Here at Hard Rock now.....

[breebella]

My first time at the Hard Rock and loving it. Checked in last night around 6:15 p.m. (club level) and was told room was not ready, but they could give me a different room on another flr w/all the same club level benefits or we could wait until they called me and they'd comp us the night. So we decided to wait it out. While still standing at check in the phone rang. Wow, room ready now and they gave us "DELUXE club room" and still comped us the night:worship: How's that for a start?
Room is lovely. Club lounge kinda small, but I had heard that prior. Still, very nice and staff are super nice.
Went to Margaritaville last night for dinner. My kiddos were picked to stand up & do the Margaritaville song.
Today we visited both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studio's. We LOVED the Simpson's ride. We got to see Rip, Ride, Rocket running w/TM's in it 2day. Not sure when or if we will have the opportunity to ride it before we go.
It rained 4 times today, but it only lasted about 10 to 15 min. It's still hot and humid, but very cloudy and overcast all day (not a sunburn day). If anyone has any questions, I'll be glad to answer 2morrow. I"m here until Saturday.

[AllieKat]

So happy to hear you're having a good time! Awesome deal on the room! I'd be stoked. Did your kid's hold the big "salt shakers"? I have a picture somewhere of my husband and I doing that...good times. :)

[breebella]

I forgot to mention, crowds were very manageable. We had the express pass and we never waited for a single ride. Jumped right onto everything.
For those without the express pass, the lines weren't too bad. 20 minutes most places with the exception of Spiderman, Mummy, & Hulk. The longest wait time was about 60 min for the more popular rides. 20 min at most Suess rides.
Hope this helps.

[breebella]

So happy to hear you're having a good time! Awesome deal on the room! I'd be stoked. Did your kid's hold the big "salt shakers"? I have a picture somewhere of my husband and I doing that...good times. :)

Yes they did!

[bas71873]

6:15 PM and your room NOT ready. YIKES. We arrive Friday AM and will probably be at HRH by 11/11:30 AM and was hoping to be able to drop our stuff in our room (club level too). So maybe not. We'll just have to go grad lunch and do some shopping I suppose.

Disclaimer - I know check in is not technicallly until 4, but I am just hoping our room will be ready :)

[kevin harrison]

6:15 PM and your room NOT ready. YIKES. We arrive Friday AM and will probably be at HRH by 11/11:30 AM and was hoping to be able to drop our stuff in our room (club level too). So maybe not. We'll just have to go grad lunch and do some shopping I suppose.

Disclaimer - I know check in is not technicallly until 4, but I am just hoping our room will be ready :)


11am - Zero chance unfortunately.

[macraven]

it depends on the room.
out of 20 some stays at hrh, i have been able to get a room before 9:00 am two times.


not great odds but it is possible.

usually, i have been in my room by 1:30 at the latest.

only once it was 4:00 for my room to be ready.


basically, it all depends on the date you are there if your room will be ready when you check in.

[RyGuy]

It's definitely a possibility. Good Luck!

[tink,too]

breebella - glad you're enjoying your stay at HRH. :)

What happens if you check in early and your room is not ready? Will the hotel store your luggage for you so you can go off exploring the parks? :confused3

[IMGONNABE40!]

Definate possibility. I once checked in at 7:30 AM and to my surprise my room was ready. And, I had special requested a specific room!

[macraven]

breebella - glad you're enjoying your stay at HRH. :)

What happens if you check in early and your room is not ready? Will the hotel store your luggage for you so you can go off exploring the parks? :confused3

it is stored and you get a claim check stub.
you can call to have your luggage delivered to your room when you return.

you don't have to go to the lobby desk, your hotel card will have the correct room keyed into it already.

i do this everytime.
arrive around 7:30 am, store the luggage, hit city walk for coffee and then the parks.

