Worth it to stay at Hard Rock or other

[Crow]

might go on our disney trip a day or two earlier next month and was wondering if it was worth it to spend $240+ for a night at one of the Universal resorts.

[NJGIRL]

Yes,it's worth it. IMO Universal hotels are nicer than Disney's and front of the line passes are great! You also do not need transporation to the parks because they are a short walk. This cuts down wasted time.

[MizMissy]

Yes,it's worth it. IMO Universal hotels are nicer than Disney's and front of the line passes are great! You also do not need transporation to the parks because they are a short walk. This cuts down wasted time.

I second this opinion and highly recommend staying on-site. Unlimited Express pass will spoil you forever. Also, all three hotels on property are Lowe's operated so they are nice hotels.

(I dont know why there is a thumbs down marker on my post and do not know how to remove ... Sorry)

[Crow]

thanks. i know it seems like a lot of $, and wo car we have to use Mears from airport. i was also thinking of staying those extra 2 nites in disney area and just using Mears for Universal for a day like we did last yr. for the same price I could get Swan or Hilton Bonnet Creek, or stay at allstars one nite then one of the others.
im still working it out. thanks for the opinions

[DVC2004]

Having been several times and staying at Toyal Pacific, then going once with no onsite stay- YES. So worth it. Front of line access is valuable. Wait times can be long, and one trip we didn't stay onsite we experienced the Hulk break down 3 times for vast periods of time, causing us to get in and out of this line during the day. We wasted so much time waiting in line. Never again. Stay onsite, you will be glad you did.

[tinksmom02]

I'm with everyone else, once you stay on-site at Universal you'll understand. Being able to walk to the parks, early entry to Harry Potter, and the unlimited front of the line passes really made it worth it for us. Really, we were spoiled silly and I swore I would never go to Universal without staying onsite again.

We stayed at Royal Pacific which is the least expensive option. It was quite nice, the room was spacious and clean. The only thing DD didn't like was the lack of pool slide (but to me that's not worth the extra $$ to upgrade to one of the other hotels).

[buzznwoodysmom]

We just did two nights at Hard Rock Hotel before our Disney vacation in December. We had a great experience and it was very much worth it.

We arrived too late the first night to do the parks, but it was great to be able to walk to CityWalk for dinner and shopping. There was tons going on at CityWalk, entertainment of some sort around every corner.

We managed to do everything we wanted in both parks in one day. The Express Pass made that possible. As resort guests we were able to enter Wizarding World of Harry Potter an hour before the park opened. We did everything we wanted in WWOHP, walked back to our room to drop off our purchases, walked to Universal Studios, did everything we wanted at that park, went back to Hard Rock for pool time, and aback to IOA to end the night.

We got so much done in that one day! This was the Monday before Christmas so it was fairly busy and the Express Pass made all the difference. Plus walking to both parks, as well as City Walk, made the trip so easy. No driving, no waiting on buses. It was so much easier than WDW. We really enjoyed the resort. Its nicer than any of the WDW resorts, and priced much better than WDW's higher end deluxe resorts. We'll definitely stay there again, and I honestly can't imagine going to Universal without staying on property again.

[Disney OB RN]

I was also there the week before Christmas, & there is no way we could have seen everything (especially the WWOHP) without the on-site Express Pass. The on-site hour ahead priviledge got us in to ride the Forbidden Journey ahead of the crowds.
The cost for our family of five to add on the pass makes up the difference alone. We have stayed at the HRH & Royal Pacific--we prefer the RP, & it is the least expensive. Take the plunge, you won't regret it! Have some Butterbeer while you're there!:)

[ronandjulie]

If you subtracted the price of purchasing an express pass from the cost of the room, they really aren't that bad. If you have never used and express pass, you are in for a treat.