Universal Hotel Worth it?

[Azza1987]

Hi All

Newbie posting here!

Currently planning my Sept 19 trip, we have 8 days booked at Disney POFQ but I wanted to add 3 days around universal before Disney.

My question is, is it worth the cost of a universal hotel? We cannot stretch our budget to any of the deluxe resorts as I spent our budget on booking POFQ, so would only be looking at Cabana Bay or Adventura, but I can see these both come with early admission to the parks?

As we are going in September would crowds be low enough for universal/IOA to try and 'do' as much as possible without the need for express passes, and if we have early admission would this be enough for this time of year?

My worry is we can get a hotel on I Drive, with a shuttle or cheapish uber for about 50% of the cost of Adventura/Cabana Bay? But is it worth the effort of then shuttle buses/uber too and from hotel to park?

We plan to spend 1 day at IOA, 1 at Studios and 1 at Volcano Bay.

Any help/advice would be great

thank you!

 

[schumigirl]

Absolutely worth it.

September can be quieter, weekends are always busier, and you have HHN to consider.

Studios side closes at 5pm on the nights it happens, IOA will be open later usually till 8 or 9pm. With EE you can get a fair bit done, and all hotels include EE.

Have you checked out Endless Summer resort? Opens soon and there is transport to the parks included....same as Cabana Bay has. It looks a beautiful resort and new!!

 

[LavishWig]

You mention that it is about 50% cheaper to stay on IDrive, have you thought about booking IDrive and then getting an express pass for one of the days? If that balances out I'd probably do that and just get a shuttle or taxi to the park each day but it depends on what you feel has higher priority for your trip and group.

 

[jacksdadcan]

September should be a relatively quiet time around the parks, I doubt it necessary to have express.

As mentioned by schumigirl check out the (opening this summer) Endless Summer resort. Looks great and has early park with complimentary shuttles, and should be under $100 a night

Edit: did a quick search and looks like it's more in the $120/night range depending on dates.

 

[Captainkidd76]

Cabana Bay is so inexpensive, I can't see any reason not to stay at a Universal hotel. Honestly, so frequently, there are good discounts at Universal Resorts, we only stay at the Deluxe to get Express. Don't go in thinking they're in the same price level as Disney. They're actually closer to Disney Moderates.

 

[Azza1987]

Absolutely worth it.

September can be quieter, weekends are always busier, and you have HHN to consider.

Studios side closes at 5pm on the nights it happens, IOA will be open later usually till 8 or 9pm. With EE you can get a fair bit done, and all hotels include EE.

Have you checked out Endless Summer resort? Opens soon and there is transport to the parks included....same as Cabana Bay has. It looks a beautiful resort and new!!

I haven't, and to be honest I didn't even know about it! I will have a look at this, as would love to try a new resort but I also haven't stayed at any of the others so to be honest all of them will feel new to us.

Yes, we are hoping to do HHN on the sunday night, which is why I am thinking a Universal hotel may be better suited so we can just walk/shuttle back to hotel quickly if its late at night.

You mention that it is about 50% cheaper to stay on IDrive, have you thought about booking IDrive and then getting an express pass for one of the days? If that balances out I'd probably do that and just get a shuttle or taxi to the park each day but it depends on what you feel has higher priority for your trip and group.

Express Passes seem to work out so expensive, so if I buy everything through universal direct, with a 3 day, 3 park ticket plus express passes for IOA on one day and Studios on another it comes to $1225 which is roughly £939 for me here in UK.

Or i can buy tickets here in the UK from ATD for £279pp for all 3 parks over a 14 day period which is £558 for the two of us which means we can go back later in the holiday if we want and aren't restricted by the 3 day ticket directly?

September should be a relatively quiet time around the parks, I doubt it necessary to have express.

As mentioned by schumigirl check out the (opening this summer) Endless Summer resort. Looks great and has early park with complimentary shuttles, and should be under $100 a night

Edit: did a quick search and looks like it's more in the $120/night range depending on dates.

Cabana Bay and Adventura come out around £95-105 per night, for me here in UK which would be around $130-140 per night, which I was happy with so if Endless Summer is slightly cheaper but with the same benefits of early admission, that might be a good option by the sounds of it too!

Cabana Bay is so inexpensive, I can't see any reason not to stay at a Universal hotel. Honestly, so frequently, there are good discounts at Universal Resorts, we only stay at the Deluxe to get Express. Don't go in thinking they're in the same price level as Disney. They're actually closer to Disney Moderates.

Yes, I've noticed that Universal top end prices isn't too far of Disney Moderate which is interesting as Royal Pacific looks beautiful and just as nice as GF/Poly at disney but for much less!

Thank you all for your help so far, looks like Universal would be a good option without express passes and to benefit from early park access? Is the early park access to all attractions or just limited?

thanks

 

[schumigirl]

I haven't, and to be honest I didn't even know about it! I will have a look at this, as would love to try a new resort but I also haven't stayed at any of the others so to be honest all of them will feel new to us.

Yes, we are hoping to do HHN on the sunday night, which is why I am thinking a Universal hotel may be better suited so we can just walk/shuttle back to hotel quickly if its late at night.



Express Passes seem to work out so expensive, so if I buy everything through universal direct, with a 3 day, 3 park ticket plus express passes for IOA on one day and Studios on another it comes to $1225 which is roughly £939 for me here in UK.

Or i can buy tickets here in the UK from ATD for £279pp for all 3 parks over a 14 day period which is £558 for the two of us which means we can go back later in the holiday if we want and aren't restricted by the 3 day ticket directly?



