Universal Terra Luna Review

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My family just had the pleasure of being one of the first guests at the Terra Luna Resort.

The Terra Luna Resort is Universal Orlando’s newest hotel.  It’s the perfect time for Universal to be adding hotels, as we are just weeks away from the opening of Universal’s third theme park, Epic Universe.

Today, I want to tell you about my family’s experience about the hotel.  I will get into more detail later in this review.  But first, I want to tell you about some reasons why it is worth it to stay at Terra Luna – and why it is not.

Positives

• Has great theming throughout the hotel
• The hotel is very close to Epic Universe
• Guest rooms have comfortable beds
• Good onsite restaurant
• Guest rooms have plenty of outlets to charge your devices
• The staff was really friendly and nice
• The hotel is in one compact building, which means less walking
• One of the less expensive Universal Orlando hotels

Negatives

• No special transportation or walking path to the parks
• Not a lot of places to put your luggage in your room
• Not a lot of variety in the dining options

Theming, Decor & Lobby

Terra Luna has a really great theme, which really takes to heart the “universe” aspect of universal.  It is dedicated to the planetary elements of the universe.  You can see this theme throughout all aspects of the hotel.

The colors and architecture of the building itself really add to the theme.  I love the use of colors.

At night, you can even see lights on the outside of the building that look like constellations.

By the way, the hotel itself is in one building.  I like this because you do enough walking around the theme parks.  It’s nice not to have to walk all over a large resort complex at night trying to find your room.

Anyway, back to the theming.  You can see it in the lobby as well.

The lobby is really great.  There is plenty of comfortable seating throughout the lobby.

They even had chairs that could turn around.

So let’s say you are sitting near the elevator.  You could turn your chair towards the other chairs if you and your family were sitting around so you could have a conversation.  Or you could turn your chair around and watch the elevator if say you were waiting for someone to join you.  I really appreciate features like this.  It was obvious a lot of thought was put into this hotel.

Guest Rooms

And could you see this attention to detail in the guest rooms.

We chose to stay in a room with two queen beds.  Whoever designed the room clearly understood the assignment: it did a great job of conveying the universe & planetary theme.  I loved how the artwork and even the shape of the window helped convey the theming.

The beds were very comfortable, too, which obviously I appreciate.

The bedroom had a separate sink area from the bathroom.  If you want to get ready in the morning and not have everyone watch you, there was a curtain you could pull for privacy.

The only negative there is you have to pull the curtain from the bedroom side rather than from the side of the person at the sink.  I found that a bit odd.  But otherwise, I like the feature.

I like that there is a couch in the room.

You don’t always see that in guest rooms with two queen beds.  It’s nice to be able to sit down on a couch sometimes when you get back in your room after a long day at the park.  There was a table, too.  While it was a small table, I still liked that there was a table since not all guest rooms have tables.

There were other good hotel features, too, like a coffee maker and a mini refrigerator.

This is great if you want to bring drinks from home or you want to take home leftovers.  My family likes to bring a cooler from home to help us save money.

There were plenty of outlets so you can charge your devices.

My favorite was a series of outlets and USB ports on the desk.  What’s neat about is that you can press a button and it pops up.

So if you don’t need it, you can just keep it down and then use the space to say store your luggage.

Which brings me to the negative of the room.  There unfortunately was not a lot of room for your luggage.  The guest rooms in Universal’s Surfside Inn have really useful hooks to hang your bags.  But there curiously weren’t any of those in our room.  It would have also helped if there was room under your bed for your luggage.  But you couldn’t put your luggage there, either.  So that was a bit disappointing.

Dining

I like the food I had at Terra Luna, but right off the bat I will say there aren’t a lot of dining options at this restaurant.

The main dining option at Terra Luna is a quick service restaurant called Omega Cafe and Market.

Now, here’s the positive: my family ate here multiple times with good experiences.  You’ll soon read all about in our review.

They also have a bar and grill called Moonrise Bar and Moonrise Grill, which you can find by the pool.

There’s plenty of seating around the pool outside.

Moonrise Grill was open from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM when I was there.  We did not eat here because we got back from the park too late to eat there (luckily, Omega Cafe and Market was open later than that).  Hours seem to vary based on when you’re visiting, so you’ll need to check the hours when you visit.

Moonrise Bar had a wonderful selection of drinks available when I was there.

Moonrise Bar Menu

Terrestrial Taps

Pour Size: 16-oz / 20-oz | Price: $9 – $13

• Michelob Ultra Light Lager – St. Louis, MO – 4.2% ABV, 10 IBU

• Stella Artois Lager – Belgium – 5.0% ABV, 24 IBU

• Modelo Especial Lager – Mexico – 4.4% ABV, 18 IBU

• Islamorada Sandbar Sunday Wheat Ale – Florida Keys, FL – 4.8% ABV, 18 IBU

• Golden Road Mango Cart Wheat Ale – Los Angeles, CA – 4.0% ABV, 10 IBU

• 3 Daughters Beach Blonde Ale – Saint Petersburg, FL – 5.0% ABV, 23 IBU

• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – Chico, CA – 5.6% ABV, 38 IBU

• Tank Brewing Freedom Tower Amber Ale – Miami, FL – 5.3% ABV, 30 IBU

• New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA – Fort Collins, CO – 7.5% ABV, 42 IBU

