3 Canucks Visit "The Other Side of Orlando": A Trip Report (Complete!)

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Ooh, what a brill trip report. I was doing a search for all day dining at Seaworld and came across your report. Its so nice to find a non-disney report. We have a week on I-Drive before heading over to Disney for two weeks so its good to get some ideas - I'm going on a hunt for a bowling voucher now.

Hi, Pinkgirl! Thanks for your kind comments on my trip report!

We have now done a Disney-only trip and a non-Disney trip, and I have to say they were both AMAZING!!! Your upcoming vacation should be a ton of fun as you enjoy the best of both worlds. Bet you are getting excited!!! From your ticker, it sounds like you will be in Orlando at the same time as we are there again!

As for the Groupon bowling voucher, it was only offered for a limited time and the deal has now ended. I am hoping they will offer them again but you never know!! They often have great deals on Orlando attractions such as mini golfing, shows, air boat rides, swimming with the manatees, etc. so sign up to receive their daily emails by going to www.groupon.com. Select Orlando as your city then enter your email address. Another site to watch is www.livingsocial.com (again, they periodically offer great deals on local attractions.....you just have to watch every day and be prepared to buy when something good comes along, as the deals are for a limited time to purchase only).

I love the planning process .....its almost as fun as the vacation itself!!!

 

[Pinkgirl]

Thanks Gina. We arrive on 9 August, then move to Disney on 17 August with our wedding at the Yacht Club on 22 August then another full week in Disney for our Honeymoon, all accompanied by our DD Paige who will turn 8 whilst there.

 

[A&Bmama]

Loving your trip report!

We are planning our next trip for 2013 and I think it will be a non-disney trip. Your hotel looks nice. Was there 2 beds in the bedroom and a sofa bed? Did you find it quiet?

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Loving your trip report!

We are planning our next trip for 2013 and I think it will be a non-disney trip. Your hotel looks nice. Was there 2 beds in the bedroom and a sofa bed? Did you find it quiet?

Can't wait to hear more!!

Our hotel room had a king bed in the bedroom, then a queen sized sofa bed in the living area. We paid about $7 more per night for the king one-bedroom suite as opposed to the normal one-bedroom suite, which had two queens in the bedroom. With only needing two beds for the 3 of us (and requiring the separate bedroom to house DH and his 1000 decibel snorning habits ) we thought the king suite would work best for us. Definitely with more than one child you would want the queen/queen suite instead.

The hotel had a lot of other nice free inclusions as well. There was a hot breakfast buffet each morning that changed a little from day to day......always a meat choice (bacon, sausage rounds or sausage links), then other rotating items: sometimes pancakes or french toast, sometimes scrambled eggs or omelets, sometimes hashbrowns, etc.). Always had fruit salad, oatmeal, various breads, several cold cereals, coffee, tea, juice, milk, etc. as well. Definitely more than enough to feed the family and keep everyone happy.

From 5-7 pm nightly, there were free unlimited soft drinks and 2 free alcoholic beverages per adult in their bar area (which doubled as their breakfast area in the morning). They always had free snacks to go with it too (popcorn, chips, etc.). You could grab yourself some free drinks and munchies then lounge by the pool.....definitely a nice perk!

They also had free transportation to Disney, the Universal Parks, and SeaWorld. We didn't use it (as we had rented a car) but it was nice to have the option if we decided not to drive. Saves you the $14 per day parking at the theme parks too .

Location was extremely central....5 minutes to SeaWorld in one direction, 5 minutes to Universal in the other direction. Less than 10 minutes to the Florida Mall. 10 minutes to the outlet malls at most. One street off of I-Drive. We could walk to Chili's, TGI Fridays, a chinese buffet, McDonalds, etc. Walgreens right around the corner. Bowling alley across the street. You really couldn't get a better spot.

