Hotel for Universal or Not?

Shoshannah

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Hello,

We plan on going to Disneyland at the end of April. We wanted to add on 1 day at Universal. Would it be best once we fly in to stay the first night at a hotel near Universal and then move to a hotel near Disneyland or stay at a Disneyland hotel and commute 1 day to Universal? We will not have a car and planned the Universal day to be on a Monday, but we could move it to a Sunday if that would be better.

Thanks!!!!
 
I, too, am curious about this question and any info that can be provided! We are planning our Disneyland trip in early July and will most likely be renting a car for the week.
 
What we did (we used to live there)- was fly in to LAX and got a rental and spent the night at the Hilton by Universal. We had dinner at CityWalk and got up early the next morning to have early entry into the park. Hilton has a shuttle or you can walk it.
Personally, I do not like the commute to DL so I would do Universal once you land and then the next day head to DL.
 
We moved when we did both in the same trip, but we had other things we were doing in LA. I found that it took a long time to get from Disneyland to anywhere else (especially if you are trying to move around near the beginning or end of a work day), so I would do the same again. We stayed at the Sheraton Universal, and it was an easy walk.
 


Hello,

We plan on going to Disneyland at the end of April. We wanted to add on 1 day at Universal. Would it be best once we fly in to stay the first night at a hotel near Universal and then move to a hotel near Disneyland or stay at a Disneyland hotel and commute 1 day to Universal? We will not have a car and planned the Universal day to be on a Monday, but we could move it to a Sunday if that would be better.

Thanks!!!!

Are you flying into LAX?
 


I agree with PP, if you're flying in to LAX stay that first night at Universal and then head to DL to miss the commute traffic.
 
Houston, we have a problem! Thought my younger daughter wasn't going to go to DLR with us, now she is. She's the one who wanted to go to Universal. However, I already bought plane tickets and we are flying into SNA. We have hotel reservations in the DLR area, so I don't see a practical way to stay in a hotel near Universal now. Is it worth it to commute over for one day and how much hassle will that be? We won't have a car and it would be on a Tuesday so traffic.
 
It will be a pretty expensive Uber ride in rush hour traffic (possibly both ways unless you leave early/late), plus single-day tickets. If most of your group doesn't have any desire to go I'd skip it and enjoy DL.
 
Houston, we have a problem! Thought my younger daughter wasn't going to go to DLR with us, now she is. She's the one who wanted to go to Universal. However, I already bought plane tickets and we are flying into SNA. We have hotel reservations in the DLR area, so I don't see a practical way to stay in a hotel near Universal now. Is it worth it to commute over for one day and how much hassle will that be? We won't have a car and it would be on a Tuesday so traffic.
It will be a hassle, but it depends on how badly you want to go. If it is a matter of only one person who wants to go, I'd skip it. If you all want to go, you can make it worth your while.

To me, Universal (and every other theme park) is a total letdown compare to Disney. Do you want to spend a couple hours in the car coming and going in addition to a full day at a park? You could always just rent a house from Airbnb if any of those allow for one night stays.
 
I'm actually doing this this upcoming week. Flying into LAX Friday night, USH Saturday, some Hollywood sights Sunday AM. Sunday evening I booked a super shuttle to take us from the Hilton at Universal City to our hotel in Anaheim for DLR for 2 days.

I'll let you know how it works!
 
We have stayed in Anaheim and went to USH several times. Just keep in your mind it is going to take at least an hour or maybe more to get to and from and make time for that. US in Orlando is so much better so don't compare the two. USH is a much smaller version. We do like USH a lot and for us it is worth the drive to get to and from. Hotels near DL are much cheaper than near USH this is why we hassle the traffic to get there. Just be prepared and you will be fine and have a good time.
 
We have stayed in Anaheim and went to USH several times. Just keep in your mind it is going to take at least an hour or maybe more to get to and from and make time for that. US in Orlando is so much better so don't compare the two. USH is a much smaller version. We do like USH a lot and for us it is worth the drive to get to and from. Hotels near DL are much cheaper than near USH this is why we hassle the traffic to get there. Just be prepared and you will be fine and have a good time.

Thanks so much! You made me feel better about going!
 
Did you ever go in rush hour?
Yes we did. It usually took 45 minutes to an hour. We usually went on Thursdays as I read somewhere that Thursdays were the best week days to go. We would always go during the summer months which is really packed at USH. We would arrive around 10am-11am. Some people will note that traffic is worse and that can depend on if there are any accidents or construction work going on. If you have a GPS make sure to use it. It will tell you when to take an alternate route due to traffic. I wouldn't listen to it unless it's telling you it will save some valid time in traffic though.
 
I will echo that USH is a bit of a let down compared to USO. It's not a bad park, but it doesn't compare. Other than the studio tour, I don't think there was any ride exclusive to USH and other than the Mummy, none of the roller coasters. You should look at the park map to get an idea of what's there to determine if it's worth the trek up there. The theming is well done for the newer areas like Springfield for the Simpsons, obviously the Harry Potter area and right around the Despicable Me ride, but the rest of it still looks like generic city streets or backlot for that part of the park. I do look forward to the expanding they are planning on doing. Morning traffic will likely be pretty horrible unless you decide to get up very early and eat breakfast up in that area (knowing morning LA traffic, we chose to drive up the afternoon before and do some sightseeing before doing the park the next day). After the park closes it shouldn't be too bad. We did it last fall and because of Halloween, the park closed at 6pm. We did dinner at City Walk and were on the road around 7pm and traffic was still pretty bad until about the time we crossed into Orange County around 40 minutes later, though honestly I have found that traffic tends to get better in Orange County regardless of the time of day, the highway is just too congested in LA.
 
I will echo that USH is a bit of a let down compared to USO. It's not a bad park, but it doesn't compare. Other than the studio tour, I don't think there was any ride exclusive to USH and other than the Mummy, none of the roller coasters. You should look at the park map to get an idea of what's there to determine if it's worth the trek up there. The theming is well done for the newer areas like Springfield for the Simpsons, obviously the Harry Potter area and right around the Despicable Me ride, but the rest of it still looks like generic city streets or backlot for that part of the park. I do look forward to the expanding they are planning on doing. Morning traffic will likely be pretty horrible unless you decide to get up very early and eat breakfast up in that area (knowing morning LA traffic, we chose to drive up the afternoon before and do some sightseeing before doing the park the next day). After the park closes it shouldn't be too bad. We did it last fall and because of Halloween, the park closed at 6pm. We did dinner at City Walk and were on the road around 7pm and traffic was still pretty bad until about the time we crossed into Orange County around 40 minutes later, though honestly I have found that traffic tends to get better in Orange County regardless of the time of day, the highway is just too congested in LA.
I agree that the two parks are nothing like one another however I do really like USH. And you are correct during Halloween Horror nights the park closes early due to Halloween Horror nights being a special ticketed event. So it is important to check USH's website to verify hours before planning a visit.
 
Okay, I just returned a week and a half ago from doing this.

We stayed at the Hilton right by USH. It was nice to be able to walk to the park (though HOLY MOLY THAT IS A STEEP HILL). We did USH for one day. The next morning, we slept in and explored city walk. I pre-ordered a super shuttle to pick us up at our hotel at 3 pm. We made the drive in a little under an hour. I believe we paid around $160 to be delivered from the Hilton Universal City to the Hampton Inn Anaheim/Garden Grove.

This was a good experience, but next time I am skipping USH altogether. Too many screens for my tummy's liking.
 

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