I Won a Trip to Sea World !?! Well then, we're going to Universal too! 12/19 - 12/24/15 - All Done!
- Thread starter IckyMickey
- Start date
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Sea World Recap
Well the DS19 is off back to Iowa to start his next semester of college – a 4.25 hour drive – glad the weather looks good! He’s got all clean clothes, bedding (including comforter), and stocked with with snacks and drink. Time certainly flew but our time together was very enjoyable (we wouldn’t have minded keeping him around another week!)
So, first a few Throw Backs to our other Sea World visits just because:
2001 – Sea World Orlando (I'm sure you'll get a laugh from it - fanny pack, jean shorts?) NO 2nd DS yet and DS19 was 4-1/2.
2003 – Sea World San Diego - DS19 was 6-1/2 and DS13 just turning 1!
and now:
To wrap it up:
We really enjoyed Sea World. We’ve got a great zoo in Milwaukee, but you can’t see those animals up here (well, most of them at least.) A day & ½ is great for Sea World to get in all the shows, rides, and activities. We did have Christmas shows that took up more time that a normal visit. We certainly did some backtracking, but that’s just how it is.
Someone asked me why Elmo's show, but why not? We're on vacation, we didn't know anyone there, and why not relive a special time in our lives when our kids were little and loved Sesame Street.
We didn’t do Shamu’s Happy Harbor, but it looked really cute. Had I offered my boys the chance to climb in the big climbing area, I bet they would have, but they are getting too big. The colors and sounds made the area very attractive and we certainly would have been in there had our boys been younger!
I would probably do the Dining Plan again if the parks were open later, with a lunch around $12, side $4, drink $3 that’s $19 if you get the side/dessert. But you can head back during the day for drinks and extra sides (cookies, fruit, or french fries usually.) They have a refillable hot chocolate mug for $4.99 with $1 refills, but we got all the hot chocolate we wanted with our dining plan.
Here was our itinerary on our final day:
Well the DS19 is off back to Iowa to start his next semester of college – a 4.25 hour drive – glad the weather looks good! He’s got all clean clothes, bedding (including comforter), and stocked with with snacks and drink. Time certainly flew but our time together was very enjoyable (we wouldn’t have minded keeping him around another week!)
So, first a few Throw Backs to our other Sea World visits just because:
2001 – Sea World Orlando (I'm sure you'll get a laugh from it - fanny pack, jean shorts?) NO 2nd DS yet and DS19 was 4-1/2.
2003 – Sea World San Diego - DS19 was 6-1/2 and DS13 just turning 1!
and now:
To wrap it up:
We really enjoyed Sea World. We’ve got a great zoo in Milwaukee, but you can’t see those animals up here (well, most of them at least.) A day & ½ is great for Sea World to get in all the shows, rides, and activities. We did have Christmas shows that took up more time that a normal visit. We certainly did some backtracking, but that’s just how it is.
Someone asked me why Elmo's show, but why not? We're on vacation, we didn't know anyone there, and why not relive a special time in our lives when our kids were little and loved Sesame Street.
We didn’t do Shamu’s Happy Harbor, but it looked really cute. Had I offered my boys the chance to climb in the big climbing area, I bet they would have, but they are getting too big. The colors and sounds made the area very attractive and we certainly would have been in there had our boys been younger!
I would probably do the Dining Plan again if the parks were open later, with a lunch around $12, side $4, drink $3 that’s $19 if you get the side/dessert. But you can head back during the day for drinks and extra sides (cookies, fruit, or french fries usually.) They have a refillable hot chocolate mug for $4.99 with $1 refills, but we got all the hot chocolate we wanted with our dining plan.
Here was our itinerary on our final day:
- 9:00 am stingray feeding
- Dolphin Cove
- Aquarium by Atlantis
- 10:00 Pets Ahoy show
- Manta (with quick que pass)
- 11:00 Sea Lion show
- 11:30 Spice Mill for lunch
- Manta
- 12:20 Journey to Atlantis
- 12:45 Kraken – 2 times
- 1:25 Sea Lion feeding - Pacific Preserve
- 1:45 Shark Aquarium
- 2:05 Sea Garden bathroom break and pictures
- 2:25 Flamingo paddle boats
- Polar Express ride
- 3:45 – 5:10 Dine With Shamu dinner (3:45 check-in, 4:11 eating at table, 5:08 last pict’s at table)
- 5:30 One Ocean orca show
- 6:10 Beluga, walrus, seal viewing
- 6:35 Christmas Village walk thru
- 7:05 Shopping near front
- 7:30 Left the park
Now to start Universal!
