One night questions

[tinkandonaldfans]

So it’s my husband’s 40th this year and on our trip to Disney in August we were thinking of heading to universal. We haven’t been since having our daughter so over 5 years so my Universal knowledge is a little rusty!

I would like to surprise my husband with a nights stay at universal so we could at least make the most of being there and have two days at the park

So my questions are:

Which hotel is best? Is one closer than others etc? I like the express pass idea so perhaps a hotel that includes that?
If the room isn’t ready as check in is at 4pm can we still use early entry and express pass if we havent officially got our room keys?


What kind of ticket is best, we’re unlikely to have time to do volcano bay and I don’t think our daughter is big enough for a lot of it (48 inches)

Best option to get to the hotel from Disney resort? My daughter would need a booster/car seat

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The three that include Express are Hard Rock Hotel, Royal Pacific, and Portofino Bay. HRH & RP are both very close, Portofino is a bit more of a walk, but all very walkable. Or, all have water taxis for a nice relaxing ride to the parks. I would suggest looking and booking ASAP, the premier hotels do book up, and also rates get more expensive as rooms are filled. All the Universal hotels are cancellable / refundable until a few days out, so you're not locked in if you book a "probably" room.

You can check in early in the morning for your room keys; they will be your Express Passes. Your room will likely not be ready, but they can hold your luggage & shoot you a text when it is. In the mean time, drop the bags & head to the parks!

If you're going 2 days, you just need any 2 day ticket. There are a few threads about park-to-park vs one park per day. Keep in mind that the Hogwarts Express train requires park-to-park tickets, and that the parks are very walkable to one another - and that much in Islands of Adventure closes for rain. Those are the 3 main reasons for park-to-park, but you can also do one park base tickets. Unfortunately, there aren't many discounts on 2 day tickets.