Just back from SW, DC, Aquatica, Legoland with a stay at Residence Inn Seaworld.

[Lynne G]

Thank you Lynne! I really like the early admittance into Harry Potter but is that only available through certain hotels? A lot of the onsite hotels are wicked expensive. And I'm trying to see from the maps, but which hotels are within walking distance to SW & DC? We don't plan on having a car.

I know, the USO on site hotels are expensive, but they are very very nice resorts, and depending on the price of the express pass and the number of people, some find even one night a good deal. First, you get the room and nice pool, and the unlimited express pass for both your check in and check out days. So, 2 days of unlimited express pass. I know the hotels generally have a stay more save more discount. Up to 30 percent for 4 nights or more. Look on the specials tab on the website to see the discounts. Not sure if next year they will run the promotion, though I have seen it the past 2years. Prices sometimes change too, so if you see a better price, call the hotel directly and they will adjust for you.

I can't remember the USO partner hotels' names, but check the USO website. I am sure they are listed. The partner hotels will give you the early entry too, and some you can walk from and some have free shuttles.

I bite the bullet and stay on site at USO. Love being able to walk or ride a boat right to City Walk. City Walk connects the 2 parks and is a fun, neon lit place to shop and eat, with a theater and fun mini golf too. Royal Park is the closest, and Portofino the furthest, but all about a 10 to 15 minute walk or about a 20 minute boat ride.

As for SW/DC, you can definitely walk from the Renaissance hotel near SW, into SW. Free bus to DC is from the SW parking lot. The other hotels, I would not walk, though some have said they did. The Parkway and International Drive intersection is very busy. I think there were sidewalks, but not sure, as I drove. All the neighbor hotels have a free shuttle to SW. I don't think the shuttles go directly to DC. SW has free buses to Aquadica, DC and BGT that all leave from the SW parking lot. I don't think you need a reservation, except for the BGT bus.

If you are not getting a car, then a town car from the airport is generally the cheapest to get to USO. USO has no free transport, nor do any of the hotels around SW that I know of. To get to the SW hotel from USO, I would take a taxi. Or do opposite if going to SW first.

I love looking at Google maps to see everything. Sometimes the pictures are not up to date, but they give you a great view of the land.

What a great trip your planning.

 

[firemomof3]

OK so for our time at Universal which would be a Sunday-Wed. then we can stay @ the Royal Pacific so we can take advantage of coming/going to the parks as well as the early admission. My concern with the Royal Pacific is the lack of a fridge and/or microwave so we would need to buy all our food and that is going to be a huge expense.
Then somehow get to the Residence Inn for check in Wed-Friday. Thursday would be SW and Friday would be DC. I'm thinking that the shuttle to/from SW & DC should be sufficient since we wouldn't be going to/from the parks at all...am I right in this thinking?

 

[Lynne G]

OK so for our time at Universal which would be a Sunday-Wed. then we can stay @ the Royal Pacific so we can take advantage of coming/going to the parks as well as the early admission.
Then somehow get to the Residence Inn for check in Wed-Friday. Thursday would be SW and Friday would be DC. I'm thinking that the shuttle to/from SW & DC should be sufficient since we wouldn't be going to/from the parks at all...am I right in this thinking?

Yes, I think many people just ride the hotel shuttle to the SW parking lot to catch the DC bus. They never have to go into SW and can catch the hotel shuttle when the DC bus returns to the SW parking lot from DC. The Residence Inn should have a shuttle timesheet, so you know how to time your days. For DC, I'd get there as early as I could. That gets you the earlier dolphin time and if you like to feed the birds, they are more hungry first thing.

Again with luggage and people, I would take a taxi from the Royal Pacific to the Residence Inn. The Inn is just off the main highway, I4, and off the Parkway right near the entry/exit to I4. Maybe someone on the board can give you a general taxi rate for that trip.

 

[Jules123]

Don't know if you are a AAA member, but check with them for tickets. We saved $148 on Universal tickets. Our DC day was listed as $289 on their website, I got our tickets for $207 from AAA. We saved TONS!!

 

[firemomof3]

Don't know if you are a AAA member, but check with them for tickets. We saved $148 on Universal tickets. Our DC day was listed as $289 on their website, I got our tickets for $207 from AAA. We saved TONS!!

We are members, I will check for sure!

 

[firemomof3]

What did you guys do for food when you were at Universal?

 

[tink20]

We are going to stay at Fairfield, can you get the quick que passes for more than one day or are you only allowed one set? We plan on doing 1-1/2 days at SW.

