UNIVERSAL GRAND HELIOS info & FAQ

[Kerr84]

Regarding the private entrance to the park, there is a huge sign saying that it's only for Helios guests and you must show the room keys to enter. There were two groups infront of us that were turned away during the early entry.

Good! If people are paying high prices for this perk. I am glad they are enforcing it during early entry.

 

[SkyGuy]

We had a breakfast reservation next week at Flora Taverna for 10am. We were going to go to the Epic preview after it. Even though I’ve seen some people say they were successful entering the park after showing their breakfast dining receipt, and we would not be doing early entry (nor even regular park entry as it’s at 10am next week), we decided not to risk it and I cancelled. We’ll just Uber to the park and get breakfast before we get in the rideshare.

 

[tony67]

Good! If people are paying high prices for this perk. I am glad they are enforcing it during early entry.

Yes agreed - in the morning it really has to be enforced - its not like there is some restaurant that people are coming over for breakfast.

that said...

Once you have entered the park through the main entrance your face has been recognised, this was explained to us the other night.

So you can go into Helios for a drink or a meal and then go back through the guest entrance back into the park, you just can’t go through that way first if you’re not a hotel guest.

We’re doing that today at some point from the park, but we will be entering first through the main park entrance.

Hope that makes sense

So I had a very different experience - turned out the employee was wrong.
So at 3:45 I went over to Helios to check out the rooftop bar - and they told me if I entered Helios I could not come back into epic and had to go to Citiwalk and back to Epic. I told the employee what I know from your comments and she started going off about how they are Loews and not Universal that that is how it is - even if I had a reservation for the bar (I did not that night). I spoke to the concierge desk at Epic and she made a few phone calls and said as long as I had a reservation I was OK. The next night no issues at all - no one stopping people from coming in etc - spoke to the bar manager and she was not happy and went and sorted it out.

One thing she did say was there was a problem with folks coming to the bar and not leaving in time to get back into Epic - but they parked at Epic - so now they cant get back to their car.

I do think they need to figure out something to keep Epic day guests from just using the Helios lobby for a break - some folks have already talked about doing that on their live streams.




First - So I did not stay at Helios so take this with a grain of salt - I also think the park entry wont be enough of the perk overall after taking to quite a few folks who stayed there - I did 5 days of epic so talked to quite a few people at the various bars to waiting in lines etc.. - they really like the hotel and the location cant be better - but for the most part they wont stay again. Basically without express they will stay at one of the other two Epic hotels for Epic. They also did not feel the early entry was all that helpful since all hotels guests get early entry - they would like even an hour or 30 minutes before the main entrance because by the time they get to Nintendo its already packed.

The other thing is - its a PITA to get to Citiwalk so you are sort of trapped at the hotel - and its very pricy.

 

[schumigirl]

Yes agreed - in the morning it really has to be enforced - its not like there is some restaurant that people are coming over for breakfast.

that said...

So I had a very different experience - turned out the employee was wrong.
So at 3:45 I went over to Helios to check out the rooftop bar - and they told me if I entered Helios I could not come back into epic and had to go to Citiwalk and back to Epic. I told the employee what I know from your comments and she started going off about how they are Loews and not Universal that that is how it is - even if I had a reservation for the bar (I did not that night). I spoke to the concierge desk at Epic and she made a few phone calls and said as long as I had a reservation I was OK. The next night no issues at all - no one stopping people from coming in etc - spoke to the bar manager and she was not happy and went and sorted it out.

One thing she did say was there was a problem with folks coming to the bar and not leaving in time to get back into Epic - but they parked at Epic - so now they cant get back to their car.

I do think they need to figure out something to keep Epic day guests from just using the Helios lobby for a break - some folks have already talked about doing that on their live streams.




First - So I did not stay at Helios so take this with a grain of salt - I also think the park entry wont be enough of the perk overall after taking to quite a few folks who stayed there - I did 5 days of epic so talked to quite a few people at the various bars to waiting in lines etc.. - they really like the hotel and the location cant be better - but for the most part they wont stay again. Basically without express they will stay at one of the other two Epic hotels for Epic. They also did not feel the early entry was all that helpful since all hotels guests get early entry - they would like even an hour or 30 minutes before the main entrance because by the time they get to Nintendo its already packed.

