How different can two trips be? Let me count the ways! COMPLETE!

[ursalita]

I must have commented while you were updating!

Glad you got the chance to do the Suess ride.

What the frickety-frack is going on???

That's disconcerting.

Thankfully, it wasn't too much longer before they came out!

Phew!

Sounds like a fun day in universal.

 

[irene_dsc]

I must have commented while you were updating!

Yeah, it's always disconcerting when the "you have one new alert" box comes up while you are typing! I keep getting distracted, wanting to see my alert, but wanting to keep going through my update! It's been so long since I've done any updates, I got a bug in my ear and just wanted to get a whole day done...

 

[ursalita]

And I did it again. Sorry.

 

[irene_dsc]

And I did it again. Sorry.

No worries - that's what happens when you do 4 updates all in a row! I just get paranoid that I'll get interrupted, or something will happen and I'll lose my post, so I stop at what seems like a break point, even if I'm not necessarily done for the night!

 

[KathyM2]

Great update...what a busy day though at two parks...I am exhausted as usual just reading about it!! But you had a lot of good experiences...jealous of the HE for sure...and the butterbeer...I loved that stuff!! The prices of the candy were a bit insane too...but there was a lot of stuff I wanted to take home a few years ago. I'm not much for thrill rides though...so I just loved Cat in the Hat lol...

 

[irene_dsc]

Funny, you don't post for 4 days, and you end up on page 4!

Time to start our very last park day!

Getting ready to go, dd put on her brand new Ravenclaw t-shirt. This is where we realized we should've looked a little closer at the size. A women's size small, in a women's cut, is actually pretty small!


Dd was pretty upset, since it is tighter than she usually likes, and plus, she likes to get special t-shirts large, so she can wear them a long time. We decided we would get her a Ravenclaw pin in the park today, so she would have something she wouldn't outgrow.

Then, off to the parks!

We started out at Universal Studios, so we could do the reverse Hogwarts Express ride this time.

I had heard that Minions had one of the longest lines, so we should actually start with that instead of Gringotts. Naturally, by the time we got there, the line was already pretty long. BUT - there was a CM telling everyone that the non-motion seats had only a 5 minute wait!!! So, ds, dd and I decided it was a no-brainer to go through the 5 minute queue vs a 90 minute queue! It turned out, the wait was a little longer than 5 minutes - but definitely shorter than if we had done the full wait. The deal is, the non-motion seats are the very front row in the theater, so you are very close to the screen. With all the 3d stuff, it is a bit weird to be that close! I ended up closing my eyes pretty often when stuff was too much in my face, because it was pretty overwhelming!

Ds decided that he really wanted to do it again, but wait through the whole queue for the regular seats. So, we made a deal. Since he had no interest whatsoever in visiting Diagon Alley, at the end of our day, when lines died down a little, he could go to Minions on his own while the rest of us went to Diagon Alley. I figured this would be a good way to keep him interested and not complaining that he was ready to leave, and that he was old enough to handle this. Plus, this way he wouldn't be complaining about us looking in the shops. Win-win! It did take a while to explain the deal to dh - somehow he kept not quite understanding.

Then, everyone else decided to go on...


Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit! As you can probably guess, this was NOT my cup of tea! But, this time, they had this lovely waiting area. See that bandshell in the second photo? In front of it is a lovely fake grass area, with nothing else going on. Since it wasn't a very long line, I decided to just hang out on the grass. This is another one of those crazy rollercoasters that goes all over the park, it seems! Everyone enjoyed it - but agreed that I would not have, so we all made the correct decisions!

Next, we headed to Gringotts! I forget exactly what happened here - I want to say that there was a single rider line, and ds and dh did that, and dd and I went through the whole queue, since I was still pretty ticked about missing everything at Hogwarts. And, the queue was very cool, although I was being way too good and put all my stuff in the lockers - including my phone, so I don't have any photos! But, when we were getting very, very close - they had separated us out to take our photos - then the line stopped! We were stuck in the basement of Gringotts for about a half hour! Fortunately, there were a lot of nice people stuck in the line with us. We ended up chatting with a British family who were here for 2 weeks - one week at Universal, and then one week at the beach. I was feeling pretty jealous about that idea - another week of vacation just to relax was sounding pretty good!

