My First Ever Trip to Universal: July 2020

eiblehs

Expedition Everest Enthusiast
Joined
May 31, 2017
Hello, friends! My name is Shelbie and I recently returned home from a Universal/WDW vacation in July 2020. I went on this trip with my husband and our friends for a couples trip. Aside from my friend Keeley, the rest of us were Universal newbies. We booked this trip back in October 2019 pre-pandemic. Fast-forward a couple months before our vacation and we were left wondering if the trip was even going to happen. Thankfully, Universal opened back up and our trip was still a go.

We kicked off our vacation with a two-night stay in Loews Royal Pacific Resort with two park days. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the parks on our arrival day until 1:30 pm. (In hindsight, we thought our one and a half days in the parks would be enough to do and see everything we wanted to do. Then the pandemic hit and Universal cut their park hours to close at 6 pm. There were some things we didn't get to see or ride that I wish we could have, but we simply ran out of time. I know we would have been able to accomplish everything had the park hours never been shortened.)

My husband, Bradley, and I landed in Orlando an hour after our friends, Keeley and Jesse, arrived. To save money, we decided to share a room for the two nights at Royal Pacific. Normally, we'd get our own room--we did at Disney after we left Universal's property--but the cost of two nights at Royal Pacific was out of our price range. We are value resort people, but the inclusion of the Express pass versus buying it on its own with a value resort stay was a better option financially. Keeley and Jesse checked into our resort and grabbed a quick bite while waiting for us to arrive. We used Universal's SuperStar Shuttle service to get from the airport to our resort. Let me start with describing how the shuttle service went because it was night and day compared to Disney's Magical Express. We had to call to let them know when we were ready for them to come get us versus checking in somewhere. Next, we waited almost 20 minutes after the phone call for them to pick us up. This part was kind of annoying because we had to pay to use SuperStar Shuttle and we booked it in advance; they knew when we'd be arriving ahead of time. Yet, we still had to call and then wait outside the airport for a shuttle bus. The driver... Well, where to begin with the driver. 👀 He didn't load our luggage so we had to carry everything on ourselves. (I assumed this was a new practice because of Covid, but our friends said their shuttle's driver loaded their bags on for them, so who knows. Not an issue at all but kind of strange.) He also used his phone/GPS while driving which made me uncomfortable. He even talked on the phone with a coworker at some point, while using speaker phone, complaining about being sent to the airport when nobody was there. I put two and two together that he was mad about something that happened earlier in the day. I just felt it was unprofessional to be discussing that matter, or to be talking on the phone at all, while driving guests. Needless to say, I basically ran off of the bus when he pulled into Royal Pacific's drop-off zone.

517016 Such a beautiful resort!

517017 The view from our room!

Let the adventure begin! 😊 We arrived in the lobby and had our temperature taken. The team member gave us a wristband to wear to show that we didn't need our temp taken the rest of the day upon coming and going. I thought that was neat. Keeley and Jesse already had our room keys, so we went straight to our room. Royal Pacific is such a beautiful resort. I have zero complaints about it. We dropped off our bags, changed masks, freshened up, and headed out the door to catch a water taxi to Islands of Adventure! I was able to snag us a virtual queue for Hagrid's while we were heading to the park. I couldn't believe my first ride of the trip--my first Universal ride ever--was going to be Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. I was ecstatic!

517018 On the water taxi!

So we walk through CityWalk and go to the park entrance, all of us on cloud nine, and then bam! The team member says, "Where is your park ticket?" Uh... What? :confused: We thought our room key/Express pass was also a park ticket--Nope, guess not. (Like I said, Universal newbies.) So we had to go to guest services and get that sorted out. We were a bit frustrated but once we got our paper tickets, it was smooth sailing. We entered Islands of Adventure and headed straight for Hogsmeade. In preparation for our trip, we binge-watched all of the Harry Potter movies the week before we left to help get us hyped for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. All I can say is WOW! We were blown away with the theming and immersiveness. We headed straight for Hagrid's and jumped in the virtual queue line. At first, I was overwhelmed because the line stretched as far back as that talking fountain thing. (Universal newbie, forgive me.) But it moved quickly that we never actually stood in one spot for long. You guys... This ride was incredible. It was so, so, so much fun! I remember watching a couple vlogs when the ride first opened up, but I had forgotten a lot of the ride elements until I was actually on it. My husband rode on the motorcycle part, so I was in the sidecar. (We rode it again the next day and I got to sit on the motorcycle part; that spot made the ride 100 times better.) What an awesome start to the trip!

We got off and ventured around Hogsmeade. We stopped to get the iconic butterbeer. I opted for the frozen option and I'm so glad I did! Yum! The foam on top was my favorite part. One of my regrets from this short trip was that I didn't get a second one the next day. We took pictures in front of Hogwarts and then jumped in line for Forbidden Journey. We used the Express entrance, so we missed nearly all of the immersive queue. (We did stand-by the next day so we would get to see everything.) This ride was fun but definitely scary! I kept my eyes shut during the spider scene. The whomping willow scene followed by the dementors was mind blowingly awesome. It was a lot of fun too!

