"Look at all these sunny balls!" - WDW/Uni TR Feb 17-26th 2018 (6/18 Wrap-up and DVC review)

[skier_pete]

Welcome, welcome, one and all to our newest Trip Report. Yes, DW and I are travelling on our 15th trip to WDW – and DD15 is along for the ride on her 11th trip. We are very fortunate to be able to travel to WDW roughly once a year – though anyone following along on my PTR knows that with our DVC and AP we have planned 4 trips in a 12 month period – with this being the 2nd. I won’t go into our Disney history at this time, but suffice to say we are amongst the many here who consider it our “happy place”, and our fortunate enough that we can afford to enjoy regular trips down there. Our last trip as a family was October 2016, though in February 2017 we did Universal for the first time.

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What you might learn from this TR:

- Universal vs Disney: Why our family won’t be rushing back to Universal

- Universal on-site vs off-site: Worth it?

- What may be the best restaurant at Universal property.

- Review of Portofino Bay at Universal.

- First stays at Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge – what did we think?

- Deluxe / DVC Resorts ranked – our favorites!

All this and more! Just read on...

 

[skier_pete]

Table of Contents with direct link to pages.

Day 1 - Arrival in Florida and frustration at Universal - LINK

Day 2 - Universal Studios - LINK
Day 2 - Diagon Alley & More - LINK
Day 2 - Toothsome's and Portafino Bay - LINK
Day 2 - Blue Man Group and Mardi Gras Parade - LINK

Day 3 - Hogsmeade and Universal Wrap-up - LINK
Day 3 - Boardwalk Check-in, Hangry attitudes- LINK
Day 3 - Festival of the Arts Broadway Concert and Via Napoli- LINK

Day 4 - Boardwalk + Beaches and Creme - LINK
Day 4 - Hollywood Studios - LINK

Day 5 - Animal Kingdom and the major screw up - LINK
Day 5 - Chefs De France and More EPCOT - LINK

Day 6 - Moving Day, Epcot Flower and Garden, and Wilderness Lodge - LINK
Day 6 - Copper Creek Cabin Tour - LINK
Day 6 - Whispering Canyon Dinner and Happily Ever After - LINK

Day 7 - Tusker House Lunch and more AK - LINK
Day 7 - Pandora and the Safari - LINK

Day 8 - Magic Kingdom - first 6 rides - LINK
Day 8 - Magic Kigndom - last 6 rides - LINK
Day 8 - Wilderness Lodge and Artists Point - LINK

Day 9 - Magic Kingdom in the AM - LINK
Day 9 - Evening at Epcot - LINK

Overall Summary of DVC experiences - LINK

 

[skier_pete]

Day 0 and 1 - it's complicated

Our travel to Florida was a bit convoluted. We have found that while February break in the Northeast makes for a good week to travel to Florida, it makes for an expensive airline ticket out of Buffalo. The alternative – to save significant money – is to fly out of Pittsburgh. While this saves us about $250 a ticket, it does add 4 hours to the travel time. In this case, though we had a flight out on Saturday around 1 PM, we decided to drive down the night before, and do a Park and Stay at a hotel near the airport. This actually made it sort of nice that we had a bit of a lazy morning on Saturday before we had to get to the airport, and we had no issues with our direct flight – and I found we were in Orlando before we knew it.

Oh – and the name of the trip report started right here in Pittsburgh. It dawned cold and clear in Pittsburgh – but when I looked at the phone at the long range forecast for Orlando:

ME: “Look at all the sunny balls!”
DW: “You mean the suns?”
ME: “Right.”
So, a teeny bit of background – last February (2017) we had taken a trip to Florida which was focused on Universal. The trip was fun, but we found that we were not huge Universal fans – though we all love the Harry Potter stuff. At the time, we bought Annual Passes, so that we could use the pass across two trips – that one on Feb 20th – 23rd, this one on Feb 17th to 19th, getting us 7 days out of the AP, which only cost about $40 more than a 4 day pass. The we only needed the seasonal pass at the time, I had upgraded one of the passes to a “Preferred” pass which gave us free parking and 10% discount on merch and dining – an extra $100 at the time, but paid for itself with the parking alone. (We ended up parking for 4 days on it at $20 a day = $80.)

Anyways, a few weeks ago – we received a flyer in the mail about the Mardi Grad celebration at Universal. Reading the fine print we discovered something that did not make us happy – because they have special Mardi Gras concerts on certain nights at Universal Studios, they block out those dates from seasonal passes for Universal Studios ONLY – you can still enter IOA. Well, wouldn’t you know it, two of the three days we were planning to be there were these block out days – meaning two days with no access to one of the two parks. And IOA had a very limited # of rides that DD would ride – she does not like thrill rides. And we were paying a bunch of money for Front of the Line access by staying on-site.

