Where to Stay with a Big Family? Q about EP, too

[hsmom]

We are planning a short visit to Universal Orlando in September. (6-9) We visited back in 2011, staying at the Royal Pacific. At the time, we had 3 kids, so could fit in a standard room.
We now have 5 kids and will need to accommodate our bigger family. When we stay at our usual Embassy Suites, we can book a regular room with 2 queens and a sleeper sofa and do just fine. Even through, according to restrictions when booking, you technically can't sleep 7 in that size room. ES never bats an eye at our family of 7.
We are looking at staying either at Cabana Bay or Royal Pacific. If we stay at CB, the room will fit us perfectly. Do you know that they will allow 7 people to stay in one room? Royal Pacific would be more tight, but we would love to stay there, too, partially due to the EP benefit.
Any suggestions? We considered AirBnB, but would prefer the hour-early-entry and other on-site perks.
How are the parks without EP? I don't remember that being a perk when we stayed back in 2011. We were there during a slow time in January.
Thank you in advance! (And Happy New Year!)

 

[angierae]

Occupancy by room is set by the fire marshall, and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone here who will say that you should break rules. If you stay at RPR, you can only have five in the room, and two people in your party will not have EP benefits.

 

[macraven]

i wouldn't try to stretch the rules on occupancy level, staff/ housekeeping will report it to the front desk.

you would be asked to vacate the room or add another room for the extra 2

 

[hsmom]

Excellent! We figured we would book two rooms, but was curious what others' experiences were. After I calculated, we can save $300 by getting 2 rooms at CB and purchasing one day of 1-time EP. I've seen advice to "wait and see" regarding EPs on slower park days, so I think we'll take that advice.
Thanks for your feedback!

 

[macraven]

besides estimated crowd levels, check on predicated weather.

if it pours rain, you won't need ep's for the park as the crowds leave and scatter

 

[hsmom]

besides estimated crowd levels, check on predicated weather.

if it pours rain, you won't need ep's for the park as the crowds leave and scatter

That's a good point! Another reason to wait and see and get EPs if needed. Also, I'm learning on these boards that WWoHP doesn't offer many opportunities to use the EP.
Now we are considering 2 rooms at CB vs one suite at Embassy Suites across the road. The downside is that we can't take advantage of the hour early admission. The upside is a free (good) breakfast and savings of about $200 for the 3-night stay. I'm leaning toward staying on-site, but we will think about it.
Happy to hear of any of your experiences!

 

[macraven]

if i had a short stay for the darkside vacation portion, i would lean towards staying onsite even though it would cost more.

would be too excited to want to spend the down time in the morning and get to the parks once they are opened.


if you drive to the parking garage, you need to give yourself time as the parking lines can get long.
that is down time you don't want to deal with.

if the hotel has a shuttle, it is possible it will make other stops at another hotel to the park.
and, not all will start early.
you might end up getting to the parks once it opens.

if you are close enough to walk to the parks from an offsite hotel, leave early and be in line 30 mionutes before the park opens.

with all that in mind, i prefer staying onsite to do the parks with smaller morning crowds and grab a bite to eat later.
or take fruit/crackers with you and eat it in the entrance line while you wait for the park to open

for me, my priority is park time not saving money.

if you are the opposite of how i do short trips, staying off site could work for you but you need to factor in extra down time before the parks open.

 

[hsmom]

with all that in mind, i prefer staying onsite to do the parks with smaller morning crowds and grab a bite to eat later.
or take fruit/crackers with you and eat it in the entrance line while you wait for the park to open

for me, my priority is park time not saving money.

You're speaking my language, macraven! I'm going to be SO excited to get into the parks, I don't really care about the food and I'm afraid the time between getting up and getting there will be stressful if we stay off site. It's worth $67 per day extra for the convenience. And if we have teens that decide to sleep in (they are HP freaks, so I can't imagine, but you never know) or littles who need a nap mid-day, the trip back to CB would certainly be worth the cost difference.

Thanks for chatting through this with me!

 

[macraven]

always glad to share my experiences.

by staying onsite, you can always leave the teens sleep in and do the park with the rest of your family.
teens can reach you by phone and catch up with you later.

i did it that way a few years back.
it kept my anger issues in check waiting for the boys who sat up late at night watching tv in the room while i slept.

and, it kept all frustrations and ill words out of the picture.....


i can never sleep in on the first morning i go to the parks....

 

[angierae]

We are definitely not sit-down breakfast people when we're on theme park vacations. We'll bring granola bars/fruit/whatever and throw them in our bags to eat as we go. The only day we've got a sit-down breakfast planned is our departure day, since we won't be in the parks at all that day.

 

[kohlby]

Those dates should be quite manageable. I doubt you would need express pass. We're going in April and taking my two nephews - making our group of 5 turn into a group of 7. We're getting two rooms at CB. We normally stay at RPR for the 5 of us and really like the included EP, but the cost is too much for us for two rooms there. (I'd guess we're going during a time that's busier than your time, but I feel we can manage without EP easier than shelling out more than $1000 extra for RPR).

We take breakfast with us and eat in our room - it's much easier to get kids out in the morning that way. (And cheaper!) Onsite also means you can split up easier if needed. With our group of 7, that was another important point - as they will range from 7 to 15 in our group and the younger kids might want to go back sooner than the older kids. (Or all go back for a break and the older kids go back out). The CB pool area looks like a lot of fun too so we're looking forward to that as well.

 

[hsmom]

Yay! You all helped me decide and we've officially booked 2 rooms for 4 nights at CB! The price right now is only $103 per night, so jump on that deal. My parents have decided to join us, too, so it will be extra fun. (They are in their 70s, but love Harry Potter and are avid travelers. Great fun to travel with! In fact, they treated us to our one-and-only other trip to Universal back in 2011.)
I noticed there is a Trader Joe's just 3 miles from CB, so we will stock up there on breakfast foods and snacks.
Now to decide where all to eat in the parks. Looks like there is a ton of info on these forums! Love that the menus are listed! I'm a planner, so those are a dream.