517019 I'm a Gryffindor and he's a Ravenclaw.

We decided to grab a bite to eat but the line for Three Broomsticks was a bit crazy. We opted to head into the Jurassic Park area to dine at Burger Digs. Surprisingly, this quick service restaurant was pretty dang good. We had to use mobile order and then sit at a table until a team member brought us our food. (I will say, I prefer Universal's approach to mobile ordering over Disney's at the moment.) My husband and I shared a cheeseburger and chili cheese fries before making our way to River Adventure. Unfortunately, the dinosaur animatronic that comes out over you right before the big drop wasn't working. That was kind of disappointing... But oh my gosh did we get soaked! The four of us were in the front row, but I was not expecting to get as wet as we did. It definitely cooled us off! Next we rode Reign of Kong which was neat but the best part was the end with the giant Kong animatronic. I would have preferred more of that and less simulators and screens. (More on that later...)

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We snagged a virtual queue for The Mummy ride in Universal, so we got on the Hogwarts Express to make our way over. That was a really cute ride and it sure beats having to walk. Also, we ended up just using our Express pass when we got there rather than using the virtual queue. We didn't realize The Mummy had Express... Newbies.) Let me just start by saying that I was having a blast on The Mummy until about halfway through when my hair got caught on the back of my seat. I am not exaggerating when I say that I could not move my head because my hair had wrapped around the screw on the back of my headrest. I kind of went into panic mode because all I could picture was getting scalped if we were thrown forward any. I am not kidding when I say I had no memory of anything about that ride after the backwards portion because I was so fixated on holding my head back while trying to unravel my hair. It was kind of a nightmare! When the ride ended, my friend had to help untangle (pull) my hair so I could get up. The team member at the exit was even concerned as he watched us trying to leave. Alas, I was freed and got the heck out of there. (We rode this again the next day and oh my gosh am I glad we did. It was a blast! It was like riding it for the first time because I could relax and enjoy the ride. And yes, I wore my hair up for this day. Lesson learned.)

We then got in line for The Simpsons ride and this was the start of my husband's demise. I forget that not everyone is like me in the sense that I do not get motion sickness or anything. I could ride coasters/thrill rides from sun up to sun down with no issues. My husband quickly learned that he is not so fortunate. We used our Express pass here too, but we still had to wait in a rather long line. We learned later that not all ride vehicles were operating which caused for longer waits. (Can you believe we waited the longest for The Simpsons ride than any other ride for our entire Universal trip? Kind of funny when you think about it.) If I would have thought to record my husband on this ride, I wish I would have. It's funny now because he's fine... But when I say he was getting tossed around like a ragdoll, I am not exaggerating. I looked over at one point and he was slouched completely over. I was afraid he was going to puke. Luckily, his burger and fries stayed down. But he was a goner after this ride. I have never seen him so ill before, honestly. Our friends got him some water and we sat on a bench outside. At this point, it was 5 pm, an hour before park closing. We decided to go back to the room so he could rest and take Dramamine to feel better. We lost an hour in the park, but he probably would have passed out had we pushed him any further.

517020 The ride that almost killed Bradley. Lol

After some Dramamine, water, and a short nap, he was much better. We decided to go to CityWalk for dinner since the parks were closed and we gained our appetites back. We decided to try Antojitos and I am so glad we did! We ordered the guacamole for an appetizer. Due to Covid, it's no longer prepared table-side, but I still recommend ordering it. It was very fresh and a huge portion. The chips and salsa were delicious too. The restaurant was pretty busy and our server was clearly overwhelmed because she had several tables in her section. We didn't mind; we just enjoyed the A/C and our chips and dip. When our food did come, all of us were very pleased. There was also a live band that came out at one point which made the dining experience even more enjoyable. Overall, we had a great meal at Antojitos! We couldn't leave CityWalk without getting in line for that famous pink box. The plan was to get a late night snack and breakfast for the next day at the same time. ;) I tried the voodoo man donut and my husband got the double chocolate. We also got the Memphis mafia one to share for breakfast the next day. (Unfortunately, we never could finish that bad boy but it did stay fresh for two days!) VooDoo Doughnuts is a must-do stop if you're in Universal. It was one of the top things on our list and it was definitely worth the wait.

517021 Yummmm!

We grabbed our pink boxes and took the short walk back to Royal Pacific. This is another huge perk (other than the Express pass added in) that our resort is in walking distance to the parks. 😊 Definitely worth the hefty price tag for a stay here. We ate our treats, showered, and rested up for a full park day the next day.

Stay tuned for a recap of our final day at Universal! It was full of magic and laughs, but unfortunately, even some disappointment and regrets. 😲
 
Hello, friends! My name is Shelbie and I recently returned home from a Universal/WDW vacation in July 2020. I went on this trip with my husband and our friends for a couples trip. Aside from my friend Keeley, the rest of us were Universal newbies. We booked this trip back in October 2019 pre-pandemic. Fast-forward a couple months before our vacation and we were left wondering if the trip was even going to happen. Thankfully, Universal opened back up and our trip was still a go.

