Universal's guest service now rival's Disney's

devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
We just spend 2 nights at Universal (Loew's) Royal Pacific Resort and I was blown away by the service. Yes, the room was a bit pricey for a lacklaster (and small) size. And there were a few things that made me feel like I was being nickeled and dimed ($17/day for parking, $15/day if you wanted a Fridge...we argued the latter and got it for free though!). We laid by the pool all day Saturday and the staff was top notch. I don't remember seeing people at the Disney Resorts coming around to freshen my towels, give me a new setup on my chair, iced towels to help the heat (and no lingering for tips either...they didn't even give you a chance!). Drinks by the pool were expensive (brought our own cooler anyway) but the food was rightfully priced and VERY good. All around I very much enjoyed my interactions with the staff, and the hotel itself. Call me crazy but I like the look and feel of Royal Pacific over the Polynesian. I know that they're are going for slightly different styles, but Royal Pacific just had a much more grandeous feel to me.

We didn't go to the Parks this weekend (just did poolside and CityWalk), but we will definitely stay on property again when we decide to hit up the attractions. I'm thinking 2 weeks from now after our Disney Cruise.
 
njDizFan

njDizFan

Well-Known Member
devoy1701 said:
We just spend 2 nights at Universal (Loew's) Royal Pacific Resort and I was blown away by the service. Yes, the room was a bit pricey for a lacklaster (and small) size. And there were a few things that made me feel like I was being nickeled and dimed ($17/day for parking, $15/day if you wanted a Fridge...we argued the latter and got it for free though!). We laid by the pool all day Saturday and the staff was top notch. I don't remember seeing people at the Disney Resorts coming around to freshen my towels, give me a new setup on my chair, iced towels to help the heat (and no lingering for tips either...they didn't even give you a chance!). Drinks by the pool were expensive (brought our own cooler anyway) but the food was rightfully priced and VERY good. All around I very much enjoyed my interactions with the staff, and the hotel itself. Call me crazy but I like the look and feel of Royal Pacific over the Polynesian. I know that they're are going for slightly different styles, but Royal Pacific just had a much more grandeous feel to me.

We didn't go to the Parks this weekend (just did poolside and CityWalk), but we will definitely stay on property again when we decide to hit up the attractions. I'm thinking 2 weeks from now after our Disney Cruise.
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So just living the good life, a few days of drinks by the pool...must be nice...

BTW disregard that part of my PM..lol

Glad you had a great trip and Bon Voyage
 
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
njDizFan said:
So just living the good life, a few days of drinks by the pool...must be nice...

BTW disregard that part of my PM..lol

Glad you had a great trip and Bon Voyage
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It was a Bachelor and Bachelorette weekend out. We hung out by the pool all day, then the Girls went to Hard Rock and then to the CityWalk Clubs, and guys went to Margaritaville and then Pat O'Briens Piano Bar. Very nice weekend indeed!
 
GLaDOS

GLaDOS

Well-Known Member
devoy1701 said:
And there were a few things that made me feel like I was being nickeled and dimed ($17/day for parking, $15/day if you wanted a Fridge...we argued the latter and got it for free though!).
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To be fair, most big hotels are going to charge the same thing. Disney is an aberration* for not charging for parking at their hotels.

And I have to agree with liking Royal Pacific more than the Poly. The Poly just reeks of the 70s. Needs a lot of upgrades.

Edited out a dumb autocorrect mistake.*
 
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
GLaDOS said:
To be fair, most big hotels are going to charge the same thing. Disney is an abortion for not charging for parking at their hotels.

And I have to agree with liking Royal Pacific more than the Poly. The Poly just reeks of the 70s. Needs a lot of upgrades.
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Yes. We priced out a few of the other resorts Hilton Orlando, Peabody, some of the Bonnet Creek ones, our plans for the weekend kept changing so we looked at a few different places and you are correct that they all charge. I should have been more clear in that I wasn't surprised that they charged, just by how MUCH they charged. $17/day seems crazy steep, especially because I'm already paying $200/night. I would expect it to be $10-$12 range (I think Hilton was $7, and if I remember correctly S&D are $8), though would prefer if they would have taken a lesson from Disney's book in not charging for parking directly and instead roll it into the price of the room. The Loew's resorts also charge an additional fee if you wanted to use the workout facilities...again, just another example of something I feel like is nickel and diming the guest. Even most of the higher tiered hotel chains include workout facilities at no additional fee.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I went into Loews Royal Pacific for the first time recently and was impressed at how well they were able to make it feel isolated, despite how much it is not unlike Disney's resorts.

