Anniversary Trip 2023

[ArielLoverNH]

OK all, I need some help. I consider myself a Disney expert if there is such a thing, I have made 52 trips from New England to that wonderful place but have not been in 7 years. We are planning a blow-out trip there in 2024 but before that, we decided to try a Universal trip. I have not been there since 2004 (the year the mummy opened and didn't get to go on it) and my wife since around 1998, so there isn't much there that we have seen. We remember Jaws - the Ride.

Here is what we have so far:
When:10/7/23 - 10/14/23
Where: Loews Royal Pacific Resort
How: Flying in from New Hampshire - no rental car. Paid for the Universal shuttle.
Who: Me 57m Wife 47f
Other: Have 2 breakfasts pre-booked at the 2 different Harry Potter locations
Considerations: I have a heart issue that keeps me at a slower pace and my wife had Bariatric surgery this year which extremely lowers how much she eats (She is down 135 pounds and will be down probably another 85 before we go.
How can you help: Any advice would be appreciated - what to see? not to miss places to eat? Romantic things to do? Is the hotel a good choice? Anything specific to request at the hotel? Literally anything you can share would be helpful. Anyone been through Bariatric surgery that can help with the where to eat would be a huge plus. I have a pretty extensive camera and lenses - should I bother or just use the iPhones?
We certainly want to see as much as we can but also want to be on vacation.

Thanks in Advance !!

 

[schumigirl]

Have a look at the Royal Pacific in the sticky`s above.....lots of info in there and pictures too.

What type of food do you enjoy........The Palm is a very nice restaurant in the HRH, not romantic, just nice and Sapphire Falls has Strong Water Tavern. Caribbean style food and smaller portions, everything is fabulous and you can walk from RP all indoors. And yes, you`ve made a good choice with the hotel, it`s fabulous.

Asking for a high floor in Tower 3 with a pool view is always a good idea, you`ll get a lovely view out of your window.

I have no help for the food issues, but most places will be happy to advise.

As for your camera, why not. Most good cameras are so much better than iphones, even the better ones. We always have a proper camera and get some fab pictures, we don`t bring the one with the long lenses anymore, just for convenience.

Happy planning.....there are many threads on here to give you a good starting point for your trip.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If the extensive camera can fit in the ride lockers, you can bring it along and bring it in the parks a few days - but the iPhones should suffice for most things and if they're in pockets phones can also go on rides (thus also through queues for queue photos). Free lockers are as tall as a can of soda for reference - but much wider & longer, the height is the limiting factor. Many rides you can also take the camera directly on.

Are you planning to do Halloween Horror Nights? That will close Studios at 5pm on Wed-Sun nights but you can still hop over to Islands in the evenings.

Are you getting Seasonal APs? Probably the most economical for 7 days, and you would be able to pop into the parks every day even if only for a short time on rest/travel days.

 

[ArielLoverNH]

Have a look at the Royal Pacific in the sticky`s above.....lots of info in there and pictures too.

What type of food do you enjoy........The Palm is a very nice restaurant in the HRH, not romantic, just nice and Sapphire Falls has Strong Water Tavern. Caribbean style food and smaller portions, everything is fabulous and you can walk from RP all indoors. And yes, you`ve made a good choice with the hotel, it`s fabulous.

Asking for a high floor in Tower 3 with a pool view is always a good idea, you`ll get a lovely view out of your window.

I have no help for the food issues, but most places will be happy to advise.

As for your camera, why not. Most good cameras are so much better than iphones, even the better ones. We always have a proper camera and get some fab pictures, we don`t bring the one with the long lenses anymore, just for convenience.

Happy planning.....there are many threads on here to give you a good starting point for your trip.

I have looked at the sticky on here and all the info on Universal plus bought the Unofficial Guide to Universal.

Good question on the food, My wife likes anything but tends to eat healthier (This a Keto diet if that helps) and I tend to be a meat and potatoe kind of guy.

 

[ArielLoverNH]

If the extensive camera can fit in the ride lockers, you can bring it along and bring it in the parks a few days - but the iPhones should suffice for most things and if they're in pockets phones can also go on rides (thus also through queues for queue photos). Free lockers are as tall as a can of soda for reference - but much wider & longer, the height is the limiting factor. Many rides you can also take the camera directly on.

Are you planning to do Halloween Horror Nights? That will close Studios at 5pm on Wed-Sun nights but you can still hop over to Islands in the evenings.

Are you getting Seasonal APs? Probably the most economical for 7 days, and you would be able to pop into the parks every day even if only for a short time on rest/travel days.

Not planning on doing the horror nights. We have an unlimited 3 park admission while we are there and unlimited Universal Express.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

As long as you have the park-to-park you'll be all set!

The unlimited EP is from your resort. Is the unlimited admission from a package? I feel like the longer admission tickets are usually only for overseas visitors.

 

[ArielLoverNH]

As long as you have the park-to-park you'll be all set!

The unlimited EP is from your resort. Is the unlimited admission from a package? I feel like the longer admission tickets are usually only for overseas visitors.

Yes, we did a package, the hotel and admission were together. I agree the Express was due to the hotel we chose. We were allowed to do add-ons such as the shuttle to and from airport and pre-book the 2 breakfasts at the harry potter places, Leaky Cauldron and Three Broomsticks.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Any issues with motion sickness or rides making you dizzy? How well do you handle motion simulators?
Are you total thrill seekers, ride cowards, or somewhere in between when it comes to rides?
How into Harry Potter are you?

These questions are not designed to pry or make you crazy but help me give you better recommendations.

I love the banana Icees near the King Kong ride. The ice-cream at Florean Fortescue is amazing. I also enjoyed BumbleBee Man's Tacco Truck and Mythos. (My most recent trip was before the pandemic).

 

[ArielLoverNH]

Any issues with motion sickness or rides making you dizzy? How well do you handle motion simulators?
Are you total thrill seekers, ride cowards, or somewhere in between when it comes to rides?
How into Harry Potter are you?

These questions are not designed to pry or make you crazy but help me give you better recommendations.

I love the banana Icees near the King Kong ride. The ice-cream at Florean Fortescue is amazing. I also enjoyed BumbleBee Man's Tacco Truck and Mythos. (My most recent trip was before the pandemic).

I get motion sickness btu Dramamine usually solves for that. I was able to ride everything at Disney including Soarin' without an issue the last trip.

I think we are open to most ride types- we both enjoy Expedition Everest and Rock N Roller Coaster at Disney. We do like Harry Potter, that was one of the deciding factors for the trip.

I have heard positive things about Mythos and also Big Fire. We also think we want to try the Luau at the hotel. Counter Service can get hard with us with some of the less healthy options, I also do not like Mexican or Italian food at all.

Banana Icees sound awesome,

 

[Kit Jackson]

While you will have ExpressPass, if you are serious Harry Potter fans, do the regular line of Forbidden Journey at least once, because that way you get to see parts of Hogwarts Castle that the ExpressPass line skips.

 

[ArielLoverNH]

While you will have ExpressPass, if you are serious Harry Potter fans, do the regular line of Forbidden Journey at least once, because that way you get to see parts of Hogwarts Castle that the ExpressPass line skips.

That makes sense, same as a lot of the rides at Disney.

 

[lowcountrygamecock]

We were on Hagrid’s before 8 one day last week, then to velocicoaster with about a 15 minute wait. We were in line at forbidden journey before 9 and the express line wasn’t open yet. We had ridden it multiple times during the week so it was cool to see the part of the line that the express pass bypassed.