• Sideward Moon Boots American IPA – Orlando, FL – 7.0% ABV, 70 IBU

• Seasonal Selection

Near Earth Objects

16-oz Can | Price: $10 – $11

• Bud Light Lager – St. Louis, MO – 4.2% ABV, 10 IBU

• Budweiser Lager – St. Louis, MO – 5.0% ABV, 12 IBU

• Coors Light Lager – Golden, CO – 4.2% ABV, 10 IBU

• Miller Lite Lager – Milwaukee, WI – 4.2% ABV, 10 IBU

• Corona Extra Lager – Mexico – 5.6% ABV, 18 IBU

• Corona Premier Light Lager – Mexico – 4.0% ABV, 9 IBU

• Dos Equis Lager – Mexico – 4.2% ABV, 10 IBU

• Guinness Stout – Ireland – 4.2% ABV, 45 IBU

• Heineken Lager – Netherlands – 5.0% ABV, 23 IBU

• Fat Tire Ale – Fort Collins, CO – 5.2% ABV, 15 IBU

• Kona Big Wave Blonde Ale – Kailua Kona, HI – 4.4% ABV, 21 IBU

• Heineken 0.0 Alcohol-Free – Netherlands – 0.0% ABV

Hard Cider & Hard Seltzer

Price: $9.50 – $11

• Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Hard Cider – Walden, NY (16-oz Can)

• High Noon Grapefruit Hard Seltzer – Modesto, CA (12-oz Can)

• High Noon Watermelon Hard Seltzer – Modesto, CA (12-oz Can)

• NÜTRL Pineapple Hard Seltzer – St. Louis, MO (12-oz Can)

• White Claw Black Cherry Hard Seltzer – Chicago, IL (12-oz Can)

Galactic Grapes

Price: $12

• Sangria Rojo – House-made with red wine, fresh citrus juices & spiced rum

• Lunetta Prosecco – Veneto, ITA (187-ml Bottle)

• Archer Roose Pinot Grigio – Friuli, ITA (250-ml Can)

• Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay – California, USA (250-ml Can)

• Archer Roose Rosé – Pays d’Oc, FRA (250-ml Can)

• Underwood Pinot Noir – Oregon, USA (250-ml Can)

• Archer Roose Malbec – Mendoza, ARG (250-ml Can)

Spirit-Free Beverages

• Planet Killer – $12
  Lyre’s Dark Cane Spirit shaken with cream of coconut, fresh orange and pineapple juice, freshly grated nutmeg

• Tundra Tai – $12
  Lyre’s Orange Sec and White Cane Spirit shaken with fresh lime juice, orgeat, and simple syrup, topped with Lyre’s Dark Cane Spirit

• Moon Runner – $12
  Lyre’s Dark Cane Spirit and Lyre’s Light Cane Spirit shaken with fresh orange and pineapple juice, black berry purée, and grenadine

• Orbital Smoothie – $8
  Choice of strawberry, raspberry, mango, piña colada, white peach, banana or tropical fruit

• Coca-Cola Freestyle – $5
  Enjoy more than 100 drink choices

• Sports Drink – $5
  POWERADE® Fruit Punch or Mountain Berry Blast

• Energy Drink – $6
  Red Bull Energy Drink, Sugarfree, Watermelon Edition

• Water Selection

  • FIJI Natural Artesian Water – $5.50

  • S. Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water – $7

Location & Transportation to the Parks

Terra Luna offers bus transportation.  The bus transportation is really close to the hotel, which reduces your walking time (which I really appreciated at night when my feet already hurt enough!).

The bus takes you to Universal Citywalk (which gets you into Universal Studios and/or Islands of Adventure), Volcano Bay waterpark, and, once it opens, Epic Universe.

Terra Luna is located near Epic Universe and is closer to this park than some of Universal’s older hotels, like Royal Pacific and Cabana Bay.  This means the bus ride is quicker to Epic Universe, but longer to Universal CityWalk, Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure.

Though the bus ride really isn’t too long to CityWalk.  We timed it and the bus ride back was just 11 minutes.

Unlike some of the other hotels, there is no boat transportation to the parks and unlike Universal’s other new hotel, Stella Nova, there is not a dedicated walking path to Epic Universe.

But I would say in my experience, the bus system is very good.  The buses run very frequently, and as I said earlier, it’s not too long of a bus ride.

Other Amenities

Other amenities/resort activities available include:

• A pool
• A hot tub
• A fitness center
• An arcade

Service

Everyone from the staff I interacted with was really nice.  They were training new employees when I was there so some were having to ask their boss for help with things, but I really didn’t mind the extra time because everyone was so nice and friendly.

Luggage

There were plenty of carts you could use to get your luggage to your room, which I appreciate.

One helpful feature the hotel has is that on the last day of your stay after you check out, you are allowed to keep your luggage in the hotel so you can enjoy one last day at the parks before you leave.

Pricing

And finally, one last thing I like about the hotel is the price.  Now, Terra Luna is by now means a cheap stay.  However, it is one of the least expensive onsite Universal Orlando hotels you can stay in.  And with all the features you get from staying onsite (like the dedicated bus system), it’s a good price.

I’ve especially found good rates for Terra Luna here.

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