We kicked off our vacation with a two-night stay in Loews Royal Pacific Resort with two park days. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the parks on our arrival day until 1:30 pm. (In hindsight, we thought our one and a half days in the parks would be enough to do and see everything we wanted to do. Then the pandemic hit and Universal cut their park hours to close at 6 pm. There were some things we didn't get to see or ride that I wish we could have, but we simply ran out of time. I know we would have been able to accomplish everything had the park hours never been shortened.)

My husband, Bradley, and I landed in Orlando an hour after our friends, Keeley and Jesse, arrived. To save money, we decided to share a room for the two nights at Royal Pacific. Normally, we'd get our own room--we did at Disney after we left Universal's property--but the cost of two nights at Royal Pacific was out of our price range. We are value resort people, but the inclusion of the Express pass versus buying it on its own with a value resort stay was a better option financially. Keeley and Jesse checked into our resort and grabbed a quick bite while waiting for us to arrive. We used Universal's SuperStar Shuttle service to get from the airport to our resort. Let me start with describing how the shuttle service went because it was night and day compared to Disney's Magical Express. We had to call to let them know when we were ready for them to come get us versus checking in somewhere. Next, we waited almost 20 minutes after the phone call for them to pick us up. This part was kind of annoying because we had to pay to use SuperStar Shuttle and we booked it in advance; they knew when we'd be arriving ahead of time. Yet, we still had to call and then wait outside the airport for a shuttle bus. The driver... Well, where to begin with the driver. 👀 He didn't load our luggage so we had to carry everything on ourselves. (I assumed this was a new practice because of Covid, but our friends said their shuttle's driver loaded their bags on for them, so who knows. Not an issue at all but kind of strange.) He also used his phone/GPS while driving which made me uncomfortable. He even talked on the phone with a coworker at some point, while using speaker phone, complaining about being sent to the airport when nobody was there. I put two and two together that he was mad about something that happened earlier in the day. I just felt it was unprofessional to be discussing that matter, or to be talking on the phone at all, while driving guests. Needless to say, I basically ran off of the bus when he pulled into Royal Pacific's drop-off zone.

View attachment 517016 Such a beautiful resort!

View attachment 517017 The view from our room!

Let the adventure begin! 😊 We arrived in the lobby and had our temperature taken. The team member gave us a wristband to wear to show that we didn't need our temp taken the rest of the day upon coming and going. I thought that was neat. Keeley and Jesse already had our room keys, so we went straight to our room. Royal Pacific is such a beautiful resort. I have zero complaints about it. We dropped off our bags, changed masks, freshened up, and headed out the door to catch a water taxi to Islands of Adventure! I was able to snag us a virtual queue for Hagrid's while we were heading to the park. I couldn't believe my first ride of the trip--my first Universal ride ever--was going to be Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. I was ecstatic!

View attachment 517018 On the water taxi!

So we walk through CityWalk and go to the park entrance, all of us on cloud nine, and then bam! The team member says, "Where is your park ticket?" Uh... What? :confused: We thought our room key/Express pass was also a park ticket--Nope, guess not. (Like I said, Universal newbies.) So we had to go to guest services and get that sorted out. We were a bit frustrated but once we got our paper tickets, it was smooth sailing. We entered Islands of Adventure and headed straight for Hogsmeade. In preparation for our trip, we binge-watched all of the Harry Potter movies the week before we left to help get us hyped for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. All I can say is WOW! We were blown away with the theming and immersiveness. We headed straight for Hagrid's and jumped in the virtual queue line. At first, I was overwhelmed because the line stretched as far back as that talking fountain thing. (Universal newbie, forgive me.) But it moved quickly that we never actually stood in one spot for long. You guys... This ride was incredible. It was so, so, so much fun! I remember watching a couple vlogs when the ride first opened up, but I had forgotten a lot of the ride elements until I was actually on it. My husband rode on the motorcycle part, so I was in the sidecar. (We rode it again the next day and I got to sit on the motorcycle part; that spot made the ride 100 times better.) What an awesome start to the trip!

We got off and ventured around Hogsmeade. We stopped to get the iconic butterbeer. I opted for the frozen option and I'm so glad I did! Yum! The foam on top was my favorite part. One of my regrets from this short trip was that I didn't get a second one the next day. We took pictures in front of Hogwarts and then jumped in line for Forbidden Journey. We used the Express entrance, so we missed nearly all of the immersive queue. (We did stand-by the next day so we would get to see everything.) This ride was fun but definitely scary! I kept my eyes shut during the spider scene. The whomping willow scene followed by the dementors was mind blowingly awesome. It was a lot of fun too!

View attachment 517019 I'm a Gryffindor and he's a Ravenclaw.

