Non Disney Universal Studios question

[John park hopper]

We have not been to Universal in 20 years and looking possibly to go in Jan 2020 when crowds are reportedly low. For those who have been recently how many days staying on site would we need to see and do everything? What resort would you recommend and how do overall costs compare to WDW. Has anyone stayed at Cabana Bay?

 

[LieutLaww]

It depends on how you want to do things tbh, do you like to take your time and soak everything in or hit the parks running and get as much done as quickly as possible, personally I would say 1 day per park would do you especially if staying onsite, but if you want to do things very slow take 2 days per park, also remember Volcano Bay the water park is right there as well if that is your thing so you can add another day to that. Have never stayed at a Universal hotel as of yet but I have heard very good things about Cabana Bay. And check on YouTube if you want to know about Universal hotels there are plenty of tour videos from many of the Uni/Disney vloggers to watch through.

 

[John park hopper]

It depends on how you want to do things tbh, do you like to take your time and soak everything in or hit the parks running and get as much done as quickly as possible, personally I would say 1 day per park would do you especially if staying onsite, but if you want to do things very slow take 2 days per park, also remember Volcano Bay the water park is right there as well if that is your thing so you can add another day to that. Have never stayed at a Universal hotel as of yet but I have heard very good things about Cabana Bay. And check on YouTube if you want to know about Universal hotels there are plenty of tour videos from many of the Uni/Disney vloggers to watch through.

Thanks. January don't think we will be doing Volcano Bay I think we will do 2 days per park so 4 days should be good.

 

[awoogala]

If you have the unlimited express (staying onsite at one of the 3 deluxe hotels, or purchasing), and you do early admission for HPWW, you can easily do both parks in one day. 2 days if you want to take your time, do lots of re-rides, etc. We usually do 2 days, with plenty of time for everything, with the passes.
Without the passes, 3 or more days may be necessary.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We have stayed at Universal 2 times, and we absolutely loved it. We stay at the Royal Pacific REsort. We love the tropical feel of the islands. It is absolutely beautiful, and the service is excellent. They actually make you feel like you are a valued guest
When you stay at certain resorts, you can get free express passes. This is worth the cost of the room, IMO. I did the numbers of hotel stay vs tickets, EP, etc for each park, and the resort stay won out!
If I was making this my vacation spot, I would do at least 2 days for each park. I seem to remember that they offer free shuttles to Sea World, and others??? But my memory is bad, so if anyone else knows about this, please chime in. We did not take advantage of this as we only had 2 days. RPR is a deluxe resort, but priced reasonably.
We like the Universal side better, so spend most of our time there. HP world is amazing, fantastic, immersive, and just like the movies and books. It is awesome. We could spend a whole day there easily. Be sure to go to the Horror Makeup Show, it's hilarious. There is so much to do and see. Foodwise, we think disney is better, but we haven't tried alot of places out yet.
Let us know how it goes, and have a wonderful time

 

[Rob562]

I was about to suggest Seasonal Passes, at least for one person in the group to get hotel discounts, but I see it was already covered.

As a life-long Disney parks fan who is a recent convert to Universal Orlando, I fully embrace that touring Universal, especially in the offseason, is far different than a trip to Disney. We can go to Universal and just casually tour the parks. If we want to get a beer in Diagon Alley and just hang out and people-watch, we can. We make use of single-rider lines whenever possible, which keeps wait times down. If we want to get up early and power through a bunch of rides so that we can go back to the hotel for some afternoon pool time, we can. Or even spend the first half of the day at Volcano Bay. (When we renewed our passes, we upgraded to 3-park Seasonals)

We're now into our second year of having Seasonal AP's, despite living in Massachusetts. The passes have blockout dates, but they're all when we wouldn't want to go to the parks anyway. We've found that a 4-night trip every few months when crowds are low can be very refreshing. With the passes already paid for, all it takes is a good AP hotel rate and a good airfare sale from Boston, and we're off for a long weekend.

Because crowds are low, we don't feel the need to get Express Passes (or pay to stay at one of the hotels that includes it) and thus save money. Our first choice is Sapphire Falls, but we're fine with a standard room in Cabana Bay if need-be. We stopped into Aventura last year to grab drinks and appetizers but were not at all impressed. Our first trip in Nov 2017 we stayed 1-night at Royal Pacific before our off-site timeshare week to get the Express Passes. Not knowing as much about crowds at Universal it was nice to be able to power through everything those two days to ensure we at least did everything once. Royal Pacific was very nice, but in hindsight it probably wasn't necessary to spend that extra money.

We'll be back down there in September for our first Horror Nights visit. (AP discount on the Rush of Fear passes mean we can go to HHN all 4 nights of our trip for $90) There was a 20% off AP rate on a standard room at Cabana, but a 35% off AP rate made Sapphire Falls a no-brainer. The larger room, nicer amenities and the boat that brings you by the park entrances rather than CB's bus to the main parking garage hub was well worth the extra $15-20 per night.

And as a data point, back at the end of January, our room at Cabana Bay was $99 on the non-weekend nights we were there.

-Rob

 

[trr1]

also if you do not want the express pass the new Surfside Resort just opened
Surfside Inn and Suites Standard Rooms FROM $85.00**PER NIGHT, PLUS TAX, BASED ON A 4-NIGHT STAY or
Surfside Inn and Suites 2-Bedroom Suites FROM $131.00**PER NIGHT, PLUS TAX, BASED ON A 4-NIGHT STAY
that way you can stay longer for a lower price

 

[The_Jobu]

Right now Sapphire Falls is my favourite resort in Orlando, but it was a splurge and a bit pricy for me again. I might go in January as well and the prices at Endless Summer look too good to pass up, going to shorten my Disney stay to stay at Endless Summer longer.

As to the parks, I think you could easily get both done in two days at a comfortable pace. I'm not sure about Volcano Bay, but I'm guessing you wouldn't need more than a day.