Hotel discounts?

[bartleby1]

Hi everyone! Universal newbie here. We are frequent disney visitors but want to do a universal trip in July. I've been pricing hotels for our family of 5 and I'm getting very discouraged at the universal prices. Everytime I've priced it out in the past, I've ended up discouraged and scrapped the whole idea and we went to disney instead. This year I'm determined to get there! However, I've never paid more than $145 at disney and that is for a moderate. We will probably only do 2 or 3 nights and get 3 day park to park tickets. I have found ticket discounts but can't seem to find any hotel discounts. Our cheapest option onsite seems to be cabana bay at $229, but then of course tax and from what I understand a $22 parking fee?!? Is there ANY way to get this cost down? Since this wouldn't even be getting us FOTL pass, is it worth the cost? The cheapest onsite hotel which includes FOTL is RPR for $344 which is totally out of the equation for us. I know it is a busy time of year and we could use the early entry but I'm seriously considering just staying offsite somewhere. We will be driving so we have a car. Does AAA offer a discount and can I price that out on universals site? Or does anyone have an offsite recommendation? Would it be really bad to miss out on the early entry?

 

[schumigirl]

Parking is only $12 at Cabana Bay per night, so 2 days parking for a one night stay.

You have to call for AAA I believe, not sure as I've never used it.

Yes, it is an expensive time of year to go........and that time of year without EE or EP it wouldn't be fun.

Having EE would be an advantage for sure.

 

[snoopboop]

Honestly, for what you'd get with the $100-or-so increase in price per night from Cabana Bay to RPR, I wouldn't hesitate to book at Royal Pacific. We're talking a $250 TOTAL price increase for the stay, including the parking fee difference, for the whole trip.... and what you'd be getting for that increase would drastically increase the bang for your buck. Perhaps some creative budgeting could make it do-able. For example, if you're renting a car, consider taking a shuttle or hiring a car service instead, which would save a lot.

 

[pcstang]

Middle of July, high crowds and HOT equals a miserable experience in my opinion. I understand the hotel cost is high but the value of express is unbeatable.

 

[FargoBear]

I realize regulars post this quite a bit, but you may want to look at purchasing at least one night at Royal Pacific, Hardrock or the Portofino. You get front-of-the-line access for both check-in day and check-out day, so that would be a majority of your three-day stay. You can check-in as early as 7 a.m. and leave your luggage with bell services while you tour the park if your room isn't ready. And then on check-out day, take your luggage back to bell services and have them hang onto them while you tour the parks again. Especially in a high-crowd, high-temp season, I would advise looking into this option.

 

[bartleby1]

Thank everyone for your thoughts, advice and opinions. I really do appreciate it. Unfortunately, you all have pretty much confirmed what I was already kind of thinking that it isn't worth going if we have to stay offsite. I was hoping for a way to get my youngest there this year since she's a huge harry potter fan, but onsite is just way out of our budget. No way in the world could I convince my husband to spend that much on a hotel.

Thanks again for the info!

 

[pcstang]

You can still go and have a great time! Be at the gates early and hit the headliners before the crowds build. Obviously we all prefer to have express with the deluxe hotel stay. However, a lot of people don't and still have a blast. The advice you get on the boards will help you know what to expect for your visit. We went quite a few times staying off site when my oldest son was our only child. We didn't know about the hotels, express etc. and still had a blast. I took my son a few times during the week of Christmas. I didn't have the knowledge that I do now but, we didn't care it was super busy. We just went and had a ton of fun!

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Thank everyone for your thoughts, advice and opinions. I really do appreciate it. Unfortunately, you all have pretty much confirmed what I was already kind of thinking that it isn't worth going if we have to stay offsite. I was hoping for a way to get my youngest there this year since she's a huge harry potter fan, but onsite is just way out of our budget. No way in the world could I convince my husband to spend that much on a hotel.

Thanks again for the info!

My first several trips to Universal were off-site, and we had a great time! We saved enough one trip that we could still purchase the express pass for a day or two, and on another trip, we joke that made our own express pass out of single rider lines.

If your priority is Harry Potter, the castle ride doesn't take EP, so you are waiting in line anyway (but it does have a single rider line if everyone is old enough).

 

[snoopboop]

No way in the world could I convince my husband to spend that much on a hotel.

Would it help to let him know that it's so much more than just a hotel? The cost of the hotel also includes the Unlimited Express Passes for all members of the family, which are seriously worth their weight in gold... (Well, they're made of paper, so I guess they're pretty light, but you know what I mean!)... There's also the water taxi transportation to the parks, which rocks.... Plus, the hotels are seriously gorgeous and amazing. It may not be what he usually would budget for a hotel at another destination, but it is so very worth it for a Universal vacation.

 

[Robo56]

bartleby1 did you think of buying yourself a Annual Pass and this would allow you to get discount on food and merchandise. This would also allow you to get a discount on your hotel stay. Cabana is showing APH discount for Cabana Bay during weeks of 7-11, 7-18 and 7-25 at a rate of $ 159.00. PBH $ 289.00.

Also check for tickets at undercover tourist, AAA, Universal and Cheaptickts to compare prices. You can also check for the onsite hotel discounts at these sites too.

Wish you well. Hope you can find a price to accommodate your needs

 

[cam757]

Try the Orbitz app. They have a promo of 20% off Universal hotels and you can use in in conjuction with the Stay More Save More. I just booked RPR for 7 nights at the end of August for average night cost of $150 for 2 queen waterview. Sale ends in a few hours. You have to pay in full now but can cancel at anytime up to a week before your trip.

The code is SAVEBIG

Just checked the Orbitz app and for 3 days in July using the code, I found a family suite for average price of $183 a night at Cabana.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I feel like an idiot, but no box shows up for me to enter a promo code for Hotel Royal pacific on Orbitz. I am following the instructions they have, looking for it on the "secure booking" page. Not there, and I do not get the "how do you want to pay?" either, I just get a spot to enter CC info for the deposit.

Any help here? I have not stayed at Universal in awhile, I am out of practice. (We have stayed at HRP and HRH 3-4X each in the past). I am trying to book my daughter a couple of days in November. I used to call for AAA discount on the rooms? Is that still helpful? thanks all!

 

[cats mom]

I feel like an idiot, but no box shows up for me to enter a promo code for Hotel Royal pacific on Orbitz. I am following the instructions they have, looking for it on the "secure booking" page. Not there, and I do not get the "how do you want to pay?" either, I just get a spot to enter CC info for the deposit.

Any help here? I have not stayed at Universal in awhile, I am out of practice. (We have stayed at HRP and HRH 3-4X each in the past). I am trying to book my daughter a couple of days in November. I used to call for AAA discount on the rooms? Is that still helpful? thanks all!

On both Cheap Tickets and Orbitz you have to choose the "pay total" option to use a discount code. The code box doesn't show up with the "pay deposit" option.

Also a heads up that getting codes to work on Universal properties has been pretty sporadic lately.

I'm no help with the AAA part of your question. Hopefully someone else has more info.

 

[macraven]

if you call the uo booking site, they can give you info on the AAA rates, or so they did last september when i called.
you can also get the AAA room rate by calling your group AAA