DVC members and universal

[Leahc117]

Hello! New DVC member here. I’ve been thinking about the best way to do universal as a DVC member-
- work it into a week long Disney trip?
- separate trip staying at DVC and driving to universal?
- separate trip paying cash to get their version of FP as a hotel guest?
I have a boy turning 3 next week who LOVES dinosaurs so we will probably be ready to do universal when he hits the height requirement for Jurassic park. My girls 8 and 6 love Harry Potter but haven’t hit the 48 inch requirement for a few rides there. Anyone recommend going anyway? And going back when they’re taller? I know we’ve signed up for multiple Disney trips as DVC members but I don’t know much about universal. We have an April trip coming up and really do look forward to getting gold passes (if possible) and taking our time in Disney. Maybe universal can fit into 2022 unless it’s a must an 1 day is enough. Let me know your thoughts and strategies!!

 

[cvjw]

We did Disney/universal trips many times when my boys were growing up - this is all preCovid! Always stay onsite for their FOTL benefits that you get by staying at one of their original 3 hotels. Always do your Universal trip at the end of the Disney trip. With universal‘s FOTL, you never have to wait in a long line. It is hard to go from no lines to long lines at Disney! We loved our universal trips - great memories there with our boys!

 

[Lisa0620]

I agree with PP re: putting Universal at the end of the trip, we usually do 5 nights at Disney followed by 2 nights onsite at Universal. If we get a good enough AP rate we'll do 2 connecting deluxe rooms, but usually we do connecting rooms or suites at Cabana Bay with one throwaway night at a deluxe to get 2 days of express. DH and I prefer the rides and DVC stays at Disney so it's nice to start there when you're in that super excited "we're finally on vacation" mode. Our kids (then tweens, now teens) fell in love with Universal at first sight and prefer their pools, parks and hotels (Cabana Bay is their favorite hotel anywhere.)

 

[Leahc117]

Thanks!
what is a throwaway night? Cabana bay is deluxe and comes with the express pass?

 

[cvjw]

Thanks!
what is a throwaway night? Cabana bay is deluxe and comes with the express pass?

Cabana bay is a cheaper hotel and does not get FOTL access. Poster probably books rooms at the cheaper resort to actually sleep in and one room at a deluxe for the FOTL access.

 

[CarolynFH]

We have also booked at a deluxe Universal hotel to get the two days of unlimited Express Pass - but have never spent the night there! For a group of three or four adults, the cost of the room was less than the cost of purchased EPs would have been.

And it’s not a long drive from the WDW area to UO, either, even avoiding I-4.

 

[limace]

We did two nights at Hard Rock and 5 at BWV last March-the universal state was awesome, and we have agreed that we’d move it to the end of our stay next time and add a third night. It was more relaxing with the Express Pass, and the Hard Rock is a lovely hotel with a closer walk to the parks than BWV, it felt-or maybe just that it was a shadier walk. We also got the AP rate at Universal-we just had to buy one AP and they’re super cheap.

 

[chiisai]

My 8 yo loved it there, and could not ride the hulk or rip ride rocket either as she didn’t meet the requirements. She very much loved the Mummy, all rides/experiences/atmosphere Harry Potter, Kong, Despicable Me, MiB, the raft ride (serious note- Pre-covid you and your stuff were guaranteed to get soaked- wear flip flops or take off and bag your sneakers and socks), and really most everything else. She’s finally tall enough to go on all the coasters, so once I feel comfortable traveling we’ll be going back.

For us it’s either a standalone trip or at the end due to relaxation.

We can really only travel during busy times, so definitely book an EP hotel. I just move there rather than go back and forth from WDW. I’ve stayed at Royal Pacific and also Portofino Bay. While I prefer Portofino for the food and atmosphere, I very much enjoy RP and stay there if the price differential is $30 or more a night. HRH has always been just out of our price range.

If it’s a standalone trip, I move us to Sapphire Falls for the last night if the price gap is big enough (as EP resorts give you check in and check out EP use). I really like that resort!

 

[keishashadow]

the Hard Rock is a lovely hotel with a closer walk to the parks than BWV, it felt-or maybe just that it was a shadier walk. We also got the AP rate at Universal-we just had to buy one AP and they’re super cheap.

It’s nowhere near the mile+ Walk from BWV. It is a lovely shaded walk & there is a ‘secret’ path way thru parking lot to front of resort, but supposed to be for staff. BTW, we never seemed to wait more than 5 minutes for a boat last week during our stay. Yes, they were adequately socially distanced too.

They are attempting to allot 24 - 48 hours between guests in the hotel rooms & no staff enters your room during your stay, unless you request it during a stay of 8 nights or longer. We stayed at the HRH this go-round, called for fresh linens. they were delivered within 15 minutes via a knock on the door, in a bag.

The Citiwalk dining venues are all following social distancing protocols too with multiple options for outdoor dining

The onsite deluxe properties at U (HRH, PBH & RPH) all receive the FOTL pass good for the day of arrival & the next

Currently, the PBH is closed, along with SF (which doesn’t include the FOTL pass but it is one of our favorite properties onsite).

