Just got home from our first time at Universal & IOA. We stayed at the Portofino Bay Hotel with our 16 year old son for one night so that we could take advantage of the FOTL privileges that come with the hotel stay. We had reserved the Entertainment Card rate of $180 and they never even asked to see the card that we purchased. We were lucky enough to get the two for one 2 day 3rd day free AAA passes that we learned about on this forum which saved us $$$ and gave us additional time at the parks (originally we were going to do the 1 day 2 park passes at $73 each)
We arrived at the hotel around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, were promptly checked in and had our room upgraded to a bay side view as Loews First members (we also took advantage of the later checkout for members the next day). They were serving free samples in the lobby from the onsite restaurant so we had a snack while we checked in. The room was very nice, the beds were super comfy and had tons of great pillows! The bathroom was HUGE and had a phone and a weigh scale (who wants to weigh themselves on holidays?????) I highly recommend the gelato & sorbet at the hotel on a hot day!
The only negative experience we had at the hotel was that they neglected to give us a key to the wetbar & snacks. The bellhop said he would leave one in the room for us while we went to the park. When we got back to the hotel at 10:30, the key still wasn't there. We called room service, and they explained that their policy had changed and that you had to sign for wetbar keys. She sent one up, the fellow just handed it to us ... no signature required!! They need to get their policies regulated!! And we tried to buy a gingerale but there were no drink machines, so no wetbar key meant no drinks available - plus the drinks were $2.50 and a bottle of water was $7, so if you are a thirsty bunch, bring your own!
On to the park experience.
We absolutely positively got our money's worth from FOTL using our PBH room keys!! We hopped off the boat from the hotel, grabbed our passes using the ekiosks and entered the park. It was raining and we hadn't picked up the cheapie rain ponchos so had to buy the Universal version @ $7 each.
The first ride was The Mummy - 90 minute wait without the keys in the hot sweaty weather!! We got on in less than 10 minutes! That continued throughout the park and our 16 year old was VERY VERY impressed as was my husband who hates to wait!! We did MIB and I had a depressingly LOW score, even after reading the tips I found on this forum, but enjoyed the ride just the same. We enjoyed Shrek 4D and the other attractions at Universal but our son found them a little tame. We continued through the Universal Studios park and then left by boat for dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop restaurant at the Royal Pacific Resort. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys good food. It's pricey but well worth the $$$$. My husband is still raving about it a week later. The service was good, the staff were friendly but unobstrusive and the meals were amazing! We went back to City Walk & Universal for the last part of the evening and watched the fireworks before heading back to the hotel.
We got up later than planned the next day and headed to IOA. This was our favorite part of the trip. I'm a big Dr Suess fan and wanted to get lots of pictures for my grandkids of their cool NaNa with the characters. I also shopped for Xmas gifts and found a Lorax which is their favorite!! Our favorite rides were Dueling Dragons (awesome rollercoasters), Spiderman 3D and all of the water rides. It was HOT and STICKY, but I had worn nylon hiking shorts that were dry in an instant. They also have these great cooling fans located throughout the park where they spray water through the fans to make it cooler. Very welcome during the heat of the day. We took a break and went back to the hotel to cool off and then checkout, then headed back to the park to enjoy more of the rides. Again, the FOTL room passes were such a pleasure and we could use them even though we had checked out.
We met friends on City Walk at Margaritaville, then headed to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner (using the buy one, get one free coupon we learned about on this forum). We used our room keys to get a table ahead of the line that was waiting. Then we headed back to Margaritaville to sit on the balcony (used the keys again) and enjoyed key lime pie and watched the people & fireworks. A very nice evening.
We hit the park for a third time, revisiting the favorite attractions and taking more pictures ... SamIAm, the Wizard, the spitting fountain, the Lorax house, more Spidey shots at the store where he hangs out for pics which you can take while they take one to try & sell to you (he looks pretty good in spandex
, and took in some of the shows. Then it was time to continue south to visit family and golf for the remainder of the week.
