Hello peeps, since I've spent a lot of time over the past few months reading posts I figured I'd share my trip memories with everyone. Typically my DW and DD spend 4-5 days in Disney and the past three years we've gone in October for the MMNSSHP. This year, DW wanted to try something different. We toyed around with doing a cruise, going to Atlantis (again) or going to Universal Studios. After some research and discovering that DD meets the height requirement on almost everything, we decided to go with USF and stay at the Royal Pacific Hotel. This was in February and they had an incredible deal where the tickets were $89 per person for US, IOA, Wet & Wild and Sea World. It was unlimited access for 14 days from the initial date of use for all parks. Since DW and myself have not been to USF or Sea World in 10 years we were excited about this trip. And since we booked in February we had a lot of time to look forward to it.
Usually I plan out an itinerary for the trip including what park we're going to on what day and where we're going to eat. DW did not want to be held to a plan, so for the most part we were going to wing it. The only plan I made was reservations at The Liberty Tree Tavern as we planned to go to the MK on Thursday.
Ok so that is the prelude, here is the trip report.
Arrival Saturday August 23
We arrived to mostly cloudy skies and mid-80's temp. We checked into the hotel and noticed that the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. The hotel was beautiful and just what we'd expect. We stayed on the 7th floor in tower 2 overlooking the eastern part of the building. We can see the Bubba Gump sign to the left and the room offered up a nice sunrise every morning.
As a tradition I offer my DD what attraction she'd like to see first. The past few years it was to see Ariel, but since we're not in WDW she choose Jaws. We took the boat over to CityWalk and made our way towards Jaws. The skies began to thicken and darken but we didn't care. As we approached the ride we saw that the line was really long. But with a quick flash of our room key we went right to the front with no wait. We can get use to this!
After experiencing the cheesyness of the ride and a quick photo in front of the shark, the skies opened up with remnants of Fay. Thank goodness for ponchos!
Lightning started so we decided that we'd better head back to the hotel for dinner. The boats were not running because of the storm and we didn't want to walk back so we went to catch a shuttle bus. We waited for 45 minutes and there was no shuttle bus. One drove by, we tried to flag it down but they kept on going. We asked several park employees where to catch the shuttle and got seven different answers. Growing frustrated, we braved the short walk back. Thankfully the lightning stopped, but it was still pouring. BAD MARK #1 TOWARDS USF.
That night we heard about the buffet at the hotel and how cool it was that they had a little kid section so we decided to go there. We figure a luxury hotel would have a great buffet with lots to choose from so we sat down and ordered it. $25 per person for rice and beans, fajitas and flank steak? You've gatta be kidding me! BAD MARK #2 TOWARDS USF
We went back to the hotel room and settled in for a much needed good-night's sleep at 9pm. I can't tell you the last time we've done that especially on vacation.
Sunday August 24
Today we decided to go to IOA. The first thing we wanted to do was Jurassic Park. Again, with no wait, we got right on and loved it! We then made our way to Pterradon Flyers (45 minute wait, why are there only 3 cars going?), I went on Dueling Dragons which was cool, we wen through Poisidon's Fury and ate lunch at Mythos which was great. We then went over to to The HULK (WOW), Spider-man (DOUBLE WOW) and browse in the stores.
We then went back to the room as the crowd and heat rose, chilled out at the pool and took a nap. Later that night we went to US to do ET (10 minute wait vs 90 minute stand by wait) the Simpsons Ride (only 20 minutes using express pass vs the 70-minute stand-by wait woo-hoo!) and loved it! We then went to CityWalk and ate at Pastamora for dinner which was phenomenal.
Monday August 25
This day we decided to go to Sea World. The hotel has a shuttle that runs at 10am and returns at 5:45. We got there at 9:40 and were about 25-people deep inline. As 10am came and went, the line grew long and people grew anxious. The shuttle did not come until 10:30. BAD MARK #3 AGAINST USF.
Sea World was great, we saw everything we wanted and made the most out of the heat and humidity that was blessed upon us that day. We didn't get to do Atlantis or the Kracken because of a lightning storm that threatened the area. We decided to take a taxi back to the hotel instead of waiting for the undependable shuttle. We went to the pool before another storm shut it down, and had dinner at the sushi bar in the hotel. That was delicious!
Tuesday August 26
Today we planned to go to US to do all the other rides we didn't get to do. As soon as we woke up DW and I looked at each other and said "Let's check out early and stay at a Disney resort". We mutually felt that while USF was really cool, we didn't get that warm, fuzzy Disney feeling we were so used to. The parks closed early, there's only so much walking around we can do at the resort and CityWalk and while we like the pool, there's only so much time we can spend there. So after a couple of phone calls we had our reservations at AllStar Music made and 3-day park hoppers purchased. We were checking out of RP Wednesday morning, taking a taxi to the ASR and going to Disney. Done and done.
Now that that was out of the way, we made out way to US and using our Express Pass knocked out Shrek, Twister, Revenge of the Mummy (AWESOME), Men in Black, ate lunch near the Kwiki Mart and jumped back over to IOA to do Jurassic Park one more time.
Using the Express Pass was the best thing ever invented and allowed us to do all the rides in a short amount of time. The only ride I didn't get to do was the Rip-Saw Fall. DD was too short and DW hates big drops. Boy was she surprised at Jurassic Park!
After JP we went back to the pool, took a nap and got ready for the Wantilan Luau. The Luau was phenomenal although the stage was a little small for what they were doing. The performers were awesome and I got called on stage to dance. Boy was that embarassing!
