Day One, July 3, 2003
DD Erica and I had the best time ever on our 4th of July weekend vacation!! DD took me on this vacation as a birthday present!! DD paid for everything, which made this trip even better!! We flew out of JFK at 5:25 pm. This was our first time flying on Song. The flight was good and we arrived at Orlando around 8:00 pm. Yourride was waiting for us as we went down the escalator. We did a quick grocery stop and we were off to the RPR. We got the RPR on Hotwire for $114 a night. I am a Loews' First member and I did receive my amenities. At check-in we were given room 2134. This room was in tower 2 on the 1st floor. As we approached our room, we could here a dog barking. DD said "oh no". It was a pretty loud bark. As we entered room 2134 DD's allergies started to kick in. The room had a pet odor. It felt very uncomfortable in that room. We went back up to the front desk and I explained to the person at the desk that DD has allergies to pets. I requested a room on a floor without pets. This time we were given room 3240. This room was in Tower 3, on the second floor. This room felt much better as we walked in. It felt much more comfortable, and the view was much better. We checked out the room and then we were off to CityWalk. The walk to CityWalk and the parks is very nice. The walking path is beautiful. It took us 8 minutes to reach CityWalk. It would have taken me 5 minutes, but DD is a slow walker. We had dinner at NBA City. We were pretty tired so we headed back to the RPR. This time we took the water taxi.
Day Two, July 4, 2003
We woke up early and went to eat breakfast at the Island Dining Room. The buffet was $12.75 and it was great!! There is an omelette station where you can order eggs anyway you would like. After breakfast, we walked over to IOA. DD had to go to guest services to upgrade her powerpass, because our dates were blacked out on the powerpass. It cost $21 to upgrade to a premium annual pass. This was a pleasant surprise, because we thought it would cost more. Maybe it's because her pass is only good until October. After she got her new pass we were on our way to check-in for the IOA VIP tour!!! We did the 10am tour and it was awesome!! At check-in we received our VIP lanyard passes. The lanyards had an IOA pin on them. We were also given "The Mummy Returns" DVD. We each received a rain poncho and bottled water. We were also given coupons for free soft drinks. I am so glad we did the VIP tour. It was so good. There was another party scheduled to do the tour with us, but they didn't show up. DD and I had the tourguide all to ourselves!!! Our tourguide was Joe and he was the greatest!! We were able to do the whole park in just 4 hours (including lunch at the Enchanted Oak Tavern)!!! We even had time to see the Sinbad show, where we sat up front!!! The tour was awesome. We walked on to everything, without waiting in line. The most we waited was 2 or 3 minutes!! After the tour, we headed back to the RPR. When we arrived to our room, our cookies and milk were there!! We had 3 huge cookies. Two chocolate chips, and one oatmeal. The cookies were delicious. DD went to the pool, while I took a nap. The Royal Pacific had a really nice barbecue by the pool from 5-9pm. But, DD and I really wanted to go back to IOA and do the rides in the dark!! We headed back to IOA for the evening. Instead of using our room keys for the express lines, we used our VIP lanyards. When you do a VIP tour, the VIP passes are good for the express lines for the rest of the day!! We found it easier to use these passes, because we could just leave them hanging around our necks. They don't scan them. You just flash the VIP pass, and you keep going on the express line!! We rode the Hulk and Dueling Dragons in the dark. It was awesome!! We had dinner at Confisco's Grille, where I got my free dessert with my Birthday Card that I received in the mail from Universal (AP holder mailing). The 4th of July fireworks were amazing. After the fireworks we hit the shops and then we walked back to the RPR.
