Live from Disney! (with pics)

[Timon]

Okay, sounds like you guys like the live stuff as much as me so I will continue....

First to answer the question from wilma-bride. The Renaissance was nice, the atrium was gorgeous and the room was nice, not really that big I would say but not small either. Can't beat the location if you are going to do Seaworld or Discovery Cove. It was $162 for a regular room or $183 for club level so we went with the club level. Breakfast was good with lots of fruit but slim or yucky choices the other times we were in there.

Okay, for the trip report...

We slept in a bit today and around 10 am Rob got some breakfast at the club room and then we walked across the street to Seaworld. The place was a freaking ZOO! There were so many people there!

I am glad we did some stuff yesterday and today we only wanted to see Shamu and the Dolphin show.

We were late for the Shamu show and only saw half of it but it was very enjoyable! Then we saw Blue Horizons Dolphin show which we loved so much!

Thankfully we were leaving the park to get the car and drive to Universal to check in at the Royal Pacific Resort. This is our first time staying onsite and the LAST time we ever stay off site!

This is an absolutely GORGEOUS hotel!!! Our room wasn't ready so we took the water taxi to IOA and got our Power Annual Passes.

We spent the next 2 hours walking around and taping mostly. We stopped by Spiderman to check out the line and it said 30 mins but it was a walk on with the Express (what a GREAT perk for staying onsite! ) so we got in line. We always love spidey but there were two small girls in front of us who screamed bloody murder the WHOLE ride, which kinda ruined it since we were so worried about them.

Went to Blondies to eat some Dagwoods. THey weren't as good as usual and they changed the potato salad on us

We walked around the whole park and then walked over to Universal to ride The Mummy for the first time.

Okay, all I can say is WOW WOW WOW!!! We LOVED this ride!!

It was so awesome, we went on twice! Wait time posted was 20 mins but with that great little room key, we basically walked on, twice!

It was hot today, about 91 degrees and no rain and REALLY humid and I don't take the heat well so by now I was so HOT! I got a virgin Strawberry Daquiri at Margaritaville and then we walked back to the RPR.

We got our room number and checked it out. We got a great AAA rate for a king suite and it was amazing I tell ya!! I still can't believe we are here!!!

If you can, you have to save up and stay at this resort!! I have to say I think it is the best hotel and room I have ever stayed in!!! It is just breathtaking!

Rob got some work done and then we went down to the pool. They were playing a movie on a giant screen at the pool, which was cool!

We relaxed in the hot tub for a bit and then ordered some room service snacks

Up tomorrow is IOA/Universal...stay tuned

 

[Michelle2]

We stayed at the RPR on our last trip while we went to Universal for 4 days, and then switched to the GF for our WDW days, and I loved UO and the RPR just as much! I totally agree about the hotel, and I miss it sooo much! This next time we will not be able to hit Universal at all just a quickie at WDW after our cruise, so I am so sad....Thanks for the pictures and taking the time to fill us in live!
And I agree about the benefits of staying onsite at UO. We have never stayed offsite, and never will either!

 

[daisylove]

More please. This is great. Thanks!

 

[tinknme]

Love your reports with the pictures! Can't wait to see & hear more

 

[wirki]

I love the live reports!! Thanks for taking time out to share.
Can't wait for more

Debbie

 

[kizmac]

Love the report! Can't wait for more pictures! The Royal Pacific looks fabulous! I wish I were there sooooo bad

 

[Lives4Disney]

Wow!! Looks like you are having a FABULOUS time!!

THANKS for taking the time to post your pics and report. I am loving the whole thing! We are planning on trying Universal for the first time for a few days at the start of our kids' spring break. It is nice to see some pics!

Lives4Disney

 

[FINFAN]

I totally agree with the RPR! We stayed there 2 weeks after it opened in '01 at a STEAL of $99 p night! Can you believe it is considered the "value" of the Loews/Universal on site resorts? All the wood carving and the landscaping, garden..just blew us away. The only downside is the expense of the restaurants, bur we just cruised over to Citywalk and ate there most of the time. You can "pool hop" with the other resorts too, HRH has a nice snack bar at thiers and all the palms around the pool....FOTL is the BEST! Kinda hard to wait for a fast pass after that....but I'm sure you'll manage! Our kids are boht finally over 54" and are asking to do a trifecta trip like you, SW, USO and WDW....and then trying to add KSC, which they love. I think we need the lottery and 3 weeks to accomodate all that. Glad you're frequenting Margaritaville...great place to pull up a chair and people watch.
Thanks for taking the time to post...I know it is so hard when trying to enjoy a trip, but it is greatly appreciated. You thought it was just 2 of you traveling, not the whole DISboards! You guys really look like you are enjoying yourselves, that's the best part!


Pam

 

[PooohBear]

Awesome reports and pictures ! I love the live stuff, so thanks so much for sharing !!

 

[Tjaleks]

Great reports. Please keep them coming.

 

[Mermaid02]

This is great fun! If you don't mind taking the time during your vacation- please keep the pics and reports coming! I also have to say what a good sport your husband is!

 

[Nancyg56]

Thanks for the update! Looks like you arehaving so much fun. Keep them coming if you don't mind, as this is great fun.

 

[mickey0216]

Please continue to update this thread...