We decided to grab a bite to eat but the line for Three Broomsticks was a bit crazy. We opted to head into the Jurassic Park area to dine at Burger Digs. Surprisingly, this quick service restaurant was pretty dang good. We had to use mobile order and then sit at a table until a team member brought us our food. (I will say, I prefer Universal's approach to mobile ordering over Disney's at the moment.) My husband and I shared a cheeseburger and chili cheese fries before making our way to River Adventure. Unfortunately, the dinosaur animatronic that comes out over you right before the big drop wasn't working. That was kind of disappointing... But oh my gosh did we get soaked! The four of us were in the front row, but I was not expecting to get as wet as we did. It definitely cooled us off! Next we rode Reign of Kong which was neat but the best part was the end with the giant Kong animatronic. I would have preferred more of that and less simulators and screens. (More on that later...)

View attachment 517026

We snagged a virtual queue for The Mummy ride in Universal, so we got on the Hogwarts Express to make our way over. That was a really cute ride and it sure beats having to walk. Also, we ended up just using our Express pass when we got there rather than using the virtual queue. We didn't realize The Mummy had Express... Newbies.) Let me just start by saying that I was having a blast on The Mummy until about halfway through when my hair got caught on the back of my seat. I am not exaggerating when I say that I could not move my head because my hair had wrapped around the screw on the back of my headrest. I kind of went into panic mode because all I could picture was getting scalped if we were thrown forward any. I am not kidding when I say I had no memory of anything about that ride after the backwards portion because I was so fixated on holding my head back while trying to unravel my hair. It was kind of a nightmare! When the ride ended, my friend had to help untangle (pull) my hair so I could get up. The team member at the exit was even concerned as he watched us trying to leave. Alas, I was freed and got the heck out of there. (We rode this again the next day and oh my gosh am I glad we did. It was a blast! It was like riding it for the first time because I could relax and enjoy the ride. And yes, I wore my hair up for this day. Lesson learned.)

We then got in line for The Simpsons ride and this was the start of my husband's demise. I forget that not everyone is like me in the sense that I do not get motion sickness or anything. I could ride coasters/thrill rides from sun up to sun down with no issues. My husband quickly learned that he is not so fortunate. We used our Express pass here too, but we still had to wait in a rather long line. We learned later that not all ride vehicles were operating which caused for longer waits. (Can you believe we waited the longest for The Simpsons ride than any other ride for our entire Universal trip? Kind of funny when you think about it.) If I would have thought to record my husband on this ride, I wish I would have. It's funny now because he's fine... But when I say he was getting tossed around like a ragdoll, I am not exaggerating. I looked over at one point and he was slouched completely over. I was afraid he was going to puke. Luckily, his burger and fries stayed down. But he was a goner after this ride. I have never seen him so ill before, honestly. Our friends got him some water and we sat on a bench outside. At this point, it was 5 pm, an hour before park closing. We decided to go back to the room so he could rest and take Dramamine to feel better. We lost an hour in the park, but he probably would have passed out had we pushed him any further.

View attachment 517020 The ride that almost killed Bradley. Lol

After some Dramamine, water, and a short nap, he was much better. We decided to go to CityWalk for dinner since the parks were closed and we gained our appetites back. We decided to try Antojitos and I am so glad we did! We ordered the guacamole for an appetizer. Due to Covid, it's no longer prepared table-side, but I still recommend ordering it. It was very fresh and a huge portion. The chips and salsa were delicious too. The restaurant was pretty busy and our server was clearly overwhelmed because she had several tables in her section. We didn't mind; we just enjoyed the A/C and our chips and dip. When our food did come, all of us were very pleased. There was also a live band that came out at one point which made the dining experience even more enjoyable. Overall, we had a great meal at Antojitos! We couldn't leave CityWalk without getting in line for that famous pink box. The plan was to get a late night snack and breakfast for the next day at the same time. ;) I tried the voodoo man donut and my husband got the double chocolate. We also got the Memphis mafia one to share for breakfast the next day. (Unfortunately, we never could finish that bad boy but it did stay fresh for two days!) VooDoo Doughnuts is a must-do stop if you're in Universal. It was one of the top things on our list and it was definitely worth the wait.

View attachment 517021 Yummmm!

We grabbed our pink boxes and took the short walk back to Royal Pacific. This is another huge perk (other than the Express pass added in) that our resort is in walking distance to the parks. 😊 Definitely worth the hefty price tag for a stay here. We ate our treats, showered, and rested up for a full park day the next day.

Stay tuned for a recap of our final day at Universal! It was full of magic and laughs, but unfortunately, even some disappointment and regrets. 😲

Wow....that was quite a day Shelbie!!!

Sorry you had such a bad start with the Shuttle......it doesn`t always get the best reviews we`ve noticed.

You did a lot, glad you enjoyed the rides you did except the Simpsons for your DH. I feel his pain as it`s a ride I thought was the worst ever for motion sickness. I can do ocasters and other screen rides, but that one knocked me for six and I ended up back at the hotel.......

Ouch on the hair on the Mummy!!!!

Glad you enjoyed RP too.......it`s so beautiful....now looking forward to your next day.....

And a big yes to Voodoo Donuts!!!!
 
Shelbie sounds like it was a fun trip!
You did not have a lot of time but did get the highlights of the parks.

