princessebird
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
Here's my summary. I lurked a lot prior to the trip; this board was a tremendous help. This is only a trip summary--no blow-by-blow account.
First, off here is our cast of characters:
Me: Mid-30s, was last at UOR in 2014 prior to Diagon Alley
DH: Mid-30, was last at UOR with me in 2014
DD: Turned 4 the week of our visit. She's tall for her age and loves roller coasters, but had limited experience with motion simulators
GM: My mother, mid 60s, some motion issues, was last at UOR when Back to the Future was still around and Terminator II was the most recent Terminator flick
GF: My father, mid 60s, bad back, was last at UOR with GM
Yes, you read that right. We dared to take a pre-schooler (and senior citizens) to Universal.
We all went to WDW in December 2014, and we had a great time. We have a trip to DLR penciled in for Sept. 2016, but we decided we wanted to something else in between. DH and I loved Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, so we decided that we wanted to go to Diagon Alley. We took a look and decided that there was enough stuff to keep DD happy as well. Then we invited the grandparents along as they are terrific Potterheads.
We used quicksilver for transportation between the airport. Our driver was waiting for us at baggage claim, and we just had a short walk to the car. I liked that we could get a booster seat for DD for free so we didn't have to hassle with bringing one with us just to drive between the resort and the hotel. When returned, they texted us to tell us they arrived, and we got to the airport in plenty of time to go through that ridiculous MCO security.
We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort. DH, DD, and I had booked the cheapest room we could possibly get (a two queen bed garden view room--it looked out on the front of the hotel, but not a terrible view. It was very quiet.). My folks got the King Suite, due to GF's propensity to wake up and read at 2am. A few days before we arrived, I called and asked if there was any chance we could get rooms close to one another and it would be wonderful if we got into the renovated rooms. They said that they would look into it and do their best. I actually appreciated it that they hedged their bets so we didn't get our hopes up. We wound up three rooms apart in the renovated Tower. I really liked having the fridge. I liked the decor, but the GPs didn't love it. Though it has recently been renovated, it still has the dings that appear at every hotel with time. I didn't love that the bathroom sliding door, as it didn't really afford as much privacy as you might want. Overall, the hotel was quite nice, and we rather enjoyed the pool.
There were two other things that happened at check-in. The first was that they gave my daughter (who was celebrating her 4th birthday) a card that said she was "One in a minion" and gave her a coupon for a dessert. She loved it.
Second, they informed us that Universal Studios, NOT Islands of Adventure, would be the park that had early admission. Now, this threw me for a loop. Opening hours were to be USF 8am and IOA 9am. So we figured that one day we'd go to USF at 8am open, and then one day go to IOA at 8am for early entry open. But no, USF opened at 7am every morning! And IOA didn't open until 9am! (The Hogwarts Express didn't start running until 9am.) I don't really know why they decided to do this. They said it was because the USF closed early at 5pm due to the Halloween Horror Nights, but we were there for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and only Saturday had the HHN. It was very odd to me. The worst part was that in order to feel like we were getting the most for our money by staying onsite, we had to drag our bodies out of bed at 6am (5am our time) to get to the park for a 7am open. And nothing says "vacation" like going on Escape from Gringotts at 7:15am. We only made it to open once.
Once we were in the parks, of course, everything was great. We got a birthday button for my 4 year old daughter, and everyone was so kind to her! I won't say that she liked Universal MORE than WDW, but she enjoyed it very much and in a different kind of way than WDW. She was exactly the right age for Seuss Landing, she loved the Flight of the Hippogriff, she was enamored with the Super Star Parade (I brought a banana and she loved the Minionettes going nutso for it), she totally dug Men in Black, and she thought the Simpsons were "fun and silly." We were a little disappointed in how much of the play areas were wet.
The GPs loved Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, though they did not take part in the rides. We did sorta a fake child swap, in that we said we were going to do child swap, and then we just didn't swap. That enabled the GP and DD to walk through the queue with us and allowed us to keep our bags with us. We got DD a height certificate at both Gringotts and FJ. I would say that the GP could have been done after two days.
We ate all over the place. I believe the GPs favorite was Tchoup Chop, and the parents favorite was Red Oven Pizza, and DD's favorite was the Big Pink Donut. We also ate at Mama Dellas, Mythos, Margaritaville, and Three Broomsticks, and had a serving of Butterbeer ice cream (which we enjoyed more than the butterbeer itself).
Overall, we had a splendid time, and I anticipate that we will be coming here more frequently than WDW in the future. I just wish Universal had a system similar to the MagicBands. In order to go anywhere, we had to have the key to our room, our park ticket (printed on letter-sized paper at home), our separate express pass, our separate lanyard for the PhotoConnect package, and a credit card (because sometimes the charging to the room thing worked and sometimes it didn't). This was just a lot of stuff to keep track of! As much as I dislike FP+, the MagicBands are a nice (if slightly RFID-creepy) way to travel lightly.
