UO Newbie - Royal Pacific vs Sapphire Falls?

[Araminta18]

We're going to Universal Orlando for the first time in January. We'll be arriving Friday night (no park tickets), spending all day Saturday, focusing on the Harry Potter rides (and Velocicoaster for me ), and then checking out Sunday (no park tickets). It'll be me and my husband and then another couple. The express pass is a big draw for my husband and I, but our friends probably won't ride anything except maybe Hagrid's.

- RPR looks like it's a shorter walk?
- RPR obviously gets the express pass, but our friends may not use theirs, so...
- We tend to like the smaller resorts, as well as the ones with fewer little children (not knocking kids at all, just we don't have any and tend to prefer hotels that aren't catering primarily to kids) - is there a measurable difference between the two?

I'm a total newbie, so appreciate any tips/things to consider!

 

[macraven]

HR has the shortest walk from hotel to UO parks
RP could be 5-7 minutes more if you walk back from parks to hotel

The water taxis are available from hotel to parks
if you don’t want to walk from hotel to parks or city walk

 

[Minnie1222]

Yes, it's a shorter walk from RPR to the parks, about 7-10 min at a leisure pace. SF is right next to RPR. It takes ~5 min to walk from one hotel to the other.

I've stayed at RPR and visited SF. I think they have the same amount of small children. Not as many as Disney's though.

Hard Rock and Portofino may have less small children.

 

[schumigirl]

RPR is closer to IOA than any of the others. 5-7 minutes to walk to the park from there. Sapphire is maybe 5 minutes more but there are the boats which we tend to use when we`re at Sapphire.

HRH is closer to The Studios.

I don`t think hoping for less children in any of the hotels is realistic. They are all family based and there are always kids at them all in varying degrees.

For such a short trip it won`t really matter which you choose....choose the one that appeals to you the most.

 

[CynBeth]

I would do RPR for the express pass with such a short trip you want to get in as much as you can. Certain rides don’t have it. Get a package with park to park tickets so you can ride Hogwart’s Express. I would see if you could maybe take another park day. We were there in November don’t go on any roller coasters or anything with a drop and only had about a day and a half and between the rides and shows did not get to see everything we wanted. We loved the non Harry Potter motion simulators at Universal.

 

[DizKids2]

I would do RPR for the express pass even if it is just two of you. It is also the closer walk of the two resorts. SF looks like a very nice resort, but if the prices are close and you only have one park day the express pass would be important.

 

[Dawn Peterson]

If you want a smaller hotel without kids I would go Aventura. The pool is plain and usually it seems to be filled with convention people. I always think of it as a nice Hilton Garden Inn. Please don’t think of that as a knock. I really like Aventura. The other hotels feel more like a resort. If you want the express passes choose a premier. All of the premiers will probably have kids. I feel Portofino is the least likely to have kids but also the farthest walk. Hard Rock is a less spread out than the other 2 premier hotels but my kids like it the best. Closest walk and water slide.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I've never been to Sapphire Falls, but my family of 4 did stay in a 1 bedroom suite at Royal Pacific last fall for a 3 day weekend. I was already in Orlando for a conference, so I checked in Thursday around noon. The hotel is lovely and the rooms are very comfy. DH and the kids flew down Thursday night. I spent the afternoon hanging out at CityWalk, getting lunch at Margaritaville and shopping. It was an easy pleasant walk and no wait at all for the water taxi. In the later afternoon/evening, I hit the pool/hot tub (very nice, but yes, there were some kids) and then had a solo dinner at Jake's American Bar (loved it!)

From Friday through Sunday we had 3 days of park hoppers with the Express Unlimited. It was a little cool, so we didn't go to Volcano Bay. We basically bounced back and forth between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure all day for all 3 days. The Express passes saved so much time. We did everything we wanted to, sometimes multiple times. There are only 3 rides that don't have Express lanes, VelociCoaster, Hagrid's and Pteranodon Flyers. The walk to and from the parks was easy. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Islands Dining Room a couple of times. We did the quick breakfast at TukTuk Market too, that was also good. Sunday was our checkout day, concierge held our bags and we did the parks all day. That night we grabbed our bags for the late flight home.

Anyway, my family was so happy with Royal Pacific (and the Express passes) that we've booked another long weekend for this Fall. Can't wait. I've heard the Wantilan Luau is back in operation, I'm tempted to get us tickets....

In short, the Express passes are awesome and it's a very nice hotel.

 

[hmansionlover]

Most important question. Do you have a budget? Large disparity in cost between RPR and SF. Also if you are traveling with children you want to be across the street from CBBR. It has two pools and a lazy river.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I think when you don't have a lot of time, it's even more important to have the unlimited express pass option. You really can fit a lot into one day when you barely have to wait in line. Dh would never go unless we had a room key that gives EP perks. Chances are good that in January it might be a bit chilly to ride water rides so (for us, anyway) that would be several that we'd skip anyway.

 

[kymom79]

We have stayed at both, and I don't think you'd go wrong with either. You probably need to figure out how much you would benefit from the express passes that would come with RPR and whether that is worth the cost. Personally, if the express passes were not an issue, I would go with Sapphire Falls as actually a nicer hotel with more spacious rooms. You do get early entry so with a plan and some hustling you might be ok without Express. But both hotels are lovely and convenient to the parks. It really comes down to your soul-searching on the issue of express passes.

 

[jaceraden]

I personally would pick SF if express pass isn't an issue and if budget could be an issue. I like the size of it and the buffet breakfast is my favourite - both huge selling features for me.

 

[hhoope01]

One thing to think on with your decision is that with EPs you won't be spending as much time in lines as you might without the EPs. That means more time spent with your friends (since it sounds like they won't be standing in lines with you.) So even if they won't be on the rides as much, you will. So getting EPs can help you get through the line and the rides more quickly and then on to where ever your group wants to go next.

In terms of the 2 hotels, I tend to look at SF as a newer version of RPR but without EPs. Similar theming, next to each other, both have water taxis, etc. Being newer, SF's pool is newer, but SF doesn't have a CL level.

 

[cfoxga]

Considering you are 2 nights at the hotels and 1 day in the parks, it might be cheaper to buy the single use EPs and stay at SF. It really depends on the cost of the resorts on the days you are there. The deluxe resorts have skyrocket in price over the last 9 months.

One other consideration is that SF is an Amex FHR hotel that gives you $100 resort credit for a 2 night stay...

 

[Grumpy92]

Definitely Royal Pacfic. The express passes make it worth it.