Offsite Hotel Stay: Yet Walkable to UO (July 8-10 ‘22)~Completed

[wdwrule]

Staying Offsite has always been in the back of our minds… especially when AP rates have been few and far between lately. Just Hubby and I were going this time and we had great difficulty finding good rates for on-site hotels during the weekend of July 8-10. Even up to the last minute, the cheapest was (if I’m remembering correctly) endless summer resorts around $220 per night for a standard room. A year ago we spent around $129 AP rate for a 2 bedroom suite at Dockside. We’ve stayed at all of UO’s on-site hotels now except Surfside but we seem to average the ‘moderate level’ resorts such as Aventura and SF typically under $200 per night with AP rates. With all this being said, we finally decided to stay offsite for our quick weekend trip but ideally, something walkable to the parks as we LOVE walking to the parks.

We definitely encountered pros and cons with staying offsite which I’ll explain later. In particular, we stayed at Hyatt Place, which just so happens to be a Universal Partner Hotel but currently I would not recommend due to renovations. It was a mess, which we did not know until we arrived. Nothing was posted on their website nor anything was mentioned when I booked directly with them. All good though and it was sufficient.

I’ll continue later but am creating this trip report mainly to inform those who are thinking about staying offsite which is completely doable (or for anyone who enjoys to read along of course) … just some pros and cons. Haha still had a blast at Universal which was the goal.

To be continued…

 

[wdwrule]

We arrived late on a Friday night. Our Lyft driver was going to drop us off at the lobby of Hyatt Place but it had scaffolding all around it and was closed off so he dropped us off right next-door at Hyatt house. We asked someone in there how to access Hyatt Place and were told just to walk around the back of it which we did. They had a little makeshift check-in desk so we checked in and went straight to the room. The room was very dated but clean, decently spacious, and it would serve our sole purpose of sleeping and showering during our stay.

I immediately missed the little on-property amenities and text feature that we’ve been used to but all was ok. This hotel did include a hot breakfast each morning but alas, we had to walk next-door to consume it.

This really wasn’t that big of a deal but I have to say, the breakfast was very nice. It included hot items such as scrambled eggs, sausage links, bacon, etc. plus a yogurt parfait bar, fresh fruit, waffles, and a cereal and oatmeal bar. Bagels, bread to toast, little packs of Nutella, etc etc. Juices, coffee, tea, milk.

There was a scheduled free shuttle included as well but I believe it was fairly limited with departure times. At any rate, we had already planned to walk and the walk itself ended up being very nice… Not as nice as the garden paths with the on-site hotels, but fairly close. The main highway that we had to cross had a nice pedestrian bridge which was right by Doubletree. All in all it took 20 minutes from our hotel to Citywalk including going through valet security. This little security checkpoint was a nice bonus, as there was hardly any guests there and we were still able to avoid the main hub security.

We then entered the IoA bridge line right at 8 when early admission started. (We have premiere APs so we can attend EA even when staying offsite.) We walked on Velocicoaster with 15 posted time. Wohoooo!! Then, walked on to FJ (SR line) and then walked onto Hogwarts Express to head to Studios. I love Studios in the morning as it’s much calmer than IoA crowd-wise.

At Gringott’s we waited 30 min standby because SR was closed but then they opened SR so we rode a second time right away. Then, a delish warm Butterbeer!
Oh that glorious foam
We continued on with several rides then we had lunch at Finnegans. Here, we split the Guinness cheese dip with soft pretzels and the Dublin chicken sandwich. The food was delicious and the service was excellent!



We then walked over to islands and decided to squirt people on Popeyes. Quite sad that they switched out the token/quarter method of paying and now it’s credit card or Apple Pay only but the biggest sting was it’s now one shot for $1 whereas it used to be one shot for 50cents. I know… lol I’m cheap but it’s those little things you know? So we gave it a couple of shots and had lots of laughs.

