bean bunny
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2010
- Messages
- 270
Who? Jim (42) and Katie (32)
Where? Royal Pacific
When? Sept 1- 5
Why? We NEED a vacation!
How? Plane and Rental Car
It started with an off handed comment from my husband who was wishing we could squeeze in another trip to Disney and Universal this year. With several family commitments this year I was almost out of vacation days so I didnt think it was possible. Then I thought about Labor Day weekend even though it was only two months away. I was pretty sure I could arrange to be off Thursday and Friday with a combination of a vacation day and getting some projects completed early in the week. The seed continued to grow and I started pricing airlines, checking to see if our dog boarder had room, and thinking about where we should stay.
Just a few days later my husband and I had a nice Friday afternoon off to finally see the last Harry Potter movie and what should appear in our mailbox but Mr. Potter himself complete with a pin code if we stayed at a Loews property at Universal for four nights. We were originally planning to split our time up at the Yacht Club and Royal Pacific Resort but we had been so impressed with the Royal Pacific on our trip in May it wasnt hard at all to decide to make the leap to staying all four nights at the Royal Pacific. I booked it that night and got a fantastic rate of $191 per night on the club level. I was shocked. Wed recently stayed at the Yacht Club on the concierge floor and it was around $400 a night. With that decision made we booked airfare and began to plan our trip! We have annual passes to Universal and one day left on some old no expiration/park hoppers so we were set on the ticket front. We dont make lots of dining reservations so I wasnt too worried about our last minute trip.
Our rough outline was:
Wednesday - Drop off the dogs at the boarder and check in 24 hours on AirTran to hopefully get a $69 upgrade to Business Class.
Thursday - Depart at 7:30 and arrive in Orlando at 11:00. Pick up luggage and rental car, check in, relax around the resort and spend the evening at Downtown Disney with dinner at Fultons.
Friday - Islands of Adventure (IOA) and Universal Studios (US) - we had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a private 2 park/1 day VIP tour
Saturday - We planned to play this day by ear
Sunday - Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios
Monday - Depart at 12:30 and arrive home at 2:00 and pick up our dogs
Wednesday, August 31st
I was online at exactly 7:30 to check in for our flight. I was thrilled to find two seats together available for upgrade to Business Class for $69 each. Wed never done this before but we thought this trip would be the perfect chance to try it out. One great benefit of Business Class is the ability to check your bags for free. We had two bags so this made the true cost of Business Class only $98.
We dropped off our dogs at their boarder where they would no doubt have a wonderful time swimming and frolicking for the next five days with new friends. We stopped at a newstand for airplane reading material and then stopped for a quick dinner before going home to try and go to bed somewhat early. We all know how hard it is to go to sleep the night before vacation! We were somewhat successful and were in bed by 10:00.
Thursday, September 1st
4:15 arrived very early and we were up and at em to get ready and pack last minute items for our trip. We said good bye to our cats (they would be checked on daily by my brother in law) and by 5:15 we were off. We knew we would get there pretty early but our last few trips greeted us with very long security lines so we figured better to be early and wait at the gate then rushing through the airport trying to make our flight! We were second in line at the check in counter and after browsing a few of the airport newsstands we were off to security. We were pleasantly surprised that not only was there not a huge line at security for this section of the terminal but we had no wait at all in the Business Class line (a perk we didnt even know about)! We were still pretty early but it went quickly and before we knew it we were boarding the plane. We were in the first seats of the plane and were offered beverages right away. We took off and had an uneventful flight where I watched Top Chef on my iPad and Jim enjoyed the satellite radio available at each seat and surfing the internet from the air.
We arrived and deplaned quickly. We stopped in the Disney and Universal stores but noticed that we were in different stores than the ones we usually visit. These were much smaller. I am assuming we were just in a different part of the terminal but I was totally confused as for 10+ years weve come out next to the Disney store in a different part of the airport (a bigger one). We didnt buy anything but I was happy to find that the Disney airport store was featuring park specific merchandise for each of the four parks. Really great stuff like mugs, note pads, and t-shirts.