Also I think the Poly's 70's remnants are actually part of it's charm. I've never actually been in the rooms though, so maybe those need updating.
 
StageFrenzy

StageFrenzy

Well-Known Member
devoy1701 said:
Yes. We priced out a few of the other resorts Hilton Orlando, Peabody, some of the Bonnet Creek ones, our plans for the weekend kept changing so we looked at a few different places and you are correct that they all charge. I should have been more clear in that I wasn't surprised that they charged, just by how MUCH they charged. $17/day seems crazy steep, especially because I'm already paying $200/night. I would expect it to be $10-$12 range (I think Hilton was $7, and if I remember correctly S&D are $8), though would prefer if they would have taken a lesson from Disney's book in not charging for parking directly and instead roll it into the price of the room. The Loew's resorts also charge an additional fee if you wanted to use the workout facilities...again, just another example of something I feel like is nickel and diming the guest. Even most of the higher tiered hotel chains include workout facilities at no additional fee.
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Some of the other resorts charge for parking or have a "facility fee" but Fridges, Gym and in room wifi are included after that.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I posted this a while ago, but I'm bumping it because honestly, their service just keeps getting better each time I visit. Team Members range from "average" to "great", I seriously have not had or witnessed a single even slightly bad experience from a Universal TM in quite some time. Again, I can not say the same for Disney, who's quality of service is slipping and inconsistent. I'm seriously not trying to just bash WDW or anything, but one reason people always throw around as to why WDW is so much more magical is the guest service, and I feel its worth noting how much Universal's service has improved.

Please don't reply with "well *I* had a bad experience two years ago blah blah blah" because 1. There's no denying that they had less-than-desirable service in the past. This is definitely a post-Wizarding World trend that keeps growing and 2. Its very likely that I have more experience with observing this sort of thing than you do.
 
M

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
I can tell you with absolute certainty that they have been raising their standards lately, and it has resulted in some staffing issues.
 
K

kittybubbles

Active Member
After a recent trip where we went to UNI and WDW, I described UNI's employees as seeming less uptight then WDW's...it was just the 'vibe' I got from the employees we encountered.

I work for a large company that is trying to focus more on customer service and I found it interesting that Disney's name doesn't seem to come up like it use to when folks are citing examples, I seem to hear 'the Apple store' or the Ritz (not that I think I will ever stay at one).

Any maybe because it was unexpected but it was sort of neat that after we bought our daughter a unicorn from DIspicable Me, we seemed to have more folks tell her 'it's so fluffy' that day then we ever had wish her 'happy birthday' when she spent one at WDW and wore a b-day button for three days.
 
Todd H

Todd H

Well-Known Member
burks said:
Alright, I'm convinced, I'm going for at least a day during my next Disney trip. Sorry Disney.
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Don't feel sorry. We're long-time Disney fanatics and decided to go to Universal a few months ago. We had a blast. They've definitely raised the bar for theme parks.
 
W

wiigirl

Well-Known Member
burks said:
Alright, I'm convinced, I'm going for at least a day during my next Disney trip. Sorry Disney.
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No shame in that. :p
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Mawg

Mawg

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
Don't be sorry. It's Disney that should be sorry to you for assuming you'd give them your hard-earned cash while they grew rich and lazy.
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Todd H said:
Don't feel sorry. We're long-time Disney fanatics and decided to go to Universal a few months ago. We had a blast. They've definitely raised the bar for theme parks.
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wiigirl said:
No shame in that. :p
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I'm not really apologizing; it's my way of saying "Disney you need to get your act together". But truth be told, if in the last few years Disney World had built 10 new E tickets I would still be going to Universal too. UNI has done such a great job recently it's hard to miss.
 
Pumbas Nakasak

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
In my opinion as a Universal guest of many years the complaints directed at Universals employees has been overstated, while the reverence Disney employees are held is not justified in some instances. However given the size of both organisations it should surprise no one if they encounter the odd person having an off day.
 
M

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
bubbles1812 said:
What do you mean by staffing issues? Just curious. Like they are having a hard time finding "quality employees"?
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That's one way to put it, I guess. I think it has more to do at times with the specific issues and stresses that are inherent to safety critical positions and major attractions like Rockit, Mummy, etc which is where I've heard of the recent turnover in new TMs the most.
 

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