Cats, Candy, and Chaos: official 1st-timer UOR TR (May 2017)

toonaspie

Just a poser
Joined
May 30, 2010
Well...we did it!

We made it to Orlando and back! Just not for Disney though. But hey, I'm all for new experiences and Universal was a great alternative.

I've only been to Universal once back in 1998 for a day (before it was a full fledge resort) as we were on the way to WDW. The only thing I remember from that trip was the Earthquake ride, only cause I remember my dad joking it up with a Japanese tourist that was in line with us how this must be a normal thing for him.

Anyway, there's so much to talk about with Universal, I wouldn't know where to begin.

To give you the basics: It was me (33) and my friend D. (31), from May 7-10th. We stayed at Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

As far as pre-planning goes: This was supposed to be a graduation gift from D's mom. She booked the vacation through her AAA agent. Truth be told, booking Universal through AAA is not something I would recommend.

Before I explain why, let's talk about the Universal Vacation Packages: *sigh* Well...you guys were right about them. They are bad. I mean, I would have taken heed of all the warnings had I been the one actually paying for this vacation. But because this was being paid by D's mom, I didn't think it was that big a deal. But as we got closer to vacation time, I was regretting all the choices we booked (hotel, etc) knowing I couldn't change them since this was a last minute booking as it was (withing the 45 day limit). As far as the discounts go, when I kept doing the math in my head, I'm almost certain we saved NOTHING booking through AAA. I'm pretty sure the lady just went straight to the Universal website and booked everything off of that. The AAA in our city was closed down for some reason so we had to travel 30-40 mins away just to pay the same price had we done it ourselves at home. I knew that booking tickets and hotel separately was cheaper, but I was not aware of fluctuating rates or how the AP rates could have worked in our favor (thus why I failed math, I guess). There are also similar restrictions and fees when booking with AAA plus all the additional coupons and stuff we were given were “mostly” worthless. I'll explain more on that later.

As the week closed in before our vacation, there was a bit or personal drama going on at home (which I won't explain) but it almost resulted in our vacation being canceled. D. insisted it moved forward though. We were to leave on Saturday night to book a hotel near the airport as our flight was at 6am. I won't get into detail about it, but D went somewhere all day Saturday, didn't come home until 9 pm much to my frustration. We left quickly after and booked a hotel near the airport as it was still an easier option for us. Though as a result of what he was doing and wasting time on that day, we only got 4-5 hours before we had to catch the shuttle to the airport.

The flight was only a couple hours long and I managed to get a little bit of sleep.

For all the bad about Universal Vacation Packages, one good thing I liked though was that you can go up to the Universal desk at the airport and get all your stuff there, including your park tickets. So that's one less thing to deal with at the hotel. I think there was some construction on International Drive, because our Universal Superstar Shuttle was taking tons of backroads as opposed to the highway to get there. Our driver nearly got into a collision on the way, too. That's the Superstar Shuttle for ya!

Lotta detail here, I'll try to trim it down for the rest of the report. I got SOME pictures but we're private people, I would prefer not posting our faces so whatever pics I do have, will be people free. Stay tuned.
 
Can't wait to read more! I'm a first timer going in June with a group of friends and staying at Cabana. Love reading CBBR trip reports. :)
 
Thanks for sharing - looking forward to your report :thumbsup2
Going to Universal in July (first time ever to Florida in the summer - ugh) and also taking a shuttle booked by AAA, will have to check if is it the same company; hope it is not a scary drive like you had! :goodvibes
 
Hi looking forward to your report. We will be returning to CBBR in July/August. We love that hotel it is a lot of fun:thumbsup2
 


Silly me, I shoulda posted my PTR to the 1st post. https://www.disboards.com/threads/l...-to-return-to-orlando-mouse-free-ptr.3593355/

I'll probably make this TR more organized than it is right now when I'm done. Also, I won't be posting pictures after all due to the fact that I would have to load them via URL (which would require 10x more work on my end).

Now let's talk about the hotel I stayed at: Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

I picked this because I didn't think I needed the EP benefit given the time I was going. Plus if I did do future visits to the UOR, I wanted to start out with the cheapest on-property resort and work my way up.

I thought I would regret this hotel choice later on, but that ended up being far from the case. D. was probably not a fan of the 50s/60s retro theming but I love what was done here. It's colorful and well-themed without going overboard or tacky. Not an easy thing to accomplish for a Value Resort but CBBR pulls it off well. There's a great atmosphere throughout the resort.

We requested a room closest to the lobby and boy did they deliver. Room 4602, just steps away from the elevators that are right next to Bayliner Diner. And not only that: we got an upgrade! We originally paid for a standard poolside room (as was part of the 2-day, 2-day free package) and got a Tower Family Suite. This worked out great for us because I was dreading how small the room was going to be compared to our spacious hotel room near the airport on the night before. The living area was used mostly for my stuff as I brought more than D. did, and not having to share sinks was an added bonus.

Another great thing too: as we were in the Continental building, it was quite a luxury to be able to slip into Bayliner Diner and grab a drink or snack on your way to or from the hotel room. If that's something you would like I would request that building. If you just want to be closest to the bus stop, the Americana is your best bet. I believe on our last day, they started installing signage for the Beachside and Bayside towers right underneath the signs for Americana and Continental.

Speaking of the buses, they're not bad at all. There is some confusion as there's a sign for the bus stop were there's circular benches, but the actual bus stop where you must wait to go to the parks was on the far end of the actual bus areas. Kinda annoying to make us walk to the farthest bus stop since it was the slow season and the closer bus stops weren't even in use. But they were quick and never over-crowded. At the parking garage, you have your own dedicated area where you can wait for Cabana Bay buses in complete shade and right around the corner from the escalators.

There is one disappointment: it seems that the 60's themed buses that used to run for Cabana Bay are no more, as I did not ride nor saw one the entirety of my trip. :( Understandable though considering the new additions to the resort would mean more need for resort buses and using generic Universal ones are a cost saving measure. They're alright though.

Another gripe I guess: the bathrooms don't really have proper venting or fans. (I don't know why hotel rooms wouldn't have this.) If you don't like having your bathroom get too moist and foggy while you shower, I recommend bringing a small fan and have it running when you shower.

I was expecting hard beds for a hotel of this pricing tier, but to my surprise they were rather soft and they do give you plenty of blanket.

The Star Service was quick and helpful. It's one magic button you press on your phone to get the front desk.

We didn't do much else at the hotel, as far as restaurants and amenities. We're not pool people but we did get a nice view of the pools from our room, including a view of the Volcano if you turn your head right.

Overall: this hotel worked out great and alot of that is due to our timing. I would highly recommend this hotel during the less crowded season. (The family suite is great for those doing longer trips as well.) It was never too crowded or noisy for us. There were nooks and crannys throughout the hotel to explore that added to the fun. Kudos.

I cant seem to condense this TR, can I? Tomorrow, I'll start talking about the actual trip.
 
Last edited:
Sorry for being late continuing. Work and post-vacation blues are a dangerous mix.

I guess one thing I forgot to mention in my last post: I assume the check-in desks at the airport are just for those who booked the package? I dunno. Anyway for those wondering, Universal actually has a desk in both terminals at MCO. Depending on when the Superstar Shuttle picks you up, your shuttle might have to drive around the airport to go to the other terminal as well. The convenience of it all ain't that bad but I can see how cost can be a factor. The only reason we agreed to Superstar Shuttle was the price didn't make or break the bank for us as we were only a party of 2.

To avoid an uber detailed minute-to-minute account of our day-by-day adventures: I will focus on What We Ate first then save the actual attractions for later.

Sunday
Breakfast – Bayliner Diner
Lunch – Fast Food Boulevard (Krusty Burger)
Dinner – Monsters Cafe

Monday
Lunch – Leaky Cauldron
Dinner – Toothsome Chocolate Emporium

Tuesday
Lunch – Three Broomstix
Dinner – Mythos

Wednesday
Lunch – The Cowfish

As you can see, we missed breakfast a billion times during this trip. I'll explain why in the next part of this TR.