Day Three, July 5, 2003
We had breakfast at the Island Dining room again (just love this breakfast!!). Then we were off to our Universal Studios VIP tour. At check-in we received our US VIP lanyards. The lanyards had a little Woody Woodpecker pin on them. We were so lucky to get tourguide Joe again!!! This time there were 11 people (including us) in the tour group. The tour lasted about 5 hrs and 15 mins (including our lunch at Louie's Italian restaurant). Erica and I had Lasagna for lunch, it was good. The tour was really great!! The parks were really busy on July 4th and 5th. The lines were quite long. I was so happy that we decided to do the VIP tours. We only had 3 days in Orlando, and we wanted to make the most of them. We were able to do so much in those 3 days!!! Jimmy Neutron and Shrek were awesome!! We got to sit up front at the Wild West Stunt show. The VIP tours were so much fun, and our tourguide Joe, was great!! After the tour, we did a little more shopping and then we walked back to the RPR. DD went to the pool, while I rested for a little while in the room. At 6:30pm, I went down to see the Torch lighting ceremony. This ceremony is held at the RPR everyday at 6:30 pm, by the pool. It was lots of fun to watch. After the ceremony, we walked over to CityWalk. We had reservations for the Bonkerz Comedy Show at CityJazz. The show was pretty good. DD really enjoyed it a lot. When the show was over, they called out DD's name (she filled out a card earlier). She won 2 CityWalk passes!! After the show, we went over to the groove. We really had a blast at the groove!! DD was tired, so we headed back to the RPR. We found it easier to walk back and forth to the RPR, than to wait for the water taxi.
Day Four, July 6, 2003
This was our last day. Our flight was at 7:30 pm. We rented a cabana by the pool. We had cabana #1. The cabana cost $45 to rent for a half day. We had the cabana from 8am-3pm. There was a refrigerator in the cabana. There were 4 cokes and 4 bottles of water inside. We were also given a basket of fruit. The cabana had 2 lounge chairs with a small table between them. There was a ceiling fan, a televison and a phone in the cabana. I was so glad that we had reserved the cabana. It was so hot outside, but it stayed nice and cool in the cabana!! We even had our lunch served inside the cabana. From 3pm-5pm, we went to the two gift shops at the RPR, and we relaxed in the Lobby Lounge. A little before 5pm, Yourride arrived to take us to the airport. We checked in at one of the Song Kiosks, and did a little more shopping at the Airport shops.
DD and I had such a good time!! The RPR is really a beautiful resort!! We were treated very well. We will be going back to Orlando the last week of August, with our whole family. There will be 7 of us going, so we will be staying at the Summerfield Suites on I-drive. I got a bargain rate of $74.50 a night, for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite (including breakfast). We'll be going to: IOA, US, Wet-N-Wild, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, MK, Disney Studios, AK, EPCOT and Typhoon Lagoon!!!!! I can hardly wait!!!!
DD Erica and I had the best time ever on our 4th of July weekend vacation!! DD took me on this vacation as a birthday present!! DD paid for everything, which made this trip even better!! We flew out of JFK at 5:25 pm. This was our first time flying on Song. The flight was good and we arrived at Orlando around 8:00 pm. Yourride was waiting for us as we went down the escalator. We did a quick grocery stop and we were off to the RPR. We got the RPR on Hotwire for $114 a night. I am a Loews' First member and I did receive my amenities. At check-in we were given room 2134. This room was in tower 2 on the 1st floor. As we approached our room, we could here a dog barking. DD said "oh no". It was a pretty loud bark. As we entered room 2134 DD's allergies started to kick in. The room had a pet odor. It felt very uncomfortable in that room. We went back up to the front desk and I explained to the person at the desk that DD has allergies to pets. I requested a room on a floor without pets. This time we were given room 3240. This room was in Tower 3, on the second floor. This room felt much better as we walked in. It felt much more comfortable, and the view was much better. We checked out the room and then we were off to CityWalk. The walk to CityWalk and the parks is very nice. The walking path is beautiful. It took us 8 minutes to reach CityWalk. It would have taken me 5 minutes, but DD is a slow walker. We had dinner at NBA City. We were pretty tired so we headed back to the RPR. This time we took the water taxi.
Day Two, July 4, 2003
We woke up early and went to eat breakfast at the Island Dining Room. The buffet was $12.75 and it was great!! There is an omelette station where you can order eggs anyway you would like. After breakfast, we walked over to IOA. DD had to go to guest services to upgrade her powerpass, because our dates were blacked out on the powerpass. It cost $21 to upgrade to a premium annual pass. This was a pleasant surprise, because we thought it would cost more. Maybe it's because her pass is only good until October. After she got her new pass we were on our way to check-in for the IOA VIP tour!!! We did the 10am tour and it was awesome!! At check-in we received our VIP lanyard passes. The lanyards had an IOA pin on them. We were also given "The Mummy Returns" DVD. We each received a rain poncho and bottled water. We were also given coupons for free soft drinks. I am so glad we did the VIP tour. It was so good. There was another party scheduled to do the tour with us, but they didn't show up. DD and I had the tourguide all to ourselves!!! Our tourguide was Joe and he was the greatest!! We were able to do the whole park in just 4 hours (including lunch at the Enchanted Oak Tavern)!!! We even had time to see the Sinbad show, where we sat up front!!! The tour was awesome. We walked on to everything, without waiting in line. The most we waited was 2 or 3 minutes!! After the tour, we headed back to the RPR. When we arrived to our room, our cookies and milk were there!! We had 3 huge cookies. Two chocolate chips, and one oatmeal. The cookies were delicious. DD went to the pool, while I took a nap. The Royal Pacific had a really nice barbecue by the pool from 5-9pm. But, DD and I really wanted to go back to IOA and do the rides in the dark!! We headed back to IOA for the evening. Instead of using our room keys for the express lines, we used our VIP lanyards. When you do a VIP tour, the VIP passes are good for the express lines for the rest of the day!! We found it easier to use these passes, because we could just leave them hanging around our necks. They don't scan them. You just flash the VIP pass, and you keep going on the express line!! We rode the Hulk and Dueling Dragons in the dark. It was awesome!! We had dinner at Confisco's Grille, where I got my free dessert with my Birthday Card that I received in the mail from Universal (AP holder mailing). The 4th of July fireworks were amazing. After the fireworks we hit the shops and then we walked back to the RPR.
Day Three, July 5, 2003
We had breakfast at the Island Dining room again (just love this breakfast!!). Then we were off to our Universal Studios VIP tour. At check-in we received our US VIP lanyards. The lanyards had a little Woody Woodpecker pin on them. We were so lucky to get tourguide Joe again!!! This time there were 11 people (including us) in the tour group. The tour lasted about 5 hrs and 15 mins (including our lunch at Louie's Italian restaurant). Erica and I had Lasagna for lunch, it was good. The tour was really great!! The parks were really busy on July 4th and 5th. The lines were quite long. I was so happy that we decided to do the VIP tours. We only had 3 days in Orlando, and we wanted to make the most of them. We were able to do so much in those 3 days!!! Jimmy Neutron and Shrek were awesome!! We got to sit up front at the Wild West Stunt show. The VIP tours were so much fun, and our tourguide Joe, was great!! After the tour, we did a little more shopping and then we walked back to the RPR. DD went to the pool, while I rested for a little while in the room. At 6:30pm, I went down to see the Torch lighting ceremony. This ceremony is held at the RPR everyday at 6:30 pm, by the pool. It was lots of fun to watch. After the ceremony, we walked over to CityWalk. We had reservations for the Bonkerz Comedy Show at CityJazz. The show was pretty good. DD really enjoyed it a lot. When the show was over, they called out DD's name (she filled out a card earlier). She won 2 CityWalk passes!! After the show, we went over to the groove. We really had a blast at the groove!! DD was tired, so we headed back to the RPR. We found it easier to walk back and forth to the RPR, than to wait for the water taxi.
Day Four, July 6, 2003
This was our last day. Our flight was at 7:30 pm. We rented a cabana by the pool. We had cabana #1. The cabana cost $45 to rent for a half day. We had the cabana from 8am-3pm. There was a refrigerator in the cabana. There were 4 cokes and 4 bottles of water inside. We were also given a basket of fruit. The cabana had 2 lounge chairs with a small table between them. There was a ceiling fan, a televison and a phone in the cabana. I was so glad that we had reserved the cabana. It was so hot outside, but it stayed nice and cool in the cabana!! We even had our lunch served inside the cabana. From 3pm-5pm, we went to the two gift shops at the RPR, and we relaxed in the Lobby Lounge. A little before 5pm, Yourride arrived to take us to the airport. We checked in at one of the Song Kiosks, and did a little more shopping at the Airport shops.
DD and I had such a good time!! The RPR is really a beautiful resort!! We were treated very well. We will be going back to Orlando the last week of August, with our whole family. There will be 7 of us going, so we will be staying at the Summerfield Suites on I-drive. I got a bargain rate of $74.50 a night, for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite (including breakfast). We'll be going to: IOA, US, Wet-N-Wild, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, MK, Disney Studios, AK, EPCOT and Typhoon Lagoon!!!!! I can hardly wait!!!!
Don't think my parents would pay to have us do the tour because of that! Haha...
