SuAnne
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 9, 1999
- Messages
- 415
My trip report continues here after a one night stay at the Royal
Pacific Resort at Universal. Our trip report is located on the Universal Trip Report Board. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=432588
Our stay at All Star Movies was for 5 nights, Aug. 24-28. Rather than give you a day-by-day description, I will give you highlights of our All Star Movies stay, the Parks and our meals.
All Star Movies
We checked into ASMo at around 8:00pm after a drive over from RPR in a monsoon like downpour.
The check in line was quite lengthy. Longer than anyone we had
experienced at any other WDW Resort. That being said, the line moved fairly quickly and it took about a half hour to reach the check in. Our check in went very quickly as I had paid for our stay in full prior to arrival and we had already purchased our Park tickets.
I had faxed a request for 101 Dalmatians, Building 1, Flr3, which is
exactly what we were assigned. The room was great. It faced the main courtyard just down from the giant Pongo and it was a very quick walk to both pools and to the food court. We used the bus stop at All Star Music as it was a little closer for us and they didn't seem as busy.
The room was spotless as was the entire resort and we found the room to be plenty big enough for the two of us and I didn't find it significantly smaller than a room at any of the moderates we have stayed at. I did miss having a balcony, which we have had at our stay at the deluxe resorts. I like having the balcony to sit on for my morning coffee or for a glass of wine at night.
The themeing was adorable. Your really felt like you were at Disney at every turn, which we loved.
Even though Hayley missed having a slide at the pools she had lots of fun swimming and she actually liked the Hockey rink pool better, as it was less crowed, the Goofy goalie there was so cute! We also tried out the pools at All Star Music one day. We actually liked the pools at Music better than at Movies. The main pool was great for playing hide and go seek! The temperature of the water was nice too..refreshing but not too cool ( of course I like my pool water like bath water!)
The food court was very handy. Had a good selection of food and was reasonably priced. It never seemed too crowed other than Sunday night when everyone came back from the Parks due to the torrential downpours and descended on the food court.
Overall..we really enjoyed our stay there and for $46.00/night I would stay there again. I did miss having a balcony and I did find that the pace at the resort was always very hectic. Everyone was always on the go day and night and after the hustle bustle at the parks I found it was hard to relax when we came back to the hotel. All in all a great stay would I highly recommend it for families with young children for the themeing.
The Parks
The only day that we found to be extremely crowded was Monday, Aug. 25 at Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the park right for opening and went to the Speedway. By the time we finished there by 9:30, the Space Mountain Fastpass return time was 12:15-1:15 and the standby line was 45 minutes! We got a Fastpass and went over to do Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion
and Pirates, which were walk-ons. We thought we could hit Fantasyland on our way back over to Space Mountain, but the waits were all between 45-50 minutes.
The rest of the week the crowds were very manageable at all the Parks by being there right at opening and by early afternoon we were finished more due to the heat than anything else.
I think I have trained Hayley well as a mini Disney commando. Man I thought I could move! This kid now leaves me in the dust. I think I'm getting old!!
This is the second time we have been to WDW during the last week of August, and I did find the crowds to be heavier this year than in 2001.
Food
Ohana.
We ate there Monday evening and had a table by the windows to see the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom. We had a great meal and seeing the fireworks from the restaurant brought tears to my eyes. We had a wonderful evening.
San Angel Inn, Chef Mickey's, Spirit of Aloha
We joined Cass and Noel for these meals and can't add anything more than Cass outlined in her trip reports, only that all the wine in the world that they offered at the Luau couldn't save that one.it was pretty bad!
Magical Moments
Pal Mickey. He was the best purchase we have ever made at WDW. I was a little hesitant to buy one, thinking that Hayley might too old for one. One the contrary..the tips he passes along in the Parks were great. We both learned new things from him and his reactions to some of the attractions were hilarious. Even his little jokes were cute. Well worth the money!
Bunnies. We saw lots of bunnies especially early in the morning along the paths at All Star Movies. We also saw a bunny one evening at the Magic Kingdom, right in front of the castle, sitting there nibbling away.
Park Openings. We were there every morning for Park opening and they always had music and characters to open the Park. A real Disney moment.
Fireworks from Poly and Contemporary. At both Ohana and on the third floor deck of Contemporary , the piped in the music for the fireworks.It was such a beautiful and relaxing way to view the MK fireworks.
Not So Magical Moments
Falling flat on my face in the line for the bus from MK back to All Star Movies. Totally my own fault. There was a huge line for the Movies bus and no line at all for the Sports bus, so we decided we would go to All Star Sports and walk to the Movies. I went to duck under the rope and totally wiped out.trying desperately to hold onto my leftover crème brule from Ohana.. There I am all dressed up, flat on the ground with road burns on my elbows and knee. I think Hayley was mortified and I nearly died of embarrassment!
The very nasty young lady in the check in line at the All Star Movies who reamed out the older lady in line behind her who mistakenly thought this little witch was speaking to her. I have never seen such horrid behaviour. She started yelling at this poor lady that she wasn't talking to her, why would she want to speak to her and called her all sorts of names. Imagine what an unmagical start to her Disney vacation that was for that poor lady.
Poor Cass and her "Chicken Poop Pie" experience. I felt so bad for her.There we are at all these nice restaurants and she couldn't eat or drink a thing, while I filled my face and savoured adult beverages. She was such a trooper though. The things we do for our kids!
That's it for now. Here are photos from out All Star Music portion of our stay. http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=spicystruthers&password=52517011
Next up...AKL with Cass and Noel !!!
