mentioned earlier) now has a Mini golf course that just opened.Looks like lots of fun and we can't wait to try it.
Universal studios has a parade that will be starting sometime early summer as well as a nighttime fireworks type show.

While I happen to agree with you for the most part, for two nights stay, I have always seen the Royal Pacific as the cheapest and have only seen on the Universal web site offer discounts on 3 nights or more. Maybe I am not looking and booking in the right place.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We love, love, love Disney BUT when we do Universal we stay at Universal.

We've stayed at the Hard Rock twice and this year we are doing three days at the Royal Pacific before heading over to the BC. To us, with three kids, front of the line is definitely worth it! It's like having your own unlimited fast pass. This will be the first year we are doing Harry Potter so having that extra hour sounds great.

I can only compare HRH but it was definitely a deluxe resort!

 

[DixieBelle]

I keep hearing that my son may like some stuff at Universal more than Disney. I want to make sure he gets to do all the cool stuff he wants.

The thrill rides at Universal are , IMHO, much more of a thrill than Disney. They seem to be aimed more at tweens and teens. Of course there are kiddie rides. But lots more for bigger kids to have fun with.
Again, my opinion, universal hotels are not that much more expensive than disney. staying at universal hotels is worth the money to get the express pass! It is really helpful!!
Also, we went to Citywalk for a little while to eat, walked around, looked in shops. We did not experience anything more negative than sticker shock! But we were out of there by 10:30pm.

 

[disneydiva72]

We have done it twice, we stayed at a Disney resort but then only went to the Universal parks, I like the Disney resorts over the Universal resorts because they have the food courts which are so much easier to me when you have kids. Universal resorts do not have food courts.

 

[crostorfer]

Does Dreams Unlimited still have the ticket + transportation offer going on? If you are staying at a Disney resort and don't want to drive and pay a parking fee that package is really the way to go.

We took a cab back and forth from the Poly to Universal and, although convenient, it was terribly expensive. With fare and tip it's about $100 round trip.

 

[cleophus12]

Don't know what your arrival schedule is, but you can just spend one night at Universal and have the express pass for 2 days, then at the end of day 2 make your move to WDW. I agree with the PPs that if you are going to be there at a busy time (and a hot time) that express pass is gold!

 

[padawans]

The Universal resorts are on par if not better than any of the disney deluxes. That alone is a good reason to stay at Universal. I think it would be hard to go from a Universal resort to CSR. I would probably do Universal last.

 

[Magalex]

We have the same situation and we are staying at a WDW resort for our whole vacation. We did receive a 30 % off pin code for CBR so that helped us decide where we wanted to stay. We are visiting in June. We have one 11 yr old DS. We are buying the 1 day park to park to Universal & we will decide if we want to upgrade to 2 days before we leave the park. I found a good deal with Budget to rent a car for this trip. Have Fun!

 

[glocon]

The Universal resorts are on par if not better than any of the disney deluxes. That alone is a good reason to stay at Universal. I think it would be hard to go from a Universal resort to CSR. I would probably do Universal last.

I would definitely agree with this. All 3 resorts are like Disney deluxes. And once you do not have to wait in line for rides, it might make it harder to enjoy Disney if you have to wait in lines.

I think we will have to wait and see how the new Fastpass time enforcement works, but there might be more line waiting in all of our futures.

 

[ktfloss]

Stayed 1 night last year in Hard Rock. Got a bargain on Hotels.com. Front of line for all of us. Even did Hulk for 1st time as had no time to change mind. Back to hotel in evening. Sat at poolbar and kids stayed in heated pool watching the Movie. It was so nice. Poolside next day had waiter service. Very posh. Kids did all the rides and then some. Exhausted after our 2 days and were glad to get beck to quiet of OKW but we will do it again this year. So far 3 adults and 2 children €250 in Royal Pacific. Will keep eye out for better bargain. Thats cheaaper than passes for 2 days.

 

[francie57]

I have to agree with all the pps that said it is so worth staying on-site. When we first started going to Universal we stayed at Disney and traveled back and forth. We have stayed at the HRH for many trips now and it is so worth it. You could stay 1 night and get the 2 day FOTL. You would also get the early entrance to Potter is that will be where your son wants to spend a lot of time. If you have a AAA membership, you can get a discount on the hotels and also a discount at the restaurants and shops, except Emerils. We are heading back in Aug. and will be going to Universal for two nights and then onto the BCVs.