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 – December 21st - Universal here we come - But a few housekeeping items before we begin …
Universal’s Royal Pacific Resort - When planning this Christmas trip, I was very worried about the crowds. I didn’t want our 3 days in the parks to be a lot of standing in line, so I knew I wanted to stay on site and get the Express Pass. Looking into the hotels, RPR was the least expensive, and that was still $400 a night! I talked with the family and decided we’d do 2 nights at RPR and transfer over to a $100 hotel the last night, saving us about $300. Not ideal, but to be budget conscious it would be done. I had watched all the discount hotel sites, and I think it was hotels.com that had a 15% off day that would expire at midnight. Well, that was the best rate I had seen yet and after my noon routes, I was going to come back and book it. Once I returned, I sat down at the computer ready to book, checked my emails, and here was an email from Universal offering me 50% off the room rate for the dates I was just going to book. CRAZY! That was a no-brainer and I called and booked and booked the 3rd night with them right away. SCORE! I also upgraded to a water view for an extra $17/night (which we only looked out when it was dark, so probably not a needed upgrade.) So it was $217/night and with taxes $244.13. Taxes stink.
Tickets – again I was on the hunt to find the best price. Buy directly from the Universal website or some sports site that was chatted about on the DISboards quite a bit? Since we needed 3 days worth of tickets, the best price was from Undercover Tourist. I wasn’t worried about the reputation as I get a newsletter from them and know they are legit. They had a special buy a 2day park-to-park and get the 3rd day free, so I bought those for $197.21 / ticket. That’s still a lot of money times 4!
Lanyards – Since we were going to have Express Passes that needed to be out for every ride we could use it at, I bought some from Amazon for about $11 for 8 of them in bright colors. Not the coolest, but they worked fine. I had thought they were clear on each side, but they weren’t. It would have been nice had they been, but it wasn’t the worst. I told my family that we would buy them ones if they wanted (DH liked the Simpson one) but in the end they were all find with the ones I had bought. They also weren't waterproof as the family found out on the Jurassic water ride! Oh well, a little drying out and everything was good.
Locker Chat- DS19 became our locker guy. He is tall, thin, and good at moving among crowds (he learned that from me.
) He figured out how to use the lockers, is good at remembering numbers and was our go-to guy. With the finger scan and all that, I was glad he was so receptive to always doing it – especially since he had to walk around with my purse every time. Lol DS19 is also a very thoughtful boy. If you don’t get your stuff out of the locker in the designated “free time” then you need to pay a rental fee. Which makes sense, unless you put everything in the locker including your money. DS19 gave money at least once to someone who had done that and we kept a few extra singles in our pockets just in case. DS19 also helped a few others who didn’t know what they were doing and gave them quick tutorials. A couple times he came out just shaking his head.
Transfering from the Sheraton Vistana to Universal’s Royal Pacific Resort
We were up at about 6:00am and all showered and packed up. We had to call the shuttle to come pick us up and get us back to the welcome center. We had wanted to use more Uber and less taxis, but being behind the gate in the condos it seemed like too much hassle. The taxi service out of the Vistana said they were $25 to Universal, how strange that several extra miles past Sea World was only $3 more.
So that morning, I looked on the Uber app and it said there was a car near our location and the cost was $22. I had a new user coupon code for $20 off our first use, so after I looked over our bill and checked out, we requested our first Uber ride. It is as nice of a feature as it looks! We knew what car was coming (we requested an XL with our luggage) and what the driver looked like and his name. He showed up in 3 minutes, loaded our stuff and we were off! Since all the billing is online, we didn’t do any cash transaction. I heard that you tip online, but when I’ve gone back to look it says that his tip is included in the price. I’m still worried I shorted him. Our price came to $21.58 and with my $20 coupon, it came to $1.58 and the guy was super nice!
