Just back from 1st trip that included U / IOA - plus update on Costco tix

[Anal Annie]

Well, so we got back a few days ago & I just wanted to update everyone here who was so helpful to me in my planning. It didn't go without snags (of course) but we had fun.

We took a taxi from Disneys Boardwalk Villas to the Hard Rock Hotel, leaving just a few minutes after 7:00 am. Although I had priced the trip online & the valet attendant at BWV both said it should be about $35 it was actually $39 something. Not a biggie but I just thought I'd mention that the estimates were both off from the actual cost. Took about 30 mintues I guess. We arrived at the HRH and found no line to check in. DH stored our duffle with Bell Services while I checked in. Their kiosk machines that take the photos for the Express Pass were down but the girl said we wouldn't have any problems by just showing our room keys. We took the water taxi and were at the U park just a few minutes before 8:00. YAY! (Or so I thought!)

OK so FIRST BIG SNAG - I had purchased the 3-day tix from Costco this spring that didn't expire until Dec. 2015 thinking that we'd use 2 days this trip & save the 3rd day for a future trip. I hadn't read of anybody having any problems with them so I was FLOORED when they wouldn't go through the entrance machines. They were coming up invalid somehow so we had to go to Guest Services. We spent about 50 minutes or so there. I will say that all of the Universal employees were very nice BUT it turned out upon investigation that our 3 tix were part of a group of 10 tix that they said had been reported "lost or stolen"!! WHAT?! I still can't figure out HOW it was that Costco had them to give to us (there are a couple of scenarios) but no matter...there was nothing to do except buy new passes right there. The woman who was helping us felt really bad about it and was able to give us a 25% discount off the gate price which was nice - but it was no where near the same deal we had with the Costco tix price. She also gave me print screens from each tix so I could take them to Costco when I went to get a refund.

Next snag. We went straight to Despicable Me and the attendant didn't want to accept our room keys for the Express Pass entry. We told her the hotel desk said we should be able to use the room keys since the photo machines were all down so she let us go, but reluctantly (at this point there was only like 5 minutes of the early opening left). Right after we got off that ride we went back to the front to another Guest Services office to straighten out this latest mess. They said we weren't the first party that was having problems so they had us wait while they blasted out some sort of message to all of the ride attendants to say that the kiosk machines were down & to accept room keys for the day. By this time it was like 9:30 and I was sooo glad that we hadn't planned to do IOA on the first day!! I would've hated to miss the early entry benefit at the WWOHP!! Anyway, one of the women there gave us a special pass for Rip Rocket that would bypass the line since at this point we were so totally off schedule. That was nice. Finally, they said that all of the ride attendants should be clued in and that we could go.

The Express Pass thing was great and really helped us fly through the parks and I was glad we'd booked a room at the HRH. I stopped somewhere at a stand on our 2nd day to ask how much they were selling the passes for. I was surprised when they said $89 for a 1-day 2-park pass with 1 use and $99 for a 1-day 2-park pass with unlimited uses. Say WHAT?! That room was definitely worth the price now considering we got 2 days use out of it!!

On day # 2 we hit the WWOHP which was fascinating and really well done. We were impressed with just about every aspect of the FJ. We rode it 2x during the early entry before we moved on. (Since I had read that a lot of people experience motion sickness on it we took Dramamine that morning "just in case".) After the FJ we did the wand thing - which I did not think was worth an hours wait (but we're not HOOOGE Harry Potter fanatics). It was cute, but we'd skip it if we ever went back. We really liked the Dragon Challenage coasters. They were pretty smooth. I hate it whenever my head gets knocked around a lot on the shoulder restraints. That's a real turnoff for me and the biggest reason I didn't like Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris when we went there. It's a totally different ride than "ours" and VERY rough. Anyway, we rode both of these coasters 1x each before we headed out of WWOHP. I guess we were there for about 3 hours at this point.

Next we went to Hulk. I wanted to be sure we rode all the upside down stuff before lunch!! I made the mistake of leaving my lanyard around my neck on the Hulk. The plastic case was under the restraint so I didn't think it would be a problem BUT the G-forces pushed the restraint really tight and my lanyard fastener must've pulled too tight when that happened so it came unclipped at the back of my neck & I felt it slipping out from around my neck - I caught the strap under my arm with my elbow and had to hold onto it REALLLLY tight against the restraint for the duration of the ride. WHEW! Close one!! I thought it was a little jerky & I didn't like my close call with the lanyard thing so I only rode it once. DH & DS went back later in the day though & rode it again. I was happy just to sit & "hold the bag". We also returned to WWOHP to ride the FJ in the single rider queue and the Dragon coaster again before we left for the day.

OH, speaking of the bag. That was our other "issue". Turned out we did bring our string backpack for the day. I had brienfly thought I might get by with a waist pack but then decided it didn't hold enough. Our first locker experience was in U at the Mummy ride I think it was and it was less than perfect!! When we got off of the ride the machine wouldn't recognize DH's fingerprint for like I don't know how many tries. Finally, it DID but then we were over our alloted time!! And of course ALL of our money & everything was locked up. It took forever to find a locker attendant to help us. After a small bit of arguing over their silly machines being the cause of the overage she let us go without paying but we had to fill out some form. The locker system has a few flaws. The fact that they're tied into the queue line wait times being one. I mean, that cuts it really close in some cases. We were not a fan of most of the locker areas - they were way too crowded. If they're going to make you put your bag in a locker why plut a charge on them anyway? I mean, that's silly. But whatever.

