First Time Trip Report 9/19 to 9/23

Thank you so much for sharing all of this. I am hanging on every word! We are trying to decide between HRH and RPR. You said hard rock is not your vibe? Tell me a little bit more please.

The freestyle cup sounds great! Is it difficult to get a refill? Do you hand them the same cup?

That’s a bummer that the quick service isn’t so quick. Very frustrating!

How are you filling your time in the evenings with the parks closing earlier? My guess is that we will be hanging out by the pool.

Thanks again!
So, I like a bit of peace and quiet in the morning. Since the room is crowded with the 5 of us, I'm going out to the common area to work. You are pretty much listening to rock music 24/7, lol! It's not very peaceful... Also, I would love to have a balcony! Does PBH have balconies? If so, we will be going there next time. Also, hot tubs are closed. Guess that is something I should have researched/anticipated. But I was VERY disappointed. For me, after a long park day, that is pretty much the highlight of my day, sitting in the hot tub with an adult beverage!

I thought walking would be more of a draw, but we really like the water taxi. So we've been using that 90% of the time. Even if we have to wait a bit. Very relaxing ride and saves the feet!

On the plus side, I have encountered nothing but nice TMs. So everyone here is friendly and helpful. And the express passes are beyond invaluable.

The vacation desk in the lobby can upgrade passes for you. They cannot do everything guest relations can do, but were very helpful as well doing our upgrades. Also, paid for the hotel with gift cards. The TM helping me was very nice, but it took a long time. Make sure you do that at "off" hours of the day. I did it right before dinner and it was perfect. But at check-in or check-out time it would have been rough. At HRH, at least, they had to verify the balance on your card, then redeem the card, then apply the card to the room. 3 steps for each card with a very old technology machine, and I had 5 of them, since you can't combine. It took probably 20 minutes at the desk.

Not difficult with the cups at all. There are self-service refills throughout the park. they have every other one blocked off for covid precautions. Or, if it's a counter service, they will just give you a paper cup of whatever you want to pour into your own cup.

Yes, the quick service has probably been the biggest challenge. Everywhere is mobile order. But we were paying with gift cards and dining plan which made it very cumbersome because you can't do that in the app. So at this time, I do not recommend doing that. And I would not do it again. Also, they just tell you to sit down and raise your hand when you're done mobile ordering and some one will come over. It's weird. I hope we get to experience a more "back to normal" quick service when we come back. We ate at Thunder Terrace again yesterday because we tried 2 other places (Three Broomsticks and Dagwoods) that didn't' seem to have the ability to help us with any kind of speed. Its crazy. People starving in a theme park and we couldnt' seem to find anywhere to eat, lol! That NEVER happens. Thunder Falls seemed to have it most together with their system. Although the food was just ok for me, the kids liked it.

At night...we've been leaving the parks when they close at 5/6pm. Then going to dinner at CityWalk and a bit of pool time. That's been it for us. After long days, it's really all I've been up for! I would really like the parks to be open later. We have not taken afternoon breaks b/c of the short hours. But it would be nice to have the option to go back later.

We ate at Hard Rock Cafe last night. Best server and best service of the trip. Shortest wait at 40 minutes. Food was pretty good.

Even with Express Passes, for a first time guest, I would suggest having a plan. We didn't on the first day and felt kind of aimless and chaotic. But again, I thought it would be just "show up and go". The second 2 days, we wrote down what we'd like to accomplish and checked things off the list. MUCH better for me...but I'm a list person. So I would do that again, at least for first time visit. Second visit and beyond could maybe just wing it a bit more...
 
The thing I brought that I didn't need? Hand sanitizer! Lol. We were seriously sanitized everywhere!
The thing I didn't bring that I needed? Ponchos! It rained all day Sunday. Isn't it always the case that if you don't bring them you'll need them? Bring them so you won't need them, :-) Rainy universal is not as fun as rainy disney. Alot of the stuff shuts down and if you do the inside stuff, you're wet and FREEZING.
 
