Live Report--sort of....

Mom2Stitch

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Hey Universal friends :)

I thought I'd try to do a trip report on the fly. I'll try an update on breaks and /or in the evenings. We'll see how it goes :smooth:.

Travel group: DH, DS, and myself. Me and DH have APs, our first trip was last September and we loved t here and knew that DS would want to visit. DS is 22 and a college student.

When and Where: We'll be at Royal Pacific from 5/5-5/8.

Getting Here and Day One:

We live about an hour away from the Louisville airport which is where we prefer to fly out of. We love SW and always fly non-stop and we like the earliest flight we can get. For this trip that was 5:45AM, meaning we had to leave home around 3AM to feel like we were going to have enough time. Between last minute packing and nerves I can't say any of us got much sleep.

Our flight was full, many of the families consisted of cheerleaders heading to WDW for the cheer competition this weekend. I had planned on sleeping on the flight, but that was not going to happen. The guy who sat in front of us was a bit chatty with his neighbor and was a bit loud. Now when I say a bit chatty, I mean this guy didn't stop talking the entire 2 hour flight :hyper2:. It was a bit annoying, but hey I was heading to Orlando-no worries I can sleep later:teeth:.

We use Tiffany Towncar and I have a favorite driver. She is so amazing and we love her to pieces. She gives me a huge hug to welcome us and we chat like old friends about family and work the whole drive. When she drops us off, hugs goodbye and wishes for a good trip. We'll see her again on Monday for the trip over to WDW.

As soon as we get to RPR, bell services is right there to get our luggage. Brad helped us with our luggage and he is delightful and so helpful. Check in was a breeze, no line. I had forgotten to put a tower request on our room so I asked at check in for tower 3, sure no problem. Matter of fact the room is ready-and before 9AM - awesome! We took care of DS's ticket and express passes and then wanted to see our room. I booked standard, but I think we may have gotten an upgrade-we have a perfect view of the pool. We are on the 3rd floor and couldn't be happier with our room. Beds are super comfy, room is clean and nice. I love the flower decor.

Although we were running on no sleep, we decided to head to the park to see some Harry Potter goodness. Once in the park we realized we were hungry, we stopped at Boulangerie (sp?) and grabbed a couple of ham, egg and cheese croissants. They are huge, come with a small side of fruit and IMO are a bargain at $5.29. DS opted for a chocolate cheesecake-vacation means that's a perfectly fine breakfast :P. We headed straight to HP and rode Gringotts a couple of times, did Ollivander's, and of course had butter beer. No sleep was catching up to us and we decided to head back to the room. DS wore his Guinness shirt and wanted to stop at Finnegan's for a Guinness, so we did that on the way out. It's a strange experience to sit at the bar with your baby boy having a beer. I've raised a wonderfully intelligent and handsome young man-but I might be a little bit partial in my thinking :rolleyes1.

DH starts talking about going to the pool and then remembered that he didn't pack swim trunks :headache:. He has 5 pair at home-guess why? If you guessed because we have to buy him a new pair on trips quite often because he forgets - you win. After looking around at some very pricey options on City Walk we went into the Bubba Gumps shop-who would have guessed that was where you get swim trunks on clearance for less than $20. He's now the proud owner of 6 pair of swim trunks :rolleyes:.

Once back to the room, all thought of swimming went out the window because we had hit the wall and needed sleep. We napped a good 3 hours, normally not what we would do, but it was much needed.

For dinner we decided to try the NBC Grill. The wait was only about 10 minutes. Our waitress was exceptional. The guys each got the combo which came with ribs, pulled pork, and brisket. I got the pork tenderloin. All of it was very good, but the portions were so huge. Lesson learned-we could have easily shared 2 entrees between the 3 of us. Even with all of that food they still wanted ice cream so we hit up the Cold Stone Creamery-one large for all of us to share was more than enough.

The weather today has been so pleasant, it was even a little chilly on the walk back to the room. I have to say that our vacation has started off super duper incredible. The TM's here so far have all been so helpful, smiling, and friendly.

Heading to IOA in the morning to see some dinosaurs, a big ape, and maybe a green guy. We will also see more of HP and I'm fairly certain there will be butter beer :love:.

Adventures to be continued....

We
 
Sounds like a fantastic start to you trip! I'll be reading along with you. Our trip is in 11 more days and we're so excited!
Have a great day at IOA tomorrow :) .
 
Nice start.......and pleased your room was ready and you like it.......those flowers divide opinion!!!

Hope you have a lovely time in Islands today.......
 