The other thing is - its a PITA to get to Citiwalk so you are sort of trapped at the hotel - and its very pricy.

Shame you had trouble doing that and yes the TM was wrong to tell you that you couldn’t do that. We entered both times without a reservation even though we did eat there.

I just checked again and two friends have gone today to Epic through the main entrance in the morning, they’ve just left Helios after having drinks and lunch in Flora Taverna and easily got back into the park through the hotel guest point. I also emailed and asked and they said you absolutely can enter the hotel without a reservation, they are absolutely happy for folks to do that.

I do agree they may have issues if folks linger too long in the hotel and the park has closed, that’s trouble waiting to happen.

 

[tony67]

Shame you had trouble doing that and yes the TM was wrong to tell you that you couldn’t do that. We entered both times without a reservation even though we did eat there.

I just checked again and two friends have gone today to Epic through the main entrance in the morning, they’ve just left Helios after having drinks and lunch in Flora Taverna and easily got back into the park through the hotel guest point. I also emailed and asked and they said you absolutely can enter the hotel without a reservation, they are absolutely happy for folks to do that.

I do agree they may have issues if folks linger too long in the hotel and the park has closed, that’s trouble waiting to happen.

Yeah - it was an odd one off day - but in talking to a few folks there may be more to it - like Universal and Loews bumping heads on a few things. Not sure what the contract situation is - I think there are negotiations going on - but who knows.

Also - not sure what your experience was - but they would not give AP discount on food - they had not worked it out yet is what I was told.

 

[schumigirl]

Yeah - it was an odd one off day - but in talking to a few folks there may be more to it - like Universal and Loews bumping heads on a few things. Not sure what the contract situation is - I think there are negotiations going on - but who knows.

Also - not sure what your experience was - but they would not give AP discount on food - they had not worked it out yet is what I was told.

You’re correct they are still working things out. Loews Helios is the same as the other Loews hotels, they need to have agreement with Universal on everything. I think Universal are still smarting Loews have anything to do with Helios as they were originally going to be a Universal only hotel, but Loews were smart and jumped in.

From what you’ve said, Universal want you in the parks, but Loews are happy to have you in the hotel spending money. No ideas on the AP discount.

 

[Minnie1222]

We just had a lovely 4-night stay over the grand opening weekend. I highly recommend a park-view room, but be aware that you will hear park music from opening to closing.



I really wish they would add a balcony to a few rooms.

 

[Cazbucket]

Does anyone know how to book a cabana? I have checked on resy but it doesn’t work. Do you have to wait till you check into Helios? Not going until September.
I’m in the UK, so whether that makes a difference or not…
TIA!

 

[Minnie1222]

We stayed in a How To Train Your Dragon Suite this past trip and only the room with the King bed had a window. The kid's room could only be described as a windowless dark cramp closet. There was a third room with a couch that had no theme or window.

If all the Dragon suites are like this, I don't think I will ever book them again.

 

[Aunt Mar Mar 1420]

We stayed in a How To Train Your Dragon Suite this past trip and only the room with the King bed had a window. The kid's room could only be described as a windowless dark cramp closet. There was a third room with a couch that had no theme or window.
View attachment 970376
If all the Dragon suites are like this, I don't think I will ever book them again.

I

 

[Aunt Mar Mar 1420]

I booked a king suite in December for some extra space and at that time there weren’t any pictures or floor plans for the suites shown. What was a picture of a standard double room but figured since the hotel only became available to book they would add pictures later. After checking back last month I saw the correct floor plan and was disappointed since I thought it would be set up like the suites at Royal Pacific or Sapphire Falls. So I cancelled and booked a park view 2 queen room instead. After staying in a park view room during previews in April I was not going to stay in a room with only one window for two rooms. I understand from reading recent reviews of the regular suites that none of them have a park view. Seems like they all (including the Dragon Suites) are placed in locations of the hotel that had awkward spaces to fill.

