I check my prices daily. On 3/9 I got my room (2 Queen Club Level at RPR) to the cheapest I’ve seen it - $558/night. Today it is $1,026/night!! Universal’s pricing model is insane 
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I have been checking daily too. I have the extra charge for the 3rd adult and my club level stay is only one night but RPR has been higher than HRH club. It is so weird.
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I think there was only one time, maybe two, when HRH was the cheapest for my dates. I’ve flipped back and forth between RPR and PB several times as the prices have changed though.
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Okay, please give me opinions on Aventura. The hotel pricing is crazy right now. I check a few times each day as my trip is just three and a half weeks away, and this morning Aventura is just $12 more per night than my Terra Luna reservation-even cheaper than Cabana Bay pricing. I know nothing about Aventura except that it is really tall. 
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Aventura is amazing! You can walk to Sapphire Falls to take the boat to City Walk, or walk to City Walk and Volcano Bay. It has a lobby Starbucks, great QS, and lobby bar. The beds are comfortable. I just love that Universal’s value resorts have amenities that are only available at Disney deluxe resorts such as fitness centers.
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All of the above. And also,
Because of the small size of the hotel, it feels kinda private, as there are not crowds of people at the lobby/food areas.
In the rooms, the floor to ceiling windows are great as well as the layouts are unique.
And also the rooftop bar and grill is great.
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I did not know this, and that makes it a game changer! I just looked at a map, and Aventura is right across the street from Cabana Bay? That’s where my choir is staying. As their accompanist I am not required to stay at the same hotel or have official chaperoning duties, and at the time they booked back in October, Cabana Bay was over $300 a night for me to have my own room!! By comparison, I booked Aventura this morning for $141 per night (AP rates).
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I go for a walk every morning and I always walk to Cabana Bay when I am staying at SF or Aventura. It is a 5-10 minute clearly marked walk. I do follow the directions and walk the path. The entrances are right across from each other but the path crosses you at the lights/crosswalk.
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It’s about a 4 minute walk if I recall. Once you enter SF you bare right and go down the spiral stairs and then outside.
Here is a map I used before. The red line is the path you take from Aventura to the Water Taxi.
Weren’t you looking into staying at SF, last year?
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Yes we were! My teen and I ended up at Surfside last August. Sapphire Falls is really high this year for the days I will be there, and since it’s just me -not counting the choir lol!- I’m going for budget friendly since I won’t be at the resort much. One of these days I will splurge but gone are the days we can afford Royal Pacific like we did several years ago. Sigh.
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I am so excited I switched to Aventura when I did! The AP rate is back up to over $220 per night, so I feel like I got a good deal at $80+ less than that per night. Looking forward to the options of boat, walking path, (both via SF) or bus to the original parks!
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Prices for my dates dropped again - and by quite a lot (at 3 months and 10 days out)!
I am now seriously rethinking a true split stay. For anyone who has done this/stayed at the below resorts, would you rather:
- Spend 4 nights at Saphire Falls (with the option of spending the second night at Royal Pacific with a day pack, which we’ve booked mainly for the UXP, but were planning on leaving all other luggage at SF - hence not having to deal with a true split stay) OR
- Spend 2 nights at Royal Pacific and 2 nights at Helios (moving by ride share at midday on our second park day when we were planning a midday resort break anyway). It would align perfectly with our park plans - first 1.5 days split between USF/IOA /and then 1.5 days at Epic. It’s $300 more than option 1, which I can live with in the grand scheme of things.
I’ve now got both options booked to mull it over for a bit.
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For only $300 more, option 2 sounds great.
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I agree, option #2.
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I like both options but would defer to how much you care about moving hotels. It is nice to not have to move … but on the other hand, both RPR and Helios would be worth a try (I’ve never stayed in either but have Helios booked for June).
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If you have an amex card be sure to look at the Universal hotels through them, with ours we get a guaranteed 4pm check out which makes a split stay SO much easier
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Is that perk only for Amex Platinum though, and only for the Premier hotels?
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Yes Amex Plat is just for the premier hotels, but I think Amex Gold does a similar thing for stays of 2 nights or more
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This is a great perk - thanks for sharing! We don’t have AMEX any more unfortunately, but good to keep in mind as we consider different cards in future.
The prices for my dates are still jumping around wildly (and many resorts dropping signifcantly) at now almost exactly three months out, so I’m playing with new options yet again - such a rollercoaster this UOR hotel pricing experience
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I check in on 4/15. I check rates everyday and change when they go down. The last change I made was 2/17. I have seen it hit that same rate once or twice again, but not go lower. So maybe 60ish days is the sweet spot. I’ll keep checking right up until I leave and report back if I see it drop again.
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