I know we had poptarts and protein bars for breakfast again this morning. Not sure when it was, but it helps to have something in your stomach to start the busy day!
So Uber picked us up at 7:15 am and at 7:32 we were walking on the bridge into the hotel. We did a very quick check in, gave our bags to the luggage services, and did the super fast Express Pass photo cards (mine turned out almost black, but since the rest of our families looked good and they were scanned it wasn’t a problem.) I had imagined the Express Passes would take awhile, but really it was about 1 minute for each. Nice!
I also took a picture of our tickets in case they were lost of something. You never know!
Universal’s Royal Pacific Resort - When planning this Christmas trip, I was very worried about the crowds. I didn’t want our 3 days in the parks to be a lot of standing in line, so I knew I wanted to stay on site and get the Express Pass. Looking into the hotels, RPR was the least expensive, and that was still $400 a night! I talked with the family and decided we’d do 2 nights at RPR and transfer over to a $100 hotel the last night, saving us about $300. Not ideal, but to be budget conscious it would be done. I had watched all the discount hotel sites, and I think it was hotels.com that had a 15% off day that would expire at midnight. Well, that was the best rate I had seen yet and after my noon routes, I was going to come back and book it. Once I returned, I sat down at the computer ready to book, checked my emails, and here was an email from Universal offering me 50% off the room rate for the dates I was just going to book. CRAZY! That was a no-brainer and I called and booked and booked the 3rd night with them right away. SCORE! I also upgraded to a water view for an extra $17/night (which we only looked out when it was dark, so probably not a needed upgrade.) So it was $217/night and with taxes $244.13. Taxes stink.
Tickets – again I was on the hunt to find the best price. Buy directly from the Universal website or some sports site that was chatted about on the DISboards quite a bit? Since we needed 3 days worth of tickets, the best price was from Undercover Tourist. I wasn’t worried about the reputation as I get a newsletter from them and know they are legit. They had a special buy a 2day park-to-park and get the 3rd day free, so I bought those for $197.21 / ticket. That’s still a lot of money times 4!
Lanyards – Since we were going to have Express Passes that needed to be out for every ride we could use it at, I bought some from Amazon for about $11 for 8 of them in bright colors. Not the coolest, but they worked fine. I had thought they were clear on each side, but they weren’t. It would have been nice had they been, but it wasn’t the worst. I told my family that we would buy them ones if they wanted (DH liked the Simpson one) but in the end they were all find with the ones I had bought. They also weren't waterproof as the family found out on the Jurassic water ride! Oh well, a little drying out and everything was good.
Locker Chat- DS19 became our locker guy. He is tall, thin, and good at moving among crowds (he learned that from me.
) He figured out how to use the lockers, is good at remembering numbers and was our go-to guy. With the finger scan and all that, I was glad he was so receptive to always doing it – especially since he had to walk around with my purse every time. Lol DS19 is also a very thoughtful boy. If you don’t get your stuff out of the locker in the designated “free time” then you need to pay a rental fee. Which makes sense, unless you put everything in the locker including your money. DS19 gave money at least once to someone who had done that and we kept a few extra singles in our pockets just in case. DS19 also helped a few others who didn’t know what they were doing and gave them quick tutorials. A couple times he came out just shaking his head.Transfering from the Sheraton Vistana to Universal’s Royal Pacific Resort
We were up at about 6:00am and all showered and packed up. We had to call the shuttle to come pick us up and get us back to the welcome center. We had wanted to use more Uber and less taxis, but being behind the gate in the condos it seemed like too much hassle. The taxi service out of the Vistana said they were $25 to Universal, how strange that several extra miles past Sea World was only $3 more.
So that morning, I looked on the Uber app and it said there was a car near our location and the cost was $22. I had a new user coupon code for $20 off our first use, so after I looked over our bill and checked out, we requested our first Uber ride. It is as nice of a feature as it looks! We knew what car was coming (we requested an XL with our luggage) and what the driver looked like and his name. He showed up in 3 minutes, loaded our stuff and we were off! Since all the billing is online, we didn’t do any cash transaction. I heard that you tip online, but when I’ve gone back to look it says that his tip is included in the price. I’m still worried I shorted him. Our price came to $21.58 and with my $20 coupon, it came to $1.58 and the guy was super nice!
