The Universal Hotel That Made Us LEAVE Disney World -- Endless Summer Hotel Tour

You can stay in a two-bedroom suite at Universal for less than you'd pay for a regular

hotel

room at Disney World's cheapest resort. Yes, really, let's take a look at Universal's Endless Summer Dockside Resort. I spend a lot of time staying at Disney World

hotel

s in In fact, I've stayed at every single one of them, but this is my first stay at a

universal

hotel and I'm excited to compare them, especially given what I already know is a big price difference. Universal's Endless Summer Resort Dockside Inn is one of two that offer good value for money. hotels in Universal Orlando Universal Orlando has eight hotels in total and in the value category you will find this hotel in its sister hotel just across the street Universal's Endless Summer Resort Surfside Inn Dockside has a theme that combines the coastal atmosphere of escaping to the perfect sunset with the cool and calm feeling of a beach retreat, so think Beach Retreat Beach House Vibes, many of you know Driftwood Colors Beach Colors, you get it, this Resort offers standard hotel rooms and two-bedroom family suites for a fraction of the price you'll pay for most hotel rooms. at Disney World, I'm so excited for our stay and of course we have to start check-in now.

Universal Orlando Resort offers mobile check-in approximately 24 hours before your reservation. You'll receive an email with a link to Do This, but you can also check in as usual at the front desk, which is actually how I'm checking in today. The check-in counters are very easy to find. They are right inside the lobby as soon as you walk in Under the Dockside sign, there are team members here who will be happy to check you in and you can check in at any time on the day of your arrival, but your room is not guaranteed to be ready until 4 p.m. m.

I went ahead and went up and Check in to my room isn't ready yet so we'll have to wait a bit for that but it's very easy to check in, obviously I gave them all my information, filed a card for incidentals and then they gave me a bunch of information. The hotel info gave me a map, talked about a few things and let me know that when my room is ready I will get a text to let me know so I will just get a text on my phone. She went ahead and gave me the room keys. and they will be active as soon as I know which room is my room.

If you arrive early like I did today, you can

leave

any bags you have here at the baggage services desk. This is the bell service that they will be happy to assist. your bags for you, they'll give you a little slip to come pick up your bag when you're ready and it's pretty easy, but that's great because if you get there early you'll want to fill that time until 4pm. m., so whether you're headed to CityWalk or Universal Parks or even Volcan Bay, it might be a good idea to go ahead and

leave

those heavy suitcases with your luggage.

Amenities I'm going to go ahead and wait for my room to be ready, but luckily for you, no. You don't have to wait with me for the powers of Movie Magic, so what could be an eternity for me will only be a few seconds for you. that you are ready, look, look the room is ready and you didn't even have to wait in this hotel for We have two towers, there is one on the left and one on the right. Tower one is on the left. Tower two on the right, so we head to Tar one.

We are on the ninth floor. Let's check this room. I'm very excited, we have a family suite, okay, tower one is 14 floors, we're on the ninth floor, you can see we're quite high up, okay, I did it first. I wanted to take a look at our view, we actually have a The view where you can see the Volcano Bay there is Endless Summer Surf Side and yes, this is actually the view that overlooks Universal Property more or less and it goes a Bit where I'm driving but not too bad, this is not the view from the room obviously.

I'm still in the hallway, let's go see the room because it's here, so you'll have a physical key to the room when you check in, which I have here, it has Spiderman on it, okay, oh wow, that's big, okay. You're in a room with a pool view, but I want to show you something: There's actually something even better than just having a pool view, so you can obviously see yourself all the way to the pool, which is pretty awesome, better than the parking lot, but we also have a really perfect image. view right there of the theme parks.

I can see the Riptide rocket. Dr. Doom is afraid. I can see Hulk's speed rollercoaster. I can even see Hogwarts from here, which is cool. I didn't expect to be able to see the theme parks too. So that's really amazing, just a cool room. I'm still absolutely amazed at how much it costs, especially now that I'm here, but let's take a look and talk a little bit about how much it costs because wow, it's really cool. So to start I'm going to do a little

tour

to give you an idea of ​​how the space works so I'm standing at the door right now and right when you walk in the door there's a mirror so when you first walk in. enter the main space that has two of the queen size beds.

Those are in the main space. This looks much more like a standard hotel room in this part, but there are many more hotel rooms to see, which makes this more family-friendly. More special suite, a little bit of storage space, nice view outside, then behind me we have our little kitchen, which has, you know, microwave, refrigerator and all that will look a little deeper and then a nice coffee table picnic to eat, this is where you have your bathroom. with the outside powder room and then you have the second bedroom, which is the bedroom that has a single queen bed, so the parents bedroom, you know how it is, and this one is kind of separate, it has a little closet, Hutch, but that's the layout of the room. so it's definitely on the smaller side as far as family suites go, but on the big, big, big, big, big side, for the hotel rooms you can get that are so big at this price, so this It is one of the two-bedroom family suites that this hotel also offers as standard. hotel rooms and I think what will really surprise you about this room is the price I'm currently getting at Universal, so thank you Universal for having me, but I'm really excited to show you how much space you get for so little money.

