AllieKat
<font color="lightblue">"Cat's aren't clean, they'
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2004
- Messages
- 560
Trip Report
04/25/04 to 05/01/04
Royal Pacific Resort
Me - Age 26
Boyfriend - Age 29
Mom - Age 50
Sister - Age 23
Niece - Age 2
Allie - My Cat
Jasmine - Mom's Dog
Day 1 - Sunday, April 25th
None of us have ever stayed at RPR, as a matter of fact my Mom, Sis & Niece have never even been to IOA or USO. However, me and my boyfriend stayed at HRH last year and loved it and we've had two vacations to Universal. We originally planned on staying at HRH again but decided to try something new and stay at RPR.
My boyfriend and I woke up around 5:30am, got ready and headed to my Mom's house around 6:45am. When we arrived, the 4 of them (Mom, Sis, Niece & Jasmine) were ready to go. We all hit the road at 7am. We didn't plan on us following one another but somehow managed to stay close to eachother the entire 8-1/2 hour drive.
We arrived at 3:30pm and were very impressed by the looks of the hotel...beautiful! We pulled up to the front of the hotel and a very nice bellman loaded up his cart with the luggage from my car and the luggage from Mom's car. He followed us into the hotel, gave us a claim check for our luggage and showed us the check-in desk and we tipped him.
Mom and I went over to the Loews check-in desk while boyfriend, Sis & Niece sat and waited for us. I wasn't going to ask about an upgrade because I had sent a letter to the hotel prior to our arrival. The letter contained many requests...non-smoking rooms, queen bed room for Mom & Sis, king bed room for boyfriend & I, view of something nice, etc., etc. We had booked 2 standard view queen bed rooms at Entertainment rate ($144 for first 5 nights & $168 for 6th night). I had asked about a king room when I booked the rooms however they had no king rooms available at Entertainment rate. However, the reservationist told me to contact the hotel and let them know that I preferred a king room. I received a very nice email from RPR shortly after I mailed them the letter, their reply was very nice and basically said they'd do what they could but couldn't guarantee anything.
Anyway, Clay assisted me at check-in. He was very nice. He took my Loews Gold card and a print-out of my reservation and said "Please excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back". I had no idea what he was going to go do. He returned a few short minutes later and told me that he was checking on an upgrade for me. He offered me a Presidential Suite for an additional $35 per night. Nice upgrade option but I declined. I wanted my room to be somewhat close to my Mom's room (something I had specified in the letter) and I figured a Presidential Suite probably wouldn't be near their room. Clay asked me which welcome gift we wanted. We selected fruit & water and he told us that it wouldn't be delivered until the next day. No problem. Oh yeah, Clay never asked to see my Entertainment card. Clay motioned for a bellman to get our luggage cart for us and we all headed up to our rooms. We were in 2442 and Mom was in 2444...right next to eachother. Score one for the letter request!
The rooms were nice. Yes, they're smaller than the rooms at HRH but that wasn't a big deal to me at all. Our room was a king room and non-smoking...score two and three for the letter request! Our view was great! We had beautiful palm trees, banana trees, the water that flows beneath the front entrance bridge, the Hulk & Dr. Doom right outside our window...score 4 for the letter request! We couldn't have been happier. Mom, Sis & Niece were just as happy with their room. As we were unpacking our suitcases, someone knocked on the door. We opened the door and it was a staff member with a welcome gift for Allie. The welcome gift consisted of a Loew's Loves Pets placemat, water bowl, food bowl and treats in a gift bag...very nice touch! Jasmine also got a welcome gift.
About an hour later, someone else knocked at the door. We answered it and it was room service with our fruit basket and water. We were surprised cause we thought it wouldn't be delivered until the next day. Mom also got her fruit basket & water. The fruit basket contained a mango, green apple, red apple, orange, star fruit, kiwi and strawberries. The water was a large glass 1 liter bottle of Evian.
After resting for a little while we all headed to the Millenia Mall for a little shopping and then to the Super Target next to Millenia to pick up a few grocery items. We headed back to the hotel. Mom, Sis & Niece were tired and decided to go to bed. Boyfriend and I were eager to check out the hotel so we gave ourselves a little tour and then walked the pathway to City Walk. The walk is longer than the walk from HRH to USO but it's not bad at all. The walk is very pretty and relaxing. We stopped by Hard Rock Live so my boyfriend could drop off a press kit and to our surprise they were having a free show so we stuck around until the band was finished. After watching the band, we both got a margarita from City Walk ($6 each) and just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while. We headed back to the hotel, scheduled a wake-up call and crashed.