I know we had poptarts and protein bars for breakfast again this morning. Not sure when it was, but it helps to have something in your stomach to start the busy day!
So Uber picked us up at 7:15 am and at 7:32 we were walking on the bridge into the hotel. We did a very quick check in, gave our bags to the luggage services, and did the super fast Express Pass photo cards (mine turned out almost black, but since the rest of our families looked good and they were scanned it wasn’t a problem.) I had imagined the Express Passes would take awhile, but really it was about 1 minute for each. Nice!
I also took a picture of our tickets in case they were lost of something. You never know!
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon, 12/21 - Universal Studios Part 1 (of 9)
We have arrived at Universal's Royal Pacific!
We were taking the boat at the RPR to the CityWalk area. RPR did have a security check at the boat launch area – emptying pockets, checking bags and being wanded. It was quick and nice to be safe. We were on the boat at 8:00 am and taking the standard Universal Picture at 8:11!
Our first views of Universal areas.
We were going to selfie it, but some kind gentleman stopped and offered to take our picture.
Not too crowded at 8:15am on Monday, December 21st!
We have arrived at Universal's Royal Pacific!
We were taking the boat at the RPR to the CityWalk area. RPR did have a security check at the boat launch area – emptying pockets, checking bags and being wanded. It was quick and nice to be safe. We were on the boat at 8:00 am and taking the standard Universal Picture at 8:11!
Our first views of Universal areas.
We were going to selfie it, but some kind gentleman stopped and offered to take our picture.
Not too crowded at 8:15am on Monday, December 21st!
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon, 12/21 - Universal Studios Part 2
We got to the gates and there was barely any line – maybe 4 people deep, and we cruised right in.
We thought we needed to head to Harry Potter with all the talk about long wait times and it was Christmas week, so we walked briskly to them using the Simpson Land way. I don’t know if it was any quicker, but since everyone was being herded in on the far right side, it seemed like a good plan in hindsight. It looks like they do that as they were counting the number of people entering.
A view from the Men In Black area
The one thing I had on my list to do before our trip was to watch at least one of the Harry Potter movies. I forgot and we ran out of time, so it didn’t happen. I think it would have added a little something, but it was still pretty amazing walking around the brick wall and into Diagon Alley! What an amazing area!
We finally arrived in Diagon Alley at about 8:25. We walked around in amazement at the great theming.
We did some shopping in here!
The stairs on the right leads up to the stage for the small shows.
We didn't do the Money Exchange but it was popular!
It was then GRINGOTTS time! It said the wait was only 20 minutes and at first when we walked to the back area we thought it would be longer, but we were always walking. We followed the rules and didn’t bring in our phones, etc and wish we did. The theming is so awesome. I was a bit surprised there were stairs in the que, but it didn’t matter. We took the family picture, but never stopped to look at it. That seems a waste of time and energy to have that as part of the que. The ride was great and we really enjoyed it!
Some more sightseeing...
Yum - we visited Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor 3 times on our trip! There was always a line.
We got to the gates and there was barely any line – maybe 4 people deep, and we cruised right in.
We thought we needed to head to Harry Potter with all the talk about long wait times and it was Christmas week, so we walked briskly to them using the Simpson Land way. I don’t know if it was any quicker, but since everyone was being herded in on the far right side, it seemed like a good plan in hindsight. It looks like they do that as they were counting the number of people entering.
A view from the Men In Black area
The one thing I had on my list to do before our trip was to watch at least one of the Harry Potter movies. I forgot and we ran out of time, so it didn’t happen. I think it would have added a little something, but it was still pretty amazing walking around the brick wall and into Diagon Alley! What an amazing area!
We finally arrived in Diagon Alley at about 8:25. We walked around in amazement at the great theming.
We did some shopping in here!
The stairs on the right leads up to the stage for the small shows.
We didn't do the Money Exchange but it was popular!
