Cass, Rob & Kira - 10 nights at Universal Orlando August 2019 - "It's a sniffler!!"

Gosh, I just loved your pics at Krakatau Coaster. Looks like you guys had a blast there!! :cutie:

You can send your grits to me anytime. I love that stuff. :P

That picture of Kira getting off her feet is hilarious!! Too bad she couldn't just use the beds in the bus instead. They look way more comfortable. 8-)

And speaking of buses....a triple decker? I'd be afraid it would just tip over. :oops::oops::oops:

I know you've been to Universal many many times since 1999 but when I read that, I think back to when I was there last. Hmmmmm, it was either 1994 or 1999 too. LOL o_O:P I might have to change that one day.
 
Just getting all caught up. Looks like you are having an amazing trip so far! I love Volcano Bay so much, too. I just love all of your pictures. We usually do Universal every other year but now that the girls are getting older they want to experience other vacations as well (Turks and Caicos this summer which I cannot be too sad for I guess) so not sure when we will get back there. So I will live vicariously through your pics and trip reports. Looking forward to reading more! Kira for being a teenager is still a very good sport, especially when it comes to taking pictures!
 
August 27th, Part 2

We headed back to Hagrid's for spin #2 :woohoo:

388.jpg


Rob rode with a nice lady but I laughed when I saw this pic...it's like she's saying "Eyes forward, don't look at the camera!" 🤣

389.jpg


390.jpg


ride15.jpg


ride16.jpg


It was a great ride and since we had tons of time left in our park day, we got another return time as we were leaving :rolleyes:

Kira wanted a round on Hulk before we had supper...

391.jpg


ride18.jpg


And then we tried talking her into doing Dr. Doom's Fearfall Tower but she refused and said she would wait for us while we rode it.

392.jpg


Rob and I hadn't been on this ride in sooo many years. We both used to think it was awesome but after riding it, we both said "That's it?!!" :rotfl:

I guess we're a little spoiled now with better rides but I still loved it, great views from the top :thumbsup2

Kira patiently waiting for us...

393.jpg


We stopped in the store for the air conditioning. :rolleyes1

394.jpg


And then made our way to our dinner location, somewhere none of us had eaten before.

395.jpg


We waited about 10-15 minutes for a table, not too bad and we were in the A/C so life was good. :p

They had a few people on stilts walking around the restaurants, blowing up balloons for the kids. It was very loud and very lively in here. ::yes::


396.jpg


397.jpg



398.jpg


Rob and I ordered the Volcano Nachos to share...

399.jpg


And Kira got the chicken Caesar Salad, also to share with Rob. Kira had some of our nachos too.

400.jpg


I wish they had a half order of the nachos because we hardly made a dent and we were SO full! By the time we left, Rob and I had a headache. One of the stilt walkers was right next to me yelling stuff out for about 20 minutes and it was taking it's toll. :scared:

Then the Margaritaville song came on and if you've ever eaten here, you will know it gets super fun but super loud in there so I was ready to leave by then! 😵

401.jpg


We headed back to IOA as we had a return time for Hagrid's! I love this park at dusk! :love:

402.jpg


403.jpg


We made it just in time for the sunset :worship:

404.jpg


405.jpg


rob13.jpg


rob14.jpg


406.jpg


Look how pretty it was in Hogsmeade! 🤩🥰

407.jpg


408.jpg


A much better shot of Hagrid's gloves and a couple of Book of Monsters :magnify:

409.jpg


This was my absolute favourite ride on Hagrid's! It was dark by the time we got on the ride and it makes such a difference!! We all loved it soooo much!!

My hair clip was coming out just as we got to the photo area so I had to grab onto it so I didn't lose it. 🤣

ride19.jpg






ride20.jpg


We made a stop at Honeydukes to get some Lemon Sherbert candies for a friend of ours back home who was throwing a Harry Potter themed bridal shower for a friend. The price was astronomical to me but she was happy so all was good! 🤑🤑🤑

410.jpg


It was about 20 minutes until the parks closed and we all wanted butter beer ice cream but sadly it's in the other park. We hopped on the Hogwarts Express and prayed we would get there in time. 🤞🤞🤞

411.jpg



Did we make it in time for ice cream or did we leave the parks disappointed and sad?? Stay tuned to find out! popcorn::
 
Last edited:


Excited to read your trip report - love all the pics so far! What a worry with your health - seems like you have a system, though, for keeping the germs at bay!
 
Loving you trip report (as always)! You have so many awesome pictures, those at night after the storm are really cool to see. Never been to Universal Orlando or Volcano Bay, hopefully one day, but in the meantime totally enjoying seeing it all through your eyes :)
 
Love your trip report!! We are heading to Universal/IOA for the first time on our next trip, your detailed descriptions are perfect for our planning!! Thank you!
 


Love your trip report!! We are heading to Universal/IOA for the first time on our next trip, your detailed descriptions are perfect for our planning!! Thank you!
 
Another fantastic update. Your pictures are AWESOME!! That sunset tho...sunsets are my thing :love:
 
August 27th, Part 3

This will be a short chapter, just need to finish up our day and I had too many pics to post in the previous chapter.

When we got off the train, we walked really fast to Diagon Alley.
running.gif



Rob was way ahead of us and Kira joked that she had never seen her Dad walk that fast before. That's right baby, Daddy only walks that fast for ice cream :lmao:

It paid off because we made it! :woohoo:

We were hot and sweaty but we made it!
heavybreathing.gif


412.jpg


Actually, we had about 5 minutes to spare so we enjoyed our ice creams as we slowly walked out of Diagon Alley. :goodvibes

413.jpg


414.jpg


We spotted Kreacher as we left.

415.jpg


We watched some of Cinematic Spectacular too but left before it ended so we could beat the crowds :thumbsup2

416.jpg


And then walked back to CityWalk.

417.jpg


As we were slightly ahead of the crowds, we didn't wait too long for a bus.

418.jpg


Back to the room where we had just over an hour left before the pool closed so Kira and I got changed into our suits and off we went! Rob caught up on emails and the news.
reading.gif


rob15.jpg


rob16.jpg


We stayed in the lazy river until they kicked us out once again and then we found two spots in the hot tub so we squeezed in there for a few minutes before finishing off the night in the regular pool. :cloud9:

rob17.jpg


Another great finish to a fun day!
loveshower.gif
 
Last edited:
But she has some friends watching over her.

She sure does! :banana::banana:

So excited to see another Cass trip report! Yey! Just what I needed! THANK YOU! I love your trip reports!!! 😄

Glad you're here!!!
party0040.gif
:hug:


Gosh, I just loved your pics at Krakatau Coaster. Looks like you guys had a blast there!! :cutie:

You can send your grits to me anytime. I love that stuff. :P

That picture of Kira getting off her feet is hilarious!! Too bad she couldn't just use the beds in the bus instead. They look way more comfortable. 8-)

And speaking of buses....a triple decker? I'd be afraid it would just tip over. :oops::oops::oops:

I know you've been to Universal many many times since 1999 but when I read that, I think back to when I was there last. Hmmmmm, it was either 1994 or 1999 too. LOL o_O:P I might have to change that one day.

You can have ALL of my grits!!
sick0021.gif


It's the Knight Bus. It's just for show, you wouldn't want to be on that thing.
scared0011.gif
You would know this if only you would watch the HP movies. :p:duck:

You should definitely change that! But not until you watch those movies. :rolleyes1


Just getting all caught up. Looks like you are having an amazing trip so far! I love Volcano Bay so much, too. I just love all of your pictures. We usually do Universal every other year but now that the girls are getting older they want to experience other vacations as well (Turks and Caicos this summer which I cannot be too sad for I guess) so not sure when we will get back there. So I will live vicariously through your pics and trip reports. Looking forward to reading more! Kira for being a teenager is still a very good sport, especially when it comes to taking pictures!


Kira wants to go to T & C too because when she was younger, we used to call her Turks all the time and then her cousin came along and they were then called Turks & Caicos :rotfl2:

I hope you get back to Universal again soon! :cool1:

Yes, Kira is very good when it comes to me taking her photo on our trips. She loves watching the videos I make and reading the trip reports so she knows that it's all part of it. ::yes::

She's not as generous with her Dad though. :rolleyes2 :laughing:

Excited to read your trip report - love all the pics so far! What a worry with your health - seems like you have a system, though, for keeping the germs at bay!