We headed down for our luggage and after a long wait (is it just me or does it take forever when you cant wait to get going on your vacation?!) Next up was the rental car. We continue to use National even though often we end up with less than clean cars. The perk of being able to pick the car and drive away (we are Emerald Club members) is just too large of a draw for us. We took a bit of time finding a car and settled on a silver Dodge Avenger. As usual there was no line to check out and we were finally on our way! We noticed when we walked out to the rental car area it wasnt as hot as we expected (a nice surprise) and it seemed noticeably cooler than our May trip. Im happy to report that this car was very clean.
Usually I make sure to pack toll money but often end up leaving it in my carry on safely packed away in the trunk leaving us to scurry around and try to find change when we realize we dont have our stash. This time we had our toll money, directions, and were ready to go when we pulled out.
A short drive later we were pulling up to the Royal Pacific Resort. We parked in self parking and brought over our luggage to check in. Walking across that bridge really put me in the vacation mode. Its so peaceful and really gives you the experience of crossing over into a different place. I love everything about the lobby at Royal Pacific. The sunlight, the elephant fountain outside, the welcoming couches everywhere, the ice cold air conditioning - a welcome respite many days, the free wi fi
and the relaxing atmosphere. We often spend a bit of time just hanging out here - it really is a great spot. I took a deep breath just taking it in when we arrived. We were here!
We went over to check in and waited just a minute before we were helped by a very nice team member. She let us know that our room wasnt yet available but we were welcome to leave our luggage at bell services and go up to the lounge. They would call me when the room was ready. I inquired about getting a theme park view and was assured that I did have one. Jim and I opted to check our luggage and skip the lounge so we could just experience everything when our room was ready.
With our luggage taken care of we were off to the Yacht Club for the vacation tradition of getting Jims hair cut at Periwig. About a year ago he off handedly decided to get a haircut when we were walking by on our first afternoon at Yacht Club. From there it became a tradition. The prices are pretty reasonable for a resort and hes always been pleased by the hair cut and the service. On the way we stopped at our favorite Orlando fast food Chic-fil-A. We dont have these so its a nice treat to grab on our trip at some point.
While he was getting a haircut I was sitting in a rocking chair reading. I was making a very concerted effort to relax and enjoy this vacation and leave everything else behind. I was expecting a very busy fall with a huge project and I was using this as a last relaxing break before it began in earnest. I didnt check my email once on this trip or check in with our families. Everyone had our number and if they needed us they could call but we disconnected from all of our responsibilities. This 30 minutes on the porch was another example of this. Many times over the past two months I imagined doing this very thing and it was just as wonderful as I imagined. The weather was very nice! There was quite a bit of cloud cover and storm seemed imminent but this made for very pleasant weather to sit out in.
While I was reading a very nice woman sat down next to me with a baby. We began to talk and she shared that she was a baby nurse and would be staying with this baby in New York until she was one year old where she would then have a nanny until she was 18. This trip was a last minute one when they were impacted by Hurricane Irene. With no power the family decided to come to Disney World. The family (with an older child and her nanny) appeared to be at the parks while she was there at the resort with the baby. She explained the room was being cleaned so she was just hanging out waiting for it to be finished. Both sides of these stories were ones I couldnt imagine! I cant imagine having a baby nurse and a nanny or being far away from my family for a year to be a baby nurse. I was admittedly curious who this family was and what they did to allow for what I perceived to be a huge luxury. It was such an interesting exchange and one of those only in Disney World type stories for me. Just a conversation I probably wouldnt have at home. I dont know anyone with a baby nurse!
Jim was now the proud owner of a new haircut and a chocolate milkshake from Beaches and Cream. We stopped in the Yacht Club gift shop (our favorite) but there wasnt much new to purchase. I did stock up on the h2o body lotion that was on sale for 30% off. I like having this on my desk at work; its a moment in my day where I remember many wonderful trips!