So, I like a bit of peace and quiet in the morning. Since the room is crowded with the 5 of us, I'm going out to the common area to work. You are pretty much listening to rock music 24/7, lol! It's not very peaceful... Also, I would love to have a balcony! Does PBH have balconies? If so, we will be going there next time. Also, hot tubs are closed. Guess that is something I should have researched/anticipated. But I was VERY disappointed. For me, after a long park day, that is pretty much the highlight of my day, sitting in the hot tub with an adult beverage!

I thought walking would be more of a draw, but we really like the water taxi. So we've been using that 90% of the time. Even if we have to wait a bit. Very relaxing ride and saves the feet!

On the plus side, I have encountered nothing but nice TMs. So everyone here is friendly and helpful. And the express passes are beyond invaluable.

The vacation desk in the lobby can upgrade passes for you. They cannot do everything guest relations can do, but were very helpful as well doing our upgrades. Also, paid for the hotel with gift cards. The TM helping me was very nice, but it took a long time. Make sure you do that at "off" hours of the day. I did it right before dinner and it was perfect. But at check-in or check-out time it would have been rough. At HRH, at least, they had to verify the balance on your card, then redeem the card, then apply the card to the room. 3 steps for each card with a very old technology machine, and I had 5 of them, since you can't combine. It took probably 20 minutes at the desk.

Not difficult with the cups at all. There are self-service refills throughout the park. they have every other one blocked off for covid precautions. Or, if it's a counter service, they will just give you a paper cup of whatever you want to pour into your own cup.

Yes, the quick service has probably been the biggest challenge. Everywhere is mobile order. But we were paying with gift cards and dining plan which made it very cumbersome because you can't do that in the app. So at this time, I do not recommend doing that. And I would not do it again. Also, they just tell you to sit down and raise your hand when you're done mobile ordering and some one will come over. It's weird. I hope we get to experience a more "back to normal" quick service when we come back. We ate at Thunder Terrace again yesterday because we tried 2 other places (Three Broomsticks and Dagwoods) that didn't' seem to have the ability to help us with any kind of speed. Its crazy. People starving in a theme park and we couldnt' seem to find anywhere to eat, lol! That NEVER happens. Thunder Falls seemed to have it most together with their system. Although the food was just ok for me, the kids liked it.

At night...we've been leaving the parks when they close at 5/6pm. Then going to dinner at CityWalk and a bit of pool time. That's been it for us. After long days, it's really all I've been up for! I would really like the parks to be open later. We have not taken afternoon breaks b/c of the short hours. But it would be nice to have the option to go back later.

We ate at Hard Rock Cafe last night. Best server and best service of the trip. Shortest wait at 40 minutes. Food was pretty good.

Even with Express Passes, for a first time guest, I would suggest having a plan. We didn't on the first day and felt kind of aimless and chaotic. But again, I thought it would be just "show up and go". The second 2 days, we wrote down what we'd like to accomplish and checked things off the list. MUCH better for me...but I'm a list person. So I would do that again, at least for first time visit. Second visit and beyond could maybe just wing it a bit more...

Thank you so much for posting! Your input is golden! Right now we are booked for RPR early next year. Thought about changing to HRH for my adult kiddos with me but I think they would even prefer more quiet.
All of this info is amazing
 
Yes, Thank you SOOO much. All of this info is so incredibly helpful!
I really appreciate you taking the time! Please don't hesitate to add anymore thoughts as they come to you if you have time.....because, YES, we would love to hear them!
 


Also, I would love to have a balcony! Does PBH have balconies?
To answer your question, yes, PBH does have a few rooms with balconies. Though I do believe the balcony rooms are in the "Deluxe" room category which means either you reserve a Deluxe room or a Club room (which comes with a Deluxe room). And even if you do that, only a few of the rooms have a balcony. You won't be able to actually reserve a balcony room, but you can ask for one when you check-in. And if your lucky they might have one available.

I don't know that I would make plans around having a balcony room, but they are possible with the right room type and some luck.
 
Thank you so much for posting! Your input is golden
Yes, Thank you SOOO much. All of this info is so incredibly helpful!

