Universal studios orlando Sept/Oct 2013

[Travel Mum]

US in L.A. and US in Orlando are really different in the fact that U.S. in L.A. is a real working studio and US Orlando is not - it is just a theme park.

 

[Saskiwi]

So with that in mind, would you say if I was underwhelmed by US Hollywood I could skip US Orlando? I'm trying to convince DH and the boys that we only need to do IoA and KSc and don't need a day at US- I want more time at WDW and we will only have 9 days. - and they want to do a water park too - argh!

 

[Saskiwi]

So with that in mind, would you say if I was underwhelmed by US Hollywood I could skip US Orlando? I'm trying to convince DH and the boys that we only need to do IoA and KSc and don't need a day at US- I want more time at WDW and we will only have 9 days. - and they want to do a water park too - argh!

Meant to add we did US Hollywood a few years back and I was pretty underwhelmed.... So not in a
hurry to go to USO when I could be at WDW!!

 

[Travel Mum]

Hmm, we enjoyed our day at US but that was probably partly because we had front-of- line-passes (from being onsite guests). It meant that we could leisurely tour the park in a clockwise order and, since it came straight after our WDW time where I had had individual park itineraries with our rides order mapped out (and I was the FP runner), it was a very relaxing day! However, I do think it is the park you could drop if you have to drop one as WDW should be your priority and IOA does have Harry Potter. Plus I definitely think you should allow time for at least one of the WDW water parks - we had a day at each of had a lot of fun.

 

[australiankaren]

So dh now says he wants to do f&w again, so that is the few days after the cruise.....but then i will have to buy more wdw tickets, as my AP runs out on the 15th of sept...why!!!!!!! At least he hasnt mentioned seeing a soccer game this time, although i'm sure thats on the horizon....

So now off to start rejigging my trip again....thank god for butchers paper

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I'm in a dilemma right now. I was literally sitting at my computer yesterday, about to press confirm on my Hard Rock Hotel booking, when the part of my brain that controls finances told me to have a quick look first at off-site hotels.

So with a bit of help from disboards I discovered The Homewood Suites and am now in a complete quandry. The problem is is that I could literally save about US$200 per night ( $600 total) by opting for this accommodation instead of onsite.

The Homewood Suites have brilliant reviews on Trip Advisor, better than any of the 3 Loews. Breakfast is free, wifi is free, and dinner with beer and wine (Mon-Thur) is also free. We will get a 1 bedroom suite instead of a room (so my son can sleep in the lounge) and there are scheduled free shuttles to Universal, albeit nowhere near as frequently as the Loews ones. All this for the bargain basement price of $98 (+ tax) per night. I figure that the breakfast, dinner and drinks for three people is almost worth that alone, making the accommodation pretty much free.

On the downside, we won't have the unlimited express pass or the early entry that comes with staying onsite. We won't have that feeling you get from being fully immersed in a theme/product, and we will feel compelled to eat at our hotel rather than walk the few minutes from HRH down to the CityWalk and enjoy the restaurants there.

The dilemma for me is that when I now think of the HRH, I think of all the shopping I could do with that $600. When I think of the Homewood Suites, I just don't get that buzz of excitement that I get from the prospect of staying onsite.

Do I listen to the devil on my right shoulder who's saying "Who cares about money. This is a potential once in a lifetime opportunity, do it right"?
Or do I listen to the angel on my other shoulder whose telling me that $600 is too much money to ignore?

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm in a dilemma right now. I was literally sitting at my computer yesterday, about to press confirm on my Hard Rock Hotel booking, when the part of my brain that controls finances told me to have a quick look first at off-site hotels.

So with a bit of help from disboards I discovered The Homewood Suites and am now in a complete quandry. The problem is is that I could literally save about US$200 per night ( $600 total) by opting for this accommodation instead of onsite.

The Homewood Suites have brilliant reviews on Trip Advisor, better than any of the 3 Loews. Breakfast is free, wifi is free, and dinner with beer and wine (Mon-Thur) is also free. We will get a 1 bedroom suite instead of a room (so my son can sleep in the lounge) and there are scheduled free shuttles to Universal, albeit nowhere near as frequently as the Loews ones. All this for the bargain basement price of $98 (+ tax) per night. I figure that the breakfast, dinner and drinks for three people is almost worth that alone, making the accommodation pretty much free.

On the downside, we won't have the unlimited express pass or the early entry that comes with staying onsite. We won't have that feeling you get from being fully immersed in a theme/product, and we will feel compelled to eat at our hotel rather than walk the few minutes from HRH down to the CityWalk and enjoy the restaurants there.