For the first time in several visits to Yacht Club we were accosted by the DVC representative at the desk near the elevators as we walked in. She stopped us and asked if we were having fun which we answered yes of course. She asked then if it was our first trip (keep in mind we were still moving toward the store) and said oh no weve been many times. She then asked, Why arent you DVC members then? Well a couple of things wrong there: 1. You assumed we werent - we arent but that was never one of her questions. 2. Its off putting to imply somehow we are doing something wrong. DVC is something weve thought about and have done one of the presentations before but right now its not a good fit for us. We are finding we are spending more and more time at Universal resorts and we like the flexibility we have now to stay wherever we want. Maybe one day well feel its the right step for us but not yet. We didnt really answer her and she said we should talk to her when we were done shopping. We walked out the side door of the Yacht Club to try and avoid her and just kept walking as we passed her area. Weve had conversations with the representative at this desk many times and theyve never asked us to join DVC but talked generally about vacation, etc.
We set out to go back to the Royal Pacific planning to hang out in the lobby if our room wasnt ready yet. Just a few minutes after getting in the car we got a call that indeed our room was ready with our room number. We parked and noticed the parking lot was very empty. After retrieving our luggage we set out for our first stay in tower three. Inserting the magic key allowed us access to the 7th floor and we set off to find room 3714. We were completely blown away! The view from this room was amazing. We could see a panoramic view of Islands of Adventure from Dudley Do Rights to Hogwarts to Dr Dooms Fear Fall and so many things in between. Looking down we were right over the pool and could also see the water way connecting the Royal Pacific to the parks. We were stunned! It was such an amazing view.
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The room was sparkling clean as has been our experience in previous Universal resort stays. We had a King room with a couch Im assuming folds out? I prefer rooms with the big chair but my husband spent quite a bit of time on the couch looking out at the view!
We relaxed and just took it all in as we waited for the 4:30 concierge offerings. He was sleeping pretty quickly on the couch while I unpacked and put things away. Our plan for tonight involved Downtown Disney and a late dinner at Fultons which we were very much looking forward to visiting. It began pouring and continued to do so for quite a while. Just watching it come down while we relaxed was great. The first day of vacation is the best - with everything in front of you!
When 4:30 I went down to the concierge lounge to bring back snacks for us to share while we got ready. The options tonight were Mediterranean salad, meatballs, couscous, cut up veggies with dip, cheese and crackers, chips with salsa and sour cream. We were impressed that such substantial food was available. In comparison to the Yacht Club this was a much higher level of quality and quantity. You could realistically make a meal out of these offerings for a lighter dinner. We enjoyed these as a nice appetizer while we got ready for whatever we were doing in the evenings.
It was still lightly raining but we ventured out to Downtown Disney a bit later. We parked on the west side and found the parking lot pretty empty on that side around 6:00 p.m. The rain had ended by this point which was great. Jim and I stopped in all of our favorite stores including D-Street, Curl, and the World of Disney. We made a few small purchases including some sale shirts at Curl and a pair of green corduroy TOMs for me for Fall. We walked through World of Disney and I was really disappointed by the selection of baby items. Ive never really had a need to check out this area but I wanted to pick up a onesie for someone on my team that was expecting a baby boy. They had very little selection and really nothing for a baby boy especially since hell be born in the winter and a short sleeve onesie wouldnt be the best. I was hoping to find a mickey silhouette necklace Id seen on another trip report but there was nothing there similar to what I was hoping to find. I cant remember the last time we left World of Disney empty handed but today we did. I usually pass by Basin but stopped in today and loaded up! I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I used all of it and then some on lots of fun soaps for fall, Halloween and Christmas! They were so cute! We hit up Team Mickey, Tren-D, Art of DIsney and the Christmas store before we needed to check in for our ADR at Fultons. We didnt make any other purchases. I found Tren-D had mainly the same things we saw in May on our trip and nothing else caught our eye.
