Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Disney We Go Finally - Day 8 – RPR, Islands of Adventure & Hard Rock Cafe

[caitlinsmummy]

Day 8 – Royal Pacific Resort, Islands of Adventure and Hard Rock Café

I was up at 7 this morning when Chris woke me going to the bathroom so I got up and ready and sorted the rest of the overnight bag before having a cuppa and catching up on blog comments. I then had a quick call with my bestie whilst I started making breakfast. Bacon, eggs and pancakes again.

Noah came in at 7.40am and the rest followed at 8am when breakfast was ready. I loaded the dishwasher up, had a quick clean round and we set off at 8.45am to head to Universal. We arrived at Loews Royal Pacific and checking in for the night and collected our express passes. We got chatting to a team member who gave Chris, Thomas and I birthday badges. Check in took around 30-40 minutes but we weren’t in a rush, we’ve done Universal before so we knew what we wanted to do and weren’t too bothered about. Chris took a recreation of our 2018 photo with the kids, they're so grown up now

We got the water taxi over to Islands of Adventure, going through security Chris got something confiscated out of his wallet, he was told he could take it back to his room (which wasn’t ready) or could just throw it away. He wanted to take it back I told him to throw it and we can get a new one when we get home. It was some sort of card cutter thing, I’ll have to ask him what it was, but it was never picked up by any Disney security which was strange.

After the boat we went to guest services as we needed to collect our annual passes. We had paid for these in 2020 before we couldn't travel so we were given a code to collect new annual passes when we returned, they are all valid for 12 months now (looking for a sneaky Christmas or February half term cheap trip to get some more use out of them ). The queue here was quite big and took around 40 minutes to get through. I also got the Access Pass for Noah as we can't ride Hagrids with the express passes and there’s no way he’d have been able to queue for an hour plus.

Snack

We brought our refillable mug from 2018, we had actually bought 2 but somehow one got lost in transit so we only had one now, it was fine though, we had plenty of water we brought with us too. We stopped at the little cart on the right hand side on our way to Seuss Landings. This is $10.99 to refill, but I have a preferred pass so we saved $1.10.

First up had to be Cat in The Hat as it always is for us. Noah bought a Thing 1 in the shop as he bought Thing 2 on our 2019 trip. Thomas bought some sweets which he didn’t like Noah really wanted this hat but we didn't have the room in the suitcase We seen The Grinch but the kids weren't bothered about getting a photo

We then rode the High in the Sky after this we headed round to Hagrid and got a return time, the time was showing as 90 minutes but we were given a return time of 1hr 15mins so we decided to head for lunch.

I hadn’t planned anywhere for lunch but knew we didn’t want a lot as we had Hard Rock Café at 4pm. We settled on Three Broomsticks, Caitlin and I joined the queue whilst Chris and the boys played with their wands (Noah bought Caitlin’s wand as she no longer wanted it) when they’d finished they came and joined us in the queue.

Lunch

The queue for the Three Broomsticks didn’t seem too bad so I we decided to eat here. As usual the kids had their sandwiches/wraps/lunchables. Chris and I decided to share a Fish and Chips and got a Butterbeer for us all to share too (we much prefer the US version to the UK one!). These were nice enough but quite a small portion for the price we thought, probably wouldn’t go there again either but it was nice to say we’d done it. The theming in the restaurant is amazing and great for Harry Potter fans. The butterbeer was $7.99 and fish and chips $16.99, we saved $2.50 with the annual pass.

This came to $23.94 with tax.

When we finished it wasn’t quite time for our Hagrids return time so we walked round to the castle and rode Flight or the Hippogriff, very short but an enjoyable ride. We then went back for our Hagrids return time. We all absolutely loved this ride, even Caitlin who doesn't really like roller-coasters. It’s so hard to explain it but it’s so immersive and so many different ride technologies all in one! Everyone declared it their favourite ride of the holiday!

Next we ride Forbidden Journey. I'd taken a dramamime earlier as I struggle a lot with motion sickness and I honestly didn't feel too bad on it. I did keep my eyes closed for some of it though

We then got a return time for Velocicoaster for 2.55pm. It was 2.15pm so we decided to do Jurassic Park River Journey and King Kong.

