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Message
Universal Orlando trip report
Posted on 7/16/19 at 6:01 pm
Posted on 7/16/19 at 6:01 pm
I have seen a few threads asking about Universal Orlando Resort so I thought I would try to add some info. My wife and kids made a last minute trip the weekend in June. Universal has a good deal going on if you buy 2 days they will give you 3 for a total of 5 days and it comes out to about $50 per day.
We flew Southwest out of MSY and it was a breeze on Friday afternoon. The Pre-Check line was longer than the regular line
Around a one hour flight to MCO. Lyft to Royal Pacific Resort was $18. We decided on the RPR because of location, water taxi and the Express Pass. I would not go during a busy weekend (weekend before July 4th) or in the summer without the Express Pass.
The Hotel is in great shape. Everyone was friendly. If you come in early in the morning you can check in and use the express passes that day and they will hold your bags since your room will not be ready. You can also use the express pass all day on the day of checkout. The hotel cost is close to just the express pass cost for 4! They also have a Universal ticket location as well as an Avis rental on site. The hotel has a Polynesian/South Seas theme. The pool is really nice and can get crowded. At night they do movies by the pool and on Saturday nights they do a torch lighting ceremony and they have a Luau on the property. The pool is pretty large and there are a lot of loungers. The bar service is consistent during the day. They have some souvenir glass deals with discounted refills.
The water taxi to City Walk takes about 10-15 minutes. Even at park close it took us about 15 minutes with heavy crowds using the water taxi. It's about a 15 -20 minute walk. They use metal detectors at the boat launch at the hotel. They will ask you to get rid of any alcohol ... they find.
This is the que for return. It was very convenient to go back to the hotel for a swim or rest.
There are several restaurants nearby and it's only a $5-6 Lyft ride to I-Drive and those restaurants. There is a Walgreens within walking distance but less than $5 ride. They sell beer and wine
The parks were hot as HELL and not everyone likes to use deodorant or bathe regularly!
This cat was pounding beers all day. Blue jeans in 100* heat is exactly how you get swamp arse!
The new Harry Potter ride in Islands of Adventure, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, was rarely open when we went. they posted signs it would be open "Mid-day." That meant anywhere between 12-4 and it could be open for 2-4 hours. Wait times were always at least 3 hours and no express passes. I did learn you can get a "disability pass" and get a wait time to come back. There were many disabled people getting comeback times.
With the express passes we never waited longer than 20 minutes for a ride. Regular line waits were always an hour or longer with things like the Potter rides, Minions, Transformers, Spider Man, etc over an hour. The express pass was a lifesaver!
Drinks: The park sells single drinks at $3.99 and a refillable RFID cup for $16 + tax for drinks all day. It also includes Icees. They have some good Icee flavors for mixing including pina colada, margarita and fruit flavors. If you do get the refillable it can be used every 5-10 minutes at freestyle machines.
Adult drinks:
Beers are prevalent throughout the park and City Walk ranging from $8-$10
Food: We didn't do any dining plans and at a few meals in the parks. Theme park food is generally expensive for what you get but we enjoyed Confisco Grille at IOA, Richter's Burgers at USO, and the NBC grill at City Walk.
I did a poor job of taking pictures of food porn but did get some menus.
Confisco in IOA had a good sandwich and the nachos were OK.
Richeters burgers in USO were pretty good adn the location wasn't bad near the newer Potter Diagon Alley.
NBC Sports Grill and Brew pub had some good burgers, huge nachos and cold beer.
[/url]
The best smelling place was the place at the bottom of the Jurassic Park ride in IOA where you can watch the ride splash. One of my kids ate the chicken dinner there and it looked really good
We flew Southwest out of MSY and it was a breeze on Friday afternoon. The Pre-Check line was longer than the regular line
Around a one hour flight to MCO. Lyft to Royal Pacific Resort was $18. We decided on the RPR because of location, water taxi and the Express Pass. I would not go during a busy weekend (weekend before July 4th) or in the summer without the Express Pass. The Hotel is in great shape. Everyone was friendly. If you come in early in the morning you can check in and use the express passes that day and they will hold your bags since your room will not be ready. You can also use the express pass all day on the day of checkout. The hotel cost is close to just the express pass cost for 4! They also have a Universal ticket location as well as an Avis rental on site. The hotel has a Polynesian/South Seas theme. The pool is really nice and can get crowded. At night they do movies by the pool and on Saturday nights they do a torch lighting ceremony and they have a Luau on the property. The pool is pretty large and there are a lot of loungers. The bar service is consistent during the day. They have some souvenir glass deals with discounted refills.
The water taxi to City Walk takes about 10-15 minutes. Even at park close it took us about 15 minutes with heavy crowds using the water taxi. It's about a 15 -20 minute walk. They use metal detectors at the boat launch at the hotel. They will ask you to get rid of any alcohol ... they find.
