Just back from 10/22-10/24 visit, details inside

[fredandkell]

Hi all, thought I'd share my thoughts/etc. about our visit yesterday since y'all have been so helpful! Ask any questions if I didn't address something you're wondering about!

As a background, this was our 2nd time at the RP and 2nd time at Universal. I took kids myself back in February (went Tuesday of President's Day week) and this time it was me, kids (10/13) and husband. We did a quick trip, drove down Thursday, went to US/IOP on Friday, home today. It was daughter's birthday Friday and that was her present.

Royal Pacific

• Arrived 4 pm on Thursday. They take temp checks at entry and give you colored wristband. Band color changes daily. You can get it at main entry or down by the pool/water taxi area.
• Room was ready. Had asked for high floor, got ground floor 1101, lol. (Ended up liking location as could walk directly out to pool level without using elevators.) Had Jurassic Park kids' suite which was really cute. Room was a bit dark due to ground floor location but was quiet and kids liked the theme. We all whacked our heads on the beds at least once. Room had a pull-out sofa which is not listed in the description; possibly because they gave us an accessible room (which we didn't need/ask for). So it would have slept 6 easily had we needed it. Very different feel than the room we had last time, which was a standard two-queen (it felt much more Hawaiian/bright).
• Used texting to communicate with front desk to ask for extra blanket, which was delivered promptly. No housekeeping (which we knew about) and coffee machine was K-cup, which disappointed husband as he brought his own coffee but couldn't brew it w/ K-cup machine, so be aware if you're a coffee snob like my hubs.
• Pool was great, literally half as crowded as February. No beach balls and no volleyball net. Hot tubs closed. Still very nice; heated and relaxing. Love that it's a family-friendly, quiet-ish, non-party-pool.
• Water taxi consistently easy, clean, etc. Security a breeze and they only load every other seat, so it's easy to miss the cutoff for a boat due to social distancing. Wasn't a big issue, though, due to less crowds overall.
• Saw 100% compliance with guests and masks. Hotel felt much less crowded/chaotic than it did back in February. Didn't eat at hotel but restaurants looked quite empty when we walked by in evening.
• Fitness center was open (didn't use it, but saw people on machines).

City Walk

• Had 5:30 reservation on Thursday for Margaritaville. Didn't need it, plenty of tables/no line to get in. Food was good and the "5 O'Clock Somewhere" drink was excellent. Nachos were giant, as mentioned. Kids loved the "volcano" that goes off hourly.
• The Universal store was significantly less crowded on this trip, both Thursday and Friday. Got some good merch. Never saw Ravenclaw or Slytherin face masks, though, only Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. There seems to be a noted lack of Ravenclaw merch park-wide, too. This offends my daughter.
• Only line I saw in City Walk, both on Friday and Saturday, was to get in Toothsome. Literally dozens of bored hungry people milling around outside both nights from 6:00 on. So if you want to eat here, definitely get a reservation. Their candy shop is open separately than the restaurant, mostly macarons, truffles, and boxed candies. All pricey.
• At at Hard Rock on Friday. Had 6:30 reservation, didn't really need it either, as restaurant was about half full when we sat down. By the time we left, around 7:45, it had filled up but there wasn't a line to get in. Food and drinks here mediocre, but son loved décor, so a win on that front.
• Crowds in general at City Walk again dramatically less than in February. It was also super weird to be walking around in the early evening and none of the rides, like Rip Ride Rockit, etc. running where you can normally walk right by them and hear the screams, due to the parks closing so early (5pm Universal, 6pm IOA). It had a somewhat dead feel, honestly, on the parks side in the evening, which was just bizarre. I mean, you didn't even have to jostle for a pic by the Universal revolving ball.