We were in the express line for Kong for over 1/2 an hour, we were informed towards the front that there was only 2 cars running. Noah became very disruptive and overloaded, he was really struggling. I told Chris I would leave with him as I don’t really like the ride anyway but by this point the queue had started moving quite quickly again and Noah said he wanted to go on. We managed to calm him down just before the ride.

We were now starting to run late as we had a 4pm reservation for Hard Rock Café. We had our return time for Velocicoaster so we headed round there. I opted to not ride as we didn’t have time for parent swap with how long Kong had taken but Caitlin offered to stay with Noah in the family room so Chris, Thomas and I got to ride together. Whilst waiting the ride broke down, my anxiety was through the roof. You aren’t allowed phones so we had to leave them with Caitlin, I was panicking of how Noah was behaving whilst he was with Caitlin and the fact we couldn’t get in touch with them. I could feel my anxiety almost turning into a panic attack, I was just about to leave when the ride restarted again it was probably only 5-10 minutes delay but it felt like the longest 5 minutes of my life. We all really enjoyed this too. Thomas said it was better than Hagrids! Chris and I disagree

We came off and went to the family room and everything was absolutely fine, Noah was sat in the pushchair on his tablet and Caitlin said he’d been fine thankfully!

Now I had intended on going to Hagrids and getting a return time for when we got back from Hard Rock, so we left Velocicoaster and headed round the right of Hogsmede as that’s where the line was this morning but it wasn’t there now! So we just left it and rushed to Hard Rock Café.

Dinner

This was Chris's birthday choice for dinner, Hard Rock Cafe. We were seated immediately even though we were almost 30 minutes late, they were great about it thankfully. Our server was really nice and got our drinks whilst we looked at the menu. The kids drinks are included with their meals, Chris got a coke and I got a water.

Chris ordered Chicken Fajitas - $23.99

I ordered a side of Caesar Salad - $6.25

Caitlin ordered kid’s chicken tenders with fruit - $9.95

Thomas ordered kid’s mac n cheese with French fries - $9.95

Noah ordered kid’s plain pasta with French fries - $9.95

We all really enjoyed our food in here, the service was fab and the atmosphere too. We would most likely return in future. I made a bit of a boo boo when I asked for the bill, I didn’t actually realise I could use my annual pass for discount, our server authorised our card then I realised. She was great and managed to reverse the transaction and applied our discount. We saved $9.61 with our annual pass and our new total was $58.01, we tipped $12.75 as the service had been great and she was fab at sorting the bill out after I messed up.

So in total this came to $70.76

After dinner we headed back to Islands of Adventure where we got a return time for Hagrids then we walked round to ride Hulk, again Caitlin offered to sit with Noah. He was under strict instructions to stay in the pushchair and listen to what Caitlin said. She set up near the rollercoaster to see if they could watch us on the ride. This was Thomas’s first time on Hulk and he loved it. Noah was absolutely fine again and he said he seen us on the ride which he loved, he can’t wait till he can go on though We then rode Spiderman (even I did!) I remember this from when I came in 2003, it was ok but I just don’t enjoy these type of rides.

A slow walk to the Island Trading Store and Chris got a hoody and mug for his birthday and Caitlin got some candy. I stopped at Cinnabon with Noah on the way and caught up with the rest.

Snack

Sadly I forgto to grab a photo but I've popped a stock photo in instead, but whilst Chris and the kids were having a look around the shop near the exit I decided to pop to Cinnabon and grab a snack. I’d been dying to get something, I ended up going for a cinnabon, I got the pecan bon bites. These were beautiful, I enjoyed them so much. I only managed 2 that night and ended up having the other 2 for breakfast the next morning I honestly loved these so much, I NEED to find a cinnabon near me. I think there was about 4/5 in a pack and I also got my annual pass discount, I’m unsure what the discount was as I don’t have the receipt, but the total on my revolut was $5.83

After this we walked over to Hogsmede where we changed Thomas's wand as it wasn't working earlier. Caitlin and Thomas got one each 3 years ago on our trip, Caitlin didn't want hers so sold it to Noah In the wand shop they replaced Thomas's wand free of charge. We then went for our return time for Hagrids. Again. Absolutely amazing! Even better in the dark I think. Chris and I both said it's probably the best ride ever! Thomas decided Hagrids is much better than Velocicoaster after all

Chris and Noah caught the night time show as I was sorting Thomas out with his wand. We left just before 8pm and obviously it was very busy as it was kicking out time.