This is the que for return. It was very convenient to go back to the hotel for a swim or rest. There are several restaurants nearby and it's only a $5-6 Lyft ride to I-Drive and those restaurants. There is a Walgreens within walking distance but less than $5 ride. They sell beer and wine
The parks were hot as HELL and not everyone likes to use deodorant or bathe regularly!
This cat was pounding beers all day. Blue jeans in 100* heat is exactly how you get swamp arse!
The new Harry Potter ride in Islands of Adventure, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, was rarely open when we went. they posted signs it would be open "Mid-day." That meant anywhere between 12-4 and it could be open for 2-4 hours. Wait times were always at least 3 hours and no express passes. I did learn you can get a "disability pass" and get a wait time to come back. There were many disabled people getting comeback times.
With the express passes we never waited longer than 20 minutes for a ride. Regular line waits were always an hour or longer with things like the Potter rides, Minions, Transformers, Spider Man, etc over an hour. The express pass was a lifesaver!
Drinks: The park sells single drinks at $3.99 and a refillable RFID cup for $16 + tax for drinks all day. It also includes Icees. They have some good Icee flavors for mixing including pina colada, margarita and fruit flavors. If you do get the refillable it can be used every 5-10 minutes at freestyle machines.
Adult drinks:
Beers are prevalent throughout the park and City Walk ranging from $8-$10
Food: We didn't do any dining plans and at a few meals in the parks. Theme park food is generally expensive for what you get but we enjoyed Confisco Grille at IOA, Richter's Burgers at USO, and the NBC grill at City Walk.
I did a poor job of taking pictures of food porn but did get some menus.
Confisco in IOA had a good sandwich and the nachos were OK.
Richeters burgers in USO were pretty good adn the location wasn't bad near the newer Potter Diagon Alley.
NBC Sports Grill and Brew pub had some good burgers, huge nachos and cold beer.
[/url] The best smelling place was the place at the bottom of the Jurassic Park ride in IOA where you can watch the ride splash. One of my kids ate the chicken dinner there and it looked really good
This post was edited on 7/17/19 at 8:06 am
2
Posted on 7/16/19 at 6:01 pm to fatboydave
As I mentioned earlier it was very hot and humid in the middle of the summer. If you are an American Express card holder you can go to the AMEX lounge for ac, cold water, snacks and power to recharge your phone. It is not really advertised nor does it have a lot of signage. It's between Monsters Cafe and Shrek. They will check for your Amex card and park tickets.
It had been almost 4 years since the last time we went to Universal. My kids are older and enjoyed all the big rides. The Rip Ride Rockit and the Hulk are great roller coasters. My kids like the 3D rides like Transformers and Spider Man. The Harry potter rides are good also. The Escape from Gringotts is a good addition but if you sit in the rear car in the rear seat you really can't see everything.
The Kong ride and Fast & Furious rides are pretty neat but you ride in a 'bus" and it is very hard to see what is going on. You need to sit on the edge to see and then you only see one side of the ride.
The Mummy ride is a good coaster in the dark and has held up well through the years. Ask the person checking express passes at the front for a "production tour" and they will show you around the different parts of queue and talk about the backstory of the ride and the movie.
Men in Black is fun but is dated. If you go ask the person at the front gate for an "immigration tour" and if they aren't busy they will take you down on the floor of the MIB office for the tour and pictures.
If you want to be miserable then get on the Ripsaw falls ride in the middle of the day. You will get soaked! Ride the Popeye and Bluto barges and you will get wet.
Krusty Land has the one ride I do not like because it makes me dizzy. The Simpson's ride is the old Back to the Future ride that has a lot of motion and spinning video.
Moe's bar is just a few steps away so I spent some time there drinking a Duff instead of vomiting.
The tacos from Bumblebee Man's tacos were pretty good but it could have been the Duff beer
If you have kids with you there are multiple times during the day where characters will be at set spots for pictures. In IOA it seemed like every hour several superheros appeared like Spider Man, Wolverine, Capt. America, etc. In USO the Simpsons, Sponge Bob and the Trolls appear. There may be others but that's all I saw. Check the park app for times and locations but if you are in IOA and they are blocking the street off the superheros will be coming in a few minutes
on motorbikes. They park and then sprint to their locations for pictures for about 30 minutes. They get on the bikes and leave for 10-15 minutes then another bike parade and more pictures. The park workers take pictures for sale but will allow you to take your own pics and will even use your camera to take a family photo.
If you fly Southwest and have a Priority Pass there is the MCO Club near the SW gates in terminal A. You will have to take the tram but not have to go through security again. The Southwest flights apparently depart mostly from Terminal A Gates 100-129. The lounge is "Airside - Gates 1-29, adjacent to XpresSpa." (directions from the PP site) I asked someone who gave me directions. The lounge was not crowded for the afternoon before July 4th. The lounge has a bar with decent wine, beer and mixed drinks. The food consisted of soups, sandwiches and salad. My kids enjoyed the candy, cookies and snack bar. It's worth getting to the airport a little early for a snack and some adult beverages before your flight.
