Will anyone stay on site any longer?

[JusticeDisney]

Hey, if that works for you, great.

Understand not everyone sees the benefit. If I have no interest in going to Universal, then it’s a big yawn.

If it’s all about saving money off site, I can already do that a lot closer to WDW.

Spot on. If someone wants to stay offsite in order to save some money, more power to them. But do it a a spot closer to WDW (as opposed to all the way over at Universal) if the whole point of your trip is to vacation at WDW.

 

[sullyinMT]

It may be better in your eyes, and that’s certainly fine. But in my eyes (and I’m sure in many others’ eyes as well) the thought of staying all the way over on Universal property in order to vacation at WDW sounds miserable.

Oh, and one last thing. The Universal hotels are not better (let alone “MUCH”better) simply because you keep saying they are. It’s a personal choice and not everyone agrees with you. Again, you have every right to feel however you want, but I believe that many WDW resorts blow even the best Universal resort out of the water.

I don't know that many WDW resorts blow Uni out of the water, but I think people try to make apples to apples comparisons to an apples and pears argument. Both are stone fruits, and make for decent to very good desserts, but they're still different.

The Uni "deluxes" are themed, enjoyable hotels that are within walking distance to the parks and come with remarkable perks and very good onsite dining. When fully operational, they also offer live entertainment or dining shows. Very similar to WDW on the same deluxe level. They lack heavy theming (anyone who berates Riviera but praises Portofino needs their screws tightened), but aren't outright owned by Universal, so there is some give and take between Loews and UOR going on, I'm sure. Oh, and no fireworks views at Uni since they don't really do pyro. But that's not really our cup of tea, anyway.

As for the value end, I'd much rather stay at Endless Summer (either one) or Cabana Bay over the All Stars, but maybe not Pop or AoA. The biggest drawback to Endless Summer seems to be the lack of soundproofing, and that's too bad. Our family, with two teenage boys and a mom, definitely see the appeal of their 1 bedroom/3 queen suites, just for the sleeping surfaces alone. All three Universal values are well themed and tell a cohesive story, without being "over the top" or "in your face." That appeals to us more than a 2.5 story football helmet. We recently stayed at AoA for the first time, in a Nemo suite, and I really wish there were more non-DVC rooms like that on either property. Two showers, 2 TV's, 3 beds (even if they're foldaway), and a door for mom & dad so they can close the door and let the boys hang on their Switch at night? If they weren't so grossly overpriced, that would have become our preferred room type for the time we have left with them.

It's the moderates where WDW blows Uni out of the water, IMO. And I'd grant you that the new Gran Destino rivals or beats the Uni premier hotels on dining and theme. Any of the moderates at WDW, even CBR now with Skyliner, is better than what Universal pulls off in that tier. Aventura is "Vegas lite," IMO, and I'd rather just stay on the strip if I'm in a hotel like that. Sapphire Falls suffers from being priced like a premier without the Express Pass inclusion, so we've never seriously considered a stay there. The rooms look very nice, but so do some of the I-Drive major brand hotels.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I stayed at Aventura last time I was in Florida, and I have to say I really appreciated being able to walk to Volcano Bay. Such a contrast from taking a bus to Animal Kingdom and then waiting for another bus to get to Blizzard Beach.

 

[JusticeDisney]

I don't know that many WDW resorts blow Uni out of the water, but I think people try to make apples to apples comparisons to an apples and pears argument. Both are stone fruits, and make for decent to very good desserts, but they're still different.

The Uni "deluxes" are themed, enjoyable hotels that are within walking distance to the parks and come with remarkable perks and very good onsite dining. When fully operational, they also offer live entertainment or dining shows. Very similar to WDW on the same deluxe level. They lack heavy theming (anyone who berates Riviera but praises Portofino needs their screws tightened), but aren't outright owned by Universal, so there is some give and take between Loews and UOR going on, I'm sure. Oh, and no fireworks views at Uni since they don't really do pyro. But that's not really our cup of tea, anyway.