Day 2 - Monday, April 26th
Our wake-up call woke us up at 7:30am. We got out of bed and got ready for the day. We met Mom & the rest of the group out in the hallway and headed to IOA. We picked up our 5-day bonus passes from the kiosk with no problem. We ate breakfast at the Croissant Moon Bakery. Boyfriend and I got ham, egg & cheese croissant sandwiches ($4.49 each + $2.99 for a 32oz. soda), Mom got fruit and a cranberry muffin and Sis got fruit & an eclair for her & my Niece. Mom, Sis, Niece & boyfriend all enjoyed their food. However, I did not like the ham, egg & cheese croissant sandwich at all. But, it was just a personal preference thing...the eggs were very soft scrambled and just didn't settle well with me. That sandwich was the only gross thing I've ever eaten at IOA.
After eating, we headed over to Seuss Landing. Mom & Sis fell in love with Seuss Landing like I thought they would. We took my Niece on Cat in the Hat and she seemed to like it at first but then decided she didn't like it. We thought we'd try the Caro-Seuss-el but she didn't care for that either. After that, we took her to the If I Ran the Zoo play area and she loved that!
After playing for a while, we headed to Marvel Island. Boyfriend, Sis and I went on Spider-Man...Sis loved it! Then Mom, boyfriend and I went on Spider-Man, Mom loved it too! Boyfriend, Sis and I went on The Hulk and Dr. Doom. It was getting hot outside so we walked over to Toon Lagoon and my Niece played in the water area in front of the Toon Lagoon sign, she had a ball. Mom, Boyfriend and I decided to go on Ripsaw Falls. We got soaked! I didn't remember that ride being so wet before. After Ripsaw, Sis decided it was nap time so her, my Niece & Mom all went back to the hotel while boyfriend and I hung out at IOA some more.
We stopped by the Frozen Desert in the Lost Continent and boyfriend got a strawberry sundae and then stopped by Seuss Landing & Port of Entry so that I could get a pretzel (2 for $3.50 + $0.79 for cheese sauce) and a lemon slush ($3.39). After eating our snacks we headed over to USO.
We did Shrek and MIB. Unfortunately my boyfriend beat my score for the first time at MIB. He proceeded to bring up the fact that he won no less than 50 times that night. We walked around and just looked at everything until we got hungry again. We decided on pizza at Louie's. We both just got a slice of cheese pizza ($3.49 each). The pizza was pretty decent, a lot like Sbaro's. After eating, we decided to head back to the room to rest, it was about 4pm. While we were resting, someone knocked at the door and said "room service". We thought it was a mistake cause we didn't order room service. But when we opened the door, the gentleman brought in a card, chocolate covered strawberries and a liter of Evian. We were very surprised and were still thinking it was a mistake. But then I looked at the card and the envelope had my name and my boyfriends name written on it. We opened the card and it had a very nice note written in it from the lady who responded to my letter of requests via email. Here I was thinking I was being a pain by sending a letter to the hotel with all of these requests and they send us chocolate covered strawberries and Evian! Very nice touch! Mom & Sis were also sent a card, chocolate covered strawberries and Evian and my Niece was sent cookies & milk! We were all so very thankful and pleased!
After gushing about the wonderful way we were being treated, we headed to Margaritaville for dinner. We all really loved Margaritaville! Boyfriend and I split the chicken & beef fajitas ($13.95), Mom had the fish sandwich ($9.95), Sis had the nachos ($7.95) (w/o chili) and Niece had the mac & cheese. For drinks, Mom had 2 sour apple margaritas ($6.95 each), Sis had a Havanas and Bananas ($7.25), boyfriend had a Last Mango in Paris ($6.50) and Island Blue Margarita ($6.95) and I had a Who's to Blame ($5.95). Drinks were great, food was great, service was great, atmosphere was great and we got to see the volcano erupt. After eating & drinking, we all headed back to RPR to get some sleep.
Day 3 - Tuesday, April 27th
We started off the rainy day by having breakfast at the Orchid Court Lounge. I had a plain toasted bagel w/plain cream cheese ($2.75) and an orange juice ($2.75). My boyfriend had a hot cinnamon roll ($2.50), danish ($2.00) and apple juice ($2.75). The food was alright, pretty much what we expected. It was very convenient to just go down to the lobby and grab a bite to eat before heading to the parks.
Since it was raining, we decided to go back to the Mall at Millenia and do some shopping. I know this sounds strange, but that mall is very pretty. We did some shopping at Crate & Barrel, Anthropologie, etc. and my boyfriend even surprised me by buying me a ring at Tiffany & Co. I was shocked!