The dilemma for me is that when I now think of the HRH, I think of all the shopping I could do with that $600. When I think of the Homewood Suites, I just don't get that buzz of excitement that I get from the prospect of staying onsite.

Do I listen to the devil on my right shoulder who's saying "Who cares about money. This is a potential once in a lifetime opportunity, do it right"?
Or do I listen to the angel on my other shoulder whose telling me that $600 is too much money to ignore?

Homewood is a good hotel chain.

That is a fair chunk of money to save. The question is whether you would regret not being on site and not having the FotL/EE priviledges.


But it is funny that you had this post up. I was coming in here to ask what hotels the Anzacs had stayed in or were planning on staying in at UA.

So peeps....what hotel did you stay at for your UA visit and why? Did you consider staying off-site?

If you stayed on-site, did you purchase an AP and what discounts did you get?

 

[WAMUMOF4]

I'm in a dilemma right now. I was literally sitting at my computer yesterday, about to press confirm on my Hard Rock Hotel booking, when the part of my brain that controls finances told me to have a quick look first at off-site hotels.

So with a bit of help from disboards I discovered The Homewood Suites and am now in a complete quandry. The problem is is that I could literally save about US$200 per night ( $600 total) by opting for this accommodation instead of onsite.

The Homewood Suites have brilliant reviews on Trip Advisor, better than any of the 3 Loews. Breakfast is free, wifi is free, and dinner with beer and wine (Mon-Thur) is also free. We will get a 1 bedroom suite instead of a room (so my son can sleep in the lounge) and there are scheduled free shuttles to Universal, albeit nowhere near as frequently as the Loews ones. All this for the bargain basement price of $98 (+ tax) per night. I figure that the breakfast, dinner and drinks for three people is almost worth that alone, making the accommodation pretty much free.

On the downside, we won't have the unlimited express pass or the early entry that comes with staying onsite. We won't have that feeling you get from being fully immersed in a theme/product, and we will feel compelled to eat at our hotel rather than walk the few minutes from HRH down to the CityWalk and enjoy the restaurants there.

The dilemma for me is that when I now think of the HRH, I think of all the shopping I could do with that $600. When I think of the Homewood Suites, I just don't get that buzz of excitement that I get from the prospect of staying onsite.

Do I listen to the devil on my right shoulder who's saying "Who cares about money. This is a potential once in a lifetime opportunity, do it right"?
Or do I listen to the angel on my other shoulder whose telling me that $600 is too much money to ignore?

How much will it cost you to buy the FOL passes for when you are there? We didn't buy them and thought we would see how busy it was on the day and I am so glad we didn't we had hardly any wait times at all a lot of the rides were only 10 min waits but if we needed to we would of brought the FOL passes.
We love Homewood suites and stay in them everywhere we can the kids think they are great as all the ones we have stayed in have basketball courts for some down time and. Haven't had a bad meal at the evening meal yet.

Homewood is a good hotel chain.

That is a fair chunk of money to save. The question is whether you would regret not being on site and not having the FotL/EE priviledges.


But it is funny that you had this post up. I was coming in here to ask what hotels the Anzacs had stayed in or were planning on staying in at UA.

So peeps....what hotel did you stay at for your UA visit and why? Did you consider staying off-site?

If you stayed on-site, did you purchase an AP and what discounts did you get?

Princess we stayed at AOA for our whole stay we had FD so we just hired a car and drove to UA if we were to go again we would do exactly the same it was nice not to have to pack up and have to leave took us 15/20 mins each way which didn't seem to take us much longer than getting to the WDW parks.

 

[australiankaren]

you had me at free wine and beer

maybe if you hire a car and not rely on the shuttles it would be better..oh and the free wine and beer, and you can get great car hire deals...

and the free wine and beer...

 

[australiankaren]

I'm in a dilemma right now. I was literally sitting at my computer yesterday, about to press confirm on my Hard Rock Hotel booking, when the part of my brain that controls finances told me to have a quick look first at off-site hotels.

So with a bit of help from disboards I discovered The Homewood Suites and am now in a complete quandry. The problem is is that I could literally save about US$200 per night ( $600 total) by opting for this accommodation instead of onsite.

The Homewood Suites have brilliant reviews on Trip Advisor, better than any of the 3 Loews. Breakfast is free, wifi is free, and dinner with beer and wine (Mon-Thur) is also free. We will get a 1 bedroom suite instead of a room (so my son can sleep in the lounge) and there are scheduled free shuttles to Universal, albeit nowhere near as frequently as the Loews ones. All this for the bargain basement price of $98 (+ tax) per night. I figure that the breakfast, dinner and drinks for three people is almost worth that alone, making the accommodation pretty much free.