We walked over to Fultons for our first visit. I was particularly excited about this because I recently confirmed that this was formerly the Empress Lily which I distinctly remember going to a character breakfast at when I was about 5! This is a massive boat from the outside but Im not sure how much of it is actually usable and how much is a facade. We were seated in the bar area right along the water with a fantastic server. She brought out water and a delicious complimentary crab dip with crackers. We both ordered New York Strip steaks and shared a baked potato. I had a very good Pinot Noir while Jim had root beer. While we were waiting the server also brought out warm, yummy bread with butter. Shortly thereafter huge steaks arrived! It was definitely on my top 5 steaks ever list. It was perfectly cooked, very tender, and melted in your mouth. Just delicious. We were too full for dessert but I wished I had room for the chocolate chip cookie dessert they offered. It looked fantastic. We had a nice leisurely dinner and were just so happy to be back in our favorite vacation destination. Our server was really fantastic and checked on us just enough -- always the mark of a good server! This isnt an inexpensive restaurant but we found the quality was fantastic making it a good value in our eyes. We are already eyeing this as our future first night tradition.
Now full we had a long walk back to our car where we commented several times on how tired we were! We peeked into the pop gallery windows and eyed a great souvenir for my brother in law who was kindly checking in on our cats while we were away. We planned to pick it up later in our trip and finished our walk to the car. A quick drive later (Im always surprised at how close Universal and Disney are by car) we were back at the Royal Pacific Resort. We enjoyed more of that fantastic view as we got ready for bed. We had a big day ahead. This will be the theme of our trip. We likely spent more time than we usually would in our room as we were really intent on relaxing and part of that involved enjoying this view that we may never have again! I really didnt want to come back from this trip as we often do - in need of a vacation where we can just sleep for two days!
We settled into the very comfortable beds for a good night sleep!
Tomorrow - VIP TOUR!
Where? Royal Pacific
When? Sept 1- 5
Why? We NEED a vacation!
How? Plane and Rental Car
It started with an off handed comment from my husband who was wishing we could squeeze in another trip to Disney and Universal this year. With several family commitments this year I was almost out of vacation days so I didnt think it was possible. Then I thought about Labor Day weekend even though it was only two months away. I was pretty sure I could arrange to be off Thursday and Friday with a combination of a vacation day and getting some projects completed early in the week. The seed continued to grow and I started pricing airlines, checking to see if our dog boarder had room, and thinking about where we should stay.
Just a few days later my husband and I had a nice Friday afternoon off to finally see the last Harry Potter movie and what should appear in our mailbox but Mr. Potter himself complete with a pin code if we stayed at a Loews property at Universal for four nights. We were originally planning to split our time up at the Yacht Club and Royal Pacific Resort but we had been so impressed with the Royal Pacific on our trip in May it wasnt hard at all to decide to make the leap to staying all four nights at the Royal Pacific. I booked it that night and got a fantastic rate of $191 per night on the club level. I was shocked. Wed recently stayed at the Yacht Club on the concierge floor and it was around $400 a night. With that decision made we booked airfare and began to plan our trip! We have annual passes to Universal and one day left on some old no expiration/park hoppers so we were set on the ticket front. We dont make lots of dining reservations so I wasnt too worried about our last minute trip.
Our rough outline was:
Wednesday - Drop off the dogs at the boarder and check in 24 hours on AirTran to hopefully get a $69 upgrade to Business Class.
Thursday - Depart at 7:30 and arrive in Orlando at 11:00. Pick up luggage and rental car, check in, relax around the resort and spend the evening at Downtown Disney with dinner at Fultons.
