Another great vacation at US/IOA

[VaGal]

We just got back from an awesome 2 night stay at the Royal Pacific Resort, this was our third time staying here, we have stayed at Portofino Bay and loved it, but this place just feels perfect for us! This years trip was just me, DH, and DS (19)…we were actually here on DS’s birthday which totally made this the BEST birthday ever for him! We arrived on Monday, and we arrived a little earlier than expected (2:00 p.m.) & had planned on going over to the park until our room was ready…well surprise...surprise… Front desk says “You guys can check in now” !! Whooaa you gotta be kidding?!! I was super happy, & even more happy because I asked for a lower level room and they responded with “ sure no problem”!! We got Tower 1… I really didn’t care about a particular room view, we aren’t there that much anyway, but I did chuckle after seeing our room view of nothing but lush tropical foliage…I told my son I feel like a fish in an aquarium lol…but I loved the room. We quickly unloaded our bags and off we went to the water taxi……

There were only a few people waiting for the water taxi, so we had a really nice ride over to the park. We started out with Universal Studios, we quickly picked up our tickets at the will-call kiosk, and in we go, first stop Despicable Me, not sure of the wait time in the regular line but it was quite a line and I was so thankful not to have to stand in that line! We hit the express line & actually waited approximately 10 minutes to ride. Although we’ve done this ride many times last year, we still love it! Ohhh ok my son is having a fit for us to ride Transformers since he is a HUGE fan of all of the movies , and down the street we go towards the ride….when all of a sudden we hear it……..Megatron….I thought my DH & DS were like two little kids, I don’t know which one was more excited lol…we took a few pics, watched with the rest of the crowd and then finally onto the ride! Hit the express line and we were on the ride in 5 minutes, we all loved it! I’m not a coaster rider, ( although I have rode The Mummy and liked it) so this ride is perfect for me. And yes, over all it reminded me of the spider man ride, but I still liked it a lot. After the ride was over, we walked back around the building just in time for Bumblebee!! Took lots of pics of bumblebee So awesome to see this!

We were getting a little hungry for dinner, and didn’t want to hit city walk, so we went to Louie’s for pizza, this is where we have ate at in years past, & always liked it very well. We ordered a large half pepperoni & half cheese pizza with some breadsticks, and while it was pretty good overall, I just wish the pizza would have been a little hotter.

After our pizza dinner, we headed on over to see the new changes near the Simpsons ride ”Springfield” & wow it was a lot different than last year, very cute, loved it. Hit the express on the Simpsons ride and was on the ride in 5 minutes….always a good ride!...Then on to men in black, I really don’t know why, but we just love this ride, maybe its because we like to compete for high scores, with the winner getting to pick the next ride or perhaps where we’ll eat dinner the next day lol but we hit the express line and waited 5 minutes and boom we were on! And yes the first ride thru I won with a high score of 271,050!! We quickly ran and got back in line to ride it again, this time my son got the high score! We were getting a little tired because of the long drive, so we hit a few gift shops, got a few more pics in and headed back for the water taxi, the next day would be DS’s 19th birthday, so I wanted to be rested up for a day of fun! Day 2 coming………

 

[macraven]

i love reading about fun and exciting vacations at the darkside.

my favorite hotel is also rph.

 

[schumigirl]

Loving your report so far

Glad you`ve had such a fantastic time and look forward to reading the rest and about your DS birthday.

We love RPR too.....can`t imagine staying anywhere else in Orlando, and we have a 19 year old son too who loves the hotel as much as we do. We always have so much fun there.

Love Louie`s pizza too and we can`t wait to see the Simpsons area so glad to see your thoughts on that and Transformers too

 

[Metro West]

Glad you had a great time!

 

[Eureka]

Great report so far. We were there a couple of weeks ago and also loved Despicable Me, Simpsons and MIB. Our competitive sides definitely come out, lol. Can't wait to read more.

 

[-Hope-]

Sounds like a great start to your trip! Can't wait to read more.

 

[VaGal]

Day 2 August 27th DS’s Birthday: We had planned on getting up early to hit Forbidden Journey, but I’m finding the older I get, the more things I’ve planned just aren’t happening LOL!! We decided to go to Perkins Restaurant on West Sand Lake Road for breakfast instead, we usually eat there, and it was great as always. We get back to the hotel, and head for the water taxi, a few more people waiting, but still not too bad. Today we shall take on IOA…..It was a fairly good crowd of people there, but not nearly as bad as years past, but then again, we usually come here the last week of July /First of August….We decide to ride Spiderman first, again I notice a long line in the regular line, express line took us 5 minutes and we were on! We still love this ride, sometimes I secretly wish I could slip them a $20, and say “ just let me keep riding a few more times without getting off” LOL… we are ready to head over to Seuss Landing, but even though I don’t ride Hulk, I love watching the coaster go over our heads and just standing on the bridge taking pics….ok onto Cat in the Hat ride…some may think its lame or for kids…I still like it! I think the regular line was a 15 minute wait, our express line wait was maybe 2 minutes…such a fun little ride, I love the spins! After that we strolled through Seuss Landing and onto The Lost Continent, it was just about time for The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad to start, so we decided to catch a show, we’ve seen it once before, but we still like this one, it’s a great way to sit a spell and cool off!