First, off here is our cast of characters:
Me: Mid-30s, was last at UOR in 2014 prior to Diagon Alley
DH: Mid-30, was last at UOR with me in 2014
DD: Turned 4 the week of our visit. She's tall for her age and loves roller coasters, but had limited experience with motion simulators
GM: My mother, mid 60s, some motion issues, was last at UOR when Back to the Future was still around and Terminator II was the most recent Terminator flick
GF: My father, mid 60s, bad back, was last at UOR with GM
Yes, you read that right. We dared to take a pre-schooler (and senior citizens) to Universal.
We all went to WDW in December 2014, and we had a great time. We have a trip to DLR penciled in for Sept. 2016, but we decided we wanted to something else in between. DH and I loved Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, so we decided that we wanted to go to Diagon Alley. We took a look and decided that there was enough stuff to keep DD happy as well. Then we invited the grandparents along as they are terrific Potterheads.
We used quicksilver for transportation between the airport. Our driver was waiting for us at baggage claim, and we just had a short walk to the car. I liked that we could get a booster seat for DD for free so we didn't have to hassle with bringing one with us just to drive between the resort and the hotel. When returned, they texted us to tell us they arrived, and we got to the airport in plenty of time to go through that ridiculous MCO security.
We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort. DH, DD, and I had booked the cheapest room we could possibly get (a two queen bed garden view room--it looked out on the front of the hotel, but not a terrible view. It was very quiet.). My folks got the King Suite, due to GF's propensity to wake up and read at 2am. A few days before we arrived, I called and asked if there was any chance we could get rooms close to one another and it would be wonderful if we got into the renovated rooms. They said that they would look into it and do their best. I actually appreciated it that they hedged their bets so we didn't get our hopes up. We wound up three rooms apart in the renovated Tower. I really liked having the fridge. I liked the decor, but the GPs didn't love it. Though it has recently been renovated, it still has the dings that appear at every hotel with time. I didn't love that the bathroom sliding door, as it didn't really afford as much privacy as you might want. Overall, the hotel was quite nice, and we rather enjoyed the pool.
There were two other things that happened at check-in. The first was that they gave my daughter (who was celebrating her 4th birthday) a card that said she was "One in a minion" and gave her a coupon for a dessert. She loved it.
Second, they informed us that Universal Studios, NOT Islands of Adventure, would be the park that had early admission. Now, this threw me for a loop. Opening hours were to be USF 8am and IOA 9am. So we figured that one day we'd go to USF at 8am open, and then one day go to IOA at 8am for early entry open. But no, USF opened at 7am every morning! And IOA didn't open until 9am! (The Hogwarts Express didn't start running until 9am.) I don't really know why they decided to do this. They said it was because the USF closed early at 5pm due to the Halloween Horror Nights, but we were there for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and only Saturday had the HHN. It was very odd to me. The worst part was that in order to feel like we were getting the most for our money by staying onsite, we had to drag our bodies out of bed at 6am (5am our time) to get to the park for a 7am open. And nothing says "vacation" like going on Escape from Gringotts at 7:15am. We only made it to open once.
Once we were in the parks, of course, everything was great. We got a birthday button for my 4 year old daughter, and everyone was so kind to her! I won't say that she liked Universal MORE than WDW, but she enjoyed it very much and in a different kind of way than WDW. She was exactly the right age for Seuss Landing, she loved the Flight of the Hippogriff, she was enamored with the Super Star Parade (I brought a banana and she loved the Minionettes going nutso for it), she totally dug Men in Black, and she thought the Simpsons were "fun and silly." We were a little disappointed in how much of the play areas were wet.
The GPs loved Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, though they did not take part in the rides. We did sorta a fake child swap, in that we said we were going to do child swap, and then we just didn't swap. That enabled the GP and DD to walk through the queue with us and allowed us to keep our bags with us. We got DD a height certificate at both Gringotts and FJ. I would say that the GP could have been done after two days.
We ate all over the place. I believe the GPs favorite was Tchoup Chop, and the parents favorite was Red Oven Pizza, and DD's favorite was the Big Pink Donut. We also ate at Mama Dellas, Mythos, Margaritaville, and Three Broomsticks, and had a serving of Butterbeer ice cream (which we enjoyed more than the butterbeer itself).
Overall, we had a splendid time, and I anticipate that we will be coming here more frequently than WDW in the future. I just wish Universal had a system similar to the MagicBands. In order to go anywhere, we had to have the key to our room, our park ticket (printed on letter-sized paper at home), our separate express pass, our separate lanyard for the PhotoConnect package, and a credit card (because sometimes the charging to the room thing worked and sometimes it didn't). This was just a lot of stuff to keep track of! As much as I dislike FP+, the MagicBands are a nice (if slightly RFID-creepy) way to travel lightly.
.