After shopping, we headed back to the hotel. It was still raining. We wanted to eat lunch at The Kitchen and I called Star services to ask them about the bus shuttle. The lady told me that the bus shuttles are at the front of the hotel and run every 30 minutes or so. Sounded good to us so we headed out to the front of the hotel. We looked around and didn't see a bus shuttle or any signs indicating there was a bus shuttle. We asked one of the bellmen about the shuttle and he informed us that the shuttles are actually at the back of the hotel near the water taxis. We all said "Oh, okay" with confused looks on our faces. He asked us where we wanted to go and we told him HRH and he told us he'd just give us a ride in the hotel vehicle. Sounded great to us! The bellman was very nice and informed us of some of the events that go on at the HRH while he was driving us.
I really liked the look of The Kitchen. It was pretty empty while we were there. We had our hearts set on fish tacos so that's what we ordered. The fish tacos were okay. Not much fish on them at all. The menu says they come with lime sour cream but I didn't taste any lime. To be honest, my boyfriend and I make better fish tacos. As a matter of fact, that's what we made for dinner lastnight.
By the time we had finished eating, the rain had stopped so we walked back to RPR. We rested for a few minutes and then got on the water taxi to hit USO. My Niece loves Barney so we just had to take her to see the Barney show. I'm not sure what it is about that purple dinosaur, but kids go crazy for him. The show was slightly annoying but my Niece kept blowing kisses to Barney so that was cute. After Barney, we all watched Animal Planet Live. We did a little walking around and Mom, Sis & Niece decided to go back to the hotel. After getting back to the hotel, my boyfriend and I went to House of Blues so he could drop off a press kit, did a little shopping at the Orlando Premium Outlets and then went to Chevy's for dinner. Then it was back to the hotel to catch some zzz's.
Day 4 - Wednesday, April 28th
Sis & Niece decided to sleep in. Niece had a bad night terror so she & Sis really needed some extra sleep. Mom, boyfriend and I headed to Cinnabon for breakfast. We ate at the City Walk location cause we wanted to sit inside and the IOA location only has outdoor seating. We each ordered a Pecanbon ($3.79) and 16oz. soda ($1.79). The Pecanbons were very good!
After eating, we went to USO. We did Jimmy Neutron & Shrek 4-D. After Shrek, my Sis was calling Mom on her cellphone and wanted us to meet her at City Walk. After meeting her & my Niece at City Walk, we all walked over to IOA. We decided to try Cat in the Hat again but had the spinning turned off this time. My Niece loved it without the spinning! She proceeded to go on it several more times.
After hanging out in Seuss Landing, we headed over to the Lost Continent. Sis, boyfriend and I did Dueling Dragons, fire first, ice second. Then onto Flying Unicorn and Jurassic Park River Adventure. We had lunch at the Enchanted Oak. Boyfriend and I each had a turkey leg platter ($8.29). The food was really good. The platter came with a turkey leg (duh!), corn on the cob, fries and a corn muffin. My boyfriend and I really could have shared the platter, they give you a ton of food! After eating, we headed back to Seuss Landing so Sis could do some shopping. The Grinch was outside one of the shops getting his picture taken with some guests. My Niece spotted him through the door while were in the shop and yelled out "It's The Grinch, I want to see The Grinch!". The Grinch looked over at her, waved and then walked up to her in the store to mess up her hair. She just loved The Grinch. One of the park associates followed The Grinch into the store and gave my Niece a necklace and a sticker and told her they were from The Grinch. It was really cute & sweet. After shopping, Mom, Sis & Niece needed a little rest so they went back to the room.
Boyfriend and I stayed at IOA and rode The Hulk at least 8 items, watched the Sinbad show (pretty good) then went and got a Moose Juice and Goose Juice. We sat and people watched while enjoying our drinks then headed back to the room.
After showering, we went to the Florida Mall for a little while and then went back to the hotel. We had NBA City for dinner. They weren't crowded at all. To me, it seemed like they had a rather limited menu. I had the pecan chicken tenders and my boyfriend had some sort of bleu cheese pasta. We both enjoyed our meals. Mom, Sis & Niece had dinner at the Islands. They thought the dinner selection was expensive for what they got and didn't think their food was very good. We were all in bed by 10pm.
Day 5 - Thursday, April 29th
Even though Mom & Sis didn't have that great of an experience at Islands Restaurant we decided to try it for breakfast. Breakfast was very good! I had the coconut pineapple macadamia pancakes ($8.75) and boyfriend had the Tahitian French toast ($9.00). After eating, Mom, Sis & Niece headed out to the pool and boyfriend and I went to IOA. Boyfriend wanted to tape everything at IOA so we spent a lot of time just walking around so he could tape everything. The sun was making us tired so we went back to the room to rest.
