Which Universal resort for us?

[Wee Annie]

I'm having a ridiculously difficult time deciding on which Universal resort for my family for our trip in the beginning of November (11/6 - 11/10). I've read multiple threads on this forum comparing and contrasting, and just when I think I've made a decision, something makes me second guess (it's like a disease). I would love some input from anyone who has stayed there before.

We are a family of five -- three daughters, ages 15, 13, and 7, with everyone wanting a different resort. My oldest wants PBH, my middle wants HRH, and I was inclined to book RPR. Of course, since I am mom, my wishes trump all others

The most important factor to me when choosing a resort is ease of access/proximity to the parks. Is PBH noticeably further from the parks? I have a 7 year old with stamina issues; we have only done WDW with her in a stroller before, but I don't foresee using one anymore for her (yay!). I know there are boats to take, but we are an early to the parks kind of family who don't like to wait for boats when we can get places faster walking. We would probably use them on the way home.

I am inclined to choose RPR because of its proximity to IOA and the food options -- I think the restaurants there suit our families tastes the best. American (HRH) is fine, of course, but my hubby is not a huge fan of Italian (PBH). Will my older girls feel out of place at RPR? Do families with teens like this resort? Is the pool (if it's warm enough to swim) geared towards younger children? My girls don't necessarily need slides to have fun in a pool, but don't like overly crowded pools.

Noise is also a factor for us. I and my youngest are very light sleepers. Is the HRH louder, in general, or are they all comparable?

I know there are many, many threads in this forum asking for similar comparisons, but I've dutifully read through every one I could find and still find myself scratching my head. I guess, bottom line, I've wondering if RPR is a resort that will please teen girls. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bluer101]

We were in the same boat 6-7 years ago. We decided to give RPR a try. Now it's all history and we are hooked. It's our home away from home. We have logged too many trips than I can count. We have visited the other 2 resorts and have to say they don't interest us one bit. We do however pool hop to HRH but that's it.

All the pools are heated so that's not a problem. Everything at RPR is so close and not spread out like PBH. I'm not in the room enough to say I need a bigger room. Everyone says the bathrooms in PBH are huge but in respect to others I'm not living in the bathroom.

In the end it all depends on what environment you like. But our home is RPR for now.

 

[Tannison]

I was in this very same situation. I have a family of 5 as well. The kids are 14, 11 and 8. I was set on RPR, but then APH rates came out for June and PBH was only $5 more per night, so I thought long and hard about changing the reservation, and eventually did. Although, the walk to the park is longer, what ultimately made me switch to PBH was the size of the rooms. With five people in one room, the 450 sq feet at PBH will feel huge compared to the 335 at RPR.

I'm sure you will have a great time no matter where you stay! Good luck with the decision....if you are like me, you will change your mind 20 times in day.

 

[derekburgan]

For years I stayed away from RPR thinking it was Universal's "value" resort and would never compete with HR or PB. On one trip the other two were booked solid so I reluctantly booked a room at RPR. Have never looked back and like a previous poster said it's my family's "home away from home." Just did a BIG 5 article this week on the top five reasons it's my favorite on-site hotel (and pretty sure it's my favorite hotel in Orlando).

 

[MDer2FL]

We decided on PB. It was room size for us. We also have 3 girls (8, 10, 11) and usually rent a house or large condo so we're used to spreading out. For 3 days we can cram, but even so, the 335 sq ft at RPR just seemed way too small. This is our first trip to UO so we'll have to see how it goes re walking & distances.

 

[disnutz]

Just my two cents - your teenage girls would like RPR I am sure. But, and this is a big but, the rooms are small. We stayed only once, and even with just 4 of us, it is too small. For this summer, I decided to go with the deluxe at HRH which is bigger and comes with the sleep couch. I have to be honest, part of the decision was also the walk. I thought RPR was close, but HRH was even closer. Either is pretty easy. But PBH is farther. We are walkers too and prefer them over boats. To us, we walked to PBH just to check it out last visit, and it is just a little too far, especially in the evenings when we are exhausted.

You could do PBH which also is bigger room , but you have to have a roll away bed now which is $25 more a night. When I compared HRH deluxe with PBH and roll away, HRH won.

 

[TheAviator]

I typically stay at the RP too mainly because of the value $$ and its still possibly my favorite. Portifino is the most plush and elegant, and probably has a little better pool, I really like the waterfall over the castle slide thing they have, but the RP also has a great pool. The grounds at RP may be better in the sense that the real pacific tropical theme is great. You really feel like you are in the south pacific.

