Are universal hotels substandard compared to Disney?

[natanddaz]

Hello lovely people of the dibb.

We have previously stayed onsite at wdw x2 under the free dining offer and had an amazing time. We have stayed at the lodges at Fort wilderness (free upgrade due to cbr construction), CBR and a suite at AOA. We loved all three resorts for different reasons. But for next year we just couldnt justify the cost with no offers so have cabana bay booked instead and are planning on a disney free trip. Now with the disney offer that was released yesterday the cost in comparison to what we have paid still seems really high so it just got me wondering are the universal hotels not as nice in some way? is the service/atmosphere lacking ? I suppose i just want to manage our expectations.

Thanks for any opinions in advance

[Bozza]

We've only stayed at the Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino Bay at Universal, but my broad view is you get a lot more hotel for your money at Universal than you do with Disney.

[silverfox46]

Originally Posted by Bozza

We've only stayed at the Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino Bay at Universal, but my broad view is you get a lot more hotel for your money at Universal than you do with Disney.

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I agree, these are the only Universal I’ve stayed at , but love them, especially HRH and it’s fabulous pool and easy walk into the parks.
For me personally , unless you stay in the better moderate and above , wouldn’t consider onsite. Each to their own.
My next visit will only be onsite in Universal

Edit to add... try to get club rooms for extra value, sometimes they are often just a few £ more

[sha9]

As much as I love Disney a huge amount of what you’re paying for is location. We’ve stayed at RPR and when you compare the price to a Disney moderate it’s far superior for a similar price. It wouldn’t suit us to stay there for the whole trip as we spend more time at Disney but I definitely wouldn’t worry about staying in one of their hotels for 2 weeks.

[muffa2308]

Universal hotels are far superior

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by muffa2308

Universal hotels are far superior

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I'm not convinced that's the case, but I think they are superior at the same price level.

We tend to stay at the Beach Club at WDW and the Hard Rock at Universal, and we love them both, however the Beach Club is generally significantly more expensive per night.

[blades]

Only done the HRH at universal but as a family it is probably our favourite hotel we have stopped in. We have stayed at the YC, AKL and the contemporary and each had good points and we are hopefully doing a cheeky few nights at the YC as we do like that purely for location. What we like about HRH is we can just nip in the parks for an hour and walk back without any hassle. We normally go for a Deluxe room at HRH as this gives you the extra space without too much extra over costs from a normal room - we have done the suites before (ours was the one above the Hard Rock Sign facing the pool) and this was "different gravy" but far too expensive for the amount of time we spent in the room.

[Dr.JumbaJookiba]

Last trip we stayed at the Hard Rock for $330 a night and the Contemporary for $545 night.

CR has one park a short walk away - HRH two
HRH has all day front of line included, when it's back FP is only three rides a day.
both have a very good signature restaurant,
both have a nice pool, both have nice room decor with 4* amenities, it's possible to book park view rooms at both if that takes your fancy,
both have a second restaurant and quick serve place.
City Walk is walkable from HRH, Disney Springs a bus ride from CR.

Only major difference is the price and the Contemporary gives you the rest of the Disney bubble to explore with transport provided.

[YorkshireT]

The Deluxe Disney hotels are generally pretty great. HRH I have stayed in and that is similar in quality and experience, but generally cheaper. Aventura where I’ve also stayed was excellent- Loews hotels run all these at Universal and they are a quality operator. But go to Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge etc the Universal ones from my experience don’t have the same feel to the theming.
Both are brilliant and both v expensive- the Disney ones particularly so. If I didn’t have my DVC I’m not sure I’d pay the prices, but I have paid for Universal hotels.

[shack69]

Cabana bay is a great hotel and I would put ahead of Disney pop for sure. CB has retro theme with 2 large pool areas, several places to eat, minutes to walk to private entrance to VB, walk to the other parks or bus to city walks.
Room wise lovely room with separate kitchen , seating area and cost less then disney.
Maybe the outlook from windows is not as good but universal (Lowes) are definitely not substandard.