My HRH (King Suite) trip report

[jim and meesie]

Just got back from a quick trip 2/19-2/23 to HRH / Universal with my son (10 1/2), his best friend (11), my Sister in Law and nephew (9 ½). We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel in a King Suite. Originally the trip was just my son, his friend and I but at the last minute my SIL and nephew hijacked our trip. I booked a Garden View room but thanks to Loews First I was very generously upgraded to a pool view king suite. I was so nervous when my SIL & nephew crashed with us (completely uninvited but that has been explored at length in another posting). I was so afraid that the King Suite would be taken away since it’s only meant for 3 people!! So Chris Garcia from Loews First if you are reading these postings, thank you, thank you, thank you, the room was great and I’m sorry for the fib.

We flew Southwest from Providence, picked up a rental car and checked into our room around 7:30 pm. Our Loew’s First Cookies and Milk were waiting for us in the room. First stop off to the pool for the boys to have a quick dip. By the time we were done at the pool the restaurants and room service were backed up over an hour so we made a quick trip around the corner to Wendy’s for fast food which we brought back to the room.

My son had been feeling progressively worse starting at the airport through the day as we traveled. Headache, chills, fever spiking over 103, and as he was going to bed he complained of a horrible stiff neck. We got to bed by about 10 but shortly afterwards I decided that an emergency room visit was in order. Needless to say my son was furious, afraid he was going to miss out on this long hoped for vacation with his best friend. We went to Celebration Hospital and the triage nurses immediately reassured me that I had done the right thing. After blood tests and IVs the doctor determined it was probably a bad case of Strep Throat. My son slept for awhile at the ER while he got IV antibiotics. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and reassured me that if my son rebounded we could go ahead with our vacation plans as long as he was up to it. If he got worse we should go back to the ER ASAP. We finally got back to the hotel and back to bed by 5:30 am.

Monday morning we slept late and got room service breakfast for the kids. Cereal and kids scrambled eggs. Around noon we hopped the shuttle to IOA. Got in some rides and had lunch at the park around 1:00. Universal Express wasn’t quite as “front of the line” as it had been on previous visits but the lines were bearable. Universal now sells Express passes so with 3 full hotels plus the sold passes there were a lot more people out there than in the past.

Got back to the hotel and hit the pool for about an hour around 4:00. It was a warm day so it was a pleasant evening. When we got back to the room the kids didn’t really feel like going out to dinner so we made good use of the room and it’s large dining table by ordering room service pizza. We were all sound asleep by about 9:30 that night.

Tuesday was going to be a pool day so we started off with the Breakfast Buffet at “The Kitchen” and then off to a Cabana by the pool. Although I have never rented a Cabana it was a lifesaver for keeping the kids out of the sun. It was a very sunny 80-85 degree day so it would have been brutal to spend the day in the room resting (with my son on antibiotics). It seemed a little weird to have kids in the cabana playing PSP video games and watching Olympic hockey but it made the day much easier. The kids would spend a little time in the water and then back in the cabana to rest, snacking on the fruit bowl and bottled water, what a life! We ordered kids lunch in the cabana and actually were quite comfortable there until about 5 pm. The antibiotics had worked their magic (along with some rest) so we decided to make a quick trip to Universal Florida to catch a couple of rides before supper. I tell you, 5:30 pm is the time to go! In two hours my two boys (my nephew didn’t want to go) rode all the rides including “the Mummy” and saw Shrek. Universal Express was at its best that night!!! After the park we went to Margaritaville for dinner meeting my SIL and nephew. Unfortunately even with the hotel “Front of the Line” the wait for a table was about an hour and a half. We did enjoy it and Margaritaville is usually an easy, fun place to go with kids. We were back in the room and in bed by 10:45.

