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 .
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 . It was a bit annoying, but hey I was heading to Orlando-no worries I can sleep later.
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 . 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 .
DH starts talking about going to the pool and then remembered that he didn't pack swim trunks . 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 .
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 .
Adventures to be continued....
We
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 .
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 . It was a bit annoying, but hey I was heading to Orlando-no worries I can sleep later.
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 . 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 .
DH starts talking about going to the pool and then remembered that he didn't pack swim trunks . 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 .
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 .
Adventures to be continued....
We