There isn't much I can say about the food. I ate mostly meat sandwiches and potato wedges at nearly all of these places. There weren't a lot of good alternate options outside of that. I guess food is the one area that I think Universal could improve upon. While I did get to experience nearly ALL the restaurants I wanted to experience, I don't think we experienced them to their fullest potential (we didn't get milkshakes at Toothsome cause D thought they looked too hearty which I guess he's right). We did do a different place for EVERY MEAL which was a major goal here.

I feel we should have gone to Louie's that first night instead of Monsters, but that is pretty much it. You guys weren't kidding about the quality of food at Monsters! :crazy2: LOL

I almost regret not getting the Quick Service Meal plan, but meal plans can be complicated and our eating plans were unpredictable. I also felt getting those Freestyle tumblrs (both for the hotel and the parks) would be a big waste of money and lugging them around would have been inconvenient. So we didn't bother with that. Though it did make eating at Bayliner difficult as we didn't know where to get cups for the fountain areas for those without the tumblrs. We had to get bottles from the grab-n-go area instead.

Oddly enough, the Cowfish ended up being my favorite. I had the All American Double Bacon Cheesburgooshi. I am a very picker and can't handle authentic foods well. I felt I had to try something significant to the restaurant or it would have pointless for me to eat there. So I order this without the veggies and it was great! What a creative way to combine burgers and sushi together!

We did stop by Florean Fortescue's for ice cream, got a Flaming Moe at Moe's, got a giant pink donut from Lardlad's (bought another to get for my dad as a present) and got a pretzel and Squishie at Duff Gardens. Florean Fortescue's doesn't let you do taste samples FYI. I did the butterbeer soft serve and it was pretty meh. I hate to say this too but...we tried both the frozen and regular butterbeers and they were...okay. Kinda disappointed as I was expecting more of a rich, creamy flavor to them. It didn't seem like you were tasting any flavor at all with them. It's hard to get to the foam cream unless you drink all the way to the bottom. The pumpkin juice was good though. I love pumpkin flavor foods. (I go nuts during the pumpkin food season.) You definitely get the pumpkin taste in that pumpkin juice.

The next post will be all about the rides and junk. It will be likely long and detailed like crazy so it probably will be a weekend project for me. :badpc:
 


Lemme just say one thing: taking motion sickness medicine really saved me on this trip! I don't I would have been able to do anything the whole I was there otherwise.

To sum things up: We had tickets for 4 days but only did 3. We did do the buy-2 get-2 days free package so this wasn't any financial loss to us. Each of the three days we would take a bus back to the hotel for a mid-afternoon break and it was great. Very short trip with the bus.

I've come to the conclusion that using EE or EMH on any trip with D. is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. The second day he wanted to sleep in but slept in a bit too much and we didn't make it into the parks till around 11. Was not happy about that. Plus the lack of proper venting in the bathrooms caused his morning showers to take longer than they should have.


Now let's get to the rides.

Having no memory of my USF experience from 1998, and having not been in a theme park since 2007, I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into and I feel my vertigo and fear of heights have gotten worse over the years. Nonetheless, after about a day I managed to adjust somewhat.

Rides I loved:
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (I almost didn't go on this one. I was THAT terrified.)
  • Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
  • Amazing Adventures of Spiderman
  • Transformers 3D
  • The Simpsons Ride (a huge hit with D. We rode this one once each day we were there.)
  • Skull Island Reign of Kong
  • E.T. Adventure
  • Men in Black Alien Attack
  • The Cat in the Hat
Rides I hated:
  • Despicable Me (the immersion dies when you can tell you're obviously sitting in an open theater and not something like Star Tours)
  • Shrek 4D (tries t0o be hard to be a ride and barely gives a truly remote 4D experience like Disney does)
  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Revenge of the Mummy (good god! This was my Space Mountain experience all over again! People in my train got bruises!)
  • High in the Sky Trolley (broke down while we were on open track of course, nearly had a panic attack)
  • Popeye Barges (got waaaay too soaked. We had to walk the whole way back to the hotel to change and dry off)
  • These weren't all the rides we did. But they were the most significant.
Other thoughts:

Alot of the queues in these parks have very high open ramp queues. Not good for people with vertigo and a fear of heights. The one in High in the Sky Trolley was the worse for me.