Friday - Islands of Adventure (IOA) and Universal Studios (US) - we had a wonderful opportunity to participate in a private 2 park/1 day VIP tour
Saturday - We planned to play this day by ear
Sunday - Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios
Monday - Depart at 12:30 and arrive home at 2:00 and pick up our dogs
Wednesday, August 31st
I was online at exactly 7:30 to check in for our flight. I was thrilled to find two seats together available for upgrade to Business Class for $69 each. Wed never done this before but we thought this trip would be the perfect chance to try it out. One great benefit of Business Class is the ability to check your bags for free. We had two bags so this made the true cost of Business Class only $98.
We dropped off our dogs at their boarder where they would no doubt have a wonderful time swimming and frolicking for the next five days with new friends. We stopped at a newstand for airplane reading material and then stopped for a quick dinner before going home to try and go to bed somewhat early. We all know how hard it is to go to sleep the night before vacation! We were somewhat successful and were in bed by 10:00.
Thursday, September 1st
4:15 arrived very early and we were up and at em to get ready and pack last minute items for our trip. We said good bye to our cats (they would be checked on daily by my brother in law) and by 5:15 we were off. We knew we would get there pretty early but our last few trips greeted us with very long security lines so we figured better to be early and wait at the gate then rushing through the airport trying to make our flight! We were second in line at the check in counter and after browsing a few of the airport newsstands we were off to security. We were pleasantly surprised that not only was there not a huge line at security for this section of the terminal but we had no wait at all in the Business Class line (a perk we didnt even know about)! We were still pretty early but it went quickly and before we knew it we were boarding the plane. We were in the first seats of the plane and were offered beverages right away. We took off and had an uneventful flight where I watched Top Chef on my iPad and Jim enjoyed the satellite radio available at each seat and surfing the internet from the air.
We arrived and deplaned quickly. We stopped in the Disney and Universal stores but noticed that we were in different stores than the ones we usually visit. These were much smaller. I am assuming we were just in a different part of the terminal but I was totally confused as for 10+ years weve come out next to the Disney store in a different part of the airport (a bigger one). We didnt buy anything but I was happy to find that the Disney airport store was featuring park specific merchandise for each of the four parks. Really great stuff like mugs, note pads, and t-shirts.
We headed down for our luggage and after a long wait (is it just me or does it take forever when you cant wait to get going on your vacation?!) Next up was the rental car. We continue to use National even though often we end up with less than clean cars. The perk of being able to pick the car and drive away (we are Emerald Club members) is just too large of a draw for us. We took a bit of time finding a car and settled on a silver Dodge Avenger. As usual there was no line to check out and we were finally on our way! We noticed when we walked out to the rental car area it wasnt as hot as we expected (a nice surprise) and it seemed noticeably cooler than our May trip. Im happy to report that this car was very clean.
Usually I make sure to pack toll money but often end up leaving it in my carry on safely packed away in the trunk leaving us to scurry around and try to find change when we realize we dont have our stash. This time we had our toll money, directions, and were ready to go when we pulled out.
A short drive later we were pulling up to the Royal Pacific Resort. We parked in self parking and brought over our luggage to check in. Walking across that bridge really put me in the vacation mode. Its so peaceful and really gives you the experience of crossing over into a different place. I love everything about the lobby at Royal Pacific. The sunlight, the elephant fountain outside, the welcoming couches everywhere, the ice cold air conditioning - a welcome respite many days, the free wi fi
and the relaxing atmosphere. We often spend a bit of time just hanging out here - it really is a great spot. I took a deep breath just taking it in when we arrived. We were here!We went over to check in and waited just a minute before we were helped by a very nice team member. She let us know that our room wasnt yet available but we were welcome to leave our luggage at bell services and go up to the lounge. They would call me when the room was ready. I inquired about getting a theme park view and was assured that I did have one. Jim and I opted to check our luggage and skip the lounge so we could just experience everything when our room was ready.
