shh
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2013
- Messages
- 2,008
I'm not really a detailed 20-page TR person myself, although I adore reading others. But I'd be seriously remiss if I didn't come back to thank all the regulars who answered questions (probably for the millionth time) and shared their tips/advice, as well as to relay a bit of our wonderful Universal trip.
DH and I haven't been to Uni in years – the last time was for HHN primarily: they just built the 1st HP area and I hadn’t read the books nor seen the movies. Or been on any of the newer stuff. Being the psychotic overplanner that I am, this time, I streamed all 7 movies over the past couple of months – I read dozens of trip reports. I subscribed to every Uni post. I was primed and ready, baby!
This was a very short trip – up early Saturday morning, back late Mon afternoon. I was so tempted to lengthen it, but we only live a 3 hour drive from the parks and do at least 4-5 getaways per year. Living where we do, we can drive to cruise ports, the keys, Orlando all within a few hours or less – so we do long weekend getaways throughout the year and lately, one 7-10 day cruise/year. (Now, thanks to SchumiGirl’s TR, we’ll be adding another uni/HHN visit in Sept/Oct. I really have to stop reading TRs.)
If I could swing it, I'd get away even more, but with two cats who get quite irate at their staff’s abandonment and as a self-employed soul who doesn’t get paid for any vacation days, I have to act like a responsible adult at least some of the time.
However, fear not, we packed a TON of fun into those 2.5 days!
And for the most part, everything went well thanks to the help of this forum. Rather than a play by play, my overall impressions in case they help anyone:
· Royal Pacific is an amazing hotel – keep in mind I usually do values at Disney and holiday inn expresses so I’m easier to impress than someone frequenting the Four Seasons
. But I just don’t see the merit in dropping a lot on accommodations at WDW or on active getaways where I’m out of the room most of the time. If we only did 1 big trip a year, it would be different. I do splurge on rooms at beautiful destinations or go for a balcony cabin on cruises.
But OMG –RPR is well worth every penny. The ability to walk to the parks and CityWalk empowered us to do and see more in 2.5 days than we do in 4-5 days at WDW. The staff was wonderful, everything was beautiful. I went in saying I was only going to splurge this one time because it was such a short stay and would do offsite or CB next time. Now I don’t think I could stay anywhere else…darn it.
(Warning to other Uni resort newbies: if you don’t want to get hooked on Uni’s signature resorts – DON’T STAY THERE EVEN ONCE. ) And honestly, it was very reasonably priced if you can catch a Fla resident or AP rate. For short trips, time is far more valuable to me than money and it was heaven not to deal with the hassles of parking and longer security lines in the main areas.
· LOVED HP – the movies, the park areas, everything. Spent so much time here just wandering and soaking in the atmosphere. (In case anyone is wondering, frozen butterbeer with a shot of cinnamon whiskey is BRILLIANT. Even at 10am. Nope. I am not embarrassed by that. Well…maybe a little.)
· Did all the thrill rides (the wilder, the better for me) and even my DH (with help of the seasickness patch) was actually able to do Forbidden Journey – which I wasn’t sure he could do. He still felt a tiny bit dizzy/headachy and wasn't 100% sure he'd do it again, but was very glad he was able to ride once just to experience that amazing technology. He loved it. I rode it 4 times. LOL. Gringott’s didn’t bother him a bit – and was another favorite. He doesn’t really like coasters, but can do some of the easier simulation rides like Spiderman and can do stuff like thunder and splash at WDW, so not everything is off limits.
· Mardi Gras parade was a blast
– we were in it - threw beads from the float on opening night and had so much fun being part of the parade. Actually saw ourselves on a Youtube video today which was so cool. We both agreed we’d love to do that again next year. I didn’t really see the live Cajun bands they advertised would be throughout the area– don’t know if our timing was off – I love the music, so was hoping to see that.
· I’m a huge country music fan –yup sorry to all the C&W haters LOL
– definitely enjoyed the Trace Adkins concert. He did a great job. The park was deserted after the concert – so neat to walk the quiet streets on the way out and take pics.
· Hard to believe in just 2.5 days, we had plenty of time to ride what we wanted, do what we wanted – it was the anti-Disney in terms of access and freedom – thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Express Pass.
· Now I adore WDW – we were engaged and married there and go every year at Christmas to celebrate our anniversary - but I have a new appreciation for all that Uni offers now too. There was a freshness, an excitement to the trip vs Disney where attractions close quickly, but every little upgrade or addition takes soooo long to finish that it feels a bit anti-climatic when it finally opens. (Looking at you Rivers of Light.)
· We’ve been to Citywalk several times and always enjoy it– this time we dined at Margaritaville – tried their margarita flight – yum! Also tried a new place – Antojitos – a Mexican restaurant. We were very happy with the food there– we’ll be back.
· I had a power pass someone gave me as a gift a few years back and I bought my husband a 2 day, 2 park tic from AAA so he could get in on a concert night. We waited until Sunday to upgrade to a seasonal inside the park with no problems – paid the $5 diff for a Fla seasonal pass. (Hint for Florida residents – if you know you’re going to upgrade to a pass, buy the non-resident tickets from UT, AAA or wherever vs buying a Fla resident park ticket– there’s usually a fairly good discount off gate price and the non-resident tics are worth more when upgrading to a pass. You have to do the math but it worked out better for us. I drove myself crazy trying to figure this out beforehand – so hoping it’ll save others some time.)
If I can answer any questions, I’d be glad to – although there are so many others with more Uni experience than me. On the WDW side, I can answer anything LOL.
Thank you again to everyone who generously shared your advice! I’ll be waiting for that resident or AP rate to book our Sept/Oct trip
and continuing to enjoy everyone’s TRs in the meantime. We have a cruise in April and a Keys trip sometime this summer I’m looking fwd to, but my heart is still firmly in Orlando!
