I'm so glad you mentioned this. I was actually thinking about doing it when my 16 year old daughter and I go for the first time at the end of August 😊 We're not big rollercaster fans but we are Harry Potter, Spiderman and Transformers fans. ☺ Anna, I would love to contact you for your travel services too! Thanks to both of you for your fun, entertaining and informative videos ❤
We are traveling soon and wondering how using the express pass works for your check out day? Can you check out before you enter the park early am? When do you hand back your room keys? Definitely want to make the most of our time. Thanks in advance
@@BonnieBrownDolls I have the same kind of questions here. Planning a trip for 2024 and thinking we'd love to make a combined stay Cabana/Royal, but wondering how much time would we take for the check in/check out process.
Your Hotel Hopping recommendation is brilliant! Just re-booked my son's 18th Birthday family trip to include one night at a Premier Hotel for TWO DAYS of Express Passes for FIVE of us!! What a bargain! Thank you so much! My husband and I love your channel.
We are traveling soon and wondering how using the express pass works for your check out day? Can you check out before you enter the park early am? When do you hand back your room keys? Definitely want to make the most of our time. Thanks in advance
My wife and I just did a 3 night stay at Royal Pacific, and we thought it was amazing. The ambience is great (that lobby scent is heaven), and the convenience of express pass and the less than 10 minute walk to City Walk is incredible.
We stayed at surfside in November 2020 and I have to say it was more or less like a very high end Disney moderate resort at half the price! This was our first vacation to universal in over 15 years and it completely blew me away how high the customer service was there
Universal knocks it out of the park with customer service! It’s one of the things we really love about Universal! That’s interesting comparing Surfside to the Disney resorts, too! We just don’t have any experience there, so that’s great to know!
We've stayed at portifino bay and royal pacific. Don't forget to mention, you can hop around between royal pacific, portifino and hard Rock for the pools if you stay at any of them. We liked the overall vibe of Portifino which has some of the best 3 pools. But also like spending a few hours listening to live music in the hard rock pool. We're actually going back to portifino in one month!
I love that Anna felt she had to specify that no, a robot arm does not bathe you. You two are great. This video was awesome, very well out together and answered any questions someone may have.
Cheat code for endless summer. When the bus drops you off at citywalk cross the street to the valet security check rather than dealing with the main security line.
We have stayed at Royal twice and love it. My wife retired from teaching so we took a trip last September and stayed at Sapphire Falls. It was AWESOME!! Beautiful place. The staff was great and when they found out it was my wife’s retirement trip, they upgraded our room.
We love Sapphire Falls! It’s just as nice as the premier hotels just without the express pass. That’s the only reason we never stayed there much! Universal’s customer service is amazing too. We hope your wife is enjoying retirement!
We were considering staying at Cabana Bay until I watched your video about Premier hotels offering express passes to be included. Your videos have been the best advice on visiting Universal. Thank You.
Awh, that’s so sweet! Thank you for watching them! We’re always so happy when we hear that we’ve helped people save money on their vacation. Universal can be expensive, but there are ways to make it more affordable!
Hotel hopping is the life!!!!! My schedule back in Feb. Flew in Sunday: Checked into Aventura; Monday, walked right over to RP (Huge shortcut through convention center of Sapphire and RP) and got express passes right at 7:30am. Dropped luggage off. Enjoyed our 2 days at RP. Wednesday morning. Walked back over to Aventura for check in again. Flew out early Thursday morning. A savings of nearly 500 dollars just by walking a few steps back and forth from Aventura to RP. And got Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Express passes.
I was waiting for you to say you could walk over to Sapphire Falls!!! Heck I’ve ridden the bus from Cabana Bay gotten off at Aventura to get a gelato then walked over to Sapphire Falls to catch the water taxi!!😂😂😂
Our first Universal trip is in 32 days...can't wait to stay at the Hard Rock! No huge price difference from staying at a less expensive hotel and purchasing EPs for 5 people. Thanks Pretty Pughs!
