louise1928
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 27, 2001
- Messages
- 226
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO AND EPCOT TRIP REPORT
DEC 28, 2004 – JAN 1, 2005
Let me start by saying that it is a pleasure to write this report. This report is based on our experiences at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Citywalk, and Epcot. I rate my reports using a scale of 1-10, (9.5 being the highest). As a rule I never rate anything a 10. No particular reason, I just choose not to. ENJOY!!
FYI: We purchased our package with Universal Vacations which included the following:
1) 4 nights @ the Amerisuites Hotel
2) 5 day 2 park passes with 7 day Citywalk party pass
3) Meal and Movie voucher (good choice)
4) Meal or Wet and Wild voucher (good choice)
(I will explain the meal vouchers later)
5) Roundtrip airport/hotel transfers via Quick Transportation Co.
Total package price $333.00 per person
Airline Tickets were purchased separately in March for $205.00 pp from Philly We also attended the Citywalk New Years Eve Party @ $116.00 pp inc tax (yes it was expensive, but it was soooo worth it, we had a very good time, I will explain later)
Christmas through New Years is one of the busiest times of the year to travel. We choose this particular time, because 1), we no longer have small children (they are both young adults now), and we decided 3 years ago, to change our routine and travel during the holidays for the experience and change of pace. Yes, it is an extremely hectic time of the year, and without even a hint of an itinerary, you can miss out on a very joyous vacation experience, due to stress, and lack of planning. Prior to this trip, my hubby and I came up with an itinerary to use as a guide throughout our stay, and I am so glad we did.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Our Flight was scheduled to leave @ 12noon, so we arrived at the airport about 9:30pm, checked our bags outside and proceeded inside to our gate. In my opinion, checking your bags outside is the most convenient way to get you where you need in half the time it would normally take if you stood in line inside. (but then also depends on what time of year you are traveling), especially during the holidays. I enjoy sitting in the airport relaxing, reading, and chatting while waiting for my flight. My only regret is that we did not allow for time to eat breakfast at home. So when we arrived at the airport we were starving, so we spent unnecessary money at the airport for food. Next time I will eat @ home or bring it with me.
The flight was on time which was a blessing (we flew USAIR), and we arrived in Orlando approx. 1:45pm, and when we got to baggage claims, we waited about 45 minutes for our bags. My husband got a little nervous prior to getting our bags, and asked me to file a claim, while he continued to wait. Fortunately, I did not have to file the claim, but it was hectic and people were becoming frustrated.
Quick transportation had called us @ home the night before our departure, to confirm our arrival time @ the airport. The driver was @ the airport on time, and once we retrieved our bags, we were on our way. Our driver was very pleasant and professional, except for one minor detail. I’ll explain later.
We arrived @ Amerisuites about 330pm, and check in went very smoothly.
Now I will begin to rate different aspects of our trip, beginning with the hotel.
Remember, these are our personal opinions. I do not go into great detail about rides or shows, but I do offer enough information for the reader. I will also make a point of telling you how long we waited for rides and to eat in restaurants, just to give you a general idea.
Amerisuites-Universal @ Caravan Court (next door to the Holiday Inn)
I had read reviews about this hotel @ the DIS boards and Tripadvisor, which I highly recommend both websites for very good information. This is a really nice hotel. Its in a good location to Universal, (walking distance about 25 minutes), also within walking distance: Denny’s, Cracker Barrel, Walgreens, and Fridays. Our suite (one large room with a dividing wall), was very clean and showed minimal signs of wear and tear. The bathroom was spotless and our beds were comfortable. Our coffee pot malfunctioned the 1st day I used it, but I did notify the front desk. The suite was cleaned daily with fresh towels and fresh sheets (at least they appeared to be fresh). The continental breakfast that was served daily was a good start to our morning and served its purpose. The only thing I wish they would change is the hours. During the week it ends at 930am, and Saturdays at 10am. We ate breakfast out once, during our entire stay, which saved us plenty. I am not one for getting up, dress, and go out for breakfast, so that was a definite plus for me. After we settled in to our suite and unpacked, we went over our itinerary and called the front desk for a cab to Universal.
OVERALL HOTEL RATING: 8.0
FYI: Cab vs. Shuttle vs. Walking
Taking a cab to Universal can be a benefit depending on your budget, and family size. Fortunately we pre-planned for this expense and set aside $10.00 per day for cabs. Each cab charges differently, but it averaged out to about $4.00 per ride. We did walk on two occasions 1), NYE night, (I’ll explain this later) and 2) Our last day we walked to and from Universal. The shuttle the hotel offered to Universal did not benefit us, because they did not offer many departure or return times, and we did not want to be tied to a schedule that was so tight.
