Travel: USA - Florida/Orlando
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Trip Review (part 8 - Hard Rock Hotel)
Hard Rock Hotel @Universal Resort Orlando:
After 11 nights at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, we moved to Hard Rock Hotel. We picked this hotel because it is nearest the universal parks. We had booked a deluxe room with park tickets and reserved breakfast seating at The Three Broomsticks. We had stayed here 5 years ago on our first visit to Orlando and loved its proximity to the parks, so we were looking forward to staying there again.
At checkin, this hotel ask you how much charging limit you want for your stay (park expenses can be charged to the card like Disney) and debit your credit card immediately. This is something to note. We spent half of what they charged and i am waiting to see when i get credited back. There is definitely unnecessary exchange losses. Our previous hotel, Disney’s Polynesian resort only held our CC details and and no charge was made to our card before final check out.
After check in, we were directed to the attraction counter to get our park tickets which came with our travel package. At the counter, I needed to swipe my credit card. Now, I had made this booking 9mths ahead and paid a $200 deposit with one CC. Subsequently, I went to Eastern Europe for a holiday and my CC was compromised and I had to cancel it. So when I made final payment for my Hard Rock Universal package I used my new CC and I informed the person on the phone of the cancellation of my old card. I was told that it was ok as they will use my latest credit card details to verify my info and issue tickets on my arrival. But of course that was not the case. The attraction counter at the hotel was not able to issue me my park tickets and I had to go to Citywalk or one of the parks’ guest relations to sort this out. We had planned of doing early entry to Wizarding World of Harry Potter the next day and did not want to risk further problems the next morning, so we had no choice but to walk to Universal Studios Park to sort it out before they close for the day. Then we were told that we need to go to another kiosk within the hotel to get our hotel guests Express Passes. I know the hotel and park have different owners unlike Disney, but partners can also work out seamless service. Having to go to 3 different counters within the hotel to get room, park tickets and express passes is totally ridiculous! This is new compared to our last stay here 5 years ago.
The next morning, we happily set off early to get to IOA before 8am. Then we realized that the usual exit by the pool from the hotel to the park is closed and opened at 8am only! The sign says to use a different "Woodstock" exit. The ladies at checkin counter and attraction counter obviously omitted to tell us we had to use a different exit when they told us about early entry! Luckily, we saw some people heading a certain way and decided to follow them, assuming correctly that they were headed for the parks too. This entrance add an additional 5mins walk to the parks.
Housekeeping here was also tardy. On our first day, we came back at 4pm for our nap to a room that has not been made. Now, the room itself. We had paid extra for a deluxe room which came with a sofa bed and suppose to be much bigger than a std room. The room is pretty big and comfortable for 5. There is a sink outside the bathroom which made it easy for 5 of us to get ready in the morning. While the room is pretty spacious, the bathroom is extremely small, that you need to stand aside to open the door in the bathroom. It is half the size of our bathroom at Disney. We stayed standard room previously, but don’t recall the bathroom being so small. Maybe Miracle Child can advise her experience.
Hard Rock charges $17 plus tax per night for guest parking compared to free Parking at Disney. That is ok, if again things go smoothly, which is what I expect if I need to pay for something. If you return late at night, the car park is very full especially on weekends and we need to make a few rounds and wait for someone to leave to get a lot. Our room card is suppose to be use as our car park entry card, but is erratic and don’t work most of the time. The hotel can’t do anything about it and even replacing our cards don’t help. They told us to call for help each time it doesn’t work. Again no such problem at Disney. We had no problem getting in and out with our room card keys.
The advantage of staying at an onsite hotel at universal is the express pass and early entry to Harry Potter. During our visit, most rides were only 5-10 mins wait without express pass. But the early entry to WWoHP was really good. We avoided the crowds. Thus the express pass privilege is probably more essential during more crowded periods.
The room at Hard Rock is cheaper and nicer (except the bathroom) than our room at the Disney’s Polynesian Resort even though the Poly is the second most expensive resort in Disney (because Poly is quite old), but frankly service here is no where near Disney. This stay was a disappointment compared to our previous stay 5 yrs ago. Don’t know if we are just unlucky this time or the hotel’s service has really deteriorated.
