Just Back- 1st onsite TR-updated w/ pics!

[Disneychix]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just had the best stay in Orlando! This comes in as a close second to my wedding at the WDW Swan.

My wonderful DH planned a surprise trip to USR as a birthday gift for me. He planned everything from plane tickets to hotel to a couples massage at the Spa. Sooooooooooo Nice!!!!!!!! I officially love US!!

Day1:
Early SW flight into MCO. Arrived at 10:00am and picked up rental car from Dollar. DH got some super great rate of $12 per day off Hotwire. We were upgraded to an economy and ended up with a Sebring. It was very nice! (only one weird thing is the lady told us we had to refill the tank within 10 miles of the airport upon return. We asked for some examples of places that were 10 within 10 miles and she didn't know. This proved to be a hassle later in the trip.) We got our map and we were on our way! :moped:

Now normally we stop at Walgreens or somewhere to pick up a cooler and some water. For some reason we didn't and just drove to the resort. We've been to the Royal Pacific resort before to eat at Tchoup Chop but we've never stayed. I waited outside while DH parked and we both walked in together! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! :thumbsup2 DH checked in while I enjoyed some complimentary mango tea! So nice to enjoy after the heat of the outside! DH came back and told me we were upgraded to a pool view room because he had told them it was my birthday. (number will NOT be mentioned here or anywhere ever again!:rotfl: ) NICE! We were in Tower 1 -Wayword (i think) Room 1620. And it was only 11am but our room was ready! NICE! We went up and took our bags in. The view was amazing.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060508_0070.jpg
The room was a king bed room and was very nicely decorated.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060508_0069.jpg
The bathroom was very clean. We were very hungry so off we went to Margaritaville (my fav lunch dining while at US!) It held up to my memory as being a very good meal. It wasn't crowded at all and we got a table right away. (weird it was about 12:30 now!) We ordered a coke and margarita to start and some crab/cheese/mushroom dip.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060508_0074-1.jpg
It was basically cream of mushroom soup with crab and shrimp and baked cheese on top, but BOY was it GOOD! ::yes:: I was sooo hungry and this really hit the spot. I ordered the cheeseburger in paradise and DH had the Cuban sandwhich. I could barely eat my burger after eating my cheesy goodness but I had half and a few fries. DH ate almost all his and a few bites of my burger. He said his was very good too. I love the fries here. They are very crispy and potatoy (if ya know what I mean).
Next we were off to US because we NEEDED to ride the Simpson's Ride. We aimed that way first and stopped for a quick pick with Marg and Homer http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0050.jpgthen we flashed our AWESOME FOTL passes! We were on in about 10 mins. It was sooooooooo COOL! :thumbsup2 I'm not a Simpson's fan so DH had to tell me about the character's (well besides the family and Krusty, I know them) but the ride was really good.
Next up was Jaws but only cause we were walking through Amity on our way to the Mummy. Again with a quick flash of FOTL passes we were on with NO WAIT! (Funny story, 2 teenage girls were in line behind us and as we were walking they asked if this was the FP line and if they'd be checking the passes again. I guess the worker thought the 2 girls belonged with us and pushed them into the FP line behind us. DH didn't think that was too funny cause we are NOT old enough to have teenagers , at least not me cause my b-day wasn't until tues;) Anyway the girls got treated to a walk on on Jaws!)
We were starting to get cranky and sweaty but wanted to do the Mummy anyway. Quick flash and 5 mins later we were on! It was not what I remembered! I liked it but I didn't remember so much roller coaster parts! I just wasn't feeling good b/c of the heat and early morning day so we headed back to the RPR via the boat.
Did I say SOOOOOOOOOOO NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 1 evening up next! :)

[donaldduck352]

Sounds like a great time so far.:cool1:
RPR RULESdonn't it!

[donaldduck352]

The mods are probally going to move this to the Tr boards.I'll keep up on this tho:thumbsup2

Sounds like a Great trip like I said before!!

[phamton]

The mods are probably going to move this to the Tr boards. Yep, gotta move it. I'm really enjoying reading it so far! Thanks for posting it!

[macraven]

popcorn::

waiting for more also.

[LeslieR]

popcorn::

[goofygirl64]

Lovin' it. Can't wait for more!!!:surfweb:

[Disneychix]

Sorry I posted in the wrong place! I didn't even see the Universal TR board! Thanks Mods for moving me!

