Staying onsite, what to know for the best deal?

[Pyro2008]

I have never stayed on site when going to any theme park so this would be my first time with our trip in October.

Looking at the Universal website for our length of stay, it seems we can get a room for as low as $154 a night. Unfortunately, it has two queen beds and would were hoping for just one king. Going up to a room with a king, it is $211 per night as the cheapest.

So, while these rates don't seem too far off compared with Disney hotels and are cheaper than I can find at typical hotel websites (hotels.com etc), I am still wondering if there is a cheaper deal out there for me.

I've google on the subject a bit and don't seem to apply to any of the following at Mousesavers.

Just wondering if anyone knows of something I should check on or a deal/promo that might be usable for the time we are going on vacation.

We would be checking into the hotel on the 9th of October and checking out on the 19th.

Thanks for any help!

 

[macraven]

call and talk directly to a TM for rate information.

if they have the information available, they will advise you on the best and cheapest rates.


i suggest you call now and book your room for the onsite hotels.

many of them are booking up quickly.

you are starting your stay during a 3 day holiday/columbus day weekend, and in the midst of the hard ticket event of HHN.

the hotels fill quickly for this event.

i booked my room for the hotel in january for my october stay.
when i pull up the hotel site, no rooms of the type i booked are available now.

 

[Pyro2008]

Yeah, that is what I am seeing. Although I didn't know people actually pay attention to Columbus day anymore.

I just got off the phone with them and initially she quoted me a price that was over twice as much as I was seeing online. I kept going back and forth and was being told I was mistaken ... of course I wasn't and by the end of the call she finally quoted the same rate.

I just wanted to post here and see if there was anything else I could do to further discount the room or if there are promo codes floating around.

 

[SNylund]

I would suggest going with the 2 queens, not sure if you will do better on site than $159. The queens are nice and if you get into a fight, no one will have to sleep on the floor.

 

[Pyro2008]

I would suggest going with the 2 queens, not sure if you will do better on site than $159. The queens are nice and if you get into a fight, no one will have to sleep on the floor.

Well, normally we stay off site and I have found that the Radisson Resort Orlando - Celebration is a decent stay considering we can get a room for $52 a night. The room looks roughly the same size as a standard room at Universal but it has a sleep number king (dont know how comfortable Universal beds are).

If I went with the Standard 2 queen room at Universal not only would I be downgrading the bed (most important thing for a hotel IMO) but paying more. The one perk we are going for is unlimited express pass.

As we have never stayed on site before, I dont know what I would be missing. I dont know how it really feels to stay on site so maybe that itself justifies the price. I just dont know what to expect.

Bottom line, where I stand now I dont know if its worth it to downgrade the bed and pay more. Which is why I was trying to find discount codes or something to help along or hoping for a King room to come available.

 

[SNylund]

To me it is for sure worth it, not just for the unlimited fast passes, but the experience of riding the boats (or walking) into the parks from your hotel is awesome. Plus the resorts themselves are incredible. To me the biggest thing is the pools, they all have great pools which is the biggest plus to me. I've stayed nearby off site too, and no comparison IMO. The downgrade from the King to a Queen to me makes no difference, there is only about a 6 inch difference or so from their large Queens than the King. And the surrounding hotels do not have anything like the onsite pools with the onsite hotels, big difference. I think you will not regret staying onsite at all.

 

[macraven]

Yeah, that is what I am seeing. Although I didn't know people actually pay attention to Columbus day anymore.

I just got off the phone with them and initially she quoted me a price that was over twice as much as I was seeing online. I kept going back and forth and was being told I was mistaken ... of course I wasn't and by the end of the call she finally quoted the same rate.

I just wanted to post here and see if there was anything else I could do to further discount the room or if there are promo codes floating around.

the rate of $154 for the room per night, is a great bargain.

many people go during that weekend as it is 3 nights in a row for HHN.
also, many school districts where i am from, have that monday as a school holiday.

if you are an employee of NBC, a Floridian resident, entered and won the UO SuperBowl contest in January or can use the Super Saver rate, more than likely, will not find a better discount for your time period.


if having a king bed is more important than the location of your hotel, than make your decision and go with it.

if money is an object, only you can decide which way to go for the hotel choice.

if it were me, i would go with the 2 Queen beds and stay on site for the $154 rate you were quoted.

if you rent a car to travel to the parks, you would pay a parking fee.
if you have a rental car and stay onsite, you would pay a hotel parking fee.
if you have car service and stay onsite, no parking fee with the hotel room cost.


you do have one option available for a lower cost room on site.
you can request an obstructed room view.

those are the cheapest rooms but not always available.
they could be booked up.

if you want to try for that, call and ask for the hotel and obstructed view rate.
if you do call and book that room, you won't have a view.
(it could be of a building side, rooftop, tree, etc.)

 

[macraven]

my main concern when i book a hotel room is the distance of the hotel to the place i will be spending my time.

when i go to disney, i stay on site
when i then transfer to universal, i stay on site.


to me, a vacation is not having to drive a car and be able to walk directly to the park for my universal portion of a vacation.


i have stayed off site some years and once i leave the park to go back to my room to "rest up" a bit, i never get the motivation to return to the park.
i rent a car when i have stayed off site and dread driving back for a park.

i always stay on site now.
the convenience is worth the extra bucks to me.

