Home for the Holidays-Wizards-Grinches and Sparkles. 14 nights @Royal Pacific Resort, Nov/Dec 2021

[Minnie17]

Looking forward to another trip report! Your writing and pictures are lovely. Hoping the May trip is simpler when it comes to the testing.

 

[schumigirl]

Lovely trip report! So glad you had a wonderful, well-deserved time. Velocicoaster is one of our favorites too! Love that acceleration as you approach the top hat! We gave Strong Water another go during a recent weekend and so glad we did. We ended up having Lenny while seated at the bar and he was just delightful! So pleasant and caring… always checked in on us, made amazing drinks (I love gin and he recommended some that he made) and had fun conversations. Thanks for an amazing trip report!

Thank you, I`m so glad you enjoyed the TR.....and yes the Velocicoaster is amazing!!

Gin fan here too, well, certain ones. I used to say I wasn`t a gin fan, but seems I am!

Hope to see you on the next one........

 

[schumigirl]

Looking forward to another trip report! Your writing and pictures are lovely. Hoping the May trip is simpler when it comes to the testing.

Thanks so much Minnie, I do appreciate your lovely comments and I`m so glad to see your posts on here.

Oh goodness, yes, I`d love to think by then we won`t need to test at all coming to America since we are triple jabbed, but who knows......and yes, will look forward to seeing you on the next one too......

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

Hi Carole,
Thanks for sharing your long awaited "Return to America" with us. Sounds like your usual relaxing trip with lots of good eating, drinking and people watching. Of course the last two days sounded so stressful, I was thinking of you once Omicron became a "thing" and they were closing some borders. "At least they're there now," I said to myself, "and can finish their vacation."

My adult DD and I have May and September booked this year as well. Next month we plan to get TSA Precheck to make the airport lines a little better.

My DD will definitely try out the VC, even though she can't tolerate the coasters as well anymore. We also want to do Hagrids at night if possible, we did it several times in 2019, but not at night because the parks were closed after we had dinner.

I'm going in this year with lower expectations and lots of patience. I'm sure we will have a great time just being back!

 

[schumigirl]

Hi Carole,
Thanks for sharing your long awaited "Return to America" with us. Sounds like your usual relaxing trip with lots of good eating, drinking and people watching. Of course the last two days sounded so stressful, I was thinking of you once Omicron became a "thing" and they were closing some borders. "At least they're there now," I said to myself, "and can finish their vacation."

My adult DD and I have May and September booked this year as well. Next month we plan to get TSA Precheck to make the airport lines a little better.

My DD will definitely try out the VC, even though she can't tolerate the coasters as well anymore. We also want to do Hagrids at night if possible, we did it several times in 2019, but not at night because the parks were closed after we had dinner.

I'm going in this year with lower expectations and lots of patience. I'm sure we will have a great time just being back!

Thank you so much Aurora......yes, once we were there we visibly relaxed and enjoyed it not knowing what was coming at the end lol......

How lovely you have the two trips booked with your daughter, May and September are two of the best times to go for us.....pre check is a fabulous idea for you both, anything to avoid lines helps for sure.

I hope she does like the Velocicoaster and yes, Hagrid`s at night is wonderful, feels very different and a lot more fun in some ways. I`m sure you will still have an amazing time with your daughter on both trips.......don`t forget if you see us around the parks, please say hello.......and thank you again for all the lovely comments along the way. Stop by for the next trip report when it starts too........

 

[disneyAndi14]

Carole, thank you for the wonderful report. I have a few days off and have enjoyed finishing reading your report.
I’m so glad all worked out with the Covid testing, flight, and the unexpected train ride.
I hope you have a wonderful trip in May, we are going back the end of April for 7 nights and will spend time at Universal for a day or two. I am renewing our AP’s at Universal for 1 more year.
Our Disney AP’s expire the end of September and for the first time in many years I am not renewing.
Thanks for the crepe review, I have heard the crepes were delicious from a few vloggers. I wonder if it was an off day or if they have started to cut corners on them.
It sounds like you had a nice trip and really enjoyed being back. This was very evident in your report!
Thanks again and I look forward to another one!

