sydneysmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2009
Well, we are back from our first trip to Universal. It was AMAZING. I want to truly thank everyone that helped answer questions, gave advice, and was very patient with a newbie!! You all are such an amazing group of people.
My thoughts on our week:
1. We stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort. I cannot say enough great things about this hotel. It's so beautiful, the people were fantastic, and the vibe was so relaxing. We were in Tower 2, 6th floor. They gave us the choice of T2 w/ a theme park view, or Tower 3 without a theme park view. Next time I'd pick T3, only because it's more centrally located to everything. But truly, it's not a huge hotel, so everything is really within reach and not a huge walk. the walking paths are beautiful... we did this alot, and it was just relaxing to walk the pretty path. The water taxis were also great. they ran frequently, so there really was not alot of waiting. The boat captains are hysterical. it was like a ride and a show, all in one.
2. We didn't stay Club Level. Next time we will do that for sure. The reason is, everything is expensive.... we expected that, don't get me wrong. But we made the huge mistake of not stopping on the way from the airport to get Diet coke.... so each diet coke purchase hurt. The idea of breakfast, beverages included and snacks throughout the day seems worth what the increase in $$ would be. That's just us though.
3. Jake's restaurant.....fantastic. We ate dinner there one night and lunch one afternoon. The food was really good. We ate breakfast at the Islands dining room our first morning... our server had such a bad attitude though, it made it not fun. But I got to hug Gru, so it was totally worth it!
4. We had rain like EVERY. STINKIN. DAY. No fault of Universal, but it kept us from venturing out and trying different hotel restaurants like we wanted to. We stayed close to the RPR when the torrential rain came.
5. On our one totally sunny day (which was our last full day) we went over to the Hard Rock Pool and spent the day. OMG, LOVED the Hard Rock. We actually debated which we would stay at next time. The vibe at the pool was a blast..... I'm not sure if we were just in a great mood because the sun was finally out, or because nothing tastes better than pina coladas while sitting in a pool listening to cool music..... but their nachos (at the pool) were also really great. It was a really fun day there.
6. Royal Pacific Rooms : alot of people commented on how small the rooms were. There were 3 of us, and we didn't have any issues at all. The rooms were pretty, functioned well, and worked for us. We had 2 queen beds. Our room looked out at the Hulk and Rip Ride Rocket.... it was cool to lay in bed and watch the rides going over and over.
7. The parks: OMG. it's like Disney on steroids.....and what I mean by that is that it's definitely FUN and not for the person that wants "quiet little rides". The rides at Universal are intense and AMAZING. The Harry Potter worlds.... .not to be believed. It's like you have stepped into the books. I almost cried. (I know.... cheesy!!) Frozen butterbeer is worth every penny. it's completely addicting. And you will get brain freeze!! You must get ice cream at Florean Fortescue's..... I got the 'orange marmalade'. It tastes JUST like creamsicle.... I could have eaten this for every meal. My husband got mint, which tasted like it had ribbons of creme de menthe, and my daughter got choc / vanilla swirl. All were so good. We ate at both 3 Broomsticks and at Leaky Cauldron. The food was really awesome. Not "theme park food" at all. We loved it.
8. Toothsome: yes, totally worth it. We went for dinner and got shakes for desert. We probably could have just gotten appetizers and shakes though.... the shakes are so filling! One tip.... the mugs from toothsome are NOT dishwasher safe.... I melted ours into shrinky dinks. I guess we have to go back now! Oh, get the nachos for an appetizer... they use their own hand cut potato chips. this will rock your world.
9. Volcano Bay: Well, I'm torn on how to give my opinion. We would not go back. We went for a 1/2 day, early in the day, and left about noon when the rain came. We didn't ride alot because it was a bit unorganized and the tapu tapu didn't work. We brought towels from the hotel, so we didn't have to rent them. (the front desk was telling people to do that when you check in) The buses to Volcano Bay were running frequently, and thankfully the driver turned off the air when we were soaked. We went back to Volcano Bay the next day (the only sunny day). This is where we got the bad taste in our mouth for this park..... OMG. It was full capacity times like 80. The lines to get in were about 50 deep.... tapu tapu wasn't working, so getting people in was tough. Rides were at about 120-180 min wait. And once you did a "fast pass" w/ your tapu tapu, they didn't let you stand in line for another ride, if that ride had a wait time. Which made no sense to me, and this was completely frustrating. there was not a chair to be had. We came in about 10 am, did one round of the park looking for a chair to put down our stuff.... did not find literally one chair open. So we left. This is when we went to the Hard Rock and spent the day at their pool. I wouldn't do volcano Bay again, if we come back. It was great, but WAY too many people, and it's just way too unorganized. Oh, and it's difficult to find where a ride line begins. So when you ask, they're firing off Hawaiian names.... of which you will never remember. Frustrating. But again, that's just us.
10. Tony Hinds: we had Tony Hinds pick us up / bring us back to the airport. TOTALLY worth the money. It was $ 100 round trip, plus tip. We had John as our driver, and he was such a sweetheart. Again, we should have asked if we could stop to get soda, but we didn't think about it.... that was our fault. Next time, I will do that for sure.
11. City Walk for dinner. We ate at Margaritaville for dinner.... totally over rated. It was over priced for the food, and actually didn't even taste all that great. We ate at Bubba Gump twice. LOVED THIS PLACE. it was alot of fun, the vibe was upbeat and fun and the food was really tasty. My daughter and I split the shrimp medley both nights.... YUM.
12. Overall: Universal is an AMAZING vacation. I would go back in a second. We were home about 30 minutes before I was pricing out the next trip. Next time I don't know that we would do 8 days.... I think it was almost too long. I think we would do 5 days next trip and definitely club level at either the Royal Pacific, or the Hard Rock. But we will be back!!!!
