Staying at Universal

[ashleyr409]

Hello all,

First time going to Universal. I wanted to know do you get any perks staying at the Universal Hotels?

We want to get an AIRBNB but wanted to see if we are losing out on anything. I am pretty sure i will have lots more questions. All of this is so new to me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mamapenguin]

You get early entry at all of the Universal Hotels. The 3 premiere hotels - Hard Rock, Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay get unlimited express pass for everyone in the room.

 

[ashleyr409]

You get early entry at all of the Universal Hotels. The 3 premiere hotels - Hard Rock, Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay get unlimited express pass for everyone in the room.

So i just did a test run for pricing and it would cost $800 for express pass just for one day. If i was to book Hard Rock i would get it for everyone, everyday?

 

[lockets]

Express pass is akin to the old fast pass at Disney and it’s eligible for all the universal rides except for hagrids and velocicoaster. Posters please correct me if I’m wrong on that? I think those are the only two that aren’t eligible for express line.

So essentially by staying at one of those three hotels you can really maximize your time in the park by getting on faster lines for almost all the rides.

If you want to stay elsewhere - many people still book one or two nighs at one of those universal hotels as a “throwaway room” that they don’t ever stay in just so they can get the express pass because sometimes it can be cheaper than buying the pass for each person individually as a stand-alone item. When you book a room you get express pass on the day of check in and check out and any days in between so if you went to the park for two days just need one room night booked. The pass is linked to your hotel room key. Need to check in and get keys for all the people you want to have the express pass.

another tip is many people purchase an annual pass because it is not as expensive as Disney’s - so more affordable - and the perks you get can sometimes be worth it especially if you’re able to snag an Annual Pass Rate on one of the universal hotel rooms.

 

[lockets]

Final tip. There’s a train in Harry Potter that takes you back and forth to each of the two parks and you need a two park pass per day to ride it back and forth which many people like to do.

 

[sjuncfan]

Express pass is akin to the old fast pass at Disney and it’s eligible for all the universal rides except for hagrids and velocicoaster. Posters please correct me if I’m wrong on that? I think those are the only two that aren’t eligible for express line.

So essentially by staying at one of those three hotels you can really maximize your time in the park by getting on faster lines for almost all the rides.

If you want to stay elsewhere - many people still book one or two nighs at one of those universal hotels as a “throwaway room” that they don’t ever stay in just so they can get the express pass because sometimes it can be cheaper than buying the pass for each person individually as a stand-alone item. When you book a room you get express pass on the day of check in and check out and any days in between so if you went to the park for two days just need one room night booked. The pass is linked to your hotel room key. Need to check in and get keys for all the people you want to have the express pass.

another tip is many people purchase an annual pass because it is not as expensive as Disney’s - so more affordable - and the perks you get can sometimes be worth it especially if you’re able to snag an Annual Pass Rate on one of the universal hotel rooms.

This is correct and just to add on, being in a Universal hotel also means that you can get in to the park an hour earlier to ride Velocicoaster and a couple others. So even though that one doesn't have an express pass line, you can still ride it with a shorter wait if you are staying in the park and get over there early enough. Hagrids doesn't offer this (or didn't while we were there) but you could get lined up early if you were staying in a Universal resort which lessened the line as well. I'd say we were able to do both (which are the most popular/longest wait rides) before 9:15 or 9:30 am because we were staying in a Universal resort.

 

[Nabas]

Express pass is akin to the old fast pass at Disney and it’s eligible for all the universal rides except for hagrids and velocicoaster. Posters please correct me if I’m wrong on that? I think those are the only two that aren’t eligible for express line.

As worded, I don't agree with this.

Universal Express Pass is like unlimited FastPass, which is something that Disney never offered.

But you are correct that you cannot use Express Pass for Hagrid's and VelociCoaster. For those, nearly everyone stands in the Standby line. (The exception is those who have a return time with Universal's disability pass.) This means that the Hagrid's and VelociCoaster Standby lines tend to keep moving since the ride's capacity is not being split between the Express and Standby lines.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Onsite also offers free, extremely easy (frequent) transport to the parks.

 

[ashleyr409]

I just did a new test run for the Hard Rock hotel and hotel alone was over $4200.00. I think i like the throw away idea. We could stay one night and have 2 days of express pass. But again that would be like $639.00 but still cheaper than 2 days of express pass (80.00 x5 ) twice.

 

[ashleyr409]

Express pass is akin to the old fast pass at Disney and it’s eligible for all the universal rides except for hagrids and velocicoaster. Posters please correct me if I’m wrong on that? I think those are the only two that aren’t eligible for express line.

So essentially by staying at one of those three hotels you can really maximize your time in the park by getting on faster lines for almost all the rides.

If you want to stay elsewhere - many people still book one or two nighs at one of those universal hotels as a “throwaway room” that they don’t ever stay in just so they can get the express pass because sometimes it can be cheaper than buying the pass for each person individually as a stand-alone item. When you book a room you get express pass on the day of check in and check out and any days in between so if you went to the park for two days just need one room night booked. The pass is linked to your hotel room key. Need to check in and get keys for all the people you want to have the express pass.

another tip is many people purchase an annual pass because it is not as expensive as Disney’s - so more affordable - and the perks you get can sometimes be worth it especially if you’re able to snag an Annual Pass Rate on one of the universal hotel rooms.

Can i do the throwaway room for one night but buy tickets for 5 days?

 

[MarcIsMe]

And don't forget transportation. Four hotels add boats, two are very close for walking on dedicated paths, a couple more are a tad further. All have buses which run frequently. I always try to get an annual pass rate on the premiers since the express pass is a huge time-saver. Just a caveat, everyone at a premier gets an express pass up to the number booked in the room subject to maximum occupancy; for example if five are registered and the room is rated for 5 (with a rollaway) you are good.

 

[Nabas]

So i just did a test run for pricing and it would cost $800 for express pass just for one day. If i was to book Hard Rock i would get it for everyone, everyday?

If you have a party of 4 or 5, then the answer is yes. They all have to be registered in the room, and you'll be charged extra if you have more than 2 adults, or more than 4 people total.

The Royal Pacific is the least expensive Universal Deluxe Resort and is within walking distance of the theme parks.

You get Express Pass for both your check-in and check-out days, which means you only need to book one night to get 2 days of Express Pass. We tried this once. (Normally, we stay at least 2 nights.)

If you are going to do this all the way, it means getting up early on the first day so you can get to the hotel at around 7 AM so you can park and pick up your room key, which also is your Express Pass. When we did this, we left our luggage in the car and headed straight to the parks. At night after the parks closed and we had dinner, we grabbed our stuff from the car and went straight to the room. (We received a text message with the room number.)

Then we got up early the next morning so we could drop off our bags in our car and head to the parks. At the end of the second evening, we walked back to our car and left.

Except for sleeping, we spent a total of about 90 minutes in the room.

Can i do the throwaway room for one night but buy tickets for 5 days?

Yes. The hotel gets you Express Pass. This is different than your theme park ticket.

 

[ashleyr409]

If you have a party of 4 or 5, then the answer is yes. They all have to be registered in the room, and you'll be charged extra if you have more than 2 adults, or more than 4 people total.

The Royal Pacific is the least expensive Universal Deluxe Resort and is within walking distance of the theme parks.

You get Express Pass for both your check-in and check-out days, which means you only need to book one night to get 2 days of Express Pass. We tried this once. (Normally, we stay at least 2 nights.)

If you are going to do this all the way, it means getting up early on the first day so you can get to the hotel at around 7 AM so you can park and pick up your room key, which also is your Express Pass. When we did this, we left our luggage in the car and headed straight to the parks. At night after the parks closed and we had dinner, we grabbed our stuff from the car and went straight to the room. (We received a text message with the room number.)

Then we got up early the next morning so we could drop off our bags in our car and head to the parks. At the end of the second evening, we walked back to our car and left.

Except for sleeping, we spent a total of about 90 minutes in the room.

Yes. The hotel gets you Express Pass. This is different than your theme park ticket.

Thank you for this information. Now my question is..... is it worth it? Getting up super early on 2 days of vacation.

 

[Nabas]

Thank you for this information. Now my question is..... is it worth it? Getting up super early on 2 days of vacation.

That all depends on what kind of vacation you want to have.

I know people who are "go, go, go" when they vacation at WDW or Universal. They are spending a lot and want to maximize their experience.

Others want to treat a vacation as exactly that, a vacation. That means taking is slow and relaxing.

The thing is, theme parks are not typically associated with taking it slow and relaxing.

My suggestion: Go crazy for the 2 days and then plan to sleep in the day after.

 

[ashleyr409]

That all depends on what kind of vacation you want to have.

I know people who are "go, go, go" when they vacation at WDW or Universal. They are spending a lot and want to maximize their experience.

Others want to treat a vacation as exactly that, a vacation. That means taking is slow and relaxing.

The thing is, theme parks are not typically associated with taking it slow and relaxing.

My suggestion: Go crazy for the 2 days and then plan to sleep in the day after.

That's an awesome plan. I think i will do this. I will go crazy for our first 2 days because the kids will be super excited and wont mind. lol. Then a sleep in pool day. Then more parks after that.

This has been really helpful. Thank you so much

 

[MarcIsMe]

I would get up early only if you want to do the two headliner rides (Hagrids and Velocicoaster) that don't offer express pass. Otherwise the express pass will let you breeze through the other rides (at least until 4 when the premier passholders unlimited express kicks in).

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Also, there is no reason you have to do two early mornings. You can do one, or none. You have enough time to do things, vacation your way!

 

[MarcIsMe]

Agreed, last trip (2 weeks ago) only got up early one of the three days to get in line for Hagrids. Not like the Disney portion of the trip where I was up at 6:45 each morning, sitting in the bathroom so I would not disturb the rest of the family, just to roll the dice on Genie+.

 

[Nabas]

I would get up early only if you want to do the two headliner rides (Hagrids and Velocicoaster) that don't offer express pass. Otherwise the express pass will let you breeze through the other rides (at least until 4 when the premier passholders unlimited express kicks in).

This depends on what crowd levels are like. If, for example, going on Spring Break, the Express Pass lines can get very long.

Express Pass is not immediate ride access. There will be times when you wait 20 minutes or more in the Express Pass line. We've waited over 30 minutes for Rip Ride Rockit. It was not for a breakdown - it's just that the Express Pass line sometimes stretches past the metal detector. We've also waiting a long time in the Express Pass line for Despicable Me.

When my son and I did our 2-day marathon in October 2021, the parks were not particularly crowded. We got to the parks at 9 AM and basically didn't stop until 7 PM. (IOA closed at 8 PM.) We did not have dinner until after 7 PM both days. We were able to experience all attractions once. We even did several rides multiple times: VelociCoaster 4 times (twice each day), Hagrid's 2 times (once each day), Hulk 3 times, Rip Ride Rockit 2 times. Our days were Sunday and Monday.

Again though, we rarely stopped to take a break, except for lunch at the Hard Rock on the second day.

 

[lockets]

I'd say we were able to do both (which are the most popular/longest wait rides) before 9:15 or 9:30 am because we were staying in a Universal resort.

That's so awesome! Hagrids was sadly closed down for most of our day and we couldn't get on it. Never been on it before. So bummed. : (