I Stayed At Universal Orlando's CHEAPEST Hotel

[@merkerb]

Stayed there in November and I was completely blown away by everything we got for the price. Basically paid for a Disney value resort and got Disney moderate plus quality! Staff was so much more helpful and friendly than I’ve experienced at Disney in some time too!! Everything about that vacation at universal was top notch! So impressed that we canceled our plans to go to WDW this fall to go back to Universal again!! So excited to get back there

[@dorothybinion4720]

One of Surfside's best amenities is that it’s across the street from a Walgreens. Walgreens is blocked from view by a row of hedges, but there’s a gate in the hedges, and then it’s right there. So what you have is a budget hotel that’s within walking distance to cheap groceries/toiletries/souvenirs.

[@JP-lx4ov]

I’m there with my daughter next year - can’t wait! First holiday in Orlando with no car!

[@alimatt9685]

@@JP-lx4ov the earlier you book, the cheaper it’ll be :) I also recommend constantly looking at prices if you book early. I booked a month ago and just checked yesterday and the price dropped so I called and got $100 off!

[@preidie]

@@alimatt9685I’m from the uk at the minute we are being charged £250 a night. Way so $400 per night for the 2 bed. I will keep watching prices

[@supersanic1254]

I mean you have the same at Cabana, Aventura, and Sapphire as well. All within a short walk to Walgreens, gas station, liquor store, and more

[@izzyr3231]

I just wanted to thank you for not being weird and filming people in the gym, it would be one of my nightmares and most vloggers don't seem to care about who they capture in the background so thank you

[@LarryDarkMite2]

I've stayed at both Endless Summer resorts multiple times this year. With a bit of advance planning I've never paid more that $114 per night. It's wonderful!!

[@blizzardgirl1365]

Very excited to watch this!! Staying at dockside in two weeks time!!! First time staying on universal property.

[@Seoulsearch616]

This was so helpful, especially the part about how staying there has a slight advantage due to the bus schedule. I love watching all your other videos as well, but these in depth reviews that really help us plan our vacations are invaluable. 💕

[@marybegley8489]

Q

[@marcblais]

This makes me SO HAPPY!!! 🤩 I’m going to Universal Orlando for the first time in September and staying at the Endless Summer Dockside. I can’t wait to experience this beautiful resort in person!

[@louisarosina]

We stayed here in May in a suite and honestly couldn’t fault it. Even the baby hairdryer was fine! I definitely recommend it. A lot of people who have stayed there recommend requesting a room as high up as possible as it can be noisy. Our room was at the top of tower one, with a view of the lake and it was perfect! Much better value than Pop Century where we also stayed.

[@rb5078]

The way my jaw dropped when she told us the price. Universal keeps winning.

[@Avaa1321]

Keep the universal content coming! Staying at cabana bay next week and so pumped!

[@susandaquila-babuschak3077]

Love the pad and pen! I hate that the Disney hotels (and a lot of hotels in general) don’t give them out anymore!

[@carolineandrews200]

Yay!!! I’m so glad this has come out! We are staying at Dockside in August!

[@andreabuelo1811]

When we stayed at Dockside in February, we also got a surprise upgrade to a suite with a poolside view.

[@Nikki27180]

Shocked at the pricing here! Reminds me of the old rates of 99 at Pop back in the day.

[@mettlemod]

You earned a definite thumbs up with the "more you know" throwback! Good job, great vid.

[@MicheleKlinger]

This hotel looks amazing for the price point. The vibes are so relaxing and perfect for a vacay!

[@elizabethflores1849]

I stayed there last year in a suite and it was the best STAY ever!! Loved that Starbucks is there, a cafeteria, universal store. The game room gym and pool! Ugh 1000000% recommend

[@mandisanchez2128]

The day I met Molly in Knockturn Alley was such a fun surprise for me!

[@anitaeulenburg2212]

I want to meet Molly in Epcot somewhere near Mexico with a marg in hand! Lol

[@mogresham2322]

I met her at Epcot!! She’s just the literal best!!!

