My first trip to Universal with the fam

[twebber55]

actually i ve been to Universal several times but ive never been an onsite guest
First understand that my family are dvc members so my wife and kids compared everything to disney

random thoughts
Cabana Bay-- we ve stayed at many dvc villas and wife said to me this was her favorite hotel she's ever stayed at, theming was great, activities, bus service, everything...we loved it as a family... you truly feel completely immersed in the theme

Meals were good and pretty well priced, the only meal i thought was a bit overpriced was Antojitos
Mythos was outstanding

Parks were a blast, we actually got to be that first family to open the parks on friday. so if you were there last friday that was my son who said let the adventures begin. Diagon Alley was incredible just wish we would ve spent more time in there. Both of my kids now prefer Universal to Disney, which makes sense they re 17 and 13. Gringotts was great, my son said if it had more coaster elements he thought it would ve been the best ride he s ever been on

Ill say this, Universal needs another park for us to stay longer. With VB next year and maybe a new park in 5-6 years this is full week long resort

one negative, there is no reason for IOA to close at 8:00 the first week of June

Add on edit: salted Caramel and sticky toffy ice cream was incredible at floreans

 

[Mad Dog]

actually i ve been to Universal several times but ive never been an onsite guest
First understand that my family are dvc members so my wife and kids compared everything to disney

random thoughts
Cabana Bay-- we ve stayed at many dvc villas and wife said to me this was her favorite hotel she sever stayed at, theming was great, activities, bus service, everything...we loved it as a family... you truly feel completely immersed in the theme

Meals were good and pretty well priced, the only meal i thought was a bit overpriced was Antojitos
Mythos was outstanding

Parks were a blast, we actually got to be that first family to open the parks on friday. so if you were there last friday that was my son who said let the adventures begin. Diagon Alley was incredible just wish we would ve spent more time in there. Both of my kids now prefer Universal to Disney, which makes sense they re 17 and 13. Gringotts was great, my son said if it had more coaster elements he thought it would ve been the best ride he s ever been on

Ill say this, Universal needs another park for us to stay longer. With VB next year and maybe a new park in 5-6 years this is full week long resort

one negative, there is no reason for IOA to close at 8:00 the first week of June

Great that you had such a good trip. Yes, CBBR is a surprise for the price. It's like a grand resort. The onsite experience is what makes Universal a great vacation. You can't duplicate it as a day guest. We've gotten to the point we "need" to spend a couple of hours at Diagon every day we visit the Studios, it's that good, and we're not even HP book or movie fans. I agree with every single point you made. And yes, IOA needs to stay open later. Hopefully Kong & Hulk will spike their attendance and they'll stay open until at least an hour into darkness, if not more, during non peak seasons. :thumbsup:

 

[UK-Trigg]

CBBR is great for the price point, the theming, food, amenities and ease of access to the parks makes it a complete package which is perfect for families, nice to hear you and your family enjoyed your stay

There seems to be more and more people heading to Uni for the first time and the feedback is really positive from those people, this is great news for Uni as it helps secure repeat business which in turn drives business and market share.

Out of interest @twebber55 , how long did you stay?

Oh and I do agree, later parks hours please uni.

 

[twebber55]

CBBR is great for the price point, the theming, food, amenities and ease of access to the parks makes it a complete package which is perfect for families, nice to hear you and your family enjoyed your stay

There seems to be more and more people heading to Uni for the first time and the feedback is really positive from those people, this is great news for Uni as it helps secure repeat business which in turn drives business and market share.

Out of interest @twebber55 , how long did you stay?

Oh and I do agree, later parks hours please uni.

checked in Wednesday June 1 checked out Saturday June 4
and to be honest i could ve used another day of relaxation there

 

[UK-Trigg]

checked in Wednesday June 1 checked out Saturday June 4
and to be honest i could ve used another day of relaxation there

Yep, the hotels are so good it's worth scheduling a day or two to fully enjoy them and get some well earned R&R.

I'm also DVC and I do enjoy it, I love AKL and BLT but a recent stay at Portofino stole away my favourite hotel crown.

 

[twebber55]

Yep, the hotels are so good it's worth scheduling a day or two to fully enjoy them and get some well earned R&R.

I'm also DVC and I do enjoy it, I love AKL and BLT but a recent stay at Portofino stole away my favourite hotel crown.

havent stayed at AKL but probably will once Pandora opens
but i ve been there several times. We typically are Beach Club Board walk people
Portofino looks incredible thats also another reason why i wanted to stay another day, so i could go check out other hotels

 

[sporadic]

The early closing hours were one of my only few gripes as well, along with some upgraded nighttime entertainment (IOA really needs a night show and later hours). The silver lining though is that we'd spend our evenings at the pool relaxing and not get worn out. How packed were the buses for CBBR? Also, do they screen you at the hotel or do you have to go through screening at the park? We were at Royal Pacific last week and the boat ride + pre-screen made getting to the parks completely hassle free for us. Trying to plan a fall trip and considering CBBR or Sapphire Falls.

 

[UK-Trigg]

The early closing hours were one of my only few gripes as well, along with some upgraded nighttime entertainment (IOA really needs a night show and later hours). The silver lining though is that we'd spend our evenings at the pool relaxing and not get worn out. How packed were the buses for CBBR? Also, do they screen you at the hotel or do you have to go through screening at the park? We were at Royal Pacific last week and the boat ride + pre-screen made getting to the parks completely hassle free for us. Trying to plan a fall trip and considering CBBR or Sapphire Falls.

They still have less stringent security screening on the walkways or before you board a boat but the busses drop off at the hub at Citywalk so full on security I'm afraid. I think this is just something we are going to have to get used to though, Disney are doing it now. Sad, but sign of the times.

 

[UK-Trigg]

havent stayed at AKL but probably will once Pandora opens
but i ve been there several times. We typically are Beach Club Board walk people
Portofino looks incredible thats also another reason why i wanted to stay another day, so i could go check out other hotels

Already booked two stays in March at SSR as this is my home resort, but usually swap this at the 7 month window might try and get BCV, BWV or WL, undecided yet because not doing Disney parks and SSR allows quick access to Disney Springs and it's right on the edge of property so easy to get off site.

AKL is my go to as I absolutely love the hotel and points are as low as 9 per night which I believe are the cheapest you can get.

 

[twebber55]

The early closing hours were one of my only few gripes as well, along with some upgraded nighttime entertainment (IOA really needs a night show and later hours). The silver lining though is that we'd spend our evenings at the pool relaxing and not get worn out. How packed were the buses for CBBR? Also, do they screen you at the hotel or do you have to go through screening at the park? We were at Royal Pacific last week and the boat ride + pre-screen made getting to the parks completely hassle free for us. Trying to plan a fall trip and considering CBBR or Sapphire Falls.

buses were packed
first day we got to the buses around 8:00, huge mistake, huge line although buses came quickly. next two days got ther at 7 walked on the first bus
obviously when the parks closed they were full
longest wait for a bus i had all week was when we went to the Poly resort for Ohanas to get back to disney springs