bookgirl2632
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2006
- Messages
- 2,042
We've been wanting to do Universal for years. We are huge Disney fans and always intended to make it over there, but since we never rent a car while at Disney, we always end up staying on property and never leaving. With the opening of WWoHP, we finally decided to make a Universal only trip.
Now, I've never written up a trip report, but I'll do my best here. I'll be breaking it up into manageable bits. Here are the players: myself, my mom, Angie, my younger sister, Jackie, and my best friend, Brooke. Just to get an idea of the demographics, we range in age from 66 years old to 35 years old.
My DM, DSis, and I flew into Orlando on Wednesday morning, September 15th. My BFF, Brooke, would be joining us later that night. We had a car service pick us up, Murray Hill to be exact. We've used them several times and have been pleased each time. This was no exception. After a brief grocery stop to pick up beverages and a few snacks, we arrived at HRH around 11am. I was most impressed with the staff from the get-go. They welcomed us sincerely to HRH and Bell Services took our bags instantly. I was also pleased to find that our room was ready immediately. Fantastic! I was anticipating not getting into our room until later that afternoon. We were in room 3108, a lovely room with a view of the butterfly garden and the waterway. The room was clean and well cared for, everything in working order. Derek, the Bell Captain, brought our bags up to the room and was most helpful with words of advice about the resort and the parks. After unpacking, we headed out for the day.
We took the walking path and found ourselves at Universal Studios in just ten minutes. After walking through the Lucy Tribute, the next order of business was getting something to eat. We got a couple personal pizzas at the International Food and Film Festival, splitting them since we weren't terribly hungry. They were fine, nothing to write home about.
We then worked our way around the park at a leisurely pace. We tried our hand at the Men in Black ride. I won in our party of three. I thought the ride was great, on par with Buzz Lightyear over at MK. We then survived a shark attack on the Jaws ride. We had a great boat captain. He was very natural with his delivery, even scaring my mom when he made her part of the act.
We screamed at all the appropriate times and had a great time. We meandered down the street and found ourselves in San Francisco and on the set of a Disaster movie by none other than Frank Kincaid!! 
Lonnie, his unfailing assistant, took us through the casting process. None of our party got picked for starring roles (just fine with me...public speaking! 
), but we were content to be extras. The jokes were timely and I loved the subway scene. We all really enjoyed this one.
And then we came to the Revenge of the Mummy. My DSis does not like coasters or thrill rides, so she waited for us in the shop as my DM and I embarked on our adventure. What an awesome ride!! The theming, from start to finish, is impeccable. It being the first time we had ever ridden it, we didn't know what to expect as far as the coaster. This was compounded by the fact that it was dark and we couldn't see where we were going. We loved it!! And dare I say, I loved it as much as Space Mountain. Shocking!
We were starting to tire by this time, since we had been up very early that morning. We hit Shrek 4-D before heading back to HRH. I love the Shrek movies, so I was not disappointed with the attraction. They did an excellent job of incorporating the 4-D elements into a short Shrek adventure. Very well done!
We relaxed at HRH, taking a short nap and freshening up before heading out for some dinner at Citywalk. We took the water taxi over, which would become our preferred mode of transportation while at HRH. At Citywalk, we walked around before choosing to eat at Latin Quarter. We were seated at an outdoor table. A Spanish guitarist was playing and was eager to play some Gipsy Kings when my DM requested it. Upon talking to him, my DM found out that he was from the same region of Spain as her parents. Dinner was excellent. I had the Chilean Salmon Ensalada, my DSis had the Cuban sandwich, and my DM had the Caribbean Crusted Mahi Mahi. We were all very pleased, especially since we had a handy coupon I got from Orlandocoupons.com! We walked around Citywalk for a bit before taking the boat back for an early night.
That's it for the first day. We were pleased that US wasn't too crowded that day. We were able to walk on nearly every attraction, especially with our Express Pass. I found the park to be very low-key and laid back. My only disappointment that day was not being able to ride HRRR. Of course, I would not be able to ride it at all, since it was down the entire time. Other than that, we were able to do most everything that first day and would have done more if not for our early flight that morning. Hope I haven't gone on too long.
Coming up next...my BFF's arrival and our first day at Hogwarts!!
Now, I've never written up a trip report, but I'll do my best here. I'll be breaking it up into manageable bits. Here are the players: myself, my mom, Angie, my younger sister, Jackie, and my best friend, Brooke. Just to get an idea of the demographics, we range in age from 66 years old to 35 years old.
My DM, DSis, and I flew into Orlando on Wednesday morning, September 15th. My BFF, Brooke, would be joining us later that night. We had a car service pick us up, Murray Hill to be exact. We've used them several times and have been pleased each time. This was no exception. After a brief grocery stop to pick up beverages and a few snacks, we arrived at HRH around 11am. I was most impressed with the staff from the get-go. They welcomed us sincerely to HRH and Bell Services took our bags instantly. I was also pleased to find that our room was ready immediately. Fantastic! I was anticipating not getting into our room until later that afternoon. We were in room 3108, a lovely room with a view of the butterfly garden and the waterway. The room was clean and well cared for, everything in working order. Derek, the Bell Captain, brought our bags up to the room and was most helpful with words of advice about the resort and the parks. After unpacking, we headed out for the day.
We took the walking path and found ourselves at Universal Studios in just ten minutes. After walking through the Lucy Tribute, the next order of business was getting something to eat. We got a couple personal pizzas at the International Food and Film Festival, splitting them since we weren't terribly hungry. They were fine, nothing to write home about.
We then worked our way around the park at a leisurely pace. We tried our hand at the Men in Black ride. I won in our party of three. I thought the ride was great, on par with Buzz Lightyear over at MK. We then survived a shark attack on the Jaws ride. We had a great boat captain. He was very natural with his delivery, even scaring my mom when he made her part of the act.
We screamed at all the appropriate times and had a great time. We meandered down the street and found ourselves in San Francisco and on the set of a Disaster movie by none other than Frank Kincaid!! Lonnie, his unfailing assistant, took us through the casting process. None of our party got picked for starring roles (just fine with me...public speaking! ), but we were content to be extras. The jokes were timely and I loved the subway scene. We all really enjoyed this one. And then we came to the Revenge of the Mummy. My DSis does not like coasters or thrill rides, so she waited for us in the shop as my DM and I embarked on our adventure. What an awesome ride!! The theming, from start to finish, is impeccable. It being the first time we had ever ridden it, we didn't know what to expect as far as the coaster. This was compounded by the fact that it was dark and we couldn't see where we were going. We loved it!! And dare I say, I loved it as much as Space Mountain. Shocking!
We were starting to tire by this time, since we had been up very early that morning. We hit Shrek 4-D before heading back to HRH. I love the Shrek movies, so I was not disappointed with the attraction. They did an excellent job of incorporating the 4-D elements into a short Shrek adventure. Very well done!
We relaxed at HRH, taking a short nap and freshening up before heading out for some dinner at Citywalk. We took the water taxi over, which would become our preferred mode of transportation while at HRH. At Citywalk, we walked around before choosing to eat at Latin Quarter. We were seated at an outdoor table. A Spanish guitarist was playing and was eager to play some Gipsy Kings when my DM requested it. Upon talking to him, my DM found out that he was from the same region of Spain as her parents. Dinner was excellent. I had the Chilean Salmon Ensalada, my DSis had the Cuban sandwich, and my DM had the Caribbean Crusted Mahi Mahi. We were all very pleased, especially since we had a handy coupon I got from Orlandocoupons.com! We walked around Citywalk for a bit before taking the boat back for an early night.
That's it for the first day. We were pleased that US wasn't too crowded that day. We were able to walk on nearly every attraction, especially with our Express Pass. I found the park to be very low-key and laid back. My only disappointment that day was not being able to ride HRRR. Of course, I would not be able to ride it at all, since it was down the entire time. Other than that, we were able to do most everything that first day and would have done more if not for our early flight that morning. Hope I haven't gone on too long.
Coming up next...my BFF's arrival and our first day at Hogwarts!!
We both were literally skipping at this point! My mother was laughing at us and my sister was rolling her eyes, but they completely understood. While reading the books, I often tried to imagine these places, but I never thought that I would ever get to visit them. But there we were, standing in Hogsmeade!! 
At this point, we were on overload. So much to take in and see. 