DH and I haven't been to Uni in years – the last time was for HHN primarily: they just built the 1st HP area and I hadn’t read the books nor seen the movies. Or been on any of the newer stuff. Being the psychotic overplanner that I am, this time, I streamed all 7 movies over the past couple of months – I read dozens of trip reports. I subscribed to every Uni post. I was primed and ready, baby!
This was a very short trip – up early Saturday morning, back late Mon afternoon. I was so tempted to lengthen it, but we only live a 3 hour drive from the parks and do at least 4-5 getaways per year. Living where we do, we can drive to cruise ports, the keys, Orlando all within a few hours or less – so we do long weekend getaways throughout the year and lately, one 7-10 day cruise/year. (Now, thanks to SchumiGirl’s TR, we’ll be adding another uni/HHN visit in Sept/Oct. I really have to stop reading TRs.)
If I could swing it, I'd get away even more, but with two cats who get quite irate at their staff’s abandonment and as a self-employed soul who doesn’t get paid for any vacation days, I have to act like a responsible adult at least some of the time.
However, fear not, we packed a TON of fun into those 2.5 days!
And for the most part, everything went well thanks to the help of this forum. Rather than a play by play, my overall impressions in case they help anyone:· Royal Pacific is an amazing hotel – keep in mind I usually do values at Disney and holiday inn expresses so I’m easier to impress than someone frequenting the Four Seasons
. But I just don’t see the merit in dropping a lot on accommodations at WDW or on active getaways where I’m out of the room most of the time. If we only did 1 big trip a year, it would be different. I do splurge on rooms at beautiful destinations or go for a balcony cabin on cruises.But OMG –RPR is well worth every penny. The ability to walk to the parks and CityWalk empowered us to do and see more in 2.5 days than we do in 4-5 days at WDW. The staff was wonderful, everything was beautiful. I went in saying I was only going to splurge this one time because it was such a short stay and would do offsite or CB next time. Now I don’t think I could stay anywhere else…darn it.
(Warning to other Uni resort newbies: if you don’t want to get hooked on Uni’s signature resorts – DON’T STAY THERE EVEN ONCE. ) And honestly, it was very reasonably priced if you can catch a Fla resident or AP rate. For short trips, time is far more valuable to me than money and it was heaven not to deal with the hassles of parking and longer security lines in the main areas.
· LOVED HP – the movies, the park areas, everything. Spent so much time here just wandering and soaking in the atmosphere. (In case anyone is wondering, frozen butterbeer with a shot of cinnamon whiskey is BRILLIANT. Even at 10am. Nope. I am not embarrassed by that. Well…maybe a little.)
· Did all the thrill rides (the wilder, the better for me) and even my DH (with help of the seasickness patch) was actually able to do Forbidden Journey – which I wasn’t sure he could do. He still felt a tiny bit dizzy/headachy and wasn't 100% sure he'd do it again, but was very glad he was able to ride once just to experience that amazing technology. He loved it. I rode it 4 times. LOL. Gringott’s didn’t bother him a bit – and was another favorite. He doesn’t really like coasters, but can do some of the easier simulation rides like Spiderman and can do stuff like thunder and splash at WDW, so not everything is off limits.
· Mardi Gras parade was a blast
– we were in it - threw beads from the float on opening night and had so much fun being part of the parade. Actually saw ourselves on a Youtube video today which was so cool. We both agreed we’d love to do that again next year. I didn’t really see the live Cajun bands they advertised would be throughout the area– don’t know if our timing was off – I love the music, so was hoping to see that.· I’m a huge country music fan –yup sorry to all the C&W haters LOL
– definitely enjoyed the Trace Adkins concert. He did a great job. The park was deserted after the concert – so neat to walk the quiet streets on the way out and take pics.· Hard to believe in just 2.5 days, we had plenty of time to ride what we wanted, do what we wanted – it was the anti-Disney in terms of access and freedom – thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Express Pass.
· Now I adore WDW – we were engaged and married there and go every year at Christmas to celebrate our anniversary - but I have a new appreciation for all that Uni offers now too. There was a freshness, an excitement to the trip vs Disney where attractions close quickly, but every little upgrade or addition takes soooo long to finish that it feels a bit anti-climatic when it finally opens. (Looking at you Rivers of Light.)
· We’ve been to Citywalk several times and always enjoy it– this time we dined at Margaritaville – tried their margarita flight – yum! Also tried a new place – Antojitos – a Mexican restaurant. We were very happy with the food there– we’ll be back.
· I had a power pass someone gave me as a gift a few years back and I bought my husband a 2 day, 2 park tic from AAA so he could get in on a concert night. We waited until Sunday to upgrade to a seasonal inside the park with no problems – paid the $5 diff for a Fla seasonal pass. (Hint for Florida residents – if you know you’re going to upgrade to a pass, buy the non-resident tickets from UT, AAA or wherever vs buying a Fla resident park ticket– there’s usually a fairly good discount off gate price and the non-resident tics are worth more when upgrading to a pass. You have to do the math but it worked out better for us. I drove myself crazy trying to figure this out beforehand – so hoping it’ll save others some time.)
If I can answer any questions, I’d be glad to – although there are so many others with more Uni experience than me. On the WDW side, I can answer anything LOL.
Thank you again to everyone who generously shared your advice! I’ll be waiting for that resident or AP rate to book our Sept/Oct trip
and continuing to enjoy everyone’s TRs in the meantime. We have a cruise in April and a Keys trip sometime this summer I’m looking fwd to, but my heart is still firmly in Orlando!
Looking at 
