Brief Trip Report - Feb 22-25 2020

GoofyDad_4427

Mouseketeer
Joined
Nov 21, 2017
Just returned for a 4 day, 3 night trip with a stay at Royal Pacific. Participants were Me (41), Wife (41) and 2 Sons (13, 10). This is our third trip on our annual passes which we purchased in November 2018 on the buy 12, get 18 months special.

Notes on Royal Pacific (also posted in the RP thread):
- Service in the pool area was fantastic. Really love that every single bartender/waiter pointed out the 18% gratuity already added to the check.
- Locker room at the gym was great for a quick shower and change prior to heading to the airport on our last day. Did have trouble accessing it on our last day after we had checked out and had to get someone to open the door for us, but that's no big deal.
- Only ordered food at the pool the last day. Everyone was happy with their meals. chicken quesadilla was enjoyed in particular.
- Stayed in king suite, room 2201. pullout couch bed was hard as a rock, but that was the kids problem :). The only other complaint was only one sink in the room was not sufficient. Also the shower head was too low. maybe cause i'm 6'2", but I really don't understand why they can't put it higher so I don't have to bend the whole time.
- Luggage services was excellent, handling many different requests for us on our last day.
- previous posters had asked about the safe. it was much smaller than other room safes, because it was not very deep. I left my work computer at home, so we had the wife's in there along with my work phone and her small jewelry bag. Not much else would have fit.

Notes on Hagrid's (also posted in the Hagrid's thread):
- We were at Universal from Feb 22-25. It was closed for 90% of the first three days. The morning of the 25th (Tuesday) we rope dropped as did a few others in this thread already. We got to the park at 8:13 and went for the far right line closest to the bathroom. There was exactly 54 people in front of us (because what better do I have to do at that time then count and recount the people). Park gates opened at 8:41. We went straight to Hagrid, walking quickly but never running. I took my wife's purse to the locker and was in and out of the locker area in less than 10 seconds. We kept moving through the line until we stopped just outside the castle. The delay was announced, there were many other announcements over the next few hours. We progressed to inside the castle where finally at exactly 10:53 the ride started operating. We were off the ride at exactly 11:32.
- Reviews from my family of four are that it was absolutely worth it to wait in line. It was everyone's favorite ride at Universal, and we are not HP fans. With that said, everyone agreed also that it would not be worth waiting more than 60 minutes for the next time, and we would not ride it again until it is more reliable.

Food:
- Dinners were all excellent. Saturday we did Antijitos, and it happened to be national margarita day (can't believe that's a thing) so we had several of those. I had the chicken and steak fajitas which were very good. Sunday we did the Palm at Hard Rock which put a major dent in the wallet, but was phenomenal as usual. All 4 of us had filets and there were many beers drank. Monday we did Terralina at Disney Springs, and I got the chicken parm which was great, along with many beers. Tuesday we ate at the RP pool and I had a chicken quesadilla which was very good along with many beers.
- Lunch for both days we were in the parks we are at Dagwoods. The boys really like to build their own sandwiches, so whatever. It was average.
- Breakfast was slept through most days except for Tuesday when we did rope drop for Hagrids. That day everyone found something small in Tuk Tuk at RP, and it was all good.

Other general notes:
- The Mardi Gras parade had to be the worst thing I have ever seen in a theme park. Other than the scantily clad women (which I am totally cool with), it was a bunch of parade floats with people throwing beads into the crowd. It served no purpose whatsoever, and it blocked a path to many of the rides the entire time the parade was happening.
- I'm a bigger guy (6'2", 250) and had no trouble at all with any ride. For Hulk they always put me in the row with the bigger seats, and I didn't notice anything else that bothered me due to my size.
- For me personally, the Simpsons ride is the worst at Universal. I won't ever ride it again. Rode it one time this trip because my younger son was begging and my wife and older son refused. Left with a headache and dizziness that didn't subside for quite some time. No troubles on any other ride at all.
- Express pass proved its worth time and time again. I would never even consider going to Universal without it.
- Some may remember my quick trip report from August where a broke my toe thanks to a crazy bike driver on the walking path. Well, the bikes were even worst this time. Flying up behind you at full speed dinging the bell many times and barely giving you a chance to move out of the way. With the boat service available, there is absolutely no need to have these bikes. I'm thinking I might make it my personal mission to have universal get rid of them.
- Younger son turns 10 on Feb 28. He got the happy birthday button and wore it every day. It was amazing how many cast members stopped him to wish him a happy birthday. It happened more than 20 times per day. His favorite was the MiB ride where they announced his birthday over the loud speaker both times we rode it.
- Used Happy Limos to get to and from the airport. Once again great service from them.
- Spent all day Monday at Disney Springs. First did the Void Star Wars virtual reality experience, which was greatly enjoyed by all. After lunch at Pizza Ponte which was also great, we spent over 4 hours at the NBA experience. It has received mixed reviews, but my boys both absolutely loved it. Was probably the highlight of the trip for them. Both of them are very high level baseball players, but also play basketball at a rec level and enjoy watching NBA and all sports really. My 13 year old spent probably 1.5 hours in the dunk room. They did all 13 experiences and did many of them over and over. After dinner, they begged to go back to the NBA experience, since your ticket is good for all day. We ended up giving them 40 more minutes in there. Overall the full day at Disney Springs was a great one.
- The "I forgot this ride was so good" award for the trip goes to the Mummy. We rode this a bunch of times and is the perfect ride for our group of 4 that everyone really enjoys.
- Universal needs a remodel on the snack stands. If you want an Icee, pretzel, or churro you are in luck, because they are being sold every 20 feet. If you want anything else, good luck finding it. I am not sure why they have the same things in the snack stands over and over again, but how about some variety?
- I don't get the excitement about the HP train to get to the other park. I would prefer if they just added a covered moving walkway or something like that where you could get to the other park quickly, and not have to wait in line for the train.

That's all I can think of for now. If I think of anything else relevant I will add it later.
 
I do remember your injury from last year! Yes, some of the drivers are a little too haphazard in such a small and narrow path.

Enjoyed your review.......I agree completely about Simpson’s......I’ll never ride it again. Glad you and your family enjoyed Hagrid’s though.....phenomenal ride.

Glad you had such a nice trip.
 
Hi nice brief report, enjoyed reading it. I agree completely on the Simpsons, nobody in my family likes it. We have been to RP just haven't stayed there yet but have it on the list to. We usually stay at Portofino and Cabana Bay.

I am glad that you didn't have any injuries this trip. One time before we left my DH blew out his knee and had to wear a brace the whole time. It sounds like you got a lot of use out of your pass.

I agree with you I would never do it without the express pass. It is worth it's wait in gold.
 



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