[@alisonleigh100]

Thank you for reviewing this hotel because I was wondering about booking here!

[@SuperSuperGirl09]

I stayed here in March and was upgraded too! It’s so cute! The table and microwave were much needed!!

[@Hvagr8day487]

Thank you for this comprehensive review! Now it’s on my must do list!

[@Naomi-0312]

I’ve booked to stay here next year and it’s made me super excited 🤩 love that it’s on International Drive too! Great video as always 💛

[@micheleburdenbsnrn7564]

Thanks for showing this resort review! We'll be staying here next April 2023.

[@lucillegass4715]

This was so full of info! Did not know about this affordable hotel! Wow! Now we can go!!!thankyou!😇

[@kaylinwatson7350]

We stayed at Dockside in May (standard 2 queen room) and it was $105 a night!! Amazing!!

[@th595906]

We just stayed here over the July 4th weekend, and it was so nice by comparison to some other “value” resorts

[@daphnemusique8326]

Thank you for this video Molly! can't wait to stay there....in 23 days! so happy this is beautiful and lot's of "pro's" have a great day!

[@abbysillaman1244]

"fluff thing" lol. 😄Also, I love that you love the Golden Girls!

[@emilya2855]

We stayed there a few years ago. We also were given a room upgrade. Enjoyed the room, beds were comfortable, cafe food especially roast chicken was great. The pool was nice too. There are also a few stores across the street if you need a full pharmacy or alternate dinner options

[@heatherbender]

Molly we are going to miss you so much!!! 😭😭

[@AmberAHue82]

I've been waiting for this one! Anytime I see a price that cheap, I'm skeptical. That looks like a perfectly fine hotel, though. It's not even a motel!

[@ktj4691]

We LOVED our stay there! We had one of the suites with three beds. Super nice place. Did not feel like a "value" hotel because it was so so so nice. We were at Dockside, btw.

[@IslaSprollie]

We are going to stay here in 8 days, from the UK. Can't wait.

[@stephgilliam]

Stayed here earlier this year with my family and had a blast. The pool was great, the room had plenty of space for 5 of us (we were in the suite), and the bus ride to the park was still super short even though it's a little farther away.

[@Elizabeth-hv7eg]

I recently stayed at Dockside and All Star Music in the same trip. I was truly shocked at the difference between the two cheapest options at UO and WDW. Dockside was the clear winner- it was beautiful, the staff was wonderful and the transportation couldn’t be beat!

[@lenaapple1974]

I absolutely love the universal hotels. When we stay at surfside/dockside, we usually end up doing a pool day also! The best little fact about the bar at the pool is that they have drink names that are named after the rides from Wet N Wild! Too bad there is no Black Hole...hahaha. How strong would that be???! Disco H2O is my fave drink there!

[@katelynboard2468]

I know we only got a peek of the Slytherin trait shirt but I saw it in another video and I need to know where it came from! I love it!

[@Stephanieb19]

Thank you for the video! This hotel looks great and the price is incredible. I’m staying at Surfside during my trip to Florida in December. I can’t wait!

[@alec8087]

Universal didn't buy this hotel and renovate it. They built it themselves. They demolished the Wet'n'Wild waterpark to build these hotels a few years ago.

[@charlab.7838]

We stayed there last November. We got there at 7:30 a.m. and our room was ready and they let us check in. We were happy with it and it was very easy to catch the buses to Universal!

[@Stracy7289]

We stayed at Dockside at the beginning of the year and LOVED it! The suite was the perfect room set up for my family, so that I could have my own separate room from everyone else at the end of the day. All the food we had was great, and the buses were constantly showing up to take us to Universal. The only issue is the walls are a bit thin. I sleep with a sound machine, so it wasn't too bad. Plus we had a room away from the entrances and elevator so the hallways weren't too busy in our section. The price was well worth it and I would highly recommend.

[@nickwarren4940]

We made a drinking game in all ears honor while watching your videos. “Charcuterie board” is the number one phrase to drink on.

