March 6th-March 9th

[Jridou]

I know when I was planning my trip, I refreshed this board endlessly looking for new reports. So I'm going to write a quick and dirty report of our trip while it's fresh in my mind (I have no notes or photos) but feel free to ask questions.

This trip was me, DH and our just turned 9 year old DS. He's a third child, with 2 teenage siblings, who was badly in need of some serious parental attention. So our plan was a 4 day trip where he got to pick EVERYTHING.

We booked the Portofino with the American Express Platnum rate: $365 ($385?) but that included an upgrade, noon check-in, 4 pm check-out, breakfast for 2 and a $100 dining credit. Could I have done better rate-wise? Maybe, if I'd picked another weekend in May but I needed to get to Florida and get some sunshine ASAP.

We checked in and were upgraded from a garden view to a bay view on the 5th floor in the West wing. A VIP coordinator came out and explained the benefits, I asked about the kids breakfast (I'd heard conflicting reports about the FHR rate at Loews hotels including kids breakfast) and she gave me a card for kids-eat-free at all 3 hotels for the weekend.

There was a major dance competition going on at the Hard Rock and all 3 hotels were basically full of dancers and cheerleaders so my DS was pretty psyched even before seeing a park.

(I can't remember what the character limit is so I'll post now)

 

[Jridou]

I had bought tickets before the price went up, using the buy2, get the third day free promo. We had planned to swim at the hotel Thursday but it was cold and POURING. We walked around, had a fabulous dinner at Mama Dellas right at the hotel. DH & I split the calamari, the casear salad, and the veal and DS had the kids spaghetti and meatball. The service was terrific and we loved the accordion player.

We went to bed early ~ our beds had been turned down with bottles of water left by the bed and had a great night sleep. Those beds are amazing ~ best I've ever slept in a hotel.

 

[Jridou]

We got up at 6:30 and were at the Breakfast buffet at 7. Our FHR rate included the continental buffet~ coffee and juice, cereal, oatmeal, bagels and pastries, fruit and smoked salmon. We could have upgraded to the full buffet for $8 but found enough on the continental. The OJ was terrific ~ fresh squeezed I think. There were several papers to choose from; the New York times, WSJ and a local paper.

We were at the boat dock at 7:30 and at the park at 8.

The crowd calendars had predicted a slow day and it certainly was. We started at Forbidden Journey and by 9:30 had done FJ, the hippograff 3 times, Spiderman x2 and were ready to move onto Universal Studios. (DS was not tall enough for the big coasters and was not interested in the Mummy)

Between 10-12 we did Minion Mayhem, transformers twice, Simpsons and then Men in Black 6 times. Gotta love the express pass!

It was ridiculously cold, and getting colder as the wind picked up. We took the boat back to the hotel and went off property for lunch (Hash house a go-go for their famous chicken and waffles)

(lets see if that link works)

 

[Lynne G]

Your link worked. Mmm, my kids would like that. I have a tween and teen ride junkie, so we are USO bound this summer.

Thanks for your report, I like the just bones ones too!

 

[PrincessJo]

We stayed at the HRH the last time we were there, so we were able to walk everywhere.

This time we're staying at the Royal Pacific Resort to save money and we've never used the bus transportation before.

On the website it says it's a '5 minute boat ride' to the parks. How did you find the boat transportation? Did they come quickly or did you have to wait for a while? Were there many stops?

I want to get to the park early in the morning so we can use our extra hour wisely. I think we'll end up going down there about 7:30 like you did.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[Jridou]

This time we're staying at the Royal Pacific Resort to save money and we've never used the bus transportation before.

On the website it says it's a '5 minute boat ride' to the parks. How did you find the boat transportation? Did they come quickly or did you have to wait for a while? Were there many stops?

There were no stops~ each resort has it's own boat~ but we were somewhat frustrated with the boat service. They're supposed to come every 15 minutes but we found them a little slower in the am, right when we wanted them most. Also they only take 28 (?) people, so everyone has a seat and so we sometimes found ourselves having to wait in line for a second boat. On our last morning, at 7:30 there was a line of at least 60 people so we did end up walking.

The good news is all three resorts are easily walkable to the parks. There's a shortcut from the Portofino thru the HRH parking lot somewhere on this board and that actually got us to the park in 6 or 7 minutes. When we stayed at the royal pacific we usually walk too.

HTH, let me know if you have other questions

 

[Jridou]

After a nap we returned to Universal Studios around 4 pm. Our plan was the parade, some rides, dinner and the spectacular but it was SO COLD. We watched the parade (my 9 y/o was unimpressed) and did ET, woody woodpecker 4 times, MIB 3 more times and the Simpsons again.

