Sorry this is posting a little late but finally had the time to complete it:
Back from a great 8 day vacation February 13th- 20th. Stayed at US HRH the first night and POR the next 6. Ill try to keep it as brief and informative as possible for my first trip report:
Universal Studios
A very nice resort with two very good theme parks. Hard Rock was a beautiful hotel. We enjoyed the food at The Kitchen very much. Did not need to make a reservation 6 months out either! Walk to the parks was a breeze. Express Pass and early entry were great to have on a busy week. Lines exceeded 45 minutes throughout the day. Was not able to try HRRR as even the singles line was 55 minutes. DD8 was slightly saddened but got over it quick.
I have not read any Harry Potter books or seen the movies but was duly impressed with WWOHP. Great details in the architecture, FJ line queue and the ride itself. That said I dont see how anyone would enjoy themselves when that land fills up with people and the wait times for FJ exceed 1 hour. One more thing from a butterscotch hater. Butterbeer (frozen)= delicious.
Left the resort around midday on Thursday and headed to WDW but not before stopping at our favorite off site restaurant Sweet Tomatoes. Great salad bar and soups and reasonably priced.
POR was a great resort and being DVC members we thought we would never stay anywhere else. Very serene and a great respite from the huge crowds. Food court was very good and varied. Im sure there is a good reason for this but why dont the deluxe resorts or DVCs have food courts? These areas seem to be a perfect blend between decent choices of foods without reservations and a nice common area to boot. Crowds were manageable at the food court despite the resort being full.
Here are the daily summaries of our theme park trips:
Friday- MK opening. SIDEBAR. I will preface this by saying that the bus system has always worked well for us in the past.The line at the POR resort bus stop had to be at least 100-150 people as every other theme park bus (3 Epcot, 2 HS, 1 AK, 1 DTD) came and went. We were near the front but became frustrated as loads of people walked by us to join their families. At the risk of being flamed, why are scooters allowed to bypass the long line and move right up front with their party? I understand that I am lucky to be mobile enough to not need one of these Disney, you need to find a better way to monitor the crowds at resort bus stops especially the MK busses. You must know that the theme park the resort guests travel to most by bus is MK. This would be the last bus ride until our last night in the MK. We bailed and took a cab to CR. Well worth the $20.00 as we got through the turnstiles just as pre show was beginning. Rant over.
Did everything we wanted to at MK in the morning with FP and some short waits (ETB,JLM, SM, Dumbo,BTMRR). Lunch at Cosmic Rays was good. By the time we did BTMRR with our fast pass and waited forty minutes for Woody and Jessie the park had swelled to uncomfortable levels so we headed out.
A very enjoyable half day at MK despite the crowds.
Friday night we ventured over to Epcot for what we knew would just be dinner and a walk around. Nine Dragons was decent. Took a ride on Maelstrom. Also stopped to watch some of British Revolution and Off Kilter. Ended the night with a ride on Journey into Imagination. While by no means a headliner attraction it was nice and my DD seemed to enjoy it. This whole pavilion could use an update though.
Saturday- DHS opening. Got in pretty quickly to grab TSM fast passes and also ride standby. Thats where my plan sputtered. RRC was down and line for TOT was quite long. These 2 rides would have to wait for another day. Did Star Tours, Playhouse Disney Live, met Ralph, ate lunch at Sci Fi (good) and left for the day around 12. It was an interesting as we were definitely walking against the tide of people. I kind of felt bad for them knowing that if they had any notion of doing the headliner attractions they would be waiting a long time.
After a swim at the resort we ventured to DTD for our 6pm reservation at Raglan Road. Good food and a show to boot. Popped into Spiltsville to check it out. Impressive. Btw, DTD was as you would expect very busy.
Sunday- Epcot opening. Morning crowds were manageable as we were able to ride Soarin standby and FP, do some things in Innoventions and FP TT. New TT was well done. Not sure of the complaints about the new version. The old version definitely needed a 'tune up'. Had lunch at Tutto Italia. Very good. Exited park around 2 as TT and Soarin lines exceeded 100 minutes.
Headed back to Epcot after a resort rest for dinner at The Garden Grill. This was a very nice character meal as we did not feel rushed because the food comes to you. Dinner was tasty and we did not feel overstuffed as you sometimes feel after the buffet type character meals. Visited Nemo and Crush before ending the night at a finally uncrowded Spaceship Earth.
