Oh HELP, We're looking at Dec. 22-25th!

[indimom]

I'm the poster who was asking about the best dates for an off-site trip.

Well, I talked it over with DH and he is already pushing for an on-site trip. Why am I not surprised? He's also pushing for December because he will not have to use any of his vacation time. (His work closes for nearly two weeks over the holiday.) I've looked at our schedule and we are considering four days, three nights. Dec. 22-25, to be exact.

So, now I have a couple more questions:

1. Is there a nearby, inexpensive, but clean hotel for the night of the 21st. We want to check in early on the 22nd and get the most value out of our days.

2. If I remember correctly, the fridge in the room is NOT for storing any of your own food/drinks? We are better off asking them to not provide the key and use a cooler/rent a fridge if we want a few cold items in our room?

3. Can I request two more chairs in my room? We like to have breakfast in our room; but I really, really do not like having to sit on the bed or stand to eat. Blah.

4. Where is the cheapest place to buy our four-day tickets? I'm not doing a package because it's considerably cheaper to book the room seperate with the SMSM rate.

5. Which restaurant would you suggest for a nice sit-down dinner on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Our kids are 11 and 14 and adventurous eaters, so nothing is automatically out. We've already done the Grinch breakfast once and are not really interested in breakfast. We've also eaten at Mythos before, but wouldn't mind going back.

I know you normally do not need advance reservations, but will it make a difference since it's Christmas?

6. IOA opens at 8 a.m., that means on-site guests can get into WWoHP at 7 a.m. Correct?

7. Last question, is Three Broomsticks worth a wait? Or, is there a good time to go with the least wait. We're all big Potter fans and I'd love to check it out, but I'm guessing you can't just "tour" the inside since it's a restaurant.

Thanks in advance for any help! I'm getting excited!!

 

[dsmom]

not sure about a near by hotel - we usually stay at PB

you can rent a fridge for 15.00 a day - we get one free for medical reasons.
i would just bring a cooler - ice machines are usually close to your room.

at PB there are two extra folding chairs in the closet - it took me a few visits
to realize this.

are you AAA members? we usually get our passes form them.

we have eaten the buffet at PB- Trattoria for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner- it was great!

we did not eat at Three Broomsticks our last visit but we did walk through and look at it.

we have stayed the week before Christmas in the past and have found it not horribly crowded - it's the week from Christmas to New Year's that is crazy.

 

[AnjieNet]

4. Where is the cheapest place to buy our four-day tickets? I'm not doing a package because it's considerably cheaper to book the room seperate with the SMSM rate.

Undercover Tourist is the cheapest option for 4 day Park-to-Park tickets that I've found. Beats Universal online and AAA.

 

[christophfam]

So, now I have a couple more questions:

1. Is there a nearby, inexpensive, but clean hotel for the night of the 21st. We want to check in early on the 22nd and get the most value out of our days. There are a number of inexpensive hotels on I-drive. I would think any of them would do for that first night. We stayed at Holiday Inn Express and it was very nice, but I think Doubletree has a great deal going.

2. If I remember correctly, the fridge in the room is NOT for storing any of your own food/drinks? We are better off asking them to not provide the key and use a cooler/rent a fridge if we want a few cold items in our room? Yes, avoid getting the key if you don't plan on using the minibar. It is very expensive and some have reported being charged for items they did not use. A cooler works fine for us!

3. Can I request two more chairs in my room? We like to have breakfast in our room; but I really, really do not like having to sit on the bed or stand to eat. Blah.

4. Where is the cheapest place to buy our four-day tickets? I'm not doing a package because it's considerably cheaper to book the room seperate with the SMSM rate.

5. Which restaurant would you suggest for a nice sit-down dinner on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Our kids are 11 and 14 and adventurous eaters, so nothing is automatically out. We've already done the Grinch breakfast once and are not really interested in breakfast. We've also eaten at Mythos before, but wouldn't mind going back.

I know you normally do not need advance reservations, but will it make a difference since it's Christmas? Opentable is very easy to use. I'd make your Christmas reservation and then throw in a few others if you know you want to go to them during your trip. Other you could make once you get there.

6. IOA opens at 8 a.m., that means on-site guests can get into WWoHP at 7 a.m. Correct? Yes

7. Last question, is Three Broomsticks worth a wait? Or, is there a good time to go with the least wait. We're all big Potter fans and I'd love to check it out, but I'm guessing you can't just "tour" the inside since it's a restaurant. I find the food at 3B just OK, but if you're a potter nerd it may be worth it once. If you do an early lunch or dinner, you should be fine crowd wise. We go in at least once a day for butterbeer and for us there has always been an open table (we go odd times as a snack) to sit and relax at. We love those butterbeer breaks for the ambiance, drink and AC!

Thanks in advance for any help! I'm getting excited!!

Answered what I could in red! Hope it helps.

