Hug the Mouse
Grinchketeer
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2005
- Messages
- 259
Who? Myself, DW (Thirtysomethings--for a few more months anyway 
), DD 11, DS 8, DS 7
When? March 8-10th
Where? Royal Pacific Resort
Why? Needed to escape this unending winter in southern Ontario
How? Unfortunately by van...relatively last minute decision(mid-January) meant that any cheap flights were gone. I90/I79/US19/I77/I95/I4
The Preparation Hour upon hour of scanning the Disboards to get the lowdown for our trip. Great tips and advice day after day from the board "guardians".
The Journey A nervous week of scanning weather reports hoping for clear weather. We depart 4p.m. Thursday with no precip. forecast for that night though a huge storm is brewing for Friday/Saturday. We breeze over the Peace Bridge at Buffalo and continue on to our stay over destination of Bridgeport, West Virginia. We lose count of the number of Ontario license plates we pass/are passed by on the way(majority of which seemed to attached to Minivans with DVD's burning in the back---we Canucks love our minivans
)
Friday morning we depart for a long day of travel to our destination of Hawthorn Suites Universal. This day rain dogged us for much of our drive. Georgia never seems to end. Heavy rain and lightning appear in Florida. Fatigue is setting in. I'm amazed at the number of poor souls on motorcyles driving through this crummy weather for Bike Week. We arrive at 11:30 at the hotel and learn that there were tornado warnings all around Orlando.
The Arrival We are dog tired Saturday morning. I had intended to get to RPH around 9 to get our keys, then hit the parks. Not happening. We have a so-so breakfast at the hotel then head to Target to get sunscreen and a few other supplies. By now it is after 11a.m.!!! However I'm not sweating it too much as I'm aware that FOTL awaits us.
We pull up to Universal and follow the signs to RPR. As the planner, I'm excited because my family doesn't know what they are in store for. As we drive up to the entrance we are welcomed by a valet who gives us clear instructions on check-in procedures.
The entrance is fantastic. Staff everywhere to point you in the right direction. Reminded me a lot of a Mexican resort we'd visited in the past.
I'm pleasantly surprised that our room is ready!!
This is great as we can get settled immediately then head out to the parks.
Our room was in tower 2, almost at the end of the hall. We had a garden view. The room was very nice. It was more spacious than I anticipated from reading the reviews. DW was happy to see the Krug drink dispenser.
Time to head to the parks. How do we get out of here? The resort is a bit overwhelming at first (in fact we were just getting it figured out by the time we had to leave
). Up one elevator, through the lobby, down another elevator, follow other guests, reach the boat launch...no Express line?!?!? 
Wow...I am rambling here. Hate to do this but it is way past bedtime here. to be continued...
Still to come...
...The Parks
...Mardi Gras
...Food
...???
OK...kids are in bed and the house is quiet finally. Time for some more...
We take the boat to City Walk. What a great feeling coming under the last bridge and seeing the exciting landscape before your eyes. We've decided we will hit Islands first and Universal later for Mardi Gras.
The park seems busy to us as the two previous trips we'd taken were during the first week of November ('03 & '06) which were dead. Though the parks were busier, they were by no means overcrowded. It's off to Spiderman for our first FOTL experience.
FOTL...it IS all that!!! The wait for Spiderman is posted as 45 minutes. We are in, ride, and out in under 15 minutes (The longest wait all trip for a thrill ride). We've just "found" 30 minutes for other things.
We hit Flying Unicorn, One Fish Two Fish, Cat in The Hat saving 10-20 minutes each. DW starts to understand why we spent a little more to stay onsite.
FOTL guilt is a bit of a new sensation. I've been on the other side watching people load in minutes while the regular line waits and waits so I can identify with the frustration. Walk briskly, don't make eye contact, LOL.
On our last day I needed to get my MIB fix so DS 8 and I rode 3 consecutive times. I was hearing the grumbling as I passed the same people for the third time. Bottom line is it's available to anyone who wants it. We aren't exactly rolling in the green but I look at our US/IOA trips as only once every couple of years, so it's worth the extra expense to get the most out of our vacation.
The attendants do a great job of ensuring their onsite guests are treated well.
Mardi Gras
We staked out a spot in Amity to watch the parade, in front of Nathans Hot Dogs. The crowd was very thin here and we were totally unobstructed. The performers costumes were, um, er, quite fleshy Equal opportunity for both sexes. The interaction with the crowd was great, lots of enthusiasm.
I hadn't told my kids about the beads as I didn't want to disappoint them if they didn't get some. Other posters told me not to worry, and they were so right. Whether it was because the crowd was sparse in our area, or the folks on the floats were excited to hit the parade route, it was raining beads!!! The first couple of floats I grabbed some for the kids, but I quickly realized they were fine on their own. DS's were looking like Mr. T with all the necklaces.
I gave up taking photos after getting pelted with beads LOL. Particularly hazardous to our health were the "double decker" floats. Beads were coming from EVERYWHERE
After the last float passed us we joined the procession towards the concert stage. WOW, there were a lot of people further down the route. Glad we had a somewhat intimate area to watch. By the time we reached the stage area it was packed. We were all a little tired from a great day, plus were about to lose an hour to the time change, so we headed back to the hotel as Smokey hit the stage singing Going to a Go-Go. There was a great buzz about the place.
to be continued...
