Back To The Studios: Anthony's 4/01/06-4/02/06 Trip Report

[nerdboyrockstar]

I’m back from another amazing trip at the Universal Orlando Resort! I was there Saturday, April 1st to Sunday April 2nd and I stayed at my 2nd home, the Royal Pacific Resort.. Alright.. On to the adventure!

Starring:
Me, Anthony
Luis
Maria
Yessenia

I knew I would be leaving my house at 5am on Saturday to arrive at the Studios before 9am but on Friday night I went to see this amazing show in Miami. It’s called The Knockouts.. It was actually a preview show event (it actually opens April 14th) and it’s at the brand new multimillion dollar Gulfstream Park Tickets Theater. The place is spectacular, the show was fun, sexy and really entertaining… kind of like the ***** Dolls show in L.A. (before they were a singing group.) Great stuff… if you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out.. But it can get pretty hot (although there’s no nudity or anything like that) but I think its 18 and over to be admitted.

I was home by 2am and I crawled into bed and set the alarm for 4am. I woke up, shaved, showered, got ready, packed a bag, made a CD for the road with some songs we could sing along to and was out the door by 4:45.

We arrived at Universal at around 8:15 (sorry speed limits!) and headed straight for the Royal Pacific. We checked in and left our bags and then I went to Concierge in order to make dining reservations for the night time. I was told the only restaurants I would really need to make reservations for are the Emeril’s restaurants. I made one for Emeril’s Tchoup Chop but also inquired about making one for Margaritaville. I was told that showing your room key at Margaritaville gets you the next available seating. So for dinner we would be choosing between either Margaritaville or Tchoup Chop.

We headed over to Universal. As soon as we got off the water taxi, we heard Chicken Little from American Idol singing/rehearsing on the Ellen stage in Citywalk.. My friends were like “do you want to go see?” but I just said no… no I don’t.

So instead we went straight inside to the Mummy. We rode it a few times.. The first Mummy animatronic was in B-mode all day. When I went 2/25 was the first time I had ever seen the animatronic in B-mode (meaning you still hear him roar and saying “SILENCE!” and everything but only see lighting effects on the tomb to create the talking effect). For the best experience on the Mummy, I say it’s the back row. You definitely feel the air time a WHOLE lot more.. It was great.

I think we did the attractions in this order..

Revenge of the Mummy
Twister
Jaws

We then decided to do an early lunch at Finnegans. We were there at 11 on the dot (when it opens) and were probably the second party seated. For starters, we ordered the Potato and Onion Webb and the Irish Chicken Stingers. The Potato and Onion Webb was pretty good, especially with the malt vinegar. The Chicken Stingers were okay but it only came with 4 little chicken fingers and there was 4 of us. At $7.95, it’s not worth it and I wouldn’t get it again. They then brought us their soda bread with apple butter… which is a very different taste but we thought it was awesome. For my entrée, I had the Shepherd’s Pie (with ground beef) and it tasted alright but was so HOT! I don’t remember having to blow my food that much since I was little. Overall it was okay but I missed my fried chicken from International Food & Film Festival…

Back to the rides..

Fear Factor Live
Men In Black
Back To The Future (which is now the most unpleasant ride in Universal.. I was SWEATING! And I said that out loud and this guy in front of me was laughing. We need to do something about this ride.. The milk in my fridge ages better..)
Universal Horror Make-Up Show (with the hilarious female Alex who is adorable and so funny!)
Animal Planet Live!
E.T. Adventure

We had Express obviously from the hotel but let me see if I can remember some wait times… wow… not really. I guess I don’t even look anymore. That’s sad! The only wait I remember was Jurassic Park River Adventure. It was 60 minutes on Sunday….

By this time it was about 3 p.m. and we decided to go see what we can catch of the Ellen taping before heading back to the hotel. There was a huge crowd around the Ellen stage and it was hard to find a good spot to watch but we did see her and that was enough for us. But as we’re walking through Citywalk, we notice the musical performance stage and there was hardly ANYONE in front of it at this point. So we staked out our spot in front of the stage for LL COOL J’s performance! I saw LL last time I was at Mardi Gras and he’s awesome. But my spot was 100x better! Wait till you see the pictures (which I’m working on getting from Maria..) He did “Control Myself”, his new song with Jennifer Lopez (only heard, not seen). The performance was awesome. Ellen then came to the stage so we got a close-up shot of her too. Pictures coming soon.. I promise.

I’ll be back with more, including Mardi Gras, Gavin Degraw, and my first ever time at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop!

By the way, make sure you catch the Ellen show today, tomorrow and Wednesday (April 3-5) on NBC. She has a lot of great segments all around the resort including her on the Hulk, on the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad stage, Caro-Seussel, and wreaking havoc around the Hard Rock Hotel (like strapping herself into the rollaway beds and being pushed down the hallways.. lol.. funny stuff).