Let me chime in and say THANKS as well! Very helpful post....we are headed there in about 10 days. I see you paid for your room w/ gift cards. I was going to do the same but now I'm thinking of saving them for paying for stuff like drinks around the pool and dinner @ Citywalk or our resort... so thanks for that tip.
 


Let me chime in and say THANKS as well! Very helpful post....we are headed there in about 10 days. I see you paid for your room w/ gift cards. I was going to do the same but now I'm thinking of saving them for paying for stuff like drinks around the pool and dinner @ Citywalk or our resort... so thanks for that tip.
You're welcome! If you still want to pay for the room with gift cards, it was not hard. Just a bit time consuming and important to do it at a down time at the front desk :-) I did it it he night before check out around dinner time and it was perfect.
Also, we were told at Margaritaville the first night that we could not use gift cards to pay the tip. So just be aware of that and maybe be prepared to do a split payment or have cash for the tip.
Not sure if anyone else has a different experience with tip and gift cards? We did not try again to pay tip with a gift card after the first night.
 
To answer your question, yes, PBH does have a few rooms with balconies. Though I do believe the balcony rooms are in the "Deluxe" room category which means either you reserve a Deluxe room or a Club room (which comes with a Deluxe room). And even if you do that, only a few of the rooms have a balcony. You won't be able to actually reserve a balcony room, but you can ask for one when you check-in. And if your lucky they might have one available.

I don't know that I would make plans around having a balcony room, but they are possible with the right room type and some luck.
Thanks! I guess I am spoiled with DVC and balconies, lol! Never hurts to ask I guess...
 
quick update for anyone who read along in september, we are back this week and dd16 was able to do EVERYTHING after losing 40 pounds over the last 6 months. she’s still on the path to lose more but it was so encouraging for her to be able to reap the benefits of her hard work! we’re having a much better trip- portofino bay is our new favorite resort and mardi gras at universal is awesome! will definite return for this festival...
 
quick update for anyone who read along in september, we are back this week and dd16 was able to do EVERYTHING after losing 40 pounds over the last 6 months. she’s still on the path to lose more but it was so encouraging for her to be able to reap the benefits of her hard work! we’re having a much better trip- portofino bay is our new favorite resort and mardi gras at universal is awesome! will definite return for this festival...


Enjoyed your report. So glad to hear you liked PBH. It is a beautiful Resort. Mardi Gras is awesome.


quick little before and after from september to now because i’m so proud!

She looks awesome. It’s a lot of hard work to lose weight. She should be so proud of her accomplishment.
 
Can you share how the express pass registration and usage worked with COVID? We just booked our first trip and aren't sure what to expect. We thought there were hand scanners and facial recognition that we wouldn't expect them to be using
 
quick little before and after from september to now because i’m so proud!

View attachment 557133View attachment 557135
Holy crap she looks amazing! And probably feels amazing too!! Congratulations to her!
Thank you for the trip reports. We are Disney people and going to universal for two days in the fall for the first time. Staying at RPR but thinking of switching to PBR. I love lists like you do and love the planning aspect of Disney. Not sure if you mentioned that you know your way around a Disney vacation but if so, would you say we need to plan every detail of the day to get the most out of our trip even with the express passes? Looks like every ride/show we want to do has the EP. we are going as a group of 10. Youngest kid is 4 and the older ones are 11-13 and will go on rollercoasters. I wrote down all the rides/shows we would do and starred the ones that are a must, out a heart next to the ones we’d like to do if we have time and out a B next to the ones my dd4 (Bianca) can do. I also put an EP next to the ones we can do express with. Our thought is to head to hagrids first thing and then velocicoaster next if they are in the same park?? Then hit the rest by what area they are in and move our way through the parks. We will be there oct 29 and oct 30 both of which will have hhn so thinking of IOA for hagrids first thing then the velocicoaster then take train over to studios and do studios until 5 then back to IOA once hhn opens up. Then next day just do a mix of both. What does everyone think?
 

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