WWOHP Opening Week Trip Report

[mjohnson96]

I have not had a chance to upload pictures but I thought I would go ahead and start the trip report. We went on our Florida Vacation this year from June 19th thru June 28th with 5 nights at RPR.

So a little information about us.

ME (35) I am from Florida but moved to Kansas 10 years ago with DH, then DB. My whole family is still in Florida so that gives me an excuse to have to head down there once or twice a year. I always try to plan either a short or long vacation during our trip to someplace fun like Universal, Disney, the beach or something while we are there. I love Theme Parks and used to work at Disney years ago and would love to go back to work there if the chance presented itself. I love to plan the trips and usually plan out 6 + months in advance.

DH (35) He is the opposite of me, he hates Theme Parks but will grumble the whole time and suffer through it for me and the kids This year I did not think we would be making it to Florida because he had knee surgery in January, they replaced the cartilage in his knee, and so with the time he took off for that I figured we were out of a good Florida trip this year. One day he called up since another co-worker was heading off to Florida and they think I know everything about Disney and Universal so he said it sounded like fun and maybe we could go see Harry Potter. Fifteen minutes later I was planning this trip.

DD (7) She just hit 48 inches tall and all she talks about is being able to ride the mummy ride. She loves Universal, when asked if she wants to go to Universal or Disney she picks Universal. This kid does not have any fear and would go on the biggest coasters if they would let her on without thinking about it twice.

DD (8 months) Well this one went to the park last year with us but was not able to really enjoy it, well neither was I really She is a very happy baby and just loves attention.

So like I mentioned earlier DH made the mistake of saying we could go, this was about a week before they annouced the opening day of WWOHP. I was originally going to plan our tip for the first of June but once they announced the opening I moved our trip out. I know I should have kept it the same becuase everything seemed to work out pretty go for the pre-go onsite visitors but I did not want to chance it since that was the main reason DH and my Dad wanted to go to the parks this year.

There is only a small time frame DH is able to take off work each month so the week of the 19th was it and I knew we were going to be in for a busy trip. My Sister was joining us as well as my Mom and Dad and my Older Brother his GF and her DS (6).

Since we really enjoyed staying at RPR in the past I went ahead and booked 2 rooms for 5 nights for me and my parents, one room for 1 night for my Brother and his group and then 1 room for 4 nights for my sister and her little dog.

 

[mjohnson96]

Day One – Enclave and Aquatica

We had a 7am flight out of Kansas City to Orlando so we stayed at the Sleep Inn the night before and parked the car. Not too bad, it was $90 for the room that night and 10 days of parking the car in their lot. We live about 2 ½ hours from the airport so this will help us not have to get us too early and rush with the baby.

Usually you can get to MCI airport hour to hour ½ early without any problems. We get to the airport about 5:45 and Southwest this day was having ticketing problems. The line to check bags was about a mile long so I was stressing out. We finally get our bags checked at curbside check in around 6:20 and off to security. So I broke my leg a couple years ago and have a nice chunk of metal in there, today was the day it wanted to set off the metal detectors. It take us another 25 minutes for security to go through and check me over to make sure I was not carrying any hidden weapons. By now we have about 10 minutes to get on the plane. It was already boarded and getting 3 seats anywhere near each other was impossible. Luckily our 7year old, Kaitlyn, makes friends easily so she sat next to a boy her age and they played DSi and Ipods all the way to Orlando. DH was not so lucky and sat next to someone who used his seat too. I got to sit on the aisle with the baby, Stacey, and she was just happy as can be about everything thinking she was cute.

So we take off and have a really good flight to Orlando, Stacey fell asleep 30 minutes into the flight so that helped us out a lot. We get to the airport and all but one piece of luggage made it there, not too bad and the next flight was only an hour away so after we loaded our luggage in my mom’s Arcadia I ran back in and grabbed the last bag off the next flight and off to the first hotel.

Since we can’t check into the hotel we decided to use our free tickets for Aquatica. I had purchased Florida Resident SeaWorld Tickets that gave you the option to go to Aquatica or Busch Gardens and we really did not want to go to Tampa this trip. Since it was a Saturday in June it was extremely busy at Aquatica. The park is really neat and the older kids area is amazing. I hope the waterpark that is being built by us will have something like that in it. Since I had Stacey and we did not want to wait in lines to ride the slides we just went to the wave pool and the kids areas to have some fun in the water. This was a really nice park but I don’t know if it is worth the price or not. If we did not have the tickets already included I don’t know if we would have spent the money to go. I think I would like to go again when it is not so busy and rent a Cabana, that looks to be the best way to enjoy the day there.

