Universal Hotel Newbie Needs Help!

[RyMickey]

Time to start planning for our next vacation in Summer 2009 and this time we're thinking of spending 2-3 nights at a Universal Hotel and taking our time exploring Universal (we always rush and try to cover both parks in one day!). I'm honestly excited, but being an experienced "Disney" person, I have no idea where to start whe it comes to Universal!

Is there anything similar to an allearsnet with Universal hotel information? I'm looking for pictures of rooms, pools, restaurants (all the good stuff), plus info on pricing, tickets, and Universal Express.

While I definitely know my way around Walt's parks and while I'm comfortable with my knowledge of the Universal parks, I know nothing about the Universal "experience" outside of the park.

I know that I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time looking over this section of the DIS in the next few days (the stickies at the top will, I'm sure, be invaluable), but if anyone can point me in a good direction to start, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kimberle]

Well, you don't need to do a lot of planning for US. All 3 resorts are Deluxe. You are allowed to pool hop. US is also much more compact than WDW. You don't have to allow long transportation time. You get FOTL access to rides, attractions and restaurants, so you don't need to be up early to rush to the parks. We had no problem getting a table at most restaurants with no reservation. If there is a restaurant that is very popular (like Emerils), then you probably will want a reservation.

We loved loved loved our US stay.

 

[bopper]

The above poster is correct...buy the tickets on line for ~$80 for 7 days of park hoppers...Stay in a Universal hotel so that you get the equivelent of a Fast pass on each and every ride...If you want to eat at a couple of the restaurants (Emiril's or Tchoup Chop) then you can make reservations..but even the sit down restaurant (Mythos) in IOA you can same day reservations(I did it during spring break).

2-3 days is perfect for doing everything. The only thing I would suggest is when you get there, look for the "shows" that have specified times and plan around those that you want to go to. They change so you can't necessarily do it ahead of time.

 

[calgarygary]

Browse the stickies in this thread and you will come across tons of info and pics of the 3 onsite hotels. As others have noted, all 3 hotels are deluxe and you will not be disappointed with an onsite stay. After you have experienced fotl with your room key you will have a difficult time not staying onsite at Universal in the future. Allearsnet does have an area devoted to Universal including a few photos from the hotels and some of the menus so don't forget to also explore there.

 

[bubba's mom]

The DIS right here has info: http://www.wdwinfo.com/universal/index.htm


So does allearsnet.... they have an entire section of Universal


Kelly Monaghan's book: Universal Orlando is an excellent guide. Covers every attraction, show, hotel, restaurant, City Walk, etc..... Everything you could possibly want/need to know about Universal!