On the downside, we won't have the unlimited express pass or the early entry that comes with staying onsite. We won't have that feeling you get from being fully immersed in a theme/product, and we will feel compelled to eat at our hotel rather than walk the few minutes from HRH down to the CityWalk and enjoy the restaurants there.

The dilemma for me is that when I now think of the HRH, I think of all the shopping I could do with that $600. When I think of the Homewood Suites, I just don't get that buzz of excitement that I get from the prospect of staying onsite.

Do I listen to the devil on my right shoulder who's saying "Who cares about money. This is a potential once in a lifetime opportunity, do it right"?
Or do I listen to the angel on my other shoulder whose telling me that $600 is too much money to ignore?

ok, so i just put in my dates and its $103 per night for king bed suite, how cheap is that???so now you have me thinking..and its part of the hilton chain so points can be earnt..dont forget to sign up for hilton honors...and $600 is alot of money to save..thats your UST tickets right there....so really you are staying in a suite and getting free tickets

 

[Marlea98]

We have been looking at Homewood (the one that says near universal entrance or whatever) as well. I can't price them yet for our dates after the cruise so I put in similar dates for this year and it's still good for the 4 of us, and most posters on TA said around 25 minutes walk to Universal. We caught the train in L.A to universal and it was less hassle than driving and parking. Homewood have some free shuttle times too - the shuttles are free but limited times. We'd probably do that for the return leg, walk or catch a cab depending on how we feel. We can't afford to stay onsite so this one's top of list so far.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. It seems that the general consensus is that $600 is to much to turn my nose up at.

But that darn devil on my shoulder just won't go away.

The more I think about it, it's not really the lack of Express Passes and Early Entry that's bugging me; apparently September is so quiet it won't really matter. It's the ease (or lack thereof) of being able to go back to our room midday for a nap that I'm worried about.

If park hours next year are anything like this year, then US will be open on the Thursday we're there from 9 - 8:30. There's no way we'd want to do 11 hours solid with a 5 year old, but we would like to be there for the Fireworks at the end.
Onsite we could walk back to the room for 2 or 3 hours in the middle of the day to nap and swim, then head straight back to the park afterwards. We could also go back to the hotel easily for a change of clothes if we get soaked from the wet rides.
Offsite we'd need to use taxis in the middle of the day since the shuttle is only morning and evening. To avoid too much mucking around, I can see us sticking it out until mid - late avo, then flagging the fireworks and going back to the hotel for the free dinner. In other words, our ideal touring schedule would probably change to accommodate staying offsite.

But is this enough to justify so much extra money???
I'm sure my brain tends to over-think things way too much sometimes. Is it just me?

I asked my husband his opinion and his response was "I don't care. You always know what is best for our family". Don't know whether to hug him or kick him

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We have been looking at Homewood (the one that says near universal entrance or whatever) as well. I can't price them yet for our dates after the cruise so I put in similar dates for this year and it's still good for the 4 of us, and most posters on TA said around 25 minutes walk to Universal. We caught the train in L.A to universal and it was less hassle than driving and parking. Homewood have some free shuttle times too - the shuttles are free but limited times. We'd probably do that for the return leg, walk or catch a cab depending on how we feel. We can't afford to stay onsite so this one's top of list so far.

Yep, that's the one we're looking at.
25mins walk wouldn't worry me if Sep weren't such a humid month. Apparently a taxi is only about $8 though. So even if I factored in a couple of taxis each day we'd still save heaps of $$.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. It seems that the general consensus is that $600 is to much to turn my nose up at.

But that darn devil on my shoulder just won't go away.

The more I think about it, it's not really the lack of Express Passes and Early Entry that's bugging me; apparently September is so quiet it won't really matter. It's the ease (or lack thereof) of being able to go back to our room midday for a nap that I'm worried about.

If park hours next year are anything like this year, then US will be open on the Thursday we're there from 9 - 8:30. There's no way we'd want to do 11 hours solid with a 5 year old, but we would like to be there for the Fireworks at the end.
Onsite we could walk back to the room for 2 or 3 hours in the middle of the day to nap and swim, then head straight back to the park afterwards. We could also go back to the hotel easily for a change of clothes if we get soaked from the wet rides.
Offsite we'd need to use taxis in the middle of the day since the shuttle is only morning and evening. To avoid too much mucking around, I can see us sticking it out until mid - late avo, then flagging the fireworks and going back to the hotel for the free dinner. In other words, our ideal touring schedule would probably change to accommodate staying offsite.

