Back Froom Rph-dec. 28-31

[Jobro2]

Let me just start by saying how much we loved Universal/IOA!. We've been to Universal once (for the day while in Disney) but never IOA. This trip was a 3 times re-scheduled 50th b-day gift for my DH. Also along were DS14 and DD12, along with myself DW-43.

We arrived on Tuesday morning..nice and early..caught a 7:20 am flight out of BWI which brought us into Orlando at 9:30 or so. I arranged for Tiffany Towncar to pick us up, which we've used before with no problems. This time kind of ticked me off, but it was also partly my DH fault. Our driver picked us up and told us he would be picking us back up on our return trip. I asked if he was sure it would be him,and he promised us "yes,yes"..we were told ahead of time to pay the entire fare on the trip down (no problem), and DH thought he would tip the driver for the entire trip, not just the leg down (I tried to get his attention to tell him NO, but could not.) He went ahead and tipped this guy for the entire trip, since he told him he would be bringing us back. BAD IDEA I tell hubby...gee...once the driver gets his tip, he then says "well, I may or may not be the driver to bring you back". hmmm..SURPRISE!! Now I admit, DH should not have tipped for both ways, but this driver's sneaky ways really teed me off!!

WE arrived at RPH at 10 am..room not ready yet, which I did not expect. We had a lunch ressie at Tchop Chop, so we headed there soon after. The resort is gorgeous!! Everyone is soo friendly. We had booked a Club Level room and were told we could visit the club meanwhile even though our room was not ready. We went up and all the employees were so welcoming and friendly. They explained what was served when and made a note of our children's names and really remembered us when we visited.

Lunch at Tchop Chop was the best we have had. The service was outstanding and the restaurant is beautiful. I would definitely recommend this for anyone! Lunch was fantastic, I'm sure dinner is the same!

Check into our room at 1pm...Tower 3, room 3719 -right by the Club..great location, but there were some rowdy kids (and parents also) who don't seem to realize that not everyone is up at midnight and insist on talking very loudy and running the halls. That is my only complaint on this hotel!! Club level was worth the extra$$ for us. The kids loved having food available and having a 14 yr. old son (for others ..you know...)..they are like infants in their eating habits..they must eat every 2 hours!!! he-he! We also loved the beer and wine each evening. One complaint here. The Club is nice enough to have a on-line computer and printer for you to use. It was so nice to be able to check my e-mail while I was away, and wanted to try and print my boarding passes for return flight...that didn't work, but what angered me was that one evening there was this man there with his 2 small kids...he basically ignored them and was playing on-line poker for over 1 hr. I came back 3 times to see if he was off, but he was still playing. I even heard him trying to explain to his 2 kids (who were very small and I'm sure couldn't have cared), how this "guy from Spain" was playing so well and what his hand was. Point...there was even a sign posted by the computer "For the consideration of others, please limit your computer time to 15 minutes". This guy obviously couldn't read or was one who thought the rules didn't apply to him. Maybe he should have been paying more attention to his little children who were running around wild, bored, waiting for him. Had it been something important I needed to get on for, I would have said something to him, but it was just an e-mail check, but I did hover quite a bit and make comments to my family, that i just wanted to check my e-mail. Thought he might CATCH ON, but this jerk did not! I did mention it to the people working in the Club that he was really being rude about how long he spent on it. That is my only complaint here!!

Had PS at Margarittaville and Hard Rock, both dinners were very good. Had a real blast at Margarittaville, where they had my daughter on her chair dancing with balloons on her head! I imagine it would be quite the place to be for New Years Eve. Hard Rock was packed and even with PS we waited only about 20 minutes. Tchop Chop, like I said is not to be missed!!

Parks were crowded the first day but not unmanagable. FOTL worked great! We often felt guilty walking past a 100 minute line to get on in only 5 minutes or so. I wouldn't go to Universal/IOA without FOTL!! Did not find any restictions either. Thursday am before we left, we were able to go back to IOA for 3 hours and the park was really empty. We walked on to all the major rides (which my son appreciated...more on him in a minute!) Headed back to the airport, and unfortunately the first time ever Southwest had us delayed 1 hr. due to some connecting passengers. Turned out they were part of the Colgage Men's Basketball team, which my hubby and son thought was cool!

Unfortuntely, my son came down with a case of what we think was food poisoning Wed. evening. Spent from 9 pm-4am in the bathroom and let's just say it wasn't pretty!! None of us got any sleep..so we slept in Thursday am till 11 am. Hubby took my daughter to IOA that day and I stayed with my kiddo who was really spent from the night before..he slept the entire day almost, and was really unhappy he missed the IOA day, so he was so happy we were able to go for those few hours the day we left. Don't know what it was he ate, we think it was a "Churro" he got from a stand in the park.

Overall, we loved everthing. Wish we could have stayed longer. The resort is gorgeous and the service is outstanding from everyone we dealt with. FOTL is absolutely worth it! Would love to go back just to spend more time at the resort!!

I'd be glad to answer any questions anyone has....now..back to laundry!

 

[E&B's Mom]

Thank you so much for the wonderful trip report. We are staying club level at RPR in August and it is still 7 months to go.

