This summer it was time for another visit to Universal Orlando to spend some time enjoying the newest park, Epic Universe. With that focus, we picked one of the closest hotels to Epic Universe—Universal Terra Luna Resort. Want to know how this new hotel stacks up? Is the location that good, and does the theming hit the mark? Here’s our review of Universal Orlando’s Terra Luna Resort!
Basics and Related Posts
Terra Luna Resort is one of the newer hotels at Universal Orlando Resort. The hotel is notable for its proximity to the new Universal Epic Universe theme park, which was built a short distance away from the existing Universal Orlando complex.
Terra Luna is categorized as a “Prime Value” hotel, the same level as sister resort Stella Nova and Aventura, and one step above the “Value” tier, which contains Endless Summer and Cabana Bay Beach Resort.
These categories should be taken with more than a grain of salt, as I’d consider Cabana Bay Beach Resort superior to Terra Luna by most any measure other than “close to Epic Universe,” and the price at Cabana Bay is often higher than Terra Luna.
Nights at Terra Luna start around $150+tax, but nights in the $200+ range are common.
Guests at Terra Luna, regardless of how they book, get the standard perks of staying at a Universal hotel, the main benefit being access to Early Park Admission. Terra Luna guests do not get complimentary Express Pass Unlimited. We fine Early Park Admission and transportation to the parks to more than justify the cost of staying at a Universal hotel when we’re visiting—the only question is which Universal hotel.
If you’re planning a trip to Universal Orlando Resort, I was to highlight some related posts before we get into the review of Terra Luna. We have a Universal Orlando Planning Guide, along with a specific Guide to the Hotels of Universal Orlando. We also have reviews of several hotels:
Now, onto Terra Luna!
Booking, Arrival, and Check In
We booked our stay at Terra Luna using the Citi Prestige credit card’s Fourth Night Free benefit. The rate on the Universal Orlando website was $1,048 for four nights, and we paid $816 for four nights. That’s $204 per night, and about 22% off Universal’s rate. We bought park tickets at Undercover Tourist.
We flew into MCO’s terminal C and took an Uber XL to the hotel for $42. Returning to the airport after our stay, we took an Uber XL for $24. Travel time in both directions was 20-30 minutes.
Arriving around 7PM there was only no line to check in, and check in was pretty efficient, taking only about 5 minutes.
Our Room at Terra Luna
Our room at Terra Luna was pretty similar in style to the room we had a Stella Nova last year.
The differences between the rooms at these hotels are small but definitely impact the vibes. Stella Nova had the salmon-colored pillows that added some color to the room, Terra Luna goes with various blues that mute things a bit.
The headboard imagery at Stella Nova had much more flare, too. The image below, left looks like a re-colorized photo of some gas giant (Jupiter?), or maybe even a star. But it’s a bit more…tame…than the vibrant starfield at Stella Nova, right:
The rooms come with a mini-fridge, which we noted in the Stella Nova review was cold enough for our cold brew overnight. There’s also a Cuisinart machine (give the people Keurigs!). There was ample lighting throughout the room, as well as ample outlets.
The bathroom has a small vanity outside a the toilet and shower room, which has a door. Between the vanity and the bedroom is a glass panel and curtain. As at Stella Nova, the soap is “Cosmic Ember.”
Still no clothesline in the shower.
Overall I’m happy with the rooms at both Stella Nova and Terra Luna.
Rooms are serviced every other day between 8AM and 5PM, which for our four-night stay meant one day of servicing on our second full day. This is fine by us, as we routinely decline housekeeping at hotels.
Theming
I don’t want to rehash my discussion of theming over in the Stella Nova review, but in that post I said the theming there felt “like someone watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and took away that you can just take plain white surfaces, add whiter lighting, and call it ‘space’-themed.”
That’s just as true in Terra Luna. Over at Disney’s hotels, I’ve been happy to see more heavy-handed theme popping up in recent years—Zoe loves it when the rooms really pour it on.
I’d hoped Universal would offer some…for lack of a better word…kitsch with their “space” theming. I just can’t see describing any of this as “fun”, and shouldn’t that be mandatory?
Amenities at Terra Luna
The hotel has a good-sized pool with an adjacent bar and fire pit.
There’s also a fitness center, and a small arcade.
The mornings I visited the fitness center it had a decent crowd, but there was always an available treadmill. Unfortunately with the constant crowds I didn’t get a photo, but it was similar to Stella Nova, pictured here:
There are laundry facilities available for guest use, but I didn’t check these out. There’s also laundry service available.
Restaurants and Bars at Terra Luna
Terra Luna has one lobby bar, one poolside bar/grill, and one quick service restaurant.
