Where to stay?

[Clare D]

Hi everyone
DH and I have decided to bring forward our 2010 trip to August next year. We are looking to stay at a Universal hotel for 3 nights but not sure which one as we have never stayed on site there before. Just wondered which Universal hotels you guys like.
Also we are umming and arhing about whether to stay onsite at Disney or offsite in a villa. We have only stayed off site once before so are looking for recommendations from fellow Dis'ers on which Disney hotels you all like or which villa areas you all prefer. I have read trip advisor but that baffles me all the more (doesn't take much)
We will have 2 kids in tow, oldest will be 6 youngest will be 15 months.
Thank you x

 

[UKDEB]

It's no secret amongst regulars here that I'm a huge fan of Reunion. I've been waxing lyrical again recently, so rather than bore everyone else to tears, I'll just refer you to that thread.

 

[Clare D]

Hi
I only came across the Ginn Reunion when I was flicking in the Virgin brochure and I must admit it looks fab. I have just read your previous replies so sorry to be pain asking you the following
Would you stay there over say the Beach/Yacht club at Disney even with the DDP on offer at the minute?
Also there will be 2 adults and 2 children so a washing machine would be a god send do all the rooms/condos/villas have these?
Thank you

 

[UKDEB]

It's such a difficult call - the two options are so different. If you're just comparing the standard of accommodation, then there's simply no contest - Reunion wipes the floor with anything Disney has to offer. However, you can't underestimate the benefit of being onsite. Our preference is a mix of the two. Ideally, we like to rent a villa (and at the moment our choice of location is Reunion) for the duration of our stay and then take a few nights out to stay onsite - sometimes at WDW and others at Universal (incidentally, I've realised that I didn't answer your question about Universal resorts, so I'll come back to that). DDP doesn't interest us in the slightest, but I suppose it's difficult not to factor into the decision-making process if it's free. There are a lot of Disney restaurants which we like very much, but a big part of the holiday for us is experiencing all the fantastic places to eat offsite. We're DVC owners, so we've never had a reason to look into the free dining, but is it genuinely free or do you pay more for the accommodation than you need to? I'm sure someone else can advise on that.

Yes, you'd have your own washing facilities no matter what accommodation you chose at Reunion.

We've stayed twice at each of the USO resorts and will be staying at RPR for the third time in November. As the cheapest of the three, we've come to the conclusion that it definitely represents the best value for money. It could be argued that PBH is a better class of hotel than the other two, but it's a bit too far away from the action, IMHO. It is within walking distance of CityWalk and the parks, but it's a bit of a trek. Of the other two, Hard Rock Hotel is slightly closer - about a 5 minute walk to the Universal Studios side of CityWalk. RPR brings you into CityWalk at the Islands of Adventure side. There's also water-taxi transportation to all three as well as buses. For us these days it's all about staying onsite for front of the line access to the rides and being able to enjoy a drink at CityWalk in the evenings.

 

[Clare D]

Thanks UKDeb for your feedback. I was looking at the PBH but if it is further away then I may just opt for the RPH as we are only wanting the hotel for the benefit of the Express pass. I wasn't too sure where they were on site but it is good to know that we can walk directly into City walk.
Still not sure about where to stay for the next bit though - there is just too much to choose from these days. I must say though I am very impressed by what I have seen of the accomodation on offer at the Reunion resort - decisions decisions.