Comments/Questions on Royal Pacific Resort

[dox]

This will be my first time staying at a universal resort. One of my friends will be on a business trip mid July in Orlando and invited me to come along and his company has them booked at the Royal Pacific. Just wondering what everyones general impressions of the property are and any things i can do to make the stay there better, i.e. room requests, etc.

I also have a few questions...

1. I read that Emeril has a restaurant at the Royal (asian themed food), anyone eaten there? opinions? Which is better "regular" Emeril's at City Walk or this one?

2. I know that Universal resort guests can use their room key as an express pass, can you do this on every ride? I read over on MKT's recent thread that the express plus passes can't be used on Shrek and only once on Mummy. Does this apply to hotel guests as well?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Lilo]

I stayed at the Royal Pacific last year when it was only opened for one year and it was great. So great in fact that we are going this Sunday, 6/27 and staying there again. We got the cheapest room (standard with no view) and I was amazed how spacious and clean it was. I have stayed at the deluxe hotels at Disney (Contemporary and Beach Club) and this hotel definitely compares to them and is cheaper. The whole property is great. The pool gets a big thumbs up. Getting to the Parks is easy as taking a nice little ferry ride or if you are up to it, you can walk to Citywalk. As far as Emeril's restaurant (Tshoup chop) it is Asian influence but a little too pricey. Maybe for one special evening I would try it, but otherwise I'd rather eat at Jake's at the Royal Pacific or one of the restaurants in Citywalk. They also have bus service to Wet n Wild and Sea World (free). As far as Express Pass. We used them on every ride we went on including Shrek (which had just opened), Jimmy Neutron, etc. Any other questions I didn't answer just post again. :wave:

 

[Fossil]

This will be my first time staying at a universal resort. One of my friends will be on a business trip mid July in Orlando and invited me to come along and his company has them booked at the Royal Pacific. Just wondering what everyones general impressions of the property are and any things i can do to make the stay there better, i.e. room requests, etc.

I also have a few questions...

1. I read that Emeril has a restaurant at the Royal (asian themed food), anyone eaten there? opinions? Which is better "regular" Emeril's at City Walk or this one?

2. I know that Universal resort guests can use their room key as an express pass, can you do this on every ride? I read over on MKT's recent thread that the express plus passes can't be used on Shrek and only once on Mummy. Does this apply to hotel guests as well?

Thanks for your help.

About the Room key... that is not true. I stayed at the Royal Pacific back in May and it was wonderful. You could use your room key on any ride, as many times as you want. Don't worry about it. The hotel is beautiful and the atmosphere is great. The cheapest rooms are very nice and somewhat fancy; great themeing.

 

[dox]

Thank you both so much. We got a great rate at this hotel follwiwng the conclusion of my friend's business trip, but I was a little leery as i've only stayed at disney resorts and a few off site places. But so far all the reviews i have seen have been raves . If it is comparable to some of the Disney deluxe hotels, than we definitely got a great rate.

I ended up making reservations at Emeril's (City Walk) based on the Zagat's review. I really wanted to go back to California Grill, but i've eaten there about 3 times already. Plus we are only going to Epcot on this trip and I figured lets stay local. Has any one eaten at Emeril's?

I have also heard about a good italian restaurant at Portofino. But I haven't been able to find any information.

Finally, is it true you can pool hop around the universal resorts? and how do you go about doing that?

 

[Fossil]

Thank you both so much. We got a great rate at this hotel follwiwng the conclusion of my friend's business trip, but I was a little leery as i've only stayed at disney resorts and a few off site places. But so far all the reviews i have seen have been raves . If it is comparable to some of the Disney deluxe hotels, than we definitely got a great rate.

I ended up making reservations at Emeril's (City Walk) based on the Zagat's review. I really wanted to go back to California Grill, but i've eaten there about 3 times already. Plus we are only going to Epcot on this trip and I figured lets stay local. Has any one eaten at Emeril's?

I have also heard about a good italian restaurant at Portofino. But I haven't been able to find any information.

Finally, is it true you can pool hop around the universal resorts? and how do you go about doing that?