Monday-DHS opening (again). This time we were able to do the top three (RRC, TOT and TSM) before 10:15. Enjoyed all three and left as the usual swarm of people came in. Note: TSM FP return was 4:45pm at 10am. After lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (again) we enjoyed the resort for a while. Headed over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a appetizing dinner at Boma.
It was 5:45 when we finished so decided to pop into AK for a bit. Got into Camp Minnie Mickey in time to see the 6:30 Lion King show and thanks to a nice family sitting next to us we were able to ride EE with FPs. Great ride at night and a nice finish to the day.
Tuesday- Lazy morning at the resort along with a boat ride to DTD with lunch at Wolfgang Pucks Cafe. Delicious. Some souvenir shopping and a satisfying Ghirardelli chocolate milk shake ended our afternoon at DTD.
Decided to head to MK for our final night. We had the opposite experience with the bus this time as we were the only 3 people on board for the short trip. We were expecting crowds and were not disappointed once we got through the empty bag check and turnstiles.
Hopped on the train at Main Street and were lucky to get on as the entire train was full. Did the train one other time this night and suspected that there were many Round Trippers Plus on board as at each stop the train hardly gave up any passengers.
Picked up some FP for BTMRR and headed to see Minnie and Daisy in their circus apparel.
After a quick dinner at Pecos Bill we were determined to get a few attractions in while also seeing fireworks and late parade. It was around 7 and we had time to do our BTMRR FPs, before taking in the always beautiful fireworks. Crowds were finally on the decline so we hit POC and Jungle cruise before enjoying 9pm parade. The night ended with a HM and Small World ride and we headed back to resort, happy with what we accomplished but sad to leave.
So to wrap:
-Parks very crowded. The most crowds we have seen since an Easter Week trip 15 years ago. Granted we dont go at peak times. For those who venture here during those busy peak times, you are a better person than me.
-If you have the means and are not a huge group, travelling around WDW and the surrounding area via rental car is much less stressful than WDW transportation during busy times.
-One concern with most food at WDW: Please let your guests add the extra salt and season to taste.
-POR resort was beautiful. Quiet, convenient, friendly. What an enjoyable place to escape the crowds.
-Weather was sometimes rainy, a few very cool days and warm near the end of our trip.
Overall another great Disney trip. Looking forward to our late August trip
Back from a great 8 day vacation February 13th- 20th. Stayed at US HRH the first night and POR the next 6. Ill try to keep it as brief and informative as possible for my first trip report:
Universal Studios
A very nice resort with two very good theme parks. Hard Rock was a beautiful hotel. We enjoyed the food at The Kitchen very much. Did not need to make a reservation 6 months out either! Walk to the parks was a breeze. Express Pass and early entry were great to have on a busy week. Lines exceeded 45 minutes throughout the day. Was not able to try HRRR as even the singles line was 55 minutes. DD8 was slightly saddened but got over it quick.
I have not read any Harry Potter books or seen the movies but was duly impressed with WWOHP. Great details in the architecture, FJ line queue and the ride itself. That said I dont see how anyone would enjoy themselves when that land fills up with people and the wait times for FJ exceed 1 hour. One more thing from a butterscotch hater. Butterbeer (frozen)= delicious.
Left the resort around midday on Thursday and headed to WDW but not before stopping at our favorite off site restaurant Sweet Tomatoes. Great salad bar and soups and reasonably priced.
POR was a great resort and being DVC members we thought we would never stay anywhere else. Very serene and a great respite from the huge crowds. Food court was very good and varied. Im sure there is a good reason for this but why dont the deluxe resorts or DVCs have food courts? These areas seem to be a perfect blend between decent choices of foods without reservations and a nice common area to boot. Crowds were manageable at the food court despite the resort being full.
Here are the daily summaries of our theme park trips:
Friday- MK opening. SIDEBAR. I will preface this by saying that the bus system has always worked well for us in the past.The line at the POR resort bus stop had to be at least 100-150 people as every other theme park bus (3 Epcot, 2 HS, 1 AK, 1 DTD) came and went. We were near the front but became frustrated as loads of people walked by us to join their families. At the risk of being flamed, why are scooters allowed to bypass the long line and move right up front with their party? I understand that I am lucky to be mobile enough to not need one of these Disney, you need to find a better way to monitor the crowds at resort bus stops especially the MK busses. You must know that the theme park the resort guests travel to most by bus is MK. This would be the last bus ride until our last night in the MK. We bailed and took a cab to CR. Well worth the $20.00 as we got through the turnstiles just as pre show was beginning. Rant over.