 

[schumigirl]

Carole, thank you for the wonderful report. I have a few days off and have enjoyed finishing reading your report.
I’m so glad all worked out with the Covid testing, flight, and the unexpected train ride.
I hope you have a wonderful trip in May, we are going back the end of April for 7 nights and will spend time at Universal for a day or two. I am renewing our AP’s at Universal for 1 more year.
Our Disney AP’s expire the end of September and for the first time in many years I am not renewing.
Thanks for the crepe review, I have heard the crepes were delicious from a few vloggers. I wonder if it was an off day or if they have started to cut corners on them.
It sounds like you had a nice trip and really enjoyed being back. This was very evident in your report!
Thanks again and I look forward to another one!

Thank you Caroline, I have to say it`s quite sad to hear of so many folks not renewing their Disney AP over the last months. It`s hard to imagine how many things they seem to be doing wrong for the average guest.

But, glad you have your April trip to look forward to and you get some Universal time too.......it`ll be fabulous. Oh yes, the crepes were such a disappointment, and since then, several have said the same about them.....I thought it was just us.

It really was an amazing trip and so many simple things made us so happy.....yes, getting on the plane in the first place was just wonderful.

I`m so glad you enjoyed reading along, enjoy your few days off you have an incredibly stressful job....you deserve to relax.....and yes, hope to see you on the next one too when it starts.......

 

[schumigirl]

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When we were in Strong Water one evening, we chatted to a couple called David and Amalie. He told us she read these trip reports and could I wish her a very Happy Birthday today.......Amalie is 30 today and I do hope you have a lovely day. I know he has a few things planned for her.

Happy Birthday Amalie 🛍

 

[schumigirl]

May Trip Report is up and running.......

Couldn`t wait any longer....... ☺

https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...-nights-sapphire-falls-a-may-2022-tr.3873597/

 

[Deb1993]

Carole, I LOVED your report. I'm so glad you and Tom were able to get back to your happy place and that it didn't disappoint. I felt your tears of joy for sure. Universal is our happy place too so I totally get it!! Awesome that you got to ride VelociCoaster so many times. You and Tom both look so wonderful and happy! I love how the two of you go with the flow and stop to smell the roses - it's the best part of any trip. Looking forward to reading your new report. We're going back in August and cannot wait!!

 

[schumigirl]

Carole, I LOVED your report. I'm so glad you and Tom were able to get back to your happy place and that it didn't disappoint. I felt your tears of joy for sure. Universal is our happy place too so I totally get it!! Awesome that you got to ride VelociCoaster so many times. You and Tom both look so wonderful and happy! I love how the two of you go with the flow and stop to smell the roses - it's the best part of any trip. Looking forward to reading your new report. We're going back in August and cannot wait!!

Thank you Deb.......I`m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it so much!

Yes, I think if you love Universal, you`ll get how excited we were to get back and no, it could never disappoint. The VC was definitely one of the biggest successes of this trip as we were so excited to get on it.

We could never be the type of folks to rush from one place to the other, slow and easy suits us lol.......

And August for your next trip?? Again, it`s not that far away.......hope you have some plans in place already for that one, and thank you again for the lovely comments.......hope you enjoy the next one too

 

[lebeau]

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It now, since 2019 has the addition of Tuk Tuk......a much needed quick service food option for the hotel. We haven`t actually eaten anything from there, but it does get very good reviews, we keep saying we`ll give it a try, but never seem to be hungry whenever we`re there or we`re heading out for food.

We stayed in RPR once. I think it was 2017. We liked the hotel but didn't love it the way you do. One of the big shortcomings for us with two young picky eaters at the time was food. The food offerings were mostly upscale and not to the kids' liking with a heavy emphasis on Asian flavors. We loved Jake's, but an affordable quick service was badly needed. Glad to see they got one!

And of course we cannot wait to see this beautiful sight again.......

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My oldest is such a Christmas nut. I can't wait to see all the holiday decorations when we go this year.

 

[schumigirl]

We stayed in RPR once. I think it was 2017. We liked the hotel but didn't love it the way you do. One of the big shortcomings for us with two young picky eaters at the time was food. The food offerings were mostly upscale and not to the kids' liking with a heavy emphasis on Asian flavors. We loved Jake's, but an affordable quick service was badly needed. Glad to see they got one!



My oldest is such a Christmas nut. I can't wait to see all the holiday decorations when we go this year.

That can be a deal breaker for sure, places for kids to enjoy. Yes, the resort suits us down to the ground, along with Sapphire of course! TukTuk does get very good reviews I have to say.

Glad to see you have a Christmas trip sorted......we adore Christmas and everything that involves, and they do it so well in the hotels.