I faxed my list of room requests to RPR on Tues. 3/8. When we arrived on Fri. 3/11 I was very happily surprised to be told that I could have one of those rooms, but since it wasn't ready yet they couldn't tell me which one. We left our luggage and headed for the parks. We grabbed some lunch (good chicken caesar wraps) at a stand right near the bridge to IOA and headed inside. We spent the afternoon at IOA where my husband (H), 14 y.o son (S14) and 11 y.o. daughter (D11) had a great time on Hulk, Spiderman and Dr. Doom. The Hulk was their favorite ride at IOA. I don't do rides but had a nice time soaking up the sun and warm weather, people watching and studying the park map. Our room keys worked wonders in the Express Line. Very cool not to have to wait in long lines! H and I would agree throughout the trip that it was more than worth the price of the hotel to have this perk ($234 per night). I personally would never do these parks w/o it. Stand in line for 30 or 45 minutes for a 2 minute ride? IMHO that's far more ridiculous than paying the hotel rate we paid!
It was after 4 pm when we headed back to RPR. I was thrilled to be told that our room was 1733...my first choice! I was so happy I forgot to ask about a free upgrade in rooms. 1733 has an incredicle view of the parks and you can hear a muffled Hulk roaring (but not at all loud enough to be annoying). This room is on the top floor at the end of the hall, with the stairway door right outside your door. Since most people use the elevators there was no traffic going past our door at all. This was the first time in my life that I didn't hear any other hotel guests when we were in our room. Quiet! Also, it was the first time I ever slept well in a hotel bed (I don't sleep well away from home). I think it was also the cleanest hotel room I've ever had. Very nice!
The staff was very courteous and accomodating throughout our stay. I had to call down later that evening to request the cookies and milk we were supposed to have gotten upon our arrival, but it was sent up within the hour. Also, everyone seemed to be getting the New York Times, although we'd requested USA Today. We didn't feel it was a big enough deal to complain about though, so we let it slide. When we checked in I requested an extra set of sheets be sent up b/c one of my kids slept on the floor, and it was sent up very quickly. Although housekeeping kept taking it and not leaving a replacement, when I called to ask for another one it was always sent up quickly. My H gets up very very early in the morning and enjoyed being able to go sit in the beautiful Orchid Lounge, read his newspaper and have coffee after his morning run until the rest of us woke up.
The next morning we headed over to US bright and early. During our stay we alternated between walking and taking the water taxi. Walking was faster but sometimes we just wanted to ride the boat and give our feet a break. Going down the stairs right outside our room brought us to the walking path, so we'd either walk right to the parks or go the other way on the path, the pool right around the corner (convenient), a very short walk to the water taxi dock and ride that over. Our room was farthest from the elevators but it didn't bother any of us. It wasn't that long of a walk from the elevator back to our room, the hotel corridors aren't very long.
At US my family's favorite ride was Dueling Dragon. We also thought the Horror Makeup Show was great. The wait for Shrek was usually between 20 and 45 min and no Express passes. But we got in twice without much wait, once first thing in the morning and once at night on our way out. My S14 thought Back to the Future was stupid but my D11 liked it. I rode MIB once but when my S14 pressed the red button at the end, the spin did me in and I didn't ride it again. I had printed out the notes from these message boards about all the secrets and ways to get high scores but we never ended up reading them (kept forgetting, not that important to us I guess). ET was closed for maintenance our first day there and I was disappointed b/c it seemed to be one of the only rides I could go on. But the second day it was open and my S14 was surprised to find that he thought it was actually better than Back to the Future. They gave me a bad time about not even going on the Flying Unicorn next to Dueling Dragons, until they went on it! For a roller coaster that looks like it's for little kids, they had a fun ride. They agreed after riding it that it wasn't for me! We were disappointed that we couldn't ride the Pteranodon Flyers in Jurassic Park b/c it looked sort of cool (adults can only ride if you have a child with you who's under a certain height and my D11 was too big). Also I recommend going over to the talking wishing well in the Lost Continent at US. We only discovered it on our way out on our last day and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their conversation with "Bob" (the well). It was very funny! They would've enjoyed talking to him every day had we stopped by him sooner. We had fun exploring the parks at night. They have a different feel in the dark. Note to those of you who've never been there: the parks open between 15 and 30 min. before opening time and close 30-60 min. after closing time.