We got to RPR at 9pm, got into our room and all had showers. I phoned reception as there was no rollaway bed in the room. They brought one up within 5 mins. Much better than the 2hrs from Holiday Inn! I think I was asleep by around 10pm, such a fun filled day.

[Milpston]

Lovely day at universal. You certainly smashed through the big rides. Really can’t wait for get back one day and do hagrids and velocicoaster. Nice looking meal in hard rock and I seem to remember we were pleasantly surprised with it in 2018.

[WIGGYSMUM]

Kelly what a brilliant day for you all , even with the anxiety 😟
We absolutely love Universal, the best in my opinion
We are also looking forward to a stay at RPR next trip !
No wonder you were in bed so early
Emma x

[Rescuer]

Such a great day. You did loads.
I can’t quite decide between hagrids and Velocicoaster as they are both so different and both awesome. I did describe Velocicoaster as a thing of beauty though so maybe it just pips into top place for me 😂

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Milpston

Lovely day at universal. You certainly smashed through the big rides. Really can’t wait for get back one day and do hagrids and velocicoaster. Nice looking meal in hard rock and I seem to remember we were pleasantly surprised with it in 2018.

See more...

We really did, Noah can't wait till he can join in though! I think Caitlin may even venture onto some of them too I think you'll love Hagrid's and Velocicoaster.

Hard Rock was surprisingly nice! It was a lovely caesar salad. I'm going to Krakow in a few weeks and gonna have a nosey see if the Hard Rock there has a caesar salad x

Originally Posted by WIGGYSMUM

Kelly what a brilliant day for you all , even with the anxiety 😟
We absolutely love Universal, the best in my opinion
We are also looking forward to a stay at RPR next trip !
No wonder you were in bed so early
Emma x

See more...

It was such a lovely day, I just wish I could calm the anxiety around Noah I'm just such a worrier with him as I knew he only responds to certain people if something were to happen.

We did really enjoy it, more so that Thomas could actually join in with the rides a little more too.

Ahh we love RPR, we prefer it over HRH, such a beautiful hotel, thanks Emma x

Originally Posted by Rescuer

Such a great day. You did loads.
I can’t quite decide between hagrids and Velocicoaster as they are both so different and both awesome. I did describe Velocicoaster as a thing of beauty though so maybe it just pips into top place for me 😂

See more...

Thanks Wendy. I get what you mean, I think us doing Hagrids more than velocicoaster didn't help our judgement but it wouldn't have been fair to leave Caitlin and Noah again. I'd be interested to see what you think in the summer and if anything changes x

[Goldia]

Wow a busy day at Islands of adventure. I'm glad everything went well in the family room and you needn't have worried. Lots of fun rides today. Oh, and the kids all look fab in their Thing t shirts.

[jas72]

What a great day we love RPR and Universal.

Glad to hear HR Café were good we had a few bad experiences with them 2014-2015 time so glad they are back on track love the theming and looking forward to trying them again.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Wow a busy day at Islands of adventure. I'm glad everything went well in the family room and you needn't have worried. Lots of fun rides today. Oh, and the kids all look fab in their Thing t shirts.

See more...

Thank you, I need to remember Caitlin is 15 and she can be responsible and so can Noah I was gutted we forgot to get a photo with the Universal Ball x

Originally Posted by jas72

What a great day we love RPR and Universal.

Glad to hear HR Café were good we had a few bad experiences with them 2014-2015 time so glad they are back on track love the theming and looking forward to trying them again.

See more...

It's a lovely hotel, definitely our fave and the smell is just amazing, wish I could smell it right now instead of these stinky crisps Chris just opened

Yeah it was really good and the staff were great too Definitely worth a try xx

[Fuellady]

Fabulous and busy day at Universal. You really did manage to fit an awful lot in, considering you had made breakfast at the villa before you even left to go there.

I'm glad everything was ok with Noah when you left him with Caitlin but it's easy to get anxious as a parent - we're always worrying!

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Fuellady

Fabulous and busy day at Universal. You really did manage to fit an awful lot in, considering you had made breakfast at the villa before you even left to go there.

I'm glad everything was ok with Noah when you left him with Caitlin but it's easy to get anxious as a parent - we're always worrying!

See more...

Ahh the perks of being the early riser

It is, I don't think ever goes away does it? X