It was then GRINGOTTS time! It said the wait was only 20 minutes and at first when we walked to the back area we thought it would be longer, but we were always walking. We followed the rules and didn’t bring in our phones, etc and wish we did. The theming is so awesome. I was a bit surprised there were stairs in the que, but it didn’t matter. We took the family picture, but never stopped to look at it. That seems a waste of time and energy to have that as part of the que. The ride was great and we really enjoyed it!
Some more sightseeing...
Yum - we visited Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor 3 times on our trip! There was always a line.
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon, 12/21 - Universal Studios - Part 3
Once done with the ride, we walked around some more and finally had our first Butterbeers – a regular ($5.85 w/tax) and a frozen ($6.91 w/tax). I had heard good and bad things about them, but our family really liked them! A cream soda and some butter scotch, mmmm. DS13 liked the frozen and the rest of us thought the regular was better (but we would drink either!), but we shared them and that was enough.
We walked around a little bit more, saw a few more movie realistic items then headed out.
Men-in-black was next and again we needed lockers – thank you DS19. With our Express Passes we pretty much walked right on. NICE! Our family, as many is extremely competitive. We love these types of rides and this one was no different. I wish it would explain a little bit more where exactly you are supposed to hit the bad aliens – there was no definite bulls-eye. Needless to say DS19 won almost every round, he even won it when I got the 100,000 bonus!
The Simpsons Ride was up next. We enjoyed this ride in US-Hollywood, and knew that the front seat was more fun than the back. We used our Express Pass again, waited about 10 minutes for the ride to finish and were in and front seat. Woot! This is such a fun ride too. It’s amazing that you feel like you are really on the roller coaster. You keep your bags with you either on the ride, or just put it on against the walls in your private room.
DS19 wanted another run on the Men-In-Black ride and again, we pretty much walked on it. DS19 won again…
We were starving but it was only 10:40 so we headed over to ET since the family wanted to eat in the Simpsons Fast Food Blvd and we tried to stay in the area. We used the Express Pass, but it wasn’t really express and our group had to merge with the others once we were let in as the name card person wasn’t in our area. We were actually the last ones into the ride and we were one of the first in line, with our without the express pass. Oh well, we all picked different names than our own – Earl, Richard, Flo and DS19 chose my DS13’s name.
The ride seems a little dated but reminded me of Peter Pan - I’m glad we weren’t really sitting on bike seats!
Afterwards we headed back to the Simpsons Area. My family loves the Simpsons and loved the theming.
We went in and there was an Indian woman w/accent working just like in the show but it's Abu. I don't know if that is coincidence or done of purpose, but we all walked out talking about it!
"No Finer Way to Waste 3 Minutes!" lol
The family loved this wording also!
All the themed phones in the Simpson area do talk if you pick them up and listen.
Once done with the ride, we walked around some more and finally had our first Butterbeers – a regular ($5.85 w/tax) and a frozen ($6.91 w/tax). I had heard good and bad things about them, but our family really liked them! A cream soda and some butter scotch, mmmm. DS13 liked the frozen and the rest of us thought the regular was better (but we would drink either!), but we shared them and that was enough.
We walked around a little bit more, saw a few more movie realistic items then headed out.
Men-in-black was next and again we needed lockers – thank you DS19. With our Express Passes we pretty much walked right on. NICE! Our family, as many is extremely competitive. We love these types of rides and this one was no different. I wish it would explain a little bit more where exactly you are supposed to hit the bad aliens – there was no definite bulls-eye. Needless to say DS19 won almost every round, he even won it when I got the 100,000 bonus!
The Simpsons Ride was up next. We enjoyed this ride in US-Hollywood, and knew that the front seat was more fun than the back. We used our Express Pass again, waited about 10 minutes for the ride to finish and were in and front seat. Woot! This is such a fun ride too. It’s amazing that you feel like you are really on the roller coaster. You keep your bags with you either on the ride, or just put it on against the walls in your private room.
DS19 wanted another run on the Men-In-Black ride and again, we pretty much walked on it. DS19 won again…
We were starving but it was only 10:40 so we headed over to ET since the family wanted to eat in the Simpsons Fast Food Blvd and we tried to stay in the area. We used the Express Pass, but it wasn’t really express and our group had to merge with the others once we were let in as the name card person wasn’t in our area. We were actually the last ones into the ride and we were one of the first in line, with our without the express pass. Oh well, we all picked different names than our own – Earl, Richard, Flo and DS19 chose my DS13’s name.