With our luggage taken care of we were off to the Yacht Club for the vacation tradition of getting Jims hair cut at Periwig. About a year ago he off handedly decided to get a haircut when we were walking by on our first afternoon at Yacht Club. From there it became a tradition. The prices are pretty reasonable for a resort and hes always been pleased by the hair cut and the service. On the way we stopped at our favorite Orlando fast food
Chic-fil-A. We dont have these so its a nice treat to grab on our trip at some point. While he was getting a haircut I was sitting in a rocking chair reading. I was making a very concerted effort to relax and enjoy this vacation and leave everything else behind. I was expecting a very busy fall with a huge project and I was using this as a last relaxing break before it began in earnest. I didnt check my email once on this trip or check in with our families. Everyone had our number and if they needed us they could call but we disconnected from all of our responsibilities. This 30 minutes on the porch was another example of this. Many times over the past two months I imagined doing this very thing and it was just as wonderful as I imagined. The weather was very nice! There was quite a bit of cloud cover and storm seemed imminent but this made for very pleasant weather to sit out in.
While I was reading a very nice woman sat down next to me with a baby. We began to talk and she shared that she was a baby nurse and would be staying with this baby in New York until she was one year old where she would then have a nanny until she was 18. This trip was a last minute one when they were impacted by Hurricane Irene. With no power the family decided to come to Disney World. The family (with an older child and her nanny) appeared to be at the parks while she was there at the resort with the baby. She explained the room was being cleaned so she was just hanging out waiting for it to be finished. Both sides of these stories were ones I couldnt imagine! I cant imagine having a baby nurse and a nanny or being far away from my family for a year to be a baby nurse. I was admittedly curious who this family was and what they did to allow for what I perceived to be a huge luxury. It was such an interesting exchange and one of those only in Disney World type stories for me. Just a conversation I probably wouldnt have at home. I dont know anyone with a baby nurse!
Jim was now the proud owner of a new haircut and a chocolate milkshake from Beaches and Cream. We stopped in the Yacht Club gift shop (our favorite) but there wasnt much new to purchase. I did stock up on the h2o body lotion that was on sale for 30% off. I like having this on my desk at work; its a moment in my day where I remember many wonderful trips!
For the first time in several visits to Yacht Club we were accosted by the DVC representative at the desk near the elevators as we walked in. She stopped us and asked if we were having fun which we answered yes of course. She asked then if it was our first trip (keep in mind we were still moving toward the store) and said oh no weve been many times. She then asked, Why arent you DVC members then? Well a couple of things wrong there: 1. You assumed we werent - we arent but that was never one of her questions. 2. Its off putting to imply somehow we are doing something wrong. DVC is something weve thought about and have done one of the presentations before but right now its not a good fit for us. We are finding we are spending more and more time at Universal resorts and we like the flexibility we have now to stay wherever we want. Maybe one day well feel its the right step for us but not yet. We didnt really answer her and she said we should talk to her when we were done shopping. We walked out the side door of the Yacht Club to try and avoid her and just kept walking as we passed her area. Weve had conversations with the representative at this desk many times and theyve never asked us to join DVC but talked generally about vacation, etc.
We set out to go back to the Royal Pacific planning to hang out in the lobby if our room wasnt ready yet. Just a few minutes after getting in the car we got a call that indeed our room was ready with our room number. We parked and noticed the parking lot was very empty. After retrieving our luggage we set out for our first stay in tower three. Inserting the magic key allowed us access to the 7th floor and we set off to find room 3714. We were completely blown away! The view from this room was amazing. We could see a panoramic view of Islands of Adventure from Dudley Do Rights to Hogwarts to Dr Dooms Fear Fall and so many things in between. Looking down we were right over the pool and could also see the water way connecting the Royal Pacific to the parks. We were stunned! It was such an amazing view.
The room was sparkling clean as has been our experience in previous Universal resort stays. We had a King room with a couch Im assuming folds out? I prefer rooms with the big chair but my husband spent quite a bit of time on the couch looking out at the view!
