Highlights of our first visit!

[lynn813]

We're just back from our first trip. We LOVED it ALL!!! Back home to the snow...boo hoo...but full of great warm thoughts and we have tans! It's just so hard to put it all into words.

Here's a few highlights...

Homewood Suites on American Way is a fabulous all suites hotel, and you can get to the parks in under 20 min walk.

It was the week after Easter and we got to ride everything. Never waited more than 30 min.s When you don't have FOTL, just follow everyone's advice and GET THERE EARLY. Even 9 is better than 11.

BUT FOTL is AMAZING!!! If you can afford just one night on site, do it. We stayed our last night at RPR and loved the pool, water taxi, lush themeing, etc. etc...

Combine FOTL with the Meal Deal and you've got a fabulous day.

WE SAW the PARADE & DAUGHTRY!!! LOTS OF BEADS...AWESOME!!!

Rode the Mummy 3 times...INCREDIBLE ATTRACTION!

speaking of incredible...you gotta LOVE the HULK!

Universal 360 is really cool (and gives you the warm fuzzies...sniff sniff).

Hurricanes (the drink) also make you warm and fuzzy...mmmmm.

Anyone thinking of road tripping should give it a try. I know flights are quicker, but we drove through 8 states and left in the ice and snow and arrived in sunshine and 80 degree temps...what a trip! The mountains in WV and VA are gorgeous. There's nothing like watching the landscape change as you go. If you need a good stop over on I95 try the Best Western in Santee, SC. Great little place and a good hot breakfast. Right off the ramp.

THANK YOU everyone (esp. macraven, phamton, damo, robvia) for your great information!!!

 

[macraven]

i'm so glad you came back to let us know about your trip.
we just love to hear the mummy dust endings to a universal vacation!


did you use the fotl cards for the day you checked out also?
hope you did, that is one of the nice perks of staying on site. 2 days of fotl for everything.


so you got there at 9........instead of my 8:30ish suggestion
i'm glad you beat the crowds.

people can do the parks and not have to buy the express pass to avoid all the lines. have a plan and go early. but it is sweet to stay on site and enjoy fotl

did you like the hotel?




that driving part i will take a pass but thanks for the heads up of the high points of driving.
to me, it takes away days from the parks and i have driven twice.
it took me 20 hours of straight driving. and having screaming, fighting in the car was not fun. but i straightened up and stayed quiet once the 3 boys did......jk

 

[lynn813]

We used the pass both days. We were going to head to Cocoa Beach on the last day, but we were loving FOTL so much we stayed to ride things over and over again.

RPR was beautiful. We really liked relaxing in their pool after a long day in the parks.

When we didn't have fotl, We tried to get there at 8:30, but it was more like 8:45 the first couple of days. The difference is amazing. You just can't imagine how the crowds increase in just 2 hours time until you're there and see for yourself. Our oldest son wouldn't get up so we just headed out without him. Hubby, youngest son and I enjoyed Twister, MIB, Jaws, Earthquake and Mummy before we met up with our oldest at 11:30. He had only been on Twister.

 

[damo]

We're just back from our first trip. We LOVED it ALL!!! Back home to the snow...boo hoo...but full of great warm thoughts and we have tans! It's just so hard to put it all into words.

Here's a few highlights...

Homewood Suites on American Way is a fabulous all suites hotel, and you can get to the parks in under 20 min walk.

It was the week after Easter and we got to ride everything. Never waited more than 30 min.s When you don't have FOTL, just follow everyone's advice and GET THERE EARLY. Even 9 is better than 11.

BUT FOTL is AMAZING!!! If you can afford just one night on site, do it. We stayed our last night at RPR and loved the pool, water taxi, lush themeing, etc. etc...

Combine FOTL with the Meal Deal and you've got a fabulous day.

WE SAW the PARADE & DAUGHTRY!!! LOTS OF BEADS...AWESOME!!!

Rode the Mummy 3 times...INCREDIBLE ATTRACTION!

speaking of incredible...you gotta LOVE the HULK!

Universal 360 is really cool (and gives you the warm fuzzies...sniff sniff).

Hurricanes (the drink) also make you warm and fuzzy...mmmmm.

Anyone thinking of road tripping should give it a try. I know flights are quicker, but we drove through 8 states and left in the ice and snow and arrived in sunshine and 80 degree temps...what a trip! The mountains in WV and VA are gorgeous. There's nothing like watching the landscape change as you go. If you need a good stop over on I95 try the Best Western in Santee, SC. Great little place and a good hot breakfast. Right off the ramp.

THANK YOU everyone (esp. macraven, phamton, damo, robvia) for your great information!!!

Daughtry!!!! Tell me more!!!

