A LIVE Trip Report, 3/28-4/4, Spring Break Fun!! Completed :)

[ForMyBoys]

So finishing off yesterday, we did really enjoy the WP. The customer service person at the park went out of her way to help us which was awesome. It was interesting though, because she walked us to the blue raft ride (sorry I can't remember the name of it, but it seats 5 people) and the wait was 100 min. The woman manning the ride entrance actually told the customer service person that we could not get on the ride as the wait ride time was too long, and the customer service person walkie talkied her manager who then talked to the person manning the ride, and then begrudgingly the woman let us on. But what was funny is that even though there was a 100 min wait time for the ride we walked right on to it, literally there was no wait at the top. It really seemed like they need better customer service training for the employees manning the rides. But Bailey at guest services that helped us really bent over backwards and we appreciated it.

So after that we went back to the room, spruced up and hit Cowfish for dinner. We had an amazing dinner and amazing server. We did flash our room card and got priority seating, which took about 20 min. We ordered the following:
Appetizers- Edemame and Calamari. The Calamari was amazing, the sauce with it was really good.
DS3- chicken finger kid meal. He loved the bento box so much he insisted on taking a pic of his dinner! He gave it high marks
DS2- California roll kid meal. He also gave it high marks.
DS1- The K-Town Burger. He ate the whole thing and said it was good, he said it was spicy but bearable.
DH and I split two meals. 1) The black truffle cheeseburger (THIS WAS AMAZING!!) and 2) The All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburgooshi (Eh, it was just OK).

We then tried to get dessert at voodoo donuts, but it had a 40 min line, but rest assured they let us know they open at 7am and the line is generally reasonable until 7:30 so we made plans to hit it the next morning. Here are a few pics.

 

[ForMyBoys]

When the kids got back to the room they found that there was a surprise waiting for them I also got the same for DS1, but no cute pic since he's too old for stuffed animals They already owner the stuffed animals, it was just the candy that was a surprise.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I would go back and finish our Thursday evening but for the life of me I can't remember all we did. I know DS1 and hubby rode rip ride rocket and loved it. And as we walked out we got some beads from the parade, around 7:45ish. But that is all I remember, see this is why I have to do these things live...

 

[macraven]

So sweet that Finn got a private time with the Wizard.
Great you have pictures so he can remember that time forever.

Really enjoying all the pictures you are sharing with us.
And.....doing all of this during your time at the darkside!

Tony is a gem!
I've been using him for a long time.
Defintely an honest and dependable man

 

[ForMyBoys]

Hi All, Today, March 31, is probably one of the best days we’ve ever had in a theme park. Sometimes luck is just with you. We started today very early. I woke at 6am, showered, then got the rest of the family up at 6:30ish. We were out of the door by around 7am. Our Goal? Voodoo Donut of course!!! Today we walked over to City Walk. It was a fun walk as it was still dark and it was a bit windy so all the bamboo was making noise. We arrived at Voodoo Donut at 7:15. It was only a 5 min wait. It took us about 5 mins to decide what to get from the menu they gave us while waiting, which we were able to keep so the wait felt like nothing! But of course while in the store about half of us changed our mind. We got:

DS3- A pink donut w/ sprinkles, I can’t recall the name
DS2- A Maple Bacon Donut
DS1- I honestly can’t remember what he got, but you can see the chocolate donut in the picture in the box. He liked it, whatever it was
DH- The Voodoo doll. It had a raspberry filling he liked very much.
Me- A Mango Tango, it was very good with a bit of zing.

We were able to get a nice picture in the donut chair and everyone agreed the donuts were great.



After eating we made our way over to Islands of Adventure. We got into the park by 7:55. A few fun pics:


In case you are wondering why I have so many pics of DS3 compared to the others its because the other two have to be in the right mood for a picture whereas DS3 is a ham and asks me to take pictures all the time. I probably have 5 pics of DS3 to every 1 pic of everyone else.

We got DS2 a HP cloak this morning as he finally decided he did want one, a big decision as he had a budget of money to spend, mostly of saved bday and xmas money, and this was a big budget item. He wouldn't let me take a pic of him in his cloak alone but I did get one w/ both him and his brother when he wasn't looking



Next we rode the Forbidden Journey. It was about a 15 min wait, not bad at all considering the sign said 45min and most of the wait was an entertaining cue. I think this is my favorite ride in the park, so well done.

Next up was flight of the hippogriff, again a very short line.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We then walked over to Jurrasic park. I wanted to do the raptor encounter but realized it didn’t open until 10 so instead DS3 and DS2 rode the Pteradon Flyer together, it was only a 15 min wait which I knew was good for this ride.


After they got off the ride the family made their way over to Kong to find out it was a late opening so we decided to split up. I took the youngest two to play in the jurrasic park play ground while DH and DS1 went to ride the Hulk. Word of warning, the Jurassic play area does have a water area so DS3 came out soaked, but he was happy!