We found the hotel to be EXTREMELY quiet. We never heard a peep from anyone while in our room, and that's saying something when we were right across from the elevators and just around the corner from the laundry area. I don't know whether we just got lucky with considerate guests around us, or if the hotel is that soundproof. We were certainly pleased with the sleep quality we received!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Tuesday, January 3rd:

Today we were bound for Universal Studios! But first, a quick pit-stop at the Royal Pacific Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort.

A little background first....we were a bit concerned about the potential for high crowds during this time period, so we had investigated the cost of Express Pass access for the two days we were scheduled to visit Universal and Islands of Adventure. (To be totally honest, we hate waiting in line!! The potential for express pass access was one of the things we were most excited about for Universal over the Disney parks).

Then I read that a one-night stay at one of the onsite resorts gave guests unlimited Express Pass priviledges and early access to Harry Potter for a two day period (the day of check-in and the day of check-out). It turned out that we could rent a room at the Royal Pacific for one night (giving us two days of unlimited front of the line passes) cheaper than we could buy 3 regular Express Passes (not unlimited, only one time at each participating attraction). Plus, rather than pay for parking for two days at the parks, we paid for parking for one night at the resort which covered us for both days.

So......back in November, we secured the room with our CAA discount and we were all set. On our check-in day (January 3), we needed to check in at the hotel before heading to the park, as the room key served as our Express Pass for the two days. Keep in mind that we didn't intend to sleep there that night.....we just had the room for the express access and a place to crash mid-day if we wanted to do so. Plans were to head back to our full suite with the separate bedroom at the Hawthorn Suites once we were done at the park for the day.

We arrived at the Royal Pacific about 8 a.m.:

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a lovely customer service rep who explained that the hotel was overbooked. She indicated that they were giving checking-in guests the chance to "save some money" if they were willing to accept a different room other than the queen/queen room we had reserved. Our queen/queen room was $197.00 plus tax, which was already pre-paid upon reserving, but they would give us the hospitality suite (with one queen pull out sofa, and they would bring in a cot for free if desired) with a full kitchen, a large flat screen tv, a full dining table, etc. for just $99 per night.

As you can imagine, we jumped on the deal! Can't beat two days of Express Pass access for three people for just $99 total!!! They refunded the difference between our original deposit and our new price to our credit card, gave us our keys, and we were off to the parks.

Down we went to the dock to board the water taxi to the park.

The resort itself was gorgeous. Really, really beautiful.

Again, we had a lovely, bright, sunshiny day....except it was very, very chilly by Florida standards. The news channels were abuzz with details of the "Florida Freeze", but for us hearty Canucks, it wasn't that bad. Highs for the day reached about 7 degrees Celcius, meaning by afternoon with all the sun, it really was quite pleasant. Pretty nippy in the early hours, though, especially on the open-air water taxi! Lots of grumpy travellers that morning, for sure!!! lol, even a few people in shorts who didn't pack appropriate clothing for their New Years vacation . I felt totally sorry for them.

We were at the Universal Studios gates by just after 9 a.m.!

 

[mtmbyck]

Loving your trip report. Especially since you started out exactly how we will be starting out in 44 DAYS! The 3 hour drive to Syracusse, a night at HI Select (how did you get that rate and where did you park your car? I'm paying 169.00 for my stay and 12 nights parking), boarding JETBLUE at 7am and arriving by 10am. We are staying in I-Driveat Marriott Grand Vista ( just a few blocks fromSea World).

Really enjoying your posts and photos. Keep up the great work!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Loving your trip report. Especially since you started out exactly how we will be starting out in 44 DAYS! The 3 hour drive to Syracusse, a night at HI Select (how did you get that rate and where did you park your car? I'm paying 169.00 for my stay and 12 nights parking), boarding JETBLUE at 7am and arriving by 10am. We are staying in I-Driveat Marriott Grand Vista ( just a few blocks fromSea World).

Really enjoying your posts and photos. Keep up the great work!

Thanks so much!

We got our $60 rate by cashing in some of our Priority Club points (I think it was 3000). We often stay at Holiday Inns or at a HIE for my son's basketball tournaments, so we accumulate points pretty easily throughout the year. Our points plus the $60 (no tax on that, either) got us the room for the night, and parking was $5 per night (no tax) for a parking total of just $35, and a grand total of $95. You can't beat that! We parked right at the hotel (they have a big area between the hotel and the road especially for guests who require long-term parking).

