A Few Questions Please..

[laurenk]

I just booked HRH for 6 nights in December. We are both nervous and excited. WDW has been our favorite, but we have decided to live dangerously and try something new. LOL!!

1. Are the pools heated?

2. Will my 7 year old dare devil twins like it?

3. How much spending money do you suggest?

4. How would you compare HRH to Disney Deluxe Hotels?

5. Is 6 nights too long there?

6. Are there food court type restaurants at HRH?

7. Are there any pictures available of pool view rooms?

8. What type of park hours can we expect?

9. Hoe do food prices compare to Disney?

10. Are there any parades etc.?

11. Do they do anything special around Cristmas time? We will be there from the 16th-22nd.

Thank you for any and all information, we really know nothing about Universal.

Lauren

 

[gschmerl]

I think your children will love it. The pool was quite warm when we were there, but it was July. YOu can charge most things to your room and not need much spending money. We were there five nights and could have stayed longer. There are no food courts. There is food served by the pool and in one restaurantat he HRH. City Walk is a short walk and is loaded with restaurants. Don't know what time the parks close in Dec., but I know it's not very late. We thought the food prices were lowere than Disney, especially in the nicer restaurants. No parades while we were there. There are shows.

 

[laurenk]

Thought of a couple more questions..

Do you have to pay to go to City Walk to eat?

Do you have to make dining reservations in advance?

Thanks!!

 

[laurenk]

Just realized I posted this on the wrong board, can a moderator please move it?!??!

Thanks!
Lauren

 

[gschmerl]

There is NO admission fee for City Walk. Some of the clubs have a cover charge later in the evening. If you want to eat at Emeril's it's best to make reservations in advance. For the others, we were able to just make a reservation in the afternoon for that evening. For some of the restaurants (HardRock Cafe and a few others), your room key will get you priority seating. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and the line was around the building. We went up to the door and showed our room key and were seated immediately. You'll love that magic room key.

 

[WebmasterBarry]

Moving this to the Universal discussion boards.

 

[laurenk]

Thank you!!!!

 

[XAVIER]

Have you looked at the official site?
There are loads of pictures here including some 360 degree panoramas!

Hard Rock Hotel

 

[laurenk]

Thanks Xavier!!!

Those pictures are beautiful!!!
Do you know if the pool is heated??

 

[Baileymouse]

Here's the answers to your questions:

1. Yes!

2. The 7 year old Dare Devils will love it!

3. A whole bunch Seriously, food is pricey, as are trinkets and shirts, and you're going to want them. Think Disney price-wise. You can charge things to your room, but if you like to budget, bring cash.

4. HRH compares very well to the upper level Disney resorts.

5. 6 nights isn't too long - you can take days off to swim and enjoy the surrounding area.

6. No food court.

7. Room views are on the web site, they're very nice!

8. Check the website for park hours. Universal closes early, about 6 or 7. I don't know if they stay open later during holidays. Best to check with them.

9. Food was about the same as Disney, price-wise.

10. No parades, more attitude. Disney is very sweet, Universal is more in your face fun.

11. Again, don't know about the holiday attractions or hours, check with them. So much is new there.

You don't pay for City Walk and you can make PS reservations - especially since you're staying onsite. However, you can use that magic room key for FOTL at the restaurants as well as in the theme parks for the rides.

I found the hotel staff to be very helpful. You'll really love it.

Enjoy!!!

 

[laurenk]

Thank You !! Baileymouse!!

Those are the answers I was looking for!
I am having problems with Universals website, or maybe it is just me.

I am feeling much better now about not doing the Disney thing again.

 

[RhondaS]

http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56252&highlight=pool

That post shows the view from our pool view room. I haven't downloaded any room pictures, but they are very nice and most definately compare to Disney's Deluxe Resorts. We loved the HRH!

 

[laurenk]

Thanks Rhonda!

Gorgeous!!!!!!

I got the Entertainment rate, so this really swayed us to trying it. I am now crunching numbers, and might knock off 2 nights and add 3 at CSR...what to do..what to do..
The can't leave WDW is really me, not my family, although my DH is kind of leaning towards WDW too. It is the fear of the unknown!!

 

[RhondaS]

I would suggest that if you want to split your stay between Universal and WDW, then do WDW first and Universal last.

Why? Because you will be so spoiled with the easy Front of the Line access at Universal if you do it first. It will be very hard to get used to waiting in the WDW lines after that!

Also, according to your dates, that would put you at Universal for the weekend, which also makes those Front of the Line perks all the better. Weekends are always more crowded, so use this perk to your advantage.

I'd probably do 4 nights at WDW and 2 at Universal, or 3 & 3, depending upon my arrival and departure times.

We too had that "fear of the unknown", but it QUICKLY disappeared once we entered Islands of Adventure. It's a fantastic park, and we don't plan a trip to Orlando without including IoA/US anymore!

Also, HRH is SO CLOSE to both parks and CityWalk. We never even thought to use the boat transportation they provide, because the walk is under 5 minutes to US and under 10 to IoA!!!

 

[laurenk]

Rhonda- Is 3 full days at IoA/US enough time? I really would like to add WDW because we have never been during the holidays, but after our 10 days in June, my kids were ready to go home.

We are also considering the 4 day cruise before hand, have you ever been? I got a great rate for that too.

 

[sha_lyn]

There are 4 resturants in HRH to eat. One is at the pool and only serves lunch. The lounge serves appetisers and I think sandwiches. The palm steak house is good but pricy. The menu for the NY location is almost identical to the one at HRH (last time I looked the HRH location didn't have a site). The sunset grille serves b/l/d. we only had breakfast there (breakfast is the only buffet) and it was very good.

Food pricey are about the same as WDW but the food at US/IOa/CW is better in my opinion. Mythos in IOA is great and so is the irish pub in US (really the only food in us I would brag on)but CW is so close you could eat there almost any meal. We would return to HRH in the afternoon then walked to CW for dinner except for the night we ate at the Palm.

 

[laurenk]

Thanks for the info. Sha_lyn!!
I have booked 4 nights Poly., and 4 nights HRH. Very excited! Only 134 more days to go!!

Hey, I also noticed on your signature that you are going to SOG next year. Do you know about the overflow rates? We get GREAT rates for the WDW hotels using them. Better than AP rates. PM me if you need more info.
Lauren

 

[Shawn2goUSF]

Now i have some questions

1. I want to go to The Portafino Bay But I'm at the HRH Can I?

2. If I can how long of walk is it?

3. If I take the water taxi will it go straight to PB?

4. If I take the water taxi Do I have to go to CW then get off and get on the Water Taxi To PB?

Please ehlp only 20 Days and counting

 

[sha_lyn]

laurenk..we used overflow last yr for ASMu. We really debated on where to stay in 2002 but with the price and size of rooms at SoG and the 3 golf courses(sis and her bf love to golf) that surround it SoG won out this time. We are staying 8 nights and getting 3 rooms. My DSis and I are splitting the cost of a room for our DM so SoG is the best option this go around. I really want to stay at WL sometime and DSis wants to stay at Poly, SoG just made the most sense this trip.


Shawn2goUSF... it really depends on the time of day you want to go to PB. we took the taxi form HRH to CW and bakc several times and one we went from CW to PB then to HRH. The walk I heard was about 10 min

 

[laurenk]

sha_lyn- Ok. Just wanted to make sure a fellow diser was aware of all benefits, and such good ones at that. When we stayed at SOG we walked to the monorail at Poly. a couple of times(at that time transportation was poor), and I would be so paranoid, because we had seen an alligator or two on the way. I am such a baby!