We went back to IOA around 5pm and rode The Hulk & Spider-Man several times and went into some of the shops. We left and went into the shops at City Walk and then met Mom, Sis & Niece at Margaritaville for dinner. Boyfriend & I just had to try the fish sandwiches since Mom was still talking about it. The sandwiches were great! You can choose to have your fish blackened, grilled or fried. The sandwich comes with fries but we got mashed potatoes (great!) instead. To drink, we both got Big Ritas ($10.95 & you get to keep the pilsner glass). Mom had the Cheeseburger in Paradise, Sis had the nachos again and Niece had spaghetti & meatballs. The spaghetti looked pretty good and the meatballs were huge. Everyone enjoyed their meals. One of the balloon making stilt walkers decided to come to our table. He was great! Two people tipped him when they were on their way out the door and he kept trying to give them back the tip money but they wouldn't take it so he gave it to my Niece instead. He kept telling me that my boyfriend was checking him out. He had my boyfriend and I stand on our chairs and do the "salt" dance, it was too funny. We also got to see the volcano erupt again. We had a wonderful time.
After eating, we went back to our rooms, changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed some time in the jacuzzi. The jacuzzi was so relaxing and did wonders for our aching calf muscles! We crawled back to our rooms and slept like a bunch of babies.
Day 6 - Friday, April 30th
We had breakfast at Islands again. Boyfriend had the pancakes and I had the Tahitian French toast w/carmelized bananas and cinnamon butter, Sis & Niece got the buffet and Mom got a platter that had banana nut bread, yogurt and a lot of fresh sliced fruit (pineapple, mango, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.). The buffet had made-to-order omelets, potatoes, bacon, fruit, fruit dip, etc. Everything Sis & Niece got from the buffet looked wonderful!
Mom, Sis & Niece decided to spend some more time at the pool like they did the day before and my boyfriend & I headed to USO so he could do some taping over there. We did ET just so I could laugh. I don't know why, but that ride makes me laugh.
After taping at USO, we went to IOA. We went on Popeye's, Ripsaw Falls, Popeye's again and then did The Hulk 3 times. I went and got some fries from Captain America Diner and while we were sitting down, it started to pour down rain! They closed The Hulk, Dr. Doom and Dueling Dragons. The water taxis also stopped running because of the lightening. We walked back to the hotel. We were soaked by the time we got back but we had fun playing in the rain. We sat in our room staring out the window, waiting for the rain to stop. This was the last day we'd be able to spend at the parks so we were a little bummed. The rain finally stopped around 5:30pm, so we went back to IOA. The Hulk, Dr. Doom & Dueling Dragons were still closed so we just sat down and people watched for an hour. We had 30 minutes left to shop before the park closed so I did a little shopping. I bought some mugs, smashed penny book, coconut patties (in key lime, pina colada and almond) and some bulk candy. The bulk candy at the store in Port of Entry is really fresh and so good. I never knew Tootsie Rolls and caramels were supposed to be that fresh.
We left the park at closing time and met Mom, Sis & Niece at, yep, you guess it, Margaritaville! Mom, boyfriend and I had fish sandwiches & margaritas. Sis had salad, fries & 2 Havanas and Bananas. Niece had spaghetti & meatballs again. After eating, we made the sad walk back to the hotel knowing this would be the last time we visited City Walk this year. Boyfriend and I tried to do a little packing when we got back to the room but just couldn't get into it. So, we watched TV and slept.
Day 7 - Saturday, May 1st
We were woken at 7:30am by our character wake-up call. We showered & packed and I finally remembered that I had postcards to send. I went down to the lobby to the gift shop to send the postcards. I went back up to the room, called for a bellman. The bellman was there in less than 10 minutes. He loaded up the luggage cart while he talked to my cat. We pulled the car around to the front of the hotel where another bellman loaded our luggage into my trunk and off we went. We left at 11am and arrived home around 7pm. When we got home, we watched the park footage that my boyfriend taped of the hotel, IOA & USO. It was hard to believe that we were just there earlier that day. I wanted to cry like a big baby but my boyfriends taping skills were so horrible that I couldn't stop laughing.
Our vacation was wonderful. Every staff member and employee that we encountered at RPR, City Walk, IOA & USO was great! Even Jasmine & Allie were treated wonderfully. I was a little skeptical to try RPR after having stayed at HRH, however my boyfriend and I both agree that RPR was better. For some reason, I expected RPR to be somewhat "less" than HRH since it's less expensive than HRH but I was completely wrong. Mom & Sis thought FOTL was the best thing ever and can't wait to go again next year. Geez, this trip report is HUGE! I somehow always manage to turn everything into a novel. Thank you for reading and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Well, I'm off to plan my late June/early July trip to Vegas.
