Here now - Some observations

[Captainkidd76]

AP holders here for the week. Staying Club Level at Hard Rock. I'll start by saying Club Level was a complete waste of money and leave it at that. Went to IoA this morning and did the Grinch breakfast. Terrible. No more character meals at Universal for us. Food options extremely limited, presentation was poor and the whole set up was disappointing. As much as we love Universal, they simply aren't in Disney's league when it comes to buffets. Cool part about breakfast was we were allowed into Hogsmeade at 8:40 and got right on Hagrid's.

I find it bizarre that the main section of the Christmas festivities at IoA (Seuss Landing) has this long wall all the way across the entrance bridge.

Last part I'll say (and this is just personal preference and we knew it would be like this) is the Christmas music in Port of Entry kills the usual wonderful atmosphere. Again, we wanted to see the parks at Christmas so no one to blame but us there. My wife said she was very underwhelmed with the decorations at IoA, though I didn't care. I found it odd that the Grinchmas show was backstage in an area not at all "show ready".

We've become more of a Universal family in recent years, but coming around Christmas was a bad call on my part. Trying not to but inevitably we keep finding ourselves comparing it to Disney and quite frankly, it falls way short. So far. We'll be at the Studios tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

 

[JaxDad]

Reminds me of a joke, “But besides all that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”

 

[Captainkidd76]

Reminds me of a joke, “But besides all that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”

Lol, seriously.

I think I'm just Universal'd out. 4th trip this year. Definitely overkill. It's little things. We got a terrible room (which we always seem too). No housekeeping and it's now 3:00PM. DJ at the pool was spinning and mixing Backstreet Boys. It's the Hard Rock. Where's the rock man??

 

[JaxDad]

Lol, seriously.

I think I'm just Universal'd out. 4th trip this year. Definitely overkill. It's little things. We got a terrible room (which we always seem too). No housekeeping and it's now 3:00PM. DJ at the pool was spinning and mixing Backstreet Boys. It's the Hard Rock. Where's the rock man??

Probably this. We’ve been to Universal several times (never at Christmas for some reason and never with character meals), and we always just go for only a couple nights at a time. We still love RPR and the parks, but we’re currently taking a break. We plan to return someday for Hagrids and the upcoming Jurassic coaster.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Totally agree with your comment about Club level at HRH. I absolutely hated it. We moved from AKL CL to HRH CL and we were shocked by the difference. At HR no staff to greet us (in fact generally no staff!), oversold so tables and chairs were in short supply, dreadful food and often like ‘feeding time at the zoo’. I abandoned the Club lounge altogether on day 2.

 

[JaxDad]

We stayed club level at RPR once and had a great experience. I got a great deal, plus it fit a more laid back trip we had planned, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have tried it. Staff was excellent, food was good to very good, and the crowds minimal (we always had space to spread out). I have read some not so great reviews here for HRH club level though.

 

[Captainkidd76]

We stayed Club Level at RPR and thought it was good. Hard Rock's food offerings are embarrassing.

 

[Squirlz]

You're a hard one to please Boomie! The walls are there due to construction of an upcoming attraction and the Grinchmas show is performed on an actual soundstage. What could be more appropriate?

We are at RPR Club right now and it is amazing.

 

[Captainkidd76]

You're a hard one to please Boomie! The walls are there due to construction of an upcoming attraction and the Grinchmas show is performed on an actual soundstage. What could be more appropriate?

We are at RPR Club right now and it is amazing.

Huh?

 

[georgina]

We've never done any character breakfasts at Universal, and I've never done HRH club (I do like RPR club) so I'm sorry things are not so great for you. That construction wall in Seuss Landing is annoying. We caught the Grinch show 3 weeks ago and loved it, also had a nice meet & greet with the Grinch.

As far as decorations go, I don't think she'll like US any better than IOA. We enjoyed the parade, saw the Manheim Steamroller concert last year so skipped it this time. To me, the Seuss Land decorations are wonderful and I couldn't help smiling every time I walked through there.

 

[Squirlz]

Huh?

I said WE ARE AT RPR CLUB AND IT IS AMAZING!!

 

[Captainkidd76]

We've never done any character breakfasts at Universal, and I've never done HRH club (I do like RPR club) so I'm sorry things are not so great for you. That construction wall in Seuss Landing is annoying. We caught the Grinch show 3 weeks ago and loved it, also had a nice meet & greet with the Grinch.

As far as decorations go, I don't think she'll like US any better than IOA. We enjoyed the parade, saw the Manheim Steamroller concert last year so skipped it this time. To me, the Seuss Land decorations are wonderful and I couldn't help smiling every time I walked through there.