 

[Pyro2008]

the rate of $154 for the room per night, is a great bargain.

many people go during that weekend as it is 3 nights in a row for HHN.
also, many school districts where i am from, have that monday as a school holiday.

if you are an employee of NBC, a Floridian resident, entered and won the UO SuperBowl contest in January or can use the Super Saver rate, more than likely, will not find a better discount for your time period.


if having a king bed is more important than the location of your hotel, than make your decision and go with it.

if money is an object, only you can decide which way to go for the hotel choice.

if it were me, i would go with the 2 Queen beds and stay on site for the $154 rate you were quoted.

if you rent a car to travel to the parks, you would pay a parking fee.
if you have a rental car and stay onsite, you would pay a hotel parking fee.
if you have car service and stay onsite, no parking fee with the hotel room cost.


you do have one option available for a lower cost room on site.
you can request an obstructed room view.

those are the cheapest rooms but not always available.
they could be booked up.

if you want to try for that, call and ask for the hotel and obstructed view rate.
if you do call and book that room, you won't have a view.
(it could be of a building side, rooftop, tree, etc.)

Confused by, since we are renting a car are you saying we have to pay for parking as well at the Universal hotels?

Thanks for the heads up about the obstructed view rooms, I will check if there is anything available and how much of a discount it would be.

What you are talking about with being able to walk outside and basically be in the parks would be nice but I guess since we are still going to be going around town and to some Disney parks it wont be like that for the whole trip.

Maybe one of these days we should plan a trip for just Universal or Disney.

 

[macraven]

yes, there is a charge for over night parking at the hotels.

if you stay onsite, you have a parking charge.
if you drive to the park, you have a parking charge.

either way, you do have that fee to pay.


i do both parks and resorts on each visit to orlando.
i could not imagine going to orlando and not visiting both parks.

 

[Pyro2008]

yes, there is a charge for over night parking at the hotels.

if you stay onsite, you have a parking charge.
if you drive to the park, you have a parking charge.

either way, you do have that fee to pay.


i do both parks and resorts on each visit to orlando.
i could not imagine going to orlando and not visiting both parks.

Hrm, the rep on the phone failed to tell me about the parking fee, no surprise since she didnt offer me to current discount either.

That really sucks they still charge you for parking. Do you know how much it is? That might be the kicker that keeps me from staying on site. I just cant afford 2.2 grand for a hotel that I wont be staying at 80% of the time (5 hours sleep each night). Well, probably justify more than afford.

Yeah, with our trip we intermingle parks so it wouldn't work for us.

This trip we are doing Seaworld, US/HHN, Wet N Wild, Blue Man Group, Cirque Du Soleil, US/IOA, Magic Kingdom/MNSSHP, MGM, US/HHN/RIP Tour and Epcot ... in that order.

That would be a lot of back and forth for us regardless of which resort we were staying at.

If we did everything in groups it would be a short trip for us as we dont like doing things over and over back to back. The trip would have to be just 5 days with Disney then US.

Edit: Whats funny is I specifically asked the rep if there were any other fees at all when staying there. I told her we were renting a car and driving down. She said no other hotel fees and then I asked about resort fees (since some around Orlando charge this fee when checking out) ... she said no hidden or extra fees.

 

[psac]

There are no hidden hotel fees, but there are hidden parking fees!

I haven't stayed on-site yet (will be for Col Day weekend, too), but from what people have said there is definitely a fee for Valet parking. Self-parking seems to have varied stories as to paying or not.

 

[lachica]

Hotel Parking is as follows:

Overnight Guests
Self Parking: $15 plus tax per night
Valet: $22 plus tax per night

Day Guests
Self Parking: $20 plus tax
Valet: $25 plus tax

 

[Pyro2008]

Hotel Parking is as follows:

Overnight Guests
Self Parking: $15 plus tax per night
Valet: $22 plus tax per night

Day Guests
Self Parking: $20 plus tax
Valet: $25 plus tax

Wait WUT?

I clearly do not understand what you are saying. By what I am reading, if I arrive in Orlando and drive to the hotel at 4pm and park that is a fee for that night. Then, if I dont drive out of the resort the next day (go to US or IOA) I have to pay $20 and then $15 again for staying that night?

So $35 a day for parking at the hotel?!

Also, we play to leave the hotel to do other things. Each time we leave and come back do we have to pay yet ANOTHER $15 or $20???

$35+ a night for parking will ensure I cancel my reservation RIGHT NOW as that is the cost to stay at a budget hotel in Kissimmee.


Edit: Just called them and also found where it says that on their website. It doesnt say for a 24 hour period but I guess thats what it is. They should notate that on their website after quoting $15 for night and $20 for day.

 

[damo]

Wait WUT?

I clearly do not understand what you are saying. By what I am reading, if I arrive in Orlando and drive to the hotel at 4pm and park that is a fee for that night. Then, if I dont drive out of the resort the next day (go to US or IOA) I have to pay $20 and then $15 again for staying that night?

So $35 a day for parking at the hotel?!

Also, we play to leave the hotel to do other things. Each time we leave and come back do we have to pay yet ANOTHER $15 or $20???

$35+ a night for parking will ensure I cancel my reservation RIGHT NOW as that is the cost to stay at a budget hotel in Kissimmee.


Edit: Just called them and also found where it says that on their website. It doesnt say for a 24 hour period but I guess thats what it is. They should notate that on their website after quoting $15 for night and $20 for day.

Day guests are people who are not staying overnight at the hotel. They pay $20.

Overnight guests are people who are staying overnight. They pay $15.

So if you are staying overnight for two nights, you will pay $30.

 

[Pyro2008]

Day guests are people who are not staying overnight at the hotel. They pay $20.

Overnight guests are people who are staying overnight. They pay $15.

So if you are staying overnight for two nights, you will pay $30.

Thanks for the further clarification!