*Marty_Mouse_House*
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2004
- Messages
- 60
Vacationers:
Husband - early 40s
Self - early 40s (college sweethearts - married 20 years)
Son - 15
Beagle - 9
Active Cat - 3
Thursday, June 10, 2004
We got up and took lots of pictures from outside the hotel room. It really was a lovely spot with a white sandy beach and some big tall trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. We were sad to be leaving the Contemporary. Our room was so peaceful and quiet that we felt like we had the entire Garden Wing building to ourselves. The Tower had a totally different atmosphere because of the restaurants (Chef Mickey was usually busy) and the monorail running through it. We packed up the car and checked out. We were on our way to a day or two at Universal.
My husband looked at his free Orlando map from AAA and discovered a back route to Universal. We took Apopka Vineland Road, then Sand Lake Road, then Turkey Lake Road. We thought that this would take some time but we were there in no time at all. The scenery was very pleasant also, past some of the nice neighborhoods - gated communities with builders signs listing houses at $500,000 & up. There were lots of nice shopping centers along the way also. After stopped at a Wachovia ATM machine we saw a sign for McDonald's and decided to stop for breakfast. Well -- we had never been into a McDonald's like this before! First there was the decor, it was done in an European Bistro style with heavy gold framed pictures on the walls, and upholstered wing back chairs to sit in. Then there was a chef with a white hat making omelettes and belgian waffles in the restaurant. There was also a waitress delivering the meals. Even the trash cans had automatic doors on them so that you wouldn't have to touch them. I grabbed a menu and we ordered our omelettes at $3.99 each. They also had: Belgian waffles - $2.99, Eggs Benedict Panini - $4.19, and Ham & Cheese French Toast - $4.59.
We checked in at the Royal Pacific Hotel on Universal property. The front desk told us that we could either have a room that was ready immediately, or we could wait for an upgrade to a garden room but this would not be ready until about 1:00 p.m. We decided to take what was available immediately which turned out fine because it was on lobby level so we didn't have to tackle stairs or elevators. The Royal Pacific Hotel was just lovely. The lobby area was wonderful. It reminded me of the Polynesian at Disney but in a different way. The Royal Pacific had an outside courtyard with a big fountain area. This was surrounded by the check in area and some big seating areas. There was a little breakfast buffet area here and a small gift shop as well. The decor was very classy and elegant - muted colors and dark woods. The room was pleasant also. The view was okay - we could see the top of a roof but also a little garden area outside (Room 3337). Because we had a reduced rate for the room, we did not qualify to receive our free Loews Frequent Stay gift basket, but that was okay. We received our room keys which were also our "front of the line" passes.
Instead of unpacking right away we walked to Universal using the walkway. A trip would not be complete without stopping at the Jimmy Buffett store along the way. My husband loved Jimmy Buffet music so he found several things to purchase in the gift shop. We decided to wait so that we wouldn't be carrying them around all day. After several pictures in the tropical chairs outside we continued on.
Universal is totally different from Disney. The rock music starts blaring from the speakers as soon as you hit the gate. That alone was enough to set my teeth on edge. Coupled with the "hawkers" who try to sell you everything and don't mind pestering you to do it, it made me dislike Universal from the start.
We had bought our tickets on-line and now needed to go to an
e-ticket kiosk in order to retrieve them. We did this with no problem and received our 3 tickets of "buy 2 days and get the 3rd day free." We figured we would be using the 2 days today and tomorrow. And since all days had to be used within 7 days we figured we would probably lose our free 3rd day. We had contemplated coming over from Disney for a day in order to get all 3 days in, but we were having such a good time at Disney that we just didn't get away to do it!
After getting pestered from photographers about having a picture taken in front of the Universal globe, we entered the Universal Studios Park. There was much hype about the Mummy Ride so DS and DH wanted to do that first. We were carrying our fanny packs and the attendant at the entrance of the ride said that we needed to put those in a locker. We had never done this before. The lockers were right there and there's a little bit to it in that you have to go to the computer screen, and stick your finger on it for a fingerprint and then an available locker opens up. So we did all this, used our front of the line pass and got in the short line.