Wednesday my two boys slept until 9:30 while my SIL and nephew got up early to go to the breakfast buffet. We met at Universal at about 10:45 but my nephew was bored already and wanted to go back to the pool. After we split up my son and friend and I did the Universal park rides again and then hit the IOA rides. Unfortunately the boys had great success at some of the carnival games so I became somewhat of a Sherpa for their accumulating stuffed toys!!! Back to the hotel by 3:00 and again back to the pool for a couple of hours. Again the boys had no interest in going out to eat but rather wanted to get back to the room and watch American Idol and the basketball game (2 TVs in the King Suite). We got takeout hamburgers, milk and cookies and relaxed in the room while my SIL and nephew went out for a “real meal”. I have to say, my evening was very pleasant and quiet just hanging out in our great, comfy room. Since my husband and I eat out often at great restaurants it really wasn’t necessary for this trip. For me that could have been one of the reasons that a potentially stress filled trip was actually pretty restful. We did have some issues but I think I maintained a pretty ZEN like calm through the four days.

Thursday morning my SIL got me up at 5 am to take them to the airport in our rental car. We were back to the room by 6 am and back to bed for another 3-4 hours!!! When we woke up it was muffins and cereal for breakfast in the room and then a couple of hours by the pool. Loews First gave us until 2 pm to check out which was exceptional!!! We checked out at 1:30. stored our luggage and went over to NBA City for lunch and for one last trip to IOA. The boys squeezed in a bunch of rides, a little souvenir shopping and some last minute free throw games at NBA City. By the time we were on the boat back to HRH it was nearly 6:30 pm and we had an 8:30 pm flight! To make things worse, there was a concert (The Rembrandts) taking up the whole HRH lobby with lots of people and cars moving through. OK, so my ZEN-like state seemed ready to disappear but we did manage to grab the rental car, load the luggage, stop for gas, and drop off the rental car and make it to the Southwest departure gate by 7:30 pm. I looked a little sweaty but we were there in plenty of time. We arrived back in Providence uneventfully by 11:00 pm.

Despite some of the minor annoyances and minor emergencies we had a great time. I clearly was very lucky to have a very “low maintenance” friend of my son’s along. The two of them were so easy and truly on their best behavior. Getting upgraded to the King Suite was amazing (even though I paid more than I have ever paid for a room at HRH, $299/nite, but it was the best rate available at the time). It was well worth it and it did give me a little bit of extra privacy with the boys. Obviously this wasn’t your typical go, go, go family vacation. If you have any questions about any of this trip feel free to send me a PM.

 

[lindalinda]

Loved your report. Sorry about your son getting sick, I might have lost it if that happened to us, but you seemed to weather it well. I also have a friend of my sons that we take on our vacations with us, and hes such an easy going kid that we wouldnt even think on going without him anymore! I cant wait for my trip.(sigh)

 

[jim and meesie]

Loved your report. Sorry about your son getting sick, I might have lost it if that happened to us, but you seemed to weather it well. I also have a friend of my sons that we take on our vacations with us, and hes such an easy going kid that we wouldnt even think on going without him anymore! I cant wait for my trip.(sigh)

Trust me, when I was driving my son to the ER I did almost lose it. He had Bacterial Meningitis just a year ago which was the most terrifying experience of my life. I might have overreacted with the stiff neck because of it but the doctors and nurses at the Celebration ER were great. They understood my fear, calmed me right down and let me know they were there if we needed to come back. Most of all, they understood a 10 year olds fear of missing out on a long hoped for vacation and just told him to take it easy, which he did. Kudos to them!!!

So, if you ever have a sick or injured family member on vacation I can definitely recommend the Florida Health-Celebration ER.

