Universal's Loews Royal Pacific Resort - Orlando, FL Review

After staying off-site on previous visits to Universal Studios, we decided to splurge by staying on-site at the Royal Pacific Resort, mainly because Universal ended its Universal Express service unless you pay extra.  After being treated like royalty at one of Disney's "value" resorts, it was disappointing to be treated like dirt here for four times the price.  Upon entering the resort, we had to enter the hotel parking lot, which charges $12/day.  We nearly tripped over boxes of Christmas decorations littering the lobby.  We asked if a theme park view room was available, and were told we could have if we came back later.  No problem, we could have breakfast and spend a few hours in the parks.  The breakfast line moved so slow that our warm cinnamon roll was cold by the time we sat down to eat.  Because the park wasn't crowded that day, some of the ride attendants didn't want to let us use the front of the line access.  When I'm paying $200 a night for that privilege, I want to use it, if nothing else to have a shorter walk to the ride.  We called shortly after lunch to see if the room was ready, but it wasn't.  Then a few hours later, after official check-in time, we returned to the Royal Pacific to get our keys.  The person at the desk told us we couldn't have a theme park view room.  I said that would have been fine if we had been told that earlier, but after waiting all this time, I was getting a theme park view.  I finally got my room, which did have a nice view of the Hulk Coaster.  The room was beautifully decorated and spacious, but we could hear lots of noise from our neighbors.  The pool area looked nice, but it was unfortunately too cold to enjoy it.  Boat service was offered to the parks, but the boats came sporadically, so we usually made the long walk.

Based on service issues both at Royal Pacific and at the parks, I am not eager to return to Universal Orlando.  When I do finally go back, I may stay on-site once again just for the front of the line access, knowing that you don't always get what you pay for.