This forum was invaluable in learning about the attractions, finding bargains and I have referred a number of people here to learn more about Disney & Universal. Thanks to everyone here, we had a blast at Universal & IOA!! Kudos to those who maintain the forum!
We arrived at the hotel around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, were promptly checked in and had our room upgraded to a bay side view as Loews First members (we also took advantage of the later checkout for members the next day). They were serving free samples in the lobby from the onsite restaurant so we had a snack while we checked in. The room was very nice, the beds were super comfy and had tons of great pillows! The bathroom was HUGE and had a phone and a weigh scale (who wants to weigh themselves on holidays?????) I highly recommend the gelato & sorbet at the hotel on a hot day!
The only negative experience we had at the hotel was that they neglected to give us a key to the wetbar & snacks. The bellhop said he would leave one in the room for us while we went to the park. When we got back to the hotel at 10:30, the key still wasn't there. We called room service, and they explained that their policy had changed and that you had to sign for wetbar keys. She sent one up, the fellow just handed it to us ... no signature required!! They need to get their policies regulated!! And we tried to buy a gingerale but there were no drink machines, so no wetbar key meant no drinks available - plus the drinks were $2.50 and a bottle of water was $7, so if you are a thirsty bunch, bring your own!
On to the park experience.
We absolutely positively got our money's worth from FOTL using our PBH room keys!! We hopped off the boat from the hotel, grabbed our passes using the ekiosks and entered the park. It was raining and we hadn't picked up the cheapie rain ponchos so had to buy the Universal version @ $7 each.
The first ride was The Mummy - 90 minute wait without the keys in the hot sweaty weather!! We got on in less than 10 minutes! That continued throughout the park and our 16 year old was VERY VERY impressed as was my husband who hates to wait!! We did MIB and I had a depressingly LOW score, even after reading the tips I found on this forum, but enjoyed the ride just the same. We enjoyed Shrek 4D and the other attractions at Universal but our son found them a little tame. We continued through the Universal Studios park and then left by boat for dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop restaurant at the Royal Pacific Resort. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys good food. It's pricey but well worth the $$$$. My husband is still raving about it a week later. The service was good, the staff were friendly but unobstrusive and the meals were amazing! We went back to City Walk & Universal for the last part of the evening and watched the fireworks before heading back to the hotel.
We got up later than planned the next day and headed to IOA. This was our favorite part of the trip. I'm a big Dr Suess fan and wanted to get lots of pictures for my grandkids of their cool NaNa with the characters. I also shopped for Xmas gifts and found a Lorax which is their favorite!! Our favorite rides were Dueling Dragons (awesome rollercoasters), Spiderman 3D and all of the water rides. It was HOT and STICKY, but I had worn nylon hiking shorts that were dry in an instant. They also have these great cooling fans located throughout the park where they spray water through the fans to make it cooler. Very welcome during the heat of the day. We took a break and went back to the hotel to cool off and then checkout, then headed back to the park to enjoy more of the rides. Again, the FOTL room passes were such a pleasure and we could use them even though we had checked out.
We met friends on City Walk at Margaritaville, then headed to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner (using the buy one, get one free coupon we learned about on this forum). We used our room keys to get a table ahead of the line that was waiting. Then we headed back to Margaritaville to sit on the balcony (used the keys again) and enjoyed key lime pie and watched the people & fireworks. A very nice evening.
We hit the park for a third time, revisiting the favorite attractions and taking more pictures ... SamIAm, the Wizard, the spitting fountain, the Lorax house, more Spidey shots at the store where he hangs out for pics which you can take while they take one to try & sell to you (he looks pretty good in spandex
, and took in some of the shows. Then it was time to continue south to visit family and golf for the remainder of the week. This forum was invaluable in learning about the attractions, finding bargains and I have referred a number of people here to learn more about Disney & Universal. Thanks to everyone here, we had a blast at Universal & IOA!! Kudos to those who maintain the forum!
Isn't Margaritaville a great place to sit & let the world go by?! Glad you enjoyed your meal at Tchoup Chop. I loved the lighting outside the restaurant & although we didn't eat there, it looked comfy & inviting. Thanks for taking the time to post.
