Yacht Club vs Hard Rock

[piccolopat]

For such a short trip I would just stay at Universal. The pool at Royal Pacific is nice and as others have said you can pool hop at most Universal hotels. The pool at Yacht Club was great when it first opened. The sand layer was thick and soft. The last time we stayed it was so thin that we often just felt the concrete bottom and it's often too crowded. Staying just at Universal would give you more time in the park or you could split your days and spend mornings in the parks and the afternoons in the pool.

 

[stinkpickle]

For that short of a trip, I would stay at the Hard Rock the entire time and take advantage of unlimited Express Pass at the Universal parks. You can get an annual pass to get a better rate at the Universal resorts, too.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Another vote for no time at YC. You have such a short trip to spend time and money on transit would be a complete waste when Universal has such nice offerings. If you don’t want a day at a UOR hotel pool do a day at Volcano Bay. Yes, you have to buy tickets but it’s a load of fun and can be as relaxing as you want it to be. Universal did a great job with it!

*warning* VB is addicting. I did it once when I had a day to kill and now I always try to figure out a way to wiggle in a day on any Orlando trip

 

[PollyannaMom]

I wouldn't do a split stay on such a short trip either. I'd just stick with Hard Rock and just spend some pool time there in addition to the park. - Plus, it's so close to CitiWalk, which has great food!

But if Yacht Club is super important to you / your family for some reason, I would vote park day first, then relaxing days.

 

[glocon]

If going for your first UO trip, I’d spend the three days at HR and spend more time at the parks.

The HRH is so close to the parks that it would be very easy to spend the morning at the pool then after lunch shower and head to the parks. Or, you could head to the parks in the mornings and when you had your fill there head back to HRH and the pool and lounge the rest of the day.
Literally a 5 minute walk from HRH to US.

You’d have express passes for nearly every ride that way and could spend more time enjoying the parks and the pool.

 

[glocon]

Edit- duplicate post.

I got distracted reading the articles Craig wrote below about all the new minionland things and posted twice.

 

[wilckepedia]

Also upvoting the "stay at Universal, skip Yacht Club" camp. With Universal's pool hopping, you have lots of options, including the Cabana Bay lazy river as others have mentioned. There's also a promo ticket of 2 parks, 1 day + 2 additional days right now, so if you decide you love the parks (or a specific ride you want to use those express passes for), it won't cost you extra.

If you do opt to skip YC and just stay Universal, I'd also recommend looking into getting an Annual pass for one member of your party, stick with me... Without specifically knowing your dates, the price difference in July between the promo ticket mentioned above ($204) and the Power annual pass ($475) is $271. However, all the annual passes get you access to annual passholder discounts on hotels. Checking both 7/13-7/16 & 7/20-7/23 (from your Thurs-Sun a few weeks out), the APH rate saves you $269/night on average. So after the first night, the pass has paid for itself.
Unlike Disney, you can check the APH rates & book without being a passholder yet: APH Hotel deals