We then hopped onto Cat in the hat which we love and laugh at how creepy the Things look. Then it was off to Hagrid’s around 2:00 when the posted wait time was 75 minutes but took ‘only’ 60. I love anytime the wait is 60 or less minutes.

After a few more rides, we headed to our Pat O’Briens reservation. But first… perfect margarita from the window bar at Margaritaville.


We’ve been wanting to go to Pat O’Briens on past trips but never got around to doing so. Wow! This was so good and soooo fun with the entertainment!! We’ll definitely revisit this place! I had the Pat O’Briens typhoon (tasted like cherry jolly ranchers) and hubby had the purple haze. Both were great!


I forget what all we ordered specifically but it was excellent!




The beignets were fluffy and wonderful, but the thin chocolate sauce was a little disappointing as it just tasted like Hershey’s syrup. The caramel was good though. Speaking of which, I’d love if UO offered caramel sauce with their churros.


This guy was amazing and we tipped him generously. He was so talented and kept the good vibes going. At one point, he played and sang ‘I like big butts’ or whatever that rap is called. It was hilarious and he knew EVERY WORD!! Also, lots of good 70s and 80s songs. He was so entertaining!

The atmosphere was excellent as well. I loved all the beer steins on the ceiling.



Then off we headed back to Studios. It began to lightning so we headed into the Leaky Cauldron for their refreshing lemonade and perused Wizarding World.




After a late-ish night, we walked back to Hyatt Place. We told ourselves if we were super tired or if it was storming, we’d just Uber/Lyft but all was fine. It was nice to chat and reflect upon our fun park day on the way back.

To be continued…

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

I love the shrunken heads in Knockturn Alley.

 

[wdwrule]

I love the shrunken heads in Knockturn Alley.

Me too! Knockturn Alley in general is one of my favorite places in both Wizarding World areas combined.

 

[Monykalyn]

It’s really not a bad walk! I prefer Hyatt House though. We stayed there one year the week between Christmas and a New Years and had an excellent time. They did mess up our booking the first night but got it corrected the next night (has 1 bedroom but they only had studio first night). Got a discount for the stay which was nice (due to mess up)and we ended up staying a couple extra nights which they were able to accommodate.

Love premier AP’s!! Gives the flexibility to stay anywhere and still get some onsite perks. We have a Timeshare so we often stay there vs onsite when travel with family.

Knock turn alley is fabulous!

 

[wdwrule]

It’s really not a bad walk! I prefer Hyatt House though. We stayed there one year the week between Christmas and a New Years and had an excellent time. They did mess up our booking the first night but got it corrected the next night (has 1 bedroom but they only had studio first night). Got a discount for the stay which was nice (due to mess up)and we ended up staying a couple extra nights which they were able to accommodate.

Love premier AP’s!! Gives the flexibility to stay anywhere and still get some onsite perks. We have a Timeshare so we often stay there vs onsite when travel with family.

Knock turn alley is fabulous!

Yes I agree! The length of walk felt similar to the walk from CB or PBH… and a much shorter security line to boot! That’s great they had good customer service for you at Hyatt House. We would definitely stay there over Hyatt Place in the future. I know Hyatt Place was under renovations but Hyatt House seemed in a much better league overall… and that included hot breakfast was a very nice bonus.

Yes, we are so glad our APs are premiere. Not just offsite, but we love experiencing all of the UO’s resorts, which for us, adds to our vacation. We don’t want to be ‘locked in’ to only certain resorts only to have express, which is huge too, but for our touring style it totally works for us. Our kids are older so we have no issues using single rider lines, which in our experience, are often shorter than express lines. Haha we always have good stories to tell each other when we reconvene at the ride exit. Then early dinner and good use of express for the remainder of the evening when it’s busy.

Ah yes, Knockturn Alley! Such a unique vibe. There’s just something about that cool darkness. Borgin and Burkes is one of my favorite shops!

 

[Monykalyn]

Our kids are older so we have no issues using single rider lines, which in our experience, are often shorter than express lines. Haha we always have good stories to tell each other when we reconvene at the ride exit.