Alright, then let's check the room you have. Standard exit routes from your hotel room door. Your do not disturb sign. If you needed to stay outside. This is like a Disney cruise. Also use any card if you have any loyalty cards or something you can put in there to make it easier to remember your room key, but that's so the lights stay on. There is also a nice full back mirror here with plenty of hooks for you to see. I make these foreign hooks. There's a long table here, which is interesting because, at Dockside, there are over 2,000 long words represented throughout the hotel, which is pretty wild.

Here is one of them. Then in our main space, as I mentioned, we have two queens. beds here and they have fun decorative pillows. In fact, I really like it when hotels have decorative pillows. I feel like it makes it feel more homely. Each bed has a controlled light above it that is quite bright, so it would disturb the other group where the person is located. The other bed is just something to keep in mind, so bring a reading light if you want to read without other people being awake. These are like wood surf prints above the beds of course, to add to the whole beach theme, between the beds there is a lot of space here. and now we have this side table, this is not a storage unit as this left me a little disappointed or I can't figure it out but I'm pretty sure it can't be opened at all so it's just a nice like.

The trunk as a side table has the remote control for the television that is right in front of it and you have an alarm clock, something you don't see at Disney as an alarm clock. They have them here, a wall outlet that has a USB. port as well as a micro USB which is really awesome and there's some hand sanitizer in here and then we go up to the window and we have our view where you look out like we see the pool, the splash pad and the rest. from the hotel or the rest of the tower one anyway and even the theme parks that can be seen right there.

I just saw Rick ride a rocket, we have a thermostat here that is adjustable and it's actually the same thermostat they have at Disney, I think some little lights here by the TV, if you need more light under the TV, we have this kind of small bar with some hooks underneath, very few drawers in this room, but there are some of them here, they are quite wide. It's not very deep, but it probably has enough room. If you're really going to max out and have six people in this room, you might have a little bit of storage space, but the beds have storage space underneath, so there's room under the beds and there's plenty of space too. floor space here just in general, so I think it would be nice on the dresser, we have another set of power outlets with the USB and the micro USB, we have our phone, uh, The Rundown, which is all the good information that you will need to. about staying at Dockside and then the little brochure about pizza being delivered to the room, which spoiler alert are we going to try tonight, then you have this surf print here on the dresser and that's it for the master bedroom, then We have our kitchenette and eating area.

I love this picnic table, it's so nice there's plenty of room for six people to eat, maybe a little uncomfortable and certainly four or five people to eat comfortably. There is a bench on this side. two chairs on that side and there's a bean bag and there's actually another bean bag in the bedroom, if you wanted to use that, so we have another surf print here, as well as some, what is this plastic tableware? Your ice bucket here, which is plastic, and a little tray, a good amount of shelves here, which is great if you keep snacks or food in the room.

We have our microwave. Most Disney hotels don't have microwaves, so this is a big plus here, a bit more. room sink too and then our coffee maker complete with a few cups of coffee. Under this counter you can find this drawer that has some disposable cutlery, some Cuisinart coffee for your coffee maker, and some condiments that you know you might need for your coffee. powdered sugar and creamer, there are more shelves under here so there is more space to store any food or kitchen items you may have and then a fairly large mini fridge. In fact, I'd say this is a very solid sized mini fridge, so even if you stay a while, you'll have room for leftovers, microwave meals, anything you want to store in here, and drinks of course, then we headed to the bathroom section of the room's trash can, here on the left, for the kitchen. and the bathroom area, a large prep mirror where you can watch me do this.

They don't have makeup mirrors here, so we can't see my face magnified. It's really funny, which is kind of annoying, but I don't even use them. so no big deal, we have a double vanity here. I think with six adults getting ready here you might have a little bit of space, but two people could probably get ready at this vanity at the same time and then one person can maybe use it. Otherwise this mirror might want to make a little rotating situation. You have tissues here, as well as your gentle facial soap on the vanity. Your hair dryer is one of those wall-mounted hair dryers.

Mini wall hair dryers, which is great and then. There are also a lot more shelves here so you can store your toiletries and other things here. With plenty of towels, hand towels and washcloths. There is only one bathroom in this room. It is next to the small vanity area. It has your dresser. separate from the vanity, so if someone is getting ready, it doesn't prevent someone from showering or using the bathroom; However, two people cannot use the bathroom and shower at the same time, the door closes properly, can you tell if? If you're comfortable with that, you can, um, the door closes.