So I called Universal, and they indicated that we could upgrade the two passes to “Power” passes. A $60 plus tax upgrade of two passes – so about $127 in total. This would allow us access to both parks. But we had to do it at the park.
So let’s circle back to our arrival day. We planned on staying off-site at a nearby La Quinta Inn. We weren’t even going to get to the park until 6:30 at night, so I didn’t want to pay all the extra money for Portofino for 2 nights. (Talking $139 a night vs $378 a night.) So we checked into our hotel, and I did a quick scan of the Universal brochure and found that the Hogwarts projection show was at 7:15 PM. (Well, turns out it’s like every 15 minutes all night – but let’s count that as the first misleading piece of information we got.) Since the next night we had Blue Man Group tickets, we decided we would instead go to IOA tonight, and try to upgrade the tickets after seeing the show. So we left the hotel about 6 PM, made our way to the parking structure, through security, and to the front of the park.

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I decide we have time to stop at the gate and upgrade the tickets. Well, the CM at the ticket booth seems a bit confused about it, but she also indicates if we upgrade to a Power Pass, we STILL can’t get into US until after 5 PM. So now I’m confused, but we want to see the projection thing. So we just go into the park.

One interesting thing about Universal or at least IOA – it is EXTREMELY dimly lit at night. Weirdly dim, like the park was closed or something.

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We got to Hogwart’s with a few minutes to spare – just in time to purchase a pair of frozen Butterbeers. DD is very stubborn when it comes to many things – and one is tasting new things. She may be the only child that eats less variety at 15 than when she was 10. But she had decided she would try Butterbeer this trip. While she liked it, she found she only wanted a little bit at a time, so we shared it.

The show was neat – projections on the castle showing all the house colors - but only about 5 minutes long.

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We decided to hop on the flight of the Hyppogriff. Wait times were listed at 15 minutes as we entered, but I don’t think we waited 5 minutes.

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We debated about riding something else, but everyone was getting hungry. We decided to go out into Citywalk for dinner, but not before I enquired some more about the passes. There was a ticket booth at the Hogwarts Express – and it was here I started to get annoyed. I explained our situation again, and this time the Team Members seemed to be a lot more certain – yes, a Power Pass will not get us in the other park, at least not until after 5. However, they said “Wink wink, go talk to guest services and complain, and they will probably take care of you. Wink Wink!” Silly me, I think “Oh like Disney, they want to try and keep the customer happy.”

So we head back to the front gate, and DW and I go into guests services – DD wants nothing to do with the drama. So again, I explain what we want to do, and the Team Member helping us again says – “that’s right – the power pass only works after 5 PM on concert nights – you need to upgrade to the preferred pass.” Well, I tried to be rather nice about it – specifically saying I was not mad at the individual I was talking to – but that it is completely unfair that we plan this trip around using our annual passes, and then find out we have to upgrade, and get told one thing – and then get here and be told another thing.
But wait, it gets better – another Team Member overhears me and says “Hold up, you are actually correct, the Power Pass upgrade works perfectly fine. The only dates for the Power Pass after 5 PM are at the END of Mardi Gras, where the concert line up overlaps with Easter. Because Power Passes are blocked out on those dates – and Power Pass users are promised entry for the concerts – they made this exception for the power pass.”

So in other words – not one, not two, but THREE team members told us the wrong thing – making a customer extremely upset. And in the end the “Wink Wink”? No, universal did nothing to “fix” this problem. In the end – we paid the extra $127 to be able to get into US for the one day. I lodged a complaint with Universal – which they’ve done nothing to respond to in the meantime. Quite honestly, I was feeling extremely sorry I ever bought these passes. I KNEW that the next two days would be two days of DD refusing to ride most of the rides. We now are spending $127 + $460 (with tax and parking) for the next two days – and nobody is really feeling it right now. At this time I’m really feeling like I wish I had cut my losses and just spent more time at Disney.

Amusingly though – DD (who again I’ll point out is 14) kept putting her hand on my shoulder and telling me: “Don’t forget Dad, it’s not Disney!” like she was enjoying my suffering.

To top it off, we decided to eat at the Red Oven. Our family all likes a good oven flat-bread pizza. However, this ended up not the best choice after the rest of the day.