Well next stop… Wizarding World of Harry Potter…. And wow this was really crowded! I really like just strolling through there and looking in the shops, and as my DH had gone to get me a bottle of water my DS & myself were looking at the wait time for Forbidden Journey, from a distance it looked like either 70 or 90 minutes, and I was already thinking nooo way!! When we got a little closer it was only a 20 minute wait….yayyy us!! And then just when you think life is grand you suddenly remember….Harry Potter Locker NIGHTMARE!! Eeeeek! What a tore up mess….after we got a locker, we quickly made it on the ride, I’d definitely say we didn’t wait more than 20 minutes and that is an awesome ride! This was my 3rd time riding it, and each time I worry a little about fitting in the seat, I’m a size 18, but I quickly remember to get the end seat and it works like a charm with no problems at all! Happy, happy, happy with the ride!! Then back to the lockers to get our things….nightmare again ughhhh……we walked thru Jurassic Park, but skipped the River Adventure, again the crowds were so so, on to Toon Lagoon, we skipped Dudley Do Right, but headed straight for Popeyes Bilge Rat Barges….we hit the express line and were on the ride in 2 minutes….this was so much fun! We all got soaked & loved every moment….after drying off some, we hit spiderman one more time and then it was time to go back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for dinner for DS’s birthday.

We had priority seating for Hard Rock Café, and when we got there, we went straight to our table, DS got the Honey Mustard grilled chicken sandwich with fries, I got the Hickory BBQ bacon burger & fries, & DH got a Ribs and pulled pork combo with slaw, baked beans & cornbread, we all liked what we ordered a lot…don’t think DH was crazy about the beans, he said something about them having ranch & he’s just a old fashioned baked beans kinda guy lol….DS got a strawberry cheesecake bite compliments of Hard Rock for his birthday ( which he said was soooo good ) along with everyone saying Happy Birthday to him!! We really love the atmosphere here, listening to classic rock and seeing the videos..nothing like a little Joan Jett while munching on that burger!! Afterwards we went back to US to ride Transformers again, and then we rode ET, no wait time whatsoever on both rides! I finally got to see the parade, which I’ve never got to see, so cute and loved the music, then we decided to leave and catch a water taxi over to Hard Rock Hotel to check things out in case we want to stay there someday. We really enjoyed walking around the pool area, walking through the hotel and taking pictures of the various rock memorabilia, we checked everything out, really does have a fun vibe, love the music especially! But for some reason, Royal Pacific has my heart, but we will consider staying at Hard Rock at least a night or so in a few years or so. We take the water taxi back to citywalk, and by now its close to 9 p.m. and we see the HUGE line for the water taxi back to Royal Pacific!! I’m thinking that’s definitely a two boat line lol….so we decided to walk back, we actually enjoyed the walk, I just wish the pathway had a little more lighting, but it was still nice!....Departure Day coming next……….

 

[macraven]

i love HRC too.
great food and ambiance!

bet your son was all smiles there.


looking forward to more of your report.

 

[Seeker615]

Nice report. It's making me more excited for our November trip!

 

[VaGal]

Day of Departure: We all got up fairly early, got everything packed up and put in the car, I just had yogurt for breakfast, & DH & DS just skipped breakfast, and said they would just eat lunch instead, so we could get in a few hours at the park…we went ahead and checked out, & then headed for the water taxi, we all decided to go to Universal Studios for a few quick rides before our ride back to Virginia…..First ride was…..Transformers….my DH & DS couldn’t get enough of that ride lol….when we got off of the ride we headed for the benches to upload pics to facebook, that’s when all of us were approached to do a 30-40 minute survey for $$.....well heyyyy you spoke my language now! And off we all go…very interesting survey on a tv show. I did one many years ago on a new yogurt, and enjoyed it, and actually received Universal Cash, which was kind of like monopoly money, but you could use it in any of the gift stores. After doing the survey, we rode Despicable me one more time and then headed back to the water taxi, I knew we had a long drive ahead, and we all needed lunch. Even though this was a shorter trip than we usually do, It was so much fun, we always “think” about going other places for vacation, but most of the time we always end up here in Orlando! I really don’t care if we stay one day or a week, it’s the memories we make and the fun we have that’s worth any amount of time! And the dis-boards were and will always be a huge part of our vacation planning, I don’t post a lot anymore, but I do enjoy reading and learning so much from each of you!......Now time to plan 2014 trip!!

 

[Eureka]

I am with you, my 12 yr old thought the Cat in the Hat and Seuss Trolley Train rides were lame but they are just my speed Also loved Popeye ride.

 

[VaGal]

I am with you, my 12 yr old thought the Cat in the Hat and Seuss Trolley Train rides were lame but they are just my speed Also loved Popeye ride.

Thank goodness for some of those "lame" rides lol, they help make my trip so much more enjoyable, since I'm too chicken to ride the more intense rides

 

[ldoogie]

Awesome trip report! We will be there for the first time in October. DS 6 is huge Transformers fan, I can't wait for him to see them, he's gonna flip!

 

[VaGal]

Awesome trip report! We will be there for the first time in October. DS 6 is huge Transformers fan, I can't wait for him to see them, he's gonna flip!

Thanks! Your son will love the meet & greet since he loves Transformers, we enjoyed watching the kids take pictures with the different transformers, they were in awe lol, as we were too!