Our arrival day at Universal Orlando with kids, including a stay at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, pool hopping at Universal’s premier hotels, exploring CityWalk, and dinner at Antojitos.
After months of planning, we finally made it to Universal Orlando for a three-night trip with my boys!
This trip has a bit of a long backstory. A few years ago, trying to get Mazen to read more, I told him that if he read all of the Harry Potter books, I would take them to Universal. Last summer, he finished all of them (and watched them all), and this trip was finally the reward—although it took me a little while to get my act together and actually plan it.
This is the first of three posts and covers our arrival day, first impressions of Loews Royal Pacific, pool hopping, CityWalk, and our first-night dinner.
Booking with Hillary
My friend Hillary (Survivor Hillary!) helped me book our hotel and park tickets. Hillary is a travel specialist with Cherry Tree Lane Vacations, and specializes in helping families plan Disney, Universal, and cruise vacations. She is a lifelong theme park lover who visits Disney multiple times a year with her own kids so she’s got battle-tested strategies for navigating the parks in a double stroller, finding the best snacks, choosing the right resort, and how to keep the magic going when plans change. You can find her at @allmagicnomeltdowns on Instagram and TikTok or email her at [email protected].
Flying to Orlando
One exciting detail that made the trip feel even sweeter: I finally used Southwest points I’d been saving for years, so our flights were free.
I haven’t flown Southwest in years, but boy do they do things more efficiently than the other airlines! From the way they pass out the drinks (Birch’s got a lid!) to boarding patterns, I was seriously impressed. I wish they had more routes from my home airports.
We flew from Richmond, leaving Charlottesville at 4 a.m., and arrived in Orlando by 9:30 in the morning. So we had a full first day!
We took a Lyft directly to Royal Pacific and were checking in by 10. While our room wasn’t ready yet, they had easy luggage storage and fitness center locker rooms to change into pool attire.
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
We stayed at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which includes Universal Express Passes for all hotel guests as a huge perk. While the hotel price is on the expensive side, Express Passes are also incredibly expensive when purchased separately, so bundling everything together felt worth it.
Location was another huge selling point for me. Royal Pacific is extremely close to both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. We were able to get almost everywhere within 5–10 minutes by walking or water taxi, and Universal CityWalk was only about a ten-minute walk away.
Royal Pacific feels like a tropical escape tucked right inside a theme park destination. It has lush landscaping, palm trees, and a Pacific island theme that I loved. Compared to the other resorts we visited while pool hopping, it did feel a bit older. But everything was perfect for what we needed.
Our room was comfortable and fairly standard for a theme park hotel. We didn’t have the best view (just the parking lot), but we also didn’t spend much time in the room. The shower was good, and the mini fridge was convenient.
The biggest perks of staying here were the location and Universal Express Passes. Both were nonnegotiable for me, and they really paid off. Plus pool hopping!
Lunch by the Pool
We had lunch at Bula Bar & Grille, the poolside restaurant.
I had a black bean burger and side salad that were both great! Birch loved the mac and cheese.
Royal Pacific Pool
We went in the pool every day! The water was warm, and there were plenty of lifeguards on duty who were extremely attentive. I felt so much more comfortable having Birch swim around with the number of lifeguards in every nook and cranny. We also loved the hot tubs, the zero-entry design, and the sandy beach area.
Someone delivered plantain chips to my chair!
Birch participated in a scavenger hunt organized by the resort activities team, which he loved because he won a squishy toy that he played with the whole stay.
Pool Hopping
One of the perks Hillary told me about is that guests staying at a Universal Premier Resort can pool hop between Royal Pacific, Hard Rock Hotel, and Portofino Bay. We took full advantage of this during our stay and tried them all!
Walk To Hard Rock
Later in the afternoon, we walked down the path, through CityWalk, and over to the Hard Rock Hotel pool.
The walk was longer than we expected, especially in the heat and wearing pool clothes, so if you’re making the trip, I’d recommend taking the water taxi instead. You do have to get out and switch boats at CityWalk, but it was still much easier.
Exploring CityWalk
We wandered through the shops and started getting excited for the days ahead.
Hard Rock Pool
The Hard Rock pool had recently been renovated and ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip. It has a fun party atmosphere with a DJ, underwater music, and a waterslide that Birch absolutely loved. He went down it 25 times! I loved singing A Million Dreams underwater.
If we return to Universal, I could definitely see us staying there.
Portofino Bay Pool
On our departure morning, we also visited the Portofino Bay Hotel pool. It was quieter and cooler in tone, with a European feel. The waterslide there was another hit.
A Bit of Weather Luck
We had a little on-and-off rain during our arrival day but no downpours, so we got really lucky that we could still swim. The other two days didn’t rain at all despite rain in the forecast. None of the ponchos I packed ever got used.
Water Taxi Back To The Royal Pacific
So relaxing!
Dinner at Antojitos
We ended our first day with showers, a quick water taxi ride back to CityWalk, and dinner at Antojitos, which is Mexico City-themed.
The tableside guacamole was the hit! I had shrimp tacos with grilled pineapple. We loved the live music too.
Early to Rise, Early to Bed
On arrival day, we had been up since around 4 a.m., so we naturally went to bed early. That actually worked perfectly because we had an early start the next morning for Islands of Adventure.
Next Up
Our full day at Islands of Adventure, where we dive into Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure, and Butterbeer.
