Hi guys, I'm back! :( UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, BACKLOT EXPRESS + WPE 11/10

[dixonsontour]

Great pictures - am i the only one who wants to see the food porn. Please

 

[2Tiggies]

Great pictures - am i the only one who wants to see the food porn. Please

Oh good, someone else asked. I was hoping I wouldn't have to make any further requests I seem to have become very demanding, wanting information from people who have just returned.

 

[mark&sue]

Great to see your mini trip report of highs and lows. We are DVC members and our home resort is SSR which we love but now will probably always stay in the treehouses which we adore even more.

We stayed in a suite in the RPR in July and loved it very much. so much so we are recommending going back with our friends in April. We have Universal annual passes so can get 30% off the price. Hope our friends will like it. It was definately worth the front of the line passes for us to get the extra hour in the morning to get on Forbidden Journey as was sooooooooooo busy when we went.


susan

 

[disney_princess_85]

Wonderful Pictures

Thanks Linda.

Those photos are lovely! It is always so nice to see some visuals along with the report. BTW, I love your new avatar picture!

Thanks Lee. I like my new avatar too, it's one of my favourite pics of DBF and me. Also, I get to show off my snazzy hat.

How did you find the buses from SSR? There are always mixed reviews about them from any resort but for some reason SSR and OKW seem to get the most criticism, despite that there are good reports of the service mixed in.

The bus service was very good and our longest wait was around 15 minutes. Also, SSR isn't as far away from everything as it's made out to be. It did take a (relatively) long time to get to AK though (20 minutes). One night, I timed our journey home from MK and it took just 10 minutes!

Great pictures - am i the only one who wants to see the food porn. Please

I'll be happy to post some food pics. I'll get round to it by the weekend at the latest.

Oh good, someone else asked. I was hoping I wouldn't have to make any further requests I seem to have become very demanding, wanting information from people who have just returned.

Great to see your mini trip report of highs and lows. We are DVC members and our home resort is SSR which we love but now will probably always stay in the treehouses which we adore even more.

We stayed in a suite in the RPR in July and loved it very much. so much so we are recommending going back with our friends in April. We have Universal annual passes so can get 30% off the price. Hope our friends will like it. It was definately worth the front of the line passes for us to get the extra hour in the morning to get on Forbidden Journey as was sooooooooooo busy when we went.

susan

Thanks Susan. I enjoyed your recent TR. The Treehouse Villas look very nice.

I'm glad you liked RPR. We didn't actually use our passes for early access to WWoHP (8am is far too early for us!). Luckily, the queue for Forbidden Journey was only 20 minutes.

 

[Jordanblackpool]

Sounds like somebody had a good time on holiday!

Pics are great aswell! Although the Royal Pacific Resort doesnt sound too good!

Hope the post-holiday blues arent too bad, you need to get planning for your next trip now, that sound gets rid of the blues!

 

[pandv_2000]

Yep - you offered food porn. I say bring it on. Which ones? All of them of course

 

[mandymouse]

Lovely photos Lauren, thanks for sharing

 

[disney_princess_85]

Sounds like somebody had a good time on holiday!

Pics are great aswell! Although the Royal Pacific Resort doesnt sound too good!

Hope the post-holiday blues arent too bad, you need to get planning for your next trip now, that sound gets rid of the blues!

Hi Jordan! Yeah, we had a great time. We're already planning next year's trip and hoping to book flights next month. Are you planning on going again?

Yep - you offered food porn. I say bring it on. Which ones? All of them of course

I'll post some pics this weekend!

Lovely photos Lauren, thanks for sharing

Thanks Mandy.

 

[Jordanblackpool]

Hi Jordan! Yeah, we had a great time. We're already planning next year's trip and hoping to book flights next month. Are you planning on going again?

What are you planning for next year? I have nothing in the pipeline at the minute, but there has been mentions of a last minute trip in April, but we will have to see, but also going to Vegas next November, so its very doubtful!

 

[disney_princess_85]

Food pics coming up shortly, just uploading them to Photobucket!

What are you planning for next year? I have nothing in the pipeline at the minute, but there has been mentions of a last minute trip in April, but we will have to see, but also going to Vegas next November, so its very doubtful!

Vegas will be awesome! I hope to go there in the next year or two. Hope you manage to get there in April. We're looking to go in September for 17 nights (four night cruise + 13 nights onsite ).

 

[disney_princess_85]

I was a very bad DISer and forgot to take pics of our first meal (I was still a little dazed from the flight ). We ate there on our last day too so expect some pics later on!

Lauren: Linguine with asparagus, garlic, white wine, parmesan, fresh herbs and cream, $18.99. Chocolate espresso torte, $6.99.

I was really impressed with my choices. The pasta was cooked well and the veggies were nice and crisp. The whole dish was heavy on the garlic, which I love!

I was a bit anxious about dessert as I don't particularly like coffee-flavoured things but I was pleasantly surprised- it was one of the best desserts of the trip.

Andrew: Roasted free-range chicken breast with shiitake mushroom risotto and sweet-and-sour cherry glaze, $17.99. New York style cheesecake, $5.49.