I have toilet paper. A trash can. Extra toilet paper. Then we have our shower, which is a very standard hotel shower. I feel like this is like a standard hotel curtain. You know what I mean? I have your bath mat here, a smaller tub, it's not super big, but it's a standard size tub and then you have your cleansing bath bar, renewing shampoo, and moisturizing conditioner. I've never used the Universal Surf and Sand collection, so I'll give them a try. and tomorrow I'll let you know how I feel about them. I'll take a shower in the morning and then we have our shower head here.

Let's check the pressure. OK yes. This is onereally good pressure. In fact, very good for a hotel. I mean, it doesn't look anything like it. Nothing quite as good compared to really good shower pressure at home, but for a hotel, I'm pretty impressed with that. Across the way we have the master bedroom or I guess this is the secondary bedroom. Don't know. The bedroom that is private has only one bed, so the parents' bedroom is whatever. I have another queen bed here and in this room we have two side carts that are mounted on the wall and they have these little lights on them that are pretty. and then the USB ports right on them, as well as the remote control for the separate TV that's here so the adults and the kids can watch two different shows or, you know, if all six adults are here, four adults can watch one program, two adults can watch another. we have other little bars that have hooks underneath which is great, another charging port, this is probably where I'll charge my portable charger and stuff like that.

Here's the other bean bag I mentioned and there's a trash can. in this room too and in a second window where you can see the entire view. Now both windows offer privacy curtains and behind the privacy curtains are the blackout curtains, so if you need that midday nap, get out desperately and catch one of those buses every 10 minutes they return to Endless Summer and catch you, take some z's on top of the bed, we have this surfer print. I will say only two pillows on each bed or two actual bed pillows, there are decorative pillows here, I know that for me.

I'll be putting the six pillows on the main bed there. I was hoping Emma could stay with me, but the filming schedule didn't work out that way, so the Nest pillow is the only real space in the bedroom closet. it's located here too, so you have this little hutch that has a curtain in front of it, behind the curtain you'll find all my stuff, so my stuff is in the closet to get out of my way, but we also have the luggage rack, the ironing board , we have hangers, there's an iron here and a spare pillow if you need it and I brought Percy Jackson and that's an overview of a two bedroom family suite here, plenty of space, maybe not the most storage . but I'm actually pretty impressed with this room overall, it also has a nice beach theme to it, so if that's your vibe I think you'll appreciate it, but of course no room

tour

will be complete until we do triple science on the beach bed with Quincy.

OK let's do it. I'll try the sand bed first, done. Well, I'm going to say my comment until the end. Bree's bed was set, oh, and the dinner bed. It's okay, all the beds are the same. In fact, I am very happy with them. I don't know what I was expecting, visually they look a bit cheap, you can definitely feel the structure of the mattress, they don't feel cheap, although they feel quite supportive, honestly it goes up to my back, it's a mix of soft and firm. something like Disney where it will please more people, honestly I don't know if I'm just a hater but I expected it to be worse, it's just because it's hard to believe there is such a big room in a hotel. with these amenities for the price you pay, which we'll talk about in just a second, but first I just bought the pillows.

Okay, these are firmer than the Disney ones, they have a lot more support and I know the Disney ones are too soft for a lot of people. so I'm a soft pillow girl. The Disney pillows are like my favorites, they are a little firmer. I'd say they're closer to being in the middle between soft and firm, providing more support for your neck and head while also being very plush. I think this is more of a crowd pleaser pillow, okay we've seen the room, we've done our bed science, let's talk a little bit about the price since you can probably say these rooms sleep six people, they have 440 square feet, which is quite a lot. large and the price is quite impressive, so the standard rooms at this hotel, not the suites, the regular rooms with two queen beds cost between 96 per night and 324 per night for reference. 96 is what it costs to camp at Disney World for a campground, so much cheaper than Disney World, actual suites like the one we are in now cost between $144 per night and $304 per night for reference.

The cheapest family suites at Disney World are at All-Star Music and I'll probably like them. As much as I like them, but they start at $323 per night, so overall, Disney's cheapest family suites are twenty dollars more than the most expensive these suites will get in 2023. For reference, the standard rooms at All -Star Music costs about a hundred and fifty dollars in April, which is what you could pay to have a full family suite for six people here, so the All-Stars are the cheapest hotels in Disney World. These are, of course, the cheapest hotels here at Universal, but it's just really impressive to me that you can get so much space and get those theme park benefits and still only pay the amount you would pay for a regular hotel room. at Disney World or you know much, much less than a family suite at Disney World. even a cheap family suite that doesn't even count as the more expensive hotels, but enough about the room we have at the resort to see so I'll meet you downstairs for a nice tour of the hotel.

Let's start our resort with her. As any good tour of the Resort begins in the main lobby, as I mentioned when we got here, the reception will be on your right along this green wall. It also has the luggage services I pointed out and this Vacation Planning Center. which is a great place to stop if you need to purchase Universal tickets so you don't have to stop right at the park gates. The Universal Planning Center can also help you with any questions you may have about the parks or City Walk. front desk the front desk thinks more about the Hotel Planning Center or the parks but if you need help someone at one of those two desks can help you just as a note when you head to any

universal

hotel you may want to consider booking the Superstar Universal Shuttle - This is an airport shuttle service that will take you to and from the airport to your universal hotel.