04/25/04 to 05/01/04
Royal Pacific Resort
Me - Age 26
Boyfriend - Age 29
Mom - Age 50
Sister - Age 23
Niece - Age 2
Allie - My Cat
Jasmine - Mom's Dog
Day 1 - Sunday, April 25th
None of us have ever stayed at RPR, as a matter of fact my Mom, Sis & Niece have never even been to IOA or USO. However, me and my boyfriend stayed at HRH last year and loved it and we've had two vacations to Universal. We originally planned on staying at HRH again but decided to try something new and stay at RPR.
My boyfriend and I woke up around 5:30am, got ready and headed to my Mom's house around 6:45am. When we arrived, the 4 of them (Mom, Sis, Niece & Jasmine) were ready to go. We all hit the road at 7am. We didn't plan on us following one another but somehow managed to stay close to eachother the entire 8-1/2 hour drive.
We arrived at 3:30pm and were very impressed by the looks of the hotel...beautiful! We pulled up to the front of the hotel and a very nice bellman loaded up his cart with the luggage from my car and the luggage from Mom's car. He followed us into the hotel, gave us a claim check for our luggage and showed us the check-in desk and we tipped him.
Mom and I went over to the Loews check-in desk while boyfriend, Sis & Niece sat and waited for us. I wasn't going to ask about an upgrade because I had sent a letter to the hotel prior to our arrival. The letter contained many requests...non-smoking rooms, queen bed room for Mom & Sis, king bed room for boyfriend & I, view of something nice, etc., etc. We had booked 2 standard view queen bed rooms at Entertainment rate ($144 for first 5 nights & $168 for 6th night). I had asked about a king room when I booked the rooms however they had no king rooms available at Entertainment rate. However, the reservationist told me to contact the hotel and let them know that I preferred a king room. I received a very nice email from RPR shortly after I mailed them the letter, their reply was very nice and basically said they'd do what they could but couldn't guarantee anything.
Anyway, Clay assisted me at check-in. He was very nice. He took my Loews Gold card and a print-out of my reservation and said "Please excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back". I had no idea what he was going to go do. He returned a few short minutes later and told me that he was checking on an upgrade for me. He offered me a Presidential Suite for an additional $35 per night. Nice upgrade option but I declined. I wanted my room to be somewhat close to my Mom's room (something I had specified in the letter) and I figured a Presidential Suite probably wouldn't be near their room. Clay asked me which welcome gift we wanted. We selected fruit & water and he told us that it wouldn't be delivered until the next day. No problem. Oh yeah, Clay never asked to see my Entertainment card. Clay motioned for a bellman to get our luggage cart for us and we all headed up to our rooms. We were in 2442 and Mom was in 2444...right next to eachother. Score one for the letter request!
The rooms were nice. Yes, they're smaller than the rooms at HRH but that wasn't a big deal to me at all. Our room was a king room and non-smoking...score two and three for the letter request! Our view was great! We had beautiful palm trees, banana trees, the water that flows beneath the front entrance bridge, the Hulk & Dr. Doom right outside our window...score 4 for the letter request! We couldn't have been happier. Mom, Sis & Niece were just as happy with their room. As we were unpacking our suitcases, someone knocked on the door. We opened the door and it was a staff member with a welcome gift for Allie. The welcome gift consisted of a Loew's Loves Pets placemat, water bowl, food bowl and treats in a gift bag...very nice touch! Jasmine also got a welcome gift.
About an hour later, someone else knocked at the door. We answered it and it was room service with our fruit basket and water. We were surprised cause we thought it wouldn't be delivered until the next day. Mom also got her fruit basket & water. The fruit basket contained a mango, green apple, red apple, orange, star fruit, kiwi and strawberries. The water was a large glass 1 liter bottle of Evian.
After resting for a little while we all headed to the Millenia Mall for a little shopping and then to the Super Target next to Millenia to pick up a few grocery items. We headed back to the hotel. Mom, Sis & Niece were tired and decided to go to bed. Boyfriend and I were eager to check out the hotel so we gave ourselves a little tour and then walked the pathway to City Walk. The walk is longer than the walk from HRH to USO but it's not bad at all. The walk is very pretty and relaxing. We stopped by Hard Rock Live so my boyfriend could drop off a press kit and to our surprise they were having a free show so we stuck around until the band was finished. After watching the band, we both got a margarita from City Walk ($6 each) and just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while. We headed back to the hotel, scheduled a wake-up call and crashed.
