Just back--Royal Pacific and Pop Century

[dgaston]

Just got back today from two nights at Royal Pacific and 4 at Pop Century. New experiences for this trip--La Nouba, Segway tour at Epcot, lunch at Chefs de France, and staying at a Value resort.

While the weather was hot, we spaced air-conditioned attractions out (DH actually said"let's go watch the Tiki Birds!") LOL, and we did okwith the heat. We were surprised at how empty Epcot seemed on Saturday, and enight on Friday night--literally walked onto the log at Splash Mt.

Will answer questions and hopefully post a trip report soon.

 

[bjakmom]

Glad you had a great trip ! Were they running 2 segway tours the day you went? I booked my nephews on the 9:30 (2nd) tour in 2 weeks and am curious about which hour they spend in WS and whether they are still touring once WS opens at 11:00. How did you like the tour?

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Glad you had a great time! How was the restricted FOTL at Universal? How did you like the Segway tour? My DH and I might go to WDW sans children in October and want to do the tour.

T&B

 

[stinkerbelle]

My DH changed our september WDW trip to include 2 nights at the Royal Pacifc complete with US/IOA annual passes...so I would LOVE to hear what you have to say about the hotel!

I already made him make a PS for Margaritaville! heheheh

 

[dgaston]

Royal Pacific: Absolutely wonderful. We had a king bed room on the the 7th floor, Tower 1, with a theme park view of Hulk, Dr. Doom, and in the distance Dueling Dragons. Spectacular. The pool is not deep--great for preteens and teens, but hard to swim laps in. We didn't use any of the hotel restaurants. I'm just hoping some of my pictures of the lobby and other landscaping turn out. Boat transportation to City Walk was wonderful--but you have to finish drinks before you leave via the pathway we found out when I just had ordered a margarita from Margaritaville and had to finish it before we could walk back to RPH. Can you say "freeze headache?"

The FOTL access allowed us to do everything we wanted--even riding Hulk extra times, and Mummy etc. With Mummy you could go once in a two hour period, but after 3pm it was wide open. I think we'll always stay on-property just for this benefit.

Look for the Happy Hours at Universal/IOA and City Walk. They are not the same! On our trip, Happy hour in the parks was 4 to 7, and in City Walk was from 1 to 5. We were always in the wrong place! LOL!

The Segway tour was more fun than I expected. I was worried I'd have trouble manuvering (sp), but there was someone else on our tour who rode into the trash can and had trouble with curbs. The first hour is spent developing "Segway skills"--snaking through cones, quick stops, riding up and down hills, etc. so even with the later tour I don't think they will get to the Showcase until about 10:30. There were 6 people on our early tour, and only 4 on the 9:30 on August 4th. We've done some other Backstage tours and this is my DH's absolute favorite. Plus the pin is way cool! It just made us wish we had them whenever we were back in Epcot. Sure makes getting around easier. If you are interested in a tour, I'd book ASAP.

 

[stinkerbelle]

thanks for sharing Debbie! I appreciate it!

 

[msr709]

If you don't mind my asking, what is the cost of the Segway tour?

 

[bjakmom]

msr709 - the cost of the tour is $80.00 - with 15% discount for DVC, Disney Visa and (I believe) APH it came to $68.00 each.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Thanks for the info! Glad you liked Royal Pacific--it really is a nice resort.

The Segway tour sounds fun and I hope there is space available once we figure out if and when we are going.

T&B