[@amyabrey2504]

I would love to see hotel/room tours of Disney’s Good Neighbor hotels

[@wetnwild80]

This was Wet'n Wild. It was bought by Universal and knocked down to build this on the ground. It's not a renovated old hotel.

[@courtneyceasar7878]

This was eye-opening! May consider switching to this one for HHN season!

[@oompa172000811]

this is a great video I'm from Florida born and raised and it's still nice to get the inside scoop on things that I normally would pass up because I'm looking at what I know and not what's newly available. I haven't been to the theme parks in a while but am planning to take my husband to Disney and universal for the first time since he is from Massachusetts and hasn't been to any of them parks yet , your videos help a lot and I'm watching them with him so we can stockpile tips and tricks I would love to see more videos on hotels like this one and also not sure if this channel would start doing live streams while you're at the park, love your content !!

[@Ingrid-pg1gs]

We did early morning to ride Hagrid's. We waited at least an hour and a half, maybe 2 hours. I would say when it's busy, you shouldn't just do early morning, you should do earlier! Get there really early!

[@dundonoz]

I stayed in Jan2020 & OMG it was sooooo good, the price made it 400% better as we only paid US$105 per night. Loads of eating options close by (although on site was very limited). Free buses to Universal. Lovely lobby. Friendly staff. I would definitely stay there again.

[@wakeupscreaming9883]

Thanks for the video Molly. Really well done. We stayed at Cabana Bay years ago, and that would probably be our pick again.

[@shoup2882]

Stayed at Surfside last May 2022 and at Dockside in Feb 23, loved them both! Also enjoyed early park access and Universal's transportation beats Disney hands down! May move up to Aventura this upcoming trip!!

[@matthewmetheney]

ahh omg the song playing in the lobby is my favorite right now!! so good!

[@ThemeParksToTheMax]

I would love another Ultimate Race @ IOA rather than Studios!

[@jeffreyhilliker9592]

I love the texting feature! Used it everyday at Cabana Bay and it was awesome

[@JuniperMB]

I learned it is actually cheaper for me to stay at Universal AND pay each day for Lyft back and forth between WDW and UO during Thanksgiving week than the All Star Sports room rate before tax! Universal actually prices their rooms to encourage people to stay there. The rooms are nice and you don't feel like you are in a motel, like the All Stars. Me: I wonder how long before Molly buys the Slytherin Sequin Snake shirt???

[@reddixiecup]

Definitely cheaper but the only way you get early park entrance at WDW is staying onsite.

[@JuniperMB]

@@reddixiecup True. You do lose out on the 30 minutes in the morning for WDW resort guests. You also won't get any late nights for staying in Deluxe hotels. However, for the savings, I'm willing to pay for Genie + to get to cut a few lines to make up for the 1 or 2 rides I miss out on during early hours. $90/night at Dockside +$70 for two Lyft rides back and forth is still saving more than $40/night over any All Star, even more for other resorts. This is pricing for the cheapest night. For Thanksgiving, I'm paying $179/night for Royal Pacific, which is $50/night less than ALL STARS! While the $70/day with Lyft makes the Royal Pacific $30/night more, it is VERY worth it to me to stay in a deluxe hotel with great benefits for the Universal parks, even if I won't be in them every day.

[@jordanwiener5566]

Thanks for the tip and sharing your experience! I want to do that and am not looking to overspend if I don’t have to. Seems like a great idea to stay at endless summer and save a few hundred and get a ride share.

[@nancylynch1606]

Goodbye Molly!! We loved your videos!!!! Best of luck.

[@leahtracy6301]

I stayed at dockside last spring and it was great!

[@clareabbott9112]

I've booked to stay there next year for a couple of nights to do the Universal parks before I move onto WDW on my first Florida trip from the UK so this is really interesting video to watch to know what to expect. Thanks!