 

[tink20]

Firemon, when we went to USF a couple of years ago, I bought myself an annual pass. I got a great discount on a room at Portifino ($179 a night). We stayed 4nights. We got lucky when we checked in, was upgraded, our room had two queens and the chair pullout bed. We had 2a and 3 kids, so that worked out well. Also, had a pool view. Also, I purchased the other 4 tickets that evening at the gate for everyone else (10% discount on those) got 10% off all food purchases. Just thought I would tell you since you are going for 3 days. Just make sure your dates offer Annual Pass discount beforehand, not all dates do.

 

[autigger]

We are going to stay at Fairfield, can you get the quick que passes for more than one day or are you only allowed one set? We plan on doing 1-1/2 days at SW.

At the Fairfield, you get the quick que vouchers from the Expedia travel desk. The desk was open from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm. You have to request the quick que vouchers for each day individually. You can obtain the vouchers a day in advance. We got ours the morning we went to the park without any problem, but I have heard that they can run out. Once you are in the park at Seaworld, you take the vouchers to Guest Relations and they issue a quick que card for each person that has a voucher.

We obtained the quick que vouchers on a Saturday morning without any problem. We obtained the vouchers again on Tuesday morning when we returned to Seaworld for our second day. We did not have any problem then either.

 

[catzle]

What can you tell me about your experience at Discovery Cove? I have been reading some bad reviews about the water being murky, only 2 minutes with the dolphin, bad food etc. Too crowded to swim? What was your impression and experience?

 

[Seeker615]

Did anybody do a package from Sea Worlds web-site? My husband and I are thinking of doing 5 nights in November. I would want a day at Seaworld, 2 at Universal and then maybe one at Busch Gardens. We would want a hotel that can shuttle us to everything. There was a couple on Sea World property we were looking at.

Just wondering how reliable the shuttles are and and tips would be appreciated.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Did anybody do a package from Sea Worlds web-site? My husband and I are thinking of doing 5 nights in November. I would want a day at Seaworld, 2 at Universal and then maybe one at Busch Gardens. We would want a hotel that can shuttle us to everything. There was a couple on Sea World property we were looking at.

Just wondering how reliable the shuttles are and and tips would be appreciated.

We did a Seaworld package on our Christmas trip. It was an excellent value.

We chose to do the "Eat Free All Day" package, but for your particular plans, its sounds like the "5 Parks, 1 Ticket" package would be a good fit.

We stayed at the Residence Inn, and were very happy with our choice. There are tons of pictures of the hotel (room, recreation/pool, and common areas) in my trip report, if you want to click on the link in my signature. There is shuttle service provided to all the SW and Universal parks, though I can't tell you how often they run as we didn't use them during our stay (I remember there being a list available at the front desk though).

We liked the RI because it had a fantastic free hot breakfast buffet each day, wireless internet was free, we had a full kitchen, a fully separate bedroom, parking was free, there was no resort fee, and the hotel is an official partner hotel so we had free Quick Queue passes available to us for SeaWorld. The pool area was great, and there is an onsite sport court and a barbecue area/courtyard for guests to use. Also loved the rocking chairs on the verandahs when you just wanted to spend a quiet evening outside in the beautiful Florida weather.

If you have any specific questions about the Residence Inn, feel free to ask.

 

[kerryc6]

I agree with Gina. 2 years ago, we did a non Disney vacation. With my DC tickets, I got 14 days at SW, BGT, and Aquadica. With my DC package, I also bought the 14 day parking pass, for about 25 or 30 dollars. Very handy. .

Where do you get the parking pass, can we pre-order online or is that something you pick up at the park? Thats a great idea!

 

[coastgirl]

You can add it on when you make your Discovery Cove booking--I think you can choose it from the menu of add-ons, or you may have to call and speak to someone.

 

[Lynne G]

Where do you get the parking pass, can we pre-order online or is that something you pick up at the park? Thats a great idea!

I called and added it. Didn't know how to do it online, though I booked by DC tickets online though. They were nice to talk with, and I picked up the pass when I checked in, as we didn't do the other parks before we did our DC day. Since parking is free at DC, I would think you could just stop in and get your pass on the way to the park you are going to,

 

[tink20]

Hey lisagirl, I changed my resort to Residence Inn, do you remember if they had a toaster in the kitchenette?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hey lisagirl, I changed my resort to Residence Inn, do you remember if they had a toaster in the kitchenette?

Not lisagirl, but I can answer your question .

We had one in our one bedroom suite.

You can see it here on the counter just to the right of the fridge .

 

[tink20]

awesome

 

[lisagirl88]

tink20- As Gina said there was a toaster. The kitchen is fully stocked with pots/pans/untensils, plates.....We actually cooked a simple meal a few times in the kitchen which we weren't planning to do.