[breebella]

Update: On Tues our room was cleaned at 4 pm. Today they came at 4:30 p.m. Probably the reason for delay for people who are checking in.
Today we had lots of sun all morning & it was HOT!!! It started to rain around 1:15, lasting 1/2 hr. So far the rest of the day has been hot & humid. We spent all day at Universal Studio's. Lines were a little heavier today than yesterday, but not bad at all.
One thing I didn't realize was that you have to book the shuttle to Wet n Wild, Aquatica, & Sea World 24 hrs ahead of time and you have reserve first thing in the morning. We had planned on going to Wet n Wild today, but was informed last night that shuttles fill up quickly, so you have to reserve first thing in the a.m. in the lobby at the Universal Attractions desk. We went downstairs this morning at 9:30 a.m. to reserve for Thurs and they are already full. We will try again 2morrow morning in hopes of going Friday. Worst case scenerio, we'll take a cab.
We have reservations at The Kitchen tonight (character meal).
Monday was movie night, they showed Ghostbusters by the pool. Last night they showed Dave Matthews in concert.
Hope everyone enjoys their stay as much as we are.....: up2

[lisaross]

Where is the kitchen? What characters? and how much...we'll be in universal in a couple of weeks - also staying at eh HRH 1st time. What time do the movies start by the pool?

lisa

Update: On Tues our room was cleaned at 4 pm. Today they came at 4:30 p.m. Probably the reason for delay for people who are checking in.
Today we had lots of sun all morning & it was HOT!!! It started to rain around 1:15, lasting 1/2 hr. So far the rest of the day has been hot & humid. We spent all day at Universal Studio's. Lines were a little heavier today than yesterday, but not bad at all.
One thing I didn't realize was that you have to book the shuttle to Wet n Wild, Aquatica, & Sea World 24 hrs ahead of time and you have reserve first thing in the morning. We had planned on going to Wet n Wild today, but was informed last night that shuttles fill up quickly, so you have to reserve first thing in the a.m. in the lobby at the Universal Attractions desk. We went downstairs this morning at 9:30 a.m. to reserve for Thurs and they are already full. We will try again 2morrow morning in hopes of going Friday. Worst case scenerio, we'll take a cab.
We have reservations at The Kitchen tonight (character meal).
Monday was movie night, they showed Ghostbusters by the pool. Last night they showed Dave Matthews in concert.
Hope everyone enjoys their stay as much as we are.....: up2

[Paratrooper]

We're here too!!! Getting ready for the pool party tomorrow night! The lines in IOA were REAL heavy today. Even with the FOTL passes, there was still a 60 minute wait on Dudley Do Right!

The rain left us stranded in Deuling Dragons for about 45 minutes. DD was NOT leaving! LOL

Just like BreBella, DD and me are loving Universal and the HRH! the only issue was coming back to the room to get changed to head to City Walk @ 4:30 and the room still hadn't been touched.

Tomorrow, its of to Sea World.

[tink,too]

it is stored and you get a claim check stub.
you can call to have your luggage delivered to your room when you return.

Thanks macraven. :thumbsup2 We will be arriving at the hotel early so it's good to know we can just dump our stuff and go!

[bas71873]

We're here too!!! Getting ready for the pool party tomorrow night! The lines in IOA were REAL heavy today. Even with the FOTL passes, there was still a 60 minute wait on Dudley Do Right!

The rain left us stranded in Deuling Dragons for about 45 minutes. DD was NOT leaving! LOL

Just like BreBella, DD and me are loving Universal and the HRH! the only issue was coming back to the room to get changed to head to City Walk @ 4:30 and the room still hadn't been touched.
Tomorrow, its of to Sea World.

Wonder what is up with housekeeping? This concerns me a little because I suspect we will be returning to our room late afternoons for either pool time or to shower & change for dinner. Oh well, won't let it bother. I can go grab clean towels and DH is a bedmaker so he'll take care of that :)

[damo]

The HRH is notorious for late housekeeping. They clean all the rooms where people are leaving first and then get to the others. We have given up on housekeeping in most hotels and just make our own beds and grab clean towels every now and then from them. I hate waiting for people to show up.