Haha we’re glad we could help! It’s crazy how much better deal the premier hotels are, especially when you factor in how much more convenient they are. We hope you have a great time at the parks! 31 days now!! Lol
We arrive in 32 days as well! Well, in Orlando. We are going “across the street” for a few days first though. 🤫 Cannot wait! Have so much fun on your first Universal visit. You are going to have a blast! And I’m jealous you are staying at Hard Rock! One day! I have stayed at the other two premier hotels though. 😉
We are all booked! Staying at Aventura. We plan to walk across the street to Saphire to use the water taxi. I do love CB BUT I didn’t want to get placed in the back again where it took us a while to get back to our room after the IO Meetups. We were so tired and just wanted to get to our room. We won’t have that problem with Aventura. 😉 And if I do not get to meet you at the Meetups, I’ll be very sad. I’ll be looking like a hawk! 😂 And you both aren’t just pretty, you’re 🤩😎
Awh, thank you Darrick! We’re so happy to hear that you had an awesome time on your trip, and that our videos helped you do that! Universal is definitely the best theme park!! Lol
Another pro tip. If staying at Aventura and want to Hop over to Royal Pacific with luggage, make a right out of Aventura. Head into the convention center part of Sapphire Falls. There is a pedestrian indoor bridge that connects that hotel to the convention center part of Royal Pacific. Then follow it to lobby. Makes the walk nearly all indoors and easier with luggage.
We love Hard rock #1 and Portifino #2 !!! staying at both in June and Septemember! Also very happy to see a new video out!! Keep up the awesome videos!
😂 We are planning to stay at Aventura in October and I honestly didn’t even think about taking the water taxi! I was planning on using the walking paths. Glad I stayed to the end!!
@@ThePughTwo oh and I did make it to the end.. we have friends that walk over from Aventura to Sapphire Falls to ride the boat!! Lol.. we usually just stay at SF, but I love that resort! Just found you guys recently and really enjoy your channel! ~Dawn
What fantastic content! We’ve decided to move on from Disney and we don’t have nearly as much experience with Universal. We’re going to binge everything you’ve got! Thanks for making great videos!
I'm taking my daughter to Universal for her 13th birthday May3-8. We've been binging your videos as it's our first trip to Universal. They've been SO helpful!
We love hearing that Meghan! We are so excited for you both! We hope you find what you need here and if you have any questions that we don’t answer, please let us know and we will do our best to answer those!
Our Universal trip is over, but I still keep clicking on your videos! lol I love them! And we want to go back! We stayed at the Hard Rock and highly recommend it!
Thanks for the info guys ,we’re staying at dockside for 2weeks in September,as long as it’s clean and tidy it’s just a place to sleep and get changed really hope we won’t be in it that much ,got so much to see and do as we’re 1time visitors from the uk 👍👍🥰
I love your videos. I used all your tips and tricks to plan my last Orlando vacation and I will use Them again. Also, I stayed at Aventura and just walked to sapphire falls for the water taxi LMAO
I’ve already picked a hotel but it was fun watching this because I always value good advice. Thanks for the video and the laugh I had about the robot arms. If only, right?
I think sapphire falls is perfect if you are going primarily for HHN. You probably don't care about the free express since it doesn't work during the event anyway. You get all of the high end amenities of the Premier resorts apart from that, you are really close to the parks, and being able to take the water taxi back is much preferable to a 20 minute walk, or a cramped shuttle bus ride at 2 am after the night is over.
@ThePughTwo So you aren't allowed to stay at, let's say Adventura, hotel hop to Saphire Falls and take the water taxi? I thought all universal hotels, accept the Surfside ones, you can use the amenities of other properties...?
@@Diversesoul29 You are allowed to walk to Sapphire Falls from another hotel to take the water taxi, yes definitely. That's a good option too if you want to save some money. But at 2 AM after a long HHN night, staying at Sapphire will save you some walking.
We stayed at HR a few years back and at the end of the week just before checking out they told us, you know for just a couple hundred more you all can be Universal Pass Holders. We went from planning next years trip to planning meet up stays and HHN stays. Went from Disney fanatics to Uni fanatics just like that.
