Universal Studio Hotels - EP

[gnozuk]

We're doing 2 days at Universal and was wondering if we only stayed 1 night at say Hard Rock, would we be able to leave our bags at the front desk at a VERY early check-in and take advantage of the early entry and everything? Then we'd check in after the park closes for that night and since we'd stay 1 night, check out early and leave bags at front while we finish up the second day?

Any tips/advice on this?

 

[TreeFalls]

You can check in as early as 6 am (maybe even earlier) , and leave your bags. They'll text when the room is ready, but there is no need to return until the end of the day. I'm not 100% sure if the early entry requires a stay the night before, or if it works on check in day, so I'll let someone else speak to that.

Edit- and you can also check out early and leave bags the following day.

 

[gnozuk]

Thank you for the quick reply!

Hopefully someone can chime in on the early entry requirements! If I only need 1 night for 2 days or 1 night each day!

 

[hhoope01]

In the past, for EE all we had to do was show our room keys (which are also your EPs). So you should be good for both once you check-in and get your keys. Note you probably won't get your actual room that early, but they'll give you a room key for each person registered for the room.

 

[macraven]

Check in early morning and leave your luggage with valet and hit the parks

Next day check out is 11:00 and take your luggage to be held until you are ready to leave the parks

 

[Nabas]

We're doing 2 days at Universal and was wondering if we only stayed 1 night at say Hard Rock, would we be able to leave our bags at the front desk at a VERY early check-in and take advantage of the early entry and everything? Then we'd check in after the park closes for that night and since we'd stay 1 night, check out early and leave bags at front while we finish up the second day?

Any tips/advice on this?

I have done this with my son a couple of times within the last 6 months and we are doing exactly this again on Sunday.

Here's how you do it:

1. Arrive at the Universal Deluxe hotel 90 minutes before park opening.
2. Leave your luggage in your car or with bell services.
3. Go to the front desk and check-in, picking up your Express Passes. (You also can pick-up your theme park tickets at the hotel, which tends to be faster than using a kiosk at the park to pick them up.)
4. Walk to the theme park with early opening.
5. Have loads of fun at the parks on your first day.
6. When you are done, walk back to the hotel, pick up your luggage, and head to your room.
7. The next morning, pack up and again leave your luggage with bell services or in your car.
8. Have loads of fun at the parks on your second day.
9. Walk back to the hotel, pick-up your luggage, and head to the hotel you are sleeping at that night.

 

[wdwrule]

And just to add, when you check out you can save time by simply checking out via text by 11:00am. (When you check in, they’ll text you during that process so you can use that same text thread to check out etc)

 

[Mamabun]

One other thought, they usually email the day before, sometimes not until midnight or a bit later and you can do most of your checkin online before even arriving at the hotel. Then you just go to the checkin stand (not sure what it’s actually called) to pick up your already prepared roomkeys/EP, you bypass the front desk which has sometimes had a decent line when we were checking in. You can leave luggage with bell services as usual.

 

[gnozuk]

Thank you everyone for the tips!

Glad to hear that this works, one last question - we arrive on Dec 3rd at 7pm and would get to Universal around 9 or however long it takes from the airport. We were thinking of booking a close off site or a cheaper hotel on site and then staying at one of the premier hotels on the 2nd so we can take advantage of the perks.

Would the savings be worth it if we're just looking for a place to crash the first night or would it be "better" to just stay both nights at a premier hotel in this scenario?

 

[hhoope01]

Almost any time we are arriving late we will get a cheaper hotel close to Universal. You have a couple of options. One of the cheaper on-site hotels (i.e. Endless Summer, etc.) can be as cheap as most other hotels in the area. And those come with EE and buses to the parks. So it might be easier to go that route. Quite often I tend to have points (as I travel for work). So I'll often stay at the Doubletree at the Entrance to Universal. Its a nice enough hotel and usually a very good deal for points. There are a number of hotels for most of the big hotel chains close by as well. So you have lots of options.

Also, if we have morning flights back home, we tend to get an airport hotel for that last night. We will use points to stay at the airport Hyatt as it is literally inside the airport. This makes the morning of our flight much easier, quicker and less chaotic.

 

[gnozuk]

If I stay at a nearby hotel near Universal for the first night and then wake up early to go to the premier hotel say Portofino, how long is this walk? Or are there buses that will take you there? Google maps shows ~50 min walk from the Hilton, any suggestions to optimize this?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Google maps shows ~50 min walk from the Hilton, any suggestions to optimize this?

Uber

 

[ClapYourHands]

If I stay at a nearby hotel near Universal for the first night and then wake up early to go to the premier hotel say Portofino, how long is this walk? Or are there buses that will take you there? Google maps shows ~50 min walk from the Hilton, any suggestions to optimize this?

It depends on the hotel. Portofino is actually really close to a number of offsite hotels. I’m not sure which Hilton you’re looking at, but it’s probably under 15 minutes from the Doubletree on Major Blvd or the Hampton Inn on Windhover. There are several other hotels in that area, but those are the ones I know Hilton owns (don’t know if the Hilton brand is important to you or it’s just a random example). Anyway, check out Windhover Dr and Major Blvd for reasonable walks to Portofino. The hotels in that area are pretty basic compared to Portofino, but most have reputations as solid mid-level brands, and many include breakfast.