A newbie that needs help, please

[supersaver]

Hi all, I have been lurking here for a few weeks, but I finally decided to make an honest woman of myself, LOL! Our family of 5 (me, DH, DS who will be 11, and DS, DD, that are both 6) will be coming to Orlando June 11 for a week. We are staying at Royal Pacific resort. We did a package deal that I *thought* seemed a good deal, but after seeing some of your posts, I'm wondering if we didn't do too well? (We booked a standard room - garden view - for all 5 of us, 2 queen beds w/rollaway; the 2 day passes that gets you 3 more free, 2 free kids' tickets, kids' meals at the parks, express access, etc - for around $2,100. Is that terrible? If it is -- please lie, LOL!! I told DH we could get the pkg cheaper by staying off site, but when he learned of the "express access pass" benefit, he TOTALLY wanted the RP hotel!!!!) Anyway... our older son has been to WDW when he was little, probably doesn't remember much. We took all 3 on a *super brief* trip to WDW in Feb. 2004, when DH had a business trip in Celebration, but only I took the 3 kids to MK by myself - so I know they probably don't remmeber a whole lot! On the other hand, NONE of them have ever been to Universal or Islands of Adventure (DH and I have never been to IOA, only Universal - and that was in '94, before kids!). We thought Universal would be much easier to do, and somewhat cheaper (that's before I saw the free dining from WDW appear, darn it! ).

So now what I need, is some tips/advice from you all? One thing I am wondering is, given the Express Access benefit, or whatever it's called, it seems like we will be able to see and DO everything we will want to do at both parks, in a short amount of time. Is that right? Will we have dead time on our hands? Our plan was, to arrive Sunday afternoon and do --???? I don't know what. (We have a good 8 hour drive from NC, so I'm sure we will arrive in the late afternoon, depending on traffic, and I know we'll be exhausted and crabby. ) Then we will be there Monday through the following Sunday, that is, depart that next Sunday. We are going to drive to Kennedy Space Center that Saturday, but return to the resort that evening. Should we do a day at Disney during our 5 days at Universal? If so, which park? I'm SO scared of the crowds and the heat - ugh! (Previously we had swore we would never go to FL in the summer for a vacation, but funny how you change your minds under the right/wrong circumstances!) I can't imagine how awful the crowds would be at ANY Disney park. I'm not as worried about the crowds at Universal or IOA, as we have that killer benefit that will help with line waiting. But Disney - not like that! I just don't know if we should do a WDW park, and if so, which park, or WHEN during our week there.

Lastly, are the restaurants in City Walk kid friendly? My DD is a little gourmet - she will eat anything, including sushi! But her twin is SUPER picky. I myself would love to eat at Margaritaville, or anywhere decent, but since DH has absolutely no tolerance for waiting to be seated in a restaurant, what are my best options at City Walk?

Sorry if this is so long... I just need some guidance to help make our vacation great and memorable (in a good way).

Thanks so very much!
Suzanne

 

[Mainebound]

Hi!

Wlecome to the DIS!

I can't answer the question about whether you could have gotten a better deal, but I can say that your DD will find plenty to eat. My DS6 and DS4 love Universal. We stayed at HRH in '04 but all the hotels are great. We always buy the 5 day bonus pass thinking we will only use 2 days, but we ened up using all 5 on both of our last two trips (we usually leave by mid-afternoon as the boys are tuckered out).

We also love WDW and I would think it would be well worth a visit. It is hard to say which park -- they each offer something unique. You might consider Sea World or a WDW water park also.

I understand the concern about lines at WDW. We arrive about 30 minutes prior to park opening and have a very clear touring plan and we usually experience minimal waits. We have a cool sit down lunch in the park to refresh. Using a touring plan from the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World book or website(www.touringplans.com) or other sources (Tour Guide Mike or RideMax) can really make the difference between a hot miserable day and a great one at WDW.

Have a great trip!

 

[WeLuvDisney05]

I can help you out (hopefully!) on some of your ?'s....I was checking out the package deals recently & to me they seem good....Yes staying off site is cheaper BUT as you know you do not have the express pass benefit (well you can buy it/add it onto your ticket But from what I've heard it only allows you 1 time on each ride VS. unlimited w/your hotel key) - to me that benefit right there is So important & will make a world of difference (as far as the enjoyment of the park goes) More likely than not the park will be Super crowded during the summer months esp. w/kids being out of school and all! (We went to IOA & US last July & didn't get to do many rides b/c we waited in too many long lines! - Got old Real Quick!) This year we are looking into staying at RPR as well! At first we considered staying off sight to save $ But ya know, I think, the convenience/benefits of staying on-site won us over! The package deal I was looking into at Royal Pacific for 4 of us....it was either 4 or 5 days (Can't remember now I've been doing Way Too Much researching! - To the point of exhaustion!) was aprox. $1,300 + range - if that helps any!) I've decided not do the deal b/c we can get a FL discount & save some $ there! If I couldn't get the FL resident rate I would prob. do the package deal!

As far as, going to the Disney parks during the summer....I've never been too happy going then b/c it Is so Hot & crowded....I much prefer to go during the cooler & less crowded months (the last few yrs we've always gone in Dec.)

The good thing about your stay at RPR is that I hear that the pool is nice! When ya'll are hot & "crabby" (hee, hee We get that way too! Especially ME....I'm a Cancer (Crab) afterall! ) Sorry, got a bit off topic! As I was saying....You can always take a dip in the resort pool to cool off & take a break whenever you feel like it! I'm so looking forward to our trip! I hope you enjoy yours as well!

HTH!

~Kristi