Ramblings from a first time visitor

[kpgclark]

We went to US/IOA on 3/26. We stayed at RP. The hotel is very nice and conveniently located. The pool is fun with a ship with some water activities. Although we didn't go, they were showing movies out by the pool in the evening.

In my ramblings about the parks, please excuse the fact that I can't remember a lot of the names of rides and which ride was at which park. After going to the parks we were on the Western Disney cruise and my brain is fried.

We brought our 6 year old DD and 8 year old DS to the parks. All I can say is that my DD didn't like IOA at all. My son enjoyed it, but he wasn't tall enough to ride the big coasters and he was bummed. For these ages I think that WDW is a much better place to visit. Our favorite things to do as a family were the Woody Woodpecker Kids Zone (we could have spent the whole day playing with the balls and playing in the water), we LOVED the talking fountain- what an absolute riot please don't overlook it. We also enjoyed the Mardi Gras parades. The one in the afternoon is not listed in the brochure, but I knew about it by reading these boards. The kids really liked both parades.

I thought the show at Nick Studios was lame. The kids liked the Animal Planet show and the Sinbad show. Both kids liked the Dr. Seuss place.

We had enough time to go back to the hotel for a swim in the middle of the day. My daughter and I ate one night at a restaurant in the Downtown Disney like place that had a South American theme. It is the restaurant with the night sky inside. The food was really good and fresh. There was a flaminco guitar player that was awesome.

As I said, I'm sorry this post is a little fuzzy but my brain is out of order at the minute.

If you have any questions, just ask.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Did they show movies every night by the pool?

 

[MrsMud]

I thought the show at Nick Studios was lame.

You're not talking about the Jimmy Neutron ride, Nicktoon Blast, are you? Please, say it ain't so! My 2 daughters can't wait to go on this ride! Did the 6 and 8 year old think it was lame, too?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Nope, MrsMudd, I think she is referring to the watered down version of what use to the Nick Studio Tour. Jimmy Neutron was not open on 3/26.

Sounds like you guys had a good time despite the restrictions.

 

[Planogirl]

I suspect that the Nick Studios thing is only fun if you're picked to be a part of the games. It was only OK for us. I did notice on another day that kids were lined up to go into Nick Studios when they were actually filming something. We were curious but there wasn't any room left.

To the original poster, did you try ET or any of the other rides in Universal? My 4th grader tried (and liked) everything but worried endlessly about Jaws before we rode it. Afterward, he told me the shark didn't look real which made him feel OK with it.

 

[kpgclark]

Yes I am referring to the Nick Studios tour. It was dull for me.

My 6YO wouldn't try hardly any rides. She did like ET though. My son liked Jaws and went on twice. I could really feel the heat from the explosions!

There were hardly any lines but we did use our FOTL access a few times.

 

[highlander447]

Hi how where the rooms at the RP and how did u find the hotel in general
thanks

 

[kpgclark]

I thought the employees were cheerful and helpful. One thing I was disappointed about was the lack of quick food. For example, we checked in at dinner time and were at the pool at around 7:30. We wanted to eat out by the pool while the kids went swimming. The food place by the pool was already closed. So we ended up placing a burger order at the more casual restaurant there (I think the name was Jack's or something like that.) I had to go back there after 20 minutes to pick up the food and carry it out to the tables by the pool. I thought that was a pain.

The rooms were the standard hotel size with two queen sized beds. I liked that there was a coffeemaker available. You can get a quick breakfast (continental) near the lobby. They told me that they will be opening a new restaurant soon and will relocate this there soon. The full service restaurant for breakfast was good- it's the Polynesian restaurant. It had nice and somewhat unique items. The staff was friendly and nice. They have a buffet there but we didn't have it.

 

[highlander447]

Thanks for replying we are not staying there until next march for 2weeks so am trying to find out all I can from other visitors so I don't miss anything