Review: Universal’s Practically Perfect Planetary Prime Value Resort at Epic Universe

This hotel review covers Terra Luna Resort, the new Universal Orlando Value Resort ‘complex’ at its new Epic Universe campus. We’ll share room photos, amenities info, pros & cons, how these budget accommodations stack up to Walt Disney World Values & Moderates, and even the new in-park hotel at Epic Universe.

Terra Luna Resort is the sister property to Stella Nova Resort, both of which are strikingly similar and adjacent to one another. These are part of the Epic Universe expansion, which exists as a satellite campus from the rest of Universal Orlando. Meaning these hotels are more convenient to Epic Universe than to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay, and CityWalk.

The thematic conceit of Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort is “marvelous galaxies with diverse planetary elements.” They offer a combined total of 1,500 rooms, with ultra-modern accommodations options for guests to experience Universal Orlando at an affordable price point. Rooms start at $147 per night based on a stay of four nights or more, with slightly higher rates for single to 3-night stays.

For reference, the $147 rack rate puts Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort in the Prime Value Hotel tier, right alongside Universal’s Aventura Hotel and Cabana Bay Beach Resort. Both are above the lowest-tier Value Hotels, which is a slot occupied exclusively by Universal’s Endless Summer Resort – Dockside Inn & Suites and Surfside Inn & Suites.

This distinction is dumb and arbitrary. Terra Luna is dramatically different from Cabana Bay, and more similar to Endless Summer with a dash of Aventura’s stylization. Not only that, but what is a “Prime” Value Resort, anyway? Did a butcher come up with the naming convention?! But I digress.

This $147 rack rate puts Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort slightly above the All Star Resorts, which have a starting rate of $133 per night. It’s below Pop Century and its $183 per night starting rate, and all of the Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World, which have a starting rack rate of $260 per night.

Of course, rates can be lower with discounts or higher during busier times of the year. For my stay, I paid $137 per night after discount. It was a higher rate season, but with a fairly aggressive discount for Florida residents and Annual Passholders. I’ll be curious to see post-discount prices in the off-season once the new hotel smell wears off, but am not holding my breath.

A more realistic possibility is that prices skyrocket. The value proposition of both Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resorts is really strong, and guests may take to favoring this duo over Helios Grand over time. We’ll discuss some reasons for that in the conclusion, but I wouldn’t expect that dynamic to play out for a couple of years.

According to Universal Orlando, Terra Luna Resort invites guests to explore the unknown and step onto otherworldly planets that have yet to be discovered. Here, guests find themselves in the midst of an extraordinary landing zone within an awe-inspiring solar system, accented with fresh surroundings and terrestrial greens and golds.

The hotel offers 750 double-queen guest rooms that comfortably sleep up to four guests and feature spaceship-styled windows, making this the ultimate escape for guests looking to rest amongst stars and planets. Or so Universal Orlando and Loews claim. That flowery language is theirs, not mine, in case it’s not clear.

I would argue that the most charitable interpretation of the “theme” here is Googie or Space-Age design. There are swooping lines, stylized features, and flashes of eye-catching design. It looks crisp, futuristic, and ultra-modern in places. Again, this is the charitable assessment of the style.

The idea that this is otherworldly, extraterrestrial, intergalactic, or whatever, is frankly nonsense. Terra Luna Resort doesn’t actually have outer space themed design, it has architecture and motifs that suggest a mid-century space age style. That’s a distinction with a difference in practice.

These hotels look to me like Endless Summer, but with outer space stylization instead of ocean. Which is fine! The design language with the swooping lines and ultramodern appearance evokes the original Tomorrowland in the late 1960s at Disneyland or 1970s in Magic Kingdom.

That’s probably overselling it, as there’s not a ton of substance to the design of Terra Luna. It’s as if someone watched 2001: A Space Odyssey or Alien and said, “that set design looks inexpensive, but moody and evocative of outer space–how can we replicate it as cheaply as possible in our next big box budget hotel?”

I would also add that if Walt Disney World opened two hotels like this and pretended they were themed to outer space, they would get absolutely dragged by fans and critics. The words sterile, cold, bland, boring, antiseptic, un-themed, and more would be thrown around. The hotel would be likened to a hospital.

Universal Creative definitely gets more of a pass than Imagineering on stuff like this. Maybe Terra Luna Resort should be similarly criticized, but I actually like it for the most part. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with a crisp and clean design.

The swooping lines and shapes give it visual interest and enough of a visual identity that it actually works–and quite well–for me, personally. Many fans like busy or overcooked themed design, and this definitely is not that. It’s more lightly styled than properly themed to outer space.