(To be continued…) -
Trip Review (part 9 - Universal’s Islands of Adventure incorporating the Wizarding World of Harry Potter)
We are huge HP fans and our older boys were looking forward to visiting WWoHP this entire trip. Staying at the Hard Rock gave us early entry to WWoHP privilege. The main rides in WWoHP does not have express pass access thus the early entry privilege was especially useful.
We set off early our first morning to iOA. Arrived just 5 mins after it opened at 8am for on site guests. The actual opening time is at 9am. We headed directly to WWoHP. Most people walk a big round to WWoHP via the main path and circle the entire Seuss Landing area to get to the Lost Continent before getting to WWoHP. There is a short cut which we took. Turn left and go round, the Green Eggs and Ham place as you enter Seuss Landing and this by passes the entire Seuss Landing area and takes you right to the Lost Continent. This saves a lot of walking and we ended up in front of lots of people.
First place to go to is Ollivander’s Wand. It was wonderful. It is a short show where the "wizard" picks someone to help select a wand. This attraction has a slow load factor as each show takes about 30 people only. So the lines gets long very quickly. We had a 5 min wait but after we were done, the line was already very long. After that, head for the Forbidden Journey Ride. There was no wait and was a walk through for us. The theming in the waiting area was fantastic. But as we walked through, we had little opportunity to look through the stuff thoroughly. So we went back after our ride just to walk through the castle again. There is a separate line for this and there is no wait. The ride itself is similar to Soarin’, the hand glider ride at Epcot, but much better with various HP scenes and effects like wind and fire etc. it twists and turns a lot and those prone to motion sickness needs to be prepared. After this we rode flight of the Hippogriff, a small coaster. The Dragon Challenge ride is only available after 11 am. Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon are the only 2 rides in WWoHP that have Express pass lines. We came back for Dragon later in the day.
We had our late BF at the 3 Broomsticks which is included in our package. Again, theming here is excellent. We had English breakfast, American Breakfast and pancakes. My DD did not have to order from the kids menu. She could order from the regular menu and they gave her kids portion which is fantastic. I tried the pumpkin juice but it has a cinnamon flavour and tasted weird. Butter beer is not available at 3 Broomstick at BF. We got ours at the various kiosks around. I like the regular version but my son likes the frozen version. The sweetness is in the foam and in the regular version, the drink seems less sweet.
After breakfast, we headed into Jurassic Park to take the rides and walk round the Discovery Centre which is quite fun for younger kids. Then we skipped Toon Lagoon because from past experience, we know that we will be soak even with ponchos. We did not want to walk round the park soaking wet in Dec weather and we didn’t think the rides were so great that it is worth getting soak for from previous experience. We headed directly to Marvel after that. Using our Express Passes, we had no wait and walked through all the rides. Hulk is a great coaster. Very smooth ride. My husband and son loves it and went multiple times. The Spider-Man ride is now updated and much better than 5 yrs ago. After this, we went to Lost Continent for the Sinbad show which was great. After the show, the guys went back to WWoHP to ride Dragon using their Express Pass, while I brought my little girl to Seuss Landing for the kiddy rides. iOA is actually more crowded than Universal Studios and some rides like Spiderman had waits for 20 mins or so. Thus the Express Pass is quite helpful here.
We ended our day around 3plus in the afternoon. With early entry and minimal wait time, touring was especially enjoyable and efficient. We went back a second day at 8am for WWoHP and did Ollivanders and Forbidden Journey multiple times and then went over to Universal Studios as it opened at 9am. The proximity of the 2 parks made park hopping especially easy unlike at Disney World. Thus the early entry to WWoHP privilege for on site guests is fantastic.