[kevin harrison]

Where is the kitchen? What characters? and how much...we'll be in universal in a couple of weeks - also staying at eh HRH 1st time. What time do the movies start by the pool?

lisa

The kitchen is on the ground floor, they have character meals on specific days, I remember it being Saturday last year. The food is excellent at all times there and the take out option is good also.

[breebella]

Character nights are Saturday and Wednesday's at The Kitchen. Last night they just had Scooby Doo. Sometimes Woody Wood Pecker and Shaggy.

[Paratrooper]

OK, tonight is supposed to be the Jersey Shore party at the ROCK, how the heck will we find each other at 8? I will go to the DJ and make an announcement, hopefully, the Boss singing JERSEY GIRL will make it happen!

[breebella]

Man, I didn't see any fellow Jersey ppl or hear any announcement at the pool. :confused3

Pool night was pretty awesome though! The DJ was great and the kids had a blast. We enjoyed the hula hoop and dance contest too.

Did any other mom or dad go up on stage and play the air guitar besides me? :lmao:

[francie57]

We just returned from HRH and can say that they were never in our room to clean before 4:30. We did have rooms ready at the time we check-in - 10:00 a.m. We had asked for connecting rooms and got them no problem. Guess it is just hit or miss on the room being ready. The crowds were non-existant and we never waited for any ride other than Dueling Dragons. They only were running one car on each side so it took forever to get the line through. Don't know if all the construction around it has anything to do with it or not.

[Mainebound]

We are also here at HRH this week. We checked in at 7:30 pm on Wednesday and our room was not ready. :( Otherwise, housekeeping has been very good, despite dire predictions here on this board! (we have been out of room by 9:15am every morning, and it is always cleaned by late afternoon when we return)

[disney_princess_85]

11am - Zero chance unfortunately.

I stayed at RPR last year and my room was ready at 11am. It just depends I guess.

[bas71873]

Here at HRH now. Arrived last Friday, checked in at 11:30ish AM and got the call that our room was ready at 1:30. Housekeeping has been great so far (we are gone all day and don't usually come back 'til around 5 to get ready for dinner). Only 1 day we didn't get housekeeping at all. She knocked about 4:15, but I just swapped out my towels and told her no biggie :)

Having a BLAST so far. Will do a trippie when we get back home this weekend. Will say that the FOTL room key pass is worth it's weight in gold. We have been walking onto everything and DD6 was super excited this AM because we were first on ET and had a whole bike to ourselves.

One disappointment, or strange might be a better word....why are so many things at US such late openers? Jaws, Woody Kid area, ET...I think not opening these 'til 11 leaves those of us with kids who can't do coasters without a whole lot to do other than Shrek & Jimmy Neutron 'til then? Just an observation. Hasn't slowed us down any. We made use of that time this AM getting to visit with lots of characters.

[nifty16]

Checked in last thursday at HRH at about 4:30. Room (pool view) wasn't ready, so they comped us 2 breakfast buffet coupons and 4 drink coupons (probably worth about $90). As we were about to walk away from the desk, the call came that our room was ready. So we got our room and the coupons! And our room was cleaned each day before we got back from the parks in the afternoon, so we had no problems.

[B's Marie]

Man, I didn't see any fellow Jersey ppl or hear any announcement at the pool. :confused3

Pool night was pretty awesome though! The DJ was great and the kids had a blast. We enjoyed the hula hoop and dance contest too.

Did any other mom or dad go up on stage and play the air guitar besides me? :lmao:
Just back and yes, my husband was up there too!!!:rotfl:DJ Scooter rocks!!! Sorry we missed you...we kept trying to figure out if any people were from thr HR roll call... We didn't hear the announcement either.
We did try calling out "Jersey" and even "Howell" a few times. I guess we'll all have to go back and try again! :banana: