Short but Sweet Trip!

[tweetylori]

It all started because Husband & I had two days left on the three-day Universal passes we had bought at Costco a couple years ago. Passes are due to expire at the end of 2014, we had to do something! So for my birthday, I requested that we go to Orlando to use up these passes. Husband agreed. We bought airfare.

We also were very curious about the new Fantasyland at Disney World, so after calling to inquire about options there, our Universal Adventure now included three nights at Disney with Free Dining. So we did that first which was great, then it was time for our first ever Universal stay-on-site experience.

Yes, this birthday gal decided to to splurge on a night at the Royal Pacific. Being a bidding-for-travel type of gal, it was hard to justify forking over $216 (that was with a AAA discount) for any hotel, but knowing we were getting the free Express passes that sell for around $80 each, made it well worth it!

So, on Tuesday January 28th we checked out of the Port Orleans French Quarter, hopped in our rental car, and drove to the Royal Pacific, arriving around 11am. Parking was easy and right out front. We walked into this beautiful resort and were quickly checked in by the friendliest guy. He told us we could get a room right away if we didn't mind the first floor (no problem for us and thank you very much!).

Our room was in the 3rd tower. It was immensely better than the Disney moderate we had just come from. Nice king size bed!




Snacks galore if you care to pay for them




And a nice sitting area

 

[macraven]

hope your birthday vacation was a great one!

come back and tell us more...

 

[tweetylori]

hope your birthday vacation was a great one!

come back and tell us more...

Thank you! And I will be coming back to tell more and have more pics.

 

[schumigirl]

Looking forward to more of your trip

 

[rowan555]

Love the first floor room - I may have to request this for my and DD's May one-night stay!

 

[tweetylori]

Looking forward to more of your trip

Thanks for the encouragement, I really appreciate it, and will act accordingly.

 

[tweetylori]

Love the first floor room - I may have to request this for my and DD's May one-night stay!

You're doing the one night thing too...I think you'll love the convenience and comfort of this resort!

 

[tweetylori]

Really liked this feature in the room, because you could clearly tell (big OFF switch) that no previous guest was going to determine what time we would wake up.

 

[tweetylori]

Anyway, enough about the room, we were ready to hit the parks! On check-in, we were told to take our room keys (each had our name) to a special kiosk in the lobby. You insert your room key, then have your picture taken. This is really cool because you can choose to accept your pic or do it again. We were even told funny faces were okay.

This was a quick and easy process, and soon we each had an express pass and were on our way to the parks, after making the big decision. Boat or no boat? We chose to walk it.

Out the front door, to the left, follow the yellow brick road...uh, I mean, follow the sign and the pretty path. It really is a pretty, peaceful walk.

Soon we were about to step foot in City Walk, but first we needed to do the bag search thing. Yes, Pedro the Security Guard was waiting for us. And we were soon to discover that Pedro is no ordinary Security Guard He was truly a magical encounter!

After searching my small over-the-shoulder bag, we were about to dash into City Walk when Pedro started asking us a few questions. Had we seen what they were doing with the new Harry Potter area? No? He had a map/brochure and showed us how awesome it was going to be. His enthusiasm was contagious. And then he asked us how long we'd been married. We told him, and he pulled out a special trinket. Told us it was a symbol of ever-lasting love and handed it to me.

I can't tell you how touched we were by this, and I treasure this special gift.
I would take a picture and show you, but I think it would be best to not do that, so that any of you that are blessed with an encounter with Pedro who might also receive a special gift, you can be as surprised as we were.

As for you, Pedro...if you are listening, may I thank you again for making the start of this Universal day for us so special? Please know that your kindness will never be forgotten.

 

[tweetylori]

After running into a giant school group in City Walk on their way to Islands of Adventure, we decided to head to Universal Studios first. By now it's probably around 11:30 on a Tuesday in January. Not too busy. We got in fairly quickly...thank goodness that our fingerprints hadn't changed since we had first used the pass some time ago.

We walk in and there's Betty Boop just waiting for Husband!



I do believe she might have been surprised that he didn't wrap an arm around her. (I told him he should have!).

Never know who you might encounter here. Almost across the street was Curious George just waiting for us!



We kept going and decided that ET was going to be our first Universal ride. What a classic! We used our Express passes for the first time and they worked like magic...we walked right on (except for the few moments where we had to encourage the folks in front of us that they should keep walking after they told the guy their name...they just stood there!)

Both Husband & I felt like they have done some upgrading to this ride? The bikes seemed more comfy? Some of the things you see throughout seemed like they had been upgraded? And ET could clearly say names this time, unlike last time we had been. After all these years I still love ET and still love this ride!

 

[kP72]

Awwww... you two are so cute! Sounds like a great trip so far.

 

[macraven]

not sure when you last were on ET but there were some changes years back.

the cops no longer have guns but walkie talkies........

and steven s has updated his portion of the beginning of the ride.
he redid his portion and no longer has the look he did when he was in his 30'-40's.

 

[tweetylori]

Awwww... you two are so cute! Sounds like a great trip so far.

Awww thank you...so sweet...appreciate the kind words...will continue with my short report.