It does cost extra like what the Magical Express used to be at Disney, but it's something to consider if coming from the airport it may be a little easier than booking a different type of transportation or booking an Uber. Additionally, there is a fairly large Universal Studios store in the lobby. This is great because it will have a lot of products that you can find in the parks. In addition to some necessities you already know and such, there's a pretty large Harry Potter section here, so if you miss something you wanted to buy in the park, you might be able to find it here.

They even have wands, oh my gosh. I know how busy wand shops are and I can walk up and look at them. This is incredible. I was Jenny's. Oh, no wonder. I love you. We look alike. Beyond The Wizarding World of Harry Potter products, there are also many standard products from Universal. If you want an easy souvenir tea or need to fill an extra bag. Parts. Actually, I like it a lot, so they have more collections like Dr. Seuss products, Simpsons products, minions products. Unity Jurassic World. I like this Jurassic World collection. I need this dinosaur fanny pack and there are actually some unique products from Endless Summer that are really amazing, sometimes worth it.

The resorts at Disney World have more limited options when it comes to merchandise, but there are some really fun things about Endless Summer. I actually really like this tank top, here's a photo. frames where you can frame a photo of your trip, all kinds of cups and mugs and even a multi-use headband for Endless Summer, keychains, ornaments, socks and towels, all kinds of fun little souvenirs that you can personalize with Endless Summer, there are also many of like vacation clothes, swimsuits and stuff like that so if you forgot anything you might want to stop by the Universal Studio store to see if they have pizza socks and they also have some Essentials sunscreen medications and stuff like that so anything that you have forgotten, move on. and check at the Universal Studio store and you might be able to buy something, just a heads up that usually medications and stuff will be more expensive at your hotel store than at Walgreens so it's best to remember pack. or if you have your car to go to a real Walgreens, but it's great in a pinch.

One thing I love about Dockside Inn is that there is a Starbucks in the lobby, there is a whole Starbucks literally right next to the lobby with its own bar seating right here, this is absolutely amazing to me because in hotels Value Disney it's hard to find a good cup of coffee let alone an entire coffee shop and at most Disney hotels, actually all Disney hotels don't have anything like Jaw. free or Starbucks in the hotel, certain coffee shops offer Joffrey's that kind of thing, so it's really cool to me that there's only one Starbucks full.

I'm a Starbucks girl. I love having a coffee before going to the parks. I think this is great to be able to grab a coffee, sip it while you wait, and hop on the bus to head to CityWalk. It's absolutely incredible. I'll do it tomorrow morning. If you go right towards Tower 2, there are two towers where all of us are currently heading towards Tower Two. You will find the car rental counter, so if you need to rent a car, it is hidden around this corner and is where you will look for it. This hotel and Surfside are very similar.

Vibes, but the surf side is more blue and this one is more orange, which helps influence your decision. The pier side is also a larger hotel. I really like these Driftwood pillars, they are really cool on the other side, in the lobby building, towards Tower One, you will find a little The airport check-in kiosk is not currently available, but there are bathrooms and ATMs if you like them. needs, and then Pier 8 Market, which is the restaurant here at Dockside Inn. Pier 8 Market is open from early morning until quite late, from 9 to 11 p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, more of a casual food court atmosphere with five unique stations including a self-service salad bar.

This station has chicken and waffles. There is a pizza station. Burger and sandwich station. Hot sandwich station. You can also create your own salad bar. I'm excited to build your own salad bar. I can go get a salad, maybe I'll get a salad. There's also a fairly extensive bakery and takeaway section with plenty of sweets and treats to try - mango cheesecake, that sounds like it. well and some really fun pastries beyond that, there are takeout selections that can be easy to make, what are the plate refills, so I'm going to buy those sandwiches and salads, pick up the drinks from your room and things like that, e They even have gluten. -Free and allergy-friendly selections, plus fresh fruit, really the whole deal here.

You can also buy bottles of wine if you want to take one to your room and things like that, and I will say with some takeaways like Same as the essential items in the gift shop, these items will be much more expensive here at Universal than at the supermarket in advance, so if you have room to bring some snacks and know you'll need them, If you're going to want some snacks in your room, you might want to buy them in advance. I have a lot of options to try, but there are tons of seats, a lot of options, so I hope there are some good deals for you, just to the left as you enter the lobby.

There is a lounge. This is Sunset Lounge. It is a bar that is open every day and serves cocktails and refreshing drinks. It's still not open today. It's more open in the afternoon and until midnight, so we're definitely going to try it a little later, but for now let's move on. outside, okay, right here under the shared park, that's where they'll drop you off if you come in or unload your luggage or something and then to the right outside the lobby, you'll find the shuttle buses that are there. There are only two different bus routes to worry about, there is a bus heading to Volcano Bay and a bus heading to Universal CityWalk.