Glad you're here! :goodvibes Yup, it's just something that is part of every trip for me. :thumbsup2

Loving you trip report (as always)! You have so many awesome pictures, those at night after the storm are really cool to see. Never been to Universal Orlando or Volcano Bay, hopefully one day, but in the meantime totally enjoying seeing it all through your eyes :)

I hope you get there too one of these days. :thumbsup2

I love the after storm pics too. :goodvibes

Love your trip report!! We are heading to Universal/IOA for the first time on our next trip, your detailed descriptions are perfect for our planning!! Thank you!

Oh, well that totally works out!! I hope you have tons of fun! :cool1:

Another fantastic update. Your pictures are AWESOME!! That sunset tho...sunsets are my thing :love:

Thanks! :flower:

Sunsets are my thing too!
cool0027.gif



Those nachos! :earseek:

They were DEE-LISH!!! :worship:


Those sunset pics.......WOW!!!!:lovestruc


I love the palm trees, especially :lovestruc
 
Finally caught up.
I want Waffle House, Cracker Barrel and Ice-cream right now. Thanks!

It's so nice you got to take a leisurely pace each day. I need a vacation like that. My job might take me to Universal in Jan and I really need to get back to Orlando! I looked at annual pass prices just to see and they aren't bad really. I might have to think that one over.
 
August 28th, Part 1

I was super tired of being woken up at 8:15am so I decided today we would get up even earlier and do early entry. :rolleyes1

Kira wasn't happy about getting up so early but I wanted to do early entry at least once this trip and this was the day!

We also had been talking about doing the water rides but we wanted to do them all at once, get soaked and then head back to the hotel and since Rob and Kira get cold after doing the water rides and then hitting that A/C, we knew we would have to do them during the day and not the evening.

So, we showered, dressed to be wet and headed off to CityWalk. This was the only day I managed to talk Kira into wearing shorts (other than at VB). I knew we were going to get soaked and I knew she would be miserable in wet pants. Rob, on the other hand, hardly ever wears shorts. :rolleyes:


This morning, we got a VB bus!



419.jpg


They were both armed and ready for the "comments about their t-shirts competition". :laughing:

420.jpg


Oh my, look how sparse the crowds are this early in the morning. :lovestruc

421.jpg


422.jpg


423.jpg


We stopped for a photo here. :o


ride21.jpg


And since it was right there and there was no line, we decided to ride Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. :banana:



424.jpg


425.jpg


Although I loathe 3-D in general, I didn't like Minions as much without it. You can see the theater and all of the other riders instead of feeling immersed in just the screen and the action. 😕

426.jpg


I had thought Mummy was open for EE but it wasn't so we would have to come back later for that.

427.jpg


And onto London we went!

428.jpg



429.jpg


With a whirl on Gringotts, of course!

430.jpg


Rob and Kira were hungry by then so we stopped at The Leaky Cauldron. Does anyone else love saying that as much as I do? 🤣 And of course, I always say it with a terrible English accent. :rotfl2: LEE-KEE CAWL-DRON 🤭

431.jpg


Not sure why the face on my kiddo but she enjoyed her butter beer while Rob enjoyed his coffee. Nothing like a hot coffee on a 95 degree day 🙄

And they split a pancake breakfast.

432.jpg


Did you guys know that the cauldron on the sign outside actually leaks? Oh my dog, every year I notice even more details!! You have to be patient and watch it but every 10 seconds or so, it leaks water out of that crack! :worship:

433.jpg


We were done with DA for now so we headed out. Early Entry is a GREAT time to wander around, enjoy the details and do the spells because there's hardly anyone there! This is the main entrance coming in, which is usually FILLED with people going in and out and I got a photo of it with no people in it!! :oops: I didn't even have to wait :thumbsup2

434.jpg


Details :love:

435.jpg


It looked like we may get some weather...