Day 1 Evening: When we arrived back at RPR we were both hitting the wall pretty hard. We needed a naptime! We went straight to the room and just as I was about to start dreaming there was a knock at the door. DH answered and it was a special delivery of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0052.jpg
DH assumed they were from my mom but when I read the card it was from the check-in desk! :cloud9: I don't remember his name but I have to card at home. Those strawberries were AWSOME! Oh my! They had both white and milk chocolate and they were HUGE! I was in heaven! I ate one and DH had one and we put the rest in the mini-bar fridge. Then it was off to sleep.
When we got up it was about 5:30. We couldn't decide if we wanted to stick around Citywalk or go up to I-drive for dinner. We weren't especially hungry and I wanted to buy some cheap water as we'd only been to the park for 2 hours that day and already spent $6 on water. What a waste! DH thought I-drive would be full of tourists and not fun. But I made him go anyway. We pulled around the corner and stopped at the CVS (or is it Walgreens?) first. We picked up some water and chips. I saw a tinkerbelle t-shirt that I liked but decided against it. I was not here for Disney this trip! After we drove down I-drive looking for somewhere to eat. Nothing was catching our eye but we soon saw Chili's and decided to go there. Actually we saw the go-carts next to Chili's and I said to DH maybe we should go for a ride and then there happened to be a parking lot for Chili's right next door! :thumbsup2 There was NO ONE in CHilis. Seriously no wait and tons of bar space. We decided to go eat in the bar area. Now this was a Friday evening about 7:15. Why was no one around on I-drive? I thought it was strange. Our Chili's at home is more crowded. :confused3 We got some beers (as always 2-for-1) and decided to split some chicken fajitas. I also got a side salad. The food was good. We eat a Chili's a lot at home and this wasn't better or worse than our place at home. Once we were filled up we went for a ride on the go-carts. It's that place where there is a 3 level deck.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0059.jpg
Well I had flip flops on and also was a little scared of that rickety old deck. It was fun although I didn't pass many people. I just :drive: around the track. DH on the other hand was the one trying to pass people and thought he was Dale Jr!
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0058.jpg
No he is NOT giving me the finger!
When you get to the top of the deck there is this massive hill you drive down. It was sooo scary! I rode the brake the whole time! After our ride we went into the arcade. DH likes to play shooting games and I people watched.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0056.jpg
They had a DDR game that was fully occupied by 4 or 5 boys in their late teens. They were awsome. They kept getting like 98%! They were professionals and all had towels and water bottles. It was surreal! They must stay there all day and night!
We were done after this and went back to RPR. We decided to check out the beach and found some chairs in the sand and watched the boats come in from Citywalk. It was so quiet and secluded there. Little ducks swan about in the water and we could here the late night pool movie (Mummy Returns) in the pool area. It was a good end to our first day. DH then told me about a surprise he had for the next day!:goodvibes I'll leave that for Day 2!

[Disneychix]

Sounds like a great time so far.:cool1:
RPR RULESdonn't it!

I'm totally in love with RPR!

The mods are probally going to move this to the Tr boards.I'll keep up on this tho:thumbsup2

Sounds like a Great trip like I said before!!

:thumbsup2
Yep, gotta move it. I'm really enjoying reading it so far! Thanks for posting it!

:thanks:
popcorn::

waiting for more also.

More soon! :)
popcorn::
Thanks for reading!
Lovin' it. Can't wait for more!!!:surfweb:

More soon and hopefully pics when I get around to downloading!

[LeslieR]

Your karting tripe sounds like us---I drive slow , my husband drives like he's winning prize money. It's a fun thing to do once in awhile. Looking forward to more!

[rpbert1]

Strawberries sound awesome, enjoying your TR, and not be long till we are at YOURS and OUR favourite resort.
Waiting on Day2

[donaldduck352]

http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/atthemovies.gif

[macraven]

great, now give us more.

we become greedy when a good trippie comes on this forum........

[DonnaLeah]

I'm enjoying your TR!! Can't wait for the next installment!!:hyper:

[Disney Brat]

Just found you, great TR, off to a wonderful start!!

[Disneychix]

Thanks for bearing with me ladies and gents. Off to a slow start but hopefully this week I'll download my pics!