Universal CityWalk will be the best you will take to get to Universal Studios, Universal Islands of Adventure or City Walk. Of course, and Volcan Bay, that bus will take you to Volcan Bay. Also right in front of the hotel is the check-in parking lot. It's a very small parking lot, you'll notice, and that's because most of the parking at this Resort is in a parking lot. The garage immediately behind the hotel parking lot will cost 15 per night per vehicle when you stay here and there is actually limited parking in front of the two different towers. The same,It will cost 15 per vehicle per night.

They will ask if you are parking a vehicle when you arrive and they will go ahead and set up your parking with your room when you check in. Something I really like about Endless Summer Dockside and one reason you can say this is definitely at your hotel. There's actually a little circle here at the back of the front of the hotel, at the back of the front, what I mean is closest to the road, meaning the Rideout vans, so if you get picked up or they leave Endless Summer there. it's an exclusive parking circle where Lyft drivers are right outside.

Uber drivers cannot stop for drop-off or pick-up. That takes us through everything in the main building, like the central lobby, so let's go to the towers in the same way that Dockside is designed with the lobby building in the center and the two towers on either side. Tower one will be to the left of the lobby building and tower two will be to the right. One thing we should know as we move forward. is that you can set up resort-wide charging privileges for your room key when you check in. If you wish to do so, the team member will surely ask you, but you can also ask as we head to the tower you will find.

The elevators here are also where you will find ice and the tower sale will be next to the elevators, but going down this hallway on the first floor you will also find the gym. The gym is relatively small but has some weight training equipment as well as some treadmills and cardio equipment. This is a very large hotel, so you can expect crowds; However, it does have a very large restaurant, two huge outdoor pools with plenty of patio space, two different swim-up bars and buses. come every 10 to 15 minutes so even if there is backup on the buses you will only be waiting 10 minutes for the next one.

You can see that the towers are U-shaped and surround the pool areas on both sides. This is the Tower One pool area, as I know both towers have guest laundry, they can be found on floors three, six and nine and they are quite nice pools, they are large pools, they are heated so even in On a slightly cooler day like today, the pools are still heated to over 80 degrees, there are sandy beaches on the patios as well as just pavement on the patios, these are really nice, like comfortable beach chairs that are adjustable , something I hate on many occasions.Disney pool chairs are that they are not adjustable, they are just lying down or sitting, there is no one in the middle and I like it, I like a moment of rest, you know, you have to be a guest of the hotel to use the pools.

Of course, but there are towels for your use, swim diapers if you are traveling with babies and eat them and keep an eye out because there may be poolside activities during the day. I don't see anything happening right now, but there might be some goodbyes. Tower In one you will find the Oasis beach bar, this is a pretty solid bar, it has plenty of outdoor seating and it is a full bar so they have different ones like poolside cocktails and things you can drink like cocktails, frozen drinks, wine, beer, smoothies. that kind of thing, anything you might need now, I'll notice there's no food at this pool bar, so if you want food, you'll go to Pier 8 to grab something to bring here, your kids can enjoy this Splash Pad that is here.

Plus, which is awesome and there's a dedicated seating area for if your kids are going crazy in the splash area, also some ping pong tables and stuff like that. One thing I will say is that this pool does not have slides, so if your child is like they are used to a slide, they really want a slide when they are on vacation, then they will not get it here at this hotel, but otherwise, no I know, it's a huge pool, there aren't many people today and the vibes are very relaxing, honestly. You could come sit here or around the other pool, now it's time to head back to Tower Two.

Tower Two will be more or less a mirror image of Tower One, except instead of a gym on this side they have a game room which isn't bad. full size arcade and they have some very fun games here, of course it makes sense that they would have a Jurassic World game. Personally, I'm a Pac-Man fan, I specifically missed Pac-Man. I'm pretty good at it, so, but Yeah, Sidesville Arcade here is a great option for you, you know, if you're hanging out at the hotel, your kids need something to kill some energy to win. I have never seen anything like this in my life, how do you cut it? scissors and moving on, we have the other pool and you can see that this pool is as big as it is vibrant and has the same amenities as the other pool.

This is really awesome because if one pool is too busy you can head to the other, uh, both. the pools are also zero entry which is awesome and this pool has its own bar with the pool bar to make waves, same thing here, beer, wine, cocktails, frozen drinks, um, and it's a little gloomy outside, but I say we relax with a cocktail after all. I've seen the whole hotel and we haven't seen it at all obviously there's a ton of rooms uh but that's Dockside so you can take us to the amenities nothing too crazy nothing too big but a lot of amazing amenities and I.

