10/22-23 Universal, IOA and Hard Rock Hotel

[momtokendantom]

Family members:
Me- Mom to Ken, Dan and Tom
DH
Ken- 10
Dan- 8 1/2
Tom- 7 1/2

Today we checked into the Hard Rock Hotel around 10:30. Our room was ready for us, so we unpacked and headed for Universal around 11am.

We loved Universal! I cannot comment on the crowds since I have never been there before. But, there did see to be a lot of lines. The longest wait time I saw was at IOA for Spider-Man (30 minutes).

Universal was entertaining for everyone. My older boys loved Twister, Earthquake, Jaws, ET, Back to the Future, MIB. etc. Tommy would not go on ANY rides :-(

Our room key allowed us to enter the express line. What a GREAT perk! The boys loved this! They were able to ride everything in a short time frame!

We were able to see so much of the park in a short amount of time. The boys were tired since it was our 4th day of vacation, so
we returned to the hotel around 4pm and headed for the pool. The boys loved the water slide! Forget about the LEGOs, they now did not want to leave the pool. DH and I enjoyed a drink poolside while the kids swam (they are all great swimmers). They loved the underwater speakers!

That night, we had room service and it was very good. All the staff we encountered at HRH were very nice and helpful. Like I said, our room was great and the little extras were nice (CD on check-in, $20 dinner gift certificate at their restaurant, Loews member welcome gift--- I did have to remind them!).

10/23
We headed to Island of Adventure around 9:30 and grabbed breakfast at the Croissant Moon Bakery (? name). I would recommend this place for a quick breakfast. Great big fruit cups for $2.99 and a yummy breakfast sandwich for $4.95.

After breakfast, we were off and running. DH took the older boys on the thrill rides. Danny was disappointed because he was not tall enough for Hulk or Dueling Dragons. Again, Tommy would not go on any rides, so I took him to Dr. Suess land.

Since, Tommy would not go on the rides, we decided to have him visit the "penny press" machines. He loved this!

After a few hours, DH and I switched, so I got the go on the rides. We loved Spider-Man and the Hulk!

Our kids definetely preferred Universal/ IOA to WDW. I do not know if express access played a roll in this or not. But, they said next time we go back to Florida, they want to stay at HRH and only go to Universal/ IOA.

The last night we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which was very good.

Thank you to everyone on this board for helping plan our vacation! We had a wonderful time!

 

[ddrdisneymix]

when I went to Universal over Spring Break we thought that we would go to disney twice but...

We stayed at the Hard rock and Loved it. Walked to the parks even with the spring break crowds rode everthing we wanted by 2 and rode tham a couple more times. Went to Disney on day 4 at 2 and went to epcot crowds wernt that bad went to MK and couldn't see any thing but people. In conclusion IOA/USF is much better that WDW

 

[pathubia]

When we vacationed in Orlando in sept of 99 we split our vacation between dis and usf. This past august we skipped dis and spent 4 days at the HRH, we loved it so much we are going back to the HRH in Jan for another 4 days. We cant wait. Too bad your youngest didnt want to ride. My DD, 8, loves the Hulk, DD, the water rides, but she refuses to go back on Jaws and Twister, go figure. No matter how we try to reason with her, she wont do those 2 attractions. I think that the heat from the pyrotechnics freak her out.

Patty

 

[gothamknight777]

Glad you and the boys had a great time, Mom to Ken, Dan, and Tom!! We loved the Hard Rock too. The room and service were top-notch. We got locked out of our room because of a de-magnitized room key, got back in, and then Security came by our room to make sure we got in okay...talk about service!

We also loved the Express feature too. We rode Spider-Man three times before we saw someone in line get on for the first time! The best perk of the stay!!

Hope you get to go back soon!

GK777