Day 2: We had a wonderful night's sleep. We were making fun of eachother because we were asleep before the 11:00 news! Well this vacation was about relaxing and that's what we were doing!:thumbsup2 One of the only complaints about RPR I can think of was you can hear a lot of noise through the walls. I heard every toilet flush and especially the hairdryer of the people next door. Still didn't disprupt my sleep though! The night before we had ordered room service. 1 order of French Toast a l'orange was delviered at 8:45am. OMG!!!!!!!! THis was heaven on a plate! :lovestruc First it was HUGE http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0063.jpg and we were glad we only ordered one. I think it was 4 big peices of bagette toast with bananas and glaze. Sooo good!

After this DH told me his surprise for the day. He had rented a cabana by the pool for us!::yes:: You see we aren't big on sun and heat (but we love FL!) and usually only can stand the pool for about 1 hour before one of us is cranky. Dh rented the cabana and we were there from 11am-5pm! We had such a good cabana boy (Ray I think) and ordered food and drinks and had a refrigerator and tv in the cabana. It was a nice and relaxing day.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0065.jpg
Our Cabana!
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060608_0066.jpg
View from cabana!
We ordered the Huli Huli chicken sandwhich which was very very Gouda! (had gouda cheese of course!) and some daquaris. Then later in the day we got some nachos and beers:thumbsup2 We headed back into the room at about 5ish. We had 8:00 dinner reservations at Emeril's Citywalk that night for my birthday. After and nap and a shower we were ready to take on Citywalk.

The walk to dinner was great and we were seated right away when we got there.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060708_0043.jpg
I started with a Pomergranate martini (the special that night) and DH got a Cosmo :confused3 not his usual but still good. We ordered the hand made andoui sausage appetizer, DH got the seabass (i think), and I got the rib-eye. All was very very good :worship: to Emeril! We also ordered the chocolate soufle with grand marnier chocolate sauce and decided to go a la mode! ;)
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060708_0044-1.jpg
It was then that they sang Happy Birthday to me and brought a plate of coconut (i think) ice cream ($2 on the bill if you wanted to know!). I was embarassed but it was nice. This was a very good meal. We were pleasantly stuffed and went to go look for some Hurricanes at Pat Obriens! We walked around CW for a bit and listened to a reggae band. They were good. DH is a drummer and he enjoyed watching the drummer play with bare feet! He said he was very good. We walked down around Nascar cafe and up the stairs over there. We saw the Hart and Huntington tatoo shop that we'd never seen before. We went in for a look but are way to chicken to get anything! We saw a huge line for the one dance club. It went all the way to the staircase! They said this is becoming the most popular club (can't think of the name). We then went to get our hurricanes.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060708_0046_edited-1.jpg
Dh and I spilt one cause we were too stuffed still from dinner. It was pretty packed in POBs but we had fun. When DH and I first started dating we went to POBs with a friend and it always brings back those memories when we go there!
We walked back to the RPR tonight as it was a nice night for a walk (and to burn off some calories ;) ). DH told me there were more surprises for the next day! :yay: I love surprises.
One thing I didn't realize was how early the parks closed this weekend. Both parks closed at 8:00 everyday we were there. I kinda thought that was a bit early for June park hours :confused3 .

[angela3676]

Loving your report! I think its strange that they close at 8pm too. Waiting for more! popcorn::

[Disneychix]

Day 3: So this morning I was itching to get back to the parks. We'd only been to US for about 2 hours on the first day and hadn't been back yet so I was ready for some coasters! DH and I made it till midnight last night ::yes:: so we weren't up quite as early this morning. Still up at about 8:30. As I was about to get up and dressed DH tells me that we are off to the SPA today to get a couples massage! :cool1: Man, this was turning into quite the birthday trip! My DH is ok! :thumbsup2 We were headed to the Mandarin Spa at the Portofina Bay Resort so i would have to put off my coaster fix for a few more hours. We left with only coffee in our stomachs because we didn't really know where we were going and wanted to get an early start and thought we could get something at the PBR before our massages.
We were running a bit late so we opted to drive to the spa. BIG mistake. Well not huge just a little hassle about paying for parking there as well as at RPR. We already paid $15 to park at RPR and thought if we were just going for 2 hours to PBR we shouldn't have to pay $15 there too. We just told the cashier and he told us to call him and he'd let us out of the parking lot. Next time we'll just take the boats!
We walked into PBR and well, fell in LOVE!:lovestruc It is sooooo nice there. Way better than anything WDW has ever done. Once you step foot through the lobby you can't even tell you are in the US anymore let alone in the middle of a theme park resort. The Piazza is beautiful and the place is just HUGE!
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060708_0048.jpg
On the way to the Spa

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm44/rosie0610/060708_0049.jpg
Sooo Pretty!

