JUST BACK AUG 20-26th PBH

[steelcity5044]

Hi,
We just returned from a stay Aug 20-26th. We flew Southwest from PIT to MCO. I would fly no other airline. Getting on/off a breeze and it's great not having to pay baggage fees. We rented an intermediate car thru AVIS for 2 adults, a 9 year old DD and a 13 year old DD. It was the best priced car we could find(about $215 total) and we ended up with a pretty fully loaded new HHR.
We checked into the PBH hotel, originally booked into a gardenview standard room but we got upgraded to a deluxe room with a great view of the villa pool(room 2378). It did have the pull out sofa bed which worked out great for the kids to have separate beds. It was a good distance from the looby but it was an excellent room for proximity to the pools and the harbor. The room was a good size and very clean. We moved some stuff around in the mini-fridge and ended up with enough room for a container of milk and some pop. We bought some cereal and stuff from the store and always had breakfast in the room.
We stayed under the KIDS STAY PLAY AND EAT FOR FREE promotion and figured out that it saved us $12-$15 for every lunch and dinner we ate at the hotels. We received a wristband and the kids meal and drink were free. We ate at Splendido, Sal's, Bula, Trattoria and the Kitchen. We never had a bad meal and the prices ranged from $24-$92. If I had to vote, I would say Splendido was the best lunch place, Sal's had the best pizza and The Kitchen had the all-around best food both in quality and presentation. The calamari appetizer was to die for.
The only place we ate otherwise was NASCAR Cafe, which was just ok in my opinion. Not bad but not fantastic. A normal chain restuarant. We bought one refillable cup that we used a lot during our stay, it was really hot out. It was $6.99 and then .85$ per refill. All the rides were good. Everyone really liked DISASTER and we rode The Mummy over and over again. The Mummy ended up being our favorite ride out of both parks. We had fun on MIB and we enjoyed The Simpsons. We were disappointed in Dueling Dragons, with that part of the park under construction it made the queue lines all messed up and the regular line would fight with the Express line since they both met in the middle.
We tried numerous times to ride RRR but with the 60 minute to 3 hour waits and all the technical difficulties, we ended up riding once. It was good but not great, definitely not worth the wait in my opinion. Employees told us that the main sources of troubly are the audio system and the launch.
We saw Blue Man Group which was awesome!!!!! We sat in the poncho seats but if I had to buy tickets again, I would sit further back. You have more involvement in the show and you can take in more of the overall experience better.
My take on the 3 onsite resorts; we have stayed at the HRH years ago and now we have stayed at the PBH. We swam in all 3 pools and ate some where at all 3 resorts.---------- The PBH was by far the prettiest; the view from the drive-in and from the boat is just breath-taking. It is more laid back and the beach pool was incredible. If you stay at the PBH you don't feel like you are at an amusement park. If you want loud and lively and want to feel like you are at Vegas then you want to stay the HRH. It just seemed more "alive" and it is a really good location to Citywalk and the parks. RPH was ok to me but it does feel more "budget" somehow.
Odds and ends: we went to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe; honestly we felt out of place with all the Disney folks and couldn't wait to get back; we drove around International Blvd and shopped at some of the tourst spots, had some icecream and went to the Prime Outlets; we had the front desk hole punch our room keys and brought lanyards from home and wore our keys all week people kept stopping us asking where we got them from, it made the Express ultra easy etc.; self-parking was really easy and you were able to park at any of the hotels and leave/enter as often as you wanted; I was suprised at how crowded the parks were since schools were back in session and it is late in the Summer
I know that I am forgetting a whole lot of stuff but please ask about anything you want and I will be more than Happy to answer!!!!!!

 

[Metro West]

Sounds like you had a great time! Dueling Dragons has always had an Express line that merges with the standby line...just closer to the loading area but still a good little walk through the castle. I know what you mean about Downtown Disney...I feel out of place when I go there too...which is why I don't go there.

 

[macraven]

with a screen name that you have, i figured where you lived.......

it is really nice for you to come back with your trippie for us.
we all love reading about how the stay and vacation at universal went for others.

thank you !
i love what you posted!!

sounds like you had a great time.


the only thing you omitted in your report was the weather.......
it seems like most posters mention the weather they had on vacation and then get into the fun stuff.
i like the way you tell it to us....

 

[D. Crockett]

We tried numerous times to ride RRR but with the 60 minute to 3 hour waits and all the technical difficulties, we ended up riding once.

That brings back deja-vu memories of Kong when Universal Studios first opened way back in the day. But glad to hear you were able to at least get one ride in on RRR. I can't wait to try this baby out.

Great trip report, and glad you all had a fun vacation!

 

[steelcity5044]

It was hot!!!!
The days would start out bright and sunny and then go overcast. it rained everyday but only for short periods of time. We never ended up getting wet though. We really only had one afternoon/evening where it didnt stop raining till late.
We found that it was hard to really get an adjustment on timing with the parks closing so early(6/7 pm). You wanted to swim while it was sunny but then you ran out of time in the parks. If you went to the parks first then it would rain and they would close the pools. It ended up that we went to the parks for a few hours 5 out of the 7 days. We had one free Super Bowl ticket and 1 free childs ticket so we only ended up buying 2 tickets. It made us not feel as guilty about missing oark time here or there.
Yes Steel City is Pittsburgh!!!
The other thing that we did that we found to be no hassle, was we bought Universal gift cards from our local supermarket for the fuel perk discounts and these exchanged for Universal dollars at Guest Services. We were able to use them just like cash at the parks, the resorts and CityWalk.