Dark Side Amazing - RPR visit 11/10 - 11/14

martikus

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 13, 2010
Just a trip report for those wondering what Universal is like. A huge thank you to everyone who has posted their tips and tricks as they came in handy.

Happy to answer any specific questions you have. I stink at getting pictures to post so I'm afraid I'm going to save myself the aggravation.

DH (46), myself (41) and DS (11) went down for a long weekend to celebrate DS's 11th birthday. We chose RPR after reading about all 3 three of the resorts that offer express passes as it seemed most like what we prefer and we were not steered wrong. We LOVED being able to quickly walk to the parks or take the boat. The Polynesian theme was lovely and every employee we encountered was amazing.

We decided to stay club level after reading such good reviews, mostly because we were worried how to get breakfast since there was no cafeteria like Disney hotels have. We've never stayed club level before so nothing to compare too, nor do we drink, so we were worried we wouldn't consider it worth the money. I'm glad to say we were wrong. We LOVED it. It was soooo convenient.

Travel - We flew into MCO and left the airport about 20 minutes before they closed down due to the battery exploding. We couldn't believe our good luck to get out of there. Our trip really would have started off on such a sour note if we had gotten stuck in that mess. I feel so bad for anyone who did. We used Tony Hinds after seeing all the glowing reviews here. And we weren't steered wrong. He was waiting by baggage claim and was so nice. He drives a large van. We were sad to learn his wife passed a couple months ago :(.

Hotel - As I mentioned we stayed club level at RPR. We had a king room and asked for a quiet location and were put on floor 6 so we had to go up to floor 7 for club. We didn't mind at all. We never waited long for elevator and didn't find it an issue at all. I would choose floor 6 every time if given a choice. The room was fine sized for 3 of us. We got a cot that we put by the couch and still had plenty of room to move around. They didn't charge us for the cot, not sure if that was because we were club level or not. We always had housekeeping done before we returned and they gave us turndown service each night without asking and left a couple waters. I left a note each morning to leave extra towels and they always did.

We never waited long for a boat to City Walk. The walk to parks was easy and never a line at security. We enjoyed dinner at Islands Restaurant (were surprised to find characters there Monday night at dinner - Homer & Lisa Simpson!). We also enjoyed dinner at the poolside bar one night. Found all the food quite tasty, but keep in mind we are pretty plain eaters so no foodies here.

Club Level - We really enjoyed this perk and used it much more than anticipated. We had breakfast up there each morning. Only once did we have to wait a couple minutes for a table. We were there between 7:30-8:30 each morning. We were pleased to see a pancake maker as my son prefers hot food for breakfast so we had been apprehensive of what he'd eat. He happily had pancakes and some cold meat for breakfast. There is a variety of baked goods, oatmeal, cheese/cold meats and yogurt.

We actually made it back for evening snacks (4:30pm - 6:30pm) every night but one. We found the small snacks held us over really well until we had a late dinner around 8pm. If DS hadn't been with us I could have easily made it my dinner, but he is picky and would only eat the cheese. They were so kind and would get him skim milk each time we went in.

We also enjoyed popping up there about 9pm each night so DH could make a tea and we could each take a cookie back to the room.

We are very shy people so didn't get to know any of the club level workers, but they were all very nice and I'm sure would have helped us with anything we needed. DS enjoyed the movies they were always playing as he could watch them while DH & I finished eating.

City Walk - If DS hadn't been with us we would have enjoyed this a lot more. But we've learned our trips with him are more enjoyable if we go with the flow and do things we all enjoy. We tried to eat at NBC but it was closed for a private event our first night. So we just played mini-golf (DS loved it) and returned to hotel to eat.

Parks - W.O.W. - so much fun. We all REALLY appreciated the fact we could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We didn't have to plan 180 days in advance where we thought we might want to eat and if DS loved a ride, he could do it again unlike disney where if you didn't have a fast pass you were probably out of luck. Now - that said - I can't imagine doing Univeral without the Express Pass. Knowing we were never going to wait more than 10-15 min was amazing.