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This place was set up weirdly with an outdoor seating area. You ordered the pizza at the counter window, and then everyone bunched up in a section of the restaurant while they tried to find you a table. You were supposed to give your number to the hostess – but nobody told you this, you only found out this when you heard other people had done it. We had to stand there for about 15 minutes holding our drinks in a pack of people longingly looking at all the people sitting.

In the end though – once we sat down, we tried to let our worries wash away. We really enjoyed the pizza – it was definitely pretty good for Florida pizza. We ordered two small pizzas, and it was just enough for the three of us.

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With that, we headed back to the hotel. We were planning on checking out first thing in the morning and getting over to the Portofino Bay.

Next up - our first Universal on site stay!

 

[rlk]

I am looking forward to reading more of your report. By the way, I think my 17 year old son can match your daughter in limited food preferences.

 

[absolutmey]

what a day! I hope it got better from here

 

[rteetz]

Joining in! Always enjoy your reports Pete.

 

[Mrsbird1129]

I hope it gets better! I love universal!

 

[piglet1979]

I am joining in. I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

Your daughter sounds a lot like daughter when it comes to food. She is 10 and only eats chicken, buttered noodles, hot dogs, fries, pizza and rice and a few fresh veggies and fruit. She refuses to try anything and also refuses to eat anything where the food is mixed like a salad or soup. It is such a pain.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Going to universal for the first time in May. So hoping things get better there . Staying at boardwalk for the first time in awhile so looking forward to your thoughts on that too.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Following along.

I'm so sorry about all the crap you had to deal with at Universal! My sister and I did a day there in September and thankfully there were no waits, but I don't know how often I'll be back. I want to go in December to see the Christmas stuff, but will probably skip for a while!

 

[skier_pete]

Wow, thanks for all the responses, everyone!

I am looking forward to reading more of your report. By the way, I think my 17 year old son can match your daughter in limited food preferences.

Thanks! Yes, certain things she used to eat all the time now she doesn't like, and she hasn't picked up things to replace them. She stubbornly refuses to try new things. C'mon yer 14 kid!

what a day! I hope it got better from here

Oh, it did get better. But sometimes I think Universal specifically conspires to annoy me.

Joining in! Always enjoy your reports Pete.

Thanks man, hopefully I can keep it interesting!

I hope it gets better! I love universal!

Yup, it does get better - though as I said above, at times I think universal chooses to do things to specifically annoy me.

I am joining in. I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

Your daughter sounds a lot like daughter when it comes to food. She is 10 and only eats chicken, buttered noodles, hot dogs, fries, pizza and rice and a few fresh veggies and fruit. She refuses to try anything and also refuses to eat anything where the food is mixed like a salad or soup. It is such a pain.

Ours will eat chicken - except when she won't. No rice. (She used to love rice - no more.) She will eat quite a bit of fruit, but not a ton of veggies, though broccoli, carrots and tomatoes. She'll eat some soups, but no to salads.

Following along. Going to universal for the first time in May. So hoping things get better there . Staying at boardwalk for the first time in awhile so looking forward to your thoughts on that too.

Hope your kids like more there than mine does. There's going to be a lot of "DD wouldn't go on the ride" in the next two days of TR.

This was our first time at the Boardwalk, and we really loved it. This is good because we bought a small DVC contract there before we even stayed there. (I know, major no no.) However, we pretty much knew as long as it's a short walk to Epcot we are fine with it. We had a Boardwalk view room and really enjoyed it.

Following along.

I'm so sorry about all the crap you had to deal with at Universal! My sister and I did a day there in September and thankfully there were no waits, but I don't know how often I'll be back. I want to go in December to see the Christmas stuff, but will probably skip for a while!

Yeah, we have some friends that really love Universal and don't care for Disney. I think folks that prefer Universal are very ride focused - love rides and love to ride them over and over. We like the rides, but the things we REALLY love about Disney aren't just the rides.

 

[franandaj]

Joining in. I have to constantly remind myself that Universal is not Disney. But then again it's not that hard, there just isn't the magic.

Frustrating that so many TMs didn't know what was going on, and you did end up having to put out the extra money. I hope it gets better.

 

[jchurch0409]

Joining in!

 

[Cowgirl_Jessie]

Rough first day! Your daughter is spot on; it is certainly not like Disney over there!

 

[clayfolks]

Just binge read your past two trip reports and am now hooked! Since there's no more here, at the moment, I guess I'm gonna have to go read your older ones. Thanks for the entertainment!!

