5 Reasons Why You Should Stay On Property When Visiting Universal Studios Orlando

giveaways! • travel • U.S. Travel • theme parks & cruise vacations • tips for traveling with children

by Mom It Forward on November 13th, 2015 | No Comments »

When going to Orlando to visit Universal Studios it is easy to try and stay at a local chain hotel/motel instead of the theme park property because you think it will be cheaper. Well I am here to tell you that you are wrong. The bang for your buck when staying on property while visiting Universal Studios in Orlando just might surprise you!

On our Family Forward Orlando Adventure this year we stayed at Loews Royal Pacific Resort. The food and service culture are at the heart of Loews Hotels & Resorts and the team is committed to making each guest’s stay a memorable one - whether it’s the culinary team accommodating special dietary needs or helping our guests celebrate a special occasion. I can personally attest to this. The hotel manager was so helpful day or night doing anything that he could to help out where needed. And when it comes to almost 400 people you can imagine that there was always someone needing something!

Photo courtesy www.universalorlando.com

5 Reasons You Need To Stay On Property At Universal Studios Orlando

1. The Hotel Property

The “back story” and inspiration for Loews Royal Pacific Resort is the golden age of travel – when travelers would island hop through the South Pacific. From the decor to the music playing in the lobby to the “aloha” greeting, our goal is to immerse you in a hotel experience that is entertaining, fun and relaxing. The kid-friendly features of the hotels include everything from the amazing swimming pool and its interactive water feature (pirate ship!) where movies are played nightly, the Royal Bali Sea, to the special Jurassic Park themed kids suites, character dining and even a special kids dining area.

Photo courtesy www.universalorlando.com

2. Early Admission

Anyone that stays in one of the four unique Universal property hotels gets into the parks an hour early. Everyday. Yes, even on holidays and weekends. At 8 am you can head straight into Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley (depending on which park opens early) and ride one of the rides that don't accept Express Passes. The beauty of the early admission is a 30 minute or less wait for one of the awesome Harry Potter rides instead of 120 minute wait. You can't beat that!

I went in one morning early and just walked around Diagon Alley and took pictures while there were no people. If you have ever been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter then you know that it is usually wall to wall people. Early in the morning it is like having a personal tour of the Wizarding World.

3. Express Pass

Staying at an on-site hotel is the best way to experience Universal Orlando Resort’s theme parks, with special perks that include a free Universal Express Unlimited ride access. When you stay on property you get to skip the regular lines for free! Every person that stays on property gets an Express Pass using their hotel room key. It is an individualized pass with your picture on it so that it can only be used by YOU! It is a value of $89 per person in your room, per day! Now that is a deal! It's the fastest way to ride – enjoy access all day long, as often as you'd like! In fact with this express pass we rode The Mummy (my personal favorite ride) 4 times in one day. We literally walked right onto the ride several times while people without passes had to wait. Talk about a time and money saver!

4. Property Hopping

When you stay at one of Universal's properties you have access to all of the other hotel properties as well. We stayed at Loews Royal Pacific Resort but a short 10-15 minute walk or 5 minute drive is The Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, and the Cabana Bay Beach Resort Hotel. We decided to eat a a different hotel for dinner one night. When we called for reservations we were put right in and they sent town cars, free of charge, to transport us back and forth. We were able to charge dinner to our account, using our room key and name as well since they are sister properties.

Can you say character dining? When staying on property you can have your favorite characters give you a wake up call in the morning. Or how about meals with some of your favorite theme park characters? They will pose for pictures, sign autographs, and interact with everyone at your table… just wait until you tell everybody back home who YOU had dinner with!

5. Convenience

This one is a no brainier. The Universal Resort Properties all have complimentary water taxis, shuttle buses or walking paths to both theme parks and Universal CityWalk, and most have all three. You also receive priority seating at select restaurants throughout both theme parks and CityWalk when staying on property (see Property Hoping above). You also have complimentary delivery of all merchandise purchased throughout the resort and parks to your on-site hotel room. This makes it nice when the kids want to buy 20 pounds of candy from Honeydukes at 8 am and you still have the whole day of rides ahead of you.