nkereina
Last chance to lose your keys.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
- Messages
- 21,037
Just back last night from 6 days at WDW followed by 3 days at Universal. Sad to be back! 
It was DH and I, late 20s, Disney vets but first time doing Universal.
We left CBR at Disney around 5pm on Wednesday and caught a cab to RPR. We had a king room, and got our request of Tower 3 on the 5th floor. Good location, although come to find out, the resort was actually smaller than I anticipated so any location would have been a good one.
Wednesday night we took the walking path over to City Walk. Had dinner at Red Oven Pizza - very good, but it is quick service. Walked around a bit and picked up Cinnabon for breakfast the next morning. In all honesty, I was a bit disappointed by City Walk. Smaller than I thought it would be and since we aren't into bars or nightlife, that left little for us to do or walk around.
Thursday morning we were up bright and early for EE at US. Got there around 7:30 and they let us in around 7:45-7:50. The ticket entry and fingerprint process is a tedious one and I thought it took a while to let people in. Our fingerprints only worked on the first try about 50% of the time.
We headed straight back to Diagon Alley and when we rounded that brick facade, it took our breath away! So amazing. Straight to Gringotts with a posted 10 minute wait, but it was basically walk-on. Very cool ride. Got a cold butterbeer after we got off (yum!) and bought a wand from Ollivander's. Had fish & chips for lunch at Leaky Cauldron. It was good but we found the portions to be small. I tried a Lemon Squash here which was just ok.
We then proceeded over to MIB and Simpson's area. The Simpson's Ride was fun, and we split a giant pink donut. Very good!
Then made our way around the rest of the park. Rip Ride Rockit - that first part where they lift you straight up the hill was intense! Unfortunately our ride video wasn't working, and neither was the songs in our car. The ride was silent, which was disappointing. The Mummy ride ended up being one of our favorites as well. Disaster was surprisingly cute too. Thought Despicable Me wasn't worth the wait time if you didn't have Express Pass.
Had dinner Thursday night at Antojitos in City Walk. Cool place, really good food. Had dessert at Menchie's, which I didn't think was as nice as the one we have back home. Did some shopping at Billabong.
Friday morning we got to IOA just as they were opening around 9am. Straight to Forbidden Journey with no wait. We agreed we like Diagon Alley better as an area, but Forbidden Journey is a better ride than Gringott's. Would like to see more rides or attractions in Diagon Alley. Did all the attractions in this area, and also tried a hot butterbeer which was amazing! We had previously tried cold, frozen and ice cream and the hot one was our favorite. Had lunch at Three Broomsticks - I had the fish & chips again and DH had the ribs. They were really promoting the Universal Studios QS dining plan here - a woman was handing out info in line, and the cashier pushed it again. It was the same price and gave us two more beverages and a snack to use later, so we did it. It was annoying that the fizzy orange juice and butterbeer were considered snacks and not beverages, though.
The rest of the park didn't take us much time as two adults, frankly. Didn't spend much time in Seuss Land. Disappointed in Dr. Doom - couldn't believe how short it was! Hulk was fun but I got shooting pains through my head while on it. Maybe from the pressure? Did Jurassic Park and Ripsaw Falls last later in the day - got drenched on both! Fun rides though.
When we were done at IOA, we rode Hogwart's Express over to US and had dinner at Mel's. Very good. Also caught the Cinematic Spectacular and parade at US. Both were cute, but not worth going out of your way for. Stopped at Cold Stone in City Walk on the way back to the hotel.
Saturday was our last day but we didn't have to head to the airport until 6pm. We did the breakfast buffet at the Islands Dining Room at RPR which was pretty good. Got to IOA around 9:30 to repeat our favorite rides. Waited about 30 mins for Forbidden Journey and while waiting, it went down for about 10 minutes. Hopped over to US later and waited a good 30 minutes in single rider line at Gringotts before it went down for a good 15-20 minutes. Had QS lunch at City Walk, and then decided to take the water taxi to Portofino Bay to check it out. Nice resort, but we actually preferred RPR. Especially since it's cheaper.
We enjoyed RPR and would definitely stay again. Used the pool once - very nice area. The walking path was a breeze - only used the water taxi once just to say we did it. We started to walk the bridge/path over to Cabana Bay but turned back because it looked to be quite a distance.
Overall, we had a great stay. Would do a split stay again but next time, might only do 2 days/1 night at Universal. We were a little bored by the afternoon of day 3, and always in our room by 9pm each night. Wish the parks were open later!
