A May 2017 Trip Report - Our First Non-Disney Adventure (Complete)

Wednesday May 10 SeaWorld

DH was catching an early flight out of Nashville and expected to land in Orlando a little after 11 (not a direct flight, unfortunately). I had stopped the night before at the concierge’s desk to ask for an envelope and how to leave something for DH. They said no problem at all – just drop it in the morning. So I placed the room key, park ticket, and a sweet note for DH along with instructions on getting his Express Pass. We dropped this off at the concierge desk on our way out to the car. The plan was to meet back at the room when we were done with SeaWorld. He would have a little time to get settled and we could have dinner together that night.

I hadn’t been to SeaWorld since I was a kid so I was curious to see how today would go. We ate breakfast in the room and headed out for SeaWorld at 8:15. We arrived and were parked at 8:35 – once again, our parking pass worked great. We just had to show our printed paper and they let us right through. We had our tickets ready from online (the same we used for Aquatica) and had no trouble at the metal detectors.

Here is where things got a little interesting. DS1 was not interested in Manta – he’s never done a superman style coaster and was hesitant to try. DS2 is not tall enough so the plan was to head back to Mako for our first ride. The map looked to me like we should head left and then continue sort of straight through the park. We were through security at 8:48 or so and headed this direction where we were first to the ropes at the flamingos. We had plenty of time to chat with the TM there as we waited. I asked about the direction I wanted to head for Mako to make sure I didn’t waste time wandering. She indicated I should go back the other way and should have headed right when we had a chance. Since we were first at the ropes, I figured we would just walk around Manta and boogie to Mako rather than turn around. She dropped the rope at 9 and we were off.

It was hot already and headed to 98 today. We walked at a good pace back toward Mako where we found another rope up. The TM there informed us that Mako didn’t begin running until 10 am. I was surprised since I had NEVER heard this before and the TM at the flamingos could have told us this. She knew we were heading this way and said nothing. Journey to Atlantis was also down. Ugh! We turned round and headed back to Antarctica. We passed a lot of people headed to Make and we made sure to tell them it wouldn’t open until 10 am. They were also caught off guard.

We made one wrong turn and ended up walking further than we had to on the way to the penguins. Honestly, I found the park confusing and I really wasn’t navigating well. We were through the ride pretty quickly – we weren’t super impressed with the ride itself (we did the more intense side) but enjoyed the animal exhibits at the end. We headed toward the Shark Encounter next before heading back to the rope at Mako. We waited about 10 minutes for the rope to drop and headed with a good crowd back to Mako. DS2 thought he would try this one but he wasn’t tall enough. He sat outside and waited while we rode twice – once with no wait and once we waited about 10 minutes for front row. We loved this ride! Very fun and just intense enough. It didn’t shake my head up too much so I came off feeling good.

We checked out the Sea Lion habitat and then caught the Clyde and Seamore Show at 11 am. These guys don’t joke around – the splash zone is really a splash zone. Be prepared to get drenched! DS1 and I were hot so we sat up higher in the shaded seats. DS2 was also hot but, to him, this meant it was time to get wet. He sat way down front below our seats so we could keep an eye on him. The show was cute – we laughed – and DS2 got his wish to get soaked. He said he felt much better.

We were out of the show at 11:35 or so and wanted to catch the 12:15 One Ocean show so we headed out in that direction. The line for Wild Arctic ride was really long so we decided to grab a quick lunch at the place right next to Shamu. The kids had chicken nuggets and the turkey sandwich and I got the special of the day – fish sandwich which I found a bit ironic. The food was okay but they did have a lot of fresh fruit. We grabbed a big cup of strawberries as well. The line to order was very slow.

We were cutting it close and rushed over to the stadium at 12:10 with our strawberries in hand to munch later. We didn’t get the best seats but I don’t think there are any truly bad seats. All we cared about was the shade – it was hot! DS2 decided to pass on the splash zone. Good call! If he got fairly wet in the sea lion show, the visitors down low for this show were drenched! I don’t think there was a dry spot on them. My kids loved this show. They took pictures and videos and were in total awe of these beautiful animals. I don’t remember the show from when I was a kid but, based on what I read about the new conservation show, I didn’t anticipate seeing so many tricks and whales. It was a lot of action which the kids loved and I found a little sad. To see such gorgeous, graceful animals in captivity impacted me in a way I didn’t expect. I’m not a tree hugging, save the world kind of person so this was a surprise.

