Hi it's me- you want some pretzel?- a sisters' Dec 2019 USO/WDW trip! new 1/24!

It's Best to Do it at a Bit of a Run

After our empty street photoshoot, we decided we were digested enough to take on Rip, Ride, Rock It.

Of course, we couldn't resist more photos on our way there.



I feel like this store is always teeming with people so it was awesome to see it so empty.





We stopped inside to mark another tree off on our scavenger hunt.







As you can see, it was hard to find room to make our way down the street.



We survived our ride with a lot of screaming. Side note: Have you heard about how they've put up signs in Japan on rides asking people not to scream to prevent the spread of Covid? I get the concept behind it but I feel like sometimes you can't help it!



The last ride we wanted to take on before taking the Hogwarts Express to IOA was the Mummy!



For the event, they had shortcuts open to hop between the two parks. So, if you wanted, you could exit on the side of the courtyard in front of Rip, Ride, Rock It and walk over to IOA where you'd come out in Seuss Landing. I thought it was a brilliant idea but we wanted to ride the Hogwarts Express without long lines so we didn't take advantage.

The little park across from the Mummy was all decked out for Christmas and looked gorgeous.



🥰 🥰



The lights on the tree were twinkling and our little hearts grew 3 sizes. :love:


We got to the Mummy and found a bunch of people hanging around outside but almost no one in line. Perhaps they were non-riders waiting for their parties? They don't know what they're missing!





I love the queue area of this ride but it's so dark and hard to capture pictures of. I took this terrible one to send to my friend Stephanie because she loves the Mummy and has 4 sphinx cats lol.



Also, just in case you forgot who was hosting the event while you were in line:



We had a fun ride but would've enjoyed it more if I HAD GOTTEN MY CUP OF COFFEE :coffee:

Then, we made our way back to Diagon Alley. We had one specific treat in mind before boarding our train.



This was more people than we'd seen all night combined!





As we made our way to our destination, we passed a cart encouraging us to take bottles of water. Not only is water good for hydration, but I love the themed bottles!



If you didn't guess already, free butterbeer was our goal!



If anyone is going to Universal anytime soon and wants to find a way to ship me some, I'd love you forever.



Even though everything was free for the event, the TMs were ringing them up on the register for inventory purposes I imagine.

A shocking $$ amount of butterbeer at this register alone! :oops:



With butterbeer in hand, we made our way to King's Cross station.







I took advantage of the low crowds to show Kimberly the effect of going through platform 9 3/4.







And of course, a boomerang of it cause that's what the kids do these days.

 
We stopped inside to mark another tree off on our scavenger hunt.
Did you get them all?
As you can see, it was hard to find room to make our way down the street.
I don't know how you managed!
We survived our ride with a lot of screaming.
:lmao:
Side note: Have you heard about how they've put up signs in Japan on rides asking people not to scream to prevent the spread of Covid? I get the concept behind it but I feel like sometimes you can't help it!
I have heard that. That'd be a tough rule to follow! Screaming is half the fun, anyway! Unintentional or not.
you could exit on the side of the courtyard in front of Rip, Ride, Rock It and walk over to IOA where you'd come out in Seuss Landing
Really!
The lights on the tree were twinkling and our little hearts grew 3 sizes. :love:
Awww...
We had a fun ride but would've enjoyed it more if I HAD GOTTEN MY CUP OF COFFEE :coffee:
:laughing:
Depends who gives it to you I guess.
If you didn't guess already, free butterbeer was our goal!
Always a good goal. Free or not!
If anyone is going to Universal anytime soon and wants to find a way to ship me some, I'd love you forever.
Me too! Me too!
 
The park was so empty!! So cool!

That's pretty awesome that they had shortcuts to hop from park to park- such a time saver!

Yasss to free butterbeer! I'd love some of that right now too!
 


the next ride we came to was the Simpsons ride. I believe I've expressed already that this isn't my favorite ride because it's one of the few rides that makes me nauseous. However, Kimberly said she didn't think she'd ever been on it which seemed crazy to me so I sucked it up.

I kind of like this ride. But when we rode in 2015, Nicholas had a new found love of The Simpsons so we thought it was fun :goodvibes



Yum!


Side note: Have you heard about how they've put up signs in Japan on rides asking people not to scream to prevent the spread of Covid? I get the concept behind it but I feel like sometimes you can't help it!

I didn't think people were screaming just because! I scream the whole time I'm on Space Mountain because I can't help it!


If anyone is going to Universal anytime soon and wants to find a way to ship me some, I'd love you forever.


I would love one of those right now 😋


A shocking $$ amount of butterbeer at this register alone! :oops:

Oh, my!! o_O
 
Did you get them all?

No :( :( We missed one or two and we planned on going back our last day of the trip to get them and didn't make it.

I don't know how you managed!

Definitely a struggle!

I have heard that. That'd be a tough rule to follow! Screaming is half the fun, anyway! Unintentional or not.

Exactly!

Me too! Me too!

Universal is certainly missing a merchandising opportunity here.
 


I kind of like this ride. But when we rode in 2015, Nicholas had a new found love of The Simpsons so we thought it was fun :goodvibes

Aw 🥰 Mike likes it because he likes the Simpsons and I wouldn't mind it if it didn't make me nauseous!

I didn't think people were screaming just because! I scream the whole time I'm on Space Mountain because I can't help it!

Exactly! I'm sure some people do it just because but I think most of the time it's an uncontrollable thing.

I would love one of those right now 😋

Me tooo please!
 
Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle

We continued on to board the Hogwarts Express.