We decided to bail from the park (this was a tough call, as it was the only day on the crowd calendar listed as 'slow') but we had hit everything DS wanted to do at least once.

We walked to HRH and had dinner at 'The Kitchen' We used our Kids eat free card and DH & I split a salad and a flatbread, plus I had the single best margarita I've ever had my entire life. It was a spicy margarita, and if anyone ever comes across the recipe I'd be eternally grateful!

I was supposed to get some coupon book with my multi-day ticket purchase but we never picked it up; I think we did just as well with the kids eat free card. Meals were HUGE so we generally split them.

Funny story (out of order) we did each order an entree at Hash house (i'll try to post pix later) I got the chicken and waffles which was crazy huge. DS ate 1/2 the waffles and DH ate 1/2 the chicken and then the waitress came back and was astounded that we'd finished it. But not in a nice, funny way ~ in a *****y "OMG you huge pig" kind of way. That became a family joke the rest of the trip, especially considering it was the only meal the entire trip we ordered 2 entrees.

We walked home from HRH and went straight to bed. Those beds, OMG, so comfy. My fit bit showed we'd walked 25,000 steps, over 10 miles that day! We were all fast asleep by 9:30.

 

[PrincessJo]

Thanks!

We had talked about walking as well. I like doing that because it gives me a chance to walk-off all of the calories I've eaten that day

 

[Jridou]

Saturday was listed as a 'moderate' day but spoiler alert; it was more like 'busy' in my opinion.

We were again on a 7:30 boat and on line outside IOA by 7:45. I wish there was a way to sort people into "will have an issue with their ticket" and "will breeze thru" because we ALWAYS were behind people with issues

Once in, we walked (I was amazed how many people RAN) to Forbidden Journey. The biggest log-jam at FJ the previous day was at the lockers so we used the Dueling Dragons lockers, knowing full well we'd end up paying.

Our first time thru FJ we walked thru until we hit the Defense against the dark arts classroom (the previous day, the line started at the Fat Lady portrait which is about a 5 minute wait) From the DADA classroom it was about a 20 minute wait. And it's only 8:05!

(IMHO Universal should station employees to keep the line moving. Sometimes people would stop to watch the film and everyone behind them would stop too. If people want to stop, I feel they should go to the side and the line should continue to move past them)

Fj was even better the second time and we got right back in line to do it again. The sign said a 20 minute wait but the line started in the greenhouse this time and it was more like a 30 minute wait.

We got our bags and went to get a butterbeer and some souvenirs. We were again a little frustrated because you can't use that 'send items to your hotel' if you're checking out the next day, even though we had 4 PM checkout. Oh well.

Frozen butterbeer was $4.75 and the three of us couldnt even finish one ~ delicious but really sweet.

We walked over towards Jurassic Park (which was closed) but DS did Peteradon Flyers, then we walked over to Spiderman again. We did that twice (about a 10 minute wait with Express Pass) and then watched the Super Heroes arrive. We met Captain America and Storm and then headed over to Suess Landing.

Even with the Express pass the line for the trolley ride was 20+ minutes. DS did one fish two fish and then we went back to the trolley, the wait was about 10 minutes.

EP waits aren't listed but the ticket scanner will give you an approximate answer. The signs at the front of the queue were NEVER right and the app I downloaded for my iphone was the wrongest of all

We were going to go to the Three Broomsticks for lunch (it;s about 11 am now) but the line was already HUGE plus DS wasn't thrilled with the menu. We went back towards Poseidon and had kabobs. DH & I are partial to Mythos but it was DS's trip and he'd lost patience with sit-down restaurants.

(This is the first time we'd ever done a totally kid-centric trip. There were times he needed to be steered in a certain direction, and times he was just plain overruled but overall it was a success. )

We went back to the hotel for a nap and then headed to Universal around 3. Again we;d planned to do the Mardi gras parade but HOLY SMOKES the park was packed. Packed. Minion Mayhem was a 50 minute wait WITH the EP. People were camped out to claim their parade spot 3 hours ahead of time. Food lines were 30+ minutes. We rode a few things but bailed by 5 Pm and went to Hard rock Cafe for dinner and then back to the hotel to swim in the pool.

They were showing Iron Man 2 by the pool and had we known we'd just have eaten there and swam, but oh well.

 

[Jridou]

Thanks!