DH and DS1 got done w/ the Hulk and back over to us at about 10:30, we then got in line for the Raptor experience. The line was actually kind of long for this, but then a very large group in front of us, they were all together for a reunion, had thought it was a ride and when they realized it wasn’t they all bailed and we were left with not many people in front of us. We got some funny pictures of this and the kids really like it.



DS3 really wanted to do the Jurrasic Park ride, but the park was a little chilly and DS2 did not want to do it so he and I sat out while my DH took DS3 and DS1 on that ride. DS2 and I bonded by getting a snack and browsing the store while we waited.

After that we decided to walk back to Mythos because it was already 11:20 and we had 11:45 reservations. We had a short wait to be seated and made the poor decision of eating outside. It was much chillier than we thought so we ordered hot drinks to keep us warm. Also both boys put on thier HP cloaks to keep warm so those came in handy. The food was good though. And we had a good server. Again we had a calamari appetizer that was yummy, although a very different sauce then the one from last night at Cowfish.

DS3- personal pepperoni pizza, he liked it. The pizza was large so he ended up sharing w/ DS1
DS2- Kids pasta, he liked it
DS1- Gnocchi Bolognaise, he liked it but the dish was a bit small so he was still hungry
DH- I don’t remember what he had, I’ll have to ask him tomorrow. <- ETA he had the mythos burger which he though was good.
Me- Chicken breast sandwich w/ avocado added… this was good

While we were at Mythos there was a bit of a downpour, which luckily we missed. By the time we were done eating the rain had passed. We then made our way over to the talking fountain. It ended up asking DS3 his name and it was quite an interaction!! He wanted to get Finn to laugh, but Finn just stood their stoic, the fountain even made up a long song w/ Finn's name in it which we sang for much of the morning after that! Looking back I didn't get any pictures of this, shoot!



We then made our way over to HP land where it was really too crowed to do much, we did buy some postcards and stamps so we can mail ourselves letters later in the week, we then took the Hogwarts express over to the other park. That side of HP was even more crowded so we made our way over to Simpson’s land and rode the green ride in simpsons (name is escaping me, the alien one that you can see in the picture).


Then rode men in black, which was fun. After that we made our way out of the park for a mid-day break. It was around 2pm at this point and we were ready for a break.

 

[ForMyBoys]

My DH took the kids back to the room and I went and picked up our Blue Man Group and dinner tickets for tomorrow night. I then met the family back in the room where we napped/chilled for a few hours. My DH and DS went and rented a guitar from the front desk. DS1 has been taking guitar lessons so he was thrilled to be able to do this!


We got back to the park that night around 6. The next 4 hours are probably some of the best hours spent in the park as luck just seemed to go our way. We wanted to do the Minion ride but the standby wait was so long we didn't want to risk it even though we had EPs, so we started out by doing the Shrek ride, we were put right away in the first show that started minutes after we got there. Everyone enjoyed it, it was more entertaining then I remembered, but maybe it was because DS3 found it so funny.

Next we decided to do Jimmy Fallon ride, again not a long wait and we all found it hilarious. In fact DS2 bought a Jimmy Fallon pin to add to his pin collection. After that I checked the time and the map and realized the 7:30 Horror make up show was starting in 15 min so we made our way over there. We had never seen it. DS2 and DS3 were quite hesitant, but I told them I'd heard it was funny and not scary. Seriously it was one of the funniest theme park shows I’ve ever seen. But to top it off DS2 was picked on throughout the show and it made the show quite special for us. I've not heard my teen laugh as much as he did during that show in a very long time. I got a great picture of DS2 w/ the actors at the end of the show.



As we exited the show the Mardi Gras parade was literally starting right in front of us and a nice family offered space for the kids. The kids got a million beads and really enjoyed it.


We then headed over to have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley. We had great service and liked the food a lot. There was one gentleman working there that talked to the kids a lot and made the dinner quite special, I wish I had gotten his name.

DS3 had a mac&cheese kids meal. He only ate the fries and maybe one bite of mac&cheese and the claimed to be full. But no matter because...
DS2 also had a mac&cheese kids meal and ate it all then polished off what DS1 didn't eat.
DS1 had bangers and mash. He said it wasn't wonderful but ate ALL of it, so it couldn't have been that bad.
DH had the fisherman pie with salad and said it was good, I tried a bite and it was good.
I opted for fish and chips. It waa too much food for me, i gave one fish to my hubby and one to DS1 and only finished half the fries. I got pumpkin juice and it was very good. I don't like it in the bottles but it is very good on tap!

We then cast spells. A very nice worker named Pat, see pic, realized Finn’s wand wasn’t working and we did a very quick exchange. She was very helpful w/ the kids and very patient helping them cast spells. The spell casting at night was quite fun, that area feels different at night. I really liked the one that lit up all the lamps in the lamp store.



DS1 and I then went to ride Rip Ride Rocket, it was the first time I had ridden it and it was very fun. I did lose my fastpass/roomkey on this ride, but it was the last ride of the night for us so if you are going to lose it, that is when to do it. When we got back to the hotel they replaced it very quickly.

