Hotel Dilemma- Universal Hotel or Disney SSR Treehouses

Beckyb3

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
I am going to Universal/Disney for my 40th at the end of September. The initial plan was to spend two nights at a Universal Hotel (one with express passes) and spend one day in both Universal Parks and the other day just chilling at the pool. Our main reason for Universal are all the Harry Potter attractions. After that we were going to move over th Disney for the next four nights. I am now second guessing this and considering staying at Disney SSR for the first two nights. We can get this resort with my DVC points and then the plan would be to book a Universal VIP tour with the money we would have spent on the Universal Hotel in lieu of the express passes and just take an Uber back and forth. So my question would be which would you recommend SSR for two
nights with the VIP tour or Universal at one of the hotels with Express Passes (and which one would you recommend). To me the upside of the Disney resort over the Universal resort would be the magic express and I think moving between two Disney hotels is more convenient than from a Universal Hotel to a Disney Hotel. Also the room would be much larger. I can’t get reservations for the resort we are staying at for the remainder of the trip. The benefit of the Universal Hotel is we have never been (although we also haven’t stayed in the treehouses) and it’s obviously more convenient for the parks. Which would you do?
 
Have you booked a room at UO yet?
Prices are good right now for up to September 25 when I last checked hotel rates.
HHN is held on Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat and Sun in late September.
The studios closes at 5 those days of the week but IOA will be open to either 8 or 9:00 pm.

If you stay at Disney, and uber over to UO for a day trip, it sounds like a good plan if you only want to do the parks.

I think you would get a better feel and opinion by staying onsite at UO for at least one night.
Check in to the UO hotel, do the parks for Potter, skip to the other park and do the Potter sections there.
Hit the other rides/shows in the parks, do dinner at City Walk in the evening then back to the UO hotel.

Do early entry the next morning, hit the parks and Uber to Disney hotel that late afternoon.
This way you would only be losing one night staying at Disney while you have had two park days at UO.

Hope whatever you decide you have a great 40th birthday having fun in the parks!
 
I routinely do 2 or 3 nights at UO then taxi over to Disney for 7 days there. I don't consider it a hassle at all.

If you stay at a deluxe hotel at UO, you get the unlimited EP for each day of you stay plus check out. So a 2 night stay will get you 3 days of EP.
 
I would do what Macraven suggested. Both Royal Pacific and Portofino rates are pretty good now, and you’d get a feel for the Universal resorts. Imo they are better than the WDW ones on each level, Value, Moderate and Deluxe.
 


We can get this resort with my DVC points and then the plan would be to book a Universal VIP tour with the money we would have spent on the Universal Hotel in lieu of the express passes and just take an Uber back and forth. So my question would be which would you recommend SSR for two
nights with the VIP tour or Universal at one of the hotels with Express Passes (and which one would you recommend). To me the upside of the Disney resort over the Universal resort would be the magic express and I think moving between two Disney hotels is more convenient than from a Universal Hotel to a Disney Hotel. Also the room would be much larger. I can’t get reservations for the resort we are staying at for the remainder of the trip. The benefit of the Universal Hotel is we have never been (although we also haven’t stayed in the treehouses) and it’s obviously more convenient for the parks. Which would you do?

I would skip the treehouse villas & discover how relaxing it is to stay onsite @ U. For luxury, I recommend PBH. It is a true deluxe hotel. RPH is also lovely, smaller footprint & has lobby construction. HRH is more lively, hip vibe & also has construction at bar near lobby area.

I’ve stayed at SSR, all in premium locations, a handful of times. I do not own there, only selected it because it was all that was available for relatively last minute trips. No offense, but unless I have points that aren’t bankable, in lieu of booking SSR now book something via CRO or at one of the Hiltons (walkable distance to DTD).

Never stayed at the treehouses, surprised you are seeing availability this late in process. Again, not on my radar, just too far flung off the beaten disney path & too many points for my liking. They don’t strike me as particularly romantic if that is your intent, but YMMV, they do have their loyal fans.

Are you accustomed to doing a split trip at WDW? It’s no different to do the same at U, just that you drive with your luggage to/from the resort. Anytime you add a 3rd move in a week’s time it can get hectic, even for commandos.

If staying onsite @ U hotel with FOTL perk, a VIP guide isn’t really a necessity IMO. Especially, if you are focused on HP areas only.
 
I would vote for the Universal hotel. Treehouse Villas are beautiful but for only two nights, you're not really enjoying the benefits of it. And if one of those two days is a pool day, Universal resorts have much nicer pools than Saratoga Springs. I believe Treehouse Villas just have a quiet pool, and it can be a bit of a walk depending on where your villa is located.

I think moving between two Disney hotels is more convenient than from a Universal Hotel to a Disney Hotel.

We always do a split stay between a WDW hotel and a Universal hotel and its never a hassle. You'd simply exit your Universal hotel and call an Uber OR there usually have livery cars waiting. The car will drop you right at the door of your WDW hotel. When moving between two Disney hotels, Disney will have to transfer your luggage and you can be without your luggage for quite a while. I've heard stories that people have had to make several phone calls to track down their luggage. So that sounds like more of a hassle to me.
 

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