I think it's about time we try some of them on the beach chair and honestly, The Vibes are Immaculate um. I had a drink from the wave makers. I literally chose the first one on the menu because I thought it would be quite distinctive. So here's the drink I bought, this is the Surf Rider, uh, it's one of their on the Rocks cocktails, it has Castilla Silver rum and blackberry brandy mixed with sweet banana, pineapple and orajia to give it a touch of almond, so which is kind of a daring drink. Vibe, greetings. OMG, I didn't expect to like it so much because I like rum drinks, but I don't love them.

I'm not a fan of brandy, but my goodness, it's that good, even mixed, it's delicious, it tastes like one. of those tropical fruit cups that you had in your lunchbox when you were a child but with much more alcohol. I'm really savoring the banana flavor and I think that's why I love it so much. I love banana flavored stuff and it tastes like real banana, not like fake Laffy Taffy bananas um, I'm sure trying the rum and I think I'm noticing a hint of that Blackberry Brandy right at the end, super refreshing, definitely on the side sweet, but not too sweet.

I do not like it very much. sweet drink and this one is not too sweet, it is like the ideal drink for the pool. I expected to not like this and I'm surprised. I don't normally love pool drinks at Disney World and I love it, so wow, maybe. I'm hanging out at the Wave Makers bar all day, well that was fantastic. I opted for a burger, but funnily enough I'm going to get a turkey burger because it has cranberries, mayonnaise, swiss cheese, and apple slaw which sounds really good. Also, all burgers come with a choice of fries sweet fries uh fruit or salad here's my turkey burger um it's a little small but it was

made

fresh to order.

I literally saw how it was

made

in the kitchen so I'm really excited about the melted cheese and slaw there, then I also have my fries, purchased condiments, but it's burger time, let's try it. I'll try it without anything first, it has blueberry mayonnaise so maybe that'll be enough. I am one of those people who eat burgers backwards, if you do too, let me know once again, much better than I expected. I mean the hamburger. I think it's a frozen turkey burger, but you can barely tell. I love blueberry mayonnaise. Adds the perfect sweetness. I think the applesauce has a nice tartness overall, it's a pretty sweet burger, uh, it's a solid portion, although I will say that if you're a big eater you may know that this may not be the largest portion of the lunch for you, but actually I'm really I'm a fan, I'm really surprised and of course we can't fully judge somewhere until we've eaten the fries, they're thicker, like fruit steak style, but crispy, they're definitely softer, they have a pleasant crunchy touch. on the outside but they are very, very soft on the inside and the soft crispy disbursements, however, they are very salty in a way that is good for fries, as if it were any other food, it would not be good for it to be like that.

Salty, but these are not the best fries I've ever had, but I'm certainly not mad at them, but lunch is ready and I think I'm going to go back to the room to do some work, but I'll see you in just half a second to Let's talk about the pros and cons and maybe try that Lounge too. The lounge should be open downstairs and what better place to go to at Sunset than Sunset Lounge, so I think we're going to continue downstairs and Look, we're doing something a little special for dinner, but as I was walking by I noticed that some of the offerings had changed here so I wanted to participate so there are some pasta deals that weren't available before, it was great. burgers and sandwiches are still there hot sandwiches there are still some main courses there is an ooh snapper main course with couscous and roasted vegetables honey garlic chicken with rice and broccoli some more complete main courses here and then here there are so make your own option of pasta dish that It's really cool, this is going to sound bad, but that really reminds me of when I was in college, we had like create your own possible station.

I don't know, I really liked it a lot, it's probably a little better here than at my university. dining room but it's still great, we're headed to Sunset Lounge now that Sunset Lounge is open, there are sports games so there's something specific you want to watch, come here and see if they're playing it or ask them if I can play, it's also not very packed, surprisingly, I guess it's a Monday night and people are probably still at the theme parks, but I'm going for a drink so for my drink I chose the Endless Summer Lemonade which is Handmade Vodka and Thyme Infusion from Tito and Fever Tree Fizzy Sparkling Lemon Tonic Of course, I had to buy this because it's named after the hotel, so I'm really excited to try it.

I also bought Starbucks water because Starbucks filters their water and it doesn't taste like Florida water, just a little pro tip, you'd have to wait in line to get it, but my opinion is worth it, plus there was no wine, okay? I think you have to be a fan of toners to enjoy this lemon toner. the stronger flavor even though they actually put very little in, but I think it's just amplified by many of the other lemon flavors. Super lemon. Honestly, it reminds me of a fresh lemonade, like a freshly squeezed lemonade where the sugar is mixed in. and maybe I didn't get enough sugar along with those stronger, bubblier flavors from the tonic.

I'm a fan of this, it's actually a bit light and has a really great lemon flavor I don't think. it's for everyone simply because it has a lot of lemon flavor and it's not really too sweet, but if that's what I'm describing it sounds like your jam, it's a really solid drink and it's made from potatoes, which I think makes a great podcast intermediate, so um it will work for me, okay, have a drink in my lounge, um and now we're going to do something special for dinner and talk a little bit about whether this hotel is worth it.

