We have 2 boys aged 8 & 10 and they absolutely LOVED the pool (& the slide) at the HRH.
(DH and myself never got round to trying it ourselves, only lounging beside sipping our drinks - just watching!)
We had a very 'busy' vacation, we crammed loads into our 2 weeks, so we really only had time to go to the pool in the evening and it didn't seem too busy - plenty of room for our two! Although I did think (at times) during the day it looked quite busy.
(I've just asked by 10 year old what the best thing about the HRH was and he said "the pool".)
The best thing about staying at the HRH (apart from it being a beautiful hotel) is using the Express Lines. This was absolutely BRILLIANT! For example when Spider-man or Hulk ride at IOA said 90 min wait - NOT FOR US! we just used our room card and the Express Line and walked straight on! It also lets you get into all the shows first and so get the best seats. We also bypassed a long line at the Hard Rock Cafe (City Walk) just by showing our room card. We figure this Express Pass saved us loads of time and so we managed to do EVERYTHING and all our favs numerous times!
I also thought (although we have never stayed at the other 2 Universal Hotels) that the HRH was in the best location for the parks, it was only 5 min walk into Universal via the path out towards the slide by the pool. The Portofino and the Royal Pacific seem to be a little further (the other side of the street) and so probably wouldn't be able to walk to the parks from these hotels, although there is always the boats. We used the boat a couple of times from the HRH (just for the pleasure) and this takes you almost to IOA.
There is also a character dinner in the Sunset Grill at the HRH every Saturday night (not sure if your girls would be interested, but our boys sure loved this - us too!) we saw Scooby Doo & Woody Woodpecker. There was also a magician circulating while were having dinner another night which was fun.
Hope this helps! Wish we were going again - soon!
We would definitely love to stay at the HRH again!
Have a great time!
BertieT