Day 2 - Monday, April 26th
Our wake-up call woke us up at 7:30am. We got out of bed and got ready for the day. We met Mom & the rest of the group out in the hallway and headed to IOA. We picked up our 5-day bonus passes from the kiosk with no problem. We ate breakfast at the Croissant Moon Bakery. Boyfriend and I got ham, egg & cheese croissant sandwiches ($4.49 each + $2.99 for a 32oz. soda), Mom got fruit and a cranberry muffin and Sis got fruit & an eclair for her & my Niece. Mom, Sis, Niece & boyfriend all enjoyed their food. However, I did not like the ham, egg & cheese croissant sandwich at all. But, it was just a personal preference thing...the eggs were very soft scrambled and just didn't settle well with me. That sandwich was the only gross thing I've ever eaten at IOA.
After eating, we headed over to Seuss Landing. Mom & Sis fell in love with Seuss Landing like I thought they would. We took my Niece on Cat in the Hat and she seemed to like it at first but then decided she didn't like it. We thought we'd try the Caro-Seuss-el but she didn't care for that either. After that, we took her to the If I Ran the Zoo play area and she loved that!
After playing for a while, we headed to Marvel Island. Boyfriend, Sis and I went on Spider-Man...Sis loved it! Then Mom, boyfriend and I went on Spider-Man, Mom loved it too! Boyfriend, Sis and I went on The Hulk and Dr. Doom. It was getting hot outside so we walked over to Toon Lagoon and my Niece played in the water area in front of the Toon Lagoon sign, she had a ball. Mom, Boyfriend and I decided to go on Ripsaw Falls. We got soaked! I didn't remember that ride being so wet before. After Ripsaw, Sis decided it was nap time so her, my Niece & Mom all went back to the hotel while boyfriend and I hung out at IOA some more.
We stopped by the Frozen Desert in the Lost Continent and boyfriend got a strawberry sundae and then stopped by Seuss Landing & Port of Entry so that I could get a pretzel (2 for $3.50 + $0.79 for cheese sauce) and a lemon slush ($3.39). After eating our snacks we headed over to USO.
We did Shrek and MIB. Unfortunately my boyfriend beat my score for the first time at MIB. He proceeded to bring up the fact that he won no less than 50 times that night. We walked around and just looked at everything until we got hungry again. We decided on pizza at Louie's. We both just got a slice of cheese pizza ($3.49 each). The pizza was pretty decent, a lot like Sbaro's. After eating, we decided to head back to the room to rest, it was about 4pm. While we were resting, someone knocked at the door and said "room service". We thought it was a mistake cause we didn't order room service. But when we opened the door, the gentleman brought in a card, chocolate covered strawberries and a liter of Evian. We were very surprised and were still thinking it was a mistake. But then I looked at the card and the envelope had my name and my boyfriends name written on it. We opened the card and it had a very nice note written in it from the lady who responded to my letter of requests via email. Here I was thinking I was being a pain by sending a letter to the hotel with all of these requests and they send us chocolate covered strawberries and Evian! Very nice touch! Mom & Sis were also sent a card, chocolate covered strawberries and Evian and my Niece was sent cookies & milk! We were all so very thankful and pleased!
After gushing about the wonderful way we were being treated, we headed to Margaritaville for dinner. We all really loved Margaritaville! Boyfriend and I split the chicken & beef fajitas ($13.95), Mom had the fish sandwich ($9.95), Sis had the nachos ($7.95) (w/o chili) and Niece had the mac & cheese. For drinks, Mom had 2 sour apple margaritas ($6.95 each), Sis had a Havanas and Bananas ($7.25), boyfriend had a Last Mango in Paris ($6.50) and Island Blue Margarita ($6.95) and I had a Who's to Blame ($5.95). Drinks were great, food was great, service was great, atmosphere was great and we got to see the volcano erupt. After eating & drinking, we all headed back to RPR to get some sleep.
Day 3 - Tuesday, April 27th
We started off the rainy day by having breakfast at the Orchid Court Lounge. I had a plain toasted bagel w/plain cream cheese ($2.75) and an orange juice ($2.75). My boyfriend had a hot cinnamon roll ($2.50), danish ($2.00) and apple juice ($2.75). The food was alright, pretty much what we expected. It was very convenient to just go down to the lobby and grab a bite to eat before heading to the parks.
Since it was raining, we decided to go back to the Mall at Millenia and do some shopping. I know this sounds strange, but that mall is very pretty. We did some shopping at Crate & Barrel, Anthropologie, etc. and my boyfriend even surprised me by buying me a ring at Tiffany & Co. I was shocked!