(To be continued …) -
Duplicate post…
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Trip Review (Part 10 - Universal Studios)
We hopped over to Universal studios just as it opened at 9am after spending almost an hour at WWoHP. Went anti-clockwise round the park. Started with ET ride, then went on to Simpsons twice and MIB 3 times. We love the MIB ride. It is a family favorite, similar to buzz light year in Disney where you ride in a vehicle and here you shoot aliens. But we think it is better than buzz. We like Disaster, an interesting attraction where it simulates the filming of a train collision scene in a movie. Revenge of the mummies here is better then the one in Singapore. Twister simulates a tornado scene. Despicable me is a simulator ride. The roller coaster here is Rip Ride Rock it. It has a vertical ascend. Pretty cool and very scary. They take a video of you in the ride besides the usual photo. My son said I look absolutely terrified in the ride. You get to choose the music you hear during the ride too. This is really a new generation roller coaster. The Termination 2 attraction is quite fun too. It is 3D show but there are real human characters moving in and out of the show. Done quite seamlessly. We skipped the kiddie rides as DD was not interested. She felt she was too old for the Barney show too so we did not see it.
As usual we were done by afternoon as the park is now crowded and also because we had express passes. We went back o nap before going back to the park again for our reserved dinner at Lombards and the Universal Cinematic Spectacular. We were able to do that because Hard Rock was only 10 mins walk from Universal Studios.
For our dinner package at Lombards, we has a choice of apps, entree and non-alcoholic drinks. 3 of us chose the fisherman’s basket of scallop, fish and shrimps, DH has the seafood pasta. DD had her kids pasta too. Apps we had lobster bisque, salad and buffalo wings. It was too much food. After dinner, we were shown to the outdoor patio for our buffet dessert and coffee, while we waited for the show. It was very comfortable and we had a perfect view. It was a show showing clips of the different movies made by Universal in its last 100 years. This year Universal celebrates it’s 100th anniversary. The screen is actually a waterfall. Effect is very good. There are fireworks accompanying the show too. DS thought it was fantastic and very enjoyable. It was a great way to end the evening.
(To be continued …) -
Trip Review (Part 11 and Final - dinner show and other meals)
Sleuths Mystery Dinner
We did the Sleuth Mystery Dinner. It is a dinner with a who dunnit show and guests get to question the suspects and guess who is the murderer. We saw the Squire’s Inn.
We started dinner with a salad. For the main course, I had the Cornish hen, while my husband and 2 boys paid the $3 extra each for the prime rib. Our 6yo girl had the kid’s meal of Mac and cheese and chicken fingers. If she had wanted, they could have chosen from the adult menu too. The food was delicious. The guys especially loved their prime rib which was done medium rare. In fact rare for beef to be so done so nicely in such dinner shows. For dessert we had a choice of chocolate cake, key lime pie and strawberry shortcake. Service was also good.
The show has a simple plot and was easy to understand. Even our 6yo was able to follow and participated in our discussion on who the murder is. The actors were quite funny. All in all a good dinner with good entertainment. Well worth the price.
Texas de Brazil
This is a brazilian style steak house. There was a buffet spread of apps, consisting mainly salad, soup, cold cuts and even sushi. My advise is not to eat much of these and save your stomach for the meats.
They came round pretty quickly with the meats and slice the meat onto your plate. There were different type of sausages, lamp chops, house special steak (our family’s favorite), filet mignon wrapped with bacon, etc etc. They came round so fast and the were so many to choose from! We filled up pretty quickly and simply did not have room for dessert after that.
We enjoyed our meal and the steak was really good. However, it does not really work out for us price wise because we are small eaters and the bill came to $300 (inc tips). This place works better for people who have huge appetite.
International House of Pancakes (IHOP)
This is a chain of 24hour pancake outlet. They sell non pancakes too. Menu is typical American diner. Price is reasonable and every time we visit US, we come here for breakfast at least once. We went for the usual staple of pancakes, eggs and sausages/bacon for breakfast. You get to choose many syrup flavored for your pancakes which can be flavored too or plain buttermilk. This is a can’t go wrong breakfast place in my opinion.
This final instalment completes my review of our Orlando trip. Hope I have not bore all of you with my long winded write-ups. Hope they will help anyone planning their Orlando trip next year! Cheers! -
DNLS, THANK YOU THANK YOU for so unselfishly sharing the details of your trip.
at which age between 5-10 will it most suitable for the child to visit Orlando and be able to enjoy the rides? -
GLORYmum:
Hi Glorymum, you are most welcome.DNLS, THANK YOU THANK YOU for so unselfishly sharing the details of your trip.
at which age between 5-10 will it most suitable for the child to visit Orlando and be able to enjoy the rides?