I don't know about hopping from pool to pool. I've never heard of that, but it can probably be done. :hammer:

 

[Lilo]

I have also heard about a good italian restaurant at Portofino. But I haven't been able to find any information.

Finally, is it true you can pool hop around the universal resorts? and how do you go about doing that?

As far the Italian restaurant at Portofino, I heard good things. Give it a try it can't be that bad. As far as pool hopping. When you see the pool at Royal Pacific you won't want to go anywhere else. :lol:

 

[Joy]

You are going to love Royal Pacific- it is such a beautiful hotel and way less expensive than the Disney deluxe hotels. You can pool hop- You can either take the ferry or walk to the other resorts. Even if you don't pool hop I would recommend touring the other 2 hotels. All 3 are so nice and very well themed. The Express Pass is great. You can use it for every ride as many times as you want. You also get priority seating at the restaurants at City Walk which can come in very handy during the weekends. My hubby and I love the Hard Rock Cafe at City Walk. Have a great time!!! :wave:

 

[Lilo]

Well we just got back from Universal and staying at the Royal Pacific. If you haven't left yet try the new restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel -- The Kitchen. It took over the California Grill which got bad reviews. Great food and a little pricey but worth it. The concierege at the Royal made the reservations for us with only a three hour window. The concierege rocks at the Royal, especially Phoenix (if you get him tell him the Piersiaks in 1111 said hi). Have a great time.

 

[jcraycraft]

2. I know that Universal resort guests can use their room key as an express pass, can you do this on every ride? I read over on MKT's recent thread that the express plus passes can't be used on Shrek and only once on Mummy. Does this apply to hotel guests as well?

Thanks for your help.

We just got back from Orlando/WDW this past weekend. We did 5 nights (June 16-21) at the Royal Pacific Hotel and is very nice. This was our 2nd stay at this hotel...pool is great.

You can/ and we did you room key to express pass Shrek. There is an entrance to the left of the main door to queue up in. We also did Mummy multiple times in one day with room key.

Hope this helps

 

[clark7371]

We stayed in the RPH in 2002, and loved it! The resort itself is beautiful, the rooms were clean and comfortable. The pool at RPH is reportedly the largest in Orlando. The only downside to the pool is it doesn't have a slide. However, if you are staying at any Universal resort, you can use the pools and other amenities at the other Universal resorts. At least that is what I was told during our last trip in 2003.

As far as the front of the line access for resort guests, it used to be that you could show your room key and go in the Express line as many times as you want. I have read on other boards today that this policy has changed for resort guests, that on major attractions resort guests can only use their room key once per attraction until 3:00 p.m. I am not sure if this is true but it supposedly just went into effect. Maybe someone else has some information on this. I hope it's not true!

But I think you will like RP!

 

[Lilo]

As far as the front of the line access for resort guests, it used to be that you could show your room key and go in the Express line as many times as you want. I have read on other boards today that this policy has changed for resort guests, that on major attractions resort guests can only use their room key once per attraction until 3:00 p.m. I am not sure if this is true but it supposedly just went into effect. Maybe someone else has some information on this. I hope it's not true!

But I think you will like RP!

We used our room key more than once at any of the rides before 3:00 p.m and after. We even went on Bilge Rats twice. Got off and went right back on. No problem with the room key. That's the real great part about their Express lines.

:sohappy:

 

[dox]

Thanks for all your comments. Leaving this Friday and although it is a super short trip, I'm really looking forward to it. The friend i'm traveling with checked into today at the RPH (he is there for business meetings till friday morning) and said the resort is great. As of now our plans are to go to Emerils friday night, Universal saturday, possibly dinner at the Portofino saturday night (but we are also considering Bluezoo at the Dolphin and Ohanas at the Poly). Then Sunday, visit the pool at the Portofino in the morning , then Epcot all afternoon and night with dinner over at france or morocco. Monday spend all morning by the pool and take our flight back late monday afternoon. Kind of short I know, but I'm hoping to take a long trip to disney next year once most of the new attractions are open. The saddest part for me of course is no MK on this trip. Really wanted to see Wishes and Philarmagic. But at least i get to see mission space and Mummy, neither of which i've been on, and eat at Emerils. Life is full of compromises. AGain thanks for all of your help and your answers to my questions.