Universal Studios

Some people say don’t bother taking young kids to Universal Studios. However, I say go for it! My boys loved it.

What comes after a Disney trip? Naturally we had to give Universal a shot next. We decided to stay at Loews Royal Pacific Resort. It was within walking distance and offered a water taxi to the parks. Also, by staying at this hotel we automatically received the universal express pass for all rides. We decided to visit in November 2018 just as the parks were preparing for Christmastime.

Rooms

Our room was pretty standard. There was no tub and the sink was outside the bathroom. Our room view was over the pool area. We had a mini fridge which was much appreciated since we drove and brought some drinks and food with us to help save on costs.

Pool

There was a nice large pool. The kids favorite was a big ship play structure at the pool that they could run around on and get wet. Luckily for me they had hot tubs as well.

Food

There are a few restaurants onsite at the hotel. We initially tried Jake’s and the service was so slow we never returned. The Islands Dining Room had advertised a kids room for dinner but when we got there it was closed. Most of our dinners ended up at CityWalk. The kids favorite was the Chocolate Emporium which had the biggest desserts I have ever seen in my life! VooDoo donuts has some seasonal Grinch donuts that were adorable. However, I got a surprise when I bit in to find the filling was sour apple. I did manage to scrounge up a breakfast buffet at the hotel. They had a minion character breakfast. It was well managed and I was impressed how they kept things moving. It was prepaid so you could leave at anytime. I got my coffee and cinnamom rolls, kids got some pancakes, and dad got some gross juice. It was my favorite meal while at Universal!

Park

Many of the rides at Universal are 4D. Therefore, if you get motion sickness be prepared. Either bring some medicine or just know to avoid some of them. I took meds and avoided some rides. They did offer stationary seating to assist those with motion sickness. I noticed this on the minion ride which my kids rode multiple times. My husband was a trooper dealing with both boys on many rides. However, one of the good things about the rides being 4D was that we didn’t have to worry about too many height requirements so the boys were able to ride a majority of rides. Surprisingly, the boys favorite ride was the Jurassic Park River Adventure.

The Harry Potter stuff is all amazing. My kids still don’t even fully grasp Harry Potter and they LOVED it! It is split between both parks so you will want to visit each. On a side note, if you plan on riding Hogwarts express make sure you buy park-to-park hopper tickets and not single park tickets. Something I wasn’t prepared for were the magic wands. They sell these interactive wands where your kid go around casting spells around town. So you get suckered into standing in line to purchase one of these magically wands with no price tag only to get to the counter to find they cost a small fortune. My jaw must have dropped to the floor.

The Harry Potter rides were the ones with the longest lines so I was very thankful for the express passes. Escape from Gringotts was my favorite ride. The kids were not big enough to ride the Forbidden Journey at the castle. However, we were able to go walk through the castle which was pretty cool.

The kids also enjoyed Seuss Landing. It was very fun and colorful. The Cat in the Hat ride made them laugh. There is a troller train up above and a fish ride that spits water. It was a very cute area for little kids.

Characters

They randomly have parades through-out the day. The kids were most excited to see the SpongeBob characters. Also in Seuss Landing there were appearances of that grumpy Grinch so beware! The most unique characters were the Transformers. They looked and sounded very real. The little guy was scared of them at first. Waiting in line to see one of them is worth it. Due to the time of year, we were able to catch the Macy’s Christmas parade. Bear even spotted a certain bearded gentleman.