The Grinch show was cute. And the decorations in Seuss Landing are beautiful. The HRH Club Level seems like it was just an afterthought. We love the hotel so much and have stayed here so much that we expected a big Wow factor with CL. And it's just kind of there. Though tonight they had a nice open bar set up right outside the lounge which was very cool.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

The Grinch show was cute. And the decorations in Seuss Landing are beautiful. The HRH Club Level seems like it was just an afterthought. We love the hotel so much and have stayed here so much that we expected a big Wow factor with CL. And it's just kind of there. Though tonight they had a nice open bar set up right outside the lounge which was very cool.

They usually move the bar outside the lounge into the hallway, when the lounge is very busy because they have oversold CL. Be prepared to be mobbed.

 

[Disxuni]

I cannot judge the character breakfasts and never done CL at UOR, but I've heard multiple times it's best to go to the two other resorts if you plan on doing club level. I heard not only there are more options, but also the lounge areas are bigger as well.

In terms of Christmas experience, it seems there is more decorations and more of a Christmas vibe at Universal. All the Christmas photos I've been posting for the most part on the "picture a day" post on here are from Universal, not IoA. IoA has Grinchmas and the Hogwarts light show at night and Universal has most of the decorations it seems, along the tree, the Macy's Parade, and the Mannheim Steamroller concert.

 

[sharona]

AP holders here for the week. Staying Club Level at Hard Rock. I'll start by saying Club Level was a complete waste of money and leave it at that. Went to IoA this morning and did the Grinch breakfast. Terrible. No more character meals at Universal for us. Food options extremely limited, presentation was poor and the whole set up was disappointing. As much as we love Universal, they simply aren't in Disney's league when it comes to buffets. Cool part about breakfast was we were allowed into Hogsmeade at 8:40 and got right on Hagrid's.

I find it bizarre that the main section of the Christmas festivities at IoA (Seuss Landing) has this long wall all the way across the entrance bridge.

Last part I'll say (and this is just personal preference and we knew it would be like this) is the Christmas music in Port of Entry kills the usual wonderful atmosphere. Again, we wanted to see the parks at Christmas so no one to blame but us there. My wife said she was very underwhelmed with the decorations at IoA, though I didn't care. I found it odd that the Grinchmas show was backstage in an area not at all "show ready".

We've become more of a Universal family in recent years, but coming around Christmas was a bad call on my part. Trying not to but inevitably we keep finding ourselves comparing it to Disney and quite frankly, it falls way short. So far. We'll be at the Studios tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

We spent the day at US/IOA and then on to 4 days at WDW - I agree with you about the decorations. We purposely planned this trip for the Christmas at WDW atmosphere and the US was an add on. Several of us remarked on entering MK after the day at US that now we can tell it’s Christmas!

As for character buffets, we have not tried any in recent years but the breakfast one at AK would be tough to beat for quality of food and interaction with the main characters.

I think CL is a waste of money most all the time. We don’t eat or drink enough to get our moneys worth and some days we are out early and all day so no point in paying extra for something like that.

We much prefer US/IOA these days and were just saying this will be our last WDW trip for many years. US will still continue to be an annual or bi-annual stop for us because it’s so easy with express pass. WDW has just become too much work both to plan and execute. Other than the AH parties I don’t see us coming back.

 

[monsterkitty]

Glad I saw this! My DH's family is going to US/IoA next week. When I was helping them plan they decided to do the Grinch breakfast because the online menu shows something they will all like. What was it about the breakfast that you didn't like? My BIL is doing a race on Sunday at the Daytona Speedway and his day after the race breakfast is always pancakes. Are the pancakes the tiny dollar size or truly jumbo size?

 

[Captainkidd76]

Glad I saw this! My DH's family is going to US/IoA next week. When I was helping them plan they decided to do the Grinch breakfast because the online menu shows something they will all like. What was it about the breakfast that you didn't like? My BIL is doing a race on Sunday at the Daytona Speedway and his day after the race breakfast is always pancakes. Are the pancakes the tiny dollar size or truly jumbo size?

I didn't see any pancakes. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and some tiny donuts.

 

[RamblingMad]

I agree with you. Universal doesn’t do Christmas well at all.

 

[Disxuni]

Unpopular opinion, but I think Universal is about the same when it comes to decorations. Also, whether who does it better, or not, Universal has definitely have attempted to step their game up more recently with the Hogwart's show and the concert they have, as before they had Grinchmas and Macy's Parade. So they're definitely trying. Also, unlike Disney, all these things are included with regular admission.

I think what gives Disney the edge is main street, the castle, and the Gingerbread houses at the resorts. Those really shine. If they didn't have those things Universal would have more holiday perks / entertainment.

This is in reference to what is offered to all guests at either resort.

 

[Captainkidd76]

Universal does a better job than Islands. The problem at Universal is the generic Christmas music. Strolling through Springfield hearing typical Christmas songs is weird. The parade was very nice though.