Upon arrival in Hogsmeade, I had one goal in mind- more free butterbeer!









As Stacey would say, YUM AND WOW.



Our original plan was to go on Hagrid's as the wait was posted at 20 minutes but we watched it shoot up to 45 minutes as we approached and decided to hold off.

Would this be a wise decision? Only time would tell.



We walked around taking photos for a few minutes and then decided to go on the Forbidden Journey before watching the Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle.





The castle was already looking gorgeous :love:





And Forbidden Journey was a walk on! :flower1:

The only downside is we walked the queue so quickly that none of my pictures turned out great.





When we got off the ride, we only had to wait about 5 minutes for the next show to start and we were able to get a great spot right in front of the castle because it was so empty!




























 
Jurassic Park

I don't think there's such a thing as too many beautiful castle photos. Hopefully you agree lol.








After the show we were able to walk right onto Flight of the Hippogriff!



Another castle shot from on the ride!



When we got off the ride, it was 9:51 and our time for Pteranodon Flyers was from 10-11 I believe so we decided to head to Jurassic Park.



We passed the Raptor Encounter and found only a few other families in line so we joined them! I had never done this before because the line was always long during the day and I don't think Kim had any idea what to expect lol.

The verdict- it was hysterical :rotfl::rotfl:







All that terror got us hungry again so we went into the Thunder Falls Terrace Restaurant. They were serving what I call "sampler plates" of their food with a little bit of everything on it which was perfect for us since we got to try a little of it all.



The food was much better than expected and filled us up.

And I loved this light fixture in the restaurant!



With full bellies, we set out to find more adventures!

Kim had never been on Kong and it was, again, a walk on so we rode.



It's a fun ride and the technology is cool but not one of my favorites.

Finally, we were ready to use our passes for Pteranodon Flyers so we had to go into Camp Jurassic to find the ride entrance.





I don't know if it actually mattered if you went at your assigned time or not since no one looked at it when we handed in our passes.

There was a small line here but it wasn't too bad and one of the only times we had to wait in line all night!





We saw construction ongoing (I assume on the new coaster) as we were in line.



Here's what the ride vehicles look like!



And soon it was our turn to board!



One adult was being boarded into each vehicle and the other seat left empty.

It was Kim's first time and I'm not sure she knew what to expect lol but we both enjoyed it while being scared of falling out at the same time.

You get awesome views of the park from the ride but I was too afraid to drop my phone or camera to attempt taking any lol. It was a fun and thrilling ride and a little weird to be all alone flying over the park!

 
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What a fabulous night! You guys got so much done and I love all the snacks and drinks! :)
 
Loving all the Harry Potter pics. We've never done it (and haven't done US since 1999) but Casey is starting to read the books so hopefully it will be in our future.
 
Upon arrival in Hogsmeade, I had one goal in mind- more free butterbeer!
:thumbsup2
oohhh... pretty.
As Stacey would say, YUM AND WOW.
:laughing: Definitely!
Our original plan was to go on Hagrid's as the wait was posted at 20 minutes but we watched it shoot up to 45 minutes as we approached and decided to hold off.

Would this be a wise decision? Only time would tell.
Uh, oh... I sure hope it works out.
The castle was already looking gorgeous :love:
Beautiful.
And Forbidden Journey was a walk on! :flower1:
Score! you don't see that very often!
The only downside is we walked the queue so quickly that none of my pictures turned out great.
:) I'm sure you weren't too upset about that.
I don't think there's such a thing as too many beautiful castle photos. Hopefully you agree lol.
They're all pretty spectacular.
I don't think Kim had any idea what to expect lol.

The verdict- it was hysterical :rotfl::rotfl:
:laughing:
Yum! (and wow) That looks good.
And I loved this light fixture in the restaurant!
::yes::
It's a fun ride and the technology is cool but not one of my favorites.
I like it, but I liked the one in California better.
We saw construction ongoing (I assume on the new coaster) as we were in line.
New coaster? Had no idea.
Here's what the ride vehicles look like!
Cool. I only caught a glimpse as one went by.
It was Kim's first time and I'm not sure she knew what to expect lol but we both enjoyed it while being scared of falling out at the same time.
:laughing:
It was a fun and thrilling ride and a little weird to be all alone flying over the park!
I'd love that soooo much. Might be worth the price of admission for that alone.
I know :( :( :( All that potential down the drain
20 lashes with a wet noodle!
 
Sounds like such a fun night getting on all the rides and seeing the castle show!! Your pics at the raptor encounter are too funny- I really want to do it but when we went last year it was raining so it wasn't happening :(
 
Following! I'm hopeful you got to ride Hagrid's. I'm jealous that you got to ride Pteredon Flyers without a kid! I remember years ago when I first went to Universal with my friend and we were both childless millennials, I got so excited seeing them and she said, "Oh, you're going to be so mad. We can't ride them."
 
Loving all the Harry Potter pics. We've never done it (and haven't done US since 1999) but Casey is starting to read the books so hopefully it will be in our future.

Now that Casey is older and reading Harry Potter, I think you guys will love Universal!
 
Uh, oh... I sure hope it works out.

:confused3 :confused3 :confused3

I like it, but I liked the one in California better.

Hopefully next year I'll finally make it to Cali to find out!

New coaster? Had no idea.

I'm not sure if they've officially annouced it yet but the track is all there soo I'm not sure who they're trying to fool lol

'd love that soooo much. Might be worth the price of admission for that alone.

The event was definitely worth it! Honestly, I would buy the event ticket over a day ticket if it was happening next time I was there.
 

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