After another continental breakfast in the hotel. We spent about half the day in IOA and half the day in USO revisting our favorite things. Here are a few final grades for Universal Orlando ..........
Character interaction (Grade A+) our kids love getting autographs from the characters. DW is very persistent and it's definately a game for her to help the kids find all of them. The characters seemed to provide a lot more one-on-one interaction that those at WDW, though I know that is a somewhat broad statement to make. It just seeemd like the kids got a lot of personal attention, and the parks weren't that crowded which helped.
The person who turned in DD12's lost purse (Grade A+++, and then some, thank you sooooooooooooo much). Only you know who you are (even if you never read this post). Around 10 am at USO, DD12 realized her purse was gone. She insisted on carrying it herself against DW's wishes, and little did I know that she was carrying $282 in it which she had saved up over the last year or so. We checked our digital camera and camcorder to try and figure out when was the last time she had it with her, but we weren't able to find it at any of the places we had been. Luckily, DW and DD12 went to guest services and less than 1/2 hour after we started our search, the purse was found locked up in the safe at lost and found, and all the money was there! I feel bad that DW or DD didn't ask if there was anyway we could send a thank you note to whoever found it and turned it in, but I'm sure they were all excited that they found it and didn't think about that. Funny thing is I found someone's wallet at BG Williamsburg last year. My general opinion is that these days, most people are honest enough not to keep the money, but you never know.
Overall grade for Universal Orlando (A+) What an incredible time we had at USO/IOA. It's almost like they had a chance to study everything WDW has done (including their faults), and kicked it up a notch (thanks Emeril). From the attractions, to the CM's, character interaction, transportation, FOTL, resort staff, etc., they outdid themselves. And this is all coming from someone who loves WDW and was a little skeptical about trying USO/IOA for the first time versus spending the time going back to WDW.
Here are a couple of more examples of the service we received:
At the Comic Cafe in Toon Lagoon, DW thought the portion of spaghetti was on the small side for an $8??? order (that DDs were going to split) so she asked the cashier if they could add a little more to it. Instead, the cashier gave her two more full portions of spaghetti and came to our table where he joked with DDs that he brought us out more spaghetti because he told the cook that they dropped their's on the floor. He was a very nice man, and we ran into a lot of people like him at Universal.
When we were leaving RPR, the bellman was very personable, and got on his hands and knees to look under the beds to make sure we didn't forget anything. He also asked if we might have left anything in the drawers and offered to look. This is going the extra mile, and it didn't come across as "yeah, I'm trying to get a better tip from you." Of course, he did get a nice tip from us.
One slip up by RPR from the strange, but true catergory. We paid for a 3rd night at RPR because we planned to leave at 11 pm (on the 3rd night) and drive through the night back to New Jersey, which worked out well. We left at 11 pm and arrived back in Central, NJ (very close to Six Flags) just before 3 pm the next afternoon, just under 16 hours including gas/potty/fast food stops. The great thing is that we are half way home before the kids wake up in the morning. But here is what is strange.......... when we checked out at 11 pm, DW was told at the front desk that there would be an "early" check out fee added to our bill. Even though we were paying for the room that we technically had until 11 am the next morning. My wife was bewildered and RPR then said that they would change the records to say we left at 2 am instead of 11 pm and they would waive the early check out fee. They also said they would have to mail us a final bill since they couldn't print out a final receipt at 11 pm at night. True to their word, they did mail the bill to us within a few days. Has anyone here ever heard of an early check out fee before when you've already paid for the night????
In summary, Universal Orlando stands on its own as a top notch entertainment complex that compares with, and IMHO often excels above WDW. Thanks RPR/USO/IOA for the perfect ending to our Florida vacation!
Character interaction (Grade A+) our kids love getting autographs from the characters. DW is very persistent and it's definately a game for her to help the kids find all of them. The characters seemed to provide a lot more one-on-one interaction that those at WDW, though I know that is a somewhat broad statement to make. It just seeemd like the kids got a lot of personal attention, and the parks weren't that crowded which helped.
The person who turned in DD12's lost purse (Grade A+++, and then some, thank you sooooooooooooo much). Only you know who you are (even if you never read this post). Around 10 am at USO, DD12 realized her purse was gone. She insisted on carrying it herself against DW's wishes, and little did I know that she was carrying $282 in it which she had saved up over the last year or so. We checked our digital camera and camcorder to try and figure out when was the last time she had it with her, but we weren't able to find it at any of the places we had been. Luckily, DW and DD12 went to guest services and less than 1/2 hour after we started our search, the purse was found locked up in the safe at lost and found, and all the money was there! I feel bad that DW or DD didn't ask if there was anyway we could send a thank you note to whoever found it and turned it in, but I'm sure they were all excited that they found it and didn't think about that. Funny thing is I found someone's wallet at BG Williamsburg last year. My general opinion is that these days, most people are honest enough not to keep the money, but you never know.
Overall grade for Universal Orlando (A+) What an incredible time we had at USO/IOA. It's almost like they had a chance to study everything WDW has done (including their faults), and kicked it up a notch (thanks Emeril). From the attractions, to the CM's, character interaction, transportation, FOTL, resort staff, etc., they outdid themselves. And this is all coming from someone who loves WDW and was a little skeptical about trying USO/IOA for the first time versus spending the time going back to WDW.
Here are a couple of more examples of the service we received:
At the Comic Cafe in Toon Lagoon, DW thought the portion of spaghetti was on the small side for an $8??? order (that DDs were going to split) so she asked the cashier if they could add a little more to it. Instead, the cashier gave her two more full portions of spaghetti and came to our table where he joked with DDs that he brought us out more spaghetti because he told the cook that they dropped their's on the floor. He was a very nice man, and we ran into a lot of people like him at Universal.
When we were leaving RPR, the bellman was very personable, and got on his hands and knees to look under the beds to make sure we didn't forget anything. He also asked if we might have left anything in the drawers and offered to look. This is going the extra mile, and it didn't come across as "yeah, I'm trying to get a better tip from you." Of course, he did get a nice tip from us.
One slip up by RPR from the strange, but true catergory. We paid for a 3rd night at RPR because we planned to leave at 11 pm (on the 3rd night) and drive through the night back to New Jersey, which worked out well. We left at 11 pm and arrived back in Central, NJ (very close to Six Flags) just before 3 pm the next afternoon, just under 16 hours including gas/potty/fast food stops. The great thing is that we are half way home before the kids wake up in the morning. But here is what is strange.......... when we checked out at 11 pm, DW was told at the front desk that there would be an "early" check out fee added to our bill. Even though we were paying for the room that we technically had until 11 am the next morning. My wife was bewildered and RPR then said that they would change the records to say we left at 2 am instead of 11 pm and they would waive the early check out fee. They also said they would have to mail us a final bill since they couldn't print out a final receipt at 11 pm at night. True to their word, they did mail the bill to us within a few days. Has anyone here ever heard of an early check out fee before when you've already paid for the night????
In summary, Universal Orlando stands on its own as a top notch entertainment complex that compares with, and IMHO often excels above WDW. Thanks RPR/USO/IOA for the perfect ending to our Florida vacation!
How much trouble did she get in for carrying that kinda cash! Kidding! I have had my camera turned in twice along with other items I left behind and am always amazed when they come out with it at lost and found!
