Back from HRH/IOA/USF

[threeboysmom]

We just got back yesterday after spending 6 nights at the HRH and 5 days in the two parks. We had a BLAST!! After being Disney fanatics for the last 15 years, we have been sold on Universal. The rides are much more cool since my boys are getting older now. The theming at IOA blew me away - it was a feast for the eyes. The HRH was awesome - beautiful & great service. We ended up upgrading to a kids' suite since my DH needed to work late each night & I didn't want the kids being disturbed. We did have a $125 ent. rate for a garden-view room which was great, but ended up spending $250 a night for the suite, not so good!! I'm hoping my DH's company will pick up some of that. The suite was wonderful though - it's great having that privacy. The kids got their goody bags at check-in; also the fruit basket & newspaper (though we had to call to remind them). The maid left little goodies for the kids each night on their beds. The pool was awesome - my kids could have stayed there all day & been happy (well, not my 12 yo - all he wanted to do was ride MIB - he drove us crazy, but we won't get into that). They all loved the slide - 6 yo, 11 yo, & 12 yo. Under 48" needed to put on a life vest to ride the slide - no big deal for my 6 yo who is only 44". We spent 5 days in both parks enjoying each attraction over & over & over! Well................. except Dr. Doom for me. I did actually make it into the seat and buckled myself in, but then had a major anxiety attack & begged the attendant when he came around to get me off. I practically ran from that ride. I felt really bad because my 11 yo was really scared & we agreed to do it together & I left him there on the ride!! He was okay though & actually went on it again a few times with his brother. My 6 yo "tolerated" most of the rides - he's not big on thrills - he wasn't happy that we kept bringing him on Jurassic & Dudley over & over, but at least he didn't pitch a fit or cry about it. He was a good sport. After about 6 times riding Spiderman, he finally put on the 3D glasses and ended up loving this ride. We rode it probably at least 20 times. He even did Terminator twice - once without glasses & the second time with the glasses. I LOVED the Hulk coaster - that is the coolest coaster I've been on. My 6 yo's favorite was E.T., followed by Spiderman. My 11 yo's favorite was just about everything! My 12 yo's favorite by far was Men in Black (my DH's favorite too) - they must have rode it about 100 times. My son actually maxed out at 999,999 points!! My highest score was 424,000 - not bad for a 38 yo female - I was excited

We found Express/Room key wasn't really necessary on Mon. & Tues., but crowds began to build by Wed. (lots of school groups). and were awful on Thursday & especially Friday - we were LOVING our room key at that point!!

Restaurants we ate at were the Sunset Grill at the HRH (excellent filet mignon in red wine sauce), Nascar Cafe (average), NBA city (excellent meal! lots of good choices on menu), Motown Cafe (average). The rest of out eating were at fast food places & snacks.

I'd be glad to answer any questions.

Kimberly

 

[gschmerl]

Glad you had such a great time. I too love the theming at IOA and feel that it is eye candy!

 

[bjakmom]

Sounds like you had a great trip! I had to laugh about MIB - last summer DS (then 13) made me ride it endlessly - I love it, too, but at some point I had to beg, "please, no more!". Thank God for FOTL ! We can't wait to stay at HRH next trip!

 

[jaysue]

Thanks for the report - I cannot wait to go to Universal - just me for three days waiting for the Disney Family to catch up to me

Thanks
Jason

 

[Pugdog007]

What kind of goody bags did your children receive at check-in? Is it for Fan club or Loew's cardholders?

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for the great reviews. Glad you had a great time!!

 

[FOV]

3BoysMom - I LOVED reading your report! We will be staying at the HRH for 4 nights at the end of June with our 3 kids. I can not tell you how excited we are!

I have a 5 y/o son who will need to wear a life vest on the slide a the pool. Do you have to rent the vests or are they complimentary? Is it okay to bring your own from home?

Was MIB too intense for the 6 y/o? Sounds like he was a really good sport keeping up with his older brothers!

Thanks again for the report!

 

[twinmomto3boys]

Thanks for the great trip report. We are so excited to be staying here in a few weeks!

My questions also had to do with the life vests. Can you bring your own? Can my daredevil 3 year old go down the slide with a vest?

We are also staying in a kids suite room. What was your room view like?

Thanks!

 

[mikey'smom]

I can respond to the 3 yo on the slide. Last summer my DD went on it over and over and over. Well you get the picture. We finally stopped going up with her, she was wearing us out. DH would watch from the side of the pool for her to start up the stairs and I would wait at the bottum of the slide for her. She had a blast. So unless they have changed things the 3 yo will be able to go on the slide.

mikey'smom

 

[threeboysmom]

twinmomto3boys - I don't see why you couldn't bring your own life vest. We just had arm swimmies with us so we had to use their life vest for the slide. I can understand - swimmies can fall off while going down the slide (it's quite windy), but a life vest will not. I saw lots of small children going down by themselves with a parent waiting at the bottom. There is a life guard stationed at the top of the slide to assist kids if needed.

We had a garden-view room I believe. We were dead center in front of the water taxi area. So we could actually watch from our room when a boat was coming, and then quick catch the elevator down. I loved the location of our room - quick to the elevators, the water taxi, and the pool.

FOV - The vests are free - they are located at the top of slide. There were quite a few of them in different sizes. MIB was not intense at all - he actually enjoyed shooting at the aliens, just not 20 times in a row!! After 5-6 times, he was done and wanted to do something else. MIB was actually tame compared to Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Terminator, etc. I thought he did great considering most of the rides/attractions are geared for older children. If he were on the timid side, I don't think we could have done US/IOA until he was much older.

Pugdog007 - the goody bags, I think, were because of Loew's. I'm not a Fan Club member so that wasn't the reason. I'm not sure if they give them to everybody at check-in or just Loew's members. I actually wasn't even expecting it, so it was a nice surprise at check-in. The goody bags were cute animal-print bags with handles. Goodies inside were animal-print sun visor, animal print sunglasses, & animal-print hackey-sack ball (big hit with my boys).