Universal and RPR 4/12-16

[Tigger&Belle]

I'll probably get my facts all confused concerning what we did on which day since I didn't take notes, but I'll go for it, anyway...

There are 6 in my family--me, DH, 15yo daughter and sons who are 12, 9, and 3yo.

We arrived at RPR at around 10AM on a Sunday morning. We checked in without a problem (very short line), even though it seemed to take a while. Our rooms were not ready (I wasn't expecting them to be), but they said that we would get our Tower 3, end of hallway request, along with connecting, n/s rooms. The gave us pails and shovels for the kids and noted out Loews First cookies and milk (we had the entertainment rate, so I wasn't sure that we'd get the welcome gift). We then headed to IoA, got the Will Call tickets slips without a wait and went to inside to process the APs. There was a 5 minute wait and then took about 10 minutes to process our 6 passes, which I thought was good. By this time it was around 11AM and swarms of people were arriving into the park.

We went to Spiderman and had a 20 minute or so Express wait. I later figured that it must have been down for repairs because another time the express line was even longer and we got through it in 10 minutes. After that we met my sister and BIL and did Doom, Hulk, Ripsaw, Popeye, Jurassic Park, and Dueling Dragons. We stayed most of the day before we went back to unload the car and go to dinner. We went to Sweet Tomatoes, which most of us liked, but it wasn't the selection that other ST had been in other locations. It was about 9pm, though, so maybe they were putting things away. All in all a decent meal.

The next day (8:45) we went to US and did all we could before breaking mid-day (maybe 3pm). That break ended up being long and we made it back to US in time for most to do MIB before watching the parade. The crowds were terrible, pushing us out of the way to grab beads out of our hands. The worst offender was a dad--I let his young kids get in front of me so they could see the parade and get beads and he then pushed in front of me and grabbed the beads from me. I did eventually say something to him and he gave me a bead that he'd grabbed from my hand. Another lady with a video camera pushed ahead of my 15 yo daughter and taped the whole thing and grabbed beads whenever she could. I stepped in front of her whenever possible. lol

The next day (8:30am) we went back to IoA first thing and rode Pteranadon Flyers first thing so that we could all go on it (my sister really wanted to since she'd been left out her last visit with her grandkids since there weren't enough kids to go around). My 3yo went on it without complaining, but didn't want to repeat it. My 9yo loved it and went on it 3 times. We then went toHulk and Dueling Dragons so we could ride front row. DD was empty at that time of the morning. After spending the morning, we returned to our room for a break and then returned to US to do shows and spend a lot of time.

My sister checked out that day and my family headed back to IoA and did most if the rides and the shows that we hadn't yet seen. We had lunch at Mythos (the highlight of our last vacation) and were way less than impressed. They messed up on my son's pasta and it took them awhile to bring out his replacement and then they charged us for it, which I wasn't expecting. The waiter (I think his name was Gil) was not wonderful and they added the tip in, so I don't guess he had a reason to be attentive. Slow service, didn't refill water until we were done eating, etc, etc. The food was ok, but nothing super like it had been the last visit. We breaked and later went back to IoA for the fireworks. They were wonderful and the low fireworks were very unusual. We watched it from the Jurassic Park area and had a nice spot that wasn't too crowded. While waiting, my daughter and I got in a few rides on Dueling Dragons.

Our last morning we went to US and repeated what we wanted to (MIB, Barney for my 3yo), ET, I went on Jaws with my 3yo since he was asleep when the rest of the family went another day, Jimmy Neutron, etc. We left the park and headed to Sarasota to visit family.

All in all a nice visit at Universal. We left Sarasota on Sunday to drive half way home, but 5 out of the 6 of us came down with a stomach virus and it turned into the drive from hell. We made it to Darion, GA (didn't make the halfway point to Maryland) where I collapsed into bed, sicker than I'd been in a long time. Bad end to our vacation. It's Wednesday now and I'm still not feeling right, but that's not Universal's fault. lol

Like others have said, the key is to get to the parks early. I was told that the parks (at least IoA) opened at 8am, but we never made it there that early to see. By noon everything was swamped and it was hard walking around. Of course the room keys made it easy to ride what we wanted, but navigating was still hard when it was so busy.