The weather we had was ideal for us...mid to high 70's and sunny. Our last 2 days were cloudy and one of the days it rained a bit. We enjoyed the RPR pool immensely. We spent each day from 8am to 2pm at the parks (approx) and the rest of the day at the pool, then back to the parks in the evening. On Sat and Sun it was harder to find chairs around the pool (but we did), but there were plenty to go around on the weekdays. The pool was never crowded and we enjoyed playing basketball and volleyball in the water. My H was a bit disappointed to find out that RPR no longer has a putting green as was stated in the Universal book we read before our trip.
We ate dinner at NBA City (good food and service), Hard Rock Cafe (very good food and service), Jake's Bar and Grill at RPR (great ribs and great service) and Nascar (good food but slow service), Margaritaville (very good food and service). We lunched at Quint's Seafood in Amity by Jaws in US (very expensive and not very good food), Animal Crackers by ET in US (much better chicken strips than Quints and not as expensive), a 1950's-type diner across the street from the Makeup Horror Show, don't recall the name (good food) and a place in Citywalk right by the escalator (Marketplace?) that served pizza and foccacia sandwiches (thumbs down on both food and service).
We had a great experience overall and would definitely choose RPR if we go to Universal Studios again. We probably wouldn't get a 5 day park pass next time, though. Two or 3 days of going on all the rides they liked would be enough for my kids. Because of using Express pass we rode on everything very quickly without ever waiting very long, so they rode many, many times during a single day. By the 4th day my S14 was much less enthusiastic about riding the same rides over and over again.
One last recommendation and this is a biggie IMO: getting to and from the airport. Instead of using the Mears Shuttle I recommend hiring a private driver before you go from taxi-mco.com or http://taxi-mco.com/Pages/Drivers Listed Alphabetically.htm
You can choose your driver from those listed at the above site and have personal service for the same price or less than Mears. We chose Ed Korgan and he was wonderful! He met us in the airport at the baggage claim, took us right out to his very clean and comfortable Chevy Suburban SUV, brought us to the grocery store so we could stock up on cheap snacks and breakfast items to last our whole stay, delivered us right to RPR, then was there to pick us up the morning of our departure. He and I emailed beforehand to set everything up and he even called me to confirm everything before our trip. He was VERY nice, friendly and helpful. My kids really liked him and asked that we hire him again next time we go to FL. I HIGHLY recommend the taxi-MCO service!
It was after 4 pm when we headed back to RPR. I was thrilled to be told that our room was 1733...my first choice! I was so happy I forgot to ask about a free upgrade in rooms. 1733 has an incredicle view of the parks and you can hear a muffled Hulk roaring (but not at all loud enough to be annoying). This room is on the top floor at the end of the hall, with the stairway door right outside your door. Since most people use the elevators there was no traffic going past our door at all. This was the first time in my life that I didn't hear any other hotel guests when we were in our room. Quiet! Also, it was the first time I ever slept well in a hotel bed (I don't sleep well away from home). I think it was also the cleanest hotel room I've ever had. Very nice!
The staff was very courteous and accomodating throughout our stay. I had to call down later that evening to request the cookies and milk we were supposed to have gotten upon our arrival, but it was sent up within the hour. Also, everyone seemed to be getting the New York Times, although we'd requested USA Today. We didn't feel it was a big enough deal to complain about though, so we let it slide. When we checked in I requested an extra set of sheets be sent up b/c one of my kids slept on the floor, and it was sent up very quickly. Although housekeeping kept taking it and not leaving a replacement, when I called to ask for another one it was always sent up quickly. My H gets up very very early in the morning and enjoyed being able to go sit in the beautiful Orchid Lounge, read his newspaper and have coffee after his morning run until the rest of us woke up.