The ride seems a little dated but reminded me of Peter Pan - I’m glad we weren’t really sitting on bike seats!Afterwards we headed back to the Simpsons Area. My family loves the Simpsons and loved the theming.
We went in and there was an Indian woman w/accent working just like in the show but it's Abu. I don't know if that is coincidence or done of purpose, but we all walked out talking about it!
"No Finer Way to Waste 3 Minutes!" lol
The family loved this wording also!
All the themed phones in the Simpson area do talk if you pick them up and listen.
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon, 12/21 - Universal Studios - Part 4
It was finally 11:00 am and time to eat! We were one of the first ones in the Simpson's - Fast Food Boulevard and had time to browse around. I told DS19 about the chicken and waffle sandwich a while ago and he was still looking forward to that.
DS19 and DH both had the Chicken and Waffle Sandwich with tater tots ($11.92ea w/tax). They loved it, talked about the maple syrup mayonaise and ate it down fast!
I had the coconut shrimp with tator tots. There were 5 of them and they were good, but I wish they had served the sweet sauce like Red Lobster does instead of regular cocktail sauce. That really makes a difference. ($12.73 w/tax)
DS13 had the Clogger Burger platter with kurly fries. It was like a giant clump of hamburger meat with cheese and bacon, but he liked it so I guess that’s all that matters. (I had a bite and thought it tasted like a clump of hamburger meat.) ($13.83 w/tax)
They had a nice area to eat inside. Later when it was busier, they seated you once you had your food.
We also got a soda in our refillable Minion mug that came with us all the way from US-Hollywood. (refills $1.06 w/tax) Seriously I don’t think this mug was the smartest thing to buy as it’s big and you need to carry it around all day (sometimes by the eyes), but we thought it was so cute when we bought it and it was coming with us so we didn’t have to buy another one! It really holds a lot of soda though.
Our next stop and refill was a little later and we also bought a popcorn bucket for $5.99 with $1.29 refills. I think this is a bargain and a great snack option when everyone is hungry. We refilled this at least 3 times that day.
After lunch, we headed out and Crusty the Clown and Side Show Bob were out so the family finally got into the line (the last 2 times they had already closed the line, sigh. So it was almost our turn and all of the sudden Side Show Bob leaves, which is a disappointment cuz he’s pretty cool looking. DH tells me that a grown man in line walks up to him and jumps on his back and he needs to leave so they end up with a picture of only Crusty. What adult thinks that’s a good idea?
So picture done, we head over to Transformers. The wait was at least an hour and again with our Express Pass we walked almost right on and could keep our bags with us. People look at you when you walk past in the express line, but I had no guilt! We liked this ride, it was fun and different.
MUMMY was next. Lockers again with DS19. The express pass wait was about 10 -15 minutes or so. Nothing bad. My family loves this ride! I don’t know why, but we do. It is one of our favorites that we can ride over and over, so we rode the Mummy again! Then we did a little shopping in the Mummy store – DS19 loves this stuff.
RIP RIDE ROCKET was next and it was about 1:30. We couldn’t understand where to enter, but everyone had to enter through the lockers – and DS19 did his job again. The express line was longer for this one, but not too bad – probably about 25 minutes or so. This is like a continuous loading belt which is pretty crazy for a roller coaster! I think I heard them say they had about 30 seconds. We all got into a row and DH’s seat clicked, but then they wanted to switch DS19 and DH but they ran out of time and were pulled out. They were put on about 2 rides after ours and DH must have been put in a modified seat due to his belly. So after all that work, did we like it? I thought I was going to fall out of the seat when we were going up the hill and then going down the 1st hill was fun, but it was a rough ride and I was knocking my head back and forth. I know people love this ride, but none of us really liked it. I’d hate to think we were roller coaster snobs but we all agreed we didn’t need to ride it again.
When we got off (about 2:10) we got another soda and popcorn refill so I guess Rip Ride Rocket took us about 35-40 minutes even with the express pass.
