Need help with hotel between Disney and Universal

[Nevada Jen]

My kid has a "concert tour" of CA coming up. Day one is Disney (I am going to skip it, I think) and Day 2 is universal (will go to this one). I would like to stay between the two if possible so I don't have to check out in between days. Where is a good place to do that? I prefer an actual hotel with some amenities, bonus if it is a marriot or has electric car charging.

 

[dieumeye]

The "middle" point between Universal City and Disneyland is along the 5 somewhere around Commerce, CA. There are a couple hotels and an outlet mall there. But honestly I think that staying there might not feel convenient to either place and instead just feel far from both.

It might actually be easier to stay close to one of the locations, and then just make the longer drive the one day, instead of having a medium length drive both days. Whether you driving in or flying in (and which airport), along with what days and times you need to be driving (weekends vs weekdays, AM, PM, rush hour, etc) will make a difference as well.

 

[Nevada Jen]

I have thought about that. A lot. The days are all weekdays. So I guess the best bet traffic wise is to stay close to universal and then drive to Disney. Only problem is, I do not want to do the Disney day. Which means I am driving there and back twice. If I stay at Disney, then I am driving into LA in the traffic from heck on the Universal day. But maybe that is the best bet because at least I plan on staying there all day.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I live in, and would recommend staying in Long Beach. Disneyland is close (about 30 min drive), Universal is a bit further especially in traffic (still < 60 min). There are some nice hotels downtown along the waterfront, and a handful of nice, very new hotels near the airport. If you are flying, LGB is the BEST! Avoid LAX like the plague right now - too much construction and it has always been like a punch to the face at its best.

 

[dieumeye]

I have thought about that. A lot. The days are all weekdays. So I guess the best bet traffic wise is to stay close to universal and then drive to Disney. Only problem is, I do not want to do the Disney day. Which means I am driving there and back twice. If I stay at Disney, then I am driving into LA in the traffic from heck on the Universal day. But maybe that is the best bet because at least I plan on staying there all day.

The drive from one to the other with no traffic is about 40 minutes. Right now - Thursday at 1pm - the drive is an hour. And on a weekday evening, it does not matter what direction you are going on the 5. It'll be 1.5 hours from one to the other, either way, from around 4pm until 8pm. More if there is an accident.

If you stay in Commerce - there's a Doubletree there - it's easily 45 minutes from there to either Universal or Disney on a weekday afternoon/evening. You could stay in a "third" location, like the previous poster suggested, but you still have to drive there and back both days.

The scenario with the least driving is actually staying near Disney the first day, and then making one drive to Universal and staying there the second day. I think it comes down to a tradeoff between two hotels and less driving, or one hotel and more driving.

I live near Universal so I drive from there to Disney and back all the time. It's no trouble on the weekends, but it is not great on weekdays. It would be a lot of time in the car to drive down & back... and then down & back again in the same day.

 

[tarheelalum]

I'd move hotels each day. That is a awful drive through LA.

 

[Nevada Jen]

I think I am going to do two days at Disney (Anaheim Marriot) and one day at a hotel near universal. That means on universal day we are going to have to wake up near disney and drive to Universal, but at least I am planning on going to that park. That seems to make the most sense.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think I am going to do two days at Disney (Anaheim Marriot) and one day at a hotel near universal. That means on universal day we are going to have to wake up near disney and drive to Universal, but at least I am planning on going to that park. That seems to make the most sense.

Sounds good.

I just stayed at the Sheraton at universal, and even on the inaugural race weekend I got into my room hours early. I didn’t like the hotel much (I’ll stick with the Hilton if onsite again), but at least we got our moneys worth for the cost lol.

 

[AndrewC]

For the last four years or so I've visited in late October and always did some Disney time and then Universal time, I used to stay at one hotel (Hilton right across the street from Universal) before finally giving up and switching hotels. The traffic is so bad now adays that Universal to Disney was taking 1.5 hours in the morning. I would guess staying at Disney would be the better bet if you had to pick one, you'll be able to spend some time at Downtown Disney, the kids will be able to get back to the hotel mid day for a break or to change after a hot day in the park and then head back for the evening hours or something. Then the drive to Universal won't be great, but usually the park is small enough/not busy enough to be able to do all or dang near all of it in one day, even if you get there by 9:30 or 10am... where as if you get to Disney by 10 or so you already feel like the main mass of people have made it into the park and you never got any "in front of the crowds" time.

 

[Epek]

If you’re not going to be super late at Disney on your last day there, I might suggest driving to Universal that night. I live close to Universal and on a weekday, the morning drive to DL is horrible in both directions, but after 7/8 at night it isn’t bad at all!

 

[AndrewC]

If you’re not going to be super late at Disney on your last day there, I might suggest driving to Universal that night. I live close to Universal and on a weekday, the morning drive to DL is horrible in both directions, but after 7/8 at night it isn’t bad at all!

Agreed, and usually what I do. I usually make the drive pretty late though (leave Disney 10pm or so) but I feel like the drive is 25 minutes or something and then I’m checking into the Universal Hilton. Still get just about 8 hours of sleep because I think Universal opens at 9am during October time frame.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Recent stay at Orlando Universal hotel got us into parks early, I forgot if California version does this or not. Anyone?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Recent stay at Orlando Universal hotel got us into parks early, I forgot if California version does this or not. Anyone?

Info here there are no Universal Hollywood hotels, instead they have you book a package with a partner hotel. No idea if it’s worth it.

 

[nkereina]

Not sure if its considered an actual Universal hotel, but we just stayed at the Loews Hollywood Hotel and it was great for us. 10 minute drive to Universal, and we hit no traffic on the way there even though it was rush hour before Memorial Day weekend. It took us about an hour and 10 minutes to get to the hotel from Disneyland around 1pm on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.