Cabana Bay and Adventura come out around £95-105 per night, for me here in UK which would be around $130-140 per night, which I was happy with so if Endless Summer is slightly cheaper but with the same benefits of early admission, that might be a good option by the sounds of it too!



Yes, I've noticed that Universal top end prices isn't too far of Disney Moderate which is interesting as Royal Pacific looks beautiful and just as nice as GF/Poly at disney but for much less!

Thank you all for your help so far, looks like Universal would be a good option without express passes and to benefit from early park access? Is the early park access to all attractions or just limited?

thanks

It`s only certain attractions that are open during EE.

Personal opinion here, but Endless Summer looks to be far prettier and slightly better amenities that Cabana Bay and Aventura......it would be a good option for sure.

But, for convenience you can`t beat walking back to one of the hotels after Horror nights......RP is less than 10 minutes away for us......but you have plenty of choices to consider......

 

[disneyseniors]

OP, I see that you like the looks of Royal Pacific. It is the only one we stay at while at Universal, and it is fantastic in every way. I would highly recommend it if you can do it, as Express pass is included, which is a BIG savings for us. It was way cheaper to book a room at RPR than buy daily EP's. Do the math and see what you think. Being onsite is invaluable to us. Just walk out the hotel to the boat dock and have a nice scenic ride to the parks, or if you are able, you can walk to the parks. Just to give you something to think about.

 

[nkereina]

Look into buying annual passes instead of park tickets. Its not much more than the cost of a 3 day park to park ticket, and the AP room rates often make the added expense worth it because the rates can be really good. I would think September has a good shot of having good AP rates. Even if you don't use the APs a second time, they're still sometimes worth the cost when factoring in hotel and other savings.

Personally, we always stay at a Universal deluxe resort and find them very much worth the cost because of the unlimited EPs. Even though September is a relatively slow time, having EPs allows us to sleep in and arrive when we want, and tour the park at our leisure. No need to have a touring strategy or utilize early entry. To stay at a cheaper Universal hotel that does not include EP has less value to us, but the rates are often good. I can't imagine staying on I-Drive is significantly cheaper than Endless Summer or Cabana Bay in September - I was seeing rates of $119 at Endless Summer in September last time I checked. Having the reliable and frequent Universal transportation, as well as early entry, would give those resorts the edge over anything on I-Drive for me.

 

[Peppeperoni]

With EE you can get a fair bit done, and all hotels include EE.

Just to clarify, not all the hotel include express pass

 

[schumigirl]

Just to clarify, not all the hotel include express pass

I was assuming the OP was aware of that.

 

[schumigirl]

OP, I see that you like the looks of Royal Pacific. It is the only one we stay at while at Universal, and it is fantastic in every way. I would highly recommend it if you can do it, as Express pass is included, which is a BIG savings for us. It was way cheaper to book a room at RPR than buy daily EP's. Do the math and see what you think. Being onsite is invaluable to us. Just walk out the hotel to the boat dock and have a nice scenic ride to the parks, or if you are able, you can walk to the parks. Just to give you something to think about.

Absolutely.

It makes so much sense at times to do this rather than purchase the EP on the day......even if folks don't want to sleep there, it`s nice to have a room to go back to during the day, rest, have some pool time.....it`s nice to have the choice.....

And with the hotels being such a short distance.....it`s so easy.....

RPR is our favourite onsite hotel.

 

[Peppeperoni]

I was assuming the OP was aware of that.

Gotcha only said it because you said all hotels include it, which is false

 

[schumigirl]

Gotcha only said it because you said all hotels include it, which is false

I said all hotels had EE.........Early Entry........

Last time I checked all hotels had Early Entry.

 

[glocon]

Since one night at a deluxe gets you 2 days of ep, maybe check into getting one night at rpr and the other two at a value resort. That way you get the ep for two days! It’s some resort switching but may be worth it to you. Especially if one of you gets an ap and you can get an ap discount on all 3 nights...

 

[Peppeperoni]

I said all hotels had EE.........Early Entry........

Last time I checked all hotels had Early Entry.

Omg I am so sorry, my fault I was thinking of EP. carry on lol cheers

 

[schumigirl]

Omg I am so sorry, my fault I was thinking of EP. carry on lol cheers

No worries.

 

[lorilclevelandrn]

Does Priceline Express ever have deluxe resorts?

 

[PollyannaMom]

We plan to spend 1 day at IOA, 1 at Studios and 1 at Volcano Bay.

Any help/advice would be great

thank you!

I definitely recommend Cabana Bay! Volcano Bay is right there, and we loved being so close! I really enjoyed the retro theme as well. (And I still use my Cabana Bay pool cup - like this one:

as a water bottle several times a week. - It reminds me of a great trip!)

Early entry is very helpful - go straight to the back (Harry Potter area) in each park if you're a fan, do that first, then make your way toward the front throughout the day.

We bought EP on our last trip, because DH was worried about the busy time of year (February school vacation) but I think you will be fine without it in September.

 

[chicagoshannon]

In September you won't need express pass. EE would get you into Despicable Me an Gringotts/Olivanders early in Universal or Forbidden Journey and Super Hero Island at Islands of Adventure (don't know which it will be this far out but so far this year only the Studios has had EE). So EE might not be worth it unless you really want to get a wand and use it when there are no people.

Do what you can comfortable afford knowing that in September the hotel benefits don't make a ton of difference.

ETA: We have never stayed on site and frequently go in September and have always experienced no/very low waits. We will be staying on site for the first time in 12 days.