universal newbie questions-again!

[married2mm]

please excuse me if all has been asked before,but here goes:
we have booked hrh for one night august 18th.

i read check in can be early in the morning,is that correct?

do you need to check out the next day?

does universal open an hour before "normal" park hours for general public every day?

is there a special entrance at the main gate to allow entrance to onsite guests early?

are all rides accessible in this special hour?

does universal have evening special onsite times also?

what are the opening times usually for this time of year?

parking at universal- do you drive from hrh to universal car park?
do you have to pay again?

tia.

 

[RMulieri]

1) You can check in at anytime.The room may not be ready, but they will stow your luggage and give you your keys to get express passes
2)We did check out but we weren't sure if you need to and we were down there anyway
3)IOA opens an hour early.Universal did over the summer because of Despicable me being new.They might do it again this year because of Transformers, but we won't know for awhile yet .
4)No special entrance.Go to the gates and they will let you in.There are Tms before the entrance gates tellling people that they need to be onsite guests or guests at a participating partner hotel and checking to make sure that only those people make it to the turnstyles( at least this was our experience)
5)The only rides/shops open at IOA for early entry are in the WWoHP.Occasionally they may add others, but that is usually is in peak times
6)No extra evening hours
7)Usual hours this time of year ( I am also going Aug 18-25 at PBH) IOA- 9am-8p and US 9am 830p -This was the hours from last year.Actual hours won't be posted for awhile yet
.IOA opens at 8am for early entry
8)You don't need to drive anywhere once at HRH..The HRH is a simple 5-7 min stroll to the parks or a dedicated boat launch that brings you to the dock in citywwalk.Both parks are located right next to each other and are connected and surrounded by Citywalk.It is alot closer and easier than traveling from Disney hotels to the parks.

 

[married2mm]

thanks very much for the info.