We got 2 park, 3 day passes. We knew the November weather might be too chilly for us southerners to enjoy Volcano Bay. We didn't regret our decision. Each day we went to both parks. We'd do the rides we wanted in one and then take Hogwarts Express over to the other park to enjoy. Twice we came back around 4pm for a 2 hour feet break and then went back until parks closed (7pm or 8pm).

We knew DS would need to be older to not be scared and enjoy the parks and we were so glad we waited until now. He was a terrific age. He loved it so much. Obviously the Harry Potter areas are amazing (Forbidden Journey & Gringotts were his favorite rides). He also truly loved Simpsons & Spiderman. We rode the Hogwarts Express several times between parks and tried almost all the rides. Kong, ET, Minions, Shrek, MIB, were all enjoyable as well. DS was still too scared to try Mummy or Hulk but there is always next time.

DS was DYING to try Popeye so one morning we went over and did a few things and knew once we did popeye we'd come back and change as we'd be soaked. And boy were we soaked, but the smile on DS's face was worth it. We also loved how easy it was to get pictures with characters. Very small lines or just random encounters, again something that is long gone from Disney.

The parks were much busier than we expected for a random weekend in November. We thought being after HHN and before the new HP christmas would be dead - we were wrong! But with express pass it was easy. We lucked out with cloudy weather most of the time which made park touring so enjoyable.

I am not sure we'll ever get DS back to Disney. He loved Universal THAT much. And honestly, even though I am a huge Type A and love a plan, it was soooo relaxing to just go with the flow. With Express pass we didn't feel the need to get up and race over for early admission. Instead, we got there about 9am each day and still found most things for the first couple hours were walk on.

Food - We also thought overall Universal had better variety of food at their quick service places than Disney. At Disney we usually get chicken nuggets & fries a lot. We didn't get that ever at Universal. Our absolutely favorite was the Rotisserree Chicken with Corn on the Cob (they let us request white meat). We enjoyed THree Broomsticks one day and even though the line looked daunting, we were sitting down with food in about 20 minutes.

We also found the bathrooms quite clean and plentiful around the park - something I can't say about Disney the past couple of visits. We also thought Universal had more places to sit than Disney - something that is appreciated if you want to wait for your family to do say - Simpsons - and you can't handle another motion ride - LOL.

I was sad that we ran out of time to check out the other hotels. But 3 days was definiteley plenty to see what we wanted at the parks and do it at a slower pace. Next time we'd probably do 5 days so we could spend some half days at the pool (not in November weather of course) and take some time to check out the other hotels.

While Disney will always be fun, and I personally prefer a few more non-motion simulator type rides, Universal has really done it right by creating things that teens will love. And creating an experience that doesn't have to be scheduled every second.
 
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Nice review!!!

So lovely to read you had such a fabulous trip and enjoyed so many aspects of Universal and RPR.....that is nice to hear.

Enjoyed reading your views......thank you........:)
 
Great review!

As a 40-ish parent to a 13 year old girl, I can relate to so much of what you said.

Our first few trips to Orlando were dominated by Disney, but the past few trips have been primarily Universal-focused. While our daughter says she still wants to go back to Disney some day, every time we plan a trip, she is all about Universal!
 
Glad you had a great trip. The crowds were likely due to it being Veterans Day weekend. We were there the week leading up (11/6-10) and we literally walked on every ride (stayed at Cabana Bay with no express pass).
 


Great review! We end our Orlando vacations with a week at Universal because after our obsessively planned WDW portion of the trip, we need to RELAX. Glad you enjoyed your trip. I agree with the "places to sit" observation. I need to rest my feet often and it's so nice not to balance on walls, ledges and fountains.
 


YaY! a happy, good trip.

I am also not good with motion, so medicine and eye closing gets me through some of those screen rides.

Yes, a longer stay is also more relaxing. You can pool hop, and enjoy the other resort pools too.
 

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