I’m still not sold on the tile-covered exterior of the hotels. I will say that it looks better in person and has grown on me–I previously thought the outside of the hotel looked hideous. Regardless I respect Universal Creative trying to do something different and covering the exterior in those colorful, reflective tiles that have an almost iridescent quality.

It’s arguably better than Endless Summer but probably not the more function-forward floor-to-ceiling windows of Aventura. It’ll be interesting to see how it ages and what people think of this a decade from now. What I will say is that the colorful reflections can be entrancing at times and blinding at others, all depending upon the angle of the sun.

Let’s take a look inside our standard room at Universal’s Terra Luna Resort:

In the guest rooms, you’ll notice some similarities to the redesigned rooms at Pop Century and All Star Movies.

The biggest difference is swapping out the fold-down Murphy bed that doubles as a table at the Disney Value Resorts for a stationary queen bed at Universal. Whether that’s a pro or a con is a matter of personal preference. I’m a fan of that Murphy bed and think it’s a wonderful space-saving asset in these smaller Value Resort rooms, but I know many others disagree.

With that said, there’s more attention to detail with Terra Luna Resort. The accent rug atop the laminate flooring, textured bedspread, artwork, art, throw pillows, and other details all give off a space age vibe.

My favorite feature of these rooms is the wide variety of lighting, both direct and indirect. I put a lot of value in recessed and moody lighting, and hate hotels that have harsh and bright light. Terra Luna gets high marks for the variety and control in the lighting.

Aesthetically, these rooms punch above their weight. Both as compared to their counterparts at Walt Disney World’s Value Resorts and even the nearby Universal Helios Grand Hotel that overlooks Epic Universe.

It’s often the case that Walt Disney World rooms thematically underwhelm as compared to common areas, whereas Universal rooms overdeliver relative to the shared spaces. That’s true once again at Terra Luna, where the rooms are the thematic high point of the entire resort.

Honestly, I was surprised at just how little daylight there was between Terra Luna and Helios Grand. The latter does have some nicer finishing details, but if you plopped me in the two standard rooms divorced of context (like location or views) and asked me to guess the nightly price difference, I’d be off by over $100.

The Terra Luna rooms come with a mini-fridge, which was sufficiently cold to store some groceries–greek yogurt for breakfast, plus random fruits and vegetables that probably don’t need to be chilled in the first place.

There’s also a circa-1994 Cuisinart coffee maker, which is a massive disappointment for a new hotel. I feel like some amenities, such as Keurig machines, are arbitrarily withheld from lower tier resorts just to create the illusion of amenities at the higher-end ones.

Rooms are serviced every other day by housekeeping, which is increasingly common for non-luxury hotels. This is fine by me, as this was supplemented by text messages from the housekeeping staff asking whether I needed anything else.

I was able to score some extra coffee this way, which is really my main motivation for letting my room get serviced in the first place. Dropping the pretext and not wasting everyone’s time strikes me as a win, but I might’ve felt differently were this a family trip.

I found the bedding to be comfortable, and the space would’ve been sufficient for the two of us were we traveling as a couple. It would’ve been cramped with the toddler coming along, and I can’t imagine how a party of 4 would fit comfortably into one of these rooms. This is where the fold-down Murphy bed is a big win at the WDW Value Resorts.

The Terra Luna room is on par with the other Value Resorts at Universal Orlando in terms of size, with the exception of the larger Cabana Bay or family suites at Endless Summer. It still worked perfectly fine for my purposes. Plenty of storage space, and the lounge chair is nice. I ended up using that for working on my laptop, as the desk chair situation leaves a lot to be desired.

The bathroom likewise gets the job done, but isn’t going to win any “best hotel bathroom ever” awards.

As with most of the hotel, it favors function over form and fulfills its role fine.

I liked this room at Terra Luna, and think it’d be perfect for solo travelers or couples who travel light and don’t need a ton of space.

There are enough details and little touches that it feels inviting rather than sterile, it has a lot of smart functional design choices, and the color scheme coupled with the window made it light, airy, and welcoming. Given the cost, this room is tough to beat for smaller parties.

Terra Luna Resort has a handful of dining options, with the most notable being Omega Cafe and Market. This is the quick service restaurant, serving made-to-order American classics for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a selection of grab-and-go items.

I did a few meals at Omega Cafe & Market, and have a few takeaways from those. The first is that the quality is high–higher than Value Resort food courts at Walt Disney World. The second is that prices are high–also higher than its WDW counterparts.

Finally, service is slow. Slow to the point that, while waiting for my fried chicken one early evening with maybe ~10 other guests in the entire restaurant, I was reminded of my grandpa saying, “did they have to go out back and catch the bird?” in circumstances like this.

