Jujumama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2016
Hi All
We just returned from our adventure in Florida and had a great time. I traveled with my Husband, oldest son (7) and youngest son (31/2). We live in Castle Rock, Co where it is pretty dry most of the time so I was actually looking forward to some humidity. We arrived on October 5th and visited my mother for a small family reunion with by brother, sister and their children. Our plan was to stay with my family before heading over to RPR on the 12th. We arrived in Florida just in time for Mathew so we spent most of the time preparing and staying indoors waiting to see what would happen. Fortunately it was rather calm and fairly uneventful.
Last year we stayed at the HRH Club Level in April and this year we decided on RPR because we couldn’t beat the price difference. We checked in to RPR at around 11:00 with no wait at check in. As reported, the property is beautiful and clean. The staff was friendly but there were two minor frustrations. At the front desk I was told that I had to go to the park (which I was prepared to do) to print out my AP passes. My brother in law who checked in later that day however was able to pick up his passes at the ticket counter at the RPR. Had I known I could do that I would have saved a lot of time in line at the park customer service desk. The other thing is that I had to ask for the Lei’s versus my brother in law who was welcomed with the lei and back scratcher. On the bright side, I was able to add my brother who was visiting the parks with us and staying overnight to our reservation at no charge. The person at the front desk added him as a 3rd child versus an adult to avoid charges. Overall, I would prefer saving the money any day.
Our family headed up to the club lounge where we stocked up on snacks and water before proceeding to the park. Tip: Either bring zip lock bags with you or use their cups with lids to bring snacks like goldfish with you. To compare the club lounge snacks at the Hard Rock are similar but I like HRH better because the snacks are prepackaged versus being tossed in a bowl for people to pick through. Not a huge deal but I had to often stop my own little one from sticking his hand in the bowl of goldfish, I am certain there are other parents that may not quite get there in time. Anywho, we headed for the boat dock for our adventure.
The park itself wasn’t too crowded. We started at Universal Studios and decided to go on the Minion’s ride which was a 10 minute wait with Express Pass. Then things went downhill. My sister was on her way back from Florida to NY with her newborn and got stuck in North Carolina. Because of Hurricane Mathew, The roads got flooded, detoured and they had no gas, no hotel vacancy and no cell service (they burrowed other cell phones). The rest of the morning was dedicated to trying to get her help for them. The entire state of North Carolina was out of Gas and we were more than 7 hours away. We managed to get in touch with Geico insurance and they were on their way to get them some gas so we relaxed a bit. With all the worry and calling for help for my sister, I was grateful to have the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the lounge. My kids were able to eat that and the other snacks while we were on the phone which prevented hunger meltdowns.
I wanted to show my mom Diagon Alley so on our way we decided to stop by the Transformers which was about a 10 minute wait. Kudos and thanks to Universal as my mother came along with us and did not have fast pass while the rest of my party did. She originally wasn’t going to go on any rides so we didn’t incur the additional expense. She decided to ride with us and the staff let her go on the express line with us instead of having me wait on the regular line. Initially I was excited for my youngest son. At 41” he was tall enough to ride but in retrospect, I could have waited. The ride wasn’t scary but has sudden stops and jerky movements that banged his little head around (mental note, no Spiderman for him either). We were getting a bit hungry so we walked to Louis where I shared a pizza with the kids and my husband had the Meatball sandwich. The food was pretty good. Nothing amazing (we are native New Yorkers and my husband is Italian so we are picky with Pizza) but it filled our bellies. We made it to Diagon Alley for a bit and by this time my youngest was passed out in the stroller. My oldest and his uncle went on the Simpsons while my mom and hubby hung around in a shady spot while my youngest son napped.
My sister called again to tell us that Geico couldn’t find gas either. My mom and brother had to leave the parks prematurely go help and after a 14 hour drive they managed to make it home safely. Not wanting my brother to completely lose out on his expenses to the park ( he bought park to park passes and 2 express passes), I convinced him to get the AP and to upgrade before we left the parks. As a Florida resident, I know he would get his money’s worth.
We said our goodbye to my family and waited for my brother in law who was flying in from Denver and had a late dinner at Jake’s. I ordered the crawfish bisque which was creamy and very good, It could have used breadstick or something to go with it. The kids ordered mac and cheese to share and they felt it was o.k. (they like the old fashioned Kraft mac and cheese). The rest of my party ordered the burger and chili fries which were all very good. To end the night, we walked around to get some Pokeman characters with my son and went to bed. The rooms were very similar to Hard Rock albeit a bit smaller. They were clean and comfortable. I had an awful view but was prepared for that, I also had a tub which turned out to be helpful with little ones.
