Back from our first trip....won't be our last!!!

The reviews of Volcano Bay are pretty disappointing, especially given that they charge you a premium just to add it to a multi-day ticket. I think we'll be reluctantly skipping it when we go in the Fall. We only have three days for Universal, anyway.
 
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for the poster of her trip report, her personal experience was excellent.

i love reading first hand experiences of people that have been there and shared the trip with us.


if you want a discussion about V Bay, make a new thread in the main UO boards.
We don't want to side track a trip report into a discussion about someone's trip report.
 
Thanks for the great review, we love visiting US and stayed at RPR in October and it was awesome. We are also fans of Bubba Gumps! Harry Potter World and butter beer can't be beat, love those areas! Makes me miss it lol!
 
Loved your review, your enthusiasm is great. Did you book your next trip yet?

We have done Universal many times but looking forward to our first stay at RPR.
 


:flower3: Okay, where to begin..... here's some more thoughts, and I'll add more to this also.....

1. the RIDES!!! for those of you that have been to Universal, you know the rides are bloody awesome! For those that haven't been yet.... buckle up, because it's like nothing you've done before!!! My daughter and I rode The Mummy 17 times over the course of the week.... I have to say, that was our favorite! We logged alot of FitBit steps on that ride! The Hulk.... WOW. it's like Rockin Rollercoaster on steroids. For a point of reference, Rock In Rollercoaster (at Hollywood Studios) was my reigning champ ride. The Hulk BLEW IT AWAY. I don't know how many times we rode it, but it was alot ! I was initially terrified to ride Rip Ride Rocket, but that also turned out to be one of the best coasters ever. Don't get me wrong, it was scary.... but so fun!! the only ride I have to say I hated was Dragon Challenge. I'm afraid of heights, so having your feet hanging was really bad for me. I got off and had an immediate panic / anxiety attack. it wasn't pretty! :crazy2::crazy2: Men in Black was a blast, ET is always fun, and the Transformers and Spiderman were so cool ! Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls: you WILL GET WET ! and not a little wet.... you will be soaked! All I can say is embrace it... don't do the poncho thing. Make it the last ride of the day before you head to the hotel.... it's more fun that way. (although I wish we brought a second set of sneakers!!) We rode the Bilge-Rat barges 3 times in a row with these teenage girls that were on it too. They let us all just stay on and keep riding, but we all had SUCH a blast. We did all look like drowned rats at the end. But the memories were awesome.

2. La Bamba character breakfast: we did this kind of as an after thought, and I wouldn't do it again. I thought it was seriously over priced for what it was. Now, I'm comparing it to the character breakfasts at Disney, so this was a fail compared to those. The Disney buffets always seem endless. And while the prices are high, you get alot to choose from. this buffet was basically eggs, bacon and rolls. There was hardly anything else to choose from. The other thing was the photographer. There was one guy, and he was just overwhelmed. And he was always where the characters weren't, so by the time the characters came to the table, the photographer was no where in sight. We took all our pics on our phone.

3. Royal Pacific hotel, in general: I loved this hotel. When you walked in, you feel this immediate calm. The decor transports you to the South Pacific and is just calming. This is why we chose RPR over hard Rock. The Hard Rock, while it looked awesome, didn't seem "calming" to me. The rooms were well appointed and I loved the shower. I know alot of people wish it had a tub in the room, but I really liked that it didn't..... the showers were super nice. I loved the toiletries they provided..... the odd thing is, we all used them and never got replenished. I thought that was weird. I guess you only get it when you arrive!! The RPR pool was awesome. I loved the zero entry and the vibe was great. I do wish that we ate at Bula Bar one day, but we never got the chance because of the rain during the week. But we managed to sneak in a swim on our last day before heading out. The one thing that we really loved was the continental breakfast you can get in the lobby. I have to say, it's nice to be able to get just a bagel or donuts before heading out to the parks. We aren't huge breakfast people, so this was a good / low cost breakfast for us. It saved more room for all the awesome snacks! The small refrigerator (in the room) was perfect for water / soda / candy / snacks. I do wish we stopped on the way in to buy soda before we got there, but lesson learned for next time. All in all, I would put it against any of the Disney deluxe hotels. it was great.
 
:flower3: Okay, where to begin..... here's some more thoughts, and I'll add more to this also.....