We are definatley staying here someday. DH is even thinking about staying one night in September and cancelling one night at POFQ. We'll see.

Onto the spa. Well we never had anything for breakfast cause it took us a bit to find the Spa. We got in and they led us to the his and hers "lockerrooms". Each one had a sauna and steam room and there was a coed room with a jacouzzi. They had water and tea out so after changing into our robes we each had some tea. We waited a bit enjoying our SERENITY and then the massuses came for us. I can't remember the name of the type of massages we had but it wasn't the usual. It was not as deep and more relaxing. It was soooo nice there! After enjoying some of the amenities we sadly left and went to look for something to eat. We found the pizza shop out side of the pool area. We ordered a special with sausage and fresh mozz and also a ceasar salad. The server must have been new and straight off the boat as she could hardly speak any English. We were the only ones there at about 11:30am so we enjoyed the scenery while our food came out. For some reason no pics but this food was GOOD! We are still craving that pizza and salad!

I finally convinced DH that I needed to go on some roller coasters and it was time to head back to RPR. Well getting our car out for free wasn't as easy as it should have been. We kept pressing the "call" button for the cashier to open the gate but he wasn't responding. After a few mins I walked back up to the desk and he said it usually works but it wasn't today. I went back for DH and he told me a valet driver came behind him and got frustrated and eventually just slid his card for DH to exit. Such a pain. They should really do something about the parking for the spa. Kinda outrageous that they get you for another $15 when we've just dropped a ton in there!

[LovePug]

Thank-you for writing a trip report. I'm going for the first time in November and am trying to get a feel for US/IoA because we've only ever done WDW...

[~~KRandTY'sMom~~]

:cool1:

[macraven]

you sure are skinny for all the food you packed away............


wish i could be like that.......

[Gabriel&Nana]

It's a really nice trip report. popcorn::

I've been 8 times in Orlando and always go at least 5 days to USF / IOA, but I've never stayed on-site, as we go to all major parks. :duck:

But after reading trip reports like yours;) , I'm looking forward staying on-site and enjoying the front of line on my next trip ...:thumbsup2

[LeslieR]

Enjoying your report..just a couple of questions...

Was the pizza place called Sal's or was it a different one?

And...I'm thinking about getting spa treatment lined up for my family when we go in August. Is there a spa menu on the web I can see? did you make ressies before you went or while you were there?

Eagerly waiting for more of your report!!!!

Thanks!

[Disneychix]

you sure are skinny for all the food you packed away............


wish i could be like that.......

My trick is I eat just a taste and let my DH finish it and pack on the pounds! Aren't I generous??!;)
It's a really nice trip report. popcorn::

I've been 8 times in Orlando and always go at least 5 days to USF / IOA, but I've never stayed on-site, as we go to all major parks. :duck:

But after reading trip reports like yours;) , I'm looking forward staying on-site and enjoying the front of line on my next trip ...:thumbsup2

I really can't say enough about how impressed we were with the resorts at US. And the FOTL access it tops. You seriously can do the whole park in 1 day!

[Disneychix]

Enjoying your report..just a couple of questions...

Was the pizza place called Sal's or was it a different one?

And...I'm thinking about getting spa treatment lined up for my family when we go in August. Is there a spa menu on the web I can see? did you make ressies before you went or while you were there?

Eagerly waiting for more of your report!!!!

Thanks!

No, we went to Splendido Pizzeria as it was right by the Spa and smelled good while we were walking. It was very good too.

Here is the link http://www.mandaraspa.com/Main/SpaView.aspx?SpaID=7

DH planned everything so I'm not sure how he did it. I know he made ressies before we went.

[Disneychix]

