Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Long overdue! About This Page:

[Wanetta Wilde]

Okay, first let me tell you all, I am sorry for not having posted sooner. I had gotten on here a few times and asked for US and IOA info since we were going to be first timers last month. Well, I should have gotten on here and let you all who helped me plan that the trip was a success, thanks to all of you!

We had planned this trip originally for last summer, a quick 3-4 day trip and then home again, nothing big, just go and come back. I had a bad back, but figured it was just a pulled muscle or something since it had been sore since December! Well, then my leg went numb and long story short, found out I had herniated discs! YUCK! So then the trip was scrapped thinking I would NEVER ride a ride again. Well, I read these boards religiously for a year thinking I would gather information about what rides were "okay" and which ones weren't. Turns out, I could ride pretty much almost anything at both places. I didn't try Hulk, or the other one by The Mummy, but I did Mummy and it was fine. OH! And a woman got off of Simpson's Ride as we were about to get on and was hunched over in pain and said she threw her back out "again on that ride", so I stepped silently aside with my DS and we went along on our merry way. Why tempt fate, right?

We stayed at RPH and while a WONDERFUL HOTEL and worth every penny for the sheer luxury of not having to stand in any lines at that hot park, we were a bit misinformed on more than one occasion by staff at that hotel. So, just a sidebar, if you ever need information, ask more than one hotel staffer. On more than one occasion, we would get to the park, our cards wouldn't work and we would have to hoof it back to the hotel--again, bad info from a staffer that the boats stop at ALL THE HOTELS so our "best bet" would be to walk to the parks...grrrr...so we walked at the advice of the hotel staffer for the first 4 or 5 trips back and forth before we rode the boat back out of sheer heat and physical exhaustion only to find out it DID only go to and from the one hotel to the parks...grrr.---we figured it out one night that we had spent over 3 hours of our day, with the walking back and forth and standing in lines both at the park for the card error/difficulties and then standing in line at the front desk at the hotel--again, another grrr...that happened all three days we were there. ha! BUT, the room was wonderful, the hotel (not so much the staff! ha!) was wonderful,the park was wonderful, the rides were wonderful and we had a blast thanks to all of you guys! I was so worried about my back and it was an easy-peasy trip!
THanks again to all of you for your help and suggestions and I apologize again for waiting so long to post!

[wmanderson]

I did not offer any advice (as everything I know about IoA, I've learned in the last month), but I will offer congratulations on the success of the trip!!!

[dutchdisneyfamily]

I didn't help you with advice since I was just looking into it myself, but I'm glad you had such a great trip...other than the crazy walking trips you had to make.

[Wanetta Wilde]

Well, thank you anyway for congratulating me, DutchDisneyFam and Wmanderson! It was really a blast and the hotel manager saw my "review" when I got home (they send you a survey) and he felt terrible and he really made it right, so I shouldn't complain too much. I just have to say two things:
1) Be sure you ask at LEAST three people something if you need information at the hotel. Ask three then take the two best answers. Never divulge that you spoke to two others and they said "this"...ha! I think if I had done that, I wouldn't have had to walk back and forth so many times!
2) Be sure you bring along some way to set your room key separate from your cell phone...WAY separate from your cell phone. For some reason, our room key kept "dying" at the parks, even in the pocket of my DS who is 13 years old and doesn't CARRY HIS CELL PHONE TO THE PARKS at all! The front desk kept accusing me of having had my room keys (both would die no matter who carried them) against our cell phones and we hadn't done that. Then they kill the room keys the day you check out even if you are planning on going to the park, so you have to make sure you bring along money for any incidentals you need at the park OR ask them to be sure and leave the key/charge privileges turned on. Even after I did that, I didn't CHECK it before I left the hotel and when we got to the park, were hot and thirsty after 4 hours and needed a beverage and lo-and behold---the room key didn't work. THIS TIME because they had declined charges once we check out. What? Oh, well. Lesson learned, fun time had in spite of it all.

Now, DH has heard us chatting so much about what fun we had that he decided tonight he and i may go back next week for a day or two at the US and IOA! Yay, ME!

Also, just two sidebars, they say you can only use your HP mug for refills that same day, but we used both the HP mug AND the popcorn buckets for refills all 3 days at both parks. The trick is to not get a HP Frozen butter beer in that mug, but a real beverage for your refill. The HP frozen drink is the same price as a refill if you just buy it in the plastic cup (no discount on the butterbeer refills) so it really doesn't come out. But you still get all drinks in both parks for the 89 cent refill price in that mug, even if the mug is a wee bit small.
Second sidebar: Be sure and whip out that AAA card. It usually only saved us a buck or two or less, but just the same, not one place we ate or shopped at didn't take it and by the end of three days, we added up the total in savings and we had saved a whopping 18 bucks! Not much, I know, but it was 18 bucks in my pocket and not in US and IOA! Even the carts we asked accepted it and AAA says the food carts DON'T take it. We asked and they all took the card! My drink refills were 83 cents instead of the 89 cents and it was always 10 percent off whatever we were buying or eating/drinking.

DutchDisneyFam and Wmanderson I hope you guys have fun, too! be sure to post when you get back about what all you learned. One thing I learned, US and IOA are NOT as clean of parks as Disney parks are...YIKES

[chezp]

I can't take the credit for any advise either, but I'm glad you had such a good time!

[Shell_of_the_South]

Glad you enjoyed Universal!

[Williextreme]

Good to hear that your back is okay and you had a great time!

Not so good about the hotel staff, but glad to hear that the manager made things better.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great trip!

[Wanetta Wilde]

WilliExtreme, I am glad my back survived, too. I was at WDW this week and quickly realized that Disney tracks are a bit rougher than US/IOA tracks. But no matter, I learned what does my back in! Not so much the side to side as it is those tail-bone jarring drops and bangs! I can handle pretty much any ride that doesn't slam down or make me leave my seat, I think...long mental pause here.... I think !

Colexis Mom, I am glad I had a good time, too. The staff was a bit "off" and didn't know their park or their hotel well, but I think they had it down pat by the time DH and I went again last week. We were smooth sailing and the staff we dealt with both knew what was what (I cheated, knew the answers from my previous trip and quizzed various peeps!) and also they were much friendlier. The manager was nothing but kind and I was appreciative for his contacting me based on my poor survey results given alone! I didn't even contact the hotel to be a whiner, I just filled out the survey they included with my hotel "thank you for coming" email and he immediately contacted me and made it all right. He was awesome and you can't slight a hotel these days for reading their surveys and ACTING on them immediately (as in within the hour of my having submitted the survey!).

Thanks again for all of everyone's help! I had a blast and so did my back!