Your opinion on Our Plan??

[mm6mm6]

We have gone to WDW the last two years. My wife and 7 year old daughter are thinking we should try a different Orlando vacation. Mind you, we just loved WDW.

My rough sketch of a plan:

Stay at Royal Pacific Resort for 6 nights. First 2 days at Universal. Next 2 at SeaWorld. 1 day at Discovery Cove. 1 more day to explore something else.

We loved the Caribbean Beach Resort and the Coronado Springs Resort at WDW. We had 6 night vacations while there. We did the 4 WDW parks plus 1 water park plus 1 more day at The Magic Kingdom.

I'm trying to plan this similar in style.

Am I wasting my money staying at the Royal Pacific for 6 nights when I'm going to Universal Theme Parks for just 2 days? Or is it nice enough to give it a try?

Should we stay there for just 2-3 nights and try somewhere else?
Or just stay at the Radisson Twin Towers at Universal the whole time to save money? We have stayed there our first night in Orlando the last two years. Just $69 a night and it's a wonderful hotel!

Are 2 days at Universal and 2 at SeaWorld enough for the three of us?

Thanks in advance for all your info!

 

[webray]

If you like the Coronado and the Caribbean beach resorts..you will be blown away by the Royal Pacific Resort.

You usually don't need two full days at Sea World..I can spend it there..but, I like to spend extra time feeding and petting the dolphins..lol.

Two at the Universal parks is excellent...both parks can be done in one day, especially with front of the line access (which you will have because you are staying at RPR).

If you choose to spend the second day at Sea World, don't forget...you can check out all the attractions on International Drive. We like to have dinner at Bahama breeze when we leave sea world at night...they are very close. Many things to see and do in that area. Bahama Breeze has free valet parking.

Have a great trip!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I would go to the Universal parks for 3 days--one day for each park and then a day to go back to your favorites. Remember that you get the FOTL on the day that you check-in through the day you check-out. If you don't mind staying in two hotels I would stay offsite the first part of my trip and then move to an onsite resort for the last 2-3 nights. It would save some money, but make sure you end your trip at Universal because you will get spoiled with the FOTL.

What time of the year do you plan to visit?

T&B

 

[highlander447]

Your plan sounds fine

 

[SpideyHulk24]

I have to agree. 3 days would be the minimum for me. That way you can truly enjoy everything they have to offer.

 

[ProvidencePete]

Nice plan. I would do 3 days in Universal because it is a very exciting park, and you have the front of the line access because of your hotel. I never stayed at RPR, but I did see it when I stayed at the Hard Rock, and it looked very nice. You will be so close to the park, that you almost have to take advantage of that. I buy the 5 consecutive day pass, and it works for us. It's like 82 bucks with the kraft discount code online. If you used that pass, then you have some pretty good options, except if it rains or something, but it is not a bad option. In my opinion, 7 is about bare minimum for some good fun at Universal. It's geared more for like 10 and up, but they have plenty of stuff for little kids too. You just get more out of the place when you can use it for all it's got. Islands of Adventure is my favorite. I got my 9 year old daughter (now 10) to ride the Hulk in February, and now we're going to try and get my 8 year old son (just turned 52" too, so he can ride it) to get on it in two weeks. He's already telling me he doesn't think he can do it. No pressure, so we'll go easy on him. He loves all the other stuff there, except the big coasters. Universal in my opinion is way more fun than Disney, plus I love not waiting in the long lines, but I will say 7 is just about old enough. Be careful, some of the rides and attractions may be scary, but otherwise there is tons of stuff for you to enjoy. By the way, we're staying at Coronado Springs first. Was it a nice place? We're doing 4 nights there and 3 nights at the Portofino.

 

[*Fantasia*]

If you like the Coronado and the Caribbean beach resorts..you will be blown away by the Royal Pacific Resort.

I have to agree with webray on this one. I've stayed at CBR and CSR and you can't compare the beauty and what PRP has to offer.

6 nights in Orlando? Do 3 nights in PRP and then 3 nights in WDW resort.

We loved RPR so much that our last trip we ended up staying at PRP for 5 nights! I was already booked at CSR, I ended up forfeiting my one night deposit there and added 2 nights of my stay RPR. We rented a car, so driving to WDW park was no problem. It is so easy to get to and from.

 

[mm6mm6]

Wow! Thank you all for your very positive responses! We're very excited now!

ProvidencePete:
You'll love the CSR! We really enjoyed it. We were very close to the dig site pool but we never heard any music or noise so as to disturb our room.

Be sure to be there once when they open the pool at 10am. They do a very fun "start up" for the giant temple with the water cascading down the steps. We wanted to go to Epcot and stay late for dinner and the Illuminations show. So we slept in, went to the dig site pool at 10am, had lunch at the resort, then went to Epcot....

 

[mattman2k]

I've never stayed at the RPR but if from everything I've read and from my experience at the Hard Rock, if you elect to split up your stay make sure you END your stay at the RPR. If you stay at the RPR at the beginning of your trip you may be disappointed with your stay at the offsite hotel. And, staying offsite first will make you appreciate the RPR all the more.


ProvidencePete: What's the deal with the Kraft discount code? How do I get this and how do I use it?

 

[ProvidencePete]

Kraft discount code is something I got off of the other posts. It was a coupon that gave you the deal. All I had to do was type in the website. It was www.universalstudios/kfrat or something like that. If you post and ask around. I'm sure someone will know. I think it was good till May or something. I threw out the coupon when I bought the tix, so I'm unsure of the website's exact name. It limits 4 tickets, and I got my 4 for like 82 bucks for the 5 consecutive days.

Thanks mm6m6 for the 10am tip with the water at the digsite. We will have to check that one out for sure. I'm psyched to go there. I'm also looking forward to the Portifino. Countdown is 6 days till our vacation starts.

 

[ProvidencePete]

Found it. www.visituniversal.com/kraft

 

[Puffy2]

Hotel wise, the Royal Pacific will certainly be better. The other poster who said if you split your stay , END with RP is correct.

Remember that Universal also has City Walk (all within walking distance- and there are things to see/do there in the evenings as well. City Jazz generally has a stand up comedian on Thur, Fri and Sat. nights now (known as Bonkerz comedy club).

Make sure you have a pass good for at least three days at Universal in case you change your mind and want to go back a third day.

If I was going to split my stay under your plan , I'd stay at the Rennasance SeaWorld Resort (walk across the street to SeaWorld AND they have a free shuttle to Discovery Cove).

 

[mattman2k]

Thanks ProvidencePete! Code still works. Got four 5-day passes for $81.95 each!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

That is a great value!

 

[ProvidencePete]

Glad that I could help. After I posted, I realized it was still on my address bar. They get you for a couple of bucks with the will call thing, but we went with these 5 day consecutive passes in February, and they worked great for us. We used all 5 days.