Texas Dude
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2002
- Messages
- 3
My family stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort from 7/7 till 7/13, doing the parks and CityWalk. We had been to Universal once before, in 1999 after IOA opened, and this time was better than the first. What follows are some impressions of the RPR, sort of stream-of-consciousness style:
Rolling in from Texas on the Sunday after the Fourth of July, I had secretly anticipated at least some minor check-in hassles at the RPR, but there were none. Room was ready, the kids got complimentary shell necklaces when we checked in. Once inside the room, it was cozy with two adults and two kids. Checked the minibar (and the prices) and noticed the $7 bottle of Avian next to the TV and decided to lug the cooler in from the car.
If you do that, dont forget to stock up ahead of time beer runs might be out of the question because, yeah, parking is a bit of a hassle at the RPR. The parking lot seems to be way too small for the number of self-parkers who wish to use it. Somebody said they didnt anticipate the number of people who wanted to park but it seemed to me that if they didnt cordon off half the self-parking lot for valet there would be plenty room for everyone. The card they give you to place on your dashboard says you will be charged $6 a day for parking; we didnt get charged though. If you leave the parking lot and return in the afternoon or early evening, prepare to circle the lot until you can follow someone who is leaving. Or just parallel park along a curb, like others were doing.
The second day we were there was the day they plopped the big RPR seaplane in the hotels lagoon. I wondered how they were gonna do that they used a big crane and got it in there in a matter of hours. TV crews were on hand to do standups with the plane and lagoon in the background because there was a junket for travel journalists and travel agents that week. They were kinda self-important some even wore their media credentials to the pool. One rainy morning two of them wanted to commandeer a shuttle boat to take their group to the Portofino; thankfully the boat captain would have none of that. Bunch of clowns from small-town media and medium markets on a free junket always stay clear of that scene.
We checked on the hotel restaurants but they were hopelessly overpriced. Many guests apparently agreed because I rarely saw anything close to a full restaurant whenever I walked past one of them. The continental breakfast in the lobby bar seemed to be a little more popular but that too is a bit pricey. Its kind of expensive to eat out by the pool, too. When my wife ordered a beer for herself and a couple of lemonades for the kids, the pool waitress didnt charge her for the lemonades she said drinks were overpriced anyway. Now, she got a nice tip.
We didnt try the luau or anything because there were lots of closed events for that junket I mentioned above. I did see from my window some guy out there doing something with fire eating it, maybe. I wonder how much that cost him, and did he charge it to his room?
The hotel itself is beautiful. The air conditioning is blissful when you come in from the blast furnace outside but maybe a little bone-chilling when its been raining, though. The pool area is spacious and fun. Lifeguards are a bit distracted with ahem guests of the opposite sex most of the time, so keep an eye on your kids. Some kid wiped out and smacked his head in the slippery boat area and they got EMS down there pronto. There was a bald dude in a speedo helping out who seemed to be a doctor or maybe he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express that night, I dunno.
Another thing: if you check out a volleyball to play on the RPRs beach, be careful you dont hit it out into the river. You can go into the water to get it but theres a deep dropoff fairly close to shore uh, somebody told me. Anyway, the
current takes it out toward the parks pretty quickly, but if you are patient the ball will eventually float to within reach of the bank downstream. Or one of the helpful attendants can use a long pool pole to grab it, if you get their attention quick enough.
At any rate, the on-site stay is worth it because the RPR is beautiful and luxurious. Its a new hotel, so you can expect minor hassles. Even with the parking problem, the hassles are really minor unless you the guest turn them into major headaches. I saw a lot of people being first class a-holes to the hotel staff maybe they had a good reason but you know, its vacation so chill out.
And finally, the Express perk is GOLD. Makes up for any of those minor hassles. We went to the park six days and with FOTL we had done everything at least once by the end of the second day. In a few days I will file a report on the park visits, too, if anyone can stand my writing style.
Rolling in from Texas on the Sunday after the Fourth of July, I had secretly anticipated at least some minor check-in hassles at the RPR, but there were none. Room was ready, the kids got complimentary shell necklaces when we checked in. Once inside the room, it was cozy with two adults and two kids. Checked the minibar (and the prices) and noticed the $7 bottle of Avian next to the TV and decided to lug the cooler in from the car.
If you do that, dont forget to stock up ahead of time beer runs might be out of the question because, yeah, parking is a bit of a hassle at the RPR. The parking lot seems to be way too small for the number of self-parkers who wish to use it. Somebody said they didnt anticipate the number of people who wanted to park but it seemed to me that if they didnt cordon off half the self-parking lot for valet there would be plenty room for everyone. The card they give you to place on your dashboard says you will be charged $6 a day for parking; we didnt get charged though. If you leave the parking lot and return in the afternoon or early evening, prepare to circle the lot until you can follow someone who is leaving. Or just parallel park along a curb, like others were doing.
The second day we were there was the day they plopped the big RPR seaplane in the hotels lagoon. I wondered how they were gonna do that they used a big crane and got it in there in a matter of hours. TV crews were on hand to do standups with the plane and lagoon in the background because there was a junket for travel journalists and travel agents that week. They were kinda self-important some even wore their media credentials to the pool. One rainy morning two of them wanted to commandeer a shuttle boat to take their group to the Portofino; thankfully the boat captain would have none of that. Bunch of clowns from small-town media and medium markets on a free junket always stay clear of that scene.
We checked on the hotel restaurants but they were hopelessly overpriced. Many guests apparently agreed because I rarely saw anything close to a full restaurant whenever I walked past one of them. The continental breakfast in the lobby bar seemed to be a little more popular but that too is a bit pricey. Its kind of expensive to eat out by the pool, too. When my wife ordered a beer for herself and a couple of lemonades for the kids, the pool waitress didnt charge her for the lemonades she said drinks were overpriced anyway. Now, she got a nice tip.
We didnt try the luau or anything because there were lots of closed events for that junket I mentioned above. I did see from my window some guy out there doing something with fire eating it, maybe. I wonder how much that cost him, and did he charge it to his room?
The hotel itself is beautiful. The air conditioning is blissful when you come in from the blast furnace outside but maybe a little bone-chilling when its been raining, though. The pool area is spacious and fun. Lifeguards are a bit distracted with ahem guests of the opposite sex most of the time, so keep an eye on your kids. Some kid wiped out and smacked his head in the slippery boat area and they got EMS down there pronto. There was a bald dude in a speedo helping out who seemed to be a doctor or maybe he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express that night, I dunno.
Another thing: if you check out a volleyball to play on the RPRs beach, be careful you dont hit it out into the river. You can go into the water to get it but theres a deep dropoff fairly close to shore uh, somebody told me. Anyway, the
current takes it out toward the parks pretty quickly, but if you are patient the ball will eventually float to within reach of the bank downstream. Or one of the helpful attendants can use a long pool pole to grab it, if you get their attention quick enough.
At any rate, the on-site stay is worth it because the RPR is beautiful and luxurious. Its a new hotel, so you can expect minor hassles. Even with the parking problem, the hassles are really minor unless you the guest turn them into major headaches. I saw a lot of people being first class a-holes to the hotel staff maybe they had a good reason but you know, its vacation so chill out.
And finally, the Express perk is GOLD. Makes up for any of those minor hassles. We went to the park six days and with FOTL we had done everything at least once by the end of the second day. In a few days I will file a report on the park visits, too, if anyone can stand my writing style.