When we came back, the very sweet shuttle driver even dropped DH off right at the car (and I mean he pulled right up so that when DH opened the door of the shuttle, he was right at the door of our car) and then took DS and I to the door of the hotel so we could disembark where it was dryer and less mucky. Then DH wheeled around and picked us up where we could load the luggage out of the mud (the long term parking area is unpaved).

44 days.......you must be getting so excited!!!! It will go by so fast!!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Our day at Universal Studios.....hmmmmmmmmmm.....where to start?

Let's just say that the Express Passes were a lifesaver, and that I cannot imagine visiting either Universal park without them (at least during any time when crowds are considered moderate or worse). Moving from attraction to attraction, we almost felt guilty walking past the long lines of people and getting right onto a ride with little to no wait at all. Note I said "almost"! We felt like VIP's, and it was so easy. Just show the card, then walk right in. As a result, we were able to cram in many, many rides.....we just went from one to another. Simply awesome!

We had a ton of opportunities at Universal to get our pics taken with the characters. I loved the way that the staff handled the character photo ops....they always offered to take a photo with our own camera, and as a result, we were able to get some great pics without having to pay for the ones taken by the Universal Studios photographers. Add in that the lines were always short and the characters very engaging (some talking to us, playing around, acting silly, taking their time with each of us, etc.) and I must say that the character experiences were better than on our Disney trip (please don't shoot me for saying so....just being honest ).

We had a great lunch at Mel's Drive In. Food was excellent, staff were so friendly, and it was a fun atmosphere.

The next post......more from Universal Studios!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

One of our favourite sections of the park was the Simpsons area. Admittedly, we are huge Simpsons fans so we were VERY excited to take in this part of Universal. We spent a ton of time here and the boys thoroughly enjoyed the ride! (thought it made DH a little queasy on the last couple of times)

They even had a Squishee cart.....not open when this pic was taken, but still very cool!

Ugh! Photobucket being difficult again. The end of Universal Studios coming up in the next post......just as soon as I give the laptop a good swift kick .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We spent the rest of the sunny afternoon touring the park and riding the rides as we came upon them. The guys loved the Mummy (strangely, though, I seem to have missed taking pic of that one even though they rode it several times!), and were totally disappointed to find that Rip Ride Rocket was closed due to "inclement weather" (Translation: it was too cold. Seriously. ). With the Express access, it just made the whole experience a totally fun, totallly relaxing, totally enjoyable day. Just what a vacation should be!

Some pics from the New York section of the park:

And this contraption was found driving around at random intervals:

Once when it went lumbering by, the Simpsons were inside and made quite a spectacle as they passed us. Homer did a little dance and showed off for me a little when he saw me poised with the camera:

By 5 p.m. or so, we decided we had had enough for one day. We left the park and headed to CityWalk for DS's dinner choice.....NBA City.

 

[Fun]

What great photos! Thank you so much for sharing you and your family's experience. That dolphin really new how to smile .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Welcome to CityWalk! Universal's answer to Downtown Disney. A rather pretty place, nice for a walk with some neat shops and a great selection fo restaurants. Its also where the water taxi drops off and picks up for all three Universal Orlando resort hotels.

This is how it looks at night.....so sparkly pretty:

But tonight, we were headed here:

My basketball-loving boy was in heaven. He never wanted to leave.

He did some three-point shooting outside:

Checked out their hand sizes vs. the NBA superstars:

We did a little shopping in their awesome NBA store:

And then enjoyed a nice meal, complete with an awesome Shirley Temple!:

After dinner, the boys shot some more 3 pointers in the indoor rec center:

I think Jake could have stayed at NBA City for the rest of his vacation and been a happy boy . His passion runs deep!