Shockingly, the kids said they were ready to go. I don’t know if it was the heat (so much of SW is outside with little relief from the heat) or knowing that DH was on his way but they were just meh on SeaWorld. We jumped into the short line at Wild Arctic and waited just 10 minutes or so to ride. We all thought this ride was not nearly as good as similar simulator rides at Disney or Universal. Again, we enjoyed the animal habitats on the way out. We walked across the bridge over the lake, checked out the manatees and dolphins, then fed the stingrays before heading out a little after 2.

DH was waiting for us back in the room when we arrived. We relaxed, cooled down, and visited until closer to 4:15 before heading to Chef Mickey’s for dinner. The boys and I had breakfast here back in 2013 and dinner in 2015 but DH had never been. We arrived in plenty of time for our 5:40 reservation so we did some resort shopping and checked in a little after 5. I don’t know what was off for us today but I saw so many kids behaving badly that I was feeling a great longing to be back at Universal. As we waited in the sitting area with our buzzer (and DH grabbed us adult beverages from the bar outside the restaurant), I saw one girl maybe 5 years old repeatedly removing her shoes, throwing them at the wall, getting up to collect the shoes, and then repeating the process. Her mom sat next to her on her phone and said not a word. Two other boys – roughly 11 and 13 – were completely out of control. They were rearranging all the furniture to make a wrestling area where they could roll around and beat on each other. Mom and dad sat calmly on their phones and said nothing either. I was horrified by this behavior. Maybe I am done with Disney?

We got called back at 5:20 – so a 20 minute wait but 20 minutes earlier than our reservation time which was fine with us. We skipped the picture queue and were quickly seated. They asked how old the kids were, to which DH replied “8 and just turned 11”. The hostess said “oh, are we celebrating a birthday?”. Well, actually two – DS1 turned 11 in late April and DS2 had a birthday coming up on a week. Well, both boys received birthday cards signed by all the characters which was a big surprise, along with cupcakes and candles when we were ready for dessert. Disney pixie dust at its best!

While the characters were amazing, dinner was just meh for the price. We had made a sign that said “Get Well Pop” for DH’s father whose favorite character is Goofy. We got a lovely photo of the boys, DH, Goofy, and their sign which we texted to the hospital in Knoxville. Pop was so happy to see we were all thinking of him. The food wasn’t bad by any means but spending over $200 for it seemed too much. DS1 is now considered an adult so that made it extra pricy. We enjoyed the desserts tremendously and the mashed potatoes were yummy! The kids liked it but, without a Disney dining plan, I don’t think we’ll fork over the dough on this one any more.

When we got back to the hotel, the boys wanted to head down to the pool for Jumanji. We got there right after 8 and stayed until 9:30. We swam together and enjoyed the flick for about 30 minutes until the kids got restless. I was so tired that I was dozing in a chair watching the movie while the kids played tag with some friends they found until we called it a night. A semi-successful day but we were so happy DH was now getting some vacation time – he turned in early since he had been up since 2 am to make the drive from Knoxville to Nashville for his flight. We couldn’t wait for tomorrow!
 
Great report.

I too am from in the Philly area. A few years ago, my teen girl discovered the Outlets on 422 (about 45 or less minutes from us, mostly if we visit on an early Saturday or Sunday morning). Since my DH has family near Hershey, my kids had only known those Route 30 outlets.

Once my youngest was mostly tall enough to do the stuff at Universal, we were hooked. Now, youngest does more of the roller coasters then the rest of us. And we also like the Busch parks in Orlando, as when buying Sesame Place's Super Grover pass, was used, it made it a cheaper vacation. We are also water park fans, though the kids are not fond of Disney's, we love Aquadica, all are looking forward to trying out Volcano Bay.

Interesting to hear about the Disney water parks - I think we will be sticking with Aquatica and trying VB next trip down. Lots of fans from Philly!
 