So now it is 4pm so we decide to head over to the Enclave…..I do not recommend this hotel. We got a 2 bedroom suite with a terrace since my mom was staying with us that night. The first room they gave us was a kids room, of course Kaitlyn loved it since it had a bunk bed and Scobby Doo on the walls but not very good for mom. We had them move us to another room which was okay. The toilets did not work very well, only one elevator worked so it was 15-20 minute wait to go downstairs. The floors were tile, and not the kind that was non-skid, and so Stacey fell and cut her mouth and bleed everywhere at one point. Other than that it was only for one night so we can live with it. My brother and his troop meet us and we walked over to Fridays and had a really good dinner. I was glad that this first day was over when we went to bed that night.


Next day we check into RPR and begin our trip to WWOHP with a visit to Universal too

 

[Metro West]

Looking good so far...can't wait to see the pictures!

 

[mjohnson96]

Day 2

Today we check into the RPR hotel, we left Enclave and head over to RPR. I knew that since it was opening weekend that it might be a tad busy. I love walking up to the RPR, the entrance is very beautiful and it makes you feel like you are away from everything.

I felt bad for the young girl that checked us in, when I walked up I don't think she would have expected I needed to check in 4 rooms. But she was able to get everything done, took about an hour to check everybody in and get room keys since we had to move around some room choices. They were great about it, my sister had a pet room but she smokes and they made sure to get her into a room that she could smoke in as well. I had booked my brother's room the night before but they were able to move them into a room with 2 queen beds and then they got my mom moved into a King Smoking room since they missed that on the reservation requests.

Overall the check in experience was great, no problems and everyone was very friendly. After we got the rooms checked in we went over to the kiosk to print the tickets. I was able to print the Power Passes for DH, DD, mom, dad and my sister but the FL Resident tickets for my brother and his troop had to be picked up at a ticket counter over at the park so they could show ID.

We head over to the parks and DB picks up their 2 day tickets and then we split of since they want to go into IOA and we head over to US with my brother’s girlfriends son (6).

I promise to add some pictures later but we get in and Dora is hanging out at the entrance so DD runs over to get a picture with her.

We then head into the store since I lost my sunglasses already and mom wants to pick up some of the fan misters. After spending way to much money in the shops, and forgetting to use my AP discount again, we head over to Jimmy Neutron, I wait over by SpongeBob with the little one and catch up with the party. SpongeBob just got back from visiting the little Sponge Room when they got off the ride and DD and Tristan go and get pictures with him. I had bought a autograph book but they just stamp the page.

After that we head over to the Mummy Ride passing up the Beach Party where they were hitting some beach balls around.

DD is now 48 inches tall and could not wait to ride. So we head in through the express lane and do the baby swap so DD gets to ride twice. She loved the ride, hated the mummies. When then head over toward Jaws. I stay back again with the baby so mom can ride and DH made sure to put DD right where Jaws would pop up. She loved it, Tristan did not…poor thing freaked out and would not stop crying. Some nice little boy saw him crying after the ride and gave him a stuffed dog that he won at the carnival area, he carried that dog with him the rest of the trip.

This was Sunday and US was not really crowded and the heat was not that bad. Now we head over to MIB and let DD ride twice while we do the child swap, I got to kick the butt out of DH on the shooting so it was great. I guess all his SWAT training doesn’t work well for shooting Aliens. By now poor Tristan wants no part of the rides, Jaws did him in. We go over to the Simpsons and mom takes the baby and Tristan to wait for my sister who was putting her little dog in the Kennel. The Simpson Ride is so much fun, this is one of DD favorite rides so we could not miss it. After the Simpson ride Kaitlyn goes over to pose by the fence, hopefully this is the only time she has to assume the position.

Storms were getting ready to head in so we went over and the Madagascar crew was just arriving so we went over and got some more pictures and autographs, more stamps, and now we cold hear them announcing that they were closing Woody Woodpecker because of the approaching Storm. It is 3pm so time to head over to the hotel.

We get back to RPR and of course the rooms are not ready yet. I requested they do put a rush on my sister’s since the hotel had taken her over to pick up her puppy from the kennel. About 3:45 I get the first call that our room is ready, and then my sisters is not ready until 4pm. My Mom and my Brother had to wait until around 5:30 to get their rooms but I understood how crazy it was with everyone checking out that day. There were bags everywhere.