We headed back to the Royal Pacific via water taxi in the chill of the night (man, what a cold ride in the dark as the temps fell closer and closer to the freezing mark!) to collect the car from the hotel lot and return for the evening to the Hawthorn Suites. We had enough time for a late swim in the pool (hey, we're Canadian remember! we need more than a cool night to stop us from swimming in a heated pool and enjoying an outdoor hot tub! ) before hitting the sack.

Our next day would be a very early start.....its off to Islands of Adventure, and we planned to arrive at the crack of dawn to take advantage of our early entry priviledges to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Next up........Butterbeer, the Car-o-Suess-el, and Spiderman!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What great photos! Thank you so much for sharing you and your family's experience. That dolphin really new how to smile .

Thank you so much!

The dolphin's name was Astra. She was a real little sweetie....loved to be the centre of attention. She just basked in the adoration of our small group and really seemed to be "posing" for the camera.

The dolphin that took us for the swim was Rascal. He came by his name honestly . A little more unpredictable and a lot more spunky. But he gave a great ride and was powerful enough to haul my 275 lb hubby without complaint! lol

 

[chrisula]

I just want to say that I am loving your trip report - it looks like you and your family had a wonderful time

We have never gone to Universal or Sea World in Florida and your photos make them both look fantastic.

I don't usually read trip reports so this is a nice treat on the Cdn board - well done - I can't wait to read more about your trip

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I just want to say that I am loving your trip report - it looks like you and your family had a wonderful time

We have never gone to Universal or Sea World in Florida and your photos make them both look fantastic.

I don't usually read trip reports so this is a nice treat on the Cdn board - well done - I can't wait to read more about your trip

Thanks so much for your kind compliments!

The SeaWorld and Universal parks are a totally different experience from Disney. Having done the Disney parks exclusively on our last visit (and having had an AMAZING time), we wondered if this vacation could equal the fun we had at Disney. We actually found we liked this better. We loved not being tied to dinner reservations at a specific time, and we loved the "variety" provided by this selection of parks (while the Disney parks are all different as well, they all have that similar Disney feel.....Universal, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld and Discovery Cove gave us a whole new experience each day).

We are always seeking new experiences when we travel. Our next trip to Florida in August will hopefully be full of a whole bunch of "firsts" as well....we hope to visit our first Florida waterpark (still undecided on whether it will be Wet N Wild or Aquatica), we plan to visit Gatorland, and also one of the beaches (Clearwater or Cocoa Beach) all of which we've never done before. Who knows, maybe we'll even throw in an airboat tour! So many things still left on the bucket list!!!

 

[Disney Addicted]

Love your trip report. Especially since you included so many photos. Thank you for those!

That's an amazing rate for the car rental. I keep reading posts where it's almost $300 for a week (or maybe that it was two weeks?) and have been scared. Gives me hope for talking my husband into renting a car.

The hotel looks nice. How long did it take to drive to Discovery Cove from there?

I knew wetsuits were required to wear for the dolphin encounter. But your pics show everyone wearing them elsewhere in DC. Is that the rule then?

Also, what are those red trees in your SeaWorld photos?? ARe they real??

If you end up going to Aquatica in August, please post a picture full trip report again!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Love your trip report. Especially since you included so many photos. Thank you for those!

That's an amazing rate for the car rental. I keep reading posts where it's almost $300 for a week (or maybe that it was two weeks?) and have been scared. Gives me hope for talking my husband into renting a car.

The hotel looks nice. How long did it take to drive to Discovery Cove from there?

I knew wetsuits were required to wear for the dolphin encounter. But your pics show everyone wearing them elsewhere in DC. Is that the rule then?

Also, what are those red trees in your SeaWorld photos?? ARe they real??

If you end up going to Aquatica in August, please post a picture full trip report again!!

Aw, thanks so much for your kind words!

Our car rental started out as $282 USD when we made our first reservation back in August. We kept cancelling and rebooking as we found lower rates (via promos, coupons, Expedia.ca, etc.) until finally we got the fab rate about 10 days out. Keep checking and rebooking and it is definitely worth the extra efforts. We LOVED having a vehicle and not having to depend on the hotel shuttles (allowing us to come and go as we pleased).

