I think Hard Rock is already in the $500 range. So, that sounds about right as a starting point for Helios. One day, fortune may smile upon you and you're bringing us a video from your room at Helios. Thanks for the video!
I actually wouldn’t be shocked if there is a $600-$700 rack rate for it. One day I believe you’ll be right and hopefully we will make some videos from our room there
We stay at the Portofino Bay at Universal & at the cheapest time of year it is around $425 a night. That does include express pass and we never have to rent a car we get picked up & then use the water taxi (which I Love) to City Walk & the parks. They have more than one pool, restaurants on site & the resort is beautiful, rooms are very nice & employees very friendly & helpful. Yes it is expensive but for a vacation most people spend more than they normally do & when going to the parks know it isn’t cheap. I was amazed at the prices for the two new hotels right in front of Epic Universe, they are a good price. Universal is doing lots of things great & making the hotel prices not so high is a great way to keep them full & pull in even more people. They are pricing them so families can afford them. Are You Listening Disney?? I think the Helios hotel will be comparable in price with the other premium hotels & probably the most expensive because it is new & sounds like there will be added interaction for hotel guests so it adds to the whole experience.
I agree with everything you said about the Universal hotels. We are actually staying at Surfside this evening and the staff, food and service has been great. Universal had said a few years ago they were willing to price the hotels “at a loss” (which they probably aren’t actually but just below market value) to increase market share. I think that plan is working and more people are giving them a try
Awesome information, at first I never liked the idea of a commercial hotel as a center piece to the park, but this sounds like they really put in the effort to make it add to the theming and experience~ Hope the leaked details are true. I wonder if they will let guests to the park enter the hotel just to look around? I'm guessing not since it's a special entrance into the park from the hotel, and not just an open path.
I have that question as well cause if they let everyone into the hotel to just wonder around it could cause a lot of logistical issues for the hotel staff… but then again they would make a lot of money on food, drinks, etc
Lowe’s does an incredible job tbh. Portofino bay feels like you’re in another country and they didn’t try to theme much other than an Italian vibe. Given the time, effort, thought and funding going into Helios, I’d say it will be the best theme park hotel in America if they do it right.
Long as it is in line with Hard Rock Cafe I have no problem, but the only concern I have is with the hotel being in park…meaning in terms of needing to leave to get other food, personal items etc. how will we be able to move about…..
Do you think Express pass from Hard Rock etc will apply to Epic Universe? Or will they have a separate set of tickets and express pass for Epic? Do you think they will expand to 4 park tickets and AP?
Not sure exactly what you’re referring to. If it was where I said the Starcruiser comes to mind I was just commenting on the idea of it being a heavily themed hotel with a story
@@capthemagic ya I checked the price for these two new hotels and they are reasonable and affordable. My son wants to go to universal this year but I told about the new land with new Harry Potter land and rides which open 2025. So he agrees to go to Disney world this year with me lol and 2025 we are going to stay in the new hotel at Christmas.
I think it will be closer to Animal kingdom prices so $750 a night on the high side an $550on the low side. But if it where$900 a night I think it would still always be full. I started saving at the $900 a night price.
@@capthemagic I think people will plan a trip to Orlando for Epic Universe but stay for Studios and IOA as well, so if anything, I strongly believe the crowds will increase at all nearby parks as well. Pretty sure Disney is banking on this, and that's why at their earnings call they didn't confirm a 5th gate, but instead talked about expanding capacity at their existing parks.
This is why Universal has been adding things to their existing parks to try and spread our crowds with new things IMO. I’ve also said for a long time that Disney doesn’t need a 5th gate as they can do a lot in their existing parks with updated and new attractions.
The reason the Star Wars hotel failed was because of the price. That's it. The average person does not have $5000+ to spend for 2 days. That in no way is practical or sustainable. Now it would have been different if certain rooms had that price point but that wasn't the situation.
Definitely possible. If I were to guess the rack rate would probably be something like $999.99 if they go up that high and not actually hit the $1k per night number… but that’s just a guess
This is why I said at the beginning that we can’t confirm this is true information and it’s called “a leak” as it seems it may have come from the hotel design team that was instructed internally that they wanted a “inhabitable Disney Castle” of sorts. Sure, publically they would never say that but internally companies do stuff like that all time as they get inspiration and ideas from competitors
I've been following this park since inception, and I've never heard of some of the information brought up by the leak. Sure he goes over other things around the leak that we already knew, but the main point is the new details from the leak which allows additional speculation.
The original source of the leak wasn't there any longer but Orlando Theme Park Zone does have this article: orlandothemeparkzone.com/2024/01/30/concept-art-for-helios-grand-hotel-at-epic-universe-emerges-online/