The next morning we headed over to US bright and early. During our stay we alternated between walking and taking the water taxi. Walking was faster but sometimes we just wanted to ride the boat and give our feet a break. Going down the stairs right outside our room brought us to the walking path, so we'd either walk right to the parks or go the other way on the path, the pool right around the corner (convenient), a very short walk to the water taxi dock and ride that over. Our room was farthest from the elevators but it didn't bother any of us. It wasn't that long of a walk from the elevator back to our room, the hotel corridors aren't very long.
At US my family's favorite ride was Dueling Dragon. We also thought the Horror Makeup Show was great. The wait for Shrek was usually between 20 and 45 min and no Express passes. But we got in twice without much wait, once first thing in the morning and once at night on our way out. My S14 thought Back to the Future was stupid but my D11 liked it. I rode MIB once but when my S14 pressed the red button at the end, the spin did me in and I didn't ride it again. I had printed out the notes from these message boards about all the secrets and ways to get high scores but we never ended up reading them (kept forgetting, not that important to us I guess). ET was closed for maintenance our first day there and I was disappointed b/c it seemed to be one of the only rides I could go on. But the second day it was open and my S14 was surprised to find that he thought it was actually better than Back to the Future. They gave me a bad time about not even going on the Flying Unicorn next to Dueling Dragons, until they went on it! For a roller coaster that looks like it's for little kids, they had a fun ride. They agreed after riding it that it wasn't for me! We were disappointed that we couldn't ride the Pteranodon Flyers in Jurassic Park b/c it looked sort of cool (adults can only ride if you have a child with you who's under a certain height and my D11 was too big). Also I recommend going over to the talking wishing well in the Lost Continent at US. We only discovered it on our way out on our last day and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their conversation with "Bob" (the well). It was very funny! They would've enjoyed talking to him every day had we stopped by him sooner. We had fun exploring the parks at night. They have a different feel in the dark. Note to those of you who've never been there: the parks open between 15 and 30 min. before opening time and close 30-60 min. after closing time.
The weather we had was ideal for us...mid to high 70's and sunny. Our last 2 days were cloudy and one of the days it rained a bit. We enjoyed the RPR pool immensely. We spent each day from 8am to 2pm at the parks (approx) and the rest of the day at the pool, then back to the parks in the evening. On Sat and Sun it was harder to find chairs around the pool (but we did), but there were plenty to go around on the weekdays. The pool was never crowded and we enjoyed playing basketball and volleyball in the water. My H was a bit disappointed to find out that RPR no longer has a putting green as was stated in the Universal book we read before our trip.
We ate dinner at NBA City (good food and service), Hard Rock Cafe (very good food and service), Jake's Bar and Grill at RPR (great ribs and great service) and Nascar (good food but slow service), Margaritaville (very good food and service). We lunched at Quint's Seafood in Amity by Jaws in US (very expensive and not very good food), Animal Crackers by ET in US (much better chicken strips than Quints and not as expensive), a 1950's-type diner across the street from the Makeup Horror Show, don't recall the name (good food) and a place in Citywalk right by the escalator (Marketplace?) that served pizza and foccacia sandwiches (thumbs down on both food and service).
We had a great experience overall and would definitely choose RPR if we go to Universal Studios again. We probably wouldn't get a 5 day park pass next time, though. Two or 3 days of going on all the rides they liked would be enough for my kids. Because of using Express pass we rode on everything very quickly without ever waiting very long, so they rode many, many times during a single day. By the 4th day my S14 was much less enthusiastic about riding the same rides over and over again.
One last recommendation and this is a biggie IMO: getting to and from the airport. Instead of using the Mears Shuttle I recommend hiring a private driver before you go from taxi-mco.com or http://taxi-mco.com/Pages/Drivers Listed Alphabetically.htm
You can choose your driver from those listed at the above site and have personal service for the same price or less than Mears. We chose Ed Korgan and he was wonderful! He met us in the airport at the baggage claim, took us right out to his very clean and comfortable Chevy Suburban SUV, brought us to the grocery store so we could stock up on cheap snacks and breakfast items to last our whole stay, delivered us right to RPR, then was there to pick us up the morning of our departure. He and I emailed beforehand to set everything up and he even called me to confirm everything before our trip. He was VERY nice, friendly and helpful. My kids really liked him and asked that we hire him again next time we go to FL. I HIGHLY recommend the taxi-MCO service!
