Why Staying at a Universal Orlando Resort Hotel is a No-Brainer
During a trip last month, I had a chance to visit Universal Orlando Resort for a day. It had been quite a while since I’d been there, so I was excited to have a chance to see what was new and stay at a Universal Orlando Resort hotel for the first time.
After my experience, here’s why I’d always recommend staying onsite at Universal Orlando!
The Price Point
We were only spending one night at Universal and were able to find a last-minute reservation at Endless Summer Resort - Dockside Inn and Suites. Dockside is one of the value resorts onsite at Universal, and the rates for this category are super comparable to staying at a non-Universal hotel nearby. And if you’ve got a bigger budget, you can find other great hotel options at Universal in the Prime Value, Preferred, and Premier categories that will get you upgraded amenities and perks!
From our room, I could see a number of different hotel chains nearby that would have been similar in price, but I would have missed out on my next point if I had stayed elsewhere.
The Perks
By staying at Dockside, we were able to take advantage of two perks of staying onsite: free transportation from the resort to the parks and Early Park Admission for hotel guests.
All Universal hotel guests are able to enter the parks one hour before the general public. When I was there, the designated Early Admission hour was for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Hogsmeade area in Islands of Adventure. We were able to hop on the bus to the parks around 7:30 AM, take the 10-minute bus trip, and then be at Islands of Adventure right when it was opening. It was super simple!
If we were staying at one of the Premier resorts at Universal, we’d have the added benefit of Unlimited Express Pass included in our stay. The Express Pass gets you access to shorter lines at many attractions and will cut your wait in line by at least half. Since I was staying with my younger kid who was not interested in some of the bigger attractions (like any roller coasters!) with the longer lines, I wasn’t too worried about not having this benefit for this trip.
However, if you are traveling with anyone interested in those rides, then getting Unlimited Express Pass is a HUGE plus to staying at a Premier resort. And when you break it down, if you were planning on buying the pass anyway you will pay a very similar price by staying at a Premiere resort.
The Space
This was the part that truly blew my mind during our visit. Like I mentioned before, there are many hotel options to choose from when staying onsite at Universal at a variety of price points. What I think really makes staying onsite stand out is how much space you can get at their prices!
At Dockside we stayed in a 2-bedroom family suite, which consisted of a main room with two queen beds, a kitchenette and dining area, a bathroom, and a separate queen bedroom on top of that. I couldn’t believe that you could get so much space for what the price! In fact, most of the rooms at Dockside are these 2-bedroom family suites.
Check out the resort tour on my Instagram page to see a full room tour!
If you’re interested in upgrading to a Prime Value, Preferred or Premier hotel they all also offer suites of different types, with some themed to Minions, Jurassic Park and the Future Rock Star suites at the Hard Rock Hotel.
I totally plan to stay at a Universal Orlando Resort hotel in the future, and would absolutely recommend staying onsite for anyone who’s planning a visit. Between the amount of space you get for the price point and the perks that come with, to me, it’s a no-brainer!
If you have any questions about the hotels at Universal Orlando Resort or are interested in a quote on a vacation, feel free to reach out at any time!