Ha same!!! Last year hubs got a basic power pass and he would do single rider and I'd do express-he'd often beat me on the ride-except once at Mummy we ended up in same ride vehicle!!

Borgin and Burkes is one of my favorite shops!

yes mine too-have to restrain myself in there. I have an Alex&Ani Deathly Hallows ring from there.

 

[wdwrule]

Woooo sorry I’ve been on hiatus! Busy times with back to school for all.

I’ve seemed to have lost my notes for our next day which was also our departure day. But I’ll add in some pics from that day.
I do remember breakfast the next morning was great again at the hotel… well at next door’s hotel since ours was under refurb. Filling and satisfying!

Then we were off to Studios. Love Studios first thing in the morning!! So easy-paced and low-ish crowds!




Here we got their new fudge flavor of the month… blueberry cheesecake. Yes, we ate fudge at 9:15am


This was superb! Creamy and really tasted like a little slice of blueberry cheesecake.

Ahhhh the joys of low crowds in the morning.


Then later, we had lunch at Lombard’s which was hubby’s first time there. We split the tuna poke and also the fisherman’s basket:




Both items were excellent. Almost a year ago, DD and I ate here and it was just ok. This time around was much better with good quality.

Then we took a lovely trip from the 9 3/4 Platform. London’s station is my FAVORITE station! So much to see and not to mention the wonderful AC


Then we hit up the Hogsmeade bar (true happy feels here!) and got the Triple, aka, Deathly Hallows:


Oh my this was refreshing and delicious! Three layers of goodness! We then did a bunch of sight seeing and just taking it all in which I’ll post about next…

 

[wdwrule]

After many rides and having so much fun together, we ended up at Jake’s for our favorite burger on property. We split it as we were full from snacking. Not a great pic but here’s my half:


Then late flight home.


Final thoughts about staying offsite…
We would totally do it again (in fact we are staying offsite for one of our two nights for an upcoming trip).

Of course we prefer staying on-site to stay in the bubble however this hotel was easily walkable to the parks (well easy for us) and saved us a bunch of $$. We visit UO about once per month so when we can save a little, we do. We also have the premiere APs so no matter where we stay, we’ll always have early park admission and limited EP after 4:00. Part of our thrills of vacationing at UO is experiencing all of their resorts and also some offsite resorts. It’s freeing to not be tied down. I definitely do not want to pay for a premiere hotel once per month either. We’re just so happy to be in the parks and to take that atmosphere in.

With that being said, we do not hang out at hotels much during the day. Most of our trips are weekend trips so we don’t bother with pool time. When we stay for a week like we just did last month, then we slow down a bit and usually throw in one or two pool afternoons. But everyone has their own touring style and goals.

Long story short, if you’re considering an offsite stay, it’s totally doable. We never have a car there so we either walk (or Uber if staying at an offsite hotel). Our second offsite stay is coming up very soon (one night at Springhill Suites Seaworld and one night at Hard Rock for HHN).

Our hotel during the stay that I wrote about was ideal because it was easily walkable with a very small quiet security checkpoint. As much as we loved Dockside, I think we’d stay at the Hyatt or another walkable one like Doubletree just for that easy transportation method and quiet security. It’s not for everyone, but we LOVE to be in control of our own transportation and prefer to walk.

The Springhill Suites stay that’s coming up has a huge room (418 sq ft) all for $110 for 3 adults including taxes and fees and includes breakfast. (AAA discount but I think it’s still very reasonable without AAA.) We’ll only be there for one night but we’re excited to try it out.

Hope this helps someone

ETA: ooops I just realized that the blueberry cheesecake fudge was not the flavor of the month but yummy anyways. Here were the actual flavors of the month:
Sherbet~


Tutti Fruitti (think Fruit Loops)~


They don’t look the best since we purchased these to travel with at home for the kids. This was once we got back home.