First timers Trip report 10/7-10/14 include comments around guests of size, special diets, comparisons to Disney, Older Couple w/no children

[ArielLoverNH]

Hi all,

First ever trip report. A little background for this report. Only me( ArielLoverNH, Joe) and my wife, Mrs. AL, went on this trip. We went for our 14th wedding anniversary; I am 57 and she is 47. Neither of us has visited Universal for 20+ years so this will be all new to us. I went the year before the Mummy ride opened (I remember going on Kongfrontation) and the Mrs. Went the year following High School graduation I have been to Disneyworld over 50 times and the Mrs. has been about 10 times. We passed on Disney this year to let them get back to normal from the pandemic a little longer. Maybe we will go 2025-2026.

Normally I drive from New Hampshire to Florida as I am deathly afraid to fly and claustrophobic. Some nice anti-anxiety pills prescribed by the doctor, Dramamine, and flying first class has helped alleviate these to the point I can actually fly so this will be our third trip flying.

Meet the cast:

ArielLoverNH - Joe
Age: 57
Height 6 feet
Weight 295 (Important for the ride info later)

Mrs. AL - Janice
Height 5-6
Weight ~200 (has lost >200Lbs in the last 18mo so on a high protein, low carb diet).

Let me know if there is something you want me to focus on or any questions as I post the days. We are happy to share whatever we can to help others have a better time.

Joe

 

[ArielLoverNH]

Day 1

Travel Time

Took the day off prior to trip to drop off our fur baby and 2 feathered critters at their pet hotels for our time away. Our puppy (6yo - Golden Retriever - Glacier) stayed with our Veterinarian/Daycare team - they are the best and the Parrots (Green and Blue Quaker Parrots - Zoie and Rio) stayed at our local Bird Store that does boarding for customers of the store.



Our flight out of New Hampshire left at 5:46AM so we were up at ~3:00AM. Pack the SUV and head for the airport. Park the car in long-term parking garage and head inside (see you in a week).

Check in with American and check our bags, new luggage - hard cases, we each check 2 bags, my second one has like 3 pairs of shoes in it lol. NO charges though due to the first-class tickets.

We each had a mimosa on the plan and just chilled. Change planes in Washington DC without incident and off we go to Orlando.

Arrived in Orlando on time - first time in this airport - overwhelming at first but had great directional signs. We had a little trouble finding the Universal shuttle but once we got the lay of the land, we found it !

Mears supplies the shuttle, which is basically a huge bus. Built for comfort, nice soft seats, great driver. This was included in our package but was a great experience for sure, no complaints at all.

Check-In

Arrived at the Royal Pacific, great first impression for sure. Was odd that no one offered to help with bags etc. but not a big deal for us. Got to check-in, a long line but moved along. Overall check-in experience was fine, but we felt they talked really fast through the spiel, as first timers we lost a lot of what they were telling us which caused issues later on - more to come on that. They never asked about celebrations as we were celebrating an anniversary and birthday while we were there. MY wife was also disappointed she didn't get a lei at check-in like at Disney's Polynesian.

Got to the room and unpacked, had a few minutes to go back down (6th floor room) to explore the lobby before dinner. We had reservations for the Wantilan Luau so not a lot of time. Back to the room to shower and dress after traveling all day. Yes, of course had to wear a Hawaiian shirt - was cool, had golden retrievers all over it in recognition of our fur baby Glacier (He is a young 6 years old)



Wantilan Luau

This was one of the things I was really looking forward too. The Mrs. finally got her lei here.


All I have to compare it too was the old Disney Spirit of Aloha show. In comparison, the food at the Wantilan was lacking in all areas, I felt everything was overdone. In full disclosure I am a rare/med-rare steak kind of guy but the wife is a med-well kind of girl, and she also comments on everything being dry and overcooked. I even tried a kid's chicken finger assuming you can't overcook those, I was wrong lol. Gratuity is included in the price as well as mai tai's which were pretty good. If you want soda, they will not offer it, but it is included if you ask. The show itself was pretty good. Kept me entertained throughout. They could have toned done the excessive reading of every celebration in the audience and some of the audience participation. I Missed the Disney story line in their show. I know some people thought it was hokey but made it special for me.



Quick walk back to the room, changed and headed for the pool for a few hours of relaxed pool time before crashing. Pool was a nice change of base since going since 3AM.

Day 2 coming soon.

Joe

 

[ArielLoverNH]

Day 2

Islands of Adventure

Got up early (But not early enough) to head over to IOA. Got there about 8:30 on an early park admission day so they opened to resort guests at 8:00. Could not beleive some of the line wait times already. We had free breakfast at 3 Broomsticks so headed straight over to the Harry Potter area.



Wow it was so busy at 3 Broomsticks but the line moved really fast. We both ordered the american breakfast and I got an additional side of eggs, I went with the kid inside and also got chocolate milk. We both liked the food and got to share whatever we didn't like or want. I gave up my bacon and roll. The Mrs. thought the potatoes were amazing.

From there the most disappointing part of the trip for me, even though we decided to wait on the Harry Potter rides , I tried the test seat and did not pass - so no Forbidden Journey or Hagrid's for me. So now time for a little gut check. I had hoped to be able to ride all the thrill rides but knew I was on the borderline from a size stand-point. The bigger issue I chose to ignore that my wife and daughter were concerned about is all those warnings they give you before the rides starts on who shouldn't ride. I got all the boxes checked except one and probably get a half point on that one. So maybe it was just someone looking out for me.

Bad neck or back - Check
High blood pressure - Check
Heart condition - Check
Pregnant or may be pregnant - half check - kind of look pregnant.

from there we went over to the Jurassic Park River Adventure. The Mrs. was not so keen on this ride as it was in the 60's and cloudy. We got pretty wet. Never seen it before but they had dryer tubes you could stand in to get dry after the ride. Not cheap (Like $7) but we still did it. We gave it an A as a ride.




From there headed over and rode Kong, so much different from the ride I remember 20 years ago. We gave this ride a B. That was it for me, I was happy to be a bench sitter /people watcher the rest of the day. From there the Mrs. hit the single riders line for Dr Doom and the Hulk. She gave Dr Doom a B and the Hulk an A+ (I think this was her favorite ride).



From there, back on the boats to the hotel. Want to take a minute to talk about the boat launches. They were amazing, the walk would have been maybe 15 minutes, but we loved the boat ride. Always a great captain and never a long wait, great hotel perk. Lunch and some fruity drinks at the pool and then we did Jake's American at the hotel for dinner.

For dinner, I had the ribeye and the Mrs. had only other steak, a sirloin. We thought both were pretty good, cooked correctly. The highlight of the meal was the homemade chicken soup, so damn tasty. Could have been hotter though. No real complaints here but this is where I think starts to Disney shine through. I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and the Mrs. is more adventurous eater. This was the only dining location at the hotel (besides the pool bar) that I could find a meal I liked - the other dining choice had nothing on the menu I had interest in. Just some additional selections would go a long way. 2 meat and 1 chicken option is pretty light for a menu. I loved the parmesan fries as well but would a baked potato or mashed be that difficult to add?

Day 3 coming