From our hotel to Discovery Cove was about 5 minutes unless traffic was heavy. We were literally right between the SeaWorld/Discovery Cove parks and the Universal parks. And everything else you could ever want to do (eat, shop, mini golf, etc.) was all along I-Drive. We were absolutely central to EVERYTHING!

Wetsuits or a vest were required for the dolphin encounter (whichever you prefer), but since the initial early morning was a little cool, most people opted for the wetsuit. By 11 a.m., we could easily have done without it, but they were actually quite comfy (once you got in them) and they helped hide some of my....uh....imperfections?..........so I kept it on. DS actually liked the feel of his and considered picking one up to take home.

The red trees in the SeaWorld pics were Christmas trees. They were some of the amazing holiday decorations at the park. They were placed in among the regular gardens (which were gorgeous on their own), but in such a way as they acutally looked like they were real. By the time we visited for the second time on January 5th, most of the decorations had been taken down, so we were glad that we were there earlier in the week and got to see the park in its holiday finery!

I will be sure to do a TR on whichever waterpark we end up at. Hopefully it will help someone else when deciding which one to visit on their trip!!!

 

[Debbie]

Gina, I'm really enjoying your TR. Thanks so much for bringing us along on your vacation!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina, I'm really enjoying your TR. Thanks so much for bringing us along on your vacation!

You are most welcome!!! Thank YOU for reading, and allowing me to indulge in sharing some of my favourite memories!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Wednesday, January 4th:

The report on this particular day will have to be broken up into several pieces, because I have quite a bit I`d like to share. Our morning started off early, as we arrived at the Royal Pacific dock at 8 a.m. to board the water taxi to Islands of Adventure. Today we were taking advantage of early entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one hour before the gates opened to the masses.

Even though the park wasn`t officially open yet, there were still lots of people milling about. And we were all headed to the same ride....Forbidden Journey!

It was pretty frosty out that morning, enough so that I actually spent a few moments in the ladies washroom just to warm up. It was see-your-breath kind of cold. So this guy looked like he really belonged there:

Being the ride chicken that I am, I sent the boys happily dashing off to the castle while I scooted around Hogsmeade taking some pics of the amazing details in the village:

I cannot imagine trying to get any of these photos later in the day when the park was opened to the general public. It went from nearly deserted around 8:20 a.m. (when these photos were taken) to a mad mob by 9:10. Forbidden Journey was a 30 minute wait when we arrived, and was 120 minutes by 9:30 a.m. With no Express Pass access on Forbidden Journey, you are doomed to stand in line for however long it takes if you want to experience the ride (and for what its worth, my boys LOVED it ....DH said it was the best ride of the week, for DS it was second only to Manta at SeaWorld, and both said it was like no other ride they had ever been on).

After riding Forbidden Journey, we spend a good amount of time checking out the sweet treats in Honeydukes (and hey, it was nice and toasty warm in there too .... double bonus!):

The attention to detail in this entire area was second to none. Breathtaking, really, even for our family of non-Potter-lovers (the boys have watched the movies, but none of us have read the books).

And of course, we couldn`t pass up the opportunity to try some of the infamous butterbeer:

Oh lordy, it was good. I mean, really REALLY good. Tis no wonder the lines for this stuff were the longest lines we waited in all day long (Forbidden Journey excepted!! ). Worth every penny and every minute we waited to be served!!!

We opted out of waiting in the hour-plus line for Olivanders, as none of us were particularly interested in the whole wand thing (Potter fans, please dont shoot! ) but the guys did ride Dueling Dragons and declared it awesome. And they walked on with the Express Passes.....exactly zero wait .

By 9:45 a.m., we were on our way out of Harry Potter and off to my favourite part of Islands of Adventure....the bright and adorable Suess Landing. Temps were starting to warm up and we had virtually a whole day ahead of us still. Stay tuned, there`s tons more on Islands of Adventure still to come!