Oh yeah, and we also did that character meal at La Bamba years ago, when it was not as expensive, but expensive enough I was thinking one time only. Well, we too did not enjoy the food, but the characters were fun. Since my youngest is not a breakfast person, we tend not to book any meal deals. We also did the Ohana one, and really enjoyed the characters there too. Youngest ate very little, but the rest of us enjoyed the food.

Also like the ice cream, I think I liked what I had. Never been to Cowfish yet, but that sounds like a good meal for us too.

It's funny that we have had such similar experiences. We do love breakfast though. Just over the weekend, DS2 was talking about the gross food we had at breakfast (Cafe La Bamba). Definitely a once and done for us.
 


Thursday May 11 Universal

We knew this would be our last full day in Universal. Monday evening, I showed the kids a list of things including restaurants and all the Universal rides / shows / characters. They each independently ranked them 1 (must do before we leave), 2 (would like to do if we have time), and blank (totally indifferent). Based on their responses, I planned our touring strategy for today. They really enjoyed playing a part in planning our last day and having a vote on where we ate – of course, that’s how we ended up at iHop. LOL!

After grabbing breakfast in the room again, we took advantage of early admission for the first time all week. Honestly, it wasn’t necessary with our Express passes and we may have used it more if it applied to USF. I think Universal falls short on this one. They really should alternate parks or offer both every day. Anyway, we were lined up outside the IoA gates by 7:40 and on our way by 7:55. We walked at a good clip through Suessland and Lost Continent – the first time since we arrived. It just wasn’t a priority for us even though I adore Dr. Suess and wanted to see the talking fountain. We managed to ride Forbidden Journey right away – it was DH’s first time. He loved it! Then DH and DS2 hit Hippogriff twice while I took DS1 onto Dragon’s Challenge twice before we grabbed some frozen butterbeer and headed to the bridge on our way to Kong.

When we arrived at 8:45, they had the rope across holding us back. They dropped it a little before 9 and we headed straight for Kong. This strategy is awesome for anyone wanting to ride without a wait. I had heard the queue was amazing and I was hoping the witch would jump out and scare DS1 so we skipped the Express Entry and headed in. Alas, no witch for us but we did get to see the full queue and were on the ride right away. Note – we did have to finish / throw away our butter beer as they wouldn’t let us take it on the ride although we were able to keep it with us through the queue.

We headed out and into Super Hero Island. We rode Spiderman twice, Dr. Doom’s Fearfall (loved it), Hulk, and Storm Force Acceleration before grabbing more popcorn and hitting the big shop at the entrance. We were on our way to USF by 10:30 and I felt like a super hero for such a smooth morning! We started to our secret back entrance but forgot it didn’t open until 11. Bummer! So we looped back around to the main gates. We met Bumblebee and rode Transformers before heading to Simpson’s Food Court for lunch. I’ve really wanted to try the food here and we were not disappointed. We sampled lots – chicken and waffles for DS1, meat likers pizza for DS2, tacos for me, and fish and shrimp platter for DH. We also grabbed a fruit plate to share. We loved the air conditioned seating area with the Simpson clips running on TVs – by far, our favorite quick service of the week. Highly recommended!

We hit up Simpson’s ride, Twirl and Hurl, Men In Black, met Doc Brown, and then let the kids play in all the Kids Zone areas – Fievel’s Playland and Curious George. You really have to head back to find George but the kids couldn’t say enough about the ball shooting area. They were supposed to meet us out front at 1:20 so we could do the Secret Life of Pets character meet at 1:30 but I had to go find them because they were having too much fun. We headed to the character zone where they bring out the floats. We interacted with some of the pets and actors, took some photos, and started to head toward the exit. Imagine our delight when Bart and Homer were greeting guests and taking pictures. We just made the line before it shut down and grabbed some autographs and great pictures. This was highlight for DH! We hit up the big gift shop on the way out as we headed back to HRH to avoid the heat for a few hours.