I love staying at Cabana Bay in Bayside Tower over looking the Volcano, but my girlfriend loves staying at all the hotels, and we’ve done the hotel hopping to take advantage of the unlimited express passes, great advice for those who don’t know.
It’s fun to change it up every once in a while! We don’t enjoy moving hotels, but it makes our wallet happier! Lol those volcano view rooms are so nice!
We haven't found a Universal Orlando hotel we dont like. We've stayed in several now and visited almost all of the others. The walking paths are relaxing and no standing on a bus. Hard rock is soooooo convenient. The short walk and Express pass is everything. Prices this year on the Resort hotels have taken a huge jump up but it's still cheaper than most other surrounding hotels and you have all of the perks of staying on property. Awesome video as always. We love your channel.
We couldn’t agree more! They’re all great hotels with everything we need! And yeah, we’re not loving the price increases either, but they’re inevitable lol. We’re so glad you’re enjoying our videos! We really appreciate your support!!
YET ANOTHER VIDEO WITH GREAT INFORMATION! Like wow.... I didn't know we would get an express pass for the day of and check out. So really you are getting two for the price of one. We are owners with Club Wyndam and most of the time we use the property whenever we go but I just booked a one day at one of the Royal Pacific just for the passes. Thank you again!! Also two butter beers a day for T.
Haha thank you Freddie! A lot of people just don’t realize how the express works, and it’s really worth taking advantage of! You’ll have to let us know how you like royal pacific! And yes!! At least 2! Lol
I'm Swedish and looking at visiting Universal someday with my family. For us, as it'd probably be a once in a lifetime experience, we'd stay at one of the premier hotels as those Express passes would make queueing less of a hassle. On the other hand it's so cool that it doesn't matter which of the hotels one would choose as they all seem pretty darn good! 😄 Thanks for a great review!
lol nice video😀 yes we stay at Cabana Bay and walk over to to the boats. and now we do the frogger crossing the street not using the bridge that is out of the way. 😛😋
😂 Guys you are so awesome !!! what a video .... so good....!!!! I gonna be honest with you I saw many people do videos about Universal HOWEVER I found you and stick with you... you are the most complete information about the park and I love well we love it... now my daughter and son is watching they are 20 and 24 years old... Great tips is appreciated it.... see you guys !! and All THe Best !!!!!😎 I subscribed.. We looking to be in the premier for all you just mention and we find out... Great thanks again !!!
Thank you, Al! We can’t tell you how much we appreciate hearing that! And thank you for watching, we’re happy to have you here! If you have any questions while you’re booking your trip, we’re happy to help!
Best tips ever!!! Especially the hotel hopping… Was just there with my kid’s highschool and it was packed! Enjoyed HP and shopping.Did premier hotel before saw the difference. Premier was the best value esp w the express and sometimes free perks like breakfast at the Three broomsticks and Leaky. But will certainly save hundreds if I do hotel hopping and do an annual pass. Thank you so much!🙏🏼
I always stay at Aventura and walk over to Sapphire for the Water Taxi! I really like Aventura; it's a great value and also good for childless people who prefer children in small doses compared to Cabana Bay. Also, I only use the room to store things, sleep and shower; and other than that I am in the parks! naps are not in my schedule :)
Yes, I stayed to the end. I am not going to universal for a while but I love you guys so love to watch your videos. I will take all your advice though when we do go. It was go advice for our trip this past January. Thanks for being you and doing these videos.👍👍
Went to universal Orlando this past week. Only did one day with express. And it was so much fun but, a day isn’t enough. Next time I go, I will give up a Disney day to two and just stay at universal. It was so much fun, and the tips you guys have posted helped a lot. Also now I know where I would think about staying in my next trip
That’s awesome! You definitely need more than one day to do and see everything without feeling so rushed. We hope you enjoy your future trips to Universal, and we’re so glad you’re enjoying our videos!