After shopping, we headed back to the hotel. It was still raining. We wanted to eat lunch at The Kitchen and I called Star services to ask them about the bus shuttle. The lady told me that the bus shuttles are at the front of the hotel and run every 30 minutes or so. Sounded good to us so we headed out to the front of the hotel. We looked around and didn't see a bus shuttle or any signs indicating there was a bus shuttle. We asked one of the bellmen about the shuttle and he informed us that the shuttles are actually at the back of the hotel near the water taxis. We all said "Oh, okay" with confused looks on our faces. He asked us where we wanted to go and we told him HRH and he told us he'd just give us a ride in the hotel vehicle. Sounded great to us! The bellman was very nice and informed us of some of the events that go on at the HRH while he was driving us.
I really liked the look of The Kitchen. It was pretty empty while we were there. We had our hearts set on fish tacos so that's what we ordered. The fish tacos were okay. Not much fish on them at all. The menu says they come with lime sour cream but I didn't taste any lime. To be honest, my boyfriend and I make better fish tacos. As a matter of fact, that's what we made for dinner lastnight.
By the time we had finished eating, the rain had stopped so we walked back to RPR. We rested for a few minutes and then got on the water taxi to hit USO. My Niece loves Barney so we just had to take her to see the Barney show. I'm not sure what it is about that purple dinosaur, but kids go crazy for him. The show was slightly annoying but my Niece kept blowing kisses to Barney so that was cute. After Barney, we all watched Animal Planet Live. We did a little walking around and Mom, Sis & Niece decided to go back to the hotel. After getting back to the hotel, my boyfriend and I went to House of Blues so he could drop off a press kit, did a little shopping at the Orlando Premium Outlets and then went to Chevy's for dinner. Then it was back to the hotel to catch some zzz's.
Day 4 - Wednesday, April 28th
Sis & Niece decided to sleep in. Niece had a bad night terror so she & Sis really needed some extra sleep. Mom, boyfriend and I headed to Cinnabon for breakfast. We ate at the City Walk location cause we wanted to sit inside and the IOA location only has outdoor seating. We each ordered a Pecanbon ($3.79) and 16oz. soda ($1.79). The Pecanbons were very good!
After eating, we went to USO. We did Jimmy Neutron & Shrek 4-D. After Shrek, my Sis was calling Mom on her cellphone and wanted us to meet her at City Walk. After meeting her & my Niece at City Walk, we all walked over to IOA. We decided to try Cat in the Hat again but had the spinning turned off this time. My Niece loved it without the spinning! She proceeded to go on it several more times.
After hanging out in Seuss Landing, we headed over to the Lost Continent. Sis, boyfriend and I did Dueling Dragons, fire first, ice second. Then onto Flying Unicorn and Jurassic Park River Adventure. We had lunch at the Enchanted Oak. Boyfriend and I each had a turkey leg platter ($8.29). The food was really good. The platter came with a turkey leg (duh!), corn on the cob, fries and a corn muffin. My boyfriend and I really could have shared the platter, they give you a ton of food! After eating, we headed back to Seuss Landing so Sis could do some shopping. The Grinch was outside one of the shops getting his picture taken with some guests. My Niece spotted him through the door while were in the shop and yelled out "It's The Grinch, I want to see The Grinch!". The Grinch looked over at her, waved and then walked up to her in the store to mess up her hair. She just loved The Grinch. One of the park associates followed The Grinch into the store and gave my Niece a necklace and a sticker and told her they were from The Grinch. It was really cute & sweet. After shopping, Mom, Sis & Niece needed a little rest so they went back to the room.
Boyfriend and I stayed at IOA and rode The Hulk at least 8 items, watched the Sinbad show (pretty good) then went and got a Moose Juice and Goose Juice. We sat and people watched while enjoying our drinks then headed back to the room.
After showering, we went to the Florida Mall for a little while and then went back to the hotel. We had NBA City for dinner. They weren't crowded at all. To me, it seemed like they had a rather limited menu. I had the pecan chicken tenders and my boyfriend had some sort of bleu cheese pasta. We both enjoyed our meals. Mom, Sis & Niece had dinner at the Islands. They thought the dinner selection was expensive for what they got and didn't think their food was very good. We were all in bed by 10pm.
Day 5 - Thursday, April 29th
Even though Mom & Sis didn't have that great of an experience at Islands Restaurant we decided to try it for breakfast. Breakfast was very good! I had the coconut pineapple macadamia pancakes ($8.75) and boyfriend had the Tahitian French toast ($9.00). After eating, Mom, Sis & Niece headed out to the pool and boyfriend and I went to IOA. Boyfriend wanted to tape everything at IOA so we spent a lot of time just walking around so he could tape everything. The sun was making us tired so we went back to the room to rest.