 

[YodasMom]

Yay, another trip report.........!!! And, yes, I would agree about Universal as well. For me, it's probably a once in every 5 year visit. No similarity to Disney.

Hope your trip improves. Sounds like it will once you get to WDW!

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in. I have to constantly remind myself that Universal is not Disney. But then again it's not that hard, there just isn't the magic.

Frustrating that so many TMs didn't know what was going on, and you did end up having to put out the extra money. I hope it gets better.

It does get better - but yes the lack of knowledge of team members seemed to be a common thread.

Joining in!

Welcome!

Rough first day! Your daughter is spot on; it is certainly not like Disney over there!

What was funny was before we went to Universal she kept telling us how she didn't like Disney anymore and she's a Universal girl. Then she went there and hated just about everything. (NOT a thrill rider.) Now she's back to being a Disney girl.

Just binge read your past two trip reports and am now hooked! Since there's no more here, at the moment, I guess I'm gonna have to go read your older ones. Thanks for the entertainment!!

Well, I hate to tell you but a lot of them are missing pictures - I used to use Photobucket, but they went to a "Pay or Play" option, and they locked off all the pictures. It's a real disappointment, but would be a massive amount of work to convert the pictures. I am especially sorry about our Backstage Magic TR - because there was just so much awesomeness to share.

Yay, another trip report.........!!! And, yes, I would agree about Universal as well. For me, it's probably a once in every 5 year visit. No similarity to Disney.

Hope your trip improves. Sounds like it will once you get to WDW!

Definitely this was the worst of it. The rest of Universal was much better even than this. It would have been fine if they had just charged us what they initially charged us. But being told the wrong thing after having planned on the upsell to power passes really infuriated me. I was trying not to yell and scream - especailly since I know first line TM are not responsible for these decisions or for a poor training regiment, but boy what a disappointment.

 

[Majordis]

Joining in!! Love your reports. Sorry you got the runaround but that pizza looks good

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in!! Love your reports. Sorry you got the runaround but that pizza looks good

Thank you! The Pizza was quite good! I guess I didn't really say that. We get to compare "best theme park Pizza" two days later...but that's still to come.

 

[skier_pete]

Day 2:

So we woke up fairly early and packed out the little bit of stuff we had taken out of the suitcases. The weather debuted with a little sunny ball rising in the east. We packed up, got a little bit of breakfast, and checked out to move over to PB. We were about a 5 minute drive from the resort – so I dropped the family and the bags off at the front, parked the car in self-park, and headed inside to check in. (Of note: This hotel charging me close to $378 a night plus tax also had to charge me another $20+ to park in their parking lot. Total came to like $450 with everything. Thanks Universal.)

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We got our room keys which served as our all-important Front of the Line cards. And by around 8:30 AM we were heading over to the parks. In this case, it requires going out to the “Bay” and getting on a boat that goes directly to Citywalk.

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Having just been to Italy in September, I want to say that they did a nice job capturing the style and architecture of Italy, but one thing they failed miserably at was capturing how OLD everyplace in Italy feels. It was like a simulation of Italy that didn’t feel at all like the real thing. This is actually a relatively minor complaint, it was a beautiful resort, and I would imagine that this would be a fun place to wine and dine in the evening.

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The boat went over quickly, and we were walking up to the park right as they were letting people in the gates. I am not sure what made us decide it, but we decided to head for Men In Black first since we figured we could use FOTL for later.

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However, DD then decided we should hit ET first. We tried but it wasn’t even open yet – turned out we never got back to this, two trips and never rode ET. Instead – a quick picture of the Back to the Future stuff:

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No wait at MIB.

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An interesting bit on this moment. We used our FOTL even though there was no wait. It let you essentially skip the pre-show. In fact, one thing we noted was FOTL even when there wasn’t much of wait, it got you into a shorter queue, and I am all for saving steps.

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It’s a fun ride – it’s like Buzz Lightyear on steroids, but this is both a good and bad thing. There’s more to see on the ride, but the little light beam is extremely hard to see, and the ride itself has the Universal problem of it’s way too loud. And then every once in a while your car gets throw into an annoying spin. Probably slightly better than Buzz Lightyear, but give me Toy Story Mania any day for target practice.
Next we did the Simpsons ride. I watched the Simpsons starting in college for about 15 years until the show. I really enjoy this ride, but DW tolerates it while closing her eyes, and DD wanted nothing to do with it after last time. I admit, for a static motion simulator it really is pretty crazy level of motion.

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How DD spent the ride time.

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Next up is entering the Wizarding World...