Thank you! This is perfect! My family and I have been trying to find our hotel! It will be our last stay at Universal for a while. But I’ll still be watching the channel!💕💕💕
Oh Tyler… You and your “man-splaining” 🤣 Anna has it covered!😉. Lol! But seriously your channel is the best, you give the best tips the best tricks the best info! I enjoy watching you two…you’re so dang cute! 😁Thanks for all your info and maybe I’ll see you at the parks? I’ll be there in September.👍
😂😂 He's always up to something crazy! We're so glad you've been enjoying our videos and that they've been helpful! We'll be there in September, so keep an eye out for us!
I'm from the UK and we as a family are looking to stay at USR, We have been looking at Cabana bay but the draw of free express passes may encourage us to stay at one of the premier resorts. Great video 👍
I phoned to ask about an upgrade to our Portofino stay in October to get a bay view (after seeing Molly from All Ears staying in one and falling in love with the view). It only cost £165ish extra for the week (around £20+ a day) which we thought would be worth it. Booked HHN tickets this week too. Excitement building now!
I definitely did not stick around until the end. I was out when Tyler had his little skit.. h ah ha ha. I mean I kid, we do stay at Cabana and run across the road we are not supposed to run across to catch that boat.👀 I mean, we've only stayed at Cabana Bay, but after this trip, I'll let you know which we prefer!!! Love the video y'all!!
Lol that road is the worst! We sprinted across with our luggage this last time trying to get over to Adventura 😂😂 we don’t recommend it! Where are y’all staying on this next trip??
This time we are spoiling ourselves staying at Royal Pacific. We are really excited about it and looking forward to the restaurants there too. We stayed at the Adventura last time and it was great but we only had express for one day. This time we spent a little less actually since we booked so far in advance and are staying at a premier and getting express for the whole stay.
the last time i was at sapphire falls i noticed that cabana bay was right across the street. i’ve always wanted to stay there but i also love the water taxis. now i can STILL enjoy the water taxis with your guys’ tip at the end 😎
No no! That wasn’t a tip! Lol we’re not sure if Universal really cares if people do that or not, but there are a LOT of people that do it. It’s not much of a secret anymore.
The endless summer hotels aren't too bad. Except for the fact that the walls are paper thin. Had neighbors upstairs and next door throwing parties at the same time. Pro tip: turn the AC unit on (regardless if it's just fan) to drown out the noise.
Endless summer was an awful experience last year. Between the paperthin walls, the smokedetector beeping in the hallway that took 3 days to fix and the endless wave of screaming kids all hours of the night, we will never go back. We stayed at cabana bay a few weeks ago and it's so much nicer and walking distance (and easier entrance) to thr park.
I live in florida and so far I've only stayed at dockside (2 bedroom suite) and it was really nice! My 2 yr old loved riding the bus. This year (May) we're staying a few days at Royal Pacific in the hospitality suite and I'm so excited! It looks so relaxing and a great way to get a break from the busy parks.
Oh that’s so exciting! We’ve stayed in a hospitality suite at HR once and it was crazy. The room was literally bigger than our house 😂 we looked up the square footage lol. You’re gonna have so much fun! We bet your 2 yr old loves the water taxi, too!
@@ThePughTwo we will have 5 kids with us so definitely need the room. And I'm sure we will all love the water taxi 😊 especially my feet after pushing a wagon all day lol. I was able to get the pass holder rate so saved a few hundred. It's still really pricey but it's our only premier stay this year. The rest will be value stays.
You can just walk to Sapphire and take the water taxi 🤣 yes, I stayed until the end of the video lol. Great video as always. My wife & I love Royal Pacific but for our trip in May we are at Portofino Bay (actually less expensive this time). We can't wait!
😂😂 We’ve seen that with Portofino Bay here recently! It’s such a nice hotel, you’ll love it. It’s also a shorter walk than from RP so we appreciate that too!
