Parents' Orientation Intel

I did the first block of Parents’ Orientation today and got a little bit of news about Fall.

They said they expect a decision on Fall classes in June, and said that as soon as they know, we’ll know.

IF they have dorm housing in the Fall, move-in starts August 21 and continues through the weekend. Classes start August 24.

If you’re going into dorms and don’t live nearby, you might want to make hotel reservations for that weekend soon. There are a number of chain hotels along University Blvd west of campus, and also south of campus along Alafaya Trail.

Good intel; I’m thinking of Thursday evening (August 20th) hotel check-in.

LOL, Thank you! At least you were thinking!

I had made a reservation – for the 21st! I called and was able to change it to the 20th at the same rate. Whew!

I booked with Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area, using the UCF program codes for the discounted room rate of $122. The link at the old parent’s orientation page is still live, to get you this rate: https://orientation.ucf.edu/resources/resources-staying-overnight/

We’re at the Hampton Inn, just off University about 1/2 mile west of campus. I think the rate was $94.

We’ve stayed there previously and liked it – very convenient, plus good free breakfast.

A word to the wise, though. If you’re planning on a football weekend – especially parents weekend – better book early, and the prices are much higher.

Thanks for the heads-up. I just booked a room for our family at Hampton too.

When you book the Hampton (or any hotel really), be sure you do so either by phone directly to the hotel, or on the Hilton website.

I booked that Hampton using a Google Maps link one time and the rate was more than $50 more for a two-night stay. I discovered the mistake by accident, but in time to cancel the Google ressie without penalty and rebook directly.

I go directly to the hotel now when making reservations. I had a misadventure using one of the popular travel websites. A confirmation number isn’t really a confirmation number if the hotel didn’t get it. They’re basically a middleman and the information they send to the hotels doesn’t always get there or isn’t updated if you have changes.

I have had that happen with trip advisor. I like to check reviews ahead of time and they often have a “book directly with hotel and save” link. But often that still comes up to the hotel as a third-party booking which generally gets you a crappier room and extra hassle if changes or cancellation need to be made. Now just trying to figure out if D23 will really have soccer tryouts that week or not…