We rested in the room and headed back out at 4 with what was quickly becoming our routine – early morning at the park, go hard until 2ish, break until 4, early dinner, and then back to the parks. Dinner tonight was Cowfish again. The kids were excited to share this crowd pleaser with dad. It was just as good (maybe better) the second time around. The kids had the same stuff – grilled chicken with edamame and oranges, PB&J sushi with fries and oranges. DH and I shared an appetizer of Shiso Florell – beef tenderloin, cream cheese, and asparagus in a tempura shiso leaf with ginger sauce. This was super tasty! He had some sushi platter?? and I tried the All American Bacon Double Cheeseburgooshi. I wanted to try this earlier in the week and was hesitant. It was really good but totally different than anything I have had before. The textures of the rice with burger ingredients really did come off tasting sushi-like and I had fun eating with chopsticks. The kids wanted to try some shakes for dessert and went with Cookies & Cream and Gimmer More S’More. Unfortunately, we never got to try the milkshakes at Toothsome but we thought Cowfish was amazing! Our server brought to-go cups along with their orders which was so sweet. They drank some while we paid the bill ($121 compared to $200 at Chef Mickey’s!) and packed the rest to take with us. Off to USF again!

We entered the park and DS1 had requested to see the Horror Makeup Show again. Since DH didn’t have the pleasure the first time around, we figured why not? Note: We had to finish our shakes before they would let us in! This show was even better than the first. The actors were different, the script was slightly modified with a hilarious twist on the Playtex / latex gag (not to give anything away). I have never seen DS1 laugh so hard and I loved seeing his enjoyment as he is just starting to get some adult humor at age 11.

From here we did Despicable Me twice, Fallon (which DH loved as well), and Rip Rockit coaster before heading out around 8:30. The kids had hit all their favorites and we did everything on the must-do and if we have time lists. We had such a great day but wanted to get some rest for Discovery Cove tomorrow!
 
You did quite a bit that day in the parks. Yeah, we don't go on early entry very often. I ask the teens to do at least one day. That's why we stay onsite, the express pass makes late sleepers happy.

Will be interested in how you liked Discovery Cove. We've been there 3 times, as with the Grover pass, saved almost as much as half the price of the pass. Twice we rented a cabana, and if ever go again, most likely will rent it again. We totally enjoyed our stays there.
 
Friday May 12 Discovery Cove

We were all excited for our Discovery Cove day. My goal was to get out the door early so we could maximize our day at DC and we left the Hard Rock at 6:45 am. The drive was smooth and we arrived a few minutes after 7 and were the third group in line to check in. We waited outside until 7:15 when they opened the doors and let us into the lobby. We were directed to a check-in desk where we had pictures taken and were given our lanyards for the day. As desired, we were in the earliest dolphin swim and asked to be in the Starfish Cabana at 8:30. After stepping out of the lobby, a TM was there to give us a brief tour and lead us to breakfast.

We ate an enjoyable breakfast – I was surprised by the variety but don’t remember everything we had. We were done around 8 and started to walk the property to look for some seats in the shade. I asked the kids if they wanted our home base to be the lazy river or the grand reef and they picked grand reef. We found some great seats under some tree shade that we hoped would stay covered all day.

We got our locker and snorkeling gear when I remembered to ask about prescription goggles. I had brought 3 pairs of daily wear contacts for our trip and usually wear glasses. I used one pair for our Aquatica day and one for our water day at Universal. That left me one pair for Discovery Cove. Well, the left one tore when I was putting them in. Luckily, all my research paid off because I knew I could get prescription goggles. They directed me back to the gift shop at the front of the park and a few minutes, and one signature, later I was on my way with goggles I could see through!

We made our way to the Starfish cabana, completed some paperwork, watched a video, and got some brief instructions before being led down to the water. DH was not doing the dolphin swim so he sat on some rocks to take pictures which meant we didn’t purchase (or even look at) any of the photos they took of our group. We had a great time with the dolphins and my kids were in awe. We got to pet, feed, kiss, and swim with our dolphin over the 30 minutes we were in the water. My kids are both strong swimmers but DS2 was nervous about swimming out and treading water waiting for his turn. He opted for the shallow swim. DS1 and I were the second group to swim out. He got towed back toward shore first and then it was my turn. Wow! I was surprised at how much fun it was and how strong the dolphin was. Well, then DS2 saw it wasn’t such a big deal and asked if he could swim out. Our animal trainer replied of course and she swam with him out into the deeper water. In a few minutes, he was back beside us and was glad he went for it.