Did everything we wanted to at MK in the morning with FP and some short waits (ETB,JLM, SM, Dumbo,BTMRR). Lunch at Cosmic Rays was good. By the time we did BTMRR with our fast pass and waited forty minutes for Woody and Jessie the park had swelled to uncomfortable levels so we headed out.
A very enjoyable half day at MK despite the crowds.
Friday night we ventured over to Epcot for what we knew would just be dinner and a walk around. Nine Dragons was decent. Took a ride on Maelstrom. Also stopped to watch some of British Revolution and Off Kilter. Ended the night with a ride on Journey into Imagination. While by no means a headliner attraction it was nice and my DD seemed to enjoy it. This whole pavilion could use an update though.
Saturday- DHS opening. Got in pretty quickly to grab TSM fast passes and also ride standby. Thats where my plan sputtered. RRC was down and line for TOT was quite long. These 2 rides would have to wait for another day. Did Star Tours, Playhouse Disney Live, met Ralph, ate lunch at Sci Fi (good) and left for the day around 12. It was an interesting as we were definitely walking against the tide of people. I kind of felt bad for them knowing that if they had any notion of doing the headliner attractions they would be waiting a long time.
After a swim at the resort we ventured to DTD for our 6pm reservation at Raglan Road. Good food and a show to boot. Popped into Spiltsville to check it out. Impressive. Btw, DTD was as you would expect very busy.
Sunday- Epcot opening. Morning crowds were manageable as we were able to ride Soarin standby and FP, do some things in Innoventions and FP TT. New TT was well done. Not sure of the complaints about the new version. The old version definitely needed a 'tune up'. Had lunch at Tutto Italia. Very good. Exited park around 2 as TT and Soarin lines exceeded 100 minutes.
Headed back to Epcot after a resort rest for dinner at The Garden Grill. This was a very nice character meal as we did not feel rushed because the food comes to you. Dinner was tasty and we did not feel overstuffed as you sometimes feel after the buffet type character meals. Visited Nemo and Crush before ending the night at a finally uncrowded Spaceship Earth.
Monday-DHS opening (again). This time we were able to do the top three (RRC, TOT and TSM) before 10:15. Enjoyed all three and left as the usual swarm of people came in. Note: TSM FP return was 4:45pm at 10am. After lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (again) we enjoyed the resort for a while. Headed over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a appetizing dinner at Boma.
It was 5:45 when we finished so decided to pop into AK for a bit. Got into Camp Minnie Mickey in time to see the 6:30 Lion King show and thanks to a nice family sitting next to us we were able to ride EE with FPs. Great ride at night and a nice finish to the day.
Tuesday- Lazy morning at the resort along with a boat ride to DTD with lunch at Wolfgang Pucks Cafe. Delicious. Some souvenir shopping and a satisfying Ghirardelli chocolate milk shake ended our afternoon at DTD.
Decided to head to MK for our final night. We had the opposite experience with the bus this time as we were the only 3 people on board for the short trip. We were expecting crowds and were not disappointed once we got through the empty bag check and turnstiles.
Hopped on the train at Main Street and were lucky to get on as the entire train was full. Did the train one other time this night and suspected that there were many Round Trippers Plus on board as at each stop the train hardly gave up any passengers.
Picked up some FP for BTMRR and headed to see Minnie and Daisy in their circus apparel.
After a quick dinner at Pecos Bill we were determined to get a few attractions in while also seeing fireworks and late parade. It was around 7 and we had time to do our BTMRR FPs, before taking in the always beautiful fireworks. Crowds were finally on the decline so we hit POC and Jungle cruise before enjoying 9pm parade. The night ended with a HM and Small World ride and we headed back to resort, happy with what we accomplished but sad to leave.
So to wrap:
-Parks very crowded. The most crowds we have seen since an Easter Week trip 15 years ago. Granted we dont go at peak times. For those who venture here during those busy peak times, you are a better person than me.
-If you have the means and are not a huge group, travelling around WDW and the surrounding area via rental car is much less stressful than WDW transportation during busy times.
-One concern with most food at WDW: Please let your guests add the extra salt and season to taste.
-POR resort was beautiful. Quiet, convenient, friendly. What an enjoyable place to escape the crowds.
-Weather was sometimes rainy, a few very cool days and warm near the end of our trip.
Overall another great Disney trip. Looking forward to our late August trip