 

[lynn813]

We sat so we could see the parade and then just turned around and became a part of the mob pressing up to the baracade, so we weren't real close, but still it was great. He said it was the largest crowd they'd ever performed for. My youngest got some pics. If I can figure out how to post I will. When we were pulling into our city after driving 12 hours, we played "Home" on the ipod through the car stereo. <sigh>

Do I just copy and paste the pics do you know?

 

[lynn813]

Sorry they're a pretty blurry.

 

[damo]

Were you that close or was that from the screen? He even looks good blurry!!! When we saw Taylor Hicks, he was about 3 inches tall!

I would imagine that this was a big crowd for Daughtry. If it was anywhere near the size for Taylor Hicks, it was huge.

 

[macraven]

someone posted today that this was the biggest crowd for daughtry

 

[damo]

someone posted today that this was the biggest crowd for daughtry

You're too funny. That was three posts above!!!

 

[lynn813]

my youngest was closer than we were. He kept pushing forward and people just let him through. But I imagine he took these of the screen. from where my husband and I stood he looked pretty small.

He did mention that it was the largest crowd they played for. i think he said 40,000.

 

[macraven]

You're too funny. That was three posts above!!!

just a little humor to see if everyone reads all the posts.....

 

[4tide1]

We will be staying @ homewood on our trip also. Can you tell me about the walk to universal? Is it safe? Do you have to walk on the road or do they have sidewalks? Thanks.

 

[robvia]

Great report Lynn813. I've also done visits where the wife and daughter don't want to wake up, so I leave them in the room and visit by myself.
At 11am is when the crowd really shows up, it's like a sea of people coming into the parks, and they all want to do the same rides. Wait times sky rocket to 90 minutes, whereas if you show up at 08:00am, you can go in first and do everything as a walk on.
Delays are always to be expected. If you think you'll show up at 08:30am, you'll end up arriving at 08:45.
To answer 4Tide1's question, there are sidewalks for the entire walk from Homewood Suites. You have to walk over a bridge on Universal Blvd which leads to the parking garage atrium. From there you are at the main entrance of Citywalk.

 

[loribell]

It is amazing to watch the crowds start pouring in all of a sudden at about 11. It's as if they open the flood gates somewhere and a rush of people comes through! It really doesn't make a difference which park it is either.

 

[Planogirl]

We will be staying @ homewood on our trip also. Can you tell me about the walk to universal? Is it safe? Do you have to walk on the road or do they have sidewalks? Thanks.

I'm curious too. I didn't realize that Homewood was within walking distance.

Where is this exactly? We stayed at the Holiday Inn and walked once. Crossing that huge busy street was a trip and definitely not something I'd care to do again.

 

[robvia]

The Homewood Suites is much farther than the Holiday Inn, but you don't have to cross any busy streets like Kirkman Road. You do have to walk across a bridge with cars passing by. Once you get to the other side, you'll be in the drop off area, and you can take the escalator up to the atrium. I'd say the Homewood Suites is about a 20 minute walk.

 

[bubba's mom]

We're just back from our first trip. We LOVED it ALL!!!
BUT FOTL is AMAZING!!! If you can afford just one night on site, do it. We stayed our last night at RPR and loved the pool, water taxi, lush themeing, etc. etc...

Combine FOTL with the Meal Deal and you've got a fabulous day.


We used the pass both days. We were going to head to Cocoa Beach on the last day, but we were loving FOTL so much we stayed to ride things over and over again.

glad you had a great time........


Welcome to the dark side

 

[lynn813]

Sorry, I've been busy trying to catch up at work since getting back.

Homewood is about 20 min.s And there are crosswalks with those buttons you press to cross at each place you need to cross.

To answer the person who asked where it is. There's a horseshoe shaped road called American Way off of International Dr. between Kirkman and Universal Blvd. and the hotel is at the very top of the horseshoe. There's a Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and I think a Motel 6. We walked down American Way about halfway down to I-drive and then cut through a parking lot for a closed attraction called Skull Kingdom or something like that. We came out on Universal Blvd. just before it crosses over I4.

There is a shorter way, but you REALLY need to be careful crossing Universal Blvd. When you get to Hollywood Way and Universal Blvd., you cross Universal and walk up Hollywood (there are no sidewalks here) and just a few feet on the right is a path that guests for Royal Pacifc use to get to CityWalk. Take that path and you'll come out on CityWalk with Margaritaville on your right. It probably cuts off 7 or 8 minutes but you do need to be really cautious. I'd hesitate to do it with small children.

 

[drj1950]

Everytime we stay overnight we stay somewhat close to US,I always walk in the morning and let my wife and daughter sleep in.having those two hours to ride on MIB basically all alone is the best practice I can get.

 

[drj1950]

I do cross Universal Blvd and I will second that do not attempt it with small children,I usually cross very early in the morning and there is much less traffic