[@cc1526]

Did Surfside not have the “make your own smoothie” machine?? Dockside had it and you could make your own smoothies, coffee drinks etc. It was so cool. I was wondering when you’d review this hotel because I was BLOWN AWAY. Honestly, Disney value resorts could never. The food was actually pretty good. The pizza delivery til midnight is such a great perk. I hate going back to my disney hotel hungry because everything is closed by 10. It’s clean, it opens to the indoors, the pool is great. It really is such a great value for the price and I would honestly consider staying here even if I was on a Disney vacation because disney doesn’t have anything affordable and amazing like this.

[@mdf3530]

Actually Universal built the Endless Summer resorts directly. It was built on the site of the old Wet 'n' Wild.

[@steveniglesias2508]

Yeah I wonder what she was looking at while they built the things for 4 years lol.

[@rezmstrs]

I stay at endless summer and sometimes the credit card machines flash the lowes logo

[@HolyConspiracyTheory]

@@rezmstrs it is also listed on Loews' website under their Universal Hotels booking page.

[@steveniglesias2508]

@@rezmstrs It is a Loews' Hotel, they even said in the announcement it was the biggest investment in their history. Universal doesn't own any of their hotels, Loews owns and manages them all, maybe with the exception of the Hard Rock, I'm not sure about that one. But she said Loews' did not build these hotels, they bought an existing hotel and renovated it, which is 100% untrue. The land it sits on which OP has already said was Wet N Wild which was owned in it's entirety by Universal.

[@k8pugluva1819]

Loews and Universal entered into a new partnership with new investors for this property, but built it from the ground up. Hard Rock is managed by the Loews team, and not a Loews hotels. All the other hotels are considered Loews/ Universal but have different partnership agreements. I worked there for many years and was opening team for every hotel except Portofino, Royal and Hard Rock.

[@claudineamato1161]

Thank you for this review, staying here at end of summer.

[@cariann426]

Thank you for this review. Great information! Love the 2 room suites and the price is right on!

[@pks815]

Thank you for such an informative video!! I have stayed at Cabana Bay (loved it) but was looking at a cheaper alternative and wanted to know the difference between Surfside and Dockside. This video has answered so many questions. Thanks!

[@itgoeslikethis3249]

Great hotel option! We have 5 people in our party and it's so difficult to find an affordable hotel. Totally beside the point your lipstick shade is beautiful! pretty and not overly glam. Do you mind sharing what it is?

[@DaffyTaffy93]

These vids are amazing can’t wait to go there next fall!

[@kimp1044]

Stayed here in December 2019 and was an absolute fantastic hotel, the Christmas decorations were gorgeous too. Next year we will be staying at the dockside for a week and another 2 nights at Portofino bay. Can’t wait!

[@lizw8663]

This was really helpful!

[@tericoe5116]

Stayed at Surfside in February 2022 and absolutely loved it.

[@rotaxrider]

What was the breakfast prices? What do you get for what prices?

[@justinnorris1199]

They actually did build the hotels. It wasn’t renovated. Dockside is where the old Wet n’ Wild parking was.

[@melissawillms1789]

Loved this resort when we stayed in April 2022. Food and amenities were all really good. The only downside for our party was getting on the buses with a family member who had a scooter. The buses don't load scooters first like Disney so by the time they load the mobile guests, sometimes they can't get the scooter on so we had to wait for the next bus. Buses come very frequently though so waits weren't too bad but we may rethink our stay here next time if this family member comes along on our next trip.

[@TD3Vlogs]

The hotels were built from scratch on the old Wet & Wild Site and are not renovated buildings.

[@charlafrederick1245]

There family suits are great, and reasonable price!

[@drewdaman80]

I always seem to get the disability rooms because I book on travel websites. Only problem is depending on what city or location you are visiting, you have to deal with drunks and little kids pressing that "doorbell" illuminating an otherwise dark room while you are trying to sleep!

[@kimberleymyers9690]

I can’t believe what a bargain this is. I’d love it if you’d stay at some of the Good Neighbor hotels that provide transportation to the parks so that we could see a comparison in park transportation & the amenities these hotels offer!!

[@judgekonnan]

The pasta place here and at Cabana Bay offer a $5 Mc&Cheese which I highly recommend.