We head to our room and since it was a standard I did not expect much, we were in 1410 and it was a pool view room.

Very nice view and about 30 minutes later they brought up the crib and fridge. It was not a pack n play it was a wooden crib for Stacey with a bumper even. I never expected anything like that and was very happy. We get everything put away and then go run out to Walmart to pick up some supplies for the week and then back to the hotel to meet up with everyone for dinner. To save some money tonight we headed over to a buffett and filled up everyone Then back to the hotel for some late night swimming and off to bed.

It was a pretty good start to the vacation, we had lots of fun and the hotel staff was very nice and the room was very clean. Stacey was thrilled to be able to crawl around again.

 

[mjohnson96]

I added a few pictures, I will try to post our 3rd day when we went to WWOHP for the early entry. Also, how I ended up without a iphone that afternoon too....whoops!

 

[Larrabe]

Looks great so far!! Can't wait to see more.

 

[mjohnson96]

Day 3 - Early Entry to WWOHP

Monday morning we wake up early and have a bowl of cereal in the room and head downstairs to meet up with the rest of the family. We are over in tower 1 and everyone else is in tower 2 since they have pets or smoke. My brother and his family decided to not join us this morning for early entry so off we go. My mom and sister want to wait on the boat so DD, Kaitlyn, stays with them. DD and I walk over with the baby and arrive at the gate around 7:15 am. They already have the gates open for onsite guests to start lining up for entry into WWOHP. We had to wait because I have DD ticket in my carry case and they missed the first boat, so they decided to take a Pedicab over to the park. They arrive around 7:30 am and we head into the park showing our room keys to get into the area. At this time the line to get in stretched over to The Trolley in the Sky ride so we hang out here for quite some time. I chat up with a TM from Dr. Suess area and he was telling me how opening day went and how crazy the line have been to get into the WWOHP area. DS decides to take DD on the Trolley ride even though it was right at 8am and knew that might cause a little problem. A little after 8am the gates open and in we go with DD and DS, they catch up with us at the Castle and had to endure lots of people yelling at them and name calling thinking they were cutting up the line even though they were just trying to catch up…can’t say I told you so since DS already admitted it was a bad idea.

We head straight to FJ, the line for Olivanders was real small and I kinda wish we would have stopped and did this first. Since we did baby swap we did not need to worry about lockers and headed into the castle. The line came to a stop in the greenhouse because, of course, the ride was not working. We waited quite awhile and then they opened it up and away we went.

The castle tour is pretty amazing, lots of things from the film were in there and so I got a few pictures as we walked in. We get to the room with all the pictures and STOP…ride broke again…we decide to wait it out and 30 minutes later we get going again. I take Stacey into the baby swap area while everyone else rides and then after some begging they allow me to take both older DD and DH with me when it was my turn on the ride. This is the only baby swap ride that allows only one other person back on the ride once you swap. The ride was AWESOME and well worth the wait so we head out to do a few more things. It is now 9am and well I get a phone call and DB had left his girlfriend’s son’s ticket in my wallet….great. Well I told him we would meet up with him when we could and the lines now are insane to get into any of the stores so we go to give DB his ticket, as we walk out we are told that we would not be able to get back in and would have to wait in line, I was very disappointed because I really did not have the chance to see anything but couldn’t just leave them outside and figured we would be back tonight and later this week. I really thought what they did with the WWOHP area was perfect to the movies and books, I too wish the area was bigger but there was nothing I really could do.

As we head to the front of the park we realize the line to get into WWOHP started at the Cat In the Hat Ride and wrapped all the way around the park. Holy Cow!!!! Well we meet up with DB and give him the ticket and decide to see the rest of the Park. We hit the express line and ride the Hulk, I love the Hulk, and then we head over to Spider Man, I might need to get my eyes checked because the screen for some reason was blurry this time I had also noticed it on FJ so it might be me. Spider Man is fun as always but DH lost his 3D glasses when we got on the ride so he didn’t get to experience it this time. After Spider Man we head through Toon Lagoon and go on Popeye, twice with baby swap, and get really really wet. I have to say seeing the very slow if moving at all line to get into WWOHP amazed me, I don’t think I would want to wait in line all day to see the area and miss the rest of the park.