It had been almost 4 years since the last time we went to Universal. My kids are older and enjoyed all the big rides. The Rip Ride Rockit and the Hulk are great roller coasters. My kids like the 3D rides like Transformers and Spider Man. The Harry potter rides are good also. The Escape from Gringotts is a good addition but if you sit in the rear car in the rear seat you really can't see everything.
The Kong ride and Fast & Furious rides are pretty neat but you ride in a 'bus" and it is very hard to see what is going on. You need to sit on the edge to see and then you only see one side of the ride.
The Mummy ride is a good coaster in the dark and has held up well through the years. Ask the person checking express passes at the front for a "production tour" and they will show you around the different parts of queue and talk about the backstory of the ride and the movie.
Men in Black is fun but is dated. If you go ask the person at the front gate for an "immigration tour" and if they aren't busy they will take you down on the floor of the MIB office for the tour and pictures.
If you want to be miserable then get on the Ripsaw falls ride in the middle of the day. You will get soaked! Ride the Popeye and Bluto barges and you will get wet.
Krusty Land has the one ride I do not like because it makes me dizzy. The Simpson's ride is the old Back to the Future ride that has a lot of motion and spinning video.
Moe's bar is just a few steps away so I spent some time there drinking a Duff instead of vomiting.
The tacos from Bumblebee Man's tacos were pretty good but it could have been the Duff beer
If you have kids with you there are multiple times during the day where characters will be at set spots for pictures. In IOA it seemed like every hour several superheros appeared like Spider Man, Wolverine, Capt. America, etc. In USO the Simpsons, Sponge Bob and the Trolls appear. There may be others but that's all I saw. Check the park app for times and locations but if you are in IOA and they are blocking the street off the superheros will be coming in a few minutes
on motorbikes. They park and then sprint to their locations for pictures for about 30 minutes. They get on the bikes and leave for 10-15 minutes then another bike parade and more pictures. The park workers take pictures for sale but will allow you to take your own pics and will even use your camera to take a family photo.
If you fly Southwest and have a Priority Pass there is the MCO Club near the SW gates in terminal A. You will have to take the tram but not have to go through security again. The Southwest flights apparently depart mostly from Terminal A Gates 100-129. The lounge is "Airside - Gates 1-29, adjacent to XpresSpa." (directions from the PP site) I asked someone who gave me directions. The lounge was not crowded for the afternoon before July 4th. The lounge has a bar with decent wine, beer and mixed drinks. The food consisted of soups, sandwiches and salad. My kids enjoyed the candy, cookies and snack bar. It's worth getting to the airport a little early for a snack and some adult beverages before your flight.
This post was edited on 7/17/19 at 10:08 am
Posted on 7/16/19 at 9:58 pm to fatboydave
Kick arse
Posted on 7/16/19 at 10:26 pm to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Do they have a line for single riders still?
Posted on 7/16/19 at 10:42 pm to bluestem75
quote:
Do they have a line for single riders still?
Yes and it was shorter than the regular lines. If i did not have the express pass I would definitely done single rider lines all day. I don't care who I sit next to unless it is one of those smelly folk I mentioned above. I did move one time in line to get on Kong. couldn't take the BO and wasn't going to small that throughout the whole ride.
If you are not staying on-site then you might want to wait to buy your express passes after you get inside of the park. They sell them at the stores and you can check the lines out before springing for the pass. There was a long line at the ticket office at park opening.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 6:36 am to bluestem75
Single rider is only way to go.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 7:31 am to Riolobo
agreed. was there last july on a combo disney trip with family and hit the single rider lines like crazy. went back with SO on another combo trip in april and i kept telling her about single rider lines (she had never been) and she would get so mad about how we weren't doing that bc were not single, and we are there to do things together blah blah blah..... before it was all said and done it was her asking for us just to do single rider lines 
Posted on 7/17/19 at 7:35 am to fatboydave
quote:
fatboydave
great review. as mentioned, we were there in april, and are going back with the kids 9&13 next summer as they have never been. even though i essentially just got back also, lots of good info, definitely going to look into the RPR for our stay. don't forget about Fat Tuesdays daiquiri shop on City walk.... i was a frequent flyer there
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:39 am to cajunbuck
Glad to hear the single rider lines are still there. Thanks!
Posted on 7/17/19 at 8:47 am to fatboydave
That's one hell of a well done review.
Posted on 7/17/19 at 11:12 am to fatboydave
Definitely have me wanting to go back soon. Little one isn't even 1 year old though so I want to wait until she can actually enjoy the trip before we go back.
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