We relaxed and just took it all in as we waited for the 4:30 concierge offerings. He was sleeping pretty quickly on the couch while I unpacked and put things away. Our plan for tonight involved Downtown Disney and a late dinner at Fultons which we were very much looking forward to visiting. It began pouring and continued to do so for quite a while. Just watching it come down while we relaxed was great. The first day of vacation is the best - with everything in front of you!
When 4:30 I went down to the concierge lounge to bring back snacks for us to share while we got ready. The options tonight were Mediterranean salad, meatballs, couscous, cut up veggies with dip, cheese and crackers, chips with salsa and sour cream. We were impressed that such substantial food was available. In comparison to the Yacht Club this was a much higher level of quality and quantity. You could realistically make a meal out of these offerings for a lighter dinner. We enjoyed these as a nice appetizer while we got ready for whatever we were doing in the evenings.
It was still lightly raining but we ventured out to Downtown Disney a bit later. We parked on the west side and found the parking lot pretty empty on that side around 6:00 p.m. The rain had ended by this point which was great. Jim and I stopped in all of our favorite stores including D-Street, Curl, and the World of Disney. We made a few small purchases including some sale shirts at Curl and a pair of green corduroy TOMs for me for Fall. We walked through World of Disney and I was really disappointed by the selection of baby items. Ive never really had a need to check out this area but I wanted to pick up a onesie for someone on my team that was expecting a baby boy. They had very little selection and really nothing for a baby boy especially since hell be born in the winter and a short sleeve onesie wouldnt be the best. I was hoping to find a mickey silhouette necklace Id seen on another trip report but there was nothing there similar to what I was hoping to find. I cant remember the last time we left World of Disney empty handed but today we did. I usually pass by Basin but stopped in today and loaded up! I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I used all of it and then some on lots of fun soaps for fall, Halloween and Christmas! They were so cute! We hit up Team Mickey, Tren-D, Art of DIsney and the Christmas store before we needed to check in for our ADR at Fultons. We didnt make any other purchases. I found Tren-D had mainly the same things we saw in May on our trip and nothing else caught our eye.
We walked over to Fultons for our first visit. I was particularly excited about this because I recently confirmed that this was formerly the Empress Lily which I distinctly remember going to a character breakfast at when I was about 5! This is a massive boat from the outside but Im not sure how much of it is actually usable and how much is a facade. We were seated in the bar area right along the water with a fantastic server. She brought out water and a delicious complimentary crab dip with crackers. We both ordered New York Strip steaks and shared a baked potato. I had a very good Pinot Noir while Jim had root beer. While we were waiting the server also brought out warm, yummy bread with butter. Shortly thereafter huge steaks arrived! It was definitely on my top 5 steaks ever list. It was perfectly cooked, very tender, and melted in your mouth. Just delicious. We were too full for dessert but I wished I had room for the chocolate chip cookie dessert they offered. It looked fantastic. We had a nice leisurely dinner and were just so happy to be back in our favorite vacation destination. Our server was really fantastic and checked on us just enough -- always the mark of a good server! This isnt an inexpensive restaurant but we found the quality was fantastic making it a good value in our eyes. We are already eyeing this as our future first night tradition.
Now full we had a long walk back to our car where we commented several times on how tired we were! We peeked into the pop gallery windows and eyed a great souvenir for my brother in law who was kindly checking in on our cats while we were away. We planned to pick it up later in our trip and finished our walk to the car. A quick drive later (Im always surprised at how close Universal and Disney are by car) we were back at the Royal Pacific Resort. We enjoyed more of that fantastic view as we got ready for bed. We had a big day ahead. This will be the theme of our trip. We likely spent more time than we usually would in our room as we were really intent on relaxing and part of that involved enjoying this view that we may never have again! I really didnt want to come back from this trip as we often do - in need of a vacation where we can just sleep for two days!
We settled into the very comfortable beds for a good night sleep!
Tomorrow - VIP TOUR!
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