Short review 12/3-12/10

[C&Jx2]

Hi guys! I just wanted to give a short little review of our trip at the beginning of the month of the parks and City Walk.

We have been to the Universal Resort three times for week-long trips in the last four years. We love the simplicity, we love Royal Pacific Resort, and we've never been during Christmas so we were hoping for a different experience at one of our favorite places! We had a great time, but with health problems leading up to the trip, and stressful drama at home it was anything but relaxing (no fault of Universal). I also think we've worn out these parks for while. My husband and kids had a blast as usual, but I was a little bored. I'm looking forward to Disney in August.

The Bad:

Overall the parks were great...Cean, friendly team members, the usual. Unfortunately our stay coincided with the Pop Warner Superbowl and cheer nationals. They didn't effect our resort stay (that had a whole different crowd) but they did have an impact on our experiences in the park. While they didn't seem to effect wait times at all (they were great with the exception of Hagrid's) they had a definite presence in the parks. They were just THERE. Clogging up walk ways, misbehaving... We even saw more than one fight (verbal) between chaperones/kids and chaperones/chaperones. Guest behavior was also pretty terrible. There was lots of blatant line cutting, personal space invasion, not covering coughs, smoking wherever, etc...

We did Early Entry twice to get to Hagrid's. Having never done Early Entry before (yes despite our resort stays) we screwed up and thought we could be there about 30 minutes before the gates opened. Yeah right... By the time we got to Hagrid's it was already wild so we went to Velocicoaster and rode that about 3X just walkng right on. The second time we showed up at about 6:45, we were about fifth in line (before some lady who started out behind us shoved her four kids in front of mine to scan in) and made it to Hagrid's about five minutes after gate opening. We still had about 30min at that point. This is where Disney does the rope dropping thing better. It was the Running of the Bulls to get to Hargid's. People were sprinting, coffees were spilled, kids were knocked down... It was nuts. Once in the line so many people tried to send a representative runner for their group while everyone else caught up but luckily the team members were good at controlling that, basically telling people that their family should have waited for them, or that they are more than welcome to move back in the line to their group.

The Good:
The holiday events and decor were beautiful. The Macy's Parade was a lot of fun and the Grinchmas show was very good. We saw that one twice with two different Grinches and it made for a different experience which was nice! Overall I think the food at the parks is pretty good considering what it is, but the holiday treats were BAD. We didn't have a single one that was even edible. We did the VIP Holiday tour, I reviewed it on another thread. It was fun but a one and done unless some changes are made.

I wish there were more of a holiday vibe at City Walk. Mistletoe Pines wasn't really a thing, it was just a photo op, but we had some new meal experiences. Surprisingly one of our best meals was Margaritaville (although we were also just starving so...) and burgers at Cowfish. Bubba Gump was terrible and we won't be returning there. Big Fire was also very disappointing but their carrots were great!

Rides were running smoothly, except when they had to stop for misbehaving guests and waits were low even without Express Pass.

 

[helenb]

Thanks for the review! We are going in January, so a recent review helps a lot. We have never been on Velocicoaster, so we're trying to figure out priorities for Early Entry. Sounds like we should prioritize Hagrid's and then do Velocicoaster immediately afterwards.

I agree that while I love Universal, it does tend to get 'boring' after a bit... perhaps because with EP, we can go on the rides over and over and over again! I can't imagine staying a week. We're usually 'done' after 2 days, and stretch out a third.

 

[Jessem1133]

I agree that while I love Universal, it does tend to get 'boring' after a bit... perhaps because with EP, we can go on the rides over and over and over again! I can't imagine staying a week. We're usually 'done' after 2 days, and stretch out a third.

We like to go for a week, but pretty much avoid the parks until the end of the day. Sleep in, hit the gym, hit the pool...then parks when everyone is done for the day.
But I can definitely see how the parks would get boring if we spent the whole day there a couple days in a row.

 

[C&Jx2]

We like to go for a week, but pretty much avoid the parks until the end of the day. Sleep in, hit the gym, hit the pool...then parks when everyone is done for the day.
But I can definitely see how the parks would get boring if we spent the whole day there a couple days in a row.

That’s what we do. Sleep in, go until lunchtime, go for a swim nap, head back before closing… But I’m over it now.

 

[hildarumpole]

We were at RPR Dec. 7-8 for a quick Christmas trip. Thankfully, no bad guest encounters, but definitely busy and crowded at some points. For Early Entry we decided standing in the Hagrid's ride queue longer was preferable to getting up extra early and spending roughly equal time standing outside the park entry. We got to the park about 8:10, went in immediately and walked with a good size crowd to the ride There was no running, everyone was relaxed. After securing our stuff in the locker, we hit the line with a posted 90 min. wait. It ended up being 75 min. The line kept moving nearly the whole time, so it was bearable. We're only 2 hrs. away and like to do short trips around special event times, so it doesn't get boring, but I can see it would get dull after more than 3 days.

 

[C&Jx2]

We were at RPR Dec. 7-8 for a quick Christmas trip. Thankfully, no bad guest encounters, but definitely busy and crowded at some points. For Early Entry we decided standing in the Hagrid's ride queue longer was preferable to getting up extra early and spending roughly equal time standing outside the park entry. We got to the park about 8:10, went in immediately and walked with a good size crowd to the ride There was no running, everyone was relaxed. After securing our stuff in the locker, we hit the line with a posted 90 min. wait. It ended up being 75 min. The line kept moving nearly the whole time, so it was bearable. We're only 2 hrs. away and like to do short trips around special event times, so it doesn't get boring, but I can see it would get dull after more than 3 days.

Oh my gosh they open the gates at like 7:45/7:50 and people are intense. You were with the normies like us who didn’t sprint.

 

[Squirlz]

We spent 11/26-12/10 at RPR. 12 days in the parks total. Weather was perfect every day. Fortunately we didn't experience any unruly groups at all. We waited 70 minutes for Hagrids but walked on most everything else. We hung out with the Whos and ran into the Grinch twice in the AP lounge. Took this picture when we reached the line at King's Crossing. Already halfway up the stairs and no one else in line. Slowest I have ever seen the parks!

 

[C&Jx2]

We spent 11/26-12/10 at RPR. 12 days in the parks total. Weather was perfect every day. Fortunately we didn't experience any unruly groups at all. We waited 70 minutes for Hagrids but walked on most everything else. We hung out with the Whos and ran into the Grinch twice in the AP lounge. Took this picture when we reached the line at King's Crossing. Already halfway up the stairs and no one else in line. Slowest I have ever seen the parks!

IDK if they were in our tower or what but we had to share the elevator multiple times with them. They were harmless but toasted lol.