1. the RIDES!!! for those of you that have been to Universal, you know the rides are bloody awesome! For those that haven't been yet.... buckle up, because it's like nothing you've done before!!! My daughter and I rode The Mummy 17 times over the course of the week.... I have to say, that was our favorite! We logged alot of FitBit steps on that ride! The Hulk.... WOW. it's like Rockin Rollercoaster on steroids. For a point of reference, Rock In Rollercoaster (at Hollywood Studios) was my reigning champ ride. The Hulk BLEW IT AWAY. I don't know how many times we rode it, but it was alot ! I was initially terrified to ride Rip Ride Rocket, but that also turned out to be one of the best coasters ever. Don't get me wrong, it was scary.... but so fun!! the only ride I have to say I hated was Dragon Challenge. I'm afraid of heights, so having your feet hanging was really bad for me. I got off and had an immediate panic / anxiety attack. it wasn't pretty! :crazy2::crazy2: Men in Black was a blast, ET is always fun, and the Transformers and Spiderman were so cool ! Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls: you WILL GET WET ! and not a little wet.... you will be soaked! All I can say is embrace it... don't do the poncho thing. Make it the last ride of the day before you head to the hotel.... it's more fun that way. (although I wish we brought a second set of sneakers!!) We rode the Bilge-Rat barges 3 times in a row with these teenage girls that were on it too. They let us all just stay on and keep riding, but we all had SUCH a blast. We did all look like drowned rats at the end. But the memories were awesome.

2. La Bamba character breakfast: we did this kind of as an after thought, and I wouldn't do it again. I thought it was seriously over priced for what it was. Now, I'm comparing it to the character breakfasts at Disney, so this was a fail compared to those. The Disney buffets always seem endless. And while the prices are high, you get alot to choose from. this buffet was basically eggs, bacon and rolls. There was hardly anything else to choose from. The other thing was the photographer. There was one guy, and he was just overwhelmed. And he was always where the characters weren't, so by the time the characters came to the table, the photographer was no where in sight. We took all our pics on our phone.

3. Royal Pacific hotel, in general: I loved this hotel. When you walked in, you feel this immediate calm. The decor transports you to the South Pacific and is just calming. This is why we chose RPR over hard Rock. The Hard Rock, while it looked awesome, didn't seem "calming" to me. The rooms were well appointed and I loved the shower. I know alot of people wish it had a tub in the room, but I really liked that it didn't..... the showers were super nice. I loved the toiletries they provided..... the odd thing is, we all used them and never got replenished. I thought that was weird. I guess you only get it when you arrive!! The RPR pool was awesome. I loved the zero entry and the vibe was great. I do wish that we ate at Bula Bar one day, but we never got the chance because of the rain during the week. But we managed to sneak in a swim on our last day before heading out. The one thing that we really loved was the continental breakfast you can get in the lobby. I have to say, it's nice to be able to get just a bagel or donuts before heading out to the parks. We aren't huge breakfast people, so this was a good / low cost breakfast for us. It saved more room for all the awesome snacks! The small refrigerator (in the room) was perfect for water / soda / candy / snacks. I do wish we stopped on the way in to buy soda before we got there, but lesson learned for next time. All in all, I would put it against any of the Disney deluxe hotels. it was great.
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. :crazy2: 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. :flower1:

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!!) :worship::worship::worship: 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! :rolleyes: 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!!!!

pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:
im looking forward to our trip in two weeks! You gave me a lot of great ideas! I'm also staying at the RPH. I'm in a standard so I'm hoping they give me a great view which I requested. It's too bad about VB, I'm hoping things are sorted out by now! I only did a 4 day Quick Service meal plan for when we are in the parks. I'll be eating over @ City Walk! Is it expensive over there too? As far as rides go I'm not much of a thrill seeker so I probably won't go on some. I've done all the ones at Disney though.
 
Op, Tony Hinds transportation includes a free grocery/ liquor stop

Just request a stop next time you use him

That way the driver budgets his time and still be able to do another pickup after he drops you off at your hotel

Tony has other drivers and if one will be tied up, another driver can do airport pickups
 


Danielle1971 City Walk is awesome! Honestly, I don't think it's any more expensive than food in the parks. And all of it seems less than Disney. We ate at NBC Grill, (great food) Margaritaville (totally was HORRIBLE and a waste of money, in my opinion) and Bubba Gump. Bubba Gump was awesome.... the atmosphere was fantastic. We ate there one night, wound up buying the Landry's Card for $ 25.00 (which then credited us $ 25.00 on our Landry's card) and went back to eat there again during the week. The atmosphere is awesome.... so much fun.

We played mini golf at City Walk..... totally worth it. it's so much fun. All in all, I thought it was really reasonable. (except Margaritaville... we thought that was overpriced and the food was not all that great) I wouldn't go there again.
 

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