 

[indimom]

not sure about a near by hotel - we usually stay at PB
OOPS, I forgot to mention, we'll be staying at RPR. We just need an option for our first night since we won't arrive until nearly 9 p.m.
you can rent a fridge for 15.00 a day - we get one free for medical reasons.
i would just bring a cooler - ice machines are usually close to your room.
We'll have our car, so a cooler sounds like the simplest solution. Thanks.
at PB there are two extra folding chairs in the closet - it took me a few visits
to realize this.
Ahhh, thank you. You've given me hope this won't seem like a silly request. Does anyone know if RPR has chairs in the closets?
are you AAA members? we usually get our passes form them.
No, I was planning on using the Stay More Save More rate.
we have eaten the buffet at PB- Trattoria for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner- it was great!
Do you know if it's a special menu for the holidays? Or will I be able to look over the regular menu online?
we did not eat at Three Broomsticks our last visit but we did walk through and look at it.
Great. Hopefully we'll be able to do the same.
we have stayed the week before Christmas in the past and have found it not horribly crowded - it's the week from Christmas to New Year's that is crazy.

Undercover Tourist is the cheapest option for 4 day Park-to-Park tickets that I've found. Beats Universal online and AAA.

Thank You. I just checked it out and it's $70 cheaper than the Universal website. Awesome! These are the "real" tickets, right? And I'll just get them in the mail? That's the way it appeared on their site.

Quote:
Originally Posted by indimom
So, now I have a couple more questions:

1. Is there a nearby, inexpensive, but clean hotel for the night of the 21st. We want to check in early on the 22nd and get the most value out of our days. There are a number of inexpensive hotels on I-drive. I would think any of them would do for that first night. We stayed at Holiday Inn Express and it was very nice, but I think Doubletree has a great deal going.

I'll check into them. We have stayed at the Doubletree in the past and thought it was very nice.

I know you normally do not need advance reservations, but will it make a difference since it's Christmas? Opentable is very easy to use. I'd make your Christmas reservation and then throw in a few others if you know you want to go to them during your trip. Other you could make once you get there.
Thanks for the website. I'll make sure I book ahead once we figure out our plans.
6. IOA opens at 8 a.m., that means on-site guests can get into WWoHP at 7 a.m. Correct? Yes
Awesome! We're early birds so 7 a.m. will be easy to do. I hope we can enjoy WWoHP before the crowds hit.
7. Last question, is Three Broomsticks worth a wait? Or, is there a good time to go with the least wait. We're all big Potter fans and I'd love to check it out, but I'm guessing you can't just "tour" the inside since it's a restaurant. I find the food at 3B just OK, but if you're a potter nerd it may be worth it once. If you do an early lunch or dinner, you should be fine crowd wise. We go in at least once a day for butterbeer and for us there has always been an open table (we go odd times as a snack) to sit and relax at. We love those butterbeer breaks for the ambiance, drink and AC!
Ahhh, good idea. A snack break! We might run with that!
Thanks in advance for any help! I'm getting excited!!

Answered what I could in red! Hope it helps.

Thanks for the quick responses everyone. I appreciate it!

 

[dsmom]

the buffet for Thanksgiving and Christmas are special.. closer to the

dates Loews website will have the menu posted - they have in the past.

Honestly, it was the best dinner buffet we have ever had and it is HUGE!

we were there over two hours last year.

 

[dsmom]

forgot to add, if the chairs are not in the closet call star services and

they will bring extra ones up - they did this for us one stay.

 

[indimom]

Thanks dsmom, that's exactly what I needed to know. I'm going to look into booking the buffet. Since we're only doing four days, I figured we'd mostly to counter service or eat in the room. But, I'd like to have one nice dinner during the trip.

 

[dsmom]

if you do the Trattoria buffet i would ask if Mohammad is working that day - he is one of the nicest people we have ever met!

we have had good luck with Jake's and the pool bar for food at RPR.

hope you have a wonderful time!

the parks and resorts are beautiful for the holidays.

 

[indimom]

if you do the Trattoria buffet i would ask if Mohammad is working that day - he is one of the nicest people we have ever met! I'll try to remember to do that!

we have had good luck with Jake's and the pool bar for food at RPR. We ate at Jakes a couple times on our last trip. We thought the food was good, and they went out of their way to make sure everyone was happy. The waiter even made a special ice cream treat (not on the menu) for one of our kids just because he mentioned it.

hope you have a wonderful time!
Thanks. I hope so too. I'm really looking forward to seeing the WWoHP and my son finally getting to ride the big coasters. He was so disapointed on our last trip.

the parks and resorts are beautiful for the holidays.

Our last trip was at this same time; and I agree, they are very beautiful. I just hope we get lucky and have weather as great as last time. I had to buy a couple pairs of shorts and our daughter wore her swim coverup as a sundress because we were roasting in the capris I brought (in case it got warm).

It was mid to high 80s every day. We only needed our warmer things for after dark and never pulled our coats out of the trunk they entire time (although we saw some locals wearing gloves and hats at park opening. ).
Thanks again for the tips/advice!