), DD 11, DS 8, DS 7When? March 8-10th
Where? Royal Pacific Resort
Why? Needed to escape this unending winter in southern Ontario
How? Unfortunately by van...relatively last minute decision(mid-January) meant that any cheap flights were gone. I90/I79/US19/I77/I95/I4
The Preparation Hour upon hour of scanning the Disboards to get the lowdown for our trip. Great tips and advice day after day from the board "guardians".
The Journey A nervous week of scanning weather reports hoping for clear weather. We depart 4p.m. Thursday with no precip. forecast for that night though a huge storm is brewing for Friday/Saturday. We breeze over the Peace Bridge at Buffalo and continue on to our stay over destination of Bridgeport, West Virginia. We lose count of the number of Ontario license plates we pass/are passed by on the way(majority of which seemed to attached to Minivans with DVD's burning in the back---we Canucks love our minivans
)Friday morning we depart for a long day of travel to our destination of Hawthorn Suites Universal. This day rain dogged us for much of our drive. Georgia never seems to end. Heavy rain and lightning appear in Florida. Fatigue is setting in. I'm amazed at the number of poor souls on motorcyles driving through this crummy weather for Bike Week. We arrive at 11:30 at the hotel and learn that there were tornado warnings all around Orlando.
The Arrival We are dog tired Saturday morning. I had intended to get to RPH around 9 to get our keys, then hit the parks. Not happening. We have a so-so breakfast at the hotel then head to Target to get sunscreen and a few other supplies. By now it is after 11a.m.!!! However I'm not sweating it too much as I'm aware that FOTL awaits us.
We pull up to Universal and follow the signs to RPR. As the planner, I'm excited because my family doesn't know what they are in store for. As we drive up to the entrance we are welcomed by a valet who gives us clear instructions on check-in procedures.
The entrance is fantastic. Staff everywhere to point you in the right direction. Reminded me a lot of a Mexican resort we'd visited in the past.
I'm pleasantly surprised that our room is ready!!
This is great as we can get settled immediately then head out to the parks.Our room was in tower 2, almost at the end of the hall. We had a garden view. The room was very nice. It was more spacious than I anticipated from reading the reviews. DW was happy to see the Krug drink dispenser.
Time to head to the parks. How do we get out of here? The resort is a bit overwhelming at first (in fact we were just getting it figured out by the time we had to leave
). Up one elevator, through the lobby, down another elevator, follow other guests, reach the boat launch...no Express line?!?!? Wow...I am rambling here. Hate to do this but it is way past bedtime here. to be continued...
Still to come...
...The Parks
...Mardi Gras
...Food
...???
OK...kids are in bed and the house is quiet finally. Time for some more...
We take the boat to City Walk. What a great feeling coming under the last bridge and seeing the exciting landscape before your eyes. We've decided we will hit Islands first and Universal later for Mardi Gras.
The park seems busy to us as the two previous trips we'd taken were during the first week of November ('03 & '06) which were dead. Though the parks were busier, they were by no means overcrowded. It's off to Spiderman for our first FOTL experience.
FOTL...it IS all that!!! The wait for Spiderman is posted as 45 minutes. We are in, ride, and out in under 15 minutes (The longest wait all trip for a thrill ride). We've just "found" 30 minutes for other things.
We hit Flying Unicorn, One Fish Two Fish, Cat in The Hat saving 10-20 minutes each. DW starts to understand why we spent a little more to stay onsite.
FOTL guilt is a bit of a new sensation. I've been on the other side watching people load in minutes while the regular line waits and waits so I can identify with the frustration. Walk briskly, don't make eye contact, LOL.
On our last day I needed to get my MIB fix so DS 8 and I rode 3 consecutive times. I was hearing the grumbling as I passed the same people for the third time. Bottom line is it's available to anyone who wants it. We aren't exactly rolling in the green but I look at our US/IOA trips as only once every couple of years, so it's worth the extra expense to get the most out of our vacation.
The attendants do a great job of ensuring their onsite guests are treated well.
Mardi Gras
We staked out a spot in Amity to watch the parade, in front of Nathans Hot Dogs. The crowd was very thin here and we were totally unobstructed. The performers costumes were, um, er, quite fleshy Equal opportunity for both sexes. The interaction with the crowd was great, lots of enthusiasm.I hadn't told my kids about the beads as I didn't want to disappoint them if they didn't get some. Other posters told me not to worry, and they were so right. Whether it was because the crowd was sparse in our area, or the folks on the floats were excited to hit the parade route, it was raining beads!!! The first couple of floats I grabbed some for the kids, but I quickly realized they were fine on their own. DS's were looking like Mr. T with all the necklaces.
I gave up taking photos after getting pelted with beads LOL. Particularly hazardous to our health were the "double decker" floats. Beads were coming from EVERYWHERE
After the last float passed us we joined the procession towards the concert stage. WOW, there were a lot of people further down the route. Glad we had a somewhat intimate area to watch. By the time we reached the stage area it was packed. We were all a little tired from a great day, plus were about to lose an hour to the time change, so we headed back to the hotel as Smokey hit the stage singing Going to a Go-Go. There was a great buzz about the place.
to be continued...
waiting, 
still waiting, 
. Oh, love the pictures too.
Last ride with DS8 We were in the back seats with a father and his 2 teen sons in front. At the end our car won with an average of about 160,000. I could see their scores up front and they were from 40-90,000. They were shocked at the average and asked what our scores were. I pointed at DS and said that he got 400,000...the looks on their faces was priceless 
I really enjoyed reading your trip report. 
Can't wait to take advantage of FOTL...and I will remember not to make eye contact! 