To show you how pathetic I am with heights now, I found both Twirl 'n Hurl and OneFishTwoFishRedFishBlueFish to be terrible experiences.

Twirl 'n Hurl now has an Express Pass queue.

Pterodactyl Flyers (which we did not ride) now has a Virtual Line queue.

The cars in Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse coaster and Flight of the Hippogriff are ridiculously small. I know it has to do with them being kid coasters but they can feel being cramped. Also why to kiddie coasters mean equal heights, shorter duration? I kinda wish they were vice versa.

Sorry if this came off sloppy. I just wanna wrap this up so my next post will be my closing thoughts.
 
So I think I'll just wrap this up now.

We quite enjoyed the trip. Oddly enough, we didn't spend as much time doing the Harry Potter stuff as we would have liked. I think it was because we did it all midday when the heat would get to us.

We did watch the Cinematic Spectacular one night, but we watched it from the completely wrong spot. We watched from the Duff Gardens area where we could sit and watch the projections. However I wasn't aware that the show had fireworks that come from a specific spot (somewhere north of Simpsons) and had to crane my neck to the right to see like a fraction of it. :p

We did however, pick a perfect time to go to Universal overall. It was hot but not completely scorching. We never waited in a queue for longer than 30 mins (and even walked on a few). Whenever a ride was longer than that, we would come back later and the wait times went down. So no regrets staying at CBBR. It was a great hotel for a great experience.

I would love to go again when the new additions (particularly for anything HP related) come along. Would definitely upgrade to a deluxe hotel as we never did try to do the water taxi.

As far as compared to Disney: Well, D. did like Universal a bit more than Disney. Disney still holds a special place in my heart plus the rides are less intense and far more tolerable compared to the numerous surprises Universal threw at me. :scared: However, Universal deserves an A+ for effort. I would love to see and do more theme parks with the look and feel of Disney as opposed to the regular amusement park. Hope to visit Universal again in the future (maybe with a combined Disney trip maybe.)

But in the meantime, it's time for me to start saving up to go back to strictly Disney again. It can't be helped: I'm so Disney deprived! :earboy2:

THE END.
 
Thanks for a great report. I am glad you enjoyed your stay, and found what you liked and didn't like as much.

I am a ride weenie, and rarely do all the rides at Universal. I also take medicine, and even then, have to close eyes sometimes. Screens and me are not good. But, I love Universal. I like not having to get up early as I always stay at a hotel with the free express pass. I also like going back to my hotel to enjoy their stuff too. I like everything being so compact. But, we are mouse fans too. So most of the time, we spend some time in Disney, and more time at Universal.

I think as kids get older, the more thrill ride park is more fun. A few years ago, my young teens said they were done Disney. Fast forward 5 years, and we are doing Disney and Universal again. Seems Disney does have some place in my kids' hearts. Me, I really enjoy both parks. I do more of every ride in Disney, but I like the no planning and relaxed pace at Universal.

Yeah, and we only ate at Monster's once too.
 
Sorry I'm late in replying here

You presented an honest personal experience of your vacation

I'm glad there were some rides you really liked
And thrilled you did not face long line waits in the park

Everyone does not have the same experiences as others
But it was good you are sharing with others here to know in advance what did not suit you
I'm sure others have had the same thoughts but hesitant to say it

With such a rough start of the trip, glad you did get to explore the darkside and try it

I do both the motherland and darkside stays onsite each year

I find things for both theme parks that entertain me and wow me

Thank you for sharing your adventures with the readers
 
Nice report. Not sure if I missed it but what about the cats and candy. The chaos early in the trip was evident.
 
Nice report. Not sure if I missed it but what about the cats and candy. The chaos early in the trip was evident.

I'm quite lousy at titles. I should've made it about the vertigo cause there was a lot of it. :p

I did buy a plush Crookshanks and there's the Cat in the Hat. I guess there's the cat connection. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also bought a ridiculous amt of candy at Honeydukes.
 

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