Agree with others, best to book a U stay @ the end of your trip but wouldn’t skip it if you can only work in a stay at the beginning.

 

[MickyLynn]

Those last two days with an EP and a boat into Citiwalk are the most relaxing days of the week. All 8 adults on the last trip agreed. If there was a DVC type program at RP, I'd buy in.

 

[Leahc117]

Great to know!! I would have never guessed that Universal is relaxing!

 

[limace]

My 14 year old is begging to go back, too. She loves Disney but the rides at Universal are definitely more thrilling for her (and you just can’t beat the Harry Potter theming if you’re a fan-my son and I spent hours exploring and trying spells).

 

[Lisa0620]

Cabana bay is a cheaper hotel and does not get FOTL access. Poster probably books rooms at the cheaper resort to actually sleep in and one room at a deluxe for the FOTL access.

Yes, we usually get the best AP rate at Royal Pacific, we head there to "check in" before park open the first day to get our room keys which gives you express in the parks. They'll give you your room keys before the room is ready, I always ask them to give us the least desirable/latest available room because we won't be using it. If we get a room at Portofino or Hard Rock we might use the pool once, but often we don't even visit the room and "check out" by text the next morning. This gives us express pass for both our entire check in day and until the parks close on our checkout day. Every year I run the numbers to see if tickets with added express would be cheaper but they never are. (I wish they would just offer an upcharge for express at the non deluxes so we didn't take a room out of inventory.)

 

[Lorana]

This is all great advice! We either do Universal as it’s own trip or like so many, at the end of the trip. We also stay at one of the 3 Deluxes for the Express Pass.

However my family has a deep love of lazy River pool, so last trip we booked arrival night at Cabana Bay just to check it out. But we arrived too late to use it, and my plans of “get up early and stay in the pool” didn’t happen because I couldn’t get the rest of the family up early enough. ;-) My youngest lamented that he wanted to stay at Cabana Bay next time we go to Universal, but I said no because we want the EP. It didn’t occur to me to maybe just book a cheap night at the Deluxe for the passes but stay at Cabana Bay. I may need to consider that, though honestly I was considering baking in a pool day and just doing a split stay that gave us actual time at Cabana Bay. This might work out better. We really are a family that’s okay with 5-6 hours in a park then back to the resorts to relax!

 

[fgaini]

I usually stay at universal for my universal days. I prefer to do them in the middle to be able to use the magical express both on arrival and departure. Small family so easy to move around

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I just went to Universal on Sept. 23 as part of my Disney trip. I stayed at the Poly and just drove to Universal getting there just after they opened for the day (oops) and did both parks that day. Then I drove back to the Poly for the evening as I was too tired to really enjoy Citywalk.

The only area I found crowded was the train ride from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts - I wished I'd had the express pass just for that but I didn't get one and didn't need it other than the train ride.

The 2 parks in one day was tough on me since I'm older but I did really enjoy taking time out to go to Universal again. I'd do it again in a few years and probably just add a day to my Disney trip so I could take 2 days to do Universal.

I'd actually planned the trip to Universal in the hopes that I could go to Halloween Horror nights for the first time and I'd planned on staying overnight at Universal. But once that was cancelled, I cancelled that hotel room and just went for the one day.

 

[Song of the South]

We got back last night from our first Universal trip. We stayed at Lowe's Royal Pacific. I'd stay there again for the front of line pass alone. The bed was more comfortable (for me) than Disney's. Staff were friendly (except for guest services at IoA which is sort of ridiculous!) and the parks were clean at Universal. We left the small people at home and took the older kiddos. We all found the Harry Potter world amazing but wished Disney had done it because it was *way* intense for us. We rode all the HP rides, the Seuss rides, Men in Black, Simpsons, Minions, Shrek, and ET. We will go back, as we are now Universal annual pass holders, the walking is easier (only 10 miles a day1) and the food was *much* better and not as expensive as Disney, but we couldn't do more than a day or two at time. We were also really glad we left the littles at home. They would have been miserable and not able to ride most of the rides.

 

[Song of the South]

Duplicate and I can't delete it. Sorry!

 

[keishashadow]

We all found the Harry Potter world amazing but wished Disney had done it because it was *way* intense for us.

?
Are you saying the rides were too physically aggressive for you/family? Many fans of the park long before HP came to town, a gentle dark ride wouldn’t have satisfied.

Admit to not enjoying the backwards portion of Hagrid’s, but was far less nausea-provoking for me than Everest.

FYI, WDW was in negotiations with Ms Rowling initially, but would only commit to an attraction vs “lands”. I’m so thankful that fell through. IMO U knocked it out of the park and gave it the scope it needed

PS congrats on joining the U passholder family, it’s the best deal in town For DVC members, onsite weekend trips there are a great way to avoid the pricer weekend point requirements

 

[Song of the South]

Yes, KeishaShadow, we found all the rides at U to be way more intense than a similar ride at Disney. We really enjoyed the HP worlds but were only able to ride each ride once because of the intensity. I totally understand that U isn't at all about gentle and they need to meet their customer's expectations.