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Universal Endless Summer Resort - Surfside and Dockside Inn & Suites

I've had the Hyatt suites for 75 a night. There are decent options for less if you are good at shopping around.
I'm thinking it is hard to beat $110 a night for the 2 bedroom suites that sleep 6 though. I'm not aware of many or any hotels that can match that and then also offer the very efficient shuttle service plus early park entrance perk. I really think that Surfside changes the game when it comes to affordability for families of 5 and 6. I simply can't afford to visit Disney anymore for this very reason. We could certainly rent a home off site but then car rental costs and parking fees kick in. Right now Universal has Disney beat for the "traditional" family of 5 when it comes to affordability.
 
It is staggering to me how fast this second hotel has gone up... it almost looks ready to open even though it is not.



Does Universal maintain the medians here or is it a county/city thing with an agreement to keep them snappy beautiful all the time?

I know the ROW is owned by the gov, but I don’t know about any agreements. The county tends to keep their portions of I-Drive pretty nice though.
 
Any other reviews of Surfside? I am set to check it out this weekend and was just wondering if anyone had stayed yet
 
For the summer, this resort has maintained a 94% Occupancy rate.

This latest 2,800 that we are building, the 750 that we already opened and the 2,050 to complement it that will open next year, they are all value properties. The standard room is $85. Now there are a lot of hotels, motels or hotels up and down International Drive, which is the tourism drive right there in Orlando that they are $200, $300 room properties and people aren't going to stay there when they can stay at Universal and get early park admission and get transportation to the park and have character breakfasts and all the themeing and everything. So it really is, I mean we just opened it in summer, we are on a 94% occupancy. It's crazy.
 
Unfortunately unable to stay here now due to the Thomas Cook collapse. On a lighter note we have now had to stay at a non-Universal hotel however Universal have arranged for us to still have early park entry!

Hopefully next year!

sorry to hear about the Thomas Cook debacle. I’ve wondered how many tourists from the UK use them, you have any idea?

On another note Tom Bricker reviewed the resort and liked it.

Universal's Endless Summer Resort Review - Disney Tourist Blog
 
sorry to hear about the Thomas Cook debacle. I’ve wondered how many tourists from the UK use them, you have any idea?

On another note Tom Bricker reviewed the resort and liked it.

Universal's Endless Summer Resort Review - Disney Tourist Blog

I actually worked from them previously and they are pretty much out joint number one agent alongside Tui.

It was estimated that 150,000 people were on holiday at the time of the collapse and with them accepting bookings as far as late 2020 the bookings already taken would have been in the hundreds of thousands. The entire operation of getting people home and refunding those booked is expected to price around £600,000,000

On top of all of that its taking 60 days to get people their money back (if they are covered) so many people travelling soon simply will not be able to book again, we got lucky thanks Grandad!

All of this and 9000 UK jobs lost :( .
 
Unfortunately unable to stay here now due to the Thomas Cook collapse. On a lighter note we have now had to stay at a non-Universal hotel however Universal have arranged for us to still have early park entry!

Hopefully next year!
Hey, I'm sure you saw, but SeaWorld is offering a free day to all those affected by the Thomas Cook situation.
 
I've seen a few come up slowly, expected more by now. Admittedly flights are now a bigger issue for us brits, that will hurt operators in getting WDW and Uni room allocations to sell.
Yes. Our close friend is visiting WDW (DVC) at this time. But now he's stranded here without a flight because of the sudden bankruptcy. He generally used Cook during the past dozen years for his trips from the UK to Orlando.
 
Just spent Wednesday through Monday with friends in a two bedroom suite. Damn good hotel with the only issue bring towel size and quality. No where else offers the amenities and room quality at this price like Endless does.

How did you find the location compared to the other Universal hotels?
 
How did you find the location compared to the other Universal hotels?

Depends how you get to the parks. If you only take the bus, it's "closer" than CBBR or Adventura because it's a direct shot to the transportation terminal. If you walk, well, that's not an option, and there's no boat. Because of that you either need to adjust to buses or stay somewhere else.
 
I don’t think it felt all that different than staying at Cabana while riding the bus.

I think the place is great, and if it’s significantly cheaper than Cabana I would definitely pick it over that Hotel

That’s the interesting point. The cheaper price justifies the location.

Once the hotel fully opens, they’re onto a winner. From appearance alone, I’d rather stay here than Aventura. Plus the closeness to I drive takes you just outside the bubble which a lot of people can see as an upside.
 
That’s the interesting point. The cheaper price justifies the location.

Once the hotel fully opens, they’re onto a winner. From appearance alone, I’d rather stay here than Aventura. Plus the closeness to I drive takes you just outside the bubble which a lot of people can see as an upside.

I don’t think I would ever consider Adventura. The place is just everything I am not looking for on a vacation.

After staying here I’m fascinated to see what the place does to the I-Drive around it. I would not be surprised to see Uni ending up with more land around that lake
 
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