Universal Orlando’s third theme park brings two new budget-friendly hotel options to the resort — and unfortunately, they are far from epic.
Proximity to Epic Universe is one of the few redeeming features of Universal’s Terra Luna and Stella Nova Resorts. So if you’re not inside the park and you’re staying at either of these (nearly) identical hotels, you’ll be stuck with mediocre food choices and service coupled with lackluster amenities and a steeper parking fee than at comparable Universal properties.
The lobby at Stella Nova (Theme Park Tribune)
But hey, at least the rooms are pretty good? So let’s start there.
The rooms
The standard rooms at Stella Nova and Terra Luna are, like a lot of other things at the two hotels, would be hard to tell apart if it weren’t for the art above the beds.
Both rooms are around 315 square feet — a little bigger than the standard rooms at Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, which is the other hotel in Universal’s “Prime Value” category. It does beat most Disney World value hotel rooms, which are around 260 square feet.
Here’s a tour of the Terra Luna standard room:
And here’s the Stella Nova standard room:
The rooms themselves feel somewhat similar to those at Universal’s Aventura Hotel, which isn’t a bad thing. Do keep in mind this room type is all the two resorts have to offer, as there are no family suites or even king bed rooms to be found here.
Amenities
Outside your room, the hotels’ amenities feel more like Universal’s cheaper Endless Summer Resorts, despite technically being classed in a higher tier of on-site accommodations.
Overlooking the pool at Stella Nova (Theme Park Tribune)
The pool areas are serviceable but fall well short of what you can get at Cabana Bay or even the general vibes of Aventura. Universal Orlando has set a high bar for their hotel pools and these two just seem pedestrian by comparison.
Universal Studio Store at Terra Luna (Theme Park Tribune)
The lobbies feature very similar Universal Studios Stores with a limited selection of merchandise, mostly geared towards the properties represented at Epic Universe. In fact, I couldn’t find any resort-specific items on either of my visits.
The tiny arcade at Terra Luna (Theme Park Tribune)
Both Terra Luna and Stella Nova do offer small game rooms, but the options here are disappointing. One entire wall is taken up by claw machines, which is hardly the kind of quality distraction a theme park resort needs for guests in this day and age.
Food
Where the experience really fell apart for both Terra Luna and Stella Nova was their food service.
Omega Cafe entrance at Terra Luna (Theme Park Tribune)
Rather than build a traditional food court, both hotels use a more centralized quick-service setup. The food is available to order from one service counter and comes out at one pickup location. Perhaps this saves space for more seating, but it didn’t help the service or the food quality.
Long line at Stella Nova’s Cosmos Cafe (Theme Park Tribune)
Both Terra Luna’s Omega Cafe and Stella Nova’s Cosmos Cafe routinely took 20 minutes or more to serve food at busy times — which were plentiful, because it felt like there were never enough cashiers to make this system work properly.
Buttermilk-Brined Fried Chicken at Terra Luna (Theme Park Tribune)
To make matters worse, the food just wasn’t very good. After waiting 30 minutes for fried chicken dinner after a long day at Epic Universe, I was disappointed to find it all tasted like it had been sitting under a heat lamp all day anyway, with the exception of my ice cold mashed potatoes.
At several other Universal hotels, you can rely on the Starbucks location for quick bites. But at Terra Luna and Stella Nova, the equivalent market locations offered slower service and subpar food, like noticeably unfresh donuts.
The marketplace area at Stella Nova (Theme Park Tribune)
The only saving grace for both hotels is that they offer the same pizza as other Universal hotels, with an option for in-room delivery. This is a reliable, tasty staple, so much so that I grew dependent on it after too many bad experiences at the food court.
Proximity
The biggest perk of both Stella Nova and Terra Luna is being closer to Epic Universe.
As you can see from this map shared by @bioreconstruct, Stella Nova (Point #3 on the map) is a relatively easy walk of around eight to 10 minutes to get to the park entrance (Point #1). So easy, in fact, that you may as well walk unless you’re needing the rest or a bus is already waiting. A bus ride itself is very fast, as Stella Nova’s main road leads directly into Epic’s bus dropoff area (Point #3).
Despite being just across the street, Terra Luna is much less accessible on foot. The Terral Luna walking path (starting at Point #4) forces guests to backtrack towards Universal Boulevard, taking a much longer route around Stella Nova’s pool and parking lot before connecting with the Stella Nova walking path by the Stella Nova entrance sign.
That’s about a 20-minute walk at best — which just isn’t worth it over the shuttle bus. In fact, shuttles from other Universal hotels, like the two sides of the Endless Summer Resort, can be faster than the Terra Luna walking path.
Stella Nova vs. Terra Luna — which of the two should you pick?
It should be clear at this point that I’m not fond of either of these hotels. But if you’re spending multiple days at Epic Universe, Stella Nova is at least worth considering due to its comfortable walking distance. You can even avoid the hotel food service by just eating inside Epic Universe instead.
If you’re only spending one day at Epic Universe, I would pick any of the other Universal hotels over these two. Better to suffer through a couple slightly longer hotel bus rides as long as the amenities, service and food are going to be better.
The verdict
I had previously declared the Surfside Inn & Suites as the worst of Universal’s on-site hotels. Yet after my stays at Terra Luna and Stella Nova, I’d rank both as being below Surfside.
Universal deserves some credit in creating two new budget-friendly hotel options next to its third theme park. Yet outside the room, this feels like a step down from even cheaper on-site hotels, with the terrible food service system and quality making this a place I would actively avoid as long as I’m not priced out of other options at Universal.
Stella Nova grade: C
Terra Luna grade: C-