I was playing around with dates to see if I could find 1 night, 2 room stay at one of the Universal Studios hotels that include EP. I would like to go for 1 or 2 days, 2 park tickets (so we can go on the HP train), and if possible EPs. I was trying to see what were the cheapest options that would still give us EPs for our family of 8 (9 if including child under 3). The website says rooms start at $209 etc, but I am finding limited availability. Any suggestions of when are the best times to visit (room price wise)?
Are you looking at a particular time of year? Of the EP hotels, I’ve always found RPR to be the cheapest of the bunch, though I have seen some deals on HRH that have brought it pretty close.
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Thanks! No, not really. My kids go to school, but maybe I can make a weekend or if the have a half day Friday/Thursday we can miss half a day (if it isn’t an important day).
If you have flexible dates, try looking at the Annual Passholder rates. Right now, they are only available through December 21st, but there will be dates in 2018 most likely. My family saved about $100 per night at Portofino Bay the third week of June 2017 (AP rates were available earlier in the year as well). UOR hotel AP rates are usually released 2 months in advance.
You don’t need to have an AP to check the rates. Check it online on Universal’s website(go to the Annual Passholders section and look at Hotel Offers):
RPR is the cheapest of the EP hotels. However, UOR AP discounts are often available at Portofino Bay making PB cheaper than RPR sometimes and if, the AP room discount makes up the cost difference for getting an AP instead of multi-day ticket. AP discounts apply to all the UOR hotels when offered, but PB worked out to be the cheapest for my family in June 2017 because it was the only one that had AP discounts on standard rooms (HRH and RPR only had the higher tier rooms discounted). The room discount paid for the difference between the AP and the 4 day park-to-park ticket for one person (only one person needs to have the AP for the room discount).Your mileage may vary depending on ticket type. Also, not sure if you can book 2 rooms with one AP; definitely check this with Universal first.
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Thanks! I hadn’t considered that, and the FL resident one isn’t that much more expensive than the tickets I was looking at!
My wife is a teacher and I’m a school counselor, and we’re taking the kids out of school for two days to go to UOR in January. We’ve also gone in September a couple of years ago.I know opinions on doing so are mixed, but we find that the reduction in cost and crowds makes it worthwhile. Both boys are excellent students, so I know they’ll be able to catch up, and they usually get missed work ahead of time. YMMV, but it’s worth considering.
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