I did not ask this, just to be clear, but the clear ‘compromise’ in those made-to-order meals is that they’re prepared at a glacial pace. This didn’t matter to me as I was working from the hotel, but I never would’ve dined at Omega Cafe if I were in a rush.

In addition to this, Terra Luna has Moonrise Bar and Moonrise Grill. At this walk-up poolside lounge, guests can enjoy burgers, quesadillas and salads. Plus, guests 21 and older can purchase cocktails, beer and wine. Given the location, I assume Moonrise shares a kitchen with Omega Cafe. I did not eat here.

There’s also Luna Bar in the lobby bar, offering specialty and classic cocktails. I did not drink here. It looked nice, especially at slower times when the lobby was relaxed.

One of the big selling points of Terra Luna Resort is its layout. Both Disney and Universal have learned that most guests do not want sprawling hotels with clusters of motel-style buildings and exterior hallways. (I’m finally understanding the “why” of this as a parent.)

In recent years, both have moved away from that style and towards more condensed resort footprints, often featuring tower designs and more interior hallways. Personally, I enjoy the larger and lusher grounds with more to explore, but I realize I’m in the minority.

Terra Luna continues this trend. It’s not a tall tower–it’s more horizontal (like a spaceship?!), but it’s still compact with interior hallways that connect to the main lobby. Regardless of where your room is located, it’ll probably take you 5 minutes or less to get to the pool, dining, or bus stops.

The trade-off, unfortunately, is that the grounds are not particularly interesting or worth wandering.

Nevertheless, there are some interesting amenities. The fitness center is new and gets the job done. Or so I assume–I walk 20,000 steps per day at theme parks and sweat off even more weight thanks to Epic Universe’s “perpetual sauna” design, so I’m not doing extra exercising. There’s also an arcade that offers pay-to-play games, as well as a gift shop.

The feature amenity of Universal Terra Luna Resort is the ~10,000 square foot pool with a hot tub, firepit and more. There are also outdoor games and even poolside movies at night.

The pool at Terra Luna is very basic, and honestly, looked unpleasant. I was always surprised how quiet the food court and lobby were during my stay, and it’s because all 750 rooms had descended upon the pool. The seating area and pool were both packed. Since the design is just one massive watery space (hey, space themed!), I cannot see how that could conceivably be fun or comfortable.

Definitely lacking as compared to Universal’s other exceptional pools, or even the All Star Resorts at Walt Disney World. I wouldn’t stay here if a good pool were high priority.

One of the biggest perks for Universal’s Terra Resort is Early Park Admission to Epic Universe (as well as the other parks, when offered).

Early Park Admission can be a bit hit or miss at Epic Universe. Sometimes, it’s incredibly advantageous for knocking out the headliners in Super Nintendo World, which account for 2 of the 3 longest wait times in the park. It’s also useful for Celestial Park, and positioning yourself ahead of the rope drop crowd.

See Why to Skip Super Nintendo World’s Morning Madness During Epic Universe’s Early Entry for more.

Speaking of Epic Universe, the hotel’s biggest selling point by far is that Universal Terra Luna Resort is within walking distance of the park. It’s about a 10-12 minute walk and is incredibly easy, along a clearly marked sidewalk and defined intersections–so no trudging through bushes or running across the road!

Unlike Helios Grand Hotel, which has its own dedicated entrance into Epic Universe, Terra Luna guests use the main entrance as all other guests. You actually pass Epic Universe’s bus drop-off on the walk, and Terra Luna offers buses if you’d prefer not to walk. But you really should walk–being able to control your own destiny is huge, in my view.

Personally, I prefer the main entrance to the private entrance of Helios Grand Hotel. Both in terms of location (you’re closer to Super Nintendo World) and ease of entry (Helios Grand is slow due to only have two turnstiles and one bag check station).

We’ve always found the shuttle buses to be incredibly efficient throughout Universal Orlando and that’s true at Terra Luna, too.

During this stay, I never had to wait for a bus to arrive when traveling to the main campus where Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, and CityWalk are located.

Although buses do often sit for ~5 minutes waiting for guests and for the next bus behind the idling one to show up. The commute time to the main campus can be a bit lengthy–comparable to traveling from the All Stars to Magic Kingdom (except through city streets).

Circling back to comparisons, there’s the question of where Terra Luna Resort slots in alongside the other hotels at Universal Orlando. This strikes me as a mix between Aventura and the Endless Summer Resorts, which occupy the last three spots on our Universal Orlando Hotel Rankings & Reviews.

