Universal Accomadations Question

[dtripli]

Hi Everyone

We are spending 6 nights at Disney and then another 2 by Universal. Our plan is to spend at least one day at each of the parks there. I am looking for recommendations on where to stay as close to universal as possible. I am also wondering if we should stay at one of their hotels do to the perk of the express riding. If so, we would probably need to stay at the new moderate one that is just opening up. There will be 5 of us (me,hubby,3 of our children ages 6,15&17)

I am pretty educated on all things Disney, but need help with the Universal part of our trip. Thanks to all!

 

[tajz90]

Hi Everyone

We are spending 6 nights at Disney and then another 2 by Universal. Our plan is to spend at least one day at each of the parks there. I am looking for recommendations on where to stay as close to universal as possible. I am also wondering if we should stay at one of their hotels do to the perk of the express riding. If so, we would probably need to stay at the new moderate one that is just opening up. There will be 5 of us (me,hubby,3 of our children ages 6,15&17)

I am pretty educated on all things Disney, but need help with the Universal part of our trip. Thanks to all!

I don't think the new hotel, Cabana Bay Beach Resort, has express passes. You need to stay at a deluxe resort. I could be wrong, you'll need to check.

We won't visit Universal without the passes. We love it! Our fav hotel is the Hard Rock.

 

[mmmagique]

The poster above me is right that Cabana Bay does not offer the express pass.

If you stay for one night in one of the other 3 hotels they offer, that will give you two days of express passes; day of check in, and day of check out.

 

[Lynne G]

Posting your question in the Universal forum may get you more mileage.

First, if you stay at Cabana Bay, there is no express pass perk with your stay, only early entry. Same with the neighbor hotels, only if you book the package with Universal, however. For your size family, I'd say the Doubletree at Universal or Cabana Bay. Each of those hotels you may be able to have only 1 room.

You did not say when you are going. This summer, the new Harry Potter section will be open in the Studios side. It will be bonkers. I mean bonkers this whole summer and most likely the rest of the next year or two.

Even now, getting in an hour early for the old Potter area in the Islands area is still a good thing. No express pass so far for the star Potter ride. Lines can still be long, even though it's been open for years now.

Staying onsite, in the three hotels is nice. The unlimited express pass is good for all hotel guests from the day you check in, during your stay, and the day you check out. That's why some people stay one night, to get the unlimited express pass for 2 days.

I'd check Royal Pacific or HRH, even if you need 2 rooms, depending on when you come, the unlimited express pass is a very nice thing.

Also, at slower times, all three hotels sometimes have an Annual Pass rate. It's usually a great rate, and all you have to do is check the rate by typing in APH in the discount code block on the hotel's website. If an AP room is available, and it's the price you're ok with, book it. You only have to present the AP at time of checkin, and you can show your online confirmation at check in, and most of the time, they won't ask you to see your actual pass once you've shown your purchase of it. Only one person needs the AP. Oh, and if you are interested in the AP, USO discounts for renewal.

Have a great trip!

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

You could get by with only one room at HRH, RPR or PBH. You could ask for a rollaway bed (an extra $25/night). As PP mentioned, you would only need to stay one night for two days of unlimited express passes for the whole family.

 

[dtripli]

Great information. I don't think I'll bother with the Cabana Hotel if we wouldn't get the express perk. I guess Double Tree is our best bet if we can't spring for one of the other 3 Universal Hotels....

 

[wiigirl]

Great information. I don't think I'll bother with the Cabana Hotel if we wouldn't get the express perk. I guess Double Tree is our best bet if we can't spring for one of the other 3 Universal Hotels....

 

[NavyDad]

Hi Everyone

We are spending 6 nights at Disney and then another 2 by Universal. Our plan is to spend at least one day at each of the parks there. I am looking for recommendations on where to stay as close to universal as possible. I am also wondering if we should stay at one of their hotels do to the perk of the express riding. If so, we would probably need to stay at the new moderate one that is just opening up. There will be 5 of us (me,hubby,3 of our children ages 6,15&17)

I am pretty educated on all things Disney, but need help with the Universal part of our trip. Thanks to all!

We did the same thing last June. We stayed 8 days at the Beach Club and then moved over to Sheraton Vistana Villages for 3 nights so we could go to Universal.

We have 5 in our family (ME, DW, DS15, DD11, DD8). We loved Beach Club but moving over to the 2 bedroom Condo at Villages was very nice because it gave us a lot more room. I think our price was about $150 per night. We would stay there again for sure.

We got to Universal each morning about 30 minutes prior to open. We did IoA two days and the Studios one day. We were able to ride basically everything before lunch each day. We left each day in the afternoon and went back to our room to nap and hit the pool. It was about a 20 minute trip and we never hit any traffic or had any problems parking. IoA was actually a lot of fun at night seeing the Harry Potter area all lit up.

I would say if you can get a room at a Deluxe Universal resort for a rate you can live with jump on it for the express pass.

If you are looking around for a better deal or just want a bit more space Vistana Villages is great!