Hello, pizza in the morning or fried chicken to the room. I haven't decided what. I'm still getting there, but there's pizza delivery to eight rooms until midnight. Someone even has a pizza button, so I have to press that room service. The room service menu is limited. There's pizza with boneless wings and salads and things like that, but mostly pizza you can get. They also brought beers or bottles of wine. I went ahead and got a cheese pizza with salad because I kept seeing people walk by with Caesar salad and I was jealous, so I ordered it.

He said at the latest it will be 45 minutes, which is great, so for now I think we should talk about whether this hotel is worth it or not. To talk about whether this hotel is worth it, we first need to talk about the perks, so there are some Universal-specific perks coming up. With staying at a Universal Resort hotel, the most important of which, in my opinion, is early entry to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park on select days, there is an early theme park entry time that gets you to that land, sometimes other lands are included. in advance and check online ahead of time, but generally the best way to use it is to ride Hagrids before the crowds come in.

There is also free and easy transportation at Universal. Those buses arrive at this hotel every 10 minutes. It is very easy to get to Volcano Bay and the city. walk in the parks, the other two smaller things is that you can get that purchase authorization for the entire resort on your hotel key and you canmake the purchase and delivery of certain things you buy in the parks. As for the advantages, the first one will be valuable. I think this hotel is an incredible value for the amount you pay, the benefits you get, and the amount of space in the family suites.

I think it's an incredible value as theme park area hotels another plus is the size of the room The room is huge, even the standard rooms are a solid size and with that value, that's not something you always you wait The fact that you can get a family suite that can sleep six adults comfortably for a really affordable price is something I think really isn't. something we can overlook as a great professional, we also have to talk about the amenities and benefits. The theme park perks I just listed are definitely a pro and there are also two huge pools, two swim-up bars, a lobby lounge, a Starbucks in the lobby, a full Universal Studio store, and a pretty tasty restaurant and a room service that offers these kinds of things that you wouldn't expect to see at a budget Disney World hotel, so if you're comparing staying at Universal to staying at Disney, that might be something to keep in mind, location wise, so if you're just taking a trip to Universal Centric, these hotels are located a little further from the theme parks than some of the more expensive hotels, those bus trips will take a little longer.

It's not exactly walkable, we're actually on the other side of the highway, on the highway, but we're on the other side of the highway, it's a little difficult to get there, so we'll see how long it takes. I don't think it's too wild, but it's certainly not the prime location, as Universal hotels go beyond that. If you're planning on going to Disney, if you're going to spend more time at Disney than at Universal, then at a Universal hotel, the savings may not be worth it, depending on how. you're traveling, you have your own car, that kind of thing, um, but if you're staying at Universal, it's still a relatively good location, it's just not the best compared to the Universal hotels, this hotel is also big, it's very , very big, there are a lot of people here that means the pools can be busy the dining room can be busy the lounge can be busy the lobby has been slammed almost all day with people checking in and honestly the biggest con for me It's been the elevators, one of the elevators in My Tower is down, so there are only three elevators serving this tower and it's been closed all day.

I've had to wait for a second elevator every time I try to take it, so it's definitely busy. I have seen animations. groups that come we know from the All-Stars at Disney um it's definitely been pretty loud in some of the common areas. I will say that I can hear a little noise in my hotel room when I took my nap earlier. I heard some things. but not enough to wake me up and certainly not enough because they are interior hallways so it's much more like a standard hotel. Also, interior hallways are not something you typically see in Disney World values, none of the values ​​have interior hallways.

They are all external, the final disadvantage will be that the bus is the only means of transportation. Some Universal hotels have boat access. You know, I love boats. I also think taking a boat to the Universal theme parks in the morning is a lot. It's more relaxing, it also gets you a little closer to the theme parks than the bus and it's an easy walk to some hotels, and this is just not the case so that's a bit of a disadvantage is that it doesn't have the best transportation as the hotels go in general generally when I answer the question of is it worth it when I talk about a hotel I say it depends and that's true here but I'm much more inclined to say yes to this hotel than I normally am at Disney, it just seems like it has a Much fairer price for what you get compared to some Disney hotels and I think that's something that Like we had to talk about the fact that you would actually pay a normal hotel rate and you could stay in a normal hotel room with theme park perks or stay in a six-bed family suite for less than any family suite at Disney.

World, that's something that's really amazing to me. My parents are coming to visit us soon and I encouraged them to stay at Universal just because they think it's more of a friendly price and if you have a car or rent a car you can stay. here and you still go to Disney, you only have a small commute in the mornings, so if a small commute to Disney doesn't bother you and you are going to both Disney and Universal, maybe consider staying at Universal this time. instead of staying in the Disney bubble it could be it could be nice it could save you some money it could still be a great stay and if you're just staying in the Universal bubble I think it's definitely worth it there are certainly hotels in this area but most of them have similar prices.

