Customer Service

I have to say, I am really disgusted with the service I have received just about everywhere lately!  With the economy tanking and less money being spent, you'd think businesses would be happy to have paying customers! 
Last week we stayed at the Double Tree Hotel just outside of Universal Studios.  There were 7 of us, so we paid for 2 rooms.  No deal, no discounts ~ horrible service!  We chose this particular hotel because we stayed there about 5 years ago and it was very nice & pleasant.  This time, completely different.  The front desk employees were obviously irritated that we interrupted their downtime to check in.  Both of the women at the desk were rude and spoke to us as if they were doing us a favor by explaining which building our rooms were in. 
Then, there was the parking situation ~ they charged $12 per night to park in their parking lot.  I didn't realize I would need to rent a place for my truck to stay as well! 
Our room smelled like it was a smoking room at one time and they just cleaned it up and decided to make it non-smoking.  The bathroom could have been cleaner, I have a problem with hair in the bathtub at a hotel.

I have to admit, our complimentary breakfast in the morning was awesome!!  Full buffet with omelettes & belgian waffles! 

Universal Studios ~ Orlando

I have to say, the Harry Potter attraction was cool, but Universal Studios was much more fun than Islands of Adventure.  It was less busy and there seemed to be more airflow through the park. 
Food prices were the same (reasonable). 

Universal seemed to have more rides.  Even the kiddie rides were fun!
We were greeted just inside the gate by DIEGO! That was awesome for my daughter since there were no characters at Islands of Adventure.  After leaving Diego, we were walking to our first ride and along the way we met CURIOUS GEORGE, WOODY WOODPECKER & SCOOBY-DOO. 

If that wasn't exciting enough, we came upon BARNEY'S Park, so we got to see A DAY IN THE PARK WITH BARNEY & have pictures with the Big Purple Dinosaur after the show!  The show was really kind of cute, it was like watching and episode of Barney!  My daughter loved it, she is 3!  They will never admit it, but my 10 & 7 year old boys even seemed to enjoy it!

THE SIMPSONS RIDE ~ How bad can it be?  It's inside and the height requirement was like 40" so I thought it would be somewhat calm.  Boy was I wrong!!  I highly suggest experiencing this ride!

RIP RIDE ROCKIT ~ My husband & sons highly recommend this ride to every roller-coaster lover!!

This starts out taking you straight up & almost straight down!  It's too much for for me since I am deathly afraid of heights, but everyone else LOVED it!!

All the rides at Universal were great!

I have to comment on the bathrooms though.  I saw no one cleaning them up throughout the day and by late afternoon, they were pretty gross!  The Dyson Hand Dryers were cool!

We generally visit Disney World a few times each year, I have to say these parks were not as clean or kept up as a Disney Park!

Islands Of Adventure ~ Universal Orlando

Home of the exciting new attraction The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, it's obvious just how busy this park is.  Most attraction lines were at least 80 minutes wait, some were over 2 hours. 
There isn't much shade or inside air conditioned lines, so it was HOT!!!  Then add the huge crowds, it was very stuffy!!  I expected more fans with mist in line and more misting stations.  Thankfully, beverage prices are resonable & you can bring in your own bottled water so staying hydrated isn't too difficult!

You can purchase the Express Pass and get on the rides faster by bypassing the regular long lines.  The pass costs from $19.99 to $59.99 each (in addition to the ticket price) depending on the day, obviously peak dates are the higher priced.  Guests of each Loews Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort get the Express Pass for Free!  Unfortunately, you can NOT use the Express Pass on any Harry Potter rides!

Overall, we had fun!!

First we came into MARVEL SUPER HERO ISLAND

Incredible HULK Coaster had a long wait line all day so we didn't experience that one, although it looked really cool!

We did ride The Amazing Adventures of SPIDERMAN.  That was fun, and it was inside & air conditioned!!




Next, we were off to Ripsaw Falls.  It looked like a fun water ride ~ unfortunately there were technical dufficulties and they had to close while we were in line!

JURASSIC PARK ~ RIVER ADVENTURE was next!  Awesome!!  The dinosaur detail is very realistic and the darkeness keeps up the suspense!

My daughter had a BLAST in SUESS LANDING!  The rides are great, a little quicker than the average kiddie ride.  Calm enough to not scare smaller children, quick enough to keep older children and even adults interested and having fun!!

We walked through THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, but it was so packed and hard to walk through.  The line for BUTTER BEER was at least an hour long.  I've heard, at times some of the wait times for the HARRY POTTER rides have been 8 hours!  It was 3 hours when we walked through, so we decided to check out the rest of the park and come back that evening!

It was a little less crowded in the evening.  My husband & sons waited in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  (We thought my daughter would be scared, so she & I went back to Suess Land)  According to my family, waiting in line was awesome!  The line went through the castle & out through what felt like a scene from the movie.  The ride was a lot of fun & very detailed!  I was told later that my 3 year old daughter would have been able to ride & would have loved it!!

We ended the night with our Butter Beer!  I think that was my favorite part of the day!  It was better than I expected ~ a frothy butterscotch drink.  I would have loved a cup of just the foamy top!!

Universal Studios ~ Orlando

Despite the extreme heat last week, we decided to go to Universal Studios for 2 days to check out the new Harry Potter attraction at Islands of Adventure!  We spent the first day at Islands Of Adventure and the second day at Universal Studios.  We usually take multiple trips to Disney World every year, but we've never been to Universal (my husband was there 20 years ago, but the kids & I have never been).

I found myself comparing Universal & Disney ~ a lot!

Food & drink prices were very reasonable.  On the first day, we fed 7 people lunch ~ burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries & drinks for $63.00.  On the second day, we had pizza for lunch.  They were $19.95 each and had 6 slices each.  So, 2 pizzas & drinks was just about $50.00.  I think that's cheap for a theme park!  And, the pizza was really good!!

Inflated Shipping Charges

I was cruising around eBay, just looking for a good deal.  I was really hoping to find the shirts I saw at Universal last week.  They were the cutest shirts, but I would have paid almost $100 for t-shirts that I wasn't sure my kids would even wear!  Of course, this is eBay, I found them!  Most were still a little high priced, then I saw one for .99!  Awesome, if I buy one for .99, I can spend a little more on the others.  So, I clicked into the auction to see what the catch was, after all, this was almost too good to be true!  The shipping was $16.95.  Really?  Are they sending it Express Mail?  Nope, it was First Class Mail.  Obviously, I won't be buying from that seller!
A couple years ago eBay sent out a big announcement that they would no longer allow obnoxious shipping charges.  This is pretty obnoxious to me!!  I admit, I sometimes add and extra .25 or .50 to my shipping to cover additional fees or maybe a box I will need to ship the item, but a t-shirt?  I know that I can send a t-shirt to Canada for $3 or $4.
I know many sellers inflate the shipping charges so they won't have to pay as much in eBay fees.  Really, the fess aren't that much if you consider the alternative.  Having a store takes a lot of overhead, a simple garage sale takes a lot of work and if you advertise for it, it will cost you! 
Just be sure to check the shipping charges before getting too excited about a great deal!!!!