@@ThePughTwo I'm sure we'll love it! And yea, I was happy you guys timed the walk from Portofino Bay (I'm assuming to USF, not IOA?) in another video (thx!) and it was shorter. We'll be walking to IOA for EPA first thing each morning so we can jump on Hagrid's and then Velocicoaster (hopefully both before the park opens). Has Hagrid's been breaking down like it used to? It broke down A TON when we were there in Dec 2019 (including with us on it in the mist part for like 30-40 minutes on our first ride of our vacation lol)
Great video! I always stay at Sapphire Falls on my visits. It’s such a beautiful resort. I do walk down to RP and use the water taxis there since the line at Sapphire can be so long of a wait. I’ve stayed at Hard Rock before also. The proximity to park is so nice! I don’t have the UOAP pass but I do have the freedom pass, the military discount they offer is unmatched anywhere else. I hope to see you guys in the parks on my next visit in November!
We love that they offer the freedom pass, it’s such a great deal! We love all three of those resorts you mentioned. They’re so much fun!! We’ll be around, so keep an eye out for us!
LOL I knew I should have skipped watching this video. Yall almost made me switch from Cabana Bay to Loews Sapphire Falls Resort LOL; all because of that dag on water taxi. Of course all of that changed when I saw the price jump when I checked the Kids Suite. Probably wouldn't be so bad if we weren't staying 9 nights (again I could blame you two for these extra days I added lol but I won't)!!!! Wishing nothing but good things for the two of you!!!!!
Haha Cabana Bay is a great hotel, you’ll have so much fun!! Nine days is gonna be awesome, too! It’s crazy how they’re pricing the hotels that far in advance right now. We’re glad you got yours locked in at a great rate!! And thank you! We really appreciate your continued support!! ❤️
You know, technically you could just stay at adventura or cabana bay and then walk…kidding! 🤣. Great summary of the hotels! Even with having a place there we still occasionally stay in the Universal hotels for the perks, specifically the express pass.
We are staying and Endless Summer Resort - Dockside in November when we go. The value of the hotel was what sold it. Helps there is a starbucks in it as well lol.
I love staying at the Loew’s resorts on the water, but last I went all that was available was Cabana Bay, and it was wonderful, what an experience! Our room was facing directly in front of the Volcano. And the 50s aesthetic is fully in force, from the clothes, to the music, to the tvs! So awesome. Just like for you guys, the shuttle bus was the only negative as it was busy and it does drop you off at city walk, but that was literally my only complaint! I actually had no idea about the walking path, I’m glad my boyfriend didn’t either because the walking at the park itself is quite enough for me 😅 I definitely missed the water taxi though! I didn’t even realize we’d have to walk from city walk, it’s not even that bad of a walk it’s just that with how busy it is if you can avoid it I would!
Hi Pugh Two, I learned on a trip in February this year, if you stay for 4 or more days (I was at Dockside), I received a lower rate for the length of stay. That would not offset the cost of Express Passes, but I do like to save money.
Love the content as always. I stayed at Aventura for a week last September on a solo trip. I enjoyed the hotel, used the walking path everyday, and the roof top bar was nice. As a single rider, I wasn't dragging kids along the path and didn't see the need for the express passes. If I was to go with a group, I would probably spend more to upgrade the hotel just to get the express passes.
Thank you so much for the advice. It was one of the best advice I got on the Hotel location value and benefits. I’m looking forward to watch videos and learn more about the universal annual passes. Thank you!
We are going in October and we decided to stay at cabana bay from mon-sat and wanted one night at hard rock for the express passes. It is actually $75 cheaper to book the entire week at cabana bay (based on nightly rates for 5 day instead of breaking up the week 2 and and 2 with 1 night premium). We then booked hard rock hotel which means we have 2 hotels booked for one of the same nights. My suggestion is to practice putting in dates to see what will be cheaper to hotel hop.
Oh absolutely! It’s weird how their system works sometimes! they call them “length of stay” discounts where if you stay so many nights the rate goes down. Whatever works, right?? Lol
We're going May 2nd! I used this hotel hopping tip from a previous video you did to help us save money. I am so grateful for all of your beautiful advice!