After we get off Popeye we decide to head back to the hotel to go swimming and relax, it is around 11am now and the crowds at IOA are insane. We head back to RPR and change into swimsuits and hit the pool bar area for lunch and swimming. I love the pool at RPR but not to thrilled with the pool menu but I get a Turkey Sandwich, DH and Mom get burgers and DS gets the dip. We also got a Nacho to start with, this I very yummy . When the food came, the dip went back it did not taste very good but the rest of the food was pretty good, DS gets a quesadilla instead and that was much better. DD just eats of our plates since we had tons of food. We enjoy the pool for several hours and then head inside for naps for the kids. It is 1pm and the room is still not cleaned but no problem.

After naps we head back out and meet everyone to go back to IOA, we head over on a boat and make our way into the parks. We decide to take the long route around IOA so head over to do Hulk again, and then through Toon Lagoon but Ripsaw Falls was down so we passed that up and go through Jurassic Park, still not seeing a line. We walk right into WWOHP around 5:30 with no lines to stand in, that was great and the area was not that bad.

We go over to FOTH and DD loves this ride so she gets to ride it with everyone, I really like how they did Hagrid’s Hut and the Pumpkin Patch and got some good pictures of Buck Beak too but as I was taking my turn with her we were heading back to unload when I look down and see the Frog Choir waling behind DH, they never even noticed. We get off the ride and head over to watch the Frog Choir perfrom, they were pretty amazing and after the show DD gets to go up and meet the frogs and students.

The lines to get into the shops were still huge so we decided to wait and do those another time. DH wanted a ButterBeer so he headed off to stand in line while DS and I rode on Dragon Challenge and mom took the kids to look at wands on the cart, now we had told DD she could have a wand but no broom. The que for DC was pretty good but I did not have my camera to take pictures this time. We rode the ice dragon but the only problem I had was that the fire one did not go at the same time, so this made the ride a little less intense and I kept wondering where the other coaster was. Still fun but not as much when both coasters are not going at the same time.

We get off the ride and find DH with his butterbeer that was gone, thanks, and a pumpkin juice. We head over to find mom with the kids and there is DD with her wand….and a broom (of course). DH did not enjoy the butterbeer as much as he had wanted to and the Pumpkin Juice was good but sweet. It is starting to get very crowded now so we head out DD can ague with the water fountain again, she loves to ague with this fountain everytime we pass it. We ride the Cat in the Hat Ride, which is lame now without the spinning, and let DD ride the One Fish Two Fish Ride with her Aunt before going ahead and heading back to City Walk for some dinner.

We weren’t starved and did not want to spend a ton tonight so we check out the Whopper Bar and share a couple of burgers. The Burgers were very good and of course DH had to get a Cigar to bring back to the hotel. We walk around City Walk a bit and spend stupid money on games and then go back to the hotel to relax. Mom, DS, and DD take a PediCab back while we walk with the stroller and DH hit’s the bar area to smoke his Cigar, yuck, while DS and DD go to the game room for a bit and then to walk her little dog.

We get back to the room and it is still not clean, it is 10pm now, so I have to call downstairs to get towels, coffee, etc. I should have called down after we left the room for naps to let them know we were gone but since their carts were outside our door I didn’t think I had to. Oh well the rest of the trip I made sure to let them know when we left the room.

 

[ChevyNat]

very nice report... the lines were unbelievable...wow. I'm going in Oct. hope it will be more manageable by then.
Can't wait to see more pics.

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start to your report. Your DD seems to be loving all the rides she can do now We are going in August so I hope things have calmed down a bit by then.

 

[mjohnson96]

So on Tuesday we decide that the first half of the day will be for pool hopping. We start with our own pool at RPR and let DD push the baby around in the float for a little while. She loves the boat at RPR so once that was opened up for play off she went to play over there. After everyone is ready we decide to head over to PBH first to have lunch there, everyone says how great the pizza is so I have been looking forward to hanging out by the pool and having some pizza.

We head over to the boat dock and take a ride from RPR to Citywalk and then luckily a boat was there for PBH so we jump on and head over for some pool fun.

I had mixed reviews when pulling up to PBH, my mom loved that it had balconies and so our next trip we are now going to stay onsite there. I thought it looked a little dated from the outside and I didn't get that theme feel that I get with RPR where I truly feel that I am on vacation elsewhere. I also don't think the staff at the PBH knows the resort either. The first person we ask about the location of the pool sends us on a wild goose chase, finally we end up asking a guest who sends us into the hotel and down some halls to the pool. The pool was really neat, there were people at the gate asking for room keys (no one does this at RPR) and we get some towels and find a couple of really nice comfy chairs to hang out on. DD heads straight for the slide. The pool was pretty quiet, only a small handful of people there which was different since the RPR pool was already packed when we left. The pool is very pretty and I loved the kiddie pool area.