436.jpg


We headed over to Men In Black. I think this ride is a hidden gem. It's literally hidden way in the back of the park and while a little dated, it's still amazing and also full of great details!! :worship:

437.jpg


Worm Guys in the break room. :lovestruc

438.jpg



One day, I will make sure we take the Immigration Tour and go visit The Twins ::yes:: :hyper2:

439.jpg




441.jpg


Kira didn't remember about the red button and I was too busy shooting so Rob pressed it and got the best score, but not by much. ;)

After we got hit with the flashy thing, we remembered nothing! I love how that theme is carried over into the exit area. :rotfl:

442.jpg


All intensely zapping the aliens :lmao:

ride22.jpg


We headed over to the other side of the park and did Race through New York, which is a little cheesy but fun. :p

443.jpg


At this point, we also did Rip Ride Rocket, Mummy and got our photo taken with Megatron but I will post those photos in the next chapter because I totally forgot about them and I add all my photos before doing the write-up :upsidedow

We stopped for a very brief time to watch these guys....they were good but I was WAY too hot at this point. 🔥

444.jpg


We need butter beer ice cream, STAT!!! 🍦🍦🥴

Rob is showing that this is our fifth BB ice cream but it was actually our 6th & 7th. 😜

445.jpg


Since we were all dying of heat by now, we headed into the BEST part of Wizarding World of Harry Potter...Knockturn Alley! :worship::worship::worship:

Not only is it shaded but it's dark and full of wondrous A/C. :cloud9:

446.jpg




447.jpg




448.jpg


449.jpg


450.jpg




451.jpg


452.jpg


We ate our ice cream, explored the entire area and then headed out of Diagon Alley once again.
 
Last edited:
August 28th, Part 2


As promised, here's our pics from before we hopped on the Hogwarts Express to do the IOA water rides...

BTTF is one of my all-time favourite movies so we stopped for a quick photo op with the Delorean.


ride23.jpg


Then we stood in line to meet Megatron...


ride24.jpg


Then we took a spin on RRR :lovestruc


ride25.jpg


Then we took a nice spin on Mummy. I love how this photo border is different from the last one. :thumbsup2

ride26.jpg


We knew Bumble Bee would be out after Megatron and Kira is a HUGE BB fan so we got back in line for another photo. Kira is also a fan of Optimus Prime and he would be out next but she didn't want to wait in line. It was getting super hot and we still had the water rides to do so we then hopped on HE.

ride27.jpg


Our first stop was Jurassic Park River Adventure...


ride28.jpg


I love the big dude behind Rob :lmao:

We all got a little wet...

453.jpg


I got a little more wet since I was on the edge.

454.jpg


Then we headed over to Popeyes....

455.jpg


Rob chickened out and wore a poncho and Kira and I got a little wetter than before. The people across from us got it bad and looked like they had just jumped in the river :rotfl2: Sorry, not sorry HAHAH!

456.jpg


The only dry spot was my crotch :laughing:

457.jpg


And finally, time for Ripsaw Falls! I love this drop!! I hate getting in and out of the boat but love this ride!

460.jpg


458.jpg


459.jpg


I feel like such a dummy, I didn't know until just a few days ago that they have the photos on this ride!
sad0120.gif


Crap. 😣

We didn't take photos but Kira and I were 100% soaked, crotch included and Rob was slightly damp in spots. 😜

I was starving by then because it was 1:45pm and I hadn't eaten anything yet. Rob was kinda hungry too and Kira was snackish. I told them that I am going to Bread Box and if they didn't want that then they could go off on their own because there's no way I am missing my Bread Box!! 😋😋😋

I think it's my favourite place to eat at Universal. I haven't tried every other place but I will always go back here!!!

461.jpg


Kira refused to go into the air conditioning but it was soooo freaking hot that Rob and I just had to. She decided to camp outside on her own. 😜

This was our view from our seats 😏

462.jpg


I got Kira an orange pop, cookie and some fries and she was happy ☺

463.jpg


Rob had never been here and didn't know what to get so I ordered us my fave, the hot turkey and the patty melt, which a manager had suggested after reading my Trip Advisor review, and we split them both.