 

[Melanie230]

Thanks for sharing. You must have been checking in as we were checking out. I was in the parking lot on Saturday April 1st at 8:15am. We drove away at 8:25am. What room did you stay in?

 

[lindalinda]

Another great report! I love all the details, cant wait to hear the rest. I sure am glad I'm staying onsite, it seems like the wait times have been getting really horrible.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Thanks for sharing. You must have been checking in as we were checking out. I was in the parking lot on Saturday April 1st at 8:15am. We drove away at 8:25am. What room did you stay in?

I probably took your parking space! We were in room 1446... which is a Standard room/Theme Park View.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Here are some pictures as promised..

Ellen's Riff Raft

The group of us in the Mummy queue (I'm on the right)

More Mummy queue..

Having some fun outside of Twister

Breaking into a Turkey Leg cart.. (nah, we're harmless!)

JAWS

LL Cool J performs "Control Myself" in Citywalk for the Ellen Show

Ellen joins LL on stage..

I'll post more later, including some of us in Mythos, Tchoup Chop and some Mardi Gras shots (literally)!

 

[wicket2005]

Thanks for posting. I love Universal/Islands and am looking forward to our first stay on site next year.

 

[Jenny]

awesome report, great pictures....can't wait to see the rest.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

We were back in the hotel by about 4pm and it was NAP TIME! Most of us were functioning on 20 minutes to 2 hours of sleep the night before. We set the alarm for 5:45p.m. When you close the curtains in the Royal Pacific rooms, it is SO dark! And the beds are SOOOOOOO comfortable. We were in room 1446 which was Theme Park View.

The rate we got was $249 for the night so plus the hotel tax, it came out to $80 for each of us for the night. That’s a lot for a night but it was so hard to get a hotel that night. I was checking everyday months in advance until finally one came up. Since we visited Universal on Saturday and Islands on Sunday (we’re all Preferred Annual Passholders), we used the hotel Express benefits both days. An Express pass for Saturday would’ve set us each back $40 and another $35 for Sunday. So if you weigh the cost of Express, the hotel stay cost us about $5 more. STAY ONSITE PEOPLE! There’s no experience like it. It’s convenient and it makes even a 1 night weekend getaway actually feel like a vacation.

Honestly, we were talking about it. If I was asked to go to Universal/Islands but wouldn’t be staying onsite, I would kindly refuse. Well, I hope I’d do it kindly.. I’m spoiled.

Universal’s hotels are nicer than a few of Disney’s Deluxe Resorts and I feel like I can afford them. The only Deluxe Resorts I’ve stayed at in Disney on my own dime are Animal Kingdom Lodge and Dolphin (if that counts…but I hated it and asked to switch to AKL). I don’t know if I don’t reserve early enough or too early and there’s no rates or Value season just hasn’t come the past few years…

Alright so I get woken up and I was sooo tired that if I was told let’s just stay in bed and order room service, I would’ve been like… sounds like a plan to me. Nah… I couldn’t miss Mardi Gras. I think we were in the park by 6:45p.m.

It wasn’t as busy as when I was there 2/25 for LL Cool J and I was actually pretty surprised. I thought an April Mardi Gras date would be even busier but I was relieved because it wasn’t as congested. We did Shrek 4D and another ride on the Mummy before the rides closed at 8p.m.

The only attractions we didn’t get to see this time were Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast and Terminator 2: 3D (well, you know… besides Barney and Woody Woodpecker’s Coaster and all the kids stuff).


We then headed to the French Quarter Courtyard so Luis could get a much-anticipated sausage. What can I say? The boy loves sausage! Haha… I had one last time and it was good but I wasn’t going to pay $8 again… plus, my plan to get them to agree to go to Emeril’s required vulnerable minds and empty stomachs. But oh man… the Shrimp Po’ Boy looked SO good but all I wanted was a bite! No one would split it with me though… and I wasn’t going to drop $8 on a bite.

So instead I dropped $10 on Skyy Vodka red syringe Jello shots! They don’t really get the job done but dammit they’re fun to eat/drink/squirt into your mouth. We stood in front of Monster’s Café for the parade but it didn’t make it’s way there until a little after 8:30 p.m. We caught some beads and it was really fun. I got to see the parade a lot better this time because I wasn’t in the concert viewing area already. I didn’t have a prime spot for the concert after the parade was over but I’ve seen Gavin Degraw live before. He’s good but it doesn’t matter if you’re close or not. It’s not like he’ll be moonwalking or anything.

