Will Universal's new Budget Hotel hurt Disney?

ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
righttrack said:
The front of the line benefit is their selling point. If not, then why stay there and not somewhere else?
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Good question. The 3 current Universal onsite hotels have similar benefits as staying at the Epcot Resorts (BWI, BC, & YC) at WDW: convenient access to 2 theme parks and a nighttime entertainment district.

Using the 4th of July week as an example, it's possible to stay at Universal Hard Rock Hotel for $300/night. For the same nights, it's possible to stay at WDW's BWI for $459/night.

I have stayed at both hotels and recommend both highly. However, at least to me, it's obvious that the HRH is the significantly better value. (If $300/night can be called "value".:)) Add to that Universal's unlimited version of FastPass and it is a no-brainer for anyone who objectively compares WDW and Universal.

The beauty of staying onsite at Universal's 3 Deluxe Resorts is that it's possible to sleep in, completely tour a park in the late morning & afternoon, return for a late afternoon dip & nap, and then head out for some evening excitement, all without leaving the grounds. Try doing that while staying at an Epcot Resort and expect to stand in line for at least 2 hours at Soarin', Test Track, and TSM, in addition to an hour at ToT and RnRC.

I'm sure many of us have returned from a WDW vacation more tired than when we left. By comparison, staying onsite at a Universal Deluxe Resort offers a truly relaxing vacation.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
The beauty of staying onsite at Universal's 3 Deluxe Resorts is that it's possible to sleep in, completely tour a park in the late morning & afternoon, return for a late afternoon dip & nap, and then head out for some evening excitement, all without leaving the grounds. Try doing that while staying at an Epcot Resort and expect to stand in line for at least 2 hours at Soarin', Test Track, and TSM, in addition to an hour at ToT and RnRC.

I'm sure many of us have returned from a WDW vacation more tired than when we left. By comparison, staying onsite at a Universal Deluxe Resort offers a truly relaxing vacation.
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THAT is the best part. You could practically stick an entire Disney Value room in a PBH bathroom. Room size is nice. :) Their hotels have good service, too. The short and lovely boat rides also beat riding the bus around at WDW.

But the best part is being able to ride what you want, when you want. You don't have to get up early. You can spend afternoons at the pool.

You get both fun and relaxation at Uni. It's the best of all worlds.

Disney is fun, but you must work for it, keeping ride appointments and meal appointments. You have to do extra walking. It's still great, but Uni is just a little bit greater because its so easy. :)
 
R

RyenDeckard

Well-Known Member
Alexis said:
I doubt it, the hotel isn't really cheap. I saw the rates and its 230 a night. Just like the other three hotels of theres, when they were new they started off "cheap" then the rates got out of control.
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As mentioned above, for a pool side suite. Disney's prices for those are considerably higher.

Look at the pricing for their standard rooms, they hover around the 100-150$ range depending on season. That's a very similar price to the hotels directly off-site from Universal, and you get the benefit of staying on site.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
danpam1024 said:
we actually did the math- for us (a family of 3) we can stay at CBR and purchase express passes for less than staying at HRH during the times we go in similar rooms. Some days, you don't even need them and as premium passholders we get it for free after 4:00 pm. As long as the pool rocks, I can see us going there if we're short on cash for HRH!
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why pick the most expensive UNI hotel to compare to?
 
danpam1024

danpam1024

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
why pick the most expensive UNI hotel to compare to?
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It's not the most expensive- it's the middle :) I'm just saying for us, we would go even though there isn't a Express pass benefit, the reduced rate makes it worth it if you still want to stay on property.
 
danpam1024

danpam1024

Well-Known Member
Alexis said:
I doubt it, the hotel isn't really cheap. I saw the rates and its 230 a night. Just like the other three hotels of theres, when they were new they started off "cheap" then the rates got out of control.
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the suites are opening first and that is an AMAZING deal for a suite.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
danpam1024 said:
the suites are opening first and that is an AMAZING deal for a suite.
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I'm unsure where the $230/night rate came from. I just tried booking a suite at the Cabana Bay Beach Resort for 4 nights in May 2014 and was quoted a price of $181/night. (Price includes Stay More, Save More discount.)

I tried booking a suite at AoA for May 2013 (2014 is not offered) and was quoted a price of $296/night. (Price includes Spring Room-Only discount.)

The AOA suites look much bigger but both sleep up to 6.
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
In June we are staying at the Holiday Inn Express (a Universal "partner hotel") for $90.29 per night and that includes breakfast. They are only 1 mile away and also offer a free shuttle. I hope it's decent! It looked ok on their website and they are pretty nice where I live.
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Corey P said:
We have a couple by me and they are nice. Usually business Hotels tucked in some where out of the way. You get a suite or a regular room?? A suite at Embassy suites will have a efficiency kitchen and usually breakfast included. Back to apples to apples.
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It's just a regular room, but I don't plan on doing any cooking anyway lol. There are 6 of us so we got 2 rooms. As long as it's nice, I feel like we made a good decision. Instead, we are splurging at Disney. :)
 
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fosse76

Well-Known Member
DfromATX said:
For Uni, we are staying offsite. Do you think we will regret not buying their fast passes? I'm kind of concerned about that. (My DH was in charge of the Uni porton of our trip and I planned the WDW part.) He was a lot more frugal than me and elected not to purchase the fast passes and we're staying offsite (although he surprised me by buying the food deal) where I refuse stay offsite when we go to Disney. I like to get the whole shebang - DDP, etc... He said the Uni part will be our test to see if we like it first.

A person can like both Uni and WDW right??? LOL Most people who know me associate me with WDW. I admit I have been accused a time or two of drinking the Disney koolaid. ;)

** Offsite - meaning one of their partner hotels if that makes a difference.
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If you do not stay onsite a Universal hotel, you can purchase the Unlimited one- or two-park Express Pass at the parks. Depending on when you visit will determine the value of the pass. And depending where off-site you stay, even this additional charge can still add up to less than the price of the Universal hotel room.
 
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fosse76

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
Most of the quick service food is geared towards the burgers & fries, pizza, and chicken fingers crowd and these are not good at Universal. WDW QS used to be about as bad but they made tremendous strides in the 1990s. WDW's QS food has been slipping once again over the last 5-8 years but it's still better than Universal's QS food.
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I disagree. I find Universal's quick service to be far superior to Disney's. And it's not nearly as expensive.


ParentsOf4 said:
Universal's table service restaurants are much better. Just ate at Confisco's (in IOA) and Finnegan's (on St. Patrick's Day of course) this week. My family enjoyed their food and prices were comparable to typical chain table service restaurants, noticeably less expensive than Universal's Jimmy Buffet's or Hard Rock (where we ate last Thanksgiving).
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Agreed. I don't get the love for Disney's Table Service restaurants. To me they are pretty much the same quality as something like Olive Garden or TGI Fridays or Red Lobster. And priced like Le Cirque. Universal's table service restaurants don't try to pretend to be fine dining at fine dining prices, they are nice, casual sit-down restaurants at casual sit-down restaurant prices.
 

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