My thoughts on our week:
1. We stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort. I cannot say enough great things about this hotel. It's so beautiful, the people were fantastic, and the vibe was so relaxing. We were in Tower 2, 6th floor. They gave us the choice of T2 w/ a theme park view, or Tower 3 without a theme park view. Next time I'd pick T3, only because it's more centrally located to everything. But truly, it's not a huge hotel, so everything is really within reach and not a huge walk. the walking paths are beautiful... we did this alot, and it was just relaxing to walk the pretty path. The water taxis were also great. they ran frequently, so there really was not alot of waiting. The boat captains are hysterical. it was like a ride and a show, all in one.
2. We didn't stay Club Level. Next time we will do that for sure. The reason is, everything is expensive.... we expected that, don't get me wrong. But we made the huge mistake of not stopping on the way from the airport to get Diet coke.... so each diet coke purchase hurt. The idea of breakfast, beverages included and snacks throughout the day seems worth what the increase in $$ would be. That's just us though.
3. Jake's restaurant.....fantastic. We ate dinner there one night and lunch one afternoon. The food was really good. We ate breakfast at the Islands dining room our first morning... our server had such a bad attitude though, it made it not fun. But I got to hug Gru, so it was totally worth it!
4. We had rain like EVERY. STINKIN. DAY. No fault of Universal, but it kept us from venturing out and trying different hotel restaurants like we wanted to. We stayed close to the RPR when the torrential rain came.
5. On our one totally sunny day (which was our last full day) we went over to the Hard Rock Pool and spent the day. OMG, LOVED the Hard Rock. We actually debated which we would stay at next time. The vibe at the pool was a blast..... I'm not sure if we were just in a great mood because the sun was finally out, or because nothing tastes better than pina coladas while sitting in a pool listening to cool music..... but their nachos (at the pool) were also really great. It was a really fun day there.
6. Royal Pacific Rooms : alot of people commented on how small the rooms were. There were 3 of us, and we didn't have any issues at all. The rooms were pretty, functioned well, and worked for us. We had 2 queen beds. Our room looked out at the Hulk and Rip Ride Rocket.... it was cool to lay in bed and watch the rides going over and over.
7. The parks: OMG. it's like Disney on steroids.....and what I mean by that is that it's definitely FUN and not for the person that wants "quiet little rides". The rides at Universal are intense and AMAZING. The Harry Potter worlds.... .not to be believed. It's like you have stepped into the books. I almost cried. (I know.... cheesy!!) Frozen butterbeer is worth every penny. it's completely addicting. And you will get brain freeze!! You must get ice cream at Florean Fortescue's..... I got the 'orange marmalade'. It tastes JUST like creamsicle.... I could have eaten this for every meal. My husband got mint, which tasted like it had ribbons of creme de menthe, and my daughter got choc / vanilla swirl. All were so good. We ate at both 3 Broomsticks and at Leaky Cauldron. The food was really awesome. Not "theme park food" at all. We loved it.
8. Toothsome: yes, totally worth it. We went for dinner and got shakes for desert. We probably could have just gotten appetizers and shakes though.... the shakes are so filling! One tip.... the mugs from toothsome are NOT dishwasher safe.... I melted ours into shrinky dinks. I guess we have to go back now! Oh, get the nachos for an appetizer... they use their own hand cut potato chips. this will rock your world.
9. Volcano Bay: Well, I'm torn on how to give my opinion. We would not go back. We went for a 1/2 day, early in the day, and left about noon when the rain came. We didn't ride alot because it was a bit unorganized and the tapu tapu didn't work. We brought towels from the hotel, so we didn't have to rent them. (the front desk was telling people to do that when you check in) The buses to Volcano Bay were running frequently, and thankfully the driver turned off the air when we were soaked. We went back to Volcano Bay the next day (the only sunny day). This is where we got the bad taste in our mouth for this park..... OMG. It was full capacity times like 80. The lines to get in were about 50 deep.... tapu tapu wasn't working, so getting people in was tough. Rides were at about 120-180 min wait. And once you did a "fast pass" w/ your tapu tapu, they didn't let you stand in line for another ride, if that ride had a wait time. Which made no sense to me, and this was completely frustrating. there was not a chair to be had. We came in about 10 am, did one round of the park looking for a chair to put down our stuff.... did not find literally one chair open. So we left. This is when we went to the Hard Rock and spent the day at their pool. I wouldn't do volcano Bay again, if we come back. It was great, but WAY too many people, and it's just way too unorganized. Oh, and it's difficult to find where a ride line begins. So when you ask, they're firing off Hawaiian names.... of which you will never remember. Frustrating. But again, that's just us.
10. Tony Hinds: we had Tony Hinds pick us up / bring us back to the airport. TOTALLY worth the money. It was $ 100 round trip, plus tip. We had John as our driver, and he was such a sweetheart. Again, we should have asked if we could stop to get soda, but we didn't think about it.... that was our fault. Next time, I will do that for sure.
11. City Walk for dinner. We ate at Margaritaville for dinner.... totally over rated. It was over priced for the food, and actually didn't even taste all that great. We ate at Bubba Gump twice. LOVED THIS PLACE. it was alot of fun, the vibe was upbeat and fun and the food was really tasty. My daughter and I split the shrimp medley both nights.... YUM.
12. Overall: Universal is an AMAZING vacation. I would go back in a second. We were home about 30 minutes before I was pricing out the next trip. Next time I don't know that we would do 8 days.... I think it was almost too long. I think we would do 5 days next trip and definitely club level at either the Royal Pacific, or the Hard Rock. But we will be back!!!!