I had never seen the Mummy movie, so I really couldn't keep up with the plot of what was going on. My husband said that the regular line told people more of what they needed to know. We bypassed all this with the short line. So we got in the vehicle (4 rows with 4 people across). We loaded in a row with the 3 of us. Then the single rider line added somebody to our row and this guy sat next to my husband. Ever since we heard about the Mummy ride, my husband purposefully refused to read any info about it on the net or anywhere. He wanted to be totally surprised by it all. Unfortunately, this "single rider" filled him in with a constant monologue before each event happened - through the entire ride! I heard this guy talking (since I was sitting in the 3rd seat) but I thought he was talking to some friends sitting in the row ahead of us. I didn't know he was giving my husband a blow-by-blow account of the whole thing! For those of you who want my blow-by-blow account: All I remember is you start off slow, do a little backward drop and then the thing takes off! I had my eyes closed most of the time but I did manage to see some green smoke and quite a few skeletons. Now I am not a huge roller coaster fan. I do Space Mountain and Big Thunder but won't do Hulk or Tower of Terror. This was definitely a roller coaster (not as fast as Rock n Roll Roller Coaster) but I was told to keep my head back the whole time so that it wouldn't be slammed back into the seat when you didn't expect it. I was so worried about keeping my head back, and with my eyes closed, the ride was over before I realized it. We came out of the gift shop and the employees were asking people how they liked it. Of course, DH and DS loved it. I thought that it really wasn't too bad roller coaster-wise and I would do it again. We retrieved out stuff from the locker (which was free if used under 2 hours). We emptied out onto the street and a lady with a clipboard was there and asked if we would answer some questions. We said okay. Her first question to my husband and me was, "How old are you?" My husband told her. Then she turned to me. I told her my true age but she thought I said "34". Then she said, "Oh, I can't use you for my survey because I thought you were much YOUNGER than 34!"
I now have it on good authority that if you ride the Mummy it takes a good 10 years off of you! I found this employee's comment hard to believe, but it spurred me on to continue with more Universal rides even though I found the whole place irritating.
------------------------------------
Previous Disney Trips: 30 plus trips in 32 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort
Husband - early 40s
Self - early 40s (college sweethearts - married 20 years)
Son - 15
Beagle - 9
Active Cat - 3
Thursday, June 10, 2004
We got up and took lots of pictures from outside the hotel room. It really was a lovely spot with a white sandy beach and some big tall trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. We were sad to be leaving the Contemporary. Our room was so peaceful and quiet that we felt like we had the entire Garden Wing building to ourselves. The Tower had a totally different atmosphere because of the restaurants (Chef Mickey was usually busy) and the monorail running through it. We packed up the car and checked out. We were on our way to a day or two at Universal.
My husband looked at his free Orlando map from AAA and discovered a back route to Universal. We took Apopka Vineland Road, then Sand Lake Road, then Turkey Lake Road. We thought that this would take some time but we were there in no time at all. The scenery was very pleasant also, past some of the nice neighborhoods - gated communities with builders signs listing houses at $500,000 & up. There were lots of nice shopping centers along the way also. After stopped at a Wachovia ATM machine we saw a sign for McDonald's and decided to stop for breakfast. Well -- we had never been into a McDonald's like this before! First there was the decor, it was done in an European Bistro style with heavy gold framed pictures on the walls, and upholstered wing back chairs to sit in. Then there was a chef with a white hat making omelettes and belgian waffles in the restaurant. There was also a waitress delivering the meals. Even the trash cans had automatic doors on them so that you wouldn't have to touch them. I grabbed a menu and we ordered our omelettes at $3.99 each. They also had: Belgian waffles - $2.99, Eggs Benedict Panini - $4.19, and Ham & Cheese French Toast - $4.59.
