Staying Onsite Worth It?

pfeifer1990

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 5, 2018
We are planning a trip to Disney (my 1st trip back in 20 years too excited for words). There will be five adults (3 out of the 5 are huge Harry Potter nerds). We are planning one day at Universal basically to see Harry Potter world. Our trip is in May.
My question is it worth it to stay one night at Hard Rock Hotel to get the express pass? There are a lot of rides at Universal that 2 of us won't do because of motion sickness etc. (We will do everything Harry Potter though but not beyond that). 3 of our party are definitely interested in doing Jurassic rides etc.
The one day at Universal is all we are willing to do.
(I know it's more expensive to stay one night at a Universal resort and it's a lot of money to do Universal but Harry Potter world just can't be skipped.)
 
Absolutely. You'll also have early entry. If you stay the night before, you can arrive by 3-4pm and enjoy all of the hotel and CityWalk amenities then roll right out of bed and take a 5 minute stroll into the parks. Doesn't get any easier than that!
You'll need park to park tickets to see both parts of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as there is stuff in both Universal and IOA.
The Express Passes will allow everyone to maximize riding efficiency and give loads more time to explore and enjoy all of the super cool parts of WWOHP.
 
I've been to Universal numerous times and just this past weekend we stayed at Hard Rock. It was AMAZING. You cannot pay me to stay anywhere else now after having a 10 minute walk from my room to the front entrance. Never even needed the water taxi as the walk was so fast. Express passes are just a bonus with the hotels proximity to the park entrance.
 
You will really enjoy your onsite stay.

Your Unlimited Express Pass that is included with your stay will be good for day of check in and good for day of check out.....So two days of Unlimited Express.....for one nights stay is golden.
 


Hard Rock is our favorite hotel. But if budget is a concern, Royal Pacific is often less expensive and still provides everyone with unlimited express pass. Its the second shortest walk of the three deluxe resorts (with Hard Rock being the shortest), and the water taxi is always an option as well.
 
and unless policy has changed in 5 years( we are now snow birds so don't stay on site and have AP) You are able to use the amenities at each one of the hotels regardless of which one you stay at so enjoy each hotels unique pool area
 


Hi absolutely:thumbsup2 It is the only way we would go to Universal!! You really can't go wrong with any of the resorts their all nice in their own theme.
 
Absolutely. You'll also have early entry. If you stay the night before, you can arrive by 3-4pm and enjoy all of the hotel and CityWalk amenities then roll right out of bed and take a 5 minute stroll into the parks. Doesn't get any easier than that!
You'll need park to park tickets to see both parts of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as there is stuff in both Universal and IOA.
The Express Passes will allow everyone to maximize riding efficiency and give loads more time to explore and enjoy all of the super cool parts of WWOHP.
Abolutely! Love HRH(our favorite) but also enjoy RP..The express pass is wonderful and staying at one of those hotels is so convenient. I would do Universal at end of your Disney stay and do as others have suggested.
Check in early one morning to get 2 days of EP out of 1 night hotel stay. If you are pool people, we enjoyed the HRH pool as well. Have fun! You'll be "spoiled" by the EP,:dance3: such a stress free vaca, nothing like having to select FP 60 days in advance and ADR's for dinner 180 days in advance. ENJOY!:wave:
 
You can certainly stay at the hard rock and get express passes and early entry, but I don't think you will need it since potterville is your primary focus.

You will need the park to park tickets.

I would save the hotel money for something else.

Here would be my plan.

Get to the parks early (before they open)

Go to the side without early entry. Head straight back to potterland.

Spend a few hours there, maybe do lunch while in there, catch the train to the other side and do that side. I really like the potterland dining halls.

I would get the dining plan (you can get it when you order at the register)
You will have a drink and a snack credit left over. You can use your snack credit for a butterbeer.

The people that want to ride other things should download the app and check wait times or use single rider lines.
 
We love EP and always try to stay at one of the three hotels that include it, but we'll ride everything. I have to use the Scop patch to fight motion sickness, but it works well.

In your case, I'd look at the rides you want to do and decide from there. What rides would you skip? Screen based rides? Coasters?

If you are set on only riding the stuff in HP areas, you might look at some of the cheaper on-site hotels. You'd still get early access and that would help with the HP areas.
 
We were at WDW in late August and (like you) tried a single Universal/Potter day while staying on Universal property (Royal Pacific). It was also our first Universal experience as a family and it was really great! Here's what we did:

Check-in day: attempted an early (1pm) check-in. No luck but no problem. Hit the pool and checked out citywalk. Got the room right at 4pm. Returned to Citywalk that night for dinner.

Park day: ordered room service for breakfast. FYI: three $8 kids breakfasts was enough for the 4 of us (2 adults; 2 kids) and it made for such an easy start to the day (especially compared to WDW). Took the water taxi and at 7:45am were about 20th in line for the 8am early admission. Went straight to Diagon Alley for about 2 hours. Then took Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade for about 2 hours. Then did the loop at IofA (Jurassic, Kong, etc.). Express back to Diagon. Did the loop at USO. Then spent the rest of the day revisiting favourites at Potter.

In short, we felt like we covered absolutely everything we wanted to see at both parks, while having a surprisingly easy and spontaneous (again, compared to WDW) park hopping day. So the onsite hotel proximity, early entry and express passes are definitely worth it! But if the budget is getting tight, then I agree buying the park-to-park is probably more important to you than the express pass. You really need to do each of Diagon Alley, Hogwarts Express, and Hogsmeade, to get the full Potter experience. Maybe stay at Cabana Bay instead, and just use the early admission to its maximum benefit. The queues for Gringotts and Forbidden Journey are simply amazing, so you won't mind waiting a bit longer in them later in the day.

Just a note of caution if you have motion sickness: we found the Forbidden Journey one of the worst for this. Have fun!
 
For our family, it is so worth it. Will not do Universal or IOA without staying on site anymore and we are dvc owners. We just break up our stay at wdw and book a room for one night at our favorite, PBH, and get 2 days of unlimited express pass. You get to do all the rides and repeat the ones you like so easily.
 
100% Yes it's worth it. Have done a few extended stays at Universal, and I wouldn't consider staying without having EP - therefore one of the 3 deluxe onsite hotels.
 
Yes stay on site. The Express pass is worth it especially if you are only going for 1 day. Personally I would go early on check-in day and take 2 days to do Universal.

IMHO, 3 upper tier Universal hotels are as good if not better than virtually anything on WDW property.
 
We are planning a trip to Disney (my 1st trip back in 20 years too excited for words). There will be five adults (3 out of the 5 are huge Harry Potter nerds). We are planning one day at Universal basically to see Harry Potter world. Our trip is in May.
My question is it worth it to stay one night at Hard Rock Hotel to get the express pass? There are a lot of rides at Universal that 2 of us won't do because of motion sickness etc. (We will do everything Harry Potter though but not beyond that). 3 of our party are definitely interested in doing Jurassic rides etc.
The one day at Universal is all we are willing to do.
(I know it's more expensive to stay one night at a Universal resort and it's a lot of money to do Universal but Harry Potter world just can't be skipped.)

Absolutely. You will be able to do both parks in one day with the EP in my opinion. We did this during July 4th week. Totally worth it - plus, buying the EP for your entire party would cost you well over the difference in a room stay. There are plenty of non-simulator rides that you can enjoy. Just so you know, the jurassic ride is closing in September from what I understand (although we weren't impressed)
 
Absolutely. You will be able to do both parks in one day with the EP in my opinion. We did this during July 4th week. Totally worth it - plus, buying the EP for your entire party would cost you well over the difference in a room stay. There are plenty of non-simulator rides that you can enjoy. Just so you know, the jurassic ride is closing in September from what I understand (although we weren't impressed)

If you are talking about the Jurassic Park River Adventure, it is closed at Universal Hollywood for an extensive renovation.
 
How long are you going for? As others have said it is very nice to be right there and the Express Passes will make sure you get to see everything you want to with only having one day. If you will be down there for at least a week I'd say definitely do it and use your arrival day as a relaxation day after doing Disney for the week. Hang out at the different pools and check out City Walk, do mini golf, etc. There is so much to enjoy and do around the resort and get some calm after a fun filled few days at WDW beforehand, and then not having to rush in the morning makes it better since you're already there.
 
It is absolutely worth it. Since you are only at Universal for a short time the express pass makes you go on every ride with little to no wait.You can ride the Potter rides multiple times, they are great. I would never ever do Uni without express. Go and have fun.
 
I know it's more expensive to stay one night at a Universal resort

More expensive than what?

Disney is expensive, and people have seen onsite deluxe cheaper than Disney moderates sometimes...

Staying onsite at Universal is more important than staying onsite at Disney, IMO, and I own Dvc.

Check-in day: attempted an early (1pm) check-in. No luck but no problem. Hit the pool and checked out citywalk. Got the room right at 4pm. Returned to Citywalk that night for dinner.

Hold on. To clarify for the newbies, you wanted a room early. That’s what you didn’t have luck with.

Just like at Disney, checkin and room-readiness are different things. With both you can do the checkin process as early as around 6am and then take advantage of all onsite privileges, apart from if the room is ready. If you’d had tickets for that day you would have had the unlimited EP for that first day.

If you are talking about the Jurassic Park River Adventure, it is closed at Universal Hollywood for an extensive renovation.

Yep. And ONLY in Hollywood.
 

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