 

[Minnie1222]

Seems like they all (including the Dragon Suites) are placed in locations of the hotel that had awkward spaces to fill.

Yes, awkward! I've never stayed in a suite where two out of three rooms have no windows. If I shut the door to the king room, no one would know what time of day it is. The couch room and the children's room also have awkward configurations, and as you can see, the TV is mounted at an awkward location in the picture I took.

I was wondering if we got a "bad" room, but it sounds like all the dragon suites are like this.

 

[Lewisc]

The kids room, the dragon room, is obviously cave themed. Windowless is part of the theme.

 

[Aunt Mar Mar 1420]

Yes, awkward! I've never stayed in a suite where two out of three rooms have no windows. If I shut the door to the king room, no one would know what time of day it is. The couch room and the children's room also have awkward configurations, and as you can see, the TV is mounted at an awkward location in the picture I took.

I was wondering if we got a "bad" room, but it sounds like all the dragon suites are like this.

I just looked online on the Universal Helios booking page and saw that the Dragon Suite you booked was different than the King Suite I originally booked. Yours had a bit more square footage and is configured differently but still only has one window. If you booked a park view kids suite you would have gotten a better value and a lot more room with the Celestial Suite. It has a park view, larger main bedroom, dining table, sink and microwave. Also has a pull out couch and 1 1/2 baths. You didn’t mention if you had a park view suite booked but if you did, the Celestial Suite is less than $100 more. You might want to look into that if the park view is important to you. Hope you enjoyed Epic though! We really did like the convenience of staying in the park at Helios.

 

[Minnie1222]

The kids room, the dragon room, is obviously cave themed. Windowless is part of the theme.

Then paint it like a cave. As you can see from my picture, it's an outdoor scene with dragons in an open sky. Still doesn't explain why the living room is also windowless.

 

[Minnie1222]

I just looked online on the Universal Helios booking page and saw that the Dragon Suite you booked was different than the King Suite I originally booked. Yours had a bit more square footage and is configured differently but still only has one window. If you booked a park view kids suite you would have gotten a better value and a lot more room with the Celestial Suite. It has a park view, larger main bedroom, dining table, sink and microwave. Also has a pull out couch and 1 1/2 baths. You didn’t mention if you had a park view suite booked but if you did, the Celestial Suite is less than $100 more. You might want to look into that if the park view is important to you. Hope you enjoyed Epic though! We really did like the convenience of staying in the park at Helios.

I didn't know there was a "park view kids suite". I got the Dragon kids suite-park view and it sounds different than the one you described.

We had a great time at Epic and loved the convenience of Helios. We're coming back this summer and staying at Helios again, in two regular rooms this time.

 

[Aunt Mar Mar 1420]

I didn't know there was a "park view kids suite". I got the Dragon kids suite-park view and it sounds different than the one you described.

We had a great time at Epic and loved the convenience of Helios. We're coming back this summer and staying at Helios again, in two regular rooms this time.

I didn't know there was a "park view kids suite". I got the Dragon kids suite-park view and it sounds different than the one you described.

We had a great time at Epic and loved the convenience of Helios. We're coming back this summer and staying at Helios again, in two regular rooms this time.

Sorry for the double post. I keep hitting the wrong key.

I think I confused you by not doing paragraphs for each of the suite descriptions.
The Kids Dragon Suite has two types: standard view and park view. They both have the same floor plan with one window. The park view suite is more money than the non-park view.

The other suite I described is not a kids suite. It’s called a Celestial Suite and all of them have a park view. Bigger than a kids Dragon Suite and has all of the features I listed above. Not much more expensive than the park view Dragon Suite.

Looks like you solved your problem by booking two rooms for your next stay. You’ll have plenty of room for the kids and be more comfortable. We will be staying at Helios in November for three more nights (not in a windowless suite now) and cant wait to return! Hope you really enjoy your next visit!

 

[Minnie1222]

Hope you really enjoy your next visit!

Thank you! Same to you!