Finally, the queue started moving again. The ride itself was totally awesome, and definitely worth the wait. They had improved a lot of the 3d and effects, it seemed - it felt a lot smoother, at least, so I didn't feel queasy at the end, which is always a big bonus! We managed to meet back up again with dh and ds, and decided since it was still early, we should head over to IOA...

 

[cajunfan]

How have I missed your report???!!!! I am so sorry! I am here now, only on the top of page three but will get caught up this weekend.

 

[irene_dsc]

How have I missed your report???!!!! I am so sorry! I am here now, only on the top of page three but will get caught up this weekend.

Lol - no worries. You've probably been hanging out in PTR land most of the time - and I've been slacking off on my updates lately. Hard to find the TR when it is on page 3 or 4!

 

[irene_dsc]

Sorry for neglecting my TR for so long!

Now, where were we? About to head to the London station, platform 9 3/4, I do believe!



I absolutely love all the details they included here:

Hedwig on top of Harry's luggage, from both sides!


We saw tons of people in all sorts of Hogwarts gear - t-shirts and full robes, even though it was a hot day. Mostly Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but some Hufflepuff and Slytherin, too.





Everyone is ready for the Hogwarts Express!

We had a fun ride going back the other way - they do different stuff each way, which is cool.

We arrived at Hogsmeade, and dd bought a couple postcards to send to her besties back home. Then I splurged on Hogwarts stamps - ouch! I think it was something like $10 for a sheet of them - and the postcards were supposed to be the cheap idea! But, we got them sent out, so she felt good about doing something special for them.

Then, we headed out into IOA proper.

We had decided we wanted to try Mythos for lunch, so we headed over there. Turns out, during Spring Break, you really *do* need a reservation! They were full, but said to come back in an hour or so. So, we decided to try Poseiden's Fury, since we were right there. It is a walk-through show, but I have to say, the outside theming is the best part. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great, either.

Then, we headed to Cat in the Hat, since dh knew I still wanted to do it. And, it was totally adorable! I'm totally glad the rest of the family let me do it, even though I don't think any of the rest of them truly appreciated it. Sorry, no pics - I just soaked it all in.

So, then we went back to try and get into Mythos for lunch. Oops again. That person who said just to come back? Bad advice - still no room! So, we decided to forget about it, but dh was pretty annoyed since we could've actually made a reservation if that had been the advice.

We wandered around for a bit, looking for a place to eat, knowing that we wanted to head in the direction of the water rides. We ended up with the worst meal of the entire trip, although I forget the name of the kiosk where we got our dried-out overpriced food.

But, it was time to get wet! We headed to the Jurassic Park ride, figuring it would get us at least a little wet. So, we prepared all of our stuff to be as waterproof as possible, since we didn't want to rent a locker. Go figure - on rollercoasters, they require you to put all of your stuff in a locker, and it is free, but on the water rides, you can bring it all with you, and you have to pay for a locker! So, we put all our stuff in baggies - and then we didn't really get wet at all!!! I kept waiting for the big splash, and it never happened! The ride itself was ok, but not that exciting. I still remember seeing the original movie in the theatre on opening weekend when all of it was brand new and nearly jumping out of my seat. The ride wasn't like that!

After not getting soaked, we wandered through the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. The kids got to "watch a dinosaur hatch" which was a little hokey but fun.

Next, it was time for Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls! Looking at the big drop, I wasn't quite sure about this one, so dh and I decided to wait it out and watch everyone's stuff. There was a pretty long wait, and that big drop kept looking very dramatic - but then the kids convinced me that I should try it. And y'know what? It really wasn't that bad. I ended up behind a rather large family, so I think that kept me from getting very wet!

It was starting to look like it was going to rain, so the lines started getting shorter. Just in time for Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges! This is the one that's a lot like Kali River Rapids, where you are guaranteed to get soaked. And of course, we did! We always have a lot of fun with the big raft rides like this, and Popeye's was no exception.

I was the only one who hadn't packed a change of clothes, figuring mine would dry - and also, to keep from packing just a ton of stuff. Well, I never did get completely dry for the rest of the evening, but otoh, dh ended up carrying all the wet clothes, and was probably just as happy not to have to carry yet another soaking wet set of clothes!

Next, it was time to head back to Hogsmeade...

 

[irene_dsc]

As we headed back to Hogsmeade, the sky was still pretty threatening. We wandered around a little bit, and decided to have dinner at the Hogs Head Pub. This was a good decision! In retrospect, we probably should've gone here for lunch, but at least we remembered for dinner! We ordered the Feast, and they brought it to our table - a very low-stress way to get our dinner. They even had people showing you where to find tables - it was awesome, especially compared to searching for a table at most WDW QS places.

The Feast really was a feast...




We got a ton of food, and it was all delicious. We weren't able to quite finish it, and felt bad about that, since we didn't have a good way to bring back leftovers, but I think we managed to eat at least most of it.

After dinner, I remembered about the Castle Tour for the Forbidden Journey, so I insisted on doing that while the kids rode the Dragon Challenge again (of course).



You don't get to see the *entire* queue this way, but you do get to see a lot of the Castle. Then, I dragged dh and dd on the Castle Tour, once they realized how quick it was!

Then, dd convinced me to try Dragon Challenge. I rode with dh, and the kids rode together. Gotta say, I really don't like going upside down! Dh could tell how nervous I was the whole time and felt sorry for me, but the kids rode it again. Of course.

Then, it was time to head back to Diagon Alley on the Hogwarts Express.

I had forgotten to mention that we had splurged on the refillable mug for the day. Dh thought this was just the coolest thing, since it used similar technology to the Magic Bands, but to communicate with the Coke machines. US has the kind that will make lots of different choices. Once you buy the mug, you can go to any of the filling stations that day and get any drink - although you have to wait a little between filling it. You can also fill any water bottle with water, which came in handy, since I had brought my water bottle.

So, after we got back to Universal Studios, ds refilled his big mug, and headed off to see Minions. We agreed that we would find him by Minions - and that gave us plenty of time to explore Diagon Alley without Mr. Grumpypants.

Now that we had some time, we went in search of more Ravenclaw souvenirs for dd. She really wanted a pin, and we looked around quite a bit before we found one. She also found some mini-pins with all the houses, and really debated that for a bit, especially since she loves making doll clothes and these were the right scale for dolls. But, the pin backs were really big, so she decided they wouldn't work for doll pins, and she settled for the regular Ravenclaw pin.

Dh and I also picked out a Hogwarts Express ornament as our souvenir for the trip.


We took a few last photos of the dragon over Gringotts...




Goodbye, Gringotts! Goodbye, Diagon Alley!

We headed off to find ds over by Minions. We had a short wait, but not too bad, and we met back up by the dump shop. Then, it was time to head to the car, and say goodbye to the Dark Side...

 

[cajunfan]

Great report! One day I will actually make it over to Universal!

 

[KathyM2]

Great day!! I love all the Potter themed stuff!! Those ornaments are really special and a great souvenier. Sorry about the sub-par lunch experience...what can you do. I really wish sometimes that the competitors (WDW and US) would work together a bit to make it easier for people to get back and forth. I mean, I know they are both trying to keep people on their "side" for their whole vacation...but couldn't it only help both to have some more easy transportation options between the two that wouldn't break the bank? I guess they don't see it that way....sigh...I'm glad you made the trek though and it sounds like you accomplished quite a lot.

 

[irene_dsc]

Great report! One day I will actually make it over to Universal!

Thanks! Universal was a lot of fun!

I really wish sometimes that the competitors (WDW and US) would work together a bit to make it easier for people to get back and forth.