We had talked about walking as well. I like doing that because it gives me a chance to walk-off all of the calories I've eaten that day

We walked over 30 miles that weekend, but I felt basically carte-blanche to eat what i wanted. I liked the boats to return to the hotel in the afternoon but overall, I prefer to walk.

I was AMAZED at the number of people wearing flip flops. My poor arches ached just looking at them! OMG I;m so old!

 

[clsteve]

We walked over 30 miles that weekend, but I felt basically carte-blanche to eat what i wanted. I liked the boats to return to the hotel in the afternoon but overall, I prefer to walk.

I was AMAZED at the number of people wearing flip flops. My poor arches ached just looking at them! OMG I;m so old!

DW had that "fit" band she could plug in to the IPad at the end of the day and our mileage was just about the same. It really didn't feel like it though (maybe because we weren't standing in line so much? don't know) and it is such a nice walk between the resorts and Parks.

Sounds like it was a great time and we really enjoyed letting the kids pick what to do for the first time, as well

 

[ehides]

After a nap we returned to Universal Studios around 4 pm. Our plan was the parade, some rides, dinner and the spectacular but it was SO COLD. We watched the parade (my 9 y/o was unimpressed) and did ET, woody woodpecker 4 times, MIB 3 more times and the Simpsons again.

We decided to bail from the park (this was a tough call, as it was the only day on the crowd calendar listed as 'slow') but we had hit everything DS wanted to do at least once.

We walked to HRH and had dinner at 'The Kitchen' We used our Kids eat free card and DH & I split a salad and a flatbread, plus I had the single best margarita I've ever had my entire life. It was a spicy margarita, and if anyone ever comes across the recipe I'd be eternally grateful!

I was supposed to get some coupon book with my multi-day ticket purchase but we never picked it up; I think we did just as well with the kids eat free card. Meals were HUGE so we generally split them.

Funny story (out of order) we did each order an entree at Hash house (i'll try to post pix later) I got the chicken and waffles which was crazy huge. DS ate 1/2 the waffles and DH ate 1/2 the chicken and then the waitress came back and was astounded that we'd finished it. But not in a nice, funny way ~ in a *****y "OMG you huge pig" kind of way. That became a family joke the rest of the trip, especially considering it was the only meal the entire trip we ordered 2 entrees.

We walked home from HRH and went straight to bed. Those beds, OMG, so comfy. My fit bit showed we'd walked 25,000 steps, over 10 miles that day! We were all fast asleep by 9:30.

Great report, thank you! I was wondering if it was the Mardi Gras parade that your son was not impressed with or a different one? I see you mentioned Mardi Gras later when the park was packed and bailed ... we were going to plan our first Saturday night at US to go back to the parade, but ... not sure now based on what you posted. We will be there April 18-26 and the Mardi Gras parade will only be done once during that time, on April 19 Sat night.

 

[glamdring269]

Funny story (out of order) we did each order an entree at Hash house (i'll try to post pix later) I got the chicken and waffles which was crazy huge. DS ate 1/2 the waffles and DH ate 1/2 the chicken and then the waitress came back and was astounded that we'd finished it. But not in a nice, funny way ~ in a *****y "OMG you huge pig" kind of way. That became a family joke the rest of the trip, especially considering it was the only meal the entire trip we ordered 2 entrees.

You may have just made my day. We ate at the Hash House in Vegas a few months ago and I was amazed. After reading this I rushed to google and sure enough there is one in Orlando. Woooo! Bacon waffle here we come (in October).

Is this place within walking distance of the Univeral resorts? If not we may just have to walk regardless considering the amount of calories we will consume there.

 

[SunnyKYLake]

You may have just made my day. We ate at the Hash House in Vegas a few months ago and I was amazed. After reading this I rushed to google and sure enough there is one in Orlando. Woooo! Bacon waffle here we come (in October). Is this place within walking distance of the Univeral resorts? If not we may just have to walk regardless considering the amount of calories we will consumeaaa de there.

eaa q

 

[marylandteachergirl]

You may have just made my day. We ate at the Hash House in Vegas a few months ago and I was amazed. After reading this I rushed to google and sure enough there is one in Orlando. Woooo! Bacon waffle here we come (in October).

Is this place within walking distance of the Univeral resorts? If not we may just have to walk regardless considering the amount of calories we will consume there.

I was wondering if it was in walking distance, too. Or walking to the Doubletree and taking the I-ride trolley? My son would love this place!!

Great report - and I appreciate the comments about what "moderate" crowds look like. Our whole week will be in the moderate category. Better than busy I guess.