After our dolphin swim, we spent about an hour in the aviary hanging with the birds before heading back to Grand Reef. The kids tried snorkeling once in the Bahamas and it wasn’t very successful as the waves and the distance they had to swim made them anxious. Well, DS2 was a little hesitant here and made a point of confirming with one of the lifeguards that the stingrays couldn’t sting him. Once he got in the water though, he had a blast. Both kids (and I) thought this was the highlight of the day. We swam, and viewed, and swam some more. Around 11:30, we headed over for lunch.

Again, I was very impressed with the selections. Between my family, we sampled the Hawaiian Chicken, Pepper Beef, hot dogs, and pasta. The desserts were yummy and we enjoyed plenty of fresh strawberries. Throughout the afternoon, we enjoyed beer, tropical drinks, fruit infused water, cookies, pretzels, and more. We really felt pampered and like we were at a resort. The restrooms were clean and well appointed. Overall, the experience was top notch!

Throughout the afternoon, we did three loops around the lazy river and checked out the freshwater oasis and the animals before heading back to the Grand Reef for a solid 3 hours. We started cleaning up our area around 4:30 and didn’t head out of the park until a little after 5. We didn’t feel rushed at all and were happy we saved this day for last. The kids raved about Discovery Cove and cannot wait to return. I’m not sure we would do the dolphin swim again – as enjoyable as it was, it’s not an experience we need to repeat each time for the cost.

After showering and cleaning up at the hotel, we headed out for some fun at Margaritaville. DH is a parrot head and loves Buffet. We were worried because it was 7 as we headed out and we expected crowds. There were people waiting outside and inside was we walked to the hostess station. We let her know we were staying at a Universal hotel and were told to expect a 15-20 minute wait. We hadn’t even begun to peruse the shop when I received a text that our table was ready. Dinner did not disappoint – we sampled cheese curds and fried conch before we both had the mahi sandwich. I like being able to have a salad instead of fries with mine. The kids had pasta which was fine. We all had dessert too – ice cream, brownie sundae, and key lime pie. I also ordered the watermelon margarita while DH had some Land Shark. Excellent meal that the kids really enjoyed too – the woman on stilts made them some fantastic hats and the toys they give the kids are so much fun.

We wandered around the City Walk and did some shopping before turning in for the night. Our flights were scheduled for 2 pm tomorrow.
 


I just reread the entire trip report again
I'm so impressed with it

I know many readers will benefit from your report

I appreciate you sharing your detailed vacation with us
I know it takes time to do this
 
Saturday May 13 Travel Day

I booked the latest direct flight on Southwest from Orlando to Philly at 1:51 pm (I was hoping for later but they didn’t have any) to maximize our time at Universal. However, between the heat and the stress with DH’s father, the kids wanted to sleep in and stay close to the hotel so that’s what we did. We were up, dressed, and packed by 8:30 so we headed down to the Kitchen to try out the breakfast there and hope to maybe see a few more characters. Well, no characters but OMG was the breakfast delicious. The best we had all week! The buffet was huge, fresh, and unbelievably tasty. They also do whatever you want at the griddle and grill stations – omelets, eggs benefits, Elvis French toast, Belgian waffles, breakfast pizzas, and apple cinnamon waffles. We all ate our fill and will definitely be back again!

Since we were ready to go, we decided to get on the road. All I can say is thank goodness we did! We left the hotel at 10 and got off exit 8 on 528 to gas up the rental car (I think that was the exit). Well, we went to get back on and the toll plazas were exact change only. We were not at all prepared for this. After scraping both our wallets, we can up with $0.74 which was still short. Luckily, I thought to check the kids’ wallets and it paid off. We found enough to pay the toll and were on our way. Yikes!