 

[rcraw45425]

Quick question, how much are the pool cabanas? My whole family has red hair, although DH is the worst, he has the really fair skin to go with it. It sounds like a cabana would be great. Also, what comes with the cabana, you mentioned a TV? I really appreciate your posting this thread, we are booked at HRH for the first time in June for DD's birthday trip (sorry Disney, we'll see you in April though). We haven't been to US/IOA since '02, the girls height prohibited a lot of the rides, still too small for the coasters yet. After all of our Disney trips over the past years we were ready to give UO another chance. Our '02 trip sounds a little like your trip, we left GA in 30 degree weather, arrived there to 70's, then it rained, we got soaked not only by rain but on rides too. Both kids developed respiritory bug (luckily DH is an MD, we knew what to do so no ER needed), fever, coughing ,we wound up coming home early, wasted a day of tix, but whatever, when your kids are sick you do what you have to, right? ANyway, great thread, thanks for posting!

 

[jim and meesie]

Quick question, how much are the pool cabanas? /QUOTE]


The pool cabana was about $100. for the whole day (9-9) and they all seem to get reserved pretty quickly. I believe it's half price if you are staying on Club Level. I know they had half day rates too. Personally I thought the price was outrageous I never would have booked it if my son didn't need to get some rest, out of the son, yet still wanted to enjoy one of the four short days of vacation. That said, it was very pleasant and now I understand why people love them and I might consider renting one again. It's your own little world by the pool. The cabana had a table and four chairs inside with a small flat screen TV and a fridge. They also brought over a small fruit basket, grapes, apples, orange, tangerine, banana to snack on. They also provide extra towels and reserved lounges out front of the cabana. Ours got lots of sun outside but was somewhat private because of the landscaping around and in front. We could still see the kids in the pool and on the water slide from the lounges.

 

[disneylizzy]

The cabana sounds like heaven! Thanks for posting. I'm going to HRH in late August with my four kiddos. Booking next weekend at the AAA travel fair in Foxboro. We will get a deluxe queen room. Sounds like you had a great trip, despite what could have been a few glitches.

 

[jim and meesie]

We will get a deluxe queen room. Sounds like you had a great trip, despite what could have been a few glitches.

We had a deluxe queen room New Years Eve 2003. It had alot of room for me, DH and 3 big kids. The regular rooms can get a little cozy when you wheel in a cot. I still prefer the suites at Portofino but my kids chose HRH.

 

[phamton]

Just for future reference: The Sand Lake Hospital is just down the road from Universal. It is a lot closer than Celebration hospital. Just go down Turkey Lake road. Once you cross Sand Lake Road it is just down a little further on the right. Don't know why they call it Sand Lake Hospital when it is on Turkey Lake Road not Sand Lake. That is where Universal sends their guests.

 

[jim and meesie]

Just for future reference: The Sand Lake Hospital is just down the road from Universal. It is a lot closer than Celebration hospital. Just go down Turkey Lake road. Once you cross Sand Lake Road it is just down a little further on the right. Don't know why they call it Sand Lake Hospital when it is on Turkey Lake Road not Sand Lake. That is where Universal sends their guests.

They did suggest Sand Lake but I had heard positive things about Celebration and heard that Sand Lake had more of a geriatric population, ie; less chance for a Pediatric doctor in the ER. Now that I'm home my pediatrician tells me we should have gone to Orlando Children's Hospital. We were fortunate that Celebration did have a pediatric ER doctor on that night. Unfortunately if you have a sick, sick child dealing with non pediatric doctors sometimes the symptoms aren't the same as adults. The other big issue I have found is that non-peds doctors and nurses have a much harder time taking blood or starting IVs on kid sized patients. Ok, so my son was a pincushion that night.

Thanks for the advice, the next time I am there and I am sick (hopefully never) I will be off to Sand Lake Hospital.

 

[phamton]

Never noticed geriatric patients at all. They have pediatric doctors at the ER there. It is in a part of town that has mostly young families so I wouldn't expect geriatric patients to be over-running the ER. I'm there almost weekly and see all ages there. The wait is generally less there than at Celebration and evenings are fairly empty.

There is also a walk in emergency clinic across the street from Universal on Vineland called Centre Care but the waits there are generally long.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

Sorry about your DS getting sick.