464.jpg


465.jpg


466.jpg


My hot turkey was still the best thing I've ever eaten although the patty melt was also very good. It hit the spot perfectly and we headed back to the hotel, where I did a couple more loads of laundry, without the creepy stalkers this time. :rolleyes2

467.jpg
 
Last edited:
Oh my goodness, that was epic!!! Love it, you guys are hilarious!!!

And jeez those sammies look super tasty!!!
 
Pretty cool tip about the Leaky Cauldron. I'm not really into Harry Potter but last October I had the chance to visit London and we went to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour and it was so cool. The people I went with are huge fans. You guys don't take off your glasses on attractions? I always take mine off, if I lost them, I'd be in trouble since I'm blind as a bat. Sandwiches looked soooo good, especially the patty melt.
 
August 28th, Part 3

After chilling for a bit, we walked over to Volcano Bay to spend the last 3 hours of the park day there.

468.jpg


469.jpg


Grabbed our Tapu Tapus and Aquavaulted our bag to a chair before we headed out to do Krakatau. We tapped in for a return time and it was only 30 minutes out so we hit up Taniwha Tubes once or twice. I was a bit of a hurting unit by then, my feet especially were killing me. These heel spurs are no joke :scared:

Rob and Kira rode the other Taniwha slides while I waited at the bottom for them. It was now time for Krakatau so we headed over and climbed to the top. As we got to the top, we noticed that it was not operating. It looked like it had shut down. We waited a bit to see what would happen and by then, some clouds had made their way over and we saw some lightning in the sky pretty close to us. We figured they would be closing it all down and telling everyone to get out of the pools but they didn't! Only Krakatau was shut down so we headed down the steps in search of other adventures.

We took a few spins in TeAwa, the fearless river but it was too crowded so we got out of there.

470.jpg


471.jpg


There was lightning all around us by then, the skies were GORGEOUS but everything was open except for Krakatau.

We took a spin on the lazy river, walked through the Volcano and chatted with Vol for awhile and then Rob and Kira did Honu Ika Moana while I swam in the awesome pool that overlooks the wave pool.

Rob had wanted to do the drop slides and my feet were too sore to join him so Kira and I spent some time in the wave pool while we waited for Rob.

472.jpg


473.jpg


474.jpg


475.jpg




477.jpg


478.jpg


479.jpg


480.jpg


481.jpg


I was really enjoying the view and I took so many photos! :lovestruc

We were watching the little chant thing that they do before the waves start up when I spotted Rob. He was behind Kira and he snuck up on her and scared the crap out of her and I have it all on video :lmao:

This might sound a little evil but if you knew Kira, this was perfect payback for her! She is CONSTANTLY hiding on us, sneaking up on us, trying to scare us. It's like her sole mission in life is to scare the crap out of her parents so this was delicious karma, 12 years in the making! :rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

It's just the last 10 seconds of the clip here....:rotfl:



482.jpg


We went to tap our bands to get our photos into our account but they only showed 2 photos from this evening so I guess their system wasn't working out too well. However, later that night when I was checking the photos in our account, a whole bunch of photos popped up but they were from last summer!! It took me awhile to figure that out because Rob and Kira were wearing the same bathing suits that they had this summer but she had her old RX goggles and I was in a bathing suit that I threw out a few months ago. :laughing:



483.jpg



Our two pics from tonight...


vb17.jpg


vb18.jpg



And here's some bonus photos from our trip last summer :cool1:


Kind of dark but it's Kira doing OhNo...


vb1.jpg


vb2.jpg


vb3.jpg


vb4.jpg


vb5.jpg


vb6.jpg



Once we got back, we were all starving! We got changed and drove over to Portofino Bay, where we stayed last year. We had fallen in love with the pizza at Sal's so tonight was a good time to go back. :thumbsup2

Rob parked at the front while Kira and I ran in and grabbed some pizzas to go.


484.jpg


We brought them back to our room and watched a movie while stuffing our faces. ::yes::🍕🍕🍕

485.jpg


Sooooo good!! 😋

486.jpg


Kira and I hit up the pool together for the last 40 minutes before they closed and then we called it a night. A very fun but very looooong day! :faint::faint::faint:
 
Last edited:

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top