It was DH and I, late 20s, Disney vets but first time doing Universal.We left CBR at Disney around 5pm on Wednesday and caught a cab to RPR. We had a king room, and got our request of Tower 3 on the 5th floor. Good location, although come to find out, the resort was actually smaller than I anticipated so any location would have been a good one.
Wednesday night we took the walking path over to City Walk. Had dinner at Red Oven Pizza - very good, but it is quick service. Walked around a bit and picked up Cinnabon for breakfast the next morning. In all honesty, I was a bit disappointed by City Walk. Smaller than I thought it would be and since we aren't into bars or nightlife, that left little for us to do or walk around.
Thursday morning we were up bright and early for EE at US. Got there around 7:30 and they let us in around 7:45-7:50. The ticket entry and fingerprint process is a tedious one and I thought it took a while to let people in. Our fingerprints only worked on the first try about 50% of the time.
We headed straight back to Diagon Alley and when we rounded that brick facade, it took our breath away! So amazing. Straight to Gringotts with a posted 10 minute wait, but it was basically walk-on. Very cool ride. Got a cold butterbeer after we got off (yum!) and bought a wand from Ollivander's. Had fish & chips for lunch at Leaky Cauldron. It was good but we found the portions to be small. I tried a Lemon Squash here which was just ok.
We then proceeded over to MIB and Simpson's area. The Simpson's Ride was fun, and we split a giant pink donut. Very good!
Then made our way around the rest of the park. Rip Ride Rockit - that first part where they lift you straight up the hill was intense! Unfortunately our ride video wasn't working, and neither was the songs in our car. The ride was silent, which was disappointing. The Mummy ride ended up being one of our favorites as well. Disaster was surprisingly cute too. Thought Despicable Me wasn't worth the wait time if you didn't have Express Pass.
Had dinner Thursday night at Antojitos in City Walk. Cool place, really good food. Had dessert at Menchie's, which I didn't think was as nice as the one we have back home. Did some shopping at Billabong.
Friday morning we got to IOA just as they were opening around 9am. Straight to Forbidden Journey with no wait. We agreed we like Diagon Alley better as an area, but Forbidden Journey is a better ride than Gringott's. Would like to see more rides or attractions in Diagon Alley. Did all the attractions in this area, and also tried a hot butterbeer which was amazing! We had previously tried cold, frozen and ice cream and the hot one was our favorite. Had lunch at Three Broomsticks - I had the fish & chips again and DH had the ribs. They were really promoting the Universal Studios QS dining plan here - a woman was handing out info in line, and the cashier pushed it again. It was the same price and gave us two more beverages and a snack to use later, so we did it. It was annoying that the fizzy orange juice and butterbeer were considered snacks and not beverages, though.
The rest of the park didn't take us much time as two adults, frankly. Didn't spend much time in Seuss Land. Disappointed in Dr. Doom - couldn't believe how short it was! Hulk was fun but I got shooting pains through my head while on it. Maybe from the pressure? Did Jurassic Park and Ripsaw Falls last later in the day - got drenched on both! Fun rides though.
When we were done at IOA, we rode Hogwart's Express over to US and had dinner at Mel's. Very good. Also caught the Cinematic Spectacular and parade at US. Both were cute, but not worth going out of your way for. Stopped at Cold Stone in City Walk on the way back to the hotel.
Saturday was our last day but we didn't have to head to the airport until 6pm. We did the breakfast buffet at the Islands Dining Room at RPR which was pretty good. Got to IOA around 9:30 to repeat our favorite rides. Waited about 30 mins for Forbidden Journey and while waiting, it went down for about 10 minutes. Hopped over to US later and waited a good 30 minutes in single rider line at Gringotts before it went down for a good 15-20 minutes. Had QS lunch at City Walk, and then decided to take the water taxi to Portofino Bay to check it out. Nice resort, but we actually preferred RPR. Especially since it's cheaper.
We enjoyed RPR and would definitely stay again. Used the pool once - very nice area. The walking path was a breeze - only used the water taxi once just to say we did it. We started to walk the bridge/path over to Cabana Bay but turned back because it looked to be quite a distance.
Overall, we had a great stay. Would do a split stay again but next time, might only do 2 days/1 night at Universal. We were a little bored by the afternoon of day 3, and always in our room by 9pm each night. Wish the parks were open later!
We didn't spend much time at Citywalk when we went but we had our kids with us. I do like that there are so many food options right there though... if there isn't anything in the parks that strikes your fancy. I wouldn't mind trying out the mini golf sometime!
