jerseytinkerbell
DIS Veteran
- Joined
 - Aug 17, 2010
 
- Messages
 - 1,311
 
Wow! How awesome that you got an upgrade! Looks like a great view.
				
			
 If we did one of the restaurants like that it would probably be T-Rex, but I'm glad to know that the Rainforest Cafe is still surviving 
 The room looks nice but the view is great! Any view with palm trees is a great view to me! Looking forward to your Universal reviews 
I've never been to universal or stayed at their resorts but it's nice to see what it's like. That's cool that you got upgraded to club level. Can't wait to hear about your dining adventures in universal.
Sweet Upgrade!!! Love the view of RRR from your window!
Very Nice Upgrade!!!! I bet you were still smiling when you woke up!!!

Your Rain Forest meal looks surprisingly good. Not good enough to pull me away from Tusker or Yak n Yeti, but good nonetheless. And at least you did your part to save the rainforest ; ) Poor endangered cafe's
Congrats on the upgrade. Though I had to laugh that "rock royalty" meant gingham curtains. The food offerings sound good though. Do they have adult beverages like disney does?

Nice! It will interesting to see your comparisons between the HRH club level and the Disney club levels that you've done.
Oooh very nice upgrade you lucky things![]()
Always fun to get an upgrade! Can't wait to read more about your stay at the other park!

Wow! How awesome that you got an upgrade! Looks like a great view.
Congrats on the upgrade! I just got caught up after being wi-fi less for the last three weeks at my cottage in PEI. Sorry to hear about Sanaa but your Tusker House and Yak and Yeti meals look great. I think I would have gone for dinner at Yak and Yeti too!
I'll be interested to hear about the Hard Rock Hotel! I agree, the theming could be better - but it looks like a very nice place. Rainforest actually looks quite yummyIf we did one of the restaurants like that it would probably be T-Rex, but I'm glad to know that the Rainforest Cafe is still surviving
Looking forward to hearing more!

Congratulations on the upgrade - looking forward to a Universal review. Every trip we say this time we will get to Universal but every time we don't even manage to do everything we want to at Disney - maybe next year![]()

There club level looks nice! The new rooms are nice, but I like the old decor better.

Now that is an upgrade! No wonder the guy at the desk was smilingThe room looks nice but the view is great! Any view with palm trees is a great view to me! Looking forward to your Universal reviews
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Yay on the upgrade!





).   Despite my daughters nearly coming to blows over a "sunscreen in the hair" incident 
 we somehow managed to make it to the park entrance shortly after 7:00 a.m., the Early Admission time for that day.  Therefore, our first goal of riding the Forbidden Journey was accomplished pretty quickly.  We had visited Universal Studios in August 2010 so had already done this ride a few times.  However, we all enjoyed riding it again...some more than others.  
).   After a short wait, we boarded the train and departed for King's Cross Station (which is located at the other park, Universal Studios).  Once there, we quickly made our way to Diagon Alley and located our third and final goal...











  Emily did not have any pockets that day so gave her Express Pass and her hotel key card (I kept everyone's park ticket) to her brother to carry in the pocket of his shorts.  Before getting into the Express Line for Men in Black, he reached into his pockets to retrieve their passes and hers was missing, as was her room key card.   There was a hole in one of the pockets of his new shorts!  We walked into a nearby store to find out how we could get a new Express Pass and were told that because she also lost her room key card, this could only be done back at our hotel.  So she returned to the Hard Rock to do this...and never returned. 
 Apparently the walk back to the hotel was so hot and tiring that she decided to take a nap in our air-conditioned room rather than returning to the park.  So her 3 rides cost me $50 each.  Ouch!  
  At this point, I was hot,  I was tired, I was done...took the boat back to the Hard Rock and joined Emily for nap time in our room.  
  The ride came to a complete stop not long after they boarded.  The lights were turned on and they sat...and sat.  Finally the ride started moving but the lights remained on.  And then it stopped a second time.  When they finally got to the end of the ride, they expected that they would be giving out fast passes to either return later when the ride was fully functioning or ride something else.  No such passes were given out though.  
  Since this was their 4th time riding this (rode it twice during our 2010 trip) and they hadn't had to stand in line long, it was not a huge deal for them.   But they felt really bad for those who were first-time riders and/or had stood in the long line, only to have a sub-par ride experience with the lights on and with two long stops.  After this they too were ready to throw in the towel and returned to the hotel.
 I carried a purse-size bag into the parks, the same one that I take onto all of the Disney rides.  However at Universal, with the exception of the train ride and possibly one other, I was required to place my bag in a locker before being allowed into the line.  Though the lockers were free (for a limited amount of time), it was still a pain to do this each time I wanted to go on a ride.  And in most cases it did not even seem necessary.  For instance, the Men in Black ride is similar to Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom.  Like on Buzz, there was plenty of room to set a bag or backpack on the floor of the ride vehicle.  I suppose though that they do this to avoid the problem of having bags left behind on the rides, but to me it just got to be tedious and time-consuming. 

But they felt really bad for those who were first-time riders and/or had stood in the long line, only to have a sub-par ride experience with the lights on and with two long stops