Which Resort? Help me choose!

Which Universal Resort should I pick


  • Total voters
    15

Alexsandra

Ready for the next adventure
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Hi guys,

I just booked my flight to Florida and am now looking to book my hotel stay. We will be in Clearwater for the first leg of our trip but wanted to end the last 4 days of the trip with Universal. The kids really want to see the World of Harry Potter.

We have already been to Universal twice (before Diagon Alley was built). The first time, it was just me and my husband. We stayed at The Royal Pacific and found the grounds and the pool to be beautiful but we found the rooms were small and dark (that was before the refurb). The second time we traveled with the kids and stayed at Hard Rock. We all loved the cool vibe, the large rooms and the close proximity to the parks. Both times we did not have time to enjoy the pools because we only had two days at Universal.

I found a great deal for us Canadians on Costco Travel for a 4 night stay at Sapphire Falls including a 4 day park to park ticket for $2,780 CAD. They also have a 4 night stay at Portofino Bay for $3,880 including tickets.

If we don't book through Costco, Royal Pacific would cost $3,600 CAD for the same package and Hard Rock would cost $3,800 CAD.

My husband thinks we should choose one of the three Deluxe resorts so we can utilize the Express Pass. Since we are visiting from March 3rd -7th with a moderate crowd level (5/10) I don't know if we need the express passes,or if they are worth the expense.

Saphire Falls looks like a nice resort and is the best price but no Express Pass.

I am torn! Which resort should I choose?
 
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Hi choosing resort is always so tough so I hear you on that. I find myself doing the same thing all the time!

Personally anytime we are doing the parks I will stay at a deluxe hotel and get the express pass. When we have done a week at Universal I will split the resort stay with a deluxe and non-deluxe. We love everything about the express passes and can't give them up. You are going at a possible busy time with spring break and mardi gras. Express passes will probably be worth it.

We just stayed at Portofino and loved it. It is my family's new favorite resort! HRH RPR and PBH are so close in price it really doesn't matter much except for your preference for theme and location. RPR's new rooms are very nice. It is such a hard decision. When we chose PBH this past summer it was because we got a good deal with the club level and I liked their breakfast in the lounge better than the others. That time of year and with your extra time you could use the pool. I think you have to look at that too. Pool wise I think HRH has the best one for the deluxe resorts, especially for teens. PBH I think their pool is a little more geared for younger kids but still very nice. RPR is for anyone, but they have a nice water play station.

I have never been to SF but it gets a lot of good reviews here. I think you can't go wrong with any of them. It really comes down to the money you can save or possible less stress with wait times. It is a hard choice to make.

I would choose one of the deluxe's with the express pass. If you do since you haven't been to PBH it might be a nice time to try it out. You are not there that long and if you don't like it you won't be stuck there a whole week. If your family likes to try new things. I know plenty of families that like to go back to the familiar ones that they know. We love to try new ones as long as they have good reviews. There is a really good PBH thread on here and you can look at some trip reports with peeps who have stayed there.

Happy choosing:thumbsup2
 
Hi choosing resort is always so tough so I hear you on that. I find myself doing the same thing all the time!

Personally anytime we are doing the parks I will stay at a deluxe hotel and get the express pass. When we have done a week at Universal I will split the resort stay with a deluxe and non-deluxe. We love everything about the express passes and can't give them up. You are going at a possible busy time with spring break and mardi gras. Express passes will probably be worth it.

We just stayed at Portofino and loved it. It is my family's new favorite resort! HRH RPR and PBH are so close in price it really doesn't matter much except for your preference for theme and location. RPR's new rooms are very nice. It is such a hard decision. When we chose PBH this past summer it was because we got a good deal with the club level and I liked their breakfast in the lounge better than the others. That time of year and with your extra time you could use the pool. I think you have to look at that too. Pool wise I think HRH has the best one for the deluxe resorts, especially for teens. PBH I think their pool is a little more geared for younger kids but still very nice. RPR is for anyone, but they have a nice water play station.

I have never been to SF but it gets a lot of good reviews here. I think you can't go wrong with any of them. It really comes down to the money you can save or possible less stress with wait times. It is a hard choice to make.