Friday morning rope drop

• I think Universal is shooting themselves in the social distancing foot, honestly, by having the parks open so late during the week. On Friday, US opened at 9, general admission, and IOA was 9-10 early admission. In February, it was US early admission at 8am. On both occasions, we left RP 1 hr, 15 minutes before the gates opened. In February, we were 6th in line at US, having gotten there at 7:10 for an 8:00 early opening. Yesterday, we left our room at 7:50 am. The first boat came to the water taxi at 8:04. We got off the taxi and walked very quickly to IOA and there were already probably 200 people ahead of us. The crazy thing was people waiting in the ticket lines, which didn't start selling tickets until 9am. I was like, don't you people realize you can buy tickets on your phone?! No need to stand in that line!! After standing in line for 10 minutes or so, the line stretched back past Margaritaville, on both sides of the bridge (so it was a two-fer line). Point being, if you want do make rope drop, do NOT fool around when the "early" admission is 9am, which many people can make. Not as many are willing to make the 7 or 8am earlies. But by opening so late, there were just hordes of people standing around, which as I said, kind of defeats the purpose of not having big crowds, IMHO.
• Gates opened at 8:45. Entry was very quick as no fingerprinting for one-day tickets (unlike last time). They did do the fingerprints for APs and multi-day tix. We walked very quickly to Hagrid's (like everyone else). Hagrid's lockers were a breeze (much less chaotic than last time) and we were on and off the ride in 20 minutes or less, including all the walking time through the queue, which as you all know, is super long. By the time we got off the ride, the queue was stretched back to Mythos, where it stayed all day, sometimes even going back in the Poseidon's Fury walkway (since it's closed). I checked a few times during the day and never saw virtual line turn on. So, moral of the story, rope drop is still the best way to ride Hagrid's with no/little wait, but even arriving 10 minutes late to the entrance line can make a huge difference.

General observations

• All the Express Pass lines were set up totally different than they were in February. Many of them were super short and bypassed much of the fun queue stuff, esp. in Harry Potter. Like, for Gringott's, we went to the right immediately (not even through the bank) and didn't see any of the Charlie Weasly's office or the elevator or anything. Not that I want to wait in line, mind you, but I was glad we had seen the "long" EP lines back in February. Since we did Hogwarts during early admission, the EP line wasn't open so I got to see the full castle "tour" which was awesome.
• We didn't do Ollivander's last time, but walked by and the line was only 2 groups long, so we waited. Since they only let in one family group at a time now due to social distancing, this means if you're 6th in line, that's an hour wait, but if you can catch it with just a couple of groups waiting, it's a really neat private experience. It ensures that whoever wants to be "chosen" actually does get the wand show. Both of my kids were allowed to be "chosen" and they loved it.
• Both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were less crowded. Hogsmeade felt much less busy, Diagon Alley slightly less busy. We saw far fewer people wearing robes this time and only a few people dressed up for Halloween.
• I really liked the mobile ordering for food. Last time we ate at Three Broomsticks and it was so chaotic and loud, plus I had to carry this heavy tray of food and trust one of my kids to carry the other tray. This time, we ate at the Leaky Cauldron and did mobile ordering in line. We got in line at 11:05 and were seated and had food by 11:30. After you order, once seated, you tap "I'm seated" and it generates an order number, which the waiter writes down. They bring you the food, so much less upping and downing--much more relaxing for the parents. Food was pretty good; I do think 3 Broomsticks was better, but loved getting to see this one, too.
  • Edited to add: we tried to tip our waitress by leaving cash on the table and she told us she wasn't allowed to take tips. I hope they're paying them well, then!
• If you see merch you want, you better buy it, because it may not be there the next time. Both kids had things they didn't buy in February and were saving $$ to buy this time, and they no longer sold the items.
• I didn't find the hand sanitizer to be offensive at all, not excessively sticky as others have said.
• Masks - so I was pleasantly surprised here. I HATE masks. I am not a happy mask wearer. It was 85 and partly sunny yesterday; drizzled a few times, quite humid. But they honestly weren't as bad as I was expecting. I wore a cloth one, then switched to a disposable later, then back to my cloth one. Husband had a neck gaiter (yes they allow them, saw tons of people with them) and got really hot in his; he switched to a disposable and liked that way better. Kids didn't care which they had one. So the advice I got on here about bringing several extra masks was EXCELLENT, also the advice about bringing ziploc bags to keep them fresh in your backpack or whatever was great, too. They do get sweaty/stinky/makeup on them, etc. so having a couple to change throughout the day really helps. Mask compliance was very good in the park. I did see a couple of noses but the park staff corrected that quickly.
• I did feel more tired at the end of the day this time. (Last time we went 7am to 8pm no problem, this time was 8am to 6pm). I do think masks have that effect on you. My husband was really tired/feeling it. The kids didn't even notice.
• As others have said, if you are squeamish about people being closer than 6 feet to you, then Universal is not the place for you right now. Lines, queues, rides, and restaurants are excellent about providing the necessary space. The shops, however, do not. Also Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, just due to the way they are set up, do not afford consistent 6-feet spacing. That being said I didn't feel unsafe at all due to the mask compliance. But just something to be aware of, that in the shops, especially, you will be close to people.
• Tried the frozen butterbeer this time. Family was split half and half as to which they like better, that or regular.
• As others have said, a few things are turned off--only about half the water features on the rides, no skrewt fart (lol), no ET saying your name. Lines felt a bit longer on Hogwarts Express since only one party allowed per compartment now, but the line to get to the Hogwarts Express was much, much better since they aren't doing the fingerprint scan.
• The new Jurassic Park roller coaster being built looks wicked fun! Terrifying, actually--there's this one hill that is almost an inverted V--I was like, I can't even imagine the physics of going over that!
• They did still have shows going - saw Beauxbatons girls, Celestina Warbeck/Weird Sisters in passing. They aren't doing the Hogwarts night/lights shows.
• We didn't do anything Halloween-themed or Haunted-house-ish so I can't answer anything about that, sorry!