We just returned from our adventure in Florida and had a great time. I traveled with my Husband, oldest son (7) and youngest son (31/2). We live in Castle Rock, Co where it is pretty dry most of the time so I was actually looking forward to some humidity. We arrived on October 5th and visited my mother for a small family reunion with by brother, sister and their children. Our plan was to stay with my family before heading over to RPR on the 12th. We arrived in Florida just in time for Mathew so we spent most of the time preparing and staying indoors waiting to see what would happen. Fortunately it was rather calm and fairly uneventful.
Last year we stayed at the HRH Club Level in April and this year we decided on RPR because we couldn’t beat the price difference. We checked in to RPR at around 11:00 with no wait at check in. As reported, the property is beautiful and clean. The staff was friendly but there were two minor frustrations. At the front desk I was told that I had to go to the park (which I was prepared to do) to print out my AP passes. My brother in law who checked in later that day however was able to pick up his passes at the ticket counter at the RPR. Had I known I could do that I would have saved a lot of time in line at the park customer service desk. The other thing is that I had to ask for the Lei’s versus my brother in law who was welcomed with the lei and back scratcher. On the bright side, I was able to add my brother who was visiting the parks with us and staying overnight to our reservation at no charge. The person at the front desk added him as a 3rd child versus an adult to avoid charges. Overall, I would prefer saving the money any day.
Our family headed up to the club lounge where we stocked up on snacks and water before proceeding to the park. Tip: Either bring zip lock bags with you or use their cups with lids to bring snacks like goldfish with you. To compare the club lounge snacks at the Hard Rock are similar but I like HRH better because the snacks are prepackaged versus being tossed in a bowl for people to pick through. Not a huge deal but I had to often stop my own little one from sticking his hand in the bowl of goldfish, I am certain there are other parents that may not quite get there in time. Anywho, we headed for the boat dock for our adventure.
The park itself wasn’t too crowded. We started at Universal Studios and decided to go on the Minion’s ride which was a 10 minute wait with Express Pass. Then things went downhill. My sister was on her way back from Florida to NY with her newborn and got stuck in North Carolina. Because of Hurricane Mathew, The roads got flooded, detoured and they had no gas, no hotel vacancy and no cell service (they burrowed other cell phones). The rest of the morning was dedicated to trying to get her help for them. The entire state of North Carolina was out of Gas and we were more than 7 hours away. We managed to get in touch with Geico insurance and they were on their way to get them some gas so we relaxed a bit. With all the worry and calling for help for my sister, I was grateful to have the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the lounge. My kids were able to eat that and the other snacks while we were on the phone which prevented hunger meltdowns.
I wanted to show my mom Diagon Alley so on our way we decided to stop by the Transformers which was about a 10 minute wait. Kudos and thanks to Universal as my mother came along with us and did not have fast pass while the rest of my party did. She originally wasn’t going to go on any rides so we didn’t incur the additional expense. She decided to ride with us and the staff let her go on the express line with us instead of having me wait on the regular line. Initially I was excited for my youngest son. At 41” he was tall enough to ride but in retrospect, I could have waited. The ride wasn’t scary but has sudden stops and jerky movements that banged his little head around (mental note, no Spiderman for him either). We were getting a bit hungry so we walked to Louis where I shared a pizza with the kids and my husband had the Meatball sandwich. The food was pretty good. Nothing amazing (we are native New Yorkers and my husband is Italian so we are picky with Pizza) but it filled our bellies. We made it to Diagon Alley for a bit and by this time my youngest was passed out in the stroller. My oldest and his uncle went on the Simpsons while my mom and hubby hung around in a shady spot while my youngest son napped.
My sister called again to tell us that Geico couldn’t find gas either. My mom and brother had to leave the parks prematurely go help and after a 14 hour drive they managed to make it home safely. Not wanting my brother to completely lose out on his expenses to the park ( he bought park to park passes and 2 express passes), I convinced him to get the AP and to upgrade before we left the parks. As a Florida resident, I know he would get his money’s worth.
We said our goodbye to my family and waited for my brother in law who was flying in from Denver and had a late dinner at Jake’s. I ordered the crawfish bisque which was creamy and very good, It could have used breadstick or something to go with it. The kids ordered mac and cheese to share and they felt it was o.k. (they like the old fashioned Kraft mac and cheese). The rest of my party ordered the burger and chili fries which were all very good. To end the night, we walked around to get some Pokeman characters with my son and went to bed. The rooms were very similar to Hard Rock albeit a bit smaller. They were clean and comfortable. I had an awful view but was prepared for that, I also had a tub which turned out to be helpful with little ones.
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