Alright time for pizza, the server comes around hands us a menu and ummm where is the pizza. I asked and she said they don't serve pizza there, okay well we will just eat somewhere else then no problem kinda strange since the name is Splendido Pizzeria. I told her that lots of people on the boards say that PBH has great pizza but she just looks at me like I have 2 heads.

We enjoy the pool a bit more and decide to head over to the HRH pool now, it is around 1pm so again we ask for how to get to the walking path. They point us down the trail and we are in the employee parking lot? Okay we take a senic tour around the place finding the banquet facility and then the lobby....the lobby was pretty impresive. We get back out to where the boats are and look PIZZA at Sal's Market Deli We stop in and order a large pizza and my sister gets a couple salads since she is on a diet and the pizza was great. The salads must have ran off, since they never brought them over, and we ended up just having them refund the amount (they never did had to fix it at RPR later).

We head over to the Hard Rock hotel now and the storm clouds are starting to roll in. The HRH pool is extremly busy and right as we get there, here comes the lighting so no pool time for us. DD was a bit disappointed but we went over to the bar area and got some drinks instead. I really enjoy the HRH pool bar area. We walk around the HRH and I would like to try staying here on one of our upcoming trips. After walking around we take one of the busses back to the RPR for nap time.

Our room was clean when we returned, that was nice, and so we get the kids down for a short nap and try to relax some. After naps we meet back up with mom and DS and head over to Universal. The line for RRR was 90 minutes so we head over to the Mummy. DD loves to ride the mummy and rode it twice as we did the child swap. Mom thought it was a tad scary, I should have got the picture with her hands up over her eyes

After the mummy ride we head over to disaster, we get there right after they let people in so we decide to wait, and wait we did. Finally we get in to the show, Stacey is not having a great time now so keeping an 8mo entertained quietly takes some practice, did I mention we lost about 6 pacifiers so far during this trip. , I wait out in the baby swap area for everyone to get off the ride and then we head over to RRR again. The wait is only 30 minutes now so we decide to head into line.

So on the RRR when you are walking through the line it is not that bad of a wait since it is constantly moving. On the TV monitors you keep seeing things about how to get on the ride, how to not having anything in your pockets and how to pick your songs. We get up to the ride and I tell you I knew exactly how long it was going to take to get to the top. It is just aroudn 10 seconds. So I pick a song and up we go one one thousand, two one thousand (I'm afraid of heights ) and finally we go up and over, this was a great ride. I would have loved to ride it again but when we get off the ride I put my hand in my pock and I don't have a phone in there...I forgot to leave it with mom. Well that just makes the day a little more crappy but you have to go with it. We head over Lost and Found and file a report ( it never showed up, prob in a tree ) and then head over to City Walk for Dinner at Margarittaville.

Luckily I had made priority seating weeks in advance, people coming up were told it was a 2 1/2 hour wait. We had about a 20 minute wait for our table and then inside we went to eat dinner. DH and I have to stop in here at least once on a trip, in the past we only drank dinner . We had a great dinner and the pirate came over to make DD a flower ballon hat.

We head back to the hotel and they are playing Harry Potter at the pool, so we sit down to let DD swim for awhile and watch a little of the movie, it was around 10:30 now and the pool closes at 11pm. We are exhausted so we go to the room to get some sleep since tommrow is SeaWorld.

 

[wilma-bride]

A great day, love the idea of pool hopping to all the resort pools. We may have to check out PHB pool in August.

What a bummer that you lost your phone; there's a lesson learned. Hope it wasn't too expensive.

 

[mjohnson96]

A great day, love the idea of pool hopping to all the resort pools. We may have to check out PHB pool in August.

What a bummer that you lost your phone; there's a lesson learned. Hope it wasn't too expensive.

Gave me an excuse to get the new Iphone 4...it came out the day after I lost mine but I waited until we got back from vacation. I was in luck and was able to get it as an upgrade so I did not have to pay full price.

The pool hopping was great, I always try to plan at least one half day to just do that. Last time we hit HRH up and had lunch there and this time was PBH for lunch. I just thought it was funny that the employees at PBH did not really know where anything was (or they were playing tricks on us)

 

[AJA]

Love your report and pics!

So excited for our first HP trip!