So, overall, it was a very nice day at the parks, even with the shorter hours. If this was our first time visiting, I wouldn't have felt that I was missing anything, because I truly did feel like you still get that Universal Experience, even with the changes. The only disappointment for a first-timer would have been the shorter hours--there is no way we could have done as much this time (and we didn't) as we did back in February, where we barnstormed both parks for 14 hours, haha! It was very clean, well-run, and the lines weren't bad at all (with EP) with the notable exception of Hagrid's, which of course is always long. I do prefer doing early entry in US as opposed to IOA since we're Potterheads (and we like to do it like Harry did, London first and Hogwarts second!).

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them!

 

[Rags123]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! We’re going in Decemberfor the first time, and you answered some of my questions. Sounds like you had a fun trip!

 

[schumigirl]

Thank you!

I enjoyed reading your summation and thoughts on how Universal is dealing with different things right now and your observations will certainly help folks planning right now.

I`m glad you had such a lovely trip overall, and thanks for taking the time to come back and give an update on your trip.......

 

[shh]

thanks so much - enjoyed reading your trip report. Love your positive attitude. The biggest thing I'm going to miss when we go this holiday season is the nightime hours....I love the parks at night, plus much more pleasant when masked up. Sure hope they extend hours for Nov/Dec

 

[fredandkell]

thanks so much - enjoyed reading your trip report. Love your positive attitude. The biggest thing I'm going to miss when we go this holiday season is the nightime hours....I love the parks at night, plus much more pleasant when masked up. Sure hope they extend hours for Nov/Dec

Well, they were open until 8 or 9 this weekend so I would imagine they may do the same for the holidays. They are just closing early right now on the weekdays. I hate theme parks on weekends so for us, it was worth it to do the shorter day for the tradeoff of being less crowded. (Both parks hit capacity yesterday by lunchtime, gah!)

edited to add—they were actually open until 10pm this weekend

 

[shh]

Well, they were open until 8 or 9 this weekend so I would imagine they may do the same for the holidays. They are just closing early right now on the weekdays. I hate theme parks on weekends so for us, it was worth it to do the shorter day for the tradeoff of being less crowded. (Both parks hit capacity yesterday by lunchtime, gah!)

edited to add—they were actually open until 10pm this weekend

I'm like you...I avoid the weekends too, so fingers crossed that they open at least till 8pm on weekdays. Would think they'd have to if they're bothering to put up any lights/decorations. Can't really appreciate those fully during the day

 

[becauseimnew]

Thanks for the excellent report, we'll be there for Thanksgiving break, I have a feeling it's going to be crazy.

 

[cfoxga]

I'm like you...I avoid the weekends too, so fingers crossed that they open at least till 8pm on weekdays. Would think they'd have to if they're bothering to put up any lights/decorations. Can't really appreciate those fully during the day

Hours for November have been posted. For Thanksgiving week, is is 8 am-10pm Fri-Sun, and 8am - 9 pm Mon-Thurs! And EE is both parks. Other weekdays are 9 am - 5 pm, so no nighttime lights then...