Next time you go, you can explore more things in the parks.

Quite enjoyed your pictures.
They were so clear and sharp!
 
Another awesome perk of staying on property was the extra hour in Universal Studios! We got up early to enjoy a morning in Diagon Alley since we hadn't yet ventured over to it. Not only were we blown away with the layout of this part of the park, but having access to the area with limited crowds made it even more incredible. We made our way over to Olivanders to get our names on the list for the special wand presentation. While all of us love Harry Potter, my friend Jesse is a HP fanatic. I liked how the team member asked who the wand should pick since Jesse actually was planning to buy the wand that "chose" him. We had an hour until our return time for the wand presentation, so we wandered around Diagon Alley taking in all of the sights. I wanted another butterbeer, but it was 8:30 in the morning, so I told myself I'd come back later. (Spoiler: I never did. Regret #1!)

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We jumped in line to ride Escape from Gringotts because it was a walk on. Wow! This ride has the best queue ever. I felt like I was truly coming face to face with some real goblins. Plus, the ride is just so much fun. After Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure, this is the second best HP ride in Universal! We ended up riding this more than once since it was just so much fun. I was even able to capture the dragon breathing fire on video, so that was really neat. It was finally time for our Olivanders "reservation" so we made our way over for some magic. I am thankful that I had never watched any vlogs on this wand experience, because that was such an awesome thing to witness firsthand. Jesse, of course, was chosen and was able to become a wizard. 😉 Major props to the man in the wand shop because he had me forgetting where I was for a minute. He was incredible.

517407 Jesse and his new wand!

We eventually made our way out of the Wizarding World and explored other parts of Universal Studios. We rode Men in Black which was a lot of fun. I'm normally not very good at rides with shooting target elements, but I surprisingly didn't do too bad on this one. Next, we rode ET because I knew it was an absolute must-do for any and every Universal visit. I loved the smell of the queue and the ride itself. The ride was really cute but also really strange. 🤣 Next, we popped back over to The Simpsons area. No, we weren't getting back on the ride. We didn't want Bradley to meet his maker. Instead, I wanted to grab a pink iced donut and get my picture with Chief Wiggum. I'm the only one out of our group who has any connection to The Simpsons. I grew up watching it with my dad. I remember he had the boxed sets of seasons and we'd watch them together. Of course, most jokes went over my head, but the nostalgia is there. I also got to meet and have my picture taken with Bart!

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Although I got the donut just because it's a novelty item, it was actually very good. I didn't get the iconic big one; I probably would have had I not eaten VooDoo less than 12 hours earlier. 😂 You know what goes great with a tummy full of carbs and sugar? Another ride on The Mummy. I mentioned in my previous post how I was unable to enjoy this ride the first time... Boy, I am so glad we rode it again. That was so much fun! I felt like I was riding it for the first time since I mentally checked out the first time. It was just the right mix of creepy, thrilling, and fun! Definitely in my top 3 favorite rides from Universal/IOA. As if I didn't have enough carbs, we stopped for lunch at Louie's. The pizza by the slice was huge but "meh" for the price. That's theme park food for ya.

We snagged another virtual queue for Hagrid's, so we headed toward the Hogwarts Express to make our journey to Islands of Adventure. If I haven't made it clear already, this is the best ride on property, especially riding on the motorcycle. It's just so much fun. We also took another ride on Forbidden Journey before leaving Hogsmeade. I still kept my eyes shut for the spiders... I just can't do it. 😂 We then made our way on to ride Spiderman. It's nowhere near as jerky as The Simpsons, but I was glad Bradley had taken Dramamine that morning. Next, we rode Doctor Doom's Fearfall which looks scarier than it actually is. Tower of Terror in Disney is much more intense, but it was still pretty fun. Clouds were starting to form in the sky but it was still clear. We headed to ride The Hulk, but as soon as we reached the entrance of the Express line, the team member said it was going down for inclement weather. I was bummed because it wasn't raining yet, but I understand safety first. (Bad news: It did end up storming and then raining slightly for the next few hours. All outdoor rides were down... I never got the chance to ride The Hulk. Regret #2!) We decided to walk back to Universal Studios since they had more indoor rides to choose from.

Needing shelter from the incoming storm, we hopped in line for the Horror Makeup Show. Wow, what a hidden gem! (Maybe it's not hidden to you guys, but it's definitely not advertised enough for newbies.) Beetlejuice was absolutely hilarious and I loved his banter with the audience. I was thankful I was never chosen as a target. The show experience itself was interesting and entertaining. Our hosts actually improved some with Covid jokes and Disney jabs. It was really funny. I definitely am glad we chose this show to seek shelter from the storm.