I'd love to answer any questions!

 

[Disney Debbie]

Good report.

Look at it this way - at least you didn't get sick while you were still ON vacation. The ride home always sucks, so at least you didn't have something good ruined!

How did you like RPR? Did you go to the pool any?

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Very true about being glad that we didn't get sick on vacation. At Universal we wouldn't have felt like going on any rides or anything. In Sarasota we would have been quaranteened in our hotel room and wouldn't have been able to see my husband's family. The problem with being sick for the ride, though, is that the two drivers were sick so neither one of us felt like driving. And also, you know how time passes so slow when sick? It made the drive seem like a week long... That's behind us, though, except I'm still not eating and I have no energy.

We liked the Royal Pacific for the most part. It's a beautiful hotel with a nice pool. We only went to the pool once, but had a pool view and enjoyed seeing it. The blow dryers in the room were terrible (lots of air output, but hardly any heat). It would have been nice to have had a sink inside the bathroom and outside. We had two rooms and did ok, but when my sister and BIL were staying with us it was a little tight because we had our teenage daughter sharing with us. Need I say more?--teenage daughter and bathroom... The rooms in general were small, but I knew that going into it, so I can't complain about that. We had to have maintenance fix the clothesline thingy in the tub and they left very dirty footprints in the tub and we had to call housekeeping for them to scrub the tub. Again, not a big deal, but they should have taken care of it without me having to say anything. Very minor negatives all in all.

Next time I don't know where we'd stay. I'd love to try PBH, but the price would have to be very good since we need two rooms. I guess when that time comes we'll go with where we could get the best deal.

 

[beautybelle]

Oh my goodness, sounds like my worst fear is about to be realized AGAIN. Last time we went to Orlando on our family vacation it was VERY crowded and we hated it.....time passes......I beg my hubby to go again telling him that we'll go earlier in the year and maybe it wont be that crowded (we went in August last time) and since you went in April and it was crowded Im freaking out because it will probably be worse in May. I think Im gonna be sick. Do ya think I should just skip IOA?

 

[gschmerl]

beautybelle,
April gets crowded because of spring break. May should be fine.

 

[beautybelle]

Thank You times 100. Whew, I can breath now. LOL

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I would think that May (before Memorial Day) would be fine. When in August did you go last time? We went the third week of August in 2001 and is wasn't too bad, but workers at Universal said the week before when local schools were still on summer break was very crowded.

 

[beautybelle]

The last time we went it was the first week in August and it was so bad that my husband said we'd never go again. Well I talked him into it by telling him that May wouldnt be as crowded as August. I hope we have a better trip this time because if we dont I will probably never be able to talk him into it again. To be perfectly honest if its as bad as last time I probably wont wanna go again. LOL

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You'll be in great shape going in May compared to the first week of August!

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for the great review!!!!

 

[workin4vacation]

hi Tigger&Belle,
Thanks for the trip report.
I'm trying to learn about the process of getting the entertainment rate. Looking @Easter 2004 (I know, a long time out, but I'm a fact gatherer...)
I see that you were at RPR @Easter time.
How did you get your entertainment rate? Did you book your hotel by calling the RPR directly?
Thank you for any tips re: the e rate!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Patti, I got the entertainment rate by calling the 1-800-BE-A-STAR number. When I booked, RPR had the entertainment rate available, but the other resorts did not. I think that I reserved in January, but I'm not sure when the ent rates are first released for April. I hope to return this April and will start calling in the fall.

 

[FOV]

Oh no!!!! We will be there the last week in June. Now I am concerned that it will be unbearably crowded. We usually go to Orlando in Oct, Nov or December but we wanted to be there for ds's 5th birthday. At least we have FOTL and the hotel is a short walk from the park if it gets to be too much.

TiggerBelle, thanks for sharing your trip - I really enjoyed reading! If you can't be on vacation it is always nice to be able to read about someone else's!