We went back to IOA around 5pm and rode The Hulk & Spider-Man several times and went into some of the shops. We left and went into the shops at City Walk and then met Mom, Sis & Niece at Margaritaville for dinner. Boyfriend & I just had to try the fish sandwiches since Mom was still talking about it. The sandwiches were great! You can choose to have your fish blackened, grilled or fried. The sandwich comes with fries but we got mashed potatoes (great!) instead. To drink, we both got Big Ritas ($10.95 & you get to keep the pilsner glass). Mom had the Cheeseburger in Paradise, Sis had the nachos again and Niece had spaghetti & meatballs. The spaghetti looked pretty good and the meatballs were huge. Everyone enjoyed their meals. One of the balloon making stilt walkers decided to come to our table. He was great! Two people tipped him when they were on their way out the door and he kept trying to give them back the tip money but they wouldn't take it so he gave it to my Niece instead. He kept telling me that my boyfriend was checking him out. He had my boyfriend and I stand on our chairs and do the "salt" dance, it was too funny. We also got to see the volcano erupt again. We had a wonderful time.
After eating, we went back to our rooms, changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed some time in the jacuzzi. The jacuzzi was so relaxing and did wonders for our aching calf muscles! We crawled back to our rooms and slept like a bunch of babies.
Day 6 - Friday, April 30th
We had breakfast at Islands again. Boyfriend had the pancakes and I had the Tahitian French toast w/carmelized bananas and cinnamon butter, Sis & Niece got the buffet and Mom got a platter that had banana nut bread, yogurt and a lot of fresh sliced fruit (pineapple, mango, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.). The buffet had made-to-order omelets, potatoes, bacon, fruit, fruit dip, etc. Everything Sis & Niece got from the buffet looked wonderful!
Mom, Sis & Niece decided to spend some more time at the pool like they did the day before and my boyfriend & I headed to USO so he could do some taping over there. We did ET just so I could laugh. I don't know why, but that ride makes me laugh.
After taping at USO, we went to IOA. We went on Popeye's, Ripsaw Falls, Popeye's again and then did The Hulk 3 times. I went and got some fries from Captain America Diner and while we were sitting down, it started to pour down rain! They closed The Hulk, Dr. Doom and Dueling Dragons. The water taxis also stopped running because of the lightening. We walked back to the hotel. We were soaked by the time we got back but we had fun playing in the rain. We sat in our room staring out the window, waiting for the rain to stop. This was the last day we'd be able to spend at the parks so we were a little bummed. The rain finally stopped around 5:30pm, so we went back to IOA. The Hulk, Dr. Doom & Dueling Dragons were still closed so we just sat down and people watched for an hour. We had 30 minutes left to shop before the park closed so I did a little shopping. I bought some mugs, smashed penny book, coconut patties (in key lime, pina colada and almond) and some bulk candy. The bulk candy at the store in Port of Entry is really fresh and so good. I never knew Tootsie Rolls and caramels were supposed to be that fresh.
We left the park at closing time and met Mom, Sis & Niece at, yep, you guess it, Margaritaville! Mom, boyfriend and I had fish sandwiches & margaritas. Sis had salad, fries & 2 Havanas and Bananas. Niece had spaghetti & meatballs again. After eating, we made the sad walk back to the hotel knowing this would be the last time we visited City Walk this year. Boyfriend and I tried to do a little packing when we got back to the room but just couldn't get into it. So, we watched TV and slept.
Day 7 - Saturday, May 1st
We were woken at 7:30am by our character wake-up call. We showered & packed and I finally remembered that I had postcards to send. I went down to the lobby to the gift shop to send the postcards. I went back up to the room, called for a bellman. The bellman was there in less than 10 minutes. He loaded up the luggage cart while he talked to my cat. We pulled the car around to the front of the hotel where another bellman loaded our luggage into my trunk and off we went. We left at 11am and arrived home around 7pm. When we got home, we watched the park footage that my boyfriend taped of the hotel, IOA & USO. It was hard to believe that we were just there earlier that day. I wanted to cry like a big baby but my boyfriends taping skills were so horrible that I couldn't stop laughing.
Our vacation was wonderful. Every staff member and employee that we encountered at RPR, City Walk, IOA & USO was great! Even Jasmine & Allie were treated wonderfully. I was a little skeptical to try RPR after having stayed at HRH, however my boyfriend and I both agree that RPR was better. For some reason, I expected RPR to be somewhat "less" than HRH since it's less expensive than HRH but I was completely wrong. Mom & Sis thought FOTL was the best thing ever and can't wait to go again next year. Geez, this trip report is HUGE! I somehow always manage to turn everything into a novel. Thank you for reading and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Well, I'm off to plan my late June/early July trip to Vegas.
if possible to get to RPR
in need of professional help!