As for the value end, I'd much rather stay at Endless Summer (either one) or Cabana Bay over the All Stars, but maybe not Pop or AoA. The biggest drawback to Endless Summer seems to be the lack of soundproofing, and that's too bad. Our family, with two teenage boys and a mom, definitely see the appeal of their 1 bedroom/3 queen suites, just for the sleeping surfaces alone. All three Universal values are well themed and tell a cohesive story, without being "over the top" or "in your face." That appeals to us more than a 2.5 story football helmet. We recently stayed at AoA for the first time, in a Nemo suite, and I really wish there were more non-DVC rooms like that on either property. Two showers, 2 TV's, 3 beds (even if they're foldaway), and a door for mom & dad so they can close the door and let the boys hang on their Switch at night? If they weren't so grossly overpriced, that would have become our preferred room type for the time we have left with them.

It's the moderates where WDW blows Uni out of the water, IMO. And I'd grant you that the new Gran Destino rivals or beats the Uni premier hotels on dining and theme. Any of the moderates at WDW, even CBR now with Skyliner, is better than what Universal pulls off in that tier. Aventura is "Vegas lite," IMO, and I'd rather just stay on the strip if I'm in a hotel like that. Sapphire Falls suffers from being priced like a premier without the Express Pass inclusion, so we've never seriously considered a stay there. The rooms look very nice, but so do some of the I-Drive major brand hotels.

I respect everything you are saying. IMHO, however, the top tier WDW resorts are vastly superior to their comparables at Universal. Just my $.02 though.

 

[sullyinMT]

I respect everything you are saying. IMHO, however, the top tier WDW resorts are vastly superior to their comparables at Universal. Just my $.02 though.

Totally fair. I find myself arguing the same regarding cruise lines. Maybe, objectively, they're not, but I find DCL to be a couple ladder rungs above the other family lines when it comes to service, dining, and entertainment. And our family is more than happy to pay the premium for that experience over, say, RCI or NCL who have a solid but not elite family offering for our taste (Carnival, from experience, is more Six Flags in this comparison).

 

[jpinkc]

Never done a Cruise and really dont appeal to me. I will say Hard Rock vs GF, the GF is very pretty and in past stays service was excellent as was dining options. Hard Rock the main restaurant I found to be a bit trying to hard to be trendy I guess on the menu food was Meh. The Palm was very good. Rooms nicer and bigger at the Hard Rock, pool was also a dead heat for me. The poolside lounge was good at the Hard Rock! But 900 vs 350ish (with Uni Pass) for a club room. UHM even though I love most Disney Hotels theming by far over any Uni property, I have to vote for my common sense which is Hard Rock. If anything if we go back after Nov trip, we will seriously be looking to stay at Uni or offsite. I mean the GF is good but not that good, same with COntemporary or Poly.

 

[Jeff4272]

I respect everything you are saying. IMHO, however, the top tier WDW resorts are vastly superior to their comparables at Universal. Just my $.02 though.

Hard Rock UO is way better than Contemporary and at a fraction of the cost.....thats fact not opinion

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Disney is slowly losing its appeal for us, especially with what they charge for their rooms. However, we do have annual passes so if we stay offsite, we can only book 4 days at a time. With this whole dumb park reservation system, it could be quite possible that we book our 4 park days, scan in for our first day at the parks and then go to book another park for that 5th day, and there could be no availability. In order to be able to pick park days for our entire stay (we usually do 6-7 nights) we would have to stay onsite. I would hate to get down there and only be able to do those 4 days because the other days after our 4 days fill up. Staying on-site might be the only option for passholders to get all the days they want.

 

[JusticeDisney]

Hard Rock UO is way better than Contemporary and at a fraction of the cost.....thats fact not opinion

LMAO at you saying that your opinion about one hotel being better than another is a fact! Me thinks you might want to spend some time with a dictionary looking up and learning the meaning of the words “opinion” and “fact.”

