Universal Florida has 3 on-site hotels (Portofino, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific). The Portofino tends to be the most expensive and most upscale of the three. The Hard Rock is the middle of the two and the Royal Pacific is normally the least expensive and tends to be used by the convention crowds.

I would suspect that the week between Christmas and New Years, if they have rooms available, they will be fairly pricey. But the benefits you receive may more than offset the cost for you. Universal Florida no longer uses the same "express pass" system that Disney uses. There are now two options for getting express entry to rides. One is you can purchase a book of express passes when you enter the park. The book will allow you a one-time use of the express pass line for each ride. It usually costs anywhere between $15 - $40 per person depending on the time of the year and such. For your week, assume the higher end price. And the booklet is useable only for the park you purchased it in.

Now comes the real benefit of staying onsite. Each person in the room, most double bed rooms will handle up to 5 persons, will receive a room key. That room key IS an express pass itself. So you get unlimited express pass entry to all rides in both parks all day (including the day you check-in and check-out). Universal has taken out all the Express Pass kiosks. So now the only options for use of the express pass line are the two just mentioned.

Under normal circumstances, if one of the persons in your party has a Full Annual Pass (not the less expensive Power Pass), then you can get a discounted rate on the hotel room. Unfortunately, I would bet that the APH rate is all used up already. (Booking early has its privileges.)

Personally, I love the express pass feature of the room keys and the convenience of getting to the parks. To me it is usually worth the extra expense. I actually was at the parks just a week or so ago and we stayed at the Hard Rock. As an example, the Hulk roller coaster had a 45 min - 1 hr wait. We used the express pass entrance and waited a grand total of about 2 minutes. With the room keys, you will easily be able to ride virtually every ride in either park mulitple times in a day even on the most crowded days.

To look online for room availability go to www.usf.com and look around. If you have more questions feel more than free to PM me.