Day 3 (i think) cont: I believe I left off as we were getting back to RPR and needing to ride some coasters. We were well fed and rested at this point having just come from lunch and the spa. We went back to our room to change and get our tickets and we set off for IOA.
DH hadn't been to IOA since 2004. I went for 1 day in 2005 with my mother. We did precisly 4 rides that day. Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park and DD. My mother only likes coasters and we were only in town for 1 day. So I was in need of some IOA time too!
I planned ahead and purposly didn't bring my bag or purse with me because I hate hate having to get a locker to ride hulk and DD. So I gave DH the camera and my wallet (thank God for cargo shorts!) and off we were. We immediatly went to the Hulk first and flashed our very handy FOTL cards. We were on in 2 mins! Actually when we got up to the boarding area there were 2 seats open on that very car and we stepped right in them. This wasn't all that good though. You see I didn't have any time to prepare and hadn't even seen 1 car take off so I didn't know what to expect. No time for fear! :eek: Dh said, "Ready?" and we took off. I screamed and screamed. I seriously never scream on rides but it was just coming out of me! It was a very good ride!
Next up was Spiderman. The wait on the regular line was 50 mins so we thought we would have a little wait on the FOTL line. No Way! :banana: Got our glasses and went right on! Just as good as we remembered!:thumbsup2 No time to stop now though. We needed more rides!! I just looked and I don't have any pictures from this part of the day because I guess when I gave the camera to DH to put in his pockets I never remembered to ask him to take any pics and he didn't take any on his own. Oh well. Sorry!
Next up was Dudley's Rip Saw Falls. Now we did not do our research on this as this was a surprise trip and we didn't know about the new lapbars! :confused3 Who were the test people on these cars that felt as if they fit in there without taking off ribs and organs and leaving them in the lockers? Now Dh is a pretty big guy I guess. He's about 6' and 200lbs. They put him in the front!! He could hardly get in or out and felt very uncomfortable throughout the whole ride. I think they put him there just to laugh at him trying to get out!;) I was in the second seat and am only 5'2" and I was feeling the "closesness" of the space too. Watch out for this ride if you are a bigger person. Not sure DH will ride again anytime soon. Back to how we got on the ride. This was the longest line of the day so far. Regular line was saying 70 mins. The worker at the FOTL line couldn't say how long the wait was. She kept telling people "less than 70 mins" or "about 45 mins". We decided to go in anyway as at least it was out of the sun. The wait ended up being only about 7mins. This worker was nuts. Where was she getting 45 mins from? So with only a 7 min wait we were put in the new "Made for people with no organs" cars and sent on our way. There was this little kid, maybe 10yrs, behind me and he was telling me all about the ride as I kept screaming at the little hills. I went along with him pretending like I'd never ridden before. i could tell he thought he was so cool to be telling an adult about something. Right before the big splash he's telling me about the hill and how you really go underground. It was cute. Down the hill we went and we actually didn't get as wet as the first couple of hills. And no one was aiming for us from the water guns so I didn't have to make any snarky comments in front of my new 10 yr old friend! ;) We got off and that was when I realized I HAD gotten soaked. And where was I wet? My butt and mid-region so it looked a little (ok, a LOT) bit like I peed myself :scared1: Oh well, everyone else around was wet too! And it was very hot so I dried off quickly.
Onto my next favorite ride, Jurassic Park. Now I swear to God and I say it everytime, that Dinosaur is really really gonna EAT someone. I swear it's real!! We were seated towards the back which is both good and bad. Good because I knew we wouldn't get too wet, bad because it's more realistic up front. This is a really good ride I think. I still remember when I first went on it and it is totally like you are in the Movie. Still a very good ending and I can still see inside that T-Rex's mouth and swear he's going to eat me!! Dh just :rotfl: at me!
After JP I was craving something sweet so we split a ice-cream sandwhich. This is when I got myself in trouble! It was very crowded in the JP section of the park and we were trying to walk quickly to get to DD. DH and I kept getting split up between different groups of people but would always end up back together. Well at one point I went to grab DHs hand and steer him my way around a family. Well, it wasn't DH! :eek: It was a man with a family and I touched his hand and he looked at me and got his family away from me ASAP! He didn't even give me a chance to apologize! You should've seen them run! To make it worse DH was behind me and saw it all and kept asking me if I was going to run away with another man! He thought it was soooo funny!
Onto Dueling Dragons. This was the longest line of the vacation. They do not really have the whole FOTL line going on this ride yet. There is a little bit shorter wait but everyone just jams into the last bit of line. I wish they would re-do this part at the end. I always get scared that I will lose my shoes on DD. I always have flip flops on and have to sit on them. I know I will not move my butt that much that they will fall out but it always scares me anyway! We chose Fire and away we were. Still a good ride but not my favorite.
It was getting to be about my nap-time ;) so we were going to call it a day for the parks. I think it was about 4:30ish by now. We stopped to do one of those questionnaires as we walked out of the park. Although I don't expect that they owe you anything for doing those at least they should offer a drink of cold water or something. I mean it would only be nice! I think we walked back to the RPR and took a little nap. We were not very hungry yet but we talked about what we wanted for dinner. DH wanted just a sandwhich somewhere so we decided to just head to CW and look at the different menus.
TBC...