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By the time we left the show, it had stopped storming. It was lightly raining but not enough to need an umbrella. Since the outdoor rides were temporarily down, we made our way over to ride Transformers. It was not as fun as Spiderman but at least it was an indoor ride. Next we rode Despicable Me which was very cute. We also rode Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon. I definitely do not understand the appeal of that ride. It was mediocre to say the least. I was grateful Universal had so many indoor rides, but screens and simulators were getting old. The park had an hour left before closing and the outdoor rides were still down. I was upset because I realized that I never got to ride The Hulk or Rip Ride Rocket; two coasters that I was really looking forward to riding. We were tired of screens, so we decided to wait for the next showing of the Bourne Stuntacular. (The last ride we hadn't made it to was Fast and Furious... I think it was a good call just to head to the new show instead.) We waited in line for quite a while but had heard so many good things about it, so we didn't mind. Honestly, a majority of our trip had consisted of walk-ons thanks to the Express, so waiting 15 minutes for Bourne wasn't the end all be all. We had made it to the indoor portion of the queue when my friend Keeley saw all of the outdoor rides were back open on the Universal app. I had to make a decision since I only had time for one: Hulk or Rip Ride Rocket. We left the queue for Bourne because I prioritize rides over shows. And due to the shortened park hours, we couldn't do it all.

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We decided on Rip Ride Rocket and I have no regrets about that. I chose "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas for my song and it was just an awesome experience. We also got the very front of the ride vehicle; I loved being face to face with the sky! What a super fun ride and perfect "last hoorah" of the trip. I was sad I never got the chance to ride The Hulk, but I'm glad this one opened up in enough time for us to get in line and ride before park closing. On our way out of the park, we popped into the Universal Studios shop near the entrance to pick up some souvenirs before walking back to Royal Pacific. We freshened up at our hotel and waited for our appetites to come back. We made our way to CityWalk to find a spot for dinner. We were torn between CowFish or Toothsome. So, we made a plan: Dinner at CowFish and dessert at Toothsome. We got our names on the list for CowFish. The host told us it would be about 40 minutes to an hour of a wait. We decided to go grab a drink and wait by the water until we got a text that our table was ready.

517423 The Iron Man: Half orange, half strawberry. Yum!

The boys got some beer and Keeley and I visited Fat Tuesday for a daiquiri. We hadn't even had our drinks for five minutes before we got a text from CowFish saying our table was ready. Our "40 minute to an hour wait" was actually 20 minutes. No worries, but I'm glad they let us take our drinks inside. I won't spend too much time telling you about our dinner since this isn't Yelp. However, I was really disappointed that our Universal trip ended with such a poor dining experience. The food was incredible. I'll start with the positives. We ordered the fried pickles and crab rangoon dip for appetizers. Both were very, very good.

517424 Crab rangoon dip - a must get!

Unfortunately, our dinner went south after the appetizers. Our server kind of disappeared and glasses sat empty for long periods of time. Then, he admitted he forgot to put in our order. We sat for over an hour after our appetizers waiting for our entrees. I had the specialty bento box with sushi, a slider, bacon coleslaw (life-changing), cucumber salad, and sweet potato fries. My husband got some kind of jalapeno burger which he said was very good too. If it weren't for the delicious entrees, I would have asked to speak to the manager about our bad service. But, the food, once again, was very good. I felt it wasn't worth it to complain. (Regret #3... I should have spoken up.) We just wanted to pay and get out of there. Our server never apologized or made things right, so I can't recommend this place unless you go in with low expectations for service. Definitely go for the food!

517425 If there is a next time, I will just get a whole Firecracker roll and a side of the bacon coleslaw. Those were the stars of the dish!

Due to our poor service at CowFish, CityWalk was near closing by the time we paid and left. So much for our Toothsome plans. (In hindsight, we were so full that we probably wouldn't have had the room for more. Lord knows we didn't need it.) We walked back to our resort to enjoy one last night at Royal Pacific. We had plans to leave early in the morning to head over to Walt Disney World. We did explore the resort on foot before calling it a night. I definitely want to stay there again on our next Universal vacation. It is such a beautiful resort!

Thank you for following along with my quick Universal vacation. I know other people (even some from The Dis) suggested we not go to Universal for the first time when it's not "normal." However, I am so glad we did not cancel. It was a lot of fun and we made the best of it. I can't wait to go back (hopefully next year) to ride The Hulk and drink a frozen butterbeer. 😉
 


What a lovely update!!

Your pictures are lovely and so glad to hear you had such a wonderful time during your stay. You managed to do a lot on your visit and I`m pleased you loved RP.....

Cowfish was a disappointment for service, but glad the food made up for it, give it another try if you ever go back as we have been many times and service and food has always been marvellous.....but sorry you had that experience.

And thanks for the tip on the Crab Rangoon dip.....never tried it......

Thank you for writing up about your time there, enjoyed reading it......:wave2:
 


Hello, friends! My name is Shelbie and I recently returned home from a Universal/WDW vacation in July 2020. I went on this trip with my husband and our friends for a couples trip. Aside from my friend Keeley, the rest of us were Universal newbies. We booked this trip back in October 2019 pre-pandemic. Fast-forward a couple months before our vacation and we were left wondering if the trip was even going to happen. Thankfully, Universal opened back up and our trip was still a go.