Here is an interesting piece of information. The driver from Quickie transportation who picked us up at the airport, asked if we were planning to visit Disney World during our stay. We told him that we were planning to spend one day at Epcot, and he offered to take us for $40.00 roundtrip, with door-door service. WOW! We thought that was a bit steep, and what he did not know was that I had already called Amerisuites and asked about their shuttle to Disney and they said it would cost $9.95 pp roundtrip, so we knew who we were riding with.
We arrived at Universal around 5pm, and had dinner at Finnegans Pub. The crowds were thick at this time, but we waited about 5 minutes for a table. Let me just say, this is a great place to eat!!. The best cheesesteak I have ever eaten, was eaten here. It was not your usual cheesesteak, thats chopped to bits with cheese. It was like eating one ½ of a whole steak with melted cheese and onions. Very Good. The atmosphere is very inviting and our waitress was pleasant as well. OVERALL RATING: 9.0
I knew my husband could not wait until the next day to begin exploring the attractions, so I went with the flow and he dashed straight for “The Mummy”. This was not part of our itinerary the first night (but you always leave room for the unexpected). I did not want to ride the first night, so while he stood in line, I took pictures of the night scene and found a spot to people watch. After waiting for about 45 minutes, he came out ecstatic!!! The first words out of his mouth were “Excellent Ride, you gotta do this tomorrow”, and I did. After this ride, we walked around a bit more, and headed over to Citywalk for drinks.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 EPCOT @ DISNEY
We had to rise early this morning, because this was our day to explore Epcot. We decided to do this, to break up our time at Universal/IOA. Our shuttle arrived on time @ 830am, and it was plenty full by the time it stopped at several other hotels for pickups. The driver informed us that we would be let off at Magic Kingdom, and the first pickup back to our hotel would be @ 630pm, so that would be the time we would return.
Once we arrived at our drop off point, we headed for the monorail to Epcot. Once @ Epcot we purchased our tickets and this took about 20 minutes, and it was time to explore. People were entering this park by the bus loads so we knew we had to follow our plan so that we could have the afternoons to wander. We headed straight for TestTrack, and the wait time was 70 minutes. Note: We had already decided before leaving for this trip, that we would use the single rider lines as much as possible and just meet up with each other later. (We used our cell phones to communicate whenver we separated). Best decision we made. It was a breeze. We jumped over to the single rider line, and was in and out under an hour. This was a cool ride. Not what I had expected, but it was worth a visit. OVERALL RATING: 7.9
After this ride, we headed over to Mission Space, standard wait time 60 minutes. Single rider wait time: 30 minutes. This ride totally took me by surprise. Throughout our entire time waiting, we were continuously being told, that if you have motion sickness, do not ride, but you hear that all the time. Never again will I ride this. It was just too much for me. I am glad I did it for the experience, but its not for me. I really felt sick. My husband did not like it at all. He thought it was very weak, however some other people I chatted with really enjoyed it. OVERALL RATING: 7.0
Honey I shrunk the Audience: Very entertaining and fun for families, and couples. Our wait time here was about 25 minutes. Rating: 7.9
Now it was time to explore the countries. My favorite countries were Mexico and Morocco. I just loved the atmosphere of both. They were all nice, but those were my favorites. When we entered this monument of a building in Mexico, (I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but that background setting was breath-taking! It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen). I wanted so badly to eat there, just to be able to sit and stare. Unfortunately it was just way too crowded, and it was definitely a place you needed priority seating. Maybe next time. My husband really like Mexico too. We could have just explored the countries all day. This, in our opinion is the best feature of Epcot. The rest of the park is hit or miss depending on your interest but worth a visit. We ate a late lunch in China, which consisted of a bowl of rice&beef with two egg rolls each . A little under $20.00 including one cup of beer and bottled water, the food was very good. (Never again will I buy bottled water in any of the parks, huge mistake, but you live and learn). After eating, we headed back over to where the rides were, and decided to visit the Imagination Station, and that was very entertaining. A definite not to be missed for kids. We only did it because we paid $59.00 for each ticket. We were going to do whatever was available to do. The wait time here was very short, under 15 minutes. End of a long day, but enjoyable. Our bus arrived on schedule and it was time to head back to our hotel. OVERALL RATING: 7.5 , I will give the different Countries a 8.5.
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30 & 31, 2004
This was our time to Explore both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I love these parks. Just walking around and exploring the different areas of each park was fun. We spent most of our days riding, eating, and people watching. We did very little shopping if any, (but that was the plan). We had decided early on, that most of our money would be spent on entertainment, dining, and drinking. We had shopped all over the parks on our previous trip in 2001, so there wasn’t much we wanted this time around, except my husband purchased his usual refrigerator magnets, and I bought postcards for my scrapbook. He did want this funky hat he saw in the Universal Store, but did not want to spend the $22.00 asking price. Maybe on the next trip.
ATTRACTIONS/ENTERTAINMENT:
It was my turn to ride the “Mummy”. This is an awesome ride. Will I do it again, I am not sure. I am afraid of rollerscoasters, but this was a must do. It starts off slow, but then out of no where, it takes off. Amazing! We got in the single rider line and waited about 20 minutes. Definite must do! OVERALL RATING 9.5
TERMINATOR: Very good attraction. One of the best in the park. The 3D effects makes the entire show. We saw this twice, and the 2nd time, they goofed, because when Arnold Schwarnegger (I know I am misspelling his name), was supposed to come out on the motorcycle, this guy walked out. Big Blunder, but it was okay. I am sure many people noticed it, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Wait time here: 15 minutes.
OVERALL RATING: 8.0
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Bumpy, Jerky ride, but entertaining. If you have back or neck problems, this is definitely not the ride for you. We did this twice, and the 2nd time, it was even more bumpy. The 3D effects are very good. Wait time, approx 20 minutes.
OVERALL RATING: 7.9
MIB: Life-size video game, that’s fun for the entire family. If you or your kids are into video games, you will probably enjoy this. I did this twice, only because I wanted a higher score than my first try, but I did not do very well the 2nd time either. The two guys next to me, did great. My husband said he scored 96,000. I got no where near that. LOL. I will have to try this again on my next visit. OVERALL RATING: 7.9
BEETLE-JUICE REVUE: We kind of stumbled onto this while walking around, and it was very good. My husband thought it was just okay, but I liked it a lot. It drew a very nice crowd. I thought the dance routines were very funny, and each person seemed to be really enjoying their routines. They were trying very hard to entertain the crowd and they did. I would watch it again. OVERALL RATING 8.0, my husband gives it a 7.0
THE MACY’S CHRISTMAS PARADE: We kind of caught the last 15 minutes of this, but it was very good. Very nice floats, and Santa Claus was looking really good.
I will give it a rating of 8.0.
LUCY AND DESI SHOW: The crowd was so thick here, we really could not see what they were doing, but the crowd looked like they were really enjoying it. I will have to catch this on the next trip. Again, we stumbled onto this too.
SPIDERMAN: AWESOME! Those are the only words to describe this attraction. Our wait time here was about 25 minutes. Again, using the single ride lines only. OVERALL RATING: 8.9 FYI: My husband fell in love with this attraction on our first visit in 2001, but since riding “The Mummy”, Spiderman has dropped down a peg for him, He rates the “Mummy” attraction the best of the best, next to the Hulk. He did this ride 4 times, and Dueling Dragons twice. He rates both rides, 9.0. I can’t rate the Hulk or Dragons, I did not do either. I literally saw people coming off these two rides in tears. Especially Dueling Dragons!
VOYAGES OF SINBAD SHOW Very good and entertaining. It may be a little scary for small kids due to the special effects, noise and the wizard. If you sit on the left side of the room, you will get wet, but they do tell you that. We stumbled onto this too, and at first we were standing for about 10 minutes, (it was full to capacity), but then the ushers signaled to us when she found seats. Arrive early to get a good seat. OVERALL RATING: 7.9
POISIDEN ADVENTURE SHOW: Not what I had expected, but it was good. My husband did not think it was that good, but I thought so. My rating is a 7.9, his 6.0
CITYWALK: This is a fantastic place for hanging out as a couple or with friends. The theming of this place is nice. My favorite places for drinks are Bob Marleys and CityJazz.
NEW YEARS EVE NIGHT @ CITYWALK:
If you like to party, or are looking for a place to dance, be entertained, eat plenty, and have fun for New Years Eve , this is the place. I will not kid you, they sold many many tickets, the place was jumping with people, but we prepared ourselves for that, and it was fine. People kept moving along, or standing to the side, yelling "Happy New Year" all night. The price of $109.00 per person was well worth it in our opinion. The food was flowing from everywhere. Each area had pretty much the same food, with a few differences here and there but it was plenty. Just to name a few: Filet Mignon, (they were not stingy with this at all, it was everywhere, and very tender), Salmon that was very good, Jamaican jerk chicken kabobs, Jamaican rice, grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, very large shrimps, crabs, lobster, etc. The Food was plentiful. I call it a necessary evil. With all the drinking going on, it was necessary. The entertainment this year was David Lee Roth. We did not see him at all, because we were too busy enjoying the street performers, and clubs.