 

[becauseimnew]

Hours for November have been posted. For Thanksgiving week, is is 8 am-10pm Fri-Sun, and 8am - 9 pm Mon-Thurs! And EE is both parks. Other weekdays are 9 am - 5 pm, so no nighttime lights then...

It is going to be busy, I wonder what how much they will increase capacity that week.

 

[cfoxga]

It is going to be busy, I wonder what how much they will increase capacity that week.

They don't open up the other hotels until December, so there is a chance that they keep the park levels down where they are now. But once the other hotels are open, I bet there will be a corresponding change in the number of people in the parks...

 

[lynnfitz]

Hi, we just got back from RP as well-had a king suite-why do they put such an extremely heavy coffee table in front of a couch that has to be opened up at night? On my survey, I did mention it-thought staff was extremely nice, not big deals, but you don't have housekeeping, which is fine with us, why are there 2 tiny garbage pails with no extra bags, and we would have appreciated more soap and shampoo-little things, no big deal, just minor issues. Also when we checked in, we weren't told about there being no blankets or pillows for the sofa, after searching 10 o'clock at night, we called down, and they brought them right away-just thought a card on the table would have been a good idea letting us know to call for them. We did spend a week at Disney before going to RP, in my opinion, I saw Disney cleaning more of the high touch areas-we would constantly see it around the resort, and pool area-not so much at RP, everything appeared clean, but just thought Disney was a little more pro active with the cleaning. Just my thoughts, I love Disney and Universal, and it is a different world now! Stay safe everyone!

 

[Austen]

Thanks for all this detail! I've been trying to glean info for my trip at Christmas-time at tripadvisor, but people keep their reviews pretty short over there. I'm hoping that they will still do the holiday light shows at wizarding world. It seems like the parade is still on. but I never see anything about the light show. My question for you is about Olivander's. So you just walked up without a reservation? I heard you have to make a reservation at Carkitt Market to get a slot for the wand show.

 

[fredandkell]

Hi, we just got back from RP as well-had a king suite-why do they put such an extremely heavy coffee table in front of a couch that has to be opened up at night? On my survey, I did mention it-thought staff was extremely nice, not big deals, but you don't have housekeeping, which is fine with us, why are there 2 tiny garbage pails with no extra bags, and we would have appreciated more soap and shampoo-little things, no big deal, just minor issues. Also when we checked in, we weren't told about there being no blankets or pillows for the sofa, after searching 10 o'clock at night, we called down, and they brought them right away-just thought a card on the table would have been a good idea letting us know to call for them. We did spend a week at Disney before going to RP, in my opinion, I saw Disney cleaning more of the high touch areas-we would constantly see it around the resort, and pool area-not so much at RP, everything appeared clean, but just thought Disney was a little more pro active with the cleaning. Just my thoughts, I love Disney and Universal, and it is a different world now! Stay safe everyone!

I agree with you on the trash cans! We thought the same thing! Not sure why they don't leave the linens in the room for the sofabed?

 

[Austen]

They don't open up the other hotels until December, so there is a chance that they keep the park levels down where they are now. But once the other hotels are open, I bet there will be a corresponding change in the number of people in the parks...

I'm wondering about this as well. If they increase numbers in parks, will they re-open the rides that are closed and increase ride capacity as well? The lines could be bonkers if they don't

 

[fredandkell]

Thanks for all this detail! I've been trying to glean info for my trip at Christmas-time at tripadvisor, but people keep their reviews pretty short over there. I'm hoping that they will still do the holiday light shows at wizarding world. It seems like the parade is still on. but I never see anything about the light show. My question for you is about Olivander's. So you just walked up without a reservation? I heard you have to make a reservation at Carkitt Market to get a slot for the wand show.

We did not have a reservation whatsoever. We were just walking past Ollivander’s in Hogsmeade and noticed that there were only three groups in line. We got in line, and the lady working the queue said, “just so you know, each group is about a 10 minute wait so from this point it will be 30 minutes.” Then one of the groups in front of us ended up leaving so we only had to wait about 20 minutes. I cannot speak for the Ollivander’s in Diagon Alley.