Need a little advice..

[sersee05]

Hi Everyone!

Im trying to help my daughter out and I know this is the place to ask questions. I have been to Universal before but we have always stayed in a condo. My daughter is taking a trip for three days with her boyfriend. She is asking my advice for the cheapest but best option for her. They of course are going right before Christmas(12/21-23) because of vacation time.

Anyway, they are booking the airfare now since it's ok pricing. I think it's southwest for $148 going down and $128 coming back. We normally drive , but I thought I had heard from here to buy when you're comfortable with the pricing because if it goes down , you can always change it.

So the problem is they aren't old enough to rent a car yet. ..almost but not quite. They were trying to stay at a very inexpensive hotel but I started to help her look and I asked her how she was going to get to the park? She was telling me some of the hotels have "shuttles". I told her to research it because I had heard they can be nightmares since they don't run all the time.

I started trying to find the prices of the onsite hotels. I had remembered a few tricks to finding a lower rate(orbitz and cheap tickets) but I couldn't find a low rate. I remember when we went , I almost booked a dummy room to get the express pass at royal pacific because it was very inexpensive. But they are going at a high time so that may never come down.

I showed her Cabana bay which was reasonable . So they are really thinking about that hotel. I thought that being onsite would be better for them so they didn't have to worry about getting to the park??

I was wondering also how people get from the airport to Universal hotels? I had heard Universal now has a shuttle but it's $35 pp RT? Would that be cheaper than an Uber?

Are there other hotels people stayed at that made it easy to go to the parks? I think they are hanging by the pool and city walk one day and then doing the parks. They were saying they were just buying one day tickets since it's such a short visit.

My fear for them is the timing. .which can't be changed. They won't have that express pass (gold jerry!) . I told my daughter I bet the lines will be horrific. But again they are trying to keep it reasonable. Although I think I would book one night at the Royal to get the express pass and then change to the Cabana to save money... But that might be too many steps..lol

TIA for any suggestions and help!!

 

[sandam1]

There is a whole thread about transportation to/from the airport to Universal:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/transportation-to-from-airport-from-universal-resort.2793369/

I'm not a huge fan of Universal's shuttle service and would recommend paying the extra $30 to get a private car, but that's just me.

I can't recommend any off-site hotels as I've always stayed on-site at Cabana Bay, which IMHO is a nice, affordable hotel. CB also comes with the early entry (one hour before the general public) benefit when limited rides (HP plus one or two other rides) are open. Depending on their budget and knowing the time of year that they are going, I might re-consider only doing one day, but that's just me.

 

[sersee05]

I did read the thread... but didn't see much about the shuttle . More about the car service..but I am tired and may have missed it ..lol . I said the same thing sandam... but what do I know? Haha. I know they can't do too many days due to work. But I told them ..at least do two. I think Cabana looks like a winner.

Why don't you like Universals shuttle? Sure wish they had the magic express. Maybe they could splurge for a private car..

Nm...I was reading the wrong transportation thread...

 

[sandam1]

I had pretty bad experience with the shuttle and have said never again.

I did a short (3 day, 2 night) trip to Universal in February with a friend. She was staying to visit family after I headed home so only I was doing the round-trip and the shuttle just made more financial sense. The trip from the airport to the hotel was okay (a little disorganized, but not a big deal). The trip back to the airport was a nightmare. I was supposed to be picked up 2.5 hours before my flight took off. They wound up picking me up over an hour late and only after three panicked phone calls to their dispatch. I arrived at the airport less than 30 minutes before my flight started boarding (thank God for Pre-check!). And when I called to complain, neither the shuttle company nor Universal seemed particularly concerned. I finally wound up getting a refund from them, but only after following up a number of times.

I used a private car on my previous Universal/Disney trip and was VERY impressed by the service. It's totally worth it. I'm seriously considering forgoing the Magical Express and just spending the money for the trip from Disney to the airport because it is soooooo much nicer.

 

[sersee05]

Hmm i didn't think about the trip back to the airport and possibly missing a flight. What service did you use? Im wondering if I could have her use the shuttle to UO and then a service back. Or maybe they just have to suck up the cost.

Do you think they will regret not having an express pass?

 

[sandam1]

The Superstar shuttle offered by Universal is the one that I had trouble with in February. It's funny (in hindsight) because when we picked up our tickets for the shuttle at the airport (you have to stop at the Universal store), the person said "and if you miss your flight because of the transportation, we'll pay all of your expenses" and I kind of laughed it off like "what are the chances?" Apparently, pretty good! And I was on the last flight home that night so if I had missed my flight, they would have been putting me up in a hotel.

I used Quick Transportation (it was booked through my travel agent) for my November trip for airport to Universal and then Universal to Disney transfers. I'm not using a travel agent for this trip (because it is a fairly straight-forward trip) so I am planning to Tony Hinds (as recommended on these boards) for my trip in September. Tony quoted me $100 round trip for the airport (plus tips) so it is only another $30 versus the shuttle.

As far as Express Pass, I have no idea. I hate crowds so I plan my trips at off-times (September, November, February for my last three trips) so I don't miss the Express Pass. My travel companion and I aren't into the crazy rides and are huge Harry Potter fans so its benefit to us is limited. However, for my September trip, I'm going with a ride junkie so I'm a little more nervous about not having the Express Pass. The difference between a suite at Cabana Bay and a standard room at Hard Rock is $80 per night (x 3 nights) right now with my Annual Pass discount, but my friend doesn't want to spend the extra money so we'll see how it works out. Personally, I would price out the following options: staying at a hotel that offers the Express Pass, buying a daily Express Pass or adding a second park day.

 

[sersee05]

Thanks so much for your help. Do you tip both ways with Tony? So if they did a round trip at $100... Do they just tip $20? Or would you do $10 one way and $10 to the airport? Or just pay for all of it when you go back to the airport?

 

[burns2225]

We did Universal a couple years ago without a car. We stayed at Homewood Suites nearest to Universal. Rates are great and include breakfast everyday and small dinners and beer and wine Monday-Thursday. It was about $40 for taxi for our family of 4 oneway from airport. We walked to the parks everyday...I would say about 1 mile walk...safe walk with sidewalks the entire way! Pool and hot tub were great and rooms were clean!

 

[burns2225]

Oh and the Hilton Garden was right across from Homewood Suites...they had a nice tiki bar and restaurant! Maybe a little cheaper option

 

[macraven]

Sersee, I tip per ride segment

If Tony is tied up, one of his staff provides your leg of transportation

If you give the entire tip to the first driver the second driver gets ?
Anything ? from you

I do a 3 leg trip with Tony and tip each time I am dropped off

Only once I did not get Tony for my driver