The day after we got home I dug out my Costco receipt and took the "bad" tix & print screens to Costco for a refund. They said the most likely scenario is that someone took the tix, didn't sign them but USED them and then returned them anyway. She said that when someone returns the tix there's a way to verify if they've been used or not & that the person must not have verified it. I don't know though. Someone defintely scammed them somehow. But at least I got my money back. They were glad to have the print screens from Universal to go with the tix.

Overall, we had a good time. Now that we don't have our 3rd day anymore we likely won't be returning any time soon though. But glad we went once. I think it will be a long before we leave Disney again.

 

[damo]

We told you not to bring your bag, lol. But, nooooooooooooo, you didn't listen


Sounds like you had fun anyways. There will always be a few snags the first time. That Costco ticket thing sure was random and it sounds like it really set you guys off on a bad foot!

 

[Anal Annie]

We told you not to bring your bag, lol. But, nooooooooooooo, you didn't listen


Sounds like you had fun anyways. There will always be a few snags the first time. That Costco ticket thing sure was random and it sounds like it really set you guys off on a bad foot!

Yes, you did tell me, but I just couldn't do it!! Our whole first couple of hours was rough - and yes, very random. But like I said, I am just glad that I didn't plan on doing IOA that first morning. I would've been really ticked.

 

[bz8bls]

We are DVC members (short on points):sad2 b/c we have a trip planned for Xmas. However, had to have my Disney fix this summer.

We drove instead of flying and our first two nights we stayed at Port Orleans (what a nice resort); we then checked in for one night at Royal Pacific in order to get the express pass.

We hadn't been to the 'dark side' since grandchildren were born and now they were tall enough to ride most of the rides. We actually found that we enjoyed Universal more than IOA (and I am a coaster rider); we had a great time. We probably won't return for another couple of years...we are Disney folks at heart.

Also, please check your debit accounts if staying at Royal Pacific. I bought one drink totally $10.00 with a tip. I noticed that my debit account was debited $155.00 (Jakes Bar). I was also able to show them my receipt for the drink.

Management could not figure out the problem either b/c they saw the $10.00 charge in their records, however, I showed them my account with the hold of $155.00.

I had to call my bank and they requested RP to fax them documentation with the hotel's letterhead stating the decrepancy in order to remove the hold. RP management told me when the hold expires the original amount would probably be debited from my account... really????? I had to tell them they would have to fix the problem on their end.

RP management still does not understand how it happened...so they say. The managers were talking among themselves and I overheard them saying a similar incident happened with another family previously a few months ago debiting their account $300.00 and the family never stepped into Jakes Bar.

BTW, the hold was taken off of my debit account by the next morning. But I was still a little frustrated that I to call my banking institution to find out what I had to do to straighten out the error.

 

[disnewbie108]

OK so FIRST BIG SNAG - I had purchased the 3-day tix from Costco this spring that didn't expire until Dec. 2015 thinking that we'd use 2 days this trip & save the 3rd day for a future trip. I hadn't read of anybody having any problems with them so I was FLOORED when they wouldn't go through the entrance machines. They were coming up invalid somehow so we had to go to Guest Services. We spent about 50 minutes or so there. I will say that all of the Universal employees were very nice BUT it turned out upon investigation that our 3 tix were part of a group of 10 tix that they said had been reported "lost or stolen"!! WHAT?! I still can't figure out HOW it was that Costco had them to give to us (there are a couple of scenarios) but no matter...there was nothing to do except buy new passes right there. The woman who was helping us felt really bad about it and was able to give us a 25% discount off the gate price which was nice - but it was no where near the same deal we had with the Costco tix price. She also gave me print screens from each tix so I could take them to Costco when I went to get a refund.

Hi Annie! Sorry to hear you had trouble with the Costco tix! I actually am a huge fan of them and was one of the people who suggested them to you. I feel terrible that happened to you and your family. We have used them 2X before and have a 3rd set that has been purchased for a trip planned next March. Fingers crossed our tix will be valid.

Glad you had an overall good trip. Sorry to hear about your hiccups. Thanks for coming back and posting your update.

H

 

[Metro West]

Thanks for sharing....I'm going to move this to the Trip Reports board.

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi Annie! Sorry to hear you had trouble with the Costco tix! I actually am a huge fan of them and was one of the people who suggested them to you. I feel terrible that happened to you and your family. We have used them 2X before and have a 3rd set that has been purchased for a trip planned next March. Fingers crossed our tix will be valid.

Glad you had an overall good trip. Sorry to hear about your hiccups. Thanks for coming back and posting your update.

H

I am going to blame it on the particular Costco that I went to. The Gaithersurg one that I went to for these tix is THE worst Costco EVER. I went to this one bcuz it's the closest one to where I live BUT the one up in Frederick Co. is SOOO much better. Unless I am just picking up a FEW things I usually go to Frederick. (It's like 17 miles VS 5 miles.) This particular one has THE worst parking EVER and the customers are disgusting. The employees all speak English as their 2nd language and they simply do not understand what customer service IS. The language issues can be very frustrating at times and I would never, ever, EVER make a major purchase at this particular store. In fact, we purchased new patio furniture earlier this year & I went to the further store because everybody speaks English, they have a lot of available parking and their customer service is AWESOME. It cost us more because we had to rent a large commercial van to get the stuff home and it only got like 5 mpg and it was rented on the clock but it was worth it to be able to communicate with the sales staff. ANYWAY, I have no doubts that the whole thing happened due to incompetent staff at this particular store and I will never buy anything beyond a case of water, jug of Tide & a stack of Dixie plates there again.