We're right off International Drive, which is a big tourist area, so most hotels around here will be about the same price as this one if I were between staying on a Universal property and staying right off the property. I would stay on Universal property, the amenities are great, the benefits are great and I really like this room and I really like the prices. I'm just thinking about how if six friends wanted to stay in this room, they could split 200 into six parts. And what's that if you put six adults in this room and they all split it equally it would be thirty dollars a night?

I don't know man, I don't know and for a family it's really affordable. I'm, I'm very impressed with this and I had a very good nap, so I think it's important that we try the science of the extended bed after I get my pizza. Well, the food has arrived. We have pizza with cheese. Caesar salad. It's a 10 inch pizza so I'd say it's shareable. But I'm alone and I'm going to eat everything and that can't be stopped. I also bought a Bud Light just because a good night pizza and a beer sounds good to me too in the room service bag they brought out as a meal package basically um plus a single paper plate they asked me how many people were dining and here it is my Caesar dressing, it's a classic from Ken and the silverware and it has a little bit of parmesan cheese and some questions oh no, also a little bit of crushed red pepper Bean Park Pizza It's not usually the best um so I'm really curious about it .

Actually, I mean, it looks pretty good, it doesn't look spectacular or anything. I don't know, we'll see, this is pretty good, um, I have to try it. the bones, I would say this is A Cut Above like Disney's puff pastry pizza or like um, you know, like school pizza, which is a couple cuts above school pizza, um, it's definitely nothing spectacular, if you want a really good pizza just order a delivery you can make. that delivery of the order at your hotel. I'm a fan of this, although I think after a long day at the theme park this would be really great, especially if you're a family, to be able to just get room service and I think things taste better in your hotel room, I want That is, you will have to walk and go look for them, it is also of higher quality.

Cheese, look at this, that's a cheese. The bowl has to make a salad. Shake I hope it's sealed. Trying the Caesar salad, I'll get a little bit of everything. It looks pretty basic but there's nothing wrong with the basic cedar salad, not my crouton, yes it's a pretty basic caesar salad, the lettuce is nice and crispy, there's parmesan cheese, the croutons aren't as crispy as I like them, they are a little soft. but Ken's Caesar dressing is good, it's not great, it's similar to Caesar dressing, you've tried it, we've all tried it, it's like a universal human experience.

I'm not going to finish this pizza tonight and I'm going to have cold pizza for breakfast. I'm very excited, but that's our first day at Dockside. We'll wake up tomorrow, talk about how the beds are, and head to the park to see how long it takes and what. That seems so far so good, so I'll finish my pizza recap and watch the Food Network for a while and I'll see you tomorrow. Good night. Good morning. Okay, obviously I got up and Adam slept very well. I will say that the windows in the building are lit so I slept in one of the beds that was near a window and I like to sleep with just the privacy curtains to have the sun in the morning to help me wake up and I had a bit of a problem.

It's falling asleep with the lights out of the window, so you may have to use the blackout curtains, but it wasn't that bad. Departure is at 11 a.m. m., but as you can probably see, it's a lot earlier because I'm heading to Universal today, baby, she's meeting Emma to film a video, so I'm going to go drop my stuff off at Bell Services. I'll hop on one of these buses and see how long it takes us to get to the theme park. The Starbucks line certainly is. long, it's around 7:30. I'm headed for early entry, it's one of the perks of my hotel, but I also have access to that as a non-pass holder, but if you stay here you can get there early, Drew too.

I tell you it's incredible. Many buses are outside, so I was able to get on the first one. I know this has Volcano Bay. I promise it's the right bus. I asked for at least six minutes, a six minute bus ride. I walked to a bus again. Every 10 minutes mine leaves right on 40, so I think it's possible they leave at 10 minutes, huh, but that could get complicated, so don't quote me on that, but I'm walking around town. Walk right now. I'm going straight to security, which I'm not going to film. But that's the benefit of Universal being much smaller and that's that it's much easier to get around just six minutes from the hotel.

I'm at CityWalk, of course. One thing you should know is that buses for Universal Orlando resorts drop you off at CityWalk, so you're actually still a little far from the park gates. There are some more expensive hotels that will put you much closer. at the gates of the park with your means of transportation and we will certainly check it out if you want to see me review more on the Universal Orlando resorts, let me know. I would be happy to have had such a good time and I think Endless Summer. We should definitely check out the rest to see what's worth it today, what's worth spending when you're heading to Universal Orlando, guess who I ran into, yeah okay, today we're heading out to film a heart rate challenge that I've never done. one of these was simply becoming an Old Pro out of nowhere.

Anyway, I won't do it. That's coming to the channel, so stay tuned for that, but we're headed to Universal. I had a great time. Endless Summer. If you like this video, watch it. Go ahead and like and subscribe and now go check out my tour of Disney Sport Wilderness Resort and Campground. See you there.