We checked in at the Royal Pacific Hotel on Universal property. The front desk told us that we could either have a room that was ready immediately, or we could wait for an upgrade to a garden room but this would not be ready until about 1:00 p.m. We decided to take what was available immediately which turned out fine because it was on lobby level so we didn't have to tackle stairs or elevators. The Royal Pacific Hotel was just lovely. The lobby area was wonderful. It reminded me of the Polynesian at Disney but in a different way. The Royal Pacific had an outside courtyard with a big fountain area. This was surrounded by the check in area and some big seating areas. There was a little breakfast buffet area here and a small gift shop as well. The decor was very classy and elegant - muted colors and dark woods. The room was pleasant also. The view was okay - we could see the top of a roof but also a little garden area outside (Room 3337). Because we had a reduced rate for the room, we did not qualify to receive our free Loews Frequent Stay gift basket, but that was okay. We received our room keys which were also our "front of the line" passes.
Instead of unpacking right away we walked to Universal using the walkway. A trip would not be complete without stopping at the Jimmy Buffett store along the way. My husband loved Jimmy Buffet music so he found several things to purchase in the gift shop. We decided to wait so that we wouldn't be carrying them around all day. After several pictures in the tropical chairs outside we continued on.
Universal is totally different from Disney. The rock music starts blaring from the speakers as soon as you hit the gate. That alone was enough to set my teeth on edge. Coupled with the "hawkers" who try to sell you everything and don't mind pestering you to do it, it made me dislike Universal from the start.
We had bought our tickets on-line and now needed to go to an
e-ticket kiosk in order to retrieve them. We did this with no problem and received our 3 tickets of "buy 2 days and get the 3rd day free." We figured we would be using the 2 days today and tomorrow. And since all days had to be used within 7 days we figured we would probably lose our free 3rd day. We had contemplated coming over from Disney for a day in order to get all 3 days in, but we were having such a good time at Disney that we just didn't get away to do it!
After getting pestered from photographers about having a picture taken in front of the Universal globe, we entered the Universal Studios Park. There was much hype about the Mummy Ride so DS and DH wanted to do that first. We were carrying our fanny packs and the attendant at the entrance of the ride said that we needed to put those in a locker. We had never done this before. The lockers were right there and there's a little bit to it in that you have to go to the computer screen, and stick your finger on it for a fingerprint and then an available locker opens up. So we did all this, used our front of the line pass and got in the short line.
I had never seen the Mummy movie, so I really couldn't keep up with the plot of what was going on. My husband said that the regular line told people more of what they needed to know. We bypassed all this with the short line. So we got in the vehicle (4 rows with 4 people across). We loaded in a row with the 3 of us. Then the single rider line added somebody to our row and this guy sat next to my husband. Ever since we heard about the Mummy ride, my husband purposefully refused to read any info about it on the net or anywhere. He wanted to be totally surprised by it all. Unfortunately, this "single rider" filled him in with a constant monologue before each event happened - through the entire ride! I heard this guy talking (since I was sitting in the 3rd seat) but I thought he was talking to some friends sitting in the row ahead of us. I didn't know he was giving my husband a blow-by-blow account of the whole thing! For those of you who want my blow-by-blow account: All I remember is you start off slow, do a little backward drop and then the thing takes off! I had my eyes closed most of the time but I did manage to see some green smoke and quite a few skeletons. Now I am not a huge roller coaster fan. I do Space Mountain and Big Thunder but won't do Hulk or Tower of Terror. This was definitely a roller coaster (not as fast as Rock n Roll Roller Coaster) but I was told to keep my head back the whole time so that it wouldn't be slammed back into the seat when you didn't expect it. I was so worried about keeping my head back, and with my eyes closed, the ride was over before I realized it. We came out of the gift shop and the employees were asking people how they liked it. Of course, DH and DS loved it. I thought that it really wasn't too bad roller coaster-wise and I would do it again. We retrieved out stuff from the locker (which was free if used under 2 hours). We emptied out onto the street and a lady with a clipboard was there and asked if we would answer some questions. We said okay. Her first question to my husband and me was, "How old are you?" My husband told her. Then she turned to me. I told her my true age but she thought I said "34". Then she said, "Oh, I can't use you for my survey because I thought you were much YOUNGER than 34!"
I now have it on good authority that if you ride the Mummy it takes a good 10 years off of you! I found this employee's comment hard to believe, but it spurred me on to continue with more Universal rides even though I found the whole place irritating.
------------------------------------
Previous Disney Trips: 30 plus trips in 32 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort
