Part 2 of RPR/Cocoa/RPR

[murf]

Day 4 & 5: Went to Doubletree hotel in Cocoa beach, it rained more there and water was very cold for July. pool was smaller than Royal Pacific but kids enjoyed that they had it to themselves alot. Not as many teenager attractions here as in Daytona, but due to pepsi 400 race we opted to stay away from daytona crowds. boogie boards rented from hotel and putt putt were the major items here.

We ate on the only restaurant pier 1 night, nice restarant. good food, like most florida restuarants they had early bird specials at a lower cost before 6 p.

Day 1 ( I forgot we hit Seaworld ) it was fun, boys like kraken coaster, but we all were tired so we left by 3 pm after seeing shows. boys were more into rides overall, so they didnt appreciate s Used the florida wendies coupon for 10 bucks off which made 4 people cost 180. (coupon Thanks to disboarders)

OK-Ok back to Day 6

Day 6: returned to Royal pacific for july 4th , did early check-in and got room 1633 hulk view, got the loews welcome gift ( cookies left in room)

We had variety packs of cereal to save hassle most days, did IHOP 1 day.

Kids did the full round of rides this last day, and they enjoyed the freedom to be seperate from us ( and we enjoyed it also)

we finished the trip by eating at mythos then going to balcony later outside enchanted oak to watch fireworks .... we finished with a last ride on dueling dragns at night, front row.

Overall impression; Dont overplan , only pick 1 or 2 restuarants ahead, and the cocoa beach trip broke up the week nicely.
Universal and citywalk were very nice, and I think the parks were beautful and the kids said the trip rocked. ( best ever)
they thought FOTL and men in black made it the best.
I would pick this trip again in a hertbeat over disney, espceially for teens

The alternative hassles of parking etc made the hotel the best choice.
We had hotwire 114 a night rate and felt it was best value of anything we had done. I felt sorry for those without the hotel FOTL access. shrek at midday was 95 min wait w/o key and 10 with key.

Seaworld was nice, but for teens, another day at ioa would have worked as well. As a note, 5 days in a row in the parks would be 2 much, but with the 2 day beach trip, we got the break from the pace of early rising and still got to use the 5th day at the park as a last chance to ride stuff. it also gave us flexibility if it had rained all day one day we could have used a beach day to hit the park since it was only 45 min away from cocoa beach.

Thanks to all the advice we got beforehand from these boards......
If i can help anyone with questions/answers let me know.!!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for sharing ~ Wonderful reviews!!!!!!!!

 

[pnelson]

We plan on staying two nights at the Doubletree in Cocoa Beach-How was the hotel?? What restaurant on the pier did you eat at?? Did you say there was only one? Also, was there any rentals of any sort on the beach-boogie boards, etc. Anything else about Cocoa Beach??

 

[murf]

The doubletree is not the royal pacific, but it was nice, it had a nice restaurant called 3 wishes. ( we had the alligator tail appetizer ) The pier at cocoa was about 1 mile north, and had one nice restauarant, cant recall the name but walk to where the surf breaks on the sand and you are at the entrance. The prices there were about 11 bucks an entree before 6, then went up to about 18 an entree after 6, so be aware of the early bird menu.

the hotel had small nylon covered boogie boards you could rent at the exit of the pool towards the beach. they stop renting at 5, but they left the boards there so we used a couple later anyhow.

there is a strip of restaurants about 2 miles away on the causeway, such as chilis etc, applebys types, just ask at the front desk. the rooms were nice size, and modern, with inside corridors so it was about a 2.5 star. all rooms had a view of the ocean, and we picked it over the hampton since the hampton has a longer walk to the beach. the only downside was no continental buffet, but other than that the hotel was fine. there is laundry facilities on every other floor also.

we did not hit the nasa space station tour since it was about 35 bucks a person and the kids when asked if they wanted to, perferred to swim in the pool and see a movie at the only cinema.
there are 2 putt putt courses, both north about 2 miles from the hotel. the beach is a very gradual wide beach, with 3 foot waves the week we were there. ideal for smaller kids. I would say its less crowded than daytona, with less stuff to do, but it was relaxing since we had been at theme parks and it was a nice change of pace from the hecticness of orlando. I have heard good things about the night turtle tours, ask at the front desk if u are interested in seeing turtles nest during flashlight tours. hope this helps.