I would choose one of the deluxe's with the express pass. If you do since you haven't been to PBH it might be a nice time to try it out. You are not there that long and if you don't like it you won't be stuck there a whole week. If your family likes to try new things. I know plenty of families that like to go back to the familiar ones that they know. We love to try new ones as long as they have good reviews. There is a really good PBH thread on here and you can look at some trip reports with peeps who have stayed there.

Happy choosing:thumbsup2
Thank you so much for your input. It definetly helped. I think I will go for a resort with the Express Pass. Like you said it will be March break and Mardi gras. If I don't, I will be in line wishing I had a Express Pass and regretiing my decision.

As for which deluxe, I think it will either try out PBH or go to HRH. I really don't like the small size of the rooms in RPR. As a family of four I find it a little tight. I love the close proximity of HRH to the parks but PBH looks so pretty and we never have been so it would be something new to try out.
 
Thank you so much for your input. It definetly helped. I think I will go for a resort with the Express Pass. Like you said it will be March break and Mardi gras. If I don't, I will be in line wishing I had a Express Pass and regretiing my decision.

As for which deluxe, I think it will either try out PBH or go to HRH. I really don't like the small size of the rooms in RPR. As a family of four I find it a little tight. I love the close proximity of HRH to the parks but PBH looks so pretty and we never have been so it would be something new to try out.

You're welcome glad it helped! We loved trying something new and was so happy that we did. We got the deluxe queen room with the club level. It states that it is 490 square feet. The regular queen room is 450 square feet. Hard Rocks deluxe queen is 500 sq. feet and their regular queen is 375 square feet. It looks like RP is 335 square feet. If you visualize the comparison it might help your decision. Personally I did feel a difference with the deluxe room at PBH but the regular queen size there isn't much smaller.

PBH is very pretty and has a nice feel to it. My family has voted it their favorite as of now. Here is a link to my trip report of PBH this summer there are pictures of the deluxe queen room.


https://www.disboards.com/threads/another-great-trip-to-report-yay-june-july-2018.3693961/

Good luck and any other questions please ask.:D
 


You're welcome glad it helped! We loved trying something new and was so happy that we did. We got the deluxe queen room with the club level. It states that it is 490 square feet. The regular queen room is 450 square feet. Hard Rocks deluxe queen is 500 sq. feet and their regular queen is 375 square feet. It looks like RP is 335 square feet. If you visualize the comparison it might help your decision. Personally I did feel a difference with the deluxe room at PBH but the regular queen size there isn't much smaller.

PBH is very pretty and has a nice feel to it. My family has voted it their favorite as of now. Here is a link to my trip report of PBH this summer there are pictures of the deluxe queen room.


https://www.disboards.com/threads/another-great-trip-to-report-yay-june-july-2018.3693961/

Good luck and any other questions please ask.:D
Just read your trip report! Looks like you had an amazing trip. Makes me even more excited to go. Showed the kids pics of Portofino and they are really impressed with the pool. I think you’ve sold me. Thanks again!
 
Hi guys, I just wanted to let you know what I finally ended up choosing.

I ended up getting myself an annual pass so I could take adavantage of the Annual Pass Discounts offered on the hotels. I saved $500 on my trip doing it this way.

I just booked the Hard Rock Hotel since RPR had no rooms left (only suites) and PBH was $400 more expensive. I think my boys will love the rock and roll theme and underwater pool music.
I guess I will have to visit Universal again to experience Portofino Bay.

Thanks again for everyones help!
 


Enjoy your stay! We stayed at PBH last time and loved it. It was 3 of us in the room. This next trip is just myself and one daughter so I booked RPH, as it’s the last deluxe to try. Sapphire Falls looks very nice but I can’t imagine going without Express Pass!
 
I think my boys will love the rock and roll theme and underwater pool music.
I guess I will have to visit Universal again to experience Portofino Bay.

Making sure you know that you can visit any resort pool. So if theybdins that the actual swimming is a bit wanting in the shallow HRH pool, you can pack up your swim things and head over to Portofino and experience any of their three pools instead. I suggest the Villa pool there, personally.
 
Making sure you know that you can visit any resort pool. So if theybdins that the actual swimming is a bit wanting in the shallow HRH pool, you can pack up your swim things and head over to Portofino and experience any of their three pools instead. I suggest the Villa pool there, personally.
Cool! I will do that for sure. Thanks
 

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