 

[alwayspooh]

Oh please, oh please I want to go. Please keep them coming, I can't wait to see new pictures.

Have a great time!!

 

[Timon]

Thanks for all your great replies & great feedback. I am happy to return the favour by taking 45 mins of my day to report from Disney, I have read so many other great live reports, I remember when we were 227 days aways from this trip! I will keep them coming every day that I can. There are a couple days that we don't get back to the hotel till late so I won't be posting those nights

Okay...here goes...

We walked over to IOA this morning at 8:45am. Got there just after it opened and stopped in at Croissant Moon for breakfast.

We fell in love with the ham & cheese croissant here in 1999 and have gone there every trip so far. I am so very sad to say that it was terrible! They added egg to it and it was gross! The fruit cup was also yucky!

We walked over to Hulk and threw our stuff in a free locker and rode Hulk twice in a row in the back seat. Posted wait time was 20 mins but we walked on both times!

Went over to Spidey, posted wait time was 30 mins, we walked on again! Gotta love FOTL!! Went to Doom, wait time was 20 mins but again we walked on.

Walked on over to Dueling Dragons but the express line wasn't open. Wait time was about 5-10 mins for the middle row of Fire. What a great coaster! We got back in line and waited 15 mins for front row of Ice. We just love "The Wall" I also used my digital camera on the video setting and got video of this! I will be getting video of Fire when we go back in two weeks after our Disney cruise.

Walked over to Jurassic Park and got soaked! I don't remember getting that wet on that ride ever!!!

Walked over to Croissant Moon again to get Rob some much needed apple pie and chocolate croissant, you'd never know it but Rob is hypoglycemic But he has a HUGE sweet tooth!!!

Walked back over to Dudley's and saw the posted wait time was 30 mins so we figured maybe 10 mins for Express right??? WRONG!!! This was the worst express queue! It took us 37 mins with express!! Holy lines Batman!!!

By the time we got off the ride dripping of water, the wait time was 90 minutes!!!

We were going to go over to Universal but my back was too sore. I have a birth defect and get major lower back pain (hmmm I know, I know...I can hear you all now..."hmm Cass, maybe you should perhaps STOP DOING THE COASTERS!!!" But I can't help myself around a great coaster

Soooo...we got Rob an ice cream (I know, I know...you can hear me all the way from IOA trying to pull him away from the ice cream)

We split a hot dog and then walked back to the resort...oh...well...maybe, perhaps I made a slight pit stop at Margaritaville first.

We rested for about 45 mins then we hopped in the car to drive to that great new Walmart on the 535!!!

Okay, so Rob is the shopper of the family (his family will attest to that even as Rob is PROTESTING that fact) and he likes to spend money on nice things, he likes the best of the best. But I grew up differently and I am very..umm...well...thrifty I guess is a word I can use (use your own word if you like) so...Walmart is my kind of store!!! I walked in, saw all the (cheap!) Disney stuff and then proceeded immediately to get a cart

With Rob shaking his head at my big pile of clothes in the cart, we left to go to the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlet for him. He only likes Reebok shoes and in Calgary when you go into a shoe store, there's only about 2-3 Reeboks and they are always butt-ugly! So everytime we come to Florida he gets new Reeboks. So I popped into the Character Outlet, the Old Navy outlet and the HRC outlet while he picked out his shoes.

By the time I met him at Reebok, he had bought 3 pairs of Reeboks!!! I told ya he was the shopper in the family! I did manage to save $10 with the online coupon I printed out from the Factory website! Nice and handy to know!



We drove back to RPR, but it took awhile. Silly us forgot that Halloween Horror Nights just started at IOA and there were a few vehicles trying to get there.

We made it back and ordered some chicken fingers and watched the rest of the movie we started on the plane. How cool is it to have a DVD player in your room!!! We are spoiled!

Ran down to the hot tub at 8:45 (pool closes at 9) and massaged my back with those heavenly jets

Need to get some zzzz's now as we have an early day tomorrow!

Tune in tomorrow for...

Checking in at the Beach Club Villas..
The mad dash to Animal Kingdom for opening (Ha! Remember I said that tomorrow)
The journey from MGM for Fantasmic to Epcot for Illuminations and back to MGM for EMH all in a single bound (and with back and foot aches!)

goodnight DISers

oh..here's a pic of all the loot we came back with from this evening's shopping excursion:

 

[DisneyDame]

I'm loving your live reports!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to post!!!

 

[vfb2girls]

Love your report, especially about staying at RPH. We are staying there in March and it sounds and looks like a nice hotel. Plus the front of the line pass will be so cool! One question on the room, you said it was a king suite, what was the room size? Is it worth the extra money to spend on a suite or should we just stick to a regular king room?

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Your pictures are so great! I especially love the ALEVE in the "loot" picture. Thanks for taking the time to post!

 

[Dopey'sGirl]

Hi Cass!!!!!!

It's me Jenn! I finally joined up Dunno if I'm posting right, but I'll figure it out sooner or later lol. Love the pics! I am sooooooo jealous! Have an awesome trip guys! I can't wait to get together when you get back to hear all about it! Say Hi to Rob for me too!

Hugs!
Jenn

 

[bytheblood]

thanks for sharing.