So that concludes our USF stay. If you want, go over to the WDW side to read the rest of how my trip went. I'm so glad that we got to go to US and IOA, but there's no way we could have stayed for 8 days being that we did everything in such a short amount of time thanks to the Express Pass. I wished I could have eaten at more of the themed restaurants, but I'm sure I'll get over it! Aside from rain Saturday, a little on Sunday and Monday, it was hot and sunny and we enjoyed it all! Thanks for reading!
Usually I plan out an itinerary for the trip including what park we're going to on what day and where we're going to eat. DW did not want to be held to a plan, so for the most part we were going to wing it. The only plan I made was reservations at The Liberty Tree Tavern as we planned to go to the MK on Thursday.
Ok so that is the prelude, here is the trip report.
Arrival Saturday August 23
We arrived to mostly cloudy skies and mid-80's temp. We checked into the hotel and noticed that the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. The hotel was beautiful and just what we'd expect. We stayed on the 7th floor in tower 2 overlooking the eastern part of the building. We can see the Bubba Gump sign to the left and the room offered up a nice sunrise every morning.
As a tradition I offer my DD what attraction she'd like to see first. The past few years it was to see Ariel, but since we're not in WDW she choose Jaws. We took the boat over to CityWalk and made our way towards Jaws. The skies began to thicken and darken but we didn't care. As we approached the ride we saw that the line was really long. But with a quick flash of our room key we went right to the front with no wait. We can get use to this!
After experiencing the cheesyness of the ride and a quick photo in front of the shark, the skies opened up with remnants of Fay. Thank goodness for ponchos!
Lightning started so we decided that we'd better head back to the hotel for dinner. The boats were not running because of the storm and we didn't want to walk back so we went to catch a shuttle bus. We waited for 45 minutes and there was no shuttle bus. One drove by, we tried to flag it down but they kept on going. We asked several park employees where to catch the shuttle and got seven different answers. Growing frustrated, we braved the short walk back. Thankfully the lightning stopped, but it was still pouring. BAD MARK #1 TOWARDS USF.
That night we heard about the buffet at the hotel and how cool it was that they had a little kid section so we decided to go there. We figure a luxury hotel would have a great buffet with lots to choose from so we sat down and ordered it. $25 per person for rice and beans, fajitas and flank steak? You've gatta be kidding me! BAD MARK #2 TOWARDS USF
We went back to the hotel room and settled in for a much needed good-night's sleep at 9pm. I can't tell you the last time we've done that especially on vacation.
Sunday August 24
Today we decided to go to IOA. The first thing we wanted to do was Jurassic Park. Again, with no wait, we got right on and loved it! We then made our way to Pterradon Flyers (45 minute wait, why are there only 3 cars going?), I went on Dueling Dragons which was cool, we wen through Poisidon's Fury and ate lunch at Mythos which was great. We then went over to to The HULK (WOW), Spider-man (DOUBLE WOW) and browse in the stores.
We then went back to the room as the crowd and heat rose, chilled out at the pool and took a nap. Later that night we went to US to do ET (10 minute wait vs 90 minute stand by wait) the Simpsons Ride (only 20 minutes using express pass vs the 70-minute stand-by wait woo-hoo!) and loved it! We then went to CityWalk and ate at Pastamora for dinner which was phenomenal.
Monday August 25
This day we decided to go to Sea World. The hotel has a shuttle that runs at 10am and returns at 5:45. We got there at 9:40 and were about 25-people deep inline. As 10am came and went, the line grew long and people grew anxious. The shuttle did not come until 10:30. BAD MARK #3 AGAINST USF.
Sea World was great, we saw everything we wanted and made the most out of the heat and humidity that was blessed upon us that day. We didn't get to do Atlantis or the Kracken because of a lightning storm that threatened the area. We decided to take a taxi back to the hotel instead of waiting for the undependable shuttle. We went to the pool before another storm shut it down, and had dinner at the sushi bar in the hotel. That was delicious!
Tuesday August 26
Today we planned to go to US to do all the other rides we didn't get to do. As soon as we woke up DW and I looked at each other and said "Let's check out early and stay at a Disney resort". We mutually felt that while USF was really cool, we didn't get that warm, fuzzy Disney feeling we were so used to. The parks closed early, there's only so much walking around we can do at the resort and CityWalk and while we like the pool, there's only so much time we can spend there. So after a couple of phone calls we had our reservations at AllStar Music made and 3-day park hoppers purchased. We were checking out of RP Wednesday morning, taking a taxi to the ASR and going to Disney. Done and done.
Now that that was out of the way, we made out way to US and using our Express Pass knocked out Shrek, Twister, Revenge of the Mummy (AWESOME), Men in Black, ate lunch near the Kwiki Mart and jumped back over to IOA to do Jurassic Park one more time.
Using the Express Pass was the best thing ever invented and allowed us to do all the rides in a short amount of time. The only ride I didn't get to do was the Rip-Saw Fall. DD was too short and DW hates big drops. Boy was she surprised at Jurassic Park!
After JP we went back to the pool, took a nap and got ready for the Wantilan Luau. The Luau was phenomenal although the stage was a little small for what they were doing. The performers were awesome and I got called on stage to dance. Boy was that embarassing!
So that concludes our USF stay. If you want, go over to the WDW side to read the rest of how my trip went. I'm so glad that we got to go to US and IOA, but there's no way we could have stayed for 8 days being that we did everything in such a short amount of time thanks to the Express Pass. I wished I could have eaten at more of the themed restaurants, but I'm sure I'll get over it! Aside from rain Saturday, a little on Sunday and Monday, it was hot and sunny and we enjoyed it all! Thanks for reading!