The lobby bar is Luna Bar. Emily had a great time watching some basketball at this bar and said the service was fantastic.
Outside, adjacent to the pool, is Moonrise Bar and Moonrise Grill.
Inside is the main dining option at the hotel—Omega Cafe and Market. The Market is a small grab-and-go shop that also serves as the coffee shop of the hotel.
The Cafe is the full quick service dining option. You’ll place your order, take a buzzer, and go grab your food from the pickup window when it buzzes. We had a few meals here, and we were happy with them all.
Our time at Stella Nova was marred a bit by crowding and long waits at the quick service restaurant. This wasn’t a problem at Terra Luna. It could be an operational difference between the two, but more likely it just had to do with crowd patterns and growing pains.
Altogether, I consider it a requirement of any theme park resort hotel that it have an adequate quick service option, and this checks that box.
Terra Luna Location and Transportation
As a location play, Terra Luna is more complex than its sister, Stella Nova. Truth be told—this is enough of a difference to make staying at Stella Nova usually the better pick. More on that in a bit.
First, to get to Volcano Bay, Studios Florida, and Islands of Adventure, you’ll definitely be relying on bus transportation or your car. We found bus service adequate for these trips. It took us 27 minutes to get from hotel lobby to Islands of Adventure gate one morning and 46 minutes the next (with a 12-minute wait for the bus).
To get to Epic Universe, you have a choice. There is a bus that runs relatively frequently (every 7-ish minutes, in our peak time experience). The other option is to walk.
Unlike Stella Nova, which has a Universal-advertised walking path to Epic Universe, the path from Terra Luna is legal but not officially advertised (possibly because it technically exits Universal property? I’m not sure). You’ll have to exit the resort via a gate out back that takes you to to Universal Boulevard. Then you cross Kirkman Road to the side with Stella Nova.
If you follow the sidewalk north on Kirkman road, you’ll be forced to turn east as the sidewalk continues along Epic Boulevard, eventually reaching the Stella Nova entrance across the street from the Epic Universe bus depot.
Two notes about this walk. First, it’s long and unpleasant. We’re big walkers and had to try it, but I don’t think I’d do it again.
Second, the only time I tried to get back into the hotel via this approach, my keycard didn’t get me back onto Terra Luna property. I was actually running in the morning, but I had to go on an…adventurous…detour to get back on-site. So I wouldn’t recommend walking from Epic Universe to Terra Luna unless you successfully tested your keycard at that Universal Boulevard gate.
Conclusions
One of my favorite things about my job is reviewing hotels. I love thinking about how the design impacts experience, and I love laying out the pros and cons of different hotel options for travelers. Unfortunately for me, the bottom line for Terra Luna is quite straightforward—it’s just a worse version of Stella Nova.
Stella Nova and Terra Luna are incredibly similar. They offer nearly identical theming and design. If you’re a Disney person, you’re looking at something close to an All Star Sports vs. All Star Movies situation.
To Terra Luna’s credit, our experience there was better. But there’s no way I’d assume that’s a fixed difference between the two hotels—crowd levels and small changes to operations can more than account for that. I’d expect Stella Nova to have improved in this regard since our first visit.
Beyond that, Stella Nova is just better. While the theming at both hotels could use some zip, Stella Nova’s minimal vibrancy carries the day for me. While both are close and walkable to Epic Universe, there’s no doubt the walking route from Stella Nova is better.
If there were a price difference between these two, I’d be open to staying at Terra Luna again. It would have to be at least $25 per night for a four-night stay, or $100 total, but even then if I felt like I’d be making multiple visits to Epic, Stella Nova would be a pretty tempting alternative to Terra Luna.
All Your Other Universal Orlando Planning Questions Answered
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Just starting out? Start with our Universal Orlando Resort planning guide! If you’re considering a Universal hotel, read our Guide to the Hotels of Universal Orlando Resort!
You’ll want to know what rides the parks offer, so we’ve got a Universal Studios Florida Rides Guide, a Universal Islands of Adventure Rides Guide, and a Universal Epic Universe Rides Guide.
If you’d like an idea of how to plan a day at these parks, we can help there, too. Our One Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary covers a full day at the original park, our Universal Islands of Adventure One Day Plan covers Hagrid's, Velocicoaster, and more, and we even have a One Day Guide to Epic Universe covering Universal's newest park.
Want to know how to get on rides without the long waits? Read all about Express Pass at Universal Orlando Resort. Plus, early risers always have the best theme parks days (well, we think so). Read about Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando to learn how to get an extra hour in the parks.