 

[cinnderly]

Thanks for all the info, tips and insights everyone. I truly appreciate the help!

 

[bumbershoot]

My 10 year-old son and I are going to be in Florida from 8/24-9/2. We are booked at CSR only from the 26th on, because we are planning to go to Universal the first 2 days. We will be driving and not using public transportation at all, except for maybe the night we stay late at Epcot (mommy wants some drinky time!).

So my question -- is it stupid to stay at a Disney resort those first couple of days too, even though we'll be doing Universal? I feel like it would be nice to have a home base. Plus, this is our first vacation in so long, and I'd like to feel settled and in a "pampered" environment, I guess. I'm also thinking it would be nice if we wanted to do dinner at DTD one of those nights. But seeing as we've never done Universal, I'm not sure if we'll want to be right there and stay all day, etc. Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions?

The Universal resorts will definitely make you feel pampered.

Since you'll have a car, DTD is just a few miles down I-4 from Universal; we went to the Lego Store and Rainforest Cafe one night of our Universal-only trip last month, and other nights went to Sweet Tomatoes and TGIFriday's (but only b/c I mis-read the closing sign on Sweet Tomatoes, sigh). Get a few good maps and know the basic area you are in and going to, and navigating around is NOT a problem.

Little note: Express Pass Plus from the hotels is SO GOOD, I would HIGHLY recommend putting Universal at the end of your stay, not the beginning. Doing the clunky fastpass after Express Pass is just painful.

All three resorts are deluxe resorts, but they are less than the Disney deluxes. Royal Pacific is Polynesian themed and the least expensive. Hard Rock would be a lot of fun for your son. Portofino Bay is the most luxurious.

Just to clarify.... The Universal resorts aren't less *deluxe*, but less in cost, at least rack rate in my experience of pricing things.

I mean...when you stay onsite and buy something in the parks, you can have it delivered *to your room* the next day, not just to Bell Services. Awesome!

Again, I was only giving our perspective. If the OP was looking to do something in the evening with her 10 year old, CityWalk isn't really an option. It's definitely not DTD.



Exactly ... so why are you questioning how we choose to spend our time at Universal??

Asking you a question isn't *questioning* you. For us, cutting 5 minutes off of a wait at each ride gives us quite a bit more time! Not to mention, being 5 minutes earlier to the next ride...10 minutes earlier to the next...15 minutes earlier to the next...gets you even shorter lines than just the Express Pass accounts for. EP is awesome, and I highly recommend using it sometime so you really know what you're missing out on!

Looking around Citywalk I saw restaurants and shops. Same as DTD. The other places are indoors.


But in the evenings we were either swimming, eating pizza from Sal's, or sleeping!

A few things I want to point out..Royal Pacific is NOT always the cheapest.Most times yes, but actually depending on bookings they can vary on which is cheapest.When I booked my last trip, Portofino Bay happened to be the cheapest .Sometimes Hard Rock is cheapest..Simply depends.
Citywalk ( as I mentioned earlier) now has a Mini golf course that just opened.Looks like lots of fun and we can't wait to try it.
Universal studios has a parade that will be starting sometime early summer as well as a nighttime fireworks type show.

That was our experience in February as well.

The RPR rooms available were all the much higher end rooms, so it wasn't even possible (as early as I was booking!) to do a side by side, exact room type, comparison.

Don't know what your arrival schedule is, but you can just spend one night at Universal and have the express pass for 2 days, then at the end of day 2 make your move to WDW.

Good point!



THIS is a really good site to check all three onsite hotels at once. Be sure to check out the code "APH", to see IF there is an AP discount that's big enough to make it worth your while to upgrade yourself to an AP and get that rate. If you don't plan on coming back in a year, it would have to be a big discount, but you won't know unless you check!

If the APH rate comes up, by the way, then they have it for that time. If it doesn't (if it just shows other rates instead), then they don't at that time. Keep checking; it might come up. Might not, also. Worth checking though!