We kicked off our vacation with a two-night stay in Loews Royal Pacific Resort with two park days. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the parks on our arrival day until 1:30 pm. (In hindsight, we thought our one and a half days in the parks would be enough to do and see everything we wanted to do. Then the pandemic hit and Universal cut their park hours to close at 6 pm. There were some things we didn't get to see or ride that I wish we could have, but we simply ran out of time. I know we would have been able to accomplish everything had the park hours never been shortened.)

My husband, Bradley, and I landed in Orlando an hour after our friends, Keeley and Jesse, arrived. To save money, we decided to share a room for the two nights at Royal Pacific. Normally, we'd get our own room--we did at Disney after we left Universal's property--but the cost of two nights at Royal Pacific was out of our price range. We are value resort people, but the inclusion of the Express pass versus buying it on its own with a value resort stay was a better option financially. Keeley and Jesse checked into our resort and grabbed a quick bite while waiting for us to arrive. We used Universal's SuperStar Shuttle service to get from the airport to our resort. Let me start with describing how the shuttle service went because it was night and day compared to Disney's Magical Express. We had to call to let them know when we were ready for them to come get us versus checking in somewhere. Next, we waited almost 20 minutes after the phone call for them to pick us up. This part was kind of annoying because we had to pay to use SuperStar Shuttle and we booked it in advance; they knew when we'd be arriving ahead of time. Yet, we still had to call and then wait outside the airport for a shuttle bus. The driver... Well, where to begin with the driver. 👀 He didn't load our luggage so we had to carry everything on ourselves. (I assumed this was a new practice because of Covid, but our friends said their shuttle's driver loaded their bags on for them, so who knows. Not an issue at all but kind of strange.) He also used his phone/GPS while driving which made me uncomfortable. He even talked on the phone with a coworker at some point, while using speaker phone, complaining about being sent to the airport when nobody was there. I put two and two together that he was mad about something that happened earlier in the day. I just felt it was unprofessional to be discussing that matter, or to be talking on the phone at all, while driving guests. Needless to say, I basically ran off of the bus when he pulled into Royal Pacific's drop-off zone.

View attachment 517016 Such a beautiful resort!

View attachment 517017 The view from our room!

Let the adventure begin! 😊 We arrived in the lobby and had our temperature taken. The team member gave us a wristband to wear to show that we didn't need our temp taken the rest of the day upon coming and going. I thought that was neat. Keeley and Jesse already had our room keys, so we went straight to our room. Royal Pacific is such a beautiful resort. I have zero complaints about it. We dropped off our bags, changed masks, freshened up, and headed out the door to catch a water taxi to Islands of Adventure! I was able to snag us a virtual queue for Hagrid's while we were heading to the park. I couldn't believe my first ride of the trip--my first Universal ride ever--was going to be Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure. I was ecstatic!

View attachment 517018 On the water taxi!

So we walk through CityWalk and go to the park entrance, all of us on cloud nine, and then bam! The team member says, "Where is your park ticket?" Uh... What? :confused: We thought our room key/Express pass was also a park ticket--Nope, guess not. (Like I said, Universal newbies.) So we had to go to guest services and get that sorted out. We were a bit frustrated but once we got our paper tickets, it was smooth sailing. We entered Islands of Adventure and headed straight for Hogsmeade. In preparation for our trip, we binge-watched all of the Harry Potter movies the week before we left to help get us hyped for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. All I can say is WOW! We were blown away with the theming and immersiveness. We headed straight for Hagrid's and jumped in the virtual queue line. At first, I was overwhelmed because the line stretched as far back as that talking fountain thing. (Universal newbie, forgive me.) But it moved quickly that we never actually stood in one spot for long. You guys... This ride was incredible. It was so, so, so much fun! I remember watching a couple vlogs when the ride first opened up, but I had forgotten a lot of the ride elements until I was actually on it. My husband rode on the motorcycle part, so I was in the sidecar. (We rode it again the next day and I got to sit on the motorcycle part; that spot made the ride 100 times better.) What an awesome start to the trip!

We got off and ventured around Hogsmeade. We stopped to get the iconic butterbeer. I opted for the frozen option and I'm so glad I did! Yum! The foam on top was my favorite part. One of my regrets from this short trip was that I didn't get a second one the next day. We took pictures in front of Hogwarts and then jumped in line for Forbidden Journey. We used the Express entrance, so we missed nearly all of the immersive queue. (We did stand-by the next day so we would get to see everything.) This ride was fun but definitely scary! I kept my eyes shut during the spider scene. The whomping willow scene followed by the dementors was mind blowingly awesome. It was a lot of fun too!

View attachment 517019 I'm a Gryffindor and he's a Ravenclaw.

We decided to grab a bite to eat but the line for Three Broomsticks was a bit crazy. We opted to head into the Jurassic Park area to dine at Burger Digs. Surprisingly, this quick service restaurant was pretty dang good. We had to use mobile order and then sit at a table until a team member brought us our food. (I will say, I prefer Universal's approach to mobile ordering over Disney's at the moment.) My husband and I shared a cheeseburger and chili cheese fries before making our way to River Adventure. Unfortunately, the dinosaur animatronic that comes out over you right before the big drop wasn't working. That was kind of disappointing... But oh my gosh did we get soaked! The four of us were in the front row, but I was not expecting to get as wet as we did. It definitely cooled us off! Next we rode Reign of Kong which was neat but the best part was the end with the giant Kong animatronic. I would have preferred more of that and less simulators and screens. (More on that later...)