NOTE: It amazes me how people who are probably in and out of the parks everyday, fail to see the signs about this party, but yet, continue to stand in line trying to get in for free. They made it very clear at the escalator, if you did not have a ticket you were not getting in, period. They changed the entire set up of this party since 2001. There was no way you were getting in for free, when people had just paid $109.00pp. Please!!! You entered this time from the escalator. The signs for the entrance were not visible, but we found it by asking and once we entered, they asked for your ticket and ID if applicable and then gave you a wristband. This event drew a very large crowd, but we never had problem with finding a place to sit when we wanted to, or getting drinks.
It was also easier this time to get party favors and glasses of champagne. Every club offered you either a DJ,or a live band. The band @ citywalk was the same band all week, but they were very good. The Jamaican band at Bob Marleys was also there all week, but they were also very good. Most of the lines early on (the doors opened at 8pm), were long for food, but we found out if you walked further down towards Margaritville, there were hardly any lines at all for food. The street performers were entertaining, and because the temperature were very warm that night, people hung out more outdoors than they did inside the clubs. The Latin Quarter is fantastic. I love the décor in there, especially the stage for dancing and probably where their live bands perform. We spent most of our time in CityJazz and we wanted to be at Motown Cafe at midnight, since we had heard that this place was closing.
Overall we had a ball. We can’t wait to do it again. We never encountered any problems or disturbances of any kind. If there were any, we did not see it. People were just having fun. One of the waitresses messed up twice on our drinks and then she never collected the money. My husband went up to the bar and left $10.00 on the counter. We could not find her anywhere. She was having a very busy night. Club Groove was packed. We went in briefly just to see what was going on and left. Bob Marleys was definitely jumping. Age range: It varied. I would say anywhere from late 20's to 60+. There was one couple (probably in their early 60's), who were dancing and having a good time like they were 20 again. It was a fun to watch them work the dance floor. There were couples, groups of women, groups of men, and some people were alone. The atmosphere here is probably not for everyone, and you definitely have to be in the mood for it and want to be a part of it all. OVERALL RATING: 9.0
FYI: When it was time to leave the party, we had two options, wait forever for a cab or walk. The crowds waiting for a cab or shuttle were unbelievable. We choose the latter. At first I was little reluctant about walking on NYE back to our hotel, but much to my surprise there were others walking as well. We were back to our hotel under 30 minutes. People were driving by beating their horns at us, and yelling Happy New Year.
When we do go back again for NYE, we will make every effort to stay onsite if possible or we will be walking again!
Friday, Dec 31st, before the Party, we decided to visit the Royal Pacific and Hard Rock Hotels. We took the ferries over and our first stop was Royal Pacific. Beautiful Hotel. The restaurant that’s named after Emerils was amazing. We did not eat there, but we did go inside and look around. A must do on our next trip. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the restaurant. We did not get to see the rooms. Hard Rock hotel was nice as well, but we did not like it as much as we did Royal Pacific. We fell in love with this place.
But, my husbands number one onsite hotel is Portofino Bay. He said he would spend his dying day in one of their rooms!DINING: (in no particular order)
Finnegans #1 restaurant (as previously mentioned)
The food here was great! I especially enjoyed the cheesesteak, and the bread with applebutter that was served prior to our entrée. The wait time here was about 5 minutes, and it was during peak time. Wonderful!! Overall Rating 9.0
Enchanted Oak Restaurant @ Islands of Adventure
We stumbled onto this restaurant, because we had originally planned to eat at Mythos. It was New Years Eve, and they were closed in preparation for their NYE Dinner. So we continued to walk and found Enchanted Oak. We both had the Chicken & Rib Platter @ $10.99 per person, with Beer, total $26.49, including the 10% discount using AAA. I must say we were very pleased with our meal. It was delicious. The ribs were very tender and juicy. I loved the corn on the cob. There was no wait time here at all, and it was about 430pm. After we received our food we found a table with no problem. Overall Rating: 8.0
Burger Digs @ Islands of Adventure
This restaurant was on our itinerary, and we pleased here as well. Very good burgers and milkshakes. Our total bill for Chicken finger platter, Chocolate shake, Cheeseburger platter, and medium coke, $18.91 including 10% AAA discount.
Overall Rating: 8.0
Meal & Movie Coupons
We opted for the Meal coupon instead of the wet&wild feature. The differences between the Meal&Movie vs the Meal or WetWild: One offers full menu, the other limited menu. But to be honest, we ate pretty good with both.