Pacific Resort at Universal. Our trip report is located on the Universal Trip Report Board. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=432588
Our stay at All Star Movies was for 5 nights, Aug. 24-28. Rather than give you a day-by-day description, I will give you highlights of our All Star Movies stay, the Parks and our meals.
All Star Movies
We checked into ASMo at around 8:00pm after a drive over from RPR in a monsoon like downpour.
The check in line was quite lengthy. Longer than anyone we had
experienced at any other WDW Resort. That being said, the line moved fairly quickly and it took about a half hour to reach the check in. Our check in went very quickly as I had paid for our stay in full prior to arrival and we had already purchased our Park tickets.
I had faxed a request for 101 Dalmatians, Building 1, Flr3, which is
exactly what we were assigned. The room was great. It faced the main courtyard just down from the giant Pongo and it was a very quick walk to both pools and to the food court. We used the bus stop at All Star Music as it was a little closer for us and they didn't seem as busy.
The room was spotless as was the entire resort and we found the room to be plenty big enough for the two of us and I didn't find it significantly smaller than a room at any of the moderates we have stayed at. I did miss having a balcony, which we have had at our stay at the deluxe resorts. I like having the balcony to sit on for my morning coffee or for a glass of wine at night.
The themeing was adorable. Your really felt like you were at Disney at every turn, which we loved.
Even though Hayley missed having a slide at the pools she had lots of fun swimming and she actually liked the Hockey rink pool better, as it was less crowed, the Goofy goalie there was so cute! We also tried out the pools at All Star Music one day. We actually liked the pools at Music better than at Movies. The main pool was great for playing hide and go seek! The temperature of the water was nice too..refreshing but not too cool ( of course I like my pool water like bath water!)
The food court was very handy. Had a good selection of food and was reasonably priced. It never seemed too crowed other than Sunday night when everyone came back from the Parks due to the torrential downpours and descended on the food court.
Overall..we really enjoyed our stay there and for $46.00/night I would stay there again. I did miss having a balcony and I did find that the pace at the resort was always very hectic. Everyone was always on the go day and night and after the hustle bustle at the parks I found it was hard to relax when we came back to the hotel. All in all a great stay would I highly recommend it for families with young children for the themeing.
The Parks
The only day that we found to be extremely crowded was Monday, Aug. 25 at Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the park right for opening and went to the Speedway. By the time we finished there by 9:30, the Space Mountain Fastpass return time was 12:15-1:15 and the standby line was 45 minutes! We got a Fastpass and went over to do Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion
and Pirates, which were walk-ons. We thought we could hit Fantasyland on our way back over to Space Mountain, but the waits were all between 45-50 minutes.
The rest of the week the crowds were very manageable at all the Parks by being there right at opening and by early afternoon we were finished more due to the heat than anything else.
I think I have trained Hayley well as a mini Disney commando. Man I thought I could move! This kid now leaves me in the dust. I think I'm getting old!!
This is the second time we have been to WDW during the last week of August, and I did find the crowds to be heavier this year than in 2001.
Food
Ohana.
We ate there Monday evening and had a table by the windows to see the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom. We had a great meal and seeing the fireworks from the restaurant brought tears to my eyes. We had a wonderful evening.
San Angel Inn, Chef Mickey's, Spirit of Aloha
We joined Cass and Noel for these meals and can't add anything more than Cass outlined in her trip reports, only that all the wine in the world that they offered at the Luau couldn't save that one.it was pretty bad!
Magical Moments
Pal Mickey. He was the best purchase we have ever made at WDW. I was a little hesitant to buy one, thinking that Hayley might too old for one. One the contrary..the tips he passes along in the Parks were great. We both learned new things from him and his reactions to some of the attractions were hilarious. Even his little jokes were cute. Well worth the money!
Bunnies. We saw lots of bunnies especially early in the morning along the paths at All Star Movies. We also saw a bunny one evening at the Magic Kingdom, right in front of the castle, sitting there nibbling away.
Park Openings. We were there every morning for Park opening and they always had music and characters to open the Park. A real Disney moment.
Fireworks from Poly and Contemporary. At both Ohana and on the third floor deck of Contemporary , the piped in the music for the fireworks.It was such a beautiful and relaxing way to view the MK fireworks.
Not So Magical Moments
Falling flat on my face in the line for the bus from MK back to All Star Movies. Totally my own fault. There was a huge line for the Movies bus and no line at all for the Sports bus, so we decided we would go to All Star Sports and walk to the Movies. I went to duck under the rope and totally wiped out.trying desperately to hold onto my leftover crème brule from Ohana.. There I am all dressed up, flat on the ground with road burns on my elbows and knee. I think Hayley was mortified and I nearly died of embarrassment!
The very nasty young lady in the check in line at the All Star Movies who reamed out the older lady in line behind her who mistakenly thought this little witch was speaking to her. I have never seen such horrid behaviour. She started yelling at this poor lady that she wasn't talking to her, why would she want to speak to her and called her all sorts of names. Imagine what an unmagical start to her Disney vacation that was for that poor lady.
Poor Cass and her "Chicken Poop Pie" experience. I felt so bad for her.There we are at all these nice restaurants and she couldn't eat or drink a thing, while I filled my face and savoured adult beverages. She was such a trooper though. The things we do for our kids!
That's it for now. Here are photos from out All Star Music portion of our stay. http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=spicystruthers&password=52517011
Next up...AKL with Cass and Noel !!!