If choosing based on the hotels themselves or giving equal weight to locations, I’d probably rather pay the same amount and stay at Cabana Bay Beach Resort (our #2 Universal hotel) or spend less and stay at Endless Summer.

The former has a great location, incredible theme, and excellent amenities. The latter are two budget hotels that look a lot like this, and are also located outside of the legacy Universal Orlando theme park ‘campus’ and thus require shuttles.

This is not how I’d actually approach it. For me, the main value of Terra Luna, Stella Nova, or Helios Grand Hotels is their proximity to Epic Universe. Heck, our review of the latter is literally, “Epic Universe’s In-Park Hotel Proves First Three Rules of Real Estate.”

In other words: location, location, location. That’s true again with Terra Luna Resort. As someone who has spent plenty of time at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure in the past decades, I’m much more concerned with being close to Epic Universe.

Proximity to Epic Universe is the big selling point for me with any of these 3 hotels, and why–from a practical perspective–they are the only options I’m considering until the ‘new park smell’ wears off Epic Universe (so maybe 2027?).

This makes the real choice one of Helios Grand Hotel vs. Terra Luna or Stella Nova. Although it’s difficult to compare a top tier hotel to a budget option, I did not find Helios Grand Hotel to be worth the premium pricing.

If money were no object or I were taking multiple midday breaks or wanted a room with a view or club level–then I’d book Helios Grand Hotel. (So that’s precisely what we’re doing for our 2026 family trip with the toddler.)

But otherwise? I’m taking Terra Luna or Stella Nova, pocketing the cost difference and putting that towards meals in Universal’s best food park. Your mileage may vary, but for me, these Value Resorts are the clear and obvious winners.

As for how Terra Luna compares to Walt Disney World’s All Star Resorts, it really comes down to what you’re after and which theme parks are your priority. We usually do split stays between Disney and Universal to take advantage of on-site perks, and recommend you do likewise.

Each resort will have appeal to different guests. Terra Luna’s look is more modern and clean, with a subdued style. The All Star’s decorations are largely oversized Disney characters. The All Stars are sprawling resorts with lush grounds and exterior hallways. These properties have a motel vibe, but there’s something to be said for their character.

By contrast, Terra Luna is trendier, compact, and has nicer rooms–so long as you don’t want or need the extra space offered by the fold-down Murphy bed. It thus becomes a choice of newer and nicer but more boring, or older and shabbier, but more charming.

Above all else, it’s great to see the theme parks building more budget accommodations. Especially ones so close to their marquee new $7 billion theme park.

That’s really the key–and it’s very difficult to quibble with anything about Universal Terra Luna Resort given the price point for a hotel within walking distance of Epic Universe. Can you even imagine if Walt Disney World built a Value Resort in the Crescent Lake area?!

If you’re visiting Orlando’s theme parks and are a bottom dollar traveler, it’s almost impossible to justify off-site accommodations at this point. This is true with the All Stars at Walt Disney World and with Endless Summer or Terra Luna & Stella Terra at Universal Orlando.

All of these options offer tremendous bang for buck and perks, to the point that it’s very difficult for any third party options to be priced low enough to bridge the gap after taking transportation and everything else into account.

You’re hard-pressed to find quality, non-sketchy third party hotels that are this competitive on pricing even if you are not visiting the theme parks. While I don’t expect these starting prices to hold firm once Epic Universe starts gaining momentum, they still won’t be exorbitant.

Ultimately, Universal’s Terra Luna Resort offers unparalleled value for money given its location within walking distance of Epic Universe, the hottest (literally and figuratively) new theme park in Central Florida. This alone is worth $150+ per night! So long as you’re comfortable with something that’s light on theme and amenities, it’s a great option.

Terra Luna offers stylish rooms, interior hallways, a compact footprint, and convenient transportation to the main campus of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. It’s pretty far from perfect as a themed hotel, but it’s practically perfect from, well, a practical perspective for theme park ‘touring commandos’ who want to knock out all of Epic Universe in a single day. We’d highly recommend Terra Luna to the budget-conscious rope drop to park closing crowd wanting a competitive advantage at Epic Universe.

Planning a trip to Orlando, Florida? Learn more about Universal Orlando Resort in our Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios Florida Planning Guide. Want comprehensive Disney advice? The best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know. For more on hotels, check out our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page.

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of Universal’s Terra Luna Resorts? Impressed by the style or substance? Or will you stick with Endless Summer, Aventura, or Cabana Bay? Have you stayed at here? Walked to Epic Universe from Terra Luna? What do you think of this hotel? Interested in staying here? Thoughts on Universal Orlandos vs. Disney’s Value Resorts? What about on-site perks? Do you agree or disagree with our hotel review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!