View attachment 517026

We snagged a virtual queue for The Mummy ride in Universal, so we got on the Hogwarts Express to make our way over. That was a really cute ride and it sure beats having to walk. Also, we ended up just using our Express pass when we got there rather than using the virtual queue. We didn't realize The Mummy had Express... Newbies.) Let me just start by saying that I was having a blast on The Mummy until about halfway through when my hair got caught on the back of my seat. I am not exaggerating when I say that I could not move my head because my hair had wrapped around the screw on the back of my headrest. I kind of went into panic mode because all I could picture was getting scalped if we were thrown forward any. I am not kidding when I say I had no memory of anything about that ride after the backwards portion because I was so fixated on holding my head back while trying to unravel my hair. It was kind of a nightmare! When the ride ended, my friend had to help untangle (pull) my hair so I could get up. The team member at the exit was even concerned as he watched us trying to leave. Alas, I was freed and got the heck out of there. (We rode this again the next day and oh my gosh am I glad we did. It was a blast! It was like riding it for the first time because I could relax and enjoy the ride. And yes, I wore my hair up for this day. Lesson learned.)

We then got in line for The Simpsons ride and this was the start of my husband's demise. I forget that not everyone is like me in the sense that I do not get motion sickness or anything. I could ride coasters/thrill rides from sun up to sun down with no issues. My husband quickly learned that he is not so fortunate. We used our Express pass here too, but we still had to wait in a rather long line. We learned later that not all ride vehicles were operating which caused for longer waits. (Can you believe we waited the longest for The Simpsons ride than any other ride for our entire Universal trip? Kind of funny when you think about it.) If I would have thought to record my husband on this ride, I wish I would have. It's funny now because he's fine... But when I say he was getting tossed around like a ragdoll, I am not exaggerating. I looked over at one point and he was slouched completely over. I was afraid he was going to puke. Luckily, his burger and fries stayed down. But he was a goner after this ride. I have never seen him so ill before, honestly. Our friends got him some water and we sat on a bench outside. At this point, it was 5 pm, an hour before park closing. We decided to go back to the room so he could rest and take Dramamine to feel better. We lost an hour in the park, but he probably would have passed out had we pushed him any further.

View attachment 517020 The ride that almost killed Bradley. Lol

After some Dramamine, water, and a short nap, he was much better. We decided to go to CityWalk for dinner since the parks were closed and we gained our appetites back. We decided to try Antojitos and I am so glad we did! We ordered the guacamole for an appetizer. Due to Covid, it's no longer prepared table-side, but I still recommend ordering it. It was very fresh and a huge portion. The chips and salsa were delicious too. The restaurant was pretty busy and our server was clearly overwhelmed because she had several tables in her section. We didn't mind; we just enjoyed the A/C and our chips and dip. When our food did come, all of us were very pleased. There was also a live band that came out at one point which made the dining experience even more enjoyable. Overall, we had a great meal at Antojitos! We couldn't leave CityWalk without getting in line for that famous pink box. The plan was to get a late night snack and breakfast for the next day at the same time. ;) I tried the voodoo man donut and my husband got the double chocolate. We also got the Memphis mafia one to share for breakfast the next day. (Unfortunately, we never could finish that bad boy but it did stay fresh for two days!) VooDoo Doughnuts is a must-do stop if you're in Universal. It was one of the top things on our list and it was definitely worth the wait.

View attachment 517021 Yummmm!

We grabbed our pink boxes and took the short walk back to Royal Pacific. This is another huge perk (other than the Express pass added in) that our resort is in walking distance to the parks. 😊 Definitely worth the hefty price tag for a stay here. We ate our treats, showered, and rested up for a full park day the next day.

Stay tuned for a recap of our final day at Universal! It was full of magic and laughs, but unfortunately, even some disappointment and regrets. 😲
Looks like fun!
 
Hi enjoyed your trip report! Glad that you enjoyed the parks and the resort. Universal can be very addicting. It is our favorite theme park. The HP worlds are the best immersive experience I have had. Since, you didn't have time to go on Hulk it is another reason to have to take a trip back! We enjoyed VooDoo donuts as well. The simpsons ride was a one and done for my family.
 
Thank you for your trip report. Ack with your hair getting caught. That could have been me. Sorry that final meal was not good. I am not a Cowfish fan, but at least you know which restaurant not to go back to. Try Mythos in Islands next time. And also Jakes in Royal is good too.
 
Thanks for the report! We go in a little more than a week!
Are you doing a trip report for the WDW part?
 
Thanks for the report! We go in a little more than a week!
Are you doing a trip report for the WDW part?

I planned on it because I have written them for my past trips, but then life got a little hectic and I forgot. 😅 I hope to start it this weekend!
 

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