Staying on Site (Universal) About This Page:

[kari goodale]

HI! I've made reservations for Oct 10th thru 18th at the RPH club level to the tune of gasp $2700.00.Actually I just had to check my info sheet because I can hardly believe I did that. But that's the correct amount. So I guess my question is ... Is the club level worth the extra cost (apr. $100.00) more per night.We are a family of four, 2 kids 12 yrs 6yrs. who (adults that is) watch our weight but chow on vacation if that makes any sense. The breakfast sounds good enough , we don't eat big full breakfasts at home. (cereal , fruit etc.) lunch we"ll be in the parks right? The cocktail time 5-7pm right? Sounds fab tab! Then the dessert hour or whatever sounds great to my son. But I'm just scared the cheapie in me will be hearding everyone to the lounge and not wanting to spend any $ anywhere else. So please tell me what your thoughts are. We've never done club level before but I guess it sounded interesting for some reason this time. I'm actually even wondering if during this time of year do we really need to stay on site for express pass priveledges any thoughts on that one.Thanks in advance I.ve been reading these boards for along time so I know there is a wealth of knowing out there.

[jhoshowski]

IMHO, club level is rarely worth it unless you will be at the hotel to take advantage of all of the offerings at all times of the day (and even then, I just don't know). Of course, it's just my opinion, but will you really eat/drink $100 a day worth of the offerings?!? Especially since you probably will be in the parks at lunch time, and maybe still out and about (dinner, City Walk, etc) for the cocktail hour.

Now, as for the Express Pass - we will be at Universal December 3-6. Even though it should be a fairly slow time of the year, we booked the Hard Rock for two reasons. First, being so close to the parks, which is especially handy since I have Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Rheumatoid Arthritis. At the end of the day, we don't have far to go. And I could even head back by myself earlier, if I wanted. Second, Express Pass will really help us since my DS6 doesn't want to see/do at least half of the stuff there. He is a bit "timid" when it comes to rides/shows. Even though the lines shouldn't be THAT long, I would rather have him wait 5 minutes instead of 15 when we do something he doesn't want to (DH and I will switch off with him and DS10). That way we have equal time to dedicate to the "kinder, gentler" things he wants to do. I'm sure it doesn't apply in your situation, but that was my reasoning.

Good luck with your decision!

[Shell_of_the_South]

October tends to be a busy month due to the popularity of Halloween Horror Nights. I think you will enjoy the "front of the line" access. I have no experience with club level so I can't offer any advice on that. Have fun!!

[Sue M.]

Don't know! That would be $25 per person of food/cocktails per day. Are they providing a hot breakfast? Maybe that would add up to $25 per day with the desserts and Happy Hour with horderves for you and DH. Prob. not for the kids.

[smithsports]

I have stayed club level and like other posters have said, many times our schedule at the park and pool did not coincide with the club level offerings. the breakfast was donuts, cereals, fruit juice, milk, etc. the coctail hours included beer and each night was a theme, mexican night, chinese night, wings and dogs, so some nights were more appealing to my family than others. the dessers in the evening were not that great, brownies, cookies, but the availability of bottled water and soda was nice. for us I don't remember the difference being as much as $100 per day. it was more like $50. so the convenience of breakfast and beverages was worth it.

[Sue M.]

The express pass is so worth staying on site though!! We loved the new Simpsons Ride, and was able to go on it like 3 times in a row which we wouldn't have been able to do without it.

[GoofyMom]

I love staying on site and the perk of the Express Pass priviledges! I think I'd agree with Shell and suggest it's worth it at that time of the year.

However, I wouldn't spend $100/night for Club Level. Yeah, it was nice to have a private little room to eat breakfast and finger foods and get a couple glasses of wine in the evening, but it was crowded and I don't remember being overly impressed with the selection of foods. In fact at breakfast, I would only eat a fruit bowl and in the evening I only had the wine. They had a couple choices of cereal and a few pastries for breakfast. In the evening, they had a couple hot dishes that I don't remember being interesting enough to eat. In a typical day at Club Level, I would have a fruit bowl, a cup of coffee, a bottle of water, and a glass, maybe 2 glasses of wine. And you didn't get any special services like you do with Concierge Level at WDW. Well, they might do turn down service without you asking for it, but you can get it for free if you request it (well you could last time I stayed there) without staying at Club Level.

I know you didn't ask this, but I thought it was better value to stay at Concierge Level at WDW.

[kari goodale]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to cancel club leveland maybe wait and try it at wdw. So now another question. I choose rpr because of price and felt good about that untill I told my HB that the pool doesn't have a slide and he said .I know that we can pool hop but is that really that convient?We are staying 8 nights and pretty much do parks part of day pool part of day. When we stayed at Coranado Springs in end of Feb the kids went down the slide total of 3 times(I counted) because I'm relatively pretty cheap and thought we could've stayed at the all-stars but HB won"t. WE stayed their 1 night after a cruise one time and I thought my HB was going to have aheart attack with all the screaming teenagers at food court.So please tell me how fabulous the RPR is and we will be just .I have many more questions so please bear with me. This planning is so much fun. Can you people believe that some folks just actually show up to vacation with no idea about it . I can't fathom it.

[jimmymac]

I wouldn't pay for the club level. the front of the ride privilige is fabulous. RPR is a great hotel, 4 star service and amenities all around

[Shell_of_the_South]

Keep in mind that Universal is much smaller than Disney, so you won't have to take a bus to anything. So it's a lot easier to pool hop there. You could walk to the HR pool from the RP or take the water taxi. It's probably about a 15-20 minute walk. Or, you can spend the morning at US and hop over to the HR pool before returning to the RP. You could also take the water taxi to PB and try out their pool as well.

The pool at RP has a children's water play area that's fun. They used to have supervised games at the pool as well. There is also the beach area at the RP (no swimming) where you can play volleyball or just chill.

[GoofyMom]

The RPR is a really nice hotel. It's luxurious and exotic and I doubt anybody will be disappointed with it. I really liked staying there - our room overlooked The Hulk roller coaster so that was fun to watch when they were doing the early morning safety checks! It really isn't much trouble to go between the hotels at Universal. I think a 6 year old and 12 year old would have a lot of fun at RPR's water playground. The water slide at the HR really wasn't anything that captured my DD's attention - although she was 15 when we stayed there, maybe she was too "cool" for the water slide. If you are really unsure and the water-slide is a deal breaker, check and compare prices between RPR and HR - sometimes they are very similarly priced and one time I was able to book HR for less than what the RPR was going for. In fact, I just did a quick little "pretend" check online (May 16-20, 1 adult, no kids) and the Portofino is the least expensive of the three resorts! Sign up for the Loews First program and if you don't have AAA check those rates and it may be worth joining to get the discount. Play around a little and you never know which is going to be the most affordable!

[kari goodale]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I canceled the club level at the rpr and the price with AAA came down to a more managable number. I'm excited to stay there now looking at some of the pictures. MY HB liked the looks of the POLY and the royal seems to have the same tropical appeal.I was going to just hail a cab from the airport but now had better get a town car servicefor the grocery stop. Does anyone know if the refrigerator has a sensor on it or can I dump out the mini bar stuff and use it for the week