My DD is six now. She is tall for her age and thus could ride all the rides. The problem is that she is a scaredy cat and doesn't dare to go on coasters. When we went previously, my DS2 was 8 and he went all the huge coaster rides. So really, it depends on the height and personality of the child. There is a lot of walking, really really a lot, so it is very tiring and we solve that problem by resting and napping is most afternoons. This allowed us to enjoy lots of night shows and activities. Otherwise you get burnt out after a few days and it really ruin the vacation, or you end up skipping lots of things which is a pity since you have travelled so far for the vacation.
One more think I realize about different age kids is that your experience is also different. We did to do the kiddy rides and princess stuff previously with our boys as they are older. This time, we split up sometimes for the boys to do their stuff and for DD to do the kiddy and girly stuff. For example, we did not do Seuss Landing at IOA previously, but I did it with DD this time, it was pretty fun too. Also, when the kids are younger, they have a certain innocence and enjoy very simple things. They still believe in the magic of disney. It is wonderful when I see my DD's face light up in joy or shyness when she wears her princess costumes and is addressed as princess by the cast members and characters. The genuineness of her joy when she speaks to the face characters and they hug her. Such things can only be experienced with younger kids. So for me in particular, even though this is our second trip, I had a very different experience myself too.
For my boys, this is their second trip and while my DS1 seems outgrowing it already, he was really taken in by WWoHP. DS2 still enjoyed his coasters tremendously. To me, I am very happy we have many sit down meals planned. Around the Themeparks it is always going around and doing things. No meaningful interaction with the kids. Each day when we sit down for our meal, we either discuss what we want to do (at breakfast) or what we had done at (lunch or dinner) and discuss likes and dislikes.
Have fun planning and feel free to pop any questions here! -
Hi dnls thanks for reply.
When we were at ocean park legoland n theme parks in GC we usually start fr park open till close and drain out by evening. We try to Cover as much as we can at each park.
Do u manage to cover mostly all the rides in 6 hours ? -
GLORYmum:
Yes, you can do that at GC. We did that too. But not in Orlando. The parks are much bigger in Orlando. They are generally more spread out within the parks so more walking. Here's the amount of time we spent:Hi dnls thanks for reply.
When we were at ocean park legoland n theme parks in GC we usually start fr park open till close and drain out by evening. We try to Cover as much as we can at each park.
Do u manage to cover mostly all the rides in 6 hours ?
1. Magic Kingdom : day 1 - 8am (bf)- 2pm, back at 4pm for Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique. Left at 6.45pm for dinner
Day 2 - 8am (bf)- 2pm.
Night 1- 6.30 pm. left after dessert party and fireworks at 8.30pm
Night 2- 7 pm dinner then left
Spent most time at MK because of DD and it is the most crowded park with most things for younger kids.
2. Epcot : Day 1 - 9am - 3plus. Return for dinner around 7.30pm. Left after illumination at 10pm
Day 2 - 9am - 3plus
3. Hollywood Studios - 8am (early entry)- 7.30pm. Flat out
4. animal Kingdom - 8am (bf) to 4pm
5. Legoland - 10.15am - 4plus
6. iOA - 8am (WWoHP) - 3plus
Went back on second day for one hour during early entry just to do WWOHP again.
7. US - 9am - 3plus
8. Seaworld - 11am to 6plus ( had an early dinner inside Seaworld)
9. Discovery Cove - 8.30 am - 5pm. This is a relaxing swimming day.
We did IOA and US pretty quickly because on early entry and express pass.
All in all generally spend 1/2 to 3/4 days in the parks each day, choosing to return again rather than go all out. It conserve our energy. Exception was HS, becos of the Fantasmic show and yet, there wasn't enough things to do to justify 2 days there. -
Do u then need to buy two days tickets to return on the second day?
My elder one is crazy about roller coaster rides, which park for the most or more thrilling rides ?
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