Staying Onsite Worth The Perks?

[xmas16]

Hi All,
I'm planning a US/IOA trip for Jan/2011. Wondering if people can share their experiences/opinions with the perks of staying onsite, esp. "skipping the lines", "early admission" offers vs staying offsite and managing. Thanks for your thoughts.

Steve

 

[mjohnson96]

Here are the perks that my family enjoys

1. Unlimted Express Pass....this is great with kids IMO

2. This trip the hour early into WWOHP....we are going to be taking advantage of this every day

3. Closeness to the parks....we love only being a 10 minute walk to the hotel to be able to take a break in the afternoon. If you stay offsite then you have that walk plus the bus/car ride back to the hotel. Staying onsite you can come back to the hotel and take a little afternoon nap before heading back out again.

4. Closeness to CityWalk. We love going over to Citywalk and having either family or adult fun. There are lots of choices for food and entertainment.

5. Pools...love the pools and they have activities througout the day for kids at all the pools. They also encourage pool hopping so you can walk or drive over to one or two of the other hotels and hang out at that pool for a change.

6. Room Charging...easier to just have your room key than to worry about having the credit card or cash, etc.

7. Package Delivery...never used it but this time with WWOHP I might just be needing that service

 

[Hug the Mouse]

In a word, YES!!!

The only bad thing is that it will ruin all other theme/amusement park experiences. Our family is spoiled and can't wait in lines anymore.

The hotels are beautiful. The staff are great. Do it, you won't regret it. Worth every penny to maximize your vacation experience.

 

[donaldduck352]

In a word, YES!!!

The only bad thing is that it will ruin all other theme/amusement park experiences. Our family is spoiled and can't wait in lines anymore.

The hotels are beautiful. The staff are great. Do it, you won't regret it. Worth every penny to maximize your vacation experience.

 

[Purseval]

When you stay onsite at a Universal hotel you don't have to imagine some sort of "Magic" to justify the cost, you get actual benefits. Instead of having to get to a park early or stay late you can wander in at your leisure and still get express access, not once but (with a few exceptions) as many times as you like. Everything is centrally located so you don't have to take a bus from here to Kingdom Come, you can walk or ride a boat and be anywhere you'd like to be in minutes. It actually gives you time to not only see everything you wish to see but relax and not have to spend time in a footbath after a day at the parks.

And if you do get the urge to wander in early you get early access, a big help in light of the opening of WWOHP. We have passes, come to US/IOA several times a year so we've seen everything more times than we can count and we will still be staying onsite this July just to get that early access/FOTL for this new attraction.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Onsite is sa-weeet for sure. But the onsite hotels are really expensive, IMO, without discounts. If budget's a huge concern, January is usually a slow time and not necessary to have the Express passes.

 

[Purseval]

4. Closeness to CityWalk. We love going over to Citywalk and having either family or adult fun. There are lots of choices for food and entertainment.

Actually a big weakness for CityWalk is not enough to do for kids too old to go to bed at 8pm and too young to get into the clubs. They should have an all-ages club there so teens can have some fun at night. Lord knows enough of them stay onsite, I don't see why they think it's not viable.

 

[bumbershoot]

They also encourage pool hopping so you can walk or drive over to one or two of the other hotels and hang out at that pool for a change.

I keep forgetting about that! Very cool.

 

[TaylorsDad]

To me the biggest perk is getting a Deluxe hotel room at the price of a Disney moderate. My Oct rate with stay more save more rate is only around $15 more a night than my Disney value resort room. I could never justify paying Disney Deluxe rates but with the Universal onsite hotels I really feel I am getting my moneys worth and then some.
1 Early entry to WWOHP
2 multiple INSTANT express lane for most rides(no annoying return times)
3 Close enough for midday breaks. Once took me over 2 hrs to go back to Pop Century room once just to get camera and return to Disney Magic Kingdom using Disney bus. Took less than 20 mins there and back at HRH.
4 Amazing pools and no fear of being thrown out for pool hopping because its encouraged.
5 Able to walk to City Walk for food or entertainment.
6. Almost forgot 2 days of express for 1 nights stay.

 

[Indy Denise]

Here are the perks that my family enjoys

1. Unlimted Express Pass....this is great with kids IMO

2. This trip the hour early into WWOHP....we are going to be taking advantage of this every day

3. Closeness to the parks....we love only being a 10 minute walk to the hotel to be able to take a break in the afternoon. If you stay offsite then you have that walk plus the bus/car ride back to the hotel. Staying onsite you can come back to the hotel and take a little afternoon nap before heading back out again.

4. Closeness to CityWalk. We love going over to Citywalk and having either family or adult fun. There are lots of choices for food and entertainment.


5. Pools...love the pools and they have activities througout the day for kids at all the pools. They also encourage pool hopping so you can walk or drive over to one or two of the other hotels and hang out at that pool for a change.

6. Room Charging...easier to just have your room key than to worry about having the credit card or cash, etc.

7. Package Delivery...never used it but this time with WWOHP I might just be needing that service

Ditto. I have stayed offsite, and stayed onsite, If money was an issue I would still book onsite, just less days ( my 6 nights there 2 weeks ago was a great price and I couldn't pass it up! ) . Onsite was awesome!!!

 

[Planogirl]

The Loew's hotels are truly nice hotels and well worth the price. I love certain WDW hotels but they don't compare when it comes to amenities.

You definitely can't beat the convenience and the Express access either.

 

[U2_rocks!]

All of the above perks are great, and the reason we are staying onsite for 2 nights in October ...... but even more specifically, we can enjoy the wet rides at IOA to the max, right before our break, when it's nice and hot (using Express), and then it's just a short walk back to the hotel. We don't need lockers, change of clothes etc. We're planning to wear swimsuits with surf shorts and rashguards/athletic tops in the park for the wet rides, then jump straight into our hotel pool!

 

[bopper]

Even staying for just one day at one of the onsite hotels is worth it if price is an issue. You get the FOTL priviliges for the day you check in and the day you check out.

 

[Magpie]

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but it's a big deal to my husband...

Queen size beds!

 

[damo]

YouFirst benefits.

 

[McElhinney1]

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but it's a big deal to my husband...

Queen size beds!

AMEN!!! Who are they kidding with the full size beds!!!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

My family refuses to stay offsite anymore. Once we stayed onsite, we were hooked! I really love that everything is so close, and the Express is really nice. Even in January when things are slow, it's nice to not have to go through the full line if you don't want to.

We love to either walk or take a boat to quickly get to our destination, and we think all three pools are topnotch. We find plenty of variety onsite, but we do go offsite occasionally for mini golf or to visit I-Drive -- but for other trips we use a car service, never leave the complex, and are as happy as can be!

Maria