We returned the car with no trouble at all and walked into the terminal to check our bags (I had already done on-line check-in for our boarding position the day before). As we walked toward the Southwest counters, there were people everywhere! We passed the self-check kiosks (but you can’t do bags) and went to take our position in the very long line. We were directed that the line was out of the queue and down into the terminal toward security. Off we trudged and it only got worse. It was done to security then to the right down past the food courts to the next open hub where it looped around and came all the way back to security. There were a lot of angry people around and Southwest employees were stationed every 15 yds or so to make sure that no one cut in line. We took our places and had the kids sit in the cushioned chairs with some of our bags closer to security while we waited and waited. We were in this line for over an hour before we were able to check out bags. I was so thankful we were early and our kids were older and well behaved. It was total craziness. This was not the security line so TSA pre-check would not have made a difference.

After getting through TSA which took another 20 minutes as expected, we had time to grab a quick lunch at McDonald’s and the pizza place before heading to our gate. The flight left about 45 minutes late because of storms in Philadelphia. We were boarding positions B40-44 and I was surprised to find not one empty row for me to sit with the kids. I love Southwest and I fly it all the time. However, fellow travelers are not always the greatest. Slight travel rant up ahead if you want to skip this part:

I do not understand why people insist on sitting alone in a row when they are told ahead of time that the flight is 100% booked. Each row we passed had a single person in it with another single person behind them. All the way to the back of the plane we trudged. Finally, I stopped and asked a nice looking man if he would possibly move to another seat so I could sit with my two kids (DH usually sits across from us but we knew that wasn’t going to happen). Nice man agreed and got up. At which point he moved across the aisle to sit in a row with one woman, one toddler, and an empty seat. It turns out this was his travel companion. I imagine he was hoping they could keep an empty seat on a full flight?? So annoying!

Any who – the rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived home around 8 pm, after stopping on the road for dinner. Boy, was our pooch happy to see us again!
 
Final Thoughts:

Things we would definitely do again:

- Stay at the Hard Rock. We loved it!
- Pool hop to other resorts. Fun!
- Dudley Do-Right and Bilge Barge rides – getting wet is just plain fun!
- Discovery Cove
- Aquatica
- Quick service – Simpson’s Food Court area, Blondie’s
- Sit down – Cowfish, Toothsome, Margaritaville, The Kitchen, ‘Ohana
- Pink donuts and refillable popcorn buckets!
- Horror Makeup Show
- All things Harry Potter – amazing!
- Any ride not listed below!

Things we would not do again:

- Sea World – it just wasn’t our cup of tea.
- Sit Down – Chef Mickey’s, Café La Bamba
- Rides / Shows – Terminator, Potter train with a wait more than 10 minutes. And that’s it. Truly, we loved it all!

One more thing I wanted to chat about was concern folks have with fitting on the rides. I am definitely a fluffy woman. I wear size 18 bottoms, XL or 2XL tops, am 5’3” tall and weigh 230 lbs. I am busty, have a belly, and while I don’t have a huge butt, I have wider hips. I was able to ride absolutely everything – Hulk, Rip Rockit, Dragon’s Challenge, Mummy, Forbidden Journey, and Gringott’s (as well as Mako at Sea World). I didn’t feel like the buckling was a challenge at all but some of the rides were tight in my hips. I would often lift to one side to get one hip in there good and then squeeze the other down in. I did ride in the outside seats on Forbidden Journey. Thought I would share my experience on that one.

I hope you enjoyed my trip report! Let me know if you have any questions. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip even with a few bumps and will definitely return in the future. We love Universal!
 
I really enjoyed reading your trip report.

I'm so glad you enjoyed so much of it and it was fun to read. I agree with you on many things including Seaworld.......not for us at all.

And thank you for sharing your experiences for being on the rides. We do get many people concerned about fitting on rides and such........glad you got to enjoy them all too.......

Glad you're planning to return to Universal, always good to read that.........:)
 
You covered it all and this is a great trip report for all to read if size is a concern

You put in personal details which really gives readers a true idea if specific rides will be a go for them

Was happy to read your husband was able to connected with you on the vacation

The breakfast buffet at hrh and rpr are so much identical
The best meals are this one

You struck gold finding this to do breakfast at hrh



I bet you will be back to the darkside in the future
 
You did quite a bit that day in the parks. Yeah, we don't go on early entry very often. I ask the teens to do at least one day. That's why we stay onsite, the express pass makes late sleepers happy.