Sounds like a fantastic start to you trip! I'll be reading along with you. Our trip is in 11 more days and we're so excited!
Have a great day at IOA tomorrow :) .

Thank you and welcome :)

Nice start.......and pleased your room was ready and you like it.......those flowers divide opinion!!!

Hope you have a lovely time in Islands today.......

I know the flowers are part of the recent upgrade, we never stayed prior to them or maybe we wouldn't like them either, lol.
 


Day 2-Plans they change, good thing we're at Universal!

So day 2 was suppose to be IOA, but as we started the day I knew the plan would change. At WDW I'd never attempt to change plans, at Universal it's just not that big of a deal.

We were up and ready to hit IOA at 8AM. Once we got off the boat it was decided that we could have some breakfast at Cinnabon and then hit rope drop at Universal. DS was wanting to choose a wand and play in Diagon Alley some more. So we were just a few families back and headed straight to Ollivander's. It was just me and DS and another family. DS was again not chosen, but the young lady that was chosen was so excited that we were extremely happy he wasn't. In the shop a TM hinted VERY heavily that 3rd time WOULD be the charm for him, but he declined the offer. He said that if there were a kid in there he would never want to take that away from them. I thought that was very sweet of him. He chose a wand and we played around for quite a while. It takes a little bit to get the hang of the wands. He tried the flavored water-fun, but way overpriced. DS is enjoying HP way more than I thought he would, I'm very glad we brought him for that reason alone.

After Diagon Alley we rode some more rides and decided to have lunch at Margaritaville. In case anyone is wondering, Volcano Nachos is MORE than enough food for 3-4 people. We shared those and a shrimp appetizer. Me and DH shared one of the margaritas in the blender glass, still the best margaritas anywhere I think. Feeling refreshed we headed back to Universal to do some shows. Horror Make up show first-it is so funny. Heading over to see the Animal show plans changed again.

The NBC test/survey center was open and they asked us if we'd like to participate, 35 minutes and we'd each earn $15 in Universal gift cards. Me and DS were the right demographic, DH wasn't, but he was ok waiting for us. We thought it would be interesting so we participated. We were answering questions about print ads for new shows. It took about 30 minutes and hey we were compensated pretty good.

We headed back to the room with plans to go to the pool, but we were all out for the count within 10 minutes. Naps are soooo good on vacation for some reason. We made it back for the night time show-it's good, but nothing super spectacular and certainly not worth seeing twice IMO.

We had a wonderful meal at Bubba Gumps. I'm not a seafood fan at all, not even shrimp, but here I am eating it twice in a day. It was good, our waiter was amazing. He sat down and played Forest Gump trivia with us, lots of fun.

I am taking pics, as soon as I figure out how to add them and have time to I will.

IOA is a definite for tomorrow, it's our last day and we are having so much fun. Wishing we had just ONE more day here.
 
Loving the on the go, fly by the seat of your pants TR!!!
 
Awesome report so far. My DS is almost 20, and I have a hard time with that sometimes. He's happy to go with me, when I pay though! LOL

So glad you are having a wonderful time. That's why we like to stay onsite. Express pass and able to go back to the room in 10 or so minutes.

I hope you can post pictures. I really enjoy what others see in the parks and resorts.
 


Sounds like a really great time so far. I love to take naps on vacation - it feels so decadent! :) Glad you're enjoying your stay at the Royal Pacific - we will be there on Friday! :D Thanks for taking the time from your vacation to share with us. :)
 
Great report so far! Look forward to seeing pictures. Love how it is not big deal to change your plans at Universal.
 
Enjoyed your update! I'm glad you mentioned the Nachos. I had heard they were huge and shareable. I think dd and I will share them next week while we are there. I don't imagine with the heat that our appetites will be huge anyway. I just can't wait to sit outside on the porch at Margaritaville!

I totally agree with you that the beauty of a Universal vacation is never feeling like you are going to mess up the whole plan by changing it up. There have been several times we've opted to sleep in a little later and take our time getting to the parks. That NEVER happens at Disney. In fact, I am most looking forward to lounging at the pools next week and getting to the parks when I feel like it. Especially now that my kids are 20 and 13.. they can go themselves!
I hope you all had a great day at IOA today. :)
 
Margaritas and Nachos is the way to go at Margaritaville! Their cocktails are excellent.........DH and I shared the Nachos couple of years back......didn't even make a dent in them.......

Glad you're having so much fun........look forward to your pictures too........
 
Really enjoying your trip report so far! Nachos and a margarita are exactly what I want right this minute...
 

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