Yeah, I don't think *that* will ever happen! At least by staying off-site, it was easy to go to both - we just didn't get any of the benefits of staying onsite, either. I'm not sure if we'll do a combined trip again, however - it was definitely the most expensive way to do tickets, at least. Although since we hardly ever go, we may end up doing another combined trip. Hard to say.

 

[irene_dsc]

At this point, we were done with our park days. We did have to do one important task - drying all the wet clothes that had been hanging out in dh's backpack all afternoon!

You may remember a blue hoodie that ds wore most days, right? Well, even though he wore it quite a bit on our trip, he really doesn't wear it all that often at home. And, it appears, it has never been washed. We figured this out after it turned dh's white In and Out t-shirt a pale blue! That was quite interesting to all of us - thank goodness it was an older shirt, and the only thing that dramatically changed color!

After that, it was time to go to bed. In the morning, we had to pack everything up in the condo - don't worry, we carefully looked through *everything* to make sure we didn't leave anything important this time around!

Next, time to get on the road. (Yeah, not much in the way of photos for this part, so I have to load up on smilies!)

In case you haven't noticed, drivers can be a bit crazy in Florida. We were headed north on I-75, when suddenly, traffic ground to a halt. I switched on google maps with the traffic overlay, and what did I see? About 4 crashes ahead of us, with a nice long bit of red road, all around Ocala. It then took us what seemed like forever to get to an exit - which we decided to take, because we were going completely nuts! We took a long, long detour through and around town, until we finally got back to I-75, about an hour after traffic had stopped! But then, everyone on the road was driving even MORE crazy, to make up for the hour they had lost!

It didn't take us long to decide that even though we had sorta wanted to stop at Mammoth Cave on the way home, a) the kids were done with lots of walking, and b) we *needed* to get away from all these crazy drivers! So, we decided to detour west on I-10. Ahhh....the sight of a nice country road - with hardly anyone on it, even though we were still in Florida!

We kept changing our mind on what route to take. We finally ended up taking a back road (231) up to Montgomery, AL. The back road was definitely a nice change of pace, although we had a lot of stop lights in small towns, and it wasn't nearly as fast as we had hoped. I did serenade everyone with a very incomplete version of Angel from Montgomery while we drove through Montgomery, and bemoaned everyone else's lack of familiarity with the song. I think we finally stopped for the night around Birmingham.

The next day was pretty uneventful. We drove north. And drove, and drove. And slowly watched spring disappear as we headed north. We did get a sneak peak at Indianapolis - dd and I will be headed there very soon for Pokemon Nationals! And we made an ice cream stop just past Indy...


Then, we headed home...

 

[irene_dsc]

We did of course arrive home - dd was asking me to tuck her in, so I finished rather abruptly!

Some final thoughts...

This was definitely a totally different trip from our first trip. Of course, the kids were 7 years older, so that's not terribly surprising!

We did really love having so much more space by staying off-site. I'm not sure I'd spend the premium to get a similar amount of space to stay on-site. I'm also not sure if we'll do another big WDW trip with all 4 of us. However, I do know ds and dh are interested in seeing what they do with the anticipated Star Wars section - much more so than Avatarland.

I'm probably more likely to pay the premium to stay on-site at Universal, since the front-of-the-line pass makes such a big difference. But, maybe only for one night.

We probably won't drive again. That took a lot out of dh, and it made it harder for him to get into vacation/relaxation mode. It might have been better if the roads hadn't been as busy. But, it was a bit crazy-making.

We also probably won't start with Epcot again! And we will probably try to do it in 2 days to spread it out a bit more so we can actually appreciate WS a bit more.

If we do go again, it'll probably have to be Spring Break again, since ds is starting high school, and we wouldn't be happy dealing with the summer heat. If we flew, it would be less rushed, and hopefully more park time. If we did all WDW, and less driving, it would be a more relaxed pace. And we might consider staying on-site to take advantage of ME and no car. Not sure.

I did enjoy not dealing with the DDP, I have to admit. We had so much more flexibility, especially since we all would've been considered adults on DDP.