Andrew's dish sounded quite exciting and he wasn't disappointed. The flavours were interesting and it was different to anything he'd had before.

The cheesecake was huge and was nice and rich without being too sickly.

Verdict: 7.5/10

 

[disney_princess_85]

Lauren: Spinach, mushroom and cheese omelette with garlic-roasted potatoes, $11.

This was GREAT! The omelette had just the right balance of spinach, mushrooms and cheese and the garlic potatoes were just awesome. This was a really filling breakfast, which suited me fine as we didn't have anything planned for lunch that day.

Andrew: Wolfgang's Breakfast Pocket: scrambled eggs, peppers, bacon, onions, mushrooms, mozzarella and cheddar cheese baked into Wolfgang's pizza dough with garlic-roasted potatoes. $9.

This looked fab and it was massive, so it took Andrew a while to eat it (unusual for him ). Again, it was very filling!

Drinks/extras: 2 x chocolate milk, 1 x fountain drink, 1 x coffee and 1 x fruit cup.

WPE were very generous with what they offered for the 2 x drinks you get with the DDP. We even got 2 x chocolate milk for one of our drinks "because the cartons are small"! The fruit cup was lovely and fresh- a nice, sweet ending to our savoury breakfasts.

Verdict: 9/10

 

[Linda67]

We just love WPE

Mmm those breakfasts looked yummy - and HUGE

 

[wayneg]

We rarely eat breakfast but they look good. WPE is my fave place for lunch, ate there 4 or 5 times in August, somewhere I wouldn't pay the price for (approx $20pp) but great on DDP.

 

[disney_princess_85]

We just love WPE

Mmm those breakfasts looked yummy - and HUGE

They were very yummy!

We rarely eat breakfast but they look good. WPE is my fave place for lunch, ate there 4 or 5 times in August, somewhere I wouldn't pay the price for (approx $20pp) but great on DDP.

I agree that it's good value if you're on the DDP. We only ate there twice, for breakfast and dinner. Unfortunately, dinner was a little disappointing.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Lauren: Sweet potato and ricotta tortelloni with wild mushrooms, crosnes, brown-butter-raisin vinaigrette and almond milk, $28. Bananas and caramel, $12.

As a vegetarian, I've become accustomed to ordering a pasta dish whenever I eat out. I wasn't expecting too much from this one but it pretty much blew any other pasta dishes I've had out of the water! Everything about it was perfect, from the combination of flavours to the portion size. It was nice that they'd clearly put some thought into this, although I suppose that should be expected from a signature restaurant.

I liked my dessert but I didn't eat it all as it was a little too sweet. I usually order chocolate-based desserts so this was a nice change and I would order it again.

Andrew: Oak-fired fillet of beef with Tillamook cheddar gratin, broccolini and teriyaki barbecue sauce, $44. Valrhona chocolate cake, $13.

While Andrew loved his entrée, he maintains that Le Cellier's mushroom filet mignon is the best steak he's ever had. I tried some of the cheddar gratin, which was very nice. The only part he didn't like was the accompanying sauce, which he said was too rich.

I don't remember too much about this dessert. Our ADR was at 9.30pm and we were quite tired, having been up since 7am! I think it was nice enough but there was nothing outstanding about it.

Extras: glasses of champagne and chocolate cake for Andrew's birthday.

We were very lucky at CG: not only did we have a fab view of Wishes from our window table, we also received glasses of champagne to celebrate our anniversary and a piece of chocolate cake for Andrew's birthday. The service was top-notch and we would happily return. Our only complaint was that it was far too cold in there. Next time, we'll bring jackets!

Verdict: 9.5/10

 

[wayneg]

Glad you enjoyed Cali Grill, for us it wasn't Singature standard, nothing like Yachtsman which was outstanding. At Cali Grill we had a server that was worse than useless, no interest in the job at all(hence $10 tip) 2 hours to serve us 2 courses, same as you we were really cold(and tired), standard steak, nothing like Le Cellier quality. Unlike you we won't return.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Glad you enjoyed Cali Grill, for us it wasn't Singature standard, nothing like Yachtsman which was outstanding. At Cali Grill we had a server that was worse than useless, no interest in the job at all(hence $10 tip) 2 hours to serve us 2 courses, same as you we were really cold(and tired), standard steak, nothing like Le Cellier quality. Unlike you we won't return.

I remember you saying you didn't enjoy it Wayne. I think a lot of it comes down to the server: ours was very personable and helpful. He was clearly run off his feet but he still managed to be efficient. We won't return to CG on our next visit as we'd like to try more signatures. Flying Fish and Yachtsman's are both on our list.

 

[dixonsontour]

ooh good you've started the food porn.

We enjoyed WPE breakfast last trip - still looks good although the potatoes are different.

Did you get the fruit cup instead of a drink or was it an extra snack credit?

 

[disney_princess_85]

Did you get the fruit cup instead of a drink or was it an extra snack credit?

The fruit cup was instead of a drink. Great value!