 

[FrannyK]

Thanks JoBro, Your trip report made me feel better about the extra $ I'm spending on a club room I think it will be very worthwhile for our two teens 13/16. Glad to hear everyone was so nice and FOTL worked great. Can't wait!

 

[Jobro2]

Your teens will really like the Club Level...they also encouraged us to take bottled water they offer with us to the parks! Also available all day are sodas, coffee and tea. 5-7 pm are dinnertime snacks with wine and beer..they always had chips with salsa and all the toppings..kids loved making plates of those...8pm they then brought out the desserts!! Usually a cheesecake or two of some variety, cakes, the last night we had tiramsu!! We really saved on the food portion having that available to us!! Have a great trip!!

 

[nymomof3]

It makes me feel better that you said it was not that crowded, we will be there the week before easter and i am so nervous about the lines. we are staying at the rpr. thanks for your great trip report

 

[Jobro2]

Don't fret over the crowds..even if it does get crowded, you won't wait long for anything with your FOTL!!!Have a blast!!

 

[FrannyK]

That's great news about the waters--the kids drink soooo much water! And that's great they offer it to take to the parks--I guess they are used to that. Did you carry a backpack in the parks w/waters and such? Or are the hotels so close you can just skip back to your room to pick up more when you need?

I know my kids would love the nachos too LOL. I know staying club w/two teens will definitely save on our food bill! Did you make dinner reservations ahead of time before your trip? Is priority seating something else or is that a reservation? Not sure if we will go to Tchop siince we've been to Emeril's places in New Orleans and Las Vegas (without kids though). What time did you go to dinner most nights? I think it's hard to make a dinner reservation a month ahead of time! The parks close at 6 or 7pm when we are there. Since our first night there is the first night of Mardi Gras I figure I better make a reservation somewhere that night since it will be a crowded night. Maybe the LatinQuarter would be appropriate? I think the kids would enjoy Hard Rock Cafe, my son NBA City (maybe lunch one day) and I've read good things about Mythos, Finnegans and Margaritaville from many posters. We only have three nights so I'll have to narrow it down.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Jobro2]

Yes, we carried a backpack with some waters, I also carried a purse with a water in it. The hotel is close, but don't know if you'd want to walk back just for water. We took the water taxi back to the hotel all the time and never had to wait long at all for one (if there wasn't one already there waiting for us)..they did tell us that it is a 7 minute walk to the hotel though..there is a walking path, which looked very nice (and very well lit at night), but we always chose the water taxi.

Priority seating and reservations are the same. Priority seating means you get the next table available at the time you picked. I called in my PS the week before we went. The employees in the Club will be glad to do it for you also when you are there. They have copies of al the menus for you to look at, and it seemed people were having good luck having them make the PS ressies for them. We typically ate early..ressies at 5:45 and 6 pm. Also, if you go to a restaurant and show your room card, they told us that moves you right to the front of the line (not sure how well this works honestly, cause we always had PS), but maybe someone else can help answer that. We ate lunch at Mythos one day (I made a PS for that also..at 11:30 when they opened). I had read so many good things about it on these boards, so we had to try it and were not disappointed!! Margarittaville was a BLAST! We all enjoyed it, but I hear they get huge crowds as the night goes on..I'd definitely try for a PS. Do you have the number for priority seating??? I'm sure the parks will be a ton of fun during Mardi Gras!!!! Enjoy!

 

[highlander447]

Thanks for the report sounds like u all had a pretty good time other than your son's illness, I have asked before about paying the the tip the car company have said its up to us so I assume the drivers split the tips

 

[Jobro2]

I wouldn't bet that our first driver gave our return driver any of the tip we gave him. I really felt he was misleading telling us he'd be back...only so we'd tip him more, I'm sure. From now on, I'll make sure hubby tips driver down his share, and when we return, that driver will then get his tip. I felt bad for our return driver...I told hubby it wasn't his fault the other guy took all the tip, so we wound up giving him something also. We definintely learned our lesson!!!

 

[FrannyK]

Thank you for the great info on PS/reservations--I was so confused! I will definitely make PS arrangements ahead of time. Glad to hear Mythos was good for you also. Sounds like Margarittaville is not to be missed though.

I'll bring a small backpack now too.

I was just checking into the different town car agencies that pick you up at the airport, they all seem to be (with a coupon) about $80 roundtrip from airport and then adding on a tip would be $100 or so. Is that about what you paid? Your story was a good lesson and I will certainly remember not to tip for the whole trip at one time!!

As for the water taxi, how long is the ride from park to hotel? I was under the impression the walk was much quicker?

 

[Jobro2]

You're right on with the fares for the towncar services. We've always found them very reliable and since we didn't plan on going anywhere but US/IOA, we really didn't need a car while we were there. We should have tipped $10.00 to each driver instead of $20.00 to the first.

The water taxi ride is about 5 minutes...max...it's especially nice after walking all day!!

 

[Immelman]

I'm glad you had such a great trip. Tchop Chop, Margaritaville, etc.....are all favorites of ours. we prefer Emeril's to Tchop Chop, but it an amazing restaurant to have right in the resort. as we left IOA last night, it was so hard walking past the Porch of Indecision, Margaritaville one of my most favorite places down here.