I would definitely plan out my snacks better next time! I keep reading TR's with all these amazing snacks that we never saw, much less tried! But other than that, I'm pretty happy with our food. Eating off-site saved us a ton of money, that is for sure, and doing both WDW and Universal meant that we spent a lot more on tickets than if we had done 2 more days at WDW.

As for attractions, there are still some I have to try another time. Mickey's Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress, Fantasmic, and TSMM are probably the top ones that I still want to try.

As for the kids being older and it being different - the biggest part was wanting to only do thrill rides, and nothing that was a baby ride. Maybe in a few years they will be ready to be nostalgic for the tamer rides? Hard to say. They were never huge into meeting characters - dd was terrified when she was younger, and at 10, she just didn't really care. Ds was more enthusiastic both times around, but still not a big deal. I'm glad we did Tusker House and got one good interaction, since we didn't do a single M&G besides that the entire trip!

I will try to get more photos next time around, especially family photos. I have to remember that Photopass photographers will use your camera!

Thanks to everyone who followed along. Sorry I haven't been more active, and I will be winding down my DIS time, since I won't be actively planning for a long time. I will try to finish up with the TRs I've been following, but I make no promises on the long term PTRs!

 

[cajunfan]

Next time you drive thru Nashville wave "HI!" to me! There are a lot of pros and cons for staying offsite and onsite. For me, I hate driving, and would really hate leaving a park at closing time after being there all day, so I enjoy staying onsite and taking Disney transportation. But I REALLY hate driving. And yes, touring styles change as the little ones become big ones!. I started taking my son to WDW when he was 8. He was never one for character M&Gs but did enjoy the characters at dining places. My recent trip was the first one I took without him. It was a little odd without him. If you ever want to go down there solo, I believe there is a section on the boards for solo travelers. That is my dream one day, maybe bring someone with me, but being able to do what I want when I want...it has some appeal to me. But then, I really enjoy sharing the magic with people. Especially first timers. It is pure joy to watch people see the wonder as they go into the MK for the first time and see the castle at the end of Main Street! Oh, Sigh, I am missing it bad now!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Lynn

 

[irene_dsc]

Next time you drive thru Nashville wave "HI!" to me!

Will do, but not sure when that will be!

If you ever want to go down there solo, I believe there is a section on the boards for solo travelers. That is my dream one day, maybe bring someone with me, but being able to do what I want when I want...it has some appeal to me.

Been reading a few different solo trip reports, and it certainly seems tempting! It's been a *really* long time since I've done a solo trip of any sort, although I did a month long solo road trip back in grad school! (I did visit a bunch of people along the way).

 

[KathyM2]

We did really love having so much more space by staying off-site. I'm not sure I'd spend the premium to get a similar amount of space to stay on-site. I'm also not sure if we'll do another big WDW trip with all 4 of us. However, I do know ds and dh are interested in seeing what they do with the anticipated Star Wars section - much more so than Avatarland.

This is something I am always torn about. Convenience of staying onsite...vs...space and money savings staying offsite. It's amazing how much more you can get for less money by staying a bit outside those gates. You just have to be willing to inconvenience yourself a bit to do it. I wish that driving on unfamiliar roads (especially at night) didn't freak me out so much. I think that if my DH was coming on this trip, and for future ones with the whole family, I'd opt to stay offsite - unless we can either rent points to have space...or win the lottery lol.

I did enjoy not dealing with the DDP, I have to admit. We had so much more flexibility, especially since we all would've been considered adults on DDP.

I would definitely plan out my snacks better next time! I keep reading TR's with all these amazing snacks that we never saw, much less tried! But other than that, I'm pretty happy with our food. Eating off-site saved us a ton of money, that is for sure, and doing both WDW and Universal meant that we spent a lot more on tickets than if we had done 2 more days at WDW.

I'm glad you feel that way - reaffirmed my decision to NOT get the DDP...a lot more flexible and we tend to share meals. I totally know what you mean about snacks...I've been trying to note which ones look good to try and where to get them...but I just know that when hunger strikes in the parks I will end up going with whatever's convenient...I hope I can try some of the ones on my list though.

