US - Orlando

Look, I have a young kid. And that kid has older cousins who are ripe for Disney and Universal Studios. This trip wasn’t just about a theme park, it was about the Harry Potter world inside of a theme park. It was a focused trip. My girl and I like to get the lay of the land no matter where we are, but this trip was about Potter, so I felt honesty right up front was best!

Orlando itself is rad. They have many pedestrian friendly areas, but especially they have a downtown area with a block or so that is always closed to traffic (right around church street), and a much larger area surrounding those blocks that becomes pedestrian only at night. You do that anywhere, and you are after my heart. I’ve never understood why everyone doesn’t do this. The people will come. Oh yes, the people will most definitely come Ray.

We went to a number of bars, had dinner at a super popular taco shop (Gringo Locos), and finished off at a bar that has an assload of free video games and staff dressed up in serious cosplay (awesome sauce). They even had a VIP area with a Goonies theme that made me fall in love for life…Joysticks…check it out. Well done Orlando.

Now onto Universal:

I love movies. I love movies very very much. So naturally I love Universal studios. Theme park rides with movie themes with some of my favorite move characters is about as good as it gets when talking about amusement parks. Universal spares no expense. They do an amazing job at every turn. As odd as it sounds and as an opening sidebar, Minions was one of the best rides there. Truly amazing what they can do with a little motion and a giant screen. Truly amazing.

Now Harry Potter world is in a class of its own. I don’t care whether you have read a single book or watched a single movie, when you walk through that secret passageway and get onto Diagon Alley you will gasp, just as we all did. It is that amazing. I loved it. I love it still. You could spend all day there and the next day you will still see new things.
Hogsmeade has the better Potter ride, but the area itself is far inferior to the Diagon Alley area (The Hogwarts express is a fun ride and each way is different, but it grows kind of old quickly…a bit claustrophobic).

As far as resorts are concerned proximity matters most! Even their best resort (I think we were in the 2nd best on their hierarchy, and they are building more currently) is not going to blow you away. At the end of the day they are all very family friendly theme park hotels…so proximity can make all the difference. Not only could we take a very convenient and quick boat ride to the city walk area (both parks connect to city walk), but we could walk there along a path that hugs the water. Both ways were easy and so helpful.

Universal update 2020
Escape from Gringots is great for Harry Potter fans, but if not, the roller coaster style ride is just ok. The line itself to get to the ride is still very cool going through the goblin bank and all.
I would still argue that Diagon Alley is still the single best “land” of any theme park anywhere. Especially at night. It’s magical, ha! And this is from a guy who just visited the brand new Galaxys Edge, which is also rad but not as cozy and real feeling.
The kid roller coaster in dr Seuss land is probably the best, extremely easy, kids ride I’ve ever seen. My kid loved the “thrill”.
The Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride is still cool, HOWEVER it is now very much eclipsed by the new Hagrid’s Magical bike ride. This coaster has like 5 speed ups during the ride, goes backwards, has sets and Potter action, and somehow the entire coaster car drops like 10 feet to tracks below. It’s sick.
There’s a new Jurassic park world coming soon and it looks massive and utterly exciting.
Park to park tickets are really a must here as we went back and forth multiple times a day. They really do have different feels.

Yes, I brought my wand back this trip and I would do it again!

2022 Update

Look, the Hard Rock at Universal is the best located hotel there right now by far. Like by far. You can walk to the parks and to city walk faster than the boat or any public transport moon can you take you there. It’s that convenient. However! This trip we kind of hated the hard rock. Dated crappy rooms and everything felt tired and boring. I can still remember that feeling when I checked into hard in Macau. How cool and sleek and clean and modern it was. It oozed hip. At universal it just oozes. Ha!
Anyway, we got the king suite with attached 2 queen room. This was a huge mistake. The king suite has no separation between the bedroom and sitting area. It's a very large room but sleeping 4 seems odd even in the closest family situation. I mean kids go to bed early no? I was kind of floored. Also it was incredibly expensive for what you get. Also they hardly cleaned the rooms. They are renovating the outside which means maybe they will be renovating the inside soon. I don't know, I was just so disappointed. Maybe it was cause we just came from the brand spanking new swan reserve.
Cowfish is the same as it always is...and I still find sushi and burgers to be slightly off putting :)
I thought Vivo was actually kind of a perfect Italian spot. Food was fine, maybe above average, but the place itself at least had some style. I felt it was something I had been missing.
Lombards for lunch in the park seemed too nice to me but we needed something and it was a nice respite. Confisco was a little better in Islands but maybe I just prefer winging it, which at Disney was excruciating, but over here it seemed much easier. Not for dinner though. Dinner must have a plan.

Notes to self:

-If you don’t get an express line pass you shouldn’t go at all. You should probably never go anywhere again. It’s that important.
-We didn’t do the water park, but at least islands of adventure and the original park are a must, doing just one makes no sense
-Hulk ride is bad ass but I mainly went on it because I couldn’t cower in front of a 9 year old niece! Didn’t have to do the crazeballs rockit ride because it stopped for hours mid ride with people on it while we were there…F that S!
-Butter beer is cream soda and kind of a waste of money. Real beer however, is decidedly not.
-They are building a gigantic addition to harry Potter world, and I can’t believe I am saying this, but I kind of want to go back and see it.
-The City Walk is actually pretty nice. Obviously it’s chainy and contrived, but you can walk around with drinks, and there are plenty of patios, and you can see the parks, and etc etc etc. It’s a nice rest from the parks.
-Watch out for the parades and events at the parks. If you find yourself on the wrong side of one you could be screwed for quite some time!

Hard Rock Universal - Feb 2020

Now this is much better. Great central pool with surrounding buildings layout. Literally a 5 minute walk to the parks, this is all I ever want.
Club level rooms are a huge boost, especially if you have a kid. It kind of gives you status and the club lounge is actually a big deal and heavily utilized.
The rooms are spacious but I do think the bathrooms could use an update. Having a sink in the bathroom separated from the vanity area is nice, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of counter space.
Mini bar is still empty but great 24 hour room service options. Adult action was there, hard rock always does sexy well, but in my sitch it mattered not.
The breakfast buffet was a steal at $25 compared to Disney’s 2,000 bucks a person.
The bars and pool areas stay reasonably busy into the night and there’s a nightly movie by the pool as well. The pool design is always second to none at Hard Rocks, and the slopping grade and shallow waters could not be better for your young kid.
At the moment I don’t want to leave

Loews Royal Pacific - Feb 2018, Apr 2024

A disappointing hotel. Bear in mind that I am an absolute hotel snob, so for most it was probably fine, but I just wanted more.

The rooms are just not that great. And the bathrooms are just not that great. The TV was fine and it had pay per view with 24 hour action. The mini bar was empty which actually came in handy. Room service was 24 hours which was nice.

The pool is pretty great and definitely big enough and the hotel was full and we still found chairs every day. Pool food and bar service was good as well.

The reason you stay here is because of proximity to the parks, the convenience of the water taxi, though we walked the gorgeous river path much of the time, and most especially because of the free express pass you get with your room. The preceding line makes everything else moot. It’s really important and will make a huge difference.

Notes to Self:
-Get a suite in advance…they will sell out.
-Black car to the resort was 120 plus 20 tip, uberXL back was 50 plus 10 tip.
-We would stay at The Hard Rock next time…and they are building a new hotel on property as well that might be even nicer.