The concert started immediately after the parade was over. He did some of hits like “Follow Through” and “I Don’t Want To Be”, of course, but also broke down into “Proud Mary” in another song. It was good but we left after a few songs. No offense Gavin…

So we left the park and then it was time to choose where to eat for dinner. I really didn’t care whether we chose Margaritaville or Emeril’s Tchoup Chop. I hadn’t been to either of them and heard great things about both…but I was leaning a little bit towards Emeril’s because it’s a lot less typical of what Margaritaville offers food-wise. And come on… it’s Emeril’s! The wait to eat inside Margaritaville was about 2 - 2 ½ hours but we were pretty much next to eat outside. I really didn’t want to eat outside though so I finally got the partial approval to eat at Emeril’s. (By approval, I mean more like an “I don’t care” which I fully used to my advantage…)

So we made our 10 p.m. Tchoup Chop reservation and were seated within minutes. I already knew this place was serious when they asked us what kind of water we would like out of like 10 different ones. I used to work at a restaurant but I only asked about sparkling, bottled or iced. Okay… let me just say that the restaurant is BEAUTIFUL on the inside. Oh man, it’s awesome. We were seated in the booth along the pond of water in the center by the entrance. I loved it. Okay, they started us off with these… I don’t know… crispy rice things… mostly white but some were different colors. And then you dip it in this spicy peanut sauce. It was AWESOME. There’s a picture of us eating it below…

Okay, for Starters we had 2 orders of the Crunchy Shrimp ($9 and it only brings 4 so we HAD to get 2...) and a Homemade Dumpling Box. They were pretty good but I wasn’t crazy about them. I’d probably try different starters next time I’m there… like the Lettuce Wraps or the Ginger Barbecued Gulf Shrimp.

Now entrees… I had the Tchoup Chop Clay Pot which was AMAZING. No lie… here’s how the menu describes it…

Tchoup Chop Clay Pot - Fish of the Day with Yellow Thai Curry Lobster Cream, Stir Fry Shrimp and Fire Roasted Sweet Corn Kokuho Rice and Kaffir Shallot Sambal $29.00

The fish of the day was Mahi Mahi and seriously… that fish like melted in my mouth. My friend Yessenia tried it and she couldn’t get enough. I picked off of all my friend’s plates…. They got..

Hawaiian Style Dinner Plate - Including Kiawe smoked ribs, Kalua Pork and Noodle Saute, Teriyaki Grilled Chicken, Chorizo Potato Hash and Lop Chong Sapporo Braised Chinese Broccoli $29.00

Kiawe Grilled New York Strip Steak - Served with Roasted Garlic, Mashed Potatoes, Tempura Fried Sweet Onions, Homemade Teriyaki Sauce and Stir Fried Seasonal Vegetable - $30.00

Tchoup Chop Chicken Hawaiian Style - Marinated, Rotisserie Roasted half Chicken served with Peanut Fried Rice, Soy Pineapple Glaze, Stir Fried Bok Choy and baby Carrots $25.00

They were all really good but mine was the best…. Haha.. Oh man! I forgot to tell you about my Mai Tai.. I had drank only half of it and seriously… my head was spinning. It was awesome. It cost like $12 but if you know you can get pretty wasted off of one, it’s worth it.

So we were back in the room at like midnight… we turned out the lights, got into bed and told some funny stories. We even talked seriously about Universal and Disney. It was an interesting talk because my friend Yessenia had never been to Universal before but Disney a few times so it was definitely a great experience for her. She said her favorite rides were..

1. Revenge of the Mummy
2. Shrek 4D
3. Men In Black
4. Universal Horror Make-Up Show

She also said Twister was awesome (I thought you might think that was interesting… haha) and E.T. Adventure was great, but wasn’t too impressed with Jaws and wondered how it could be different. She also thinks Back To The Future needs some updating. But other than that, she loved it and thought everything in the park seemed very new. She also joked about the stuff at Disney that just has to go… including… WARNING: The following ideas may not be suitable for extremist fans of Disney… gutting out Spaceship Earth, Carousel of Progress, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, and completely updating the classics like Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain.

Alright, I might be back with more… haha.. If you guys want to hear more!

Time for Ellen at Universal Orlando on NBC…

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Universal is for everyone... lol..

Fire dancing in the pool area of the Royal Pacific Resort..

These jello shots taste so good!

Alright... now for some Tchoup Chop shots..

That's water running along the wall..

Me & Yessenia

These are the rice peanut things they give every table.. They're so good.

Pictured: Me, the Homemade Dumpling Box, the Crunchy Shrimp, my diet coke, water and Mai Tai!!

Do we look full?

 

[JawsCPA]

Sounds like a great time. I love to read the trip reports as we are planning a trip in June. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

I really enjoy your trip reports. Sounds like you all had so much fun. The pictures add so much and are just great. Thanks for posting and I'm looking forward to more.

 

[goofie4goofy]

My kind of trip Great pics.

We love Tchop Chop too. I always order the MaiTAi. The first time I ordered it the waiter told me it is the authentic original recipe.... WOW That drink is really strong...

Thanks for the report and the great pics...

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Lovely piccies.

 

[Rubbertops]

great pics - thanks
We are planning to go to Universal on our trip in December - but now have to rethink staying on site....(we were just going to stay @ Disney)