 

[tweetylori]

not sure when you last were on ET but there were some changes years back.

the cops no longer have guns but walkie talkies........

and steven s has updated his portion of the beginning of the ride.
he redid his portion and no longer has the look he did when he was in his 30'-40's.

It's only been a couple years for us, but I'm not totally sure we made it on ET the last time we were there. It might have been too busy. Do you know if they did something to the bikes? I swear they felt more comfy or sturdy or something? Interesting about the "guns" and stuff...thanks!

 

[tweetylori]

So on we went to Men in Black. We love us some Men in Black! Have hit the Single Rider line more times than we can count over the years. With kids and without. This time we were excited to try our Express passes instead. (sans kids who are long grown and gone anyway) Here we go again when STOP.

This had never happened to us before. We were stopped trying to enter MIB because (horror of horrors ) I had a bag. An over the shoulder small bag. I swear I've had a similar type bag over the years and never been stopped here before. Alas, it meant a trip to the lockers!

Yes these lockers are free for the first 30 minutes or whatever, but let's face it, they are a pain in the neck! They are beyond crowded, some of them aren't working, people have no clue how to use them and did I say they are a pain in the neck?

Unfortunately, they are a necessary evil apparently these days, so we made it through the process of getting fingerprinted (literally) for such locker.

Off we finally went (with no wait, thank you express pass)!

We then proceeded to enjoy a good thirty minutes of non-stop (kept going around) MIB action.

After about 25 minutes of such, one of the ride attendants was kind enough to say "you do know you can ride again without going out, right?" Uh NO. After years of jumping off, going out through the gift shop and walking back through the queue...no we had never heard that before! He told us to ask the attendant when we got off where to go. And it worked like a charm for one last go-around!

We do love this ride, but I have to say that I don't think any of the scoring was working right. Still fun, but I don't think we could even pretend that it was accurate.

Anyway, we go back to the lockers to get my bag...wait in line forever, our turn comes and of course it won't recognize my fingerprint! Apparently the MIB guys had done something to it! Thankfully, an attendant came to our rescue After signing our lives away, showing photo id and giving a blood sample (just kidding about the latter), we were finally on our way again. Note: I might be joking about the security, but was really glad they didn't just let someone else walk off with my bag.

Onward!

 

[tweetylori]

So once we finally retrieved my bag from the Men In Black lockers we moved on. Decided to use our Express Passes to "stop in" Disaster.

Okay, so we soon found out you don't just stop in. You stay awhile. This isn't a ride. It is an experience. An interesting one that is well worth one's time. They seemed to have much improved this since the last time we experienced it. I won't give anything away...just "stop in" and do it too!

So, of course, it didn't take us long to get hungry. There's only one place in the parks here to eat well, imho and that is Finnegans. If you time it well, you can catch a Blues Brothers performance across from it. Always fun and entertaining!

For us it was time for a sit down and an unsweetened iced tea for Husband, and Guinness for the girl.



Soon to be followed by soda bread, butter and apple butter



While pretty good, this was heavier and less tasty than Raglan Road's. (just guessing this is more authentic though?)

Anyway, Husband decided to get a Reuben:



He really liked it. At first he was afraid to bite into the red salad thinking it was beets, but soon took it down when he tasted apples instead.

Meanwhile, I had decided I needed something light after three days of free Disney dining, so I went with a nice light salad.



This was the Celtic Chicken Salad. I chose Honey Mustard dressing, which I liked very much. It was a HUGE bowlful and every element was absolutely delicious. There was perfectly grilled chicken, bacon, cheese, tomato, nice lettuces including radicchio. The first thing I did was take the giant mount of onion potato web off to share the fried calories with Husband. He did not complain and did his part. He ended up having to help me a LOT with this. If he hadn't I would have been forced to ask the table of four next to us to do their part because I don't like to waste good food.

Service was very good. Our gal Server got really busy with some large tables, but management made sure our drinks were replenished and even asked me if I'd like water to go with my Guinness. A nice touch!

For us, a trip to Universal would be incomplete without a drink and/or meal at Finnegan's!

 

[tweetylori]

We waddled out of Finnegan's to check out the new Transformers ride.



You sure as heck won't catch me volunteering to go to a Transformers movie, but put me in this park with an Express pass, and I'll lead the way to one of the most amazing rides ever! The technology is so top-notch! Yes, it has its similarities to Spiderman, but it's even better.

We got off the ride the first time, started to walk away, and stunned that Husband hadn't suggested doing it again, I asked if he wanted to. Knowing how I couldn't care less about Transformers he had just assumed I wouldn't care for the ride. WRONG. Ride is awesome, let's go again!

With our Express passes we walked right on again, and it was just as cool the second time. Amazing graphics! As we were walking away, we ran into this guy:



One more pic before we move on to Minions



After Transformers, we had to check out the new Minions ride. Again, we used our Express passes, which ROCK. This is probably the third different ride we've experienced in this spot, and it is by far the best and cutest and, well
I can't recommend it enough...join the millions and see the Minions...it's fun!

Time to move on to Islands of Adventure!

 

[macraven]

all your pictures look sooooo great!

 

[tweetylori]

all your pictures look sooooo great!

Thank you, I have more coming!

 

[rowan555]

Loving this. I am getting more and more excited about taking my daughter back to Universal in May as I read your report and look at your photos.