No worries about the travel, you just take the boat into the main area. The walk from the RP is do able, but it is a hike. The walk from Portofino I think is even longer, the walk from the HR is the closest and not a big deal at all, but as mentioned, hardly no need to ever walk, taking the boat into the parks is part of the charm.

Restaurant wise, I also prefer the RP, although the Portifino has some great ones, it is primarily all Italian and that gets old after 2 or 3 meals. RP has more of a variety. And Tchoup Choup is probably my favorite hotel restaurant, although Mythos in IOA is my top. But the Jakes grill at RP is a great moderately priced restaurant ended up eating there more than almost anywhere.

 

[macraven]

if you are only going to be in the room for basically sleeping, rph would work out for you.

you can contact star service in your room for linens to make a pallet on the floor for the 7 yo.
you could also bring an air mattress to use with that pallet.
no charge from star service for their services in doing this.

you can pool hop to check out the other hotel pools.
i do think the one pool at pbh is quieter than the others.

if you need a lot of space in the room, pbh would be it.

i have stayed at all 3 hotels and only found hrh to have hallway noise while i slept.

i'm also in a hurry to hit the parks so pbh doesn't work for me.
the walk is longer than the others.

i make rph home for my vacation stays.
close walk to city walk for an evening meal.
close walk to IOA.
4 onsite restaurants that have a variety of food choices.
large lobby that has quiet sections for me to hang out at times.

is it possible for you to split your stay with 2 hotels?
looks like you have 4 nights to book.
the hotel will move your belongings for you if you do a split stay.

or maybe your deciding factor will be the room rates for your stay.


check the layout of the hotel rooms on the darkside site.
and the distance from hotel to parks/city walk.

maybe that will help you decide.

 

[kmc]

I have stayed at all 3 and each has there own pros/cons

RPR-liked their food options the best, nice atmosphere
disliked-rooms are noticeably smaller, no sink/mirror inside bathroom
HRH-liked its location the best, very short walk to parks
Disliked- nothing really but I do feel its decor is the least appealing of the 3
PB-rooms are nice size, I think it has the best pool, so pretty just to hang out by the water.
Disliked- the distance, we like to walk to the parks and at the end of the night it was a bit much. If you like taking the boats this resort is beautiful.

I think you will not be disappointed wherever your end up as they are all truly
lovely in their own right. I will add they I did stay at RPR with 5 people once and would not do it again-way too small even for family

 

[Akwafunk]

For 5, I wouldn't do RPR. The rooms are extremely small. If they bring a roll away bed, the only place for it is essentially where the sink outside the bathroom is. We tried once, and ended up booking another room.

There's a shortcut from PBH if you walk through the HRH parking lot.

 

[Wee Annie]

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback and information, all. I do think 5, with two teens, would be too tight in the RPR room. I'm going to look at finances and see what we can swing re more room. I still like the idea of RPR the best, but will have to ponder. I don't foresee us spending tons of time in our room, but still, we need to be able to breathe (and not want to kill each other). This will be one of our last (if not our last) vacations during the school year for a long time, as the older girls are on athletic teams that penalize you for taking time off during the season. So I do want to make sure we are comfortable

And although split stays sound theoretically wonderful, I'm the kind of person who hates to move once I get somewhere. I'll figure it out, especially with the tons of wonderful info I have received on this thread.

Thank you!

 

[Wee Annie]

Question: would have to look into expenses and budget, of course, but are there connecting rooms at RPR? If there were, and we decided we could afford to do so, we could have the girls in a separate room.

 

[kmc]

Question: would have to look into expenses and budget, of course, but are there connecting rooms at RPR? If there were, and we decided we could afford to do so, we could have the girls in a separate room.

Yes there are, but call to make the reservation instead of booking online so they can guarantee them at time of booking.

 

[CerysG]

I went through this not that long ago as we are a family of 5, with 3 girls 16,12 and 9! I started out thinking we would do RPR as it was the least expesnsive but after talking with the kids etc. we are doing the HRH. The oldest really wanted to stay here so that was one factor. Another was the youngest wanted a waterslide in the pool (RPR didn't have one and yes I know you can pool hope but lets face it its much easier to stay at your own pool). The middle dd didnt really seem to care about where we stayed she's more inteseted in going to Sea World and Discovery Cove as she is a real animal lover. So in the end after much thinking I booked a Delux queen room at HRH, which will give us more room but will also give us a pull out bed as well at two queen beds. I also like the hotel being close to both parks so its an easy walk to either and not hard to pop back to the hotel in the afternoon if we want to and then switch parks etc. I expect in the end you don't spend loads of time in the room but I think we will have a little down time when we just want to sit back and watch some tv. and put our tired feet up!