As for attractions, there are still some I have to try another time. Mickey's Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress, Fantasmic, and TSMM are probably the top ones that I still want to try.

As for the kids being older and it being different - the biggest part was wanting to only do thrill rides, and nothing that was a baby ride. Maybe in a few years they will be ready to be nostalgic for the tamer rides? Hard to say. They were never huge into meeting characters - dd was terrified when she was younger, and at 10, she just didn't really care. Ds was more enthusiastic both times around, but still not a big deal. I'm glad we did Tusker House and got one good interaction, since we didn't do a single M&G besides that the entire trip!

I love Philharmagic...but I hope my DD wants to do it next time...she wasn't too enthused about doing shows last time. Same with COP. TSMM is definitely on my list if I can get a FP+ for it. It is interesting how your trip has changed with the kids and their interests. I'm wondering how my DD will feel about character meets and such...and if she will ever venture into more thrilling rides...although I never really did so I don't blame her lol.

Thanks to everyone who followed along. Sorry I haven't been more active, and I will be winding down my DIS time, since I won't be actively planning for a long time. I will try to finish up with the TRs I've been following, but I make no promises on the long term PTRs!

I really enjoyed your TR and got a lot of good info and advice from it. Don't apologize for not being more active...we all (shocking) do have lives outside the DIS lol...but still would love to see you around from time to time. I get it though...after my trip in October I have no clue when our next one will be so....I don't know how active I will be...but I still like getting ideas from the rockstars around here lol

 

[irene_dsc]

This is something I am always torn about. Convenience of staying onsite...vs...space and money savings staying offsite. It's amazing how much more you can get for less money by staying a bit outside those gates. You just have to be willing to inconvenience yourself a bit to do it. I wish that driving on unfamiliar roads (especially at night) didn't freak me out so much. I think that if my DH was coming on this trip, and for future ones with the whole family, I'd opt to stay offsite - unless we can either rent points to have space...or win the lottery lol.

Yeah, it was quite illuminating how much space we got for so much less by staying off-site! And if we hadn't waited so long, we could've gotten much more space for the same or less! But the space isn't nearly as important with a smaller group.

I'm glad you feel that way - reaffirmed my decision to NOT get the DDP...a lot more flexible and we tend to share meals. I totally know what you mean about snacks...I've been trying to note which ones look good to try and where to get them...but I just know that when hunger strikes in the parks I will end up going with whatever's convenient...I hope I can try some of the ones on my list though.

Yeah, I was way too stressed about figuring out DDP the first time around, tho I did love having everything already paid for ahead of time. And with a tween who doesn't eat a lot, DDP really doesn't make any sense. It was hard enough to get myself to do one buffet at 4 adult prices, and that was at breakfast! I do love buffets, I have to admit - I love getting to try a little bit of a lot of different things! Which is of course another reason to scope out snacks better!

I love Philharmagic...but I hope my DD wants to do it next time...she wasn't too enthused about doing shows last time. Same with COP. TSMM is definitely on my list if I can get a FP+ for it. It is interesting how your trip has changed with the kids and their interests. I'm wondering how my DD will feel about character meets and such...and if she will ever venture into more thrilling rides...although I never really did so I don't blame her lol.

Yeah, I definitely had a hard time selling shows. Which is weird, because dd likes watching shows any other time (although ds isn't big into shows unless they have explosions!). I guess she just wanted rides... If your kid starts out really liking character meets, I suspect they will always like them, but that was never a big draw for dd, and only somewhat for ds.

I really enjoyed your TR and got a lot of good info and advice from it. Don't apologize for not being more active...we all (shocking) do have lives outside the DIS lol...but still would love to see you around from time to time. I get it though...after my trip in October I have no clue when our next one will be so....I don't know how active I will be...but I still like getting ideas from the rockstars around here lol

Thanks - I'm glad it was helpful! And I've enjoyed your comments, too! I'm trying to be good and not spend too much time here, but I'll try to visit your PTR every so often at least!