But is this enough to justify so much extra money???
I'm sure my brain tends to over-think things way too much sometimes. Is it just me?

I asked my husband his opinion and his response was "I don't care. You always know what is best for our family". Don't know whether to hug him or kick him

If you're going to regret not staying there afterwards, then that would be the argument for staying on site. I'm probably going to be flamed for saying this...but it is only money. (Even if $600 is a lot of extra spending money.)

 

[WanderlustNZ]

If you're going to regret not staying there afterwards, then that would be the argument for staying on site. I'm probably going to be flamed for saying this...but it is only money. (Even if $600 is a lot of extra spending money.)

Thanks PrincessInOz. I certainly won't be faming you. If I tallied up all the $ I've put into travel over the last 10 years as opposed to more 'sensible' purchases such as car and house payments, I'd probably have a small heart attack. But at the end of the day, I don't regret a cent of it.

 

[Travel Mum]

We did the Universal parks during our 7 nights offsite in Orlando (after our 9 nights at POR). We stayed at the Staybridge Suites International Drive (it has changed names since though) in a Two-Bedroom Suite (with 3 T.V.'s ) which included free breakfast, free parking, nightly reception etc. I forget what now but I know it was for a ridiculously low rate.

However, on the two days we toured the two US parks, I did something I learnt off the Universal Disboards. I booked one night at Royal Pacific in the middle of our Staybridge stay. On our check-in day to Royal Pacific, we packed over-night bags (leaving all the rest of our luggage at Staybridge), drove to the Royal Pacific early in the morning, checked in, got them to store our bags and then caught the boat to US. We toured there for 3/4 of a day (that was long enough for us) showing our room cards to get front of line access to the ridess, and then went back to the hotel, got into our room, and then went for a nice swim. We spent the night there (lovely room and hotel) and got up early, checked out, got them to mind our luggage, caught the boat and went in early to IOA for early entry to Harry Potter. The reason this works is because, even though you have checked out of your room, you still get the onsite guest perks on checkout day too So we continued to tour IOA with our front of line access before leaving later in the day, taking the boat back to Royal Pacific, picking up our luggage, getting in our car and driving back to Staybridge

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Arrrrgghhh! I just gave in and booked and paid for HRH. I've been weighing up the pros and cons to staying onsite for the last 24hrs and getting absolutely nowhere. In the end, I ignored my head, followed my heart and splashed out the extra money.
Once I get over the initial shock of being so frivolous, I just know I'm going to be bursting with excitement.

I ended up booking and paying for a package (hotel, tickets and transfers). I read somewhere that there is a bit more flexibility if you book everything separately, but it just feels good to have everything locked in. If everything drops in price, I have the option up to forty-something days to cancel and rebook. But if the NZ dollar weakens, or Universal increase their prices, I can feel good that everything is locked in.

Travel Mum, what a cunning and clever plan for making the most of your Universal time. Combining one night onsite with a week off makes perfect sense. If we were staying more than 3 nights in the area I definitely would have considered it.

 

[Marlea98]

If you're going to regret not staying there afterwards, then that would be the argument for staying on site. I'm probably going to be flamed for saying this...but it is only money. (Even if $600 is a lot of extra spending money.)

I totally agree. There are some things you are happy to spend on and save on. Our Wonder cruise was our splurge and we saved elsewhere All's well when everyone's happy

 

[battymum]

We stayed at hard rock hotel, and loved it. It was so nice and relaxing, it was a lot ,ore laid back for us after the intense Disney stay. We had 4 nights, the universal parks are only a day each if that, so we had more time at the resort, which was lovely. We had a couple of rainy days so couldn't enjoy the beautiful pool as much as I would have liked!

What's with that, they run the coasters in the rain, but two drops and they close the pools!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We stayed at hard rock hotel, and loved it. It was so nice and relaxing, it was a lot ,ore laid back for us after the intense Disney stay. We had 4 nights, the universal parks are only a day each if that, so we had more time at the resort, which was lovely. We had a couple of rainy days so couldn't enjoy the beautiful pool as much as I would have liked!

What's with that, they run the coasters in the rain, but two drops and they close the pools!

That's odd. I wonder if it's something to do with safety in electrical storms?

Either way, I've had a chance to sleep on it, and I'm so excited right now.

Battymum, did you think any area of the hotel is worth putting in a request for? I opted for Hard Rock over RPR as I think my husband and son will love all the music being played everywhere. (Happy family; happy mum/a.k.a. planner). But I really don't want to be able to hear any music from my room.