Over the last few decades, Universal Orlando has expanded into a full-fledged vacation destination resort, with three theme parks, a water park, CityWalk, and 11 hotels. However, thanks to the resort’s inherent infrastructure, there are some frustrating elements to staying at some Universal hotels.

Universal’s Endless Summer — Surfside

See, as the Universal Orlando Resort has expanded, the company has run into space issues, which have led to Universal’s properties being split off from each other, separated by public roads, infrastructure, and traffic, making travel across the resort somewhat harrowing at times.

Universal Orlando is essentially home to 3 major parcels as of 2026:

The area that began as Universal Orlando’s original property, which is home to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, CityWalk, the Volcano Bay water park, and 6 of the resort’s hotels (the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel, the Cabana Bay Beach Resort, the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, and the Adventura Hotel).
About 8 miles away from the original park sits the resort’s latest theme park – Epic Universe – along with the Helios Grand, Stella Nova, and Terra Luna Resorts.
Finally, the Endless Summer Resorts — Surfside and Dockside — sit between the two in the midst of other hotels and tourist attractions.

A map displaying the spread-out nature of Universal’s property produced prior to Epic Universe’s public opening. ©Universal

For starters, this separation means that guests staying at one of the 6 hotels on Universal’s original property can access the original Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure (which are right next to each other) through walking paths, boats, or short bus rides, and have a much longer ride through traffic to reach Epic Universe.

CityWalk

On the flip side, guests staying at the Epic Universe hotels need to do the same to access anything other than Epic that Universal offers. On top of that, guests at Stella Nova and Terra Luna need to bus to Epic Universe as well.

Quincy at Terra Luna!

Guests at the Helios Grand, which is literally located at the back of the park, have no such issue and can walk into Epic Universe through their own exclusive entrance.

Helios Grand Hotel

Finally, guests at the Endless Summer Resorts — who are disconnected from both properties — will be taking buses on public roads to reach ANY of Universal Orlando’s theme parks, Volcano Bay, or CityWalk.

Universal Endless Summer Resort

Now, all that being said, we still enjoy staying at Universal’s hotels, and there are multiple benefits to doing so, including:

Early Entry: Guests staying at Universal Hotels can enter the resort’s theme parks – Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe – an hour before the park’s scheduled opening and ride select attractions before anyone else.
Free Express Unlimited Pass: Guests staying at one of Universal’s Signature Collection hotels (the equivalent of Disney’s Deluxe Tier) receive Universal Express Unlimited passes, which allow them to “skip the regular lines at participating rides and attractions in Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure.” Universal’s Signature Collection hotels that offer Express Unlimited passes are the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, the Hard Rock Hotel, and the Loews Royal Pacific Resort.
Shopping and Dining: Guests of Universal hotels can be “carefree and carry-free when shopping” as select stores in Universal’s theme parks and Universal CityWalk will deliver purchases directly to your hotel, free of charge. (You know, that service Disney used to offer and has yet to bring back…) In addition, the majority of the restaurants on Universal property offer priority seating to Signature Collection guests.

Hard Rock Hotel

Suffice to say, there are plenty of reasons to stay at a Universal hotel during a visit to the property. However, guests should be aware of how the resort’s transportation works beforehand, especially if they’re used to the “Disney Bubble” that comes with staying at a Walt Disney World property. If you’re considering a Universal stay for your next trip, be sure to keep these issues in mind when choosing your hotel. Stay tuned to AllEars for more tips on visiting Universal Orlando.

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Have you stayed at a Universal hotel before? Let us know in the comments below.

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