[@mrbrady72]

Ah, I recall years ago when I stayed at the Sheraton Studio City (now the Four Points by Sheraton) on International Drive and I walked to Universal every day....

[@lu45728]

Hot rod playing in the lobby.. okay I’m here for it!!

[@Newshound55]

You got upgraded because you're Molly McAwesome! 🤣

[@lbenge8109]

Second time we stayed we were on the first floor Handicap assessable. I think it was the same room your staying in. LOL

[@caseygrayson2275]

Love these videos!!!

[@mattp4990]

Great video. But there definitely wasn’t a hotel on the surfside property. Was a water park though…

[@hunterwhite1230]

I met Quincy very briefly by haunted mansion this past January. Was strolling my son and was like CHARLIE ITS QUINCY so she’d turn to say hey, fully aware that my son would have no idea who she was but I didn’t want to make it awkward that a strange grown man was trying to low-key meet one of his idols. Told myself “im seeing molly or Quincy On this trip” for months prior to leaving and I willed it to life. She was super nice btw and thanked me for watching

[@kima7694]

Love the snake earrings!!!

[@gailharris3640]

I will say that Disney needs to start picking up their game when it comes to guest services , because right now Universal is kicking their butt.

[@Onniesprairiegarden]

Golden Girls. Ha! Yes!!!! ❤

[@jessicamorin3728]

They upgraded us for free as well! It was the best surprise ever!

[@lbenge8109]

Stayed there twice 2021 loved it.

[@jeremybowles9330]

I swear I have stayed in the two bedroom here for like 84 dollars a night after passholder discount. Its damn amazing lol. And EVERYTHING is moderate --> lux.

[@danimartin818]

Seems like a really good value for those who want to go to Universal. Aren't the Park's one big Fitness Center: endless treadmills, endless squats (getting into and out of rides), stair masters, arm curls (with overloaded park bags)...I just can't imagine people needing more exercise than that! 😄

[@starrypunk20]

When you order a kids meal at your Disney hotel quick service, I can feel the judgement and then looking for a kid 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@twarford0214]

I love Dockside Inn . The hotel is worth the money we will be going back next year

[@waltharwick]

I got a room just like that on the 11th floor at Dockside. Like you it was just me in the room for one night.

[@christie4692]

Great review!!!

[@yourentertainment945]

What ride is better to ride first on early park admission in Islands of Adventure. Hagrid’s or Velocicoaster?

[@kellysteinhoff9716]

Love this video! Coming in September 2023 staying here or dockside. Question? You said can order from Amazon etc, can it be done ahead of time? If not there will they hold it or if out put in your room?

[@reddixiecup]

Any comment on the noise level from other rooms? The chief complaint I hear from both dockside and surfside are thin walls

[@catherinecat7370]

We stayed there for HHN 30 and we loved it. There is a I believe it was a CVS right across the street and it was a real pleasure the hotel was perfect n definitely worth more then you pay. The only thing I didn’t like was the Starbucks closed by 12 noon. I would always want that cup of coffee before heading into early admission to HHN like we would normally get when we stayed at Cabana Bay but this hotel didn’t have that available other then that it was fantastic.

[@JakeCoasters]

I thought they built this hotel from the ground up on the Wet N Wild plot. I hadn't heard before that it was a renovation

[@IslaSprollie]

It's definitely a new build, Google maps shows it being built.

[@JakeCoasters]

@@IslaSprollie That's what I thought

[@mikeleonard5799]

In June my family did a Disney/Universal trip. At Disney we stayed at Pop Century and at Universal we stayed at Cabana Bay. Pop was $100 more per night than Cabana Bay and Cabana Bay is far superior to Pop Century. Also at Cabana Bay we had a suite, unlike at Pop Century which was just 2 queen beds. The fact is ALL of Universal’s hotels are way better than what Disney offers.

[@JustinDoesDisney]

Being on the first floor, could you hear the pool music from your room?

[@constancecherry3996]

It sounds amazing