Overall it was such a nice day. The kids all got along well and we got to do so much stuff. We had very little waiting and even though the park was clearly very crowded it ended up not really feeling as if it was.

My kids are now sound asleep so I'm free to put together some Easter baskets. DS3 wants to do the 8am easter egg hunt and DH offered to take him to that one. The other two want to sleep in a bit. We then have planned an Easter brunch at 10 in the Kitchen. Until tomorrow!

 

[ForMyBoys]

So sweet that Finn got a private time with the Wizard.
Great you have pictures so he can remember that time forever.

Really enjoying all the pictures you are sharing with us.
And.....doing all of this during your time at the darkside!

Tony is a gem!
I've been using him for a long time.
Defintely an honest and dependable man

So I realized on my last trip I would only be able to do a trip report if I did it live. So I type quickly at odd times, try not to over think what I'm saying and post some nice pics. I've read some fantastic trip reports in my days and I have no clue how people remember such detail so long afterwards. Of course I'm not one to remember to take pics of all my meals or write notes about what we did.

But yes, I love Tony. As you can see from my siggy we like cruises a lot so we do hire Tony often to get to the cruise docks. We don't always get Tony, but I was happy this trip that we did. I was sad to hear that his wife passed away.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Love the added pictures!!!

How lovely Finn got a private wand wand choosing.......must have made all of your days!!!

Glad you’re having fun.........

Thanks! I've read all your trip reports and they are so detailed and fantastic. I keep telling my dh that we need to go over and check out Royal Pacific since you talk it up so much and now I want to see it all. But the boys don't understand my desire to see the other hotels, they just want to see the parks!! I surely wish we had more than a week here, I could easily spend 2 or 3 and feel like there is still more to do

 

[macraven]

All good moms feeds the family donuts for breakfast
even on school days...

I always do Horror Make Up show a few times each trip.
The kid that is picked on by the actors is always a fun part of the show.....
Bet he loved that!

 

[schumigirl]

What a fabulous day you all had........so many special things happening for you..........

We missed Horror Make up Show a few times and we need to get back.........but love your pictures and you all look so happy which is lovely to see!!

 

[ForMyBoys]

See the Easter Eggs??

 

[ForMyBoys]

In case you are wondering HRH knows how to put on an Easter egg hunt! Hunt was at 8am at the pool entrance. We got there a bit early and the kids were able to decorate a bag. it took about 15-20 min. My kids got almost a whole bag each, a lot of kids had two bags full! There were plenty of eggs...

 

[schumigirl]

Lol........That is so cool!!!!

 

[prairiesarah]

Looks like you are having an awesome trip! Jealous of the Voodoo Donuts - we missed it by a couple weeks. Will be on our list to try next time. The easter egg hunt looks fantastic.

 

[ForMyBoys]

So after the Easter egg hunt we had the Easter buffet at the Kitchen. Reservations were for 10. It was quite a spread and beautiful lay out but omelet/specialty pancake orders were a bit slow. They put us in a booth which was fine, but realized quickly it wasn't the greatest for a buffet when we'd be getting up at different times. For the price I think mimosas and bloody marys should be included. Also I would have liked some cocktail shrimp. We did enjoy it, but for $210 I would not do it again. I'm sure it's much less when it's not easter. Here are some pics.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We then decided to hit the parks. DH went ahead as he wanted to be part of the 1pm Fear Factor show. He did get a part, more on that later!!

We decided to watch a few shows today and rides some things we hadn't yet. On our way in we watched the Beat Builders.



We then checked out the store for the Fast and furious ride. The statue of Vin Diesel looked quite real.



Finn decided to use the last of his allowed funds to purchase a build it car. Quite pricey but a neat idea.


It was $32 including packaging and the tool to put it together.

 

[ForMyBoys]

After perusing the cars we waited only a few minutes for the flying fish market show. This one was very lively and fun!!! I'd try to catch it if you can.



But DH and DS3 missed the show as they went to get ready for Fear Factor.

DS1, DS2 and I got to the Fear Factor stage at 12:40 and they let us in early and let us sit in the second row to watch up close. DH was chosen to have some type of critter put on him and DS3 got to spin the wheel. Of course they stopped the wheel on scorpions!!

 

[ForMyBoys]

Then it was time for the show!! It was a very fun show. DH did quite well with the scorpians!!



We didn't do a whole lot after the show. We rode ET with almost no wait. Rode the woody wood pecker coaster. Ate dipping dots while DS3 ran around the play area. It was very hot so we opted to head back to the hotel for a midday break. We really prefer the early and late hours in the parks.

Later tonight, Blue Man Group!!

 

[annemce118]

Thanks for all your reporting! I’ve enjoyed reading about your trip so far. I arrive on Saturday fir a three day weekend. Im really looking forward to it since I have only been to Universal once when it first opened. Enjoy the rest of your trip!