NBA CITY:
We used the full menu coupon at NBA City. This place was packed with people the night we choose, and we arrived about 8:30pm. When we initially got in line, the very polite hostess told us that the wait time was 30 minutes, but when we asked to sit at the bar, he said no problem if we could find seats. We proceeded to the bar and the there was plenty of room, so we stayed. When we told the barmaid we had coupons she suggested we use the full menu coupon to widen our dining choices. Good suggestion. We started with the coconut shrimp and crab Rangoon, for appetizers (which we had to pay for), and then we ordered our two entrees: Chicken and Pasta dish that was yummy, and my husband ordered jambalaya, which he said was very good. Excluding the coupon our bill was $29.18 including 3 beers. We will definitely eat hear again!! Rating: 9.5
MOTOWN CAFÉ:
We used the Meal&Movie coupon at Motown Café. As much as I liked this restaurant for their atmosphere and overall Motown ambience, the food was just okay. I had the rib and beans platter and my husband had roasted chicken platter. Our only bill here was for the two drinks we had.
Movie Coupon @ Universal Cinema
The movie coupons can be used for any movie, so there was no limits here. We used them on our last day (Jan 1st), and saw the movie “Meet the Fockers”. We really enjoyed this movie. I plan to buy it on DVD to add to our collection of comedies. This theater is one of the best I’ve seen anywhere, and it’s a good place to hangout on your last day, especially if you have a late flight like we did. There was just too much going on during the week to see a movie, so we saved this for last.
Rating for the Theater: 8.5
We decided we will definitely buy the meal coupons again. It definitely helped, and although it did not save us a ton of money, it was well worth it.
Our last day we choose to eat breakfast out, and ate at Denny’s across the road from our hotel. This food was good, but we probably will not eat there again. It just did not seem very clean to us. Our waitress was very pleasant though and we left her a nice tip. We had just missed the breakfast at Fridays, so Denny’s was our next choice. We ate a late breakfast and Fridays stop serving @ 11am.
After the movies, we had a few more hours to kill before the shuttle would pick us up, so we decided to have a margarita at the little tiki hut across from Margaritville. I think its called the Lone Palm. We sat there for about an hour ½ savoring every moment of our final hours at Universal. I took a few more pictures and then we headed back to the hotel. It was so depressing to leave.
The sun was shining brightly, and people were beginning to fill the parks, and we had to leave. But we were leaving with very good memories, and stories to tell our family and friends, and of course the DIS board. I will not go into detail about our flight home only to say that we were voluntarily bumped from our flight in Atlanta (We had a connecting flight home on Delta which stopped in Atlanta), and although we were tired we were pleased with how we were treated by the airline staff. We walked away with meal vouchers, hotel stay overnight, and $800.00 in airline vouchers. Neither of us had to work the next day, so the only thing we lost was time. I would also like to mention that before we left for this trip, I told my husband to pack a change of clothing in carryon bag in case of a delay. He was so glad he did.
I I am sure I left some things out, but I tried to tell you as much as I could remember. Which is why I take travel journals with me whenever I travel, to write things down.
I would like to leave you with a few comments/tips/suggestions:
While at the parks, if at all possible, especially during their busy seasons, I highly recommend using the single rider lines. It saves so much time. I know many of you like to ride with your partners/family members, but it does help.
It has been stressed at the DIS boards many times, and I will add my two cents, Use your AAA cards, it does add up.
I would recommend trying the Meal coupons, especially if you are traveling as a couple. It worked out great for us.
When the crowds are letting out of the parks or rides, walk the opposite direction that they are walking. It helps, trust me!
If you do not have priority seating, and do not mind eating at the bar, go for it. It will save tons of wait time.
We saw many many children at the parks without sunglasses or hats, especially babies. They were closing their eyes a great deal due to the sun. We also noticed that many children were crying a lot, and probably due to being tired. They need to rest just as we adults do.
Many of you may know this already, but my husbands admissions card to the parks had suddenly stopped working when it was being swiped at the fast past machines, and we when went to guest relations, we were told that he probably had his cell phone too close to this card. It totally deactivated the card!!! They did issue him a new one.
Honorable mention: Since it was just the two of us, it allowed us to spend a great deal of time together as a couple, but at times when my husband wanted to ride, and the wait was more than 20 minutes, I would venture off alone, wandering the park, stopping here and there, and chatting with people I would meet along the way. It was entertaining for me, and it allowed me to take pictures, I might have otherwised missed. Our cell phones played a major role this trip, because when we did separate, we had our phones to let each other know where we were.
I hope you enjoyed reading this report, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now we anxiously await 2007 for our next trip!
P.S. I welcome all comments about this report and feel free to email me.
Great report!!!!!!!! 