Will be interested in how you liked Discovery Cove. We've been there 3 times, as with the Grover pass, saved almost as much as half the price of the pass. Twice we rented a cabana, and if ever go again, most likely will rent it again. We totally enjoyed our stays there.

We really were able to get a lot done and it didn't feel rushed at all. The kids were ready to go - that always helps!

That's great that you get such savings. We did the Black Friday deals and did okay but not nearly half price! It wasn't as bad as I was expecting given that we got the Sea World and Aquatica tickets. However, it did make me say no to a day at Disney. That just didn't seem necessary given all the options we had.
 
You covered it all and this is a great trip report for all to read if size is a concern

You put in personal details which really gives readers a true idea if specific rides will be a go for them

Was happy to read your husband was able to connected with you on the vacation

The breakfast buffet at hrh and rpr are so much identical
The best meals are this one

You struck gold finding this to do breakfast at hrh



I bet you will be back to the darkside in the future

We will definitely be back. Interesting that RPR has a very similar buffet. We enjoyed it so much and have debated staying at the other properties there. HRH just feels like our place. It was so relaxing every time I walked into the hotel and I love the smell. Strange but true!
 
I really enjoyed reading your trip report.

I'm so glad you enjoyed so much of it and it was fun to read. I agree with you on many things including Seaworld.......not for us at all.

And thank you for sharing your experiences for being on the rides. We do get many people concerned about fitting on rides and such........glad you got to enjoy them all too.......

Glad you're planning to return to Universal, always good to read that.........:)

I read so much about people being concerned about fitting. I keep telling myself that I'll lose weight when I can't ride any more! I haven't gotten to that point yet. I found the rides more forgiving than people think so I was happy to share.
 
Final Thoughts:

Things we would definitely do again:

- Stay at the Hard Rock. We loved it!
- Pool hop to other resorts. Fun!
- Dudley Do-Right and Bilge Barge rides – getting wet is just plain fun!
- Discovery Cove
- Aquatica
- Quick service – Simpson’s Food Court area, Blondie’s
- Sit down – Cowfish, Toothsome, Margaritaville, The Kitchen, ‘Ohana
- Pink donuts and refillable popcorn buckets!
- Horror Makeup Show
- All things Harry Potter – amazing!
- Any ride not listed below!

Things we would not do again:

- Sea World – it just wasn’t our cup of tea.
- Sit Down – Chef Mickey’s, Café La Bamba
- Rides / Shows – Terminator, Potter train with a wait more than 10 minutes. And that’s it. Truly, we loved it all!

One more thing I wanted to chat about was concern folks have with fitting on the rides. I am definitely a fluffy woman. I wear size 18 bottoms, XL or 2XL tops, am 5’3” tall and weigh 230 lbs. I am busty, have a belly, and while I don’t have a huge butt, I have wider hips. I was able to ride absolutely everything – Hulk, Rip Rockit, Dragon’s Challenge, Mummy, Forbidden Journey, and Gringott’s (as well as Mako at Sea World). I didn’t feel like the buckling was a challenge at all but some of the rides were tight in my hips. I would often lift to one side to get one hip in there good and then squeeze the other down in. I did ride in the outside seats on Forbidden Journey. Thought I would share my experience on that one.

I hope you enjoyed my trip report! Let me know if you have any questions. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip even with a few bumps and will definitely return in the future. We love Universal!

Reading your TR has me even more giddy for our November trip! We're also staying at HRH again and can't wait! It's been several years since we've stayed there and I can't wait to see the refurbished rooms! And that breakfast at the Kitchen...... :worship: :worship:

So glad that your FIL is on the mend!
 
Thanks so much, PoohIsHome! You will have a blast. I am finding myself in that in-between trips space where I am so envious of everyone planning a trip. I wish it was in the budget. Enjoy HRH!
 
I loved your trip report! You put in so much info, it was like being there with you, thanks! We've never been able to give up a day at Universal to do Sea World, but we do love coasters. After reading your TR, I won't feel so bad about continuing to skip SW. We live nea a large aquatic center, so we'd just be going for coasters anyhow :D
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top