 

[Graham9]

Short answer - Absolutely not.

We used to stay at Coronado Springs as a rule, but have also stayed at Port Orleans and managed to get bumped into Animal Kingdom Lodge. Wonderful hotels and always enjoyed them. But we have decided that these latest round of pricing hikes and means to extort money to pay for things which were always free has meant we are forced to look elsewhere. Not because we can't afford it, but on principle and we would mean spending several thousands extra on our stay for basically nothing. Disney resorts no longer have any appeal for us based on the removal of 'perks' and massive increase in prices. So we are looking at various options right now and there are several places nearby which can supply us with what we need for considerably less.

 

[Jeff4272]

Disney is slowly losing its appeal for us, especially with what they charge for their rooms. However, we do have annual passes so if we stay offsite, we can only book 4 days at a time. With this whole dumb park reservation system, it could be quite possible that we book our 4 park days, scan in for our first day at the parks and then go to book another park for that 5th day, and there could be no availability. In order to be able to pick park days for our entire stay (we usually do 6-7 nights) we would have to stay onsite. I would hate to get down there and only be able to do those 4 days because the other days after our 4 days fill up. Staying on-site might be the only option for passholders to get all the days they want.

This will not be an issue at all going forward......It was only an issue due to limited availability during pandemic................Theres not one day sold out the rest of the year (other than Oct 1 and 2)

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

This will not be an issue at all going forward......It was only an issue due to limited availability during pandemic................Theres not one day sold out the rest of the year (other than Oct 1 and 2)

The parks regularly hit capacity during holiday periods, mostly Christmas. If anyone is a passholder staying offsite that week, they may very well not be able to get into the park of their choice (or possibly any park at all) I imagine during the rest of the year to be fine but peak travel times could pose a problem. Imagine having a breakfast booked at MK on the 5th day of your trip and can't get in because all the park passes are gone? That would suck!

 

[SteveAZee]

Hard Rock UO is way better than Contemporary and at a fraction of the cost.....thats fact not opinion

I haven't been to Hard Rock UO... what do you see that makes it that much better than the Contemporary? I'm curious.

 

[Jeff4272]

I haven't been to Hard Rock UO... what do you see that makes it that much better than the Contemporary? I'm curious.

Newer, nicer, better quality features in the rooms, pool better, theme better, food better

Deluxe 2 queen room is 25% larger at 500 sq feet and is half the cost of Contemporary 394 sq foot room

and they have a ton more room categories if you want more room

But other than that, nothing

 

[aliceismad]

Hard Rock UO is way better than Contemporary and at a fraction of the cost.....thats fact not opinion

I mean, the rooms look nice and the pool looks nicer than Contemp's, but the draw of the Contemporary for me is history, monorail, fireworks view. Those have value to me.

 

[Jeff4272]

I mean, the rooms look nice and the pool looks nicer than Contemp's, but the draw of the Contemporary for me is history, monorail, fireworks view. Those have value to me.

$3k higher for a 7 night stay value? Then you add that you get Express Pass and its a major $ and perk difference

 

[CaptainAmerica]

$3k higher for a 7 night stay value? Then you add that you get Express Pass and its a major $ and perk difference

Express Pass for rides I'm not interested in riding is worth exactly $0.

 

[Jeff4272]

Express Pass for rides I'm not interested in riding is worth exactly $0.

oh you're the one

you hate Universal? you never go?

 

[aliceismad]

$3k higher for a 7 night stay value? Then you add that you get Express Pass its a major difference

Yeah, but only if I want to go on Universal's rides. I don't. I sure as anything wouldn't spend 7 nights there.

 

[Jeff4272]

Yeah, but only if I want to go on Universal's rides. I don't. I sure as anything wouldn't spend 7 nights there.

No Im saying spend 7 night there and go to their parks 3x......1 park per day (Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay 1 day each) and go to WDW parks the other days..........