I know we were walking around, but I don't know where this picture is from. Rodeo Drive or Delancey Street over by the Mummy? Hmmm
It was finally 11:00 am and time to eat! We were one of the first ones in the Simpson's - Fast Food Boulevard and had time to browse around. I told DS19 about the chicken and waffle sandwich a while ago and he was still looking forward to that.
DS19 and DH both had the Chicken and Waffle Sandwich with tater tots ($11.92ea w/tax). They loved it, talked about the maple syrup mayonaise and ate it down fast!
I had the coconut shrimp with tator tots. There were 5 of them and they were good, but I wish they had served the sweet sauce like Red Lobster does instead of regular cocktail sauce. That really makes a difference. ($12.73 w/tax)
DS13 had the Clogger Burger platter with kurly fries. It was like a giant clump of hamburger meat with cheese and bacon, but he liked it so I guess that’s all that matters. (I had a bite and thought it tasted like a clump of hamburger meat.) ($13.83 w/tax)
They had a nice area to eat inside. Later when it was busier, they seated you once you had your food.
We also got a soda in our refillable Minion mug that came with us all the way from US-Hollywood. (refills $1.06 w/tax) Seriously I don’t think this mug was the smartest thing to buy as it’s big and you need to carry it around all day (sometimes by the eyes), but we thought it was so cute when we bought it and it was coming with us so we didn’t have to buy another one! It really holds a lot of soda though.
Our next stop and refill was a little later and we also bought a popcorn bucket for $5.99 with $1.29 refills. I think this is a bargain and a great snack option when everyone is hungry. We refilled this at least 3 times that day.
After lunch, we headed out and Crusty the Clown and Side Show Bob were out so the family finally got into the line (the last 2 times they had already closed the line, sigh. So it was almost our turn and all of the sudden Side Show Bob leaves, which is a disappointment cuz he’s pretty cool looking. DH tells me that a grown man in line walks up to him and jumps on his back and he needs to leave so they end up with a picture of only Crusty. What adult thinks that’s a good idea?
So picture done, we head over to Transformers. The wait was at least an hour and again with our Express Pass we walked almost right on and could keep our bags with us. People look at you when you walk past in the express line, but I had no guilt! We liked this ride, it was fun and different.
MUMMY was next. Lockers again with DS19. The express pass wait was about 10 -15 minutes or so. Nothing bad. My family loves this ride! I don’t know why, but we do. It is one of our favorites that we can ride over and over, so we rode the Mummy again! Then we did a little shopping in the Mummy store – DS19 loves this stuff.
RIP RIDE ROCKET was next and it was about 1:30. We couldn’t understand where to enter, but everyone had to enter through the lockers – and DS19 did his job again. The express line was longer for this one, but not too bad – probably about 25 minutes or so. This is like a continuous loading belt which is pretty crazy for a roller coaster! I think I heard them say they had about 30 seconds. We all got into a row and DH’s seat clicked, but then they wanted to switch DS19 and DH but they ran out of time and were pulled out. They were put on about 2 rides after ours and DH must have been put in a modified seat due to his belly. So after all that work, did we like it? I thought I was going to fall out of the seat when we were going up the hill and then going down the 1st hill was fun, but it was a rough ride and I was knocking my head back and forth. I know people love this ride, but none of us really liked it. I’d hate to think we were roller coaster snobs but we all agreed we didn’t need to ride it again.
When we got off (about 2:10) we got another soda and popcorn refill so I guess Rip Ride Rocket took us about 35-40 minutes even with the express pass.
I know we were walking around, but I don't know where this picture is from. Rodeo Drive or Delancey Street over by the Mummy? Hmmm
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon 12/21 - Universal Studios - Part 5
Donkey, Shrek and Princess were out so we got in line. Donkey was hilarious. He talked to DS13 and then to DS19 and during the pictures he kept telling DS19 “I know you flexing.” Donkey was even yelling to people in the audience and walking by. So funny, I love it when characters get into it.
We express passed into Shrek 4D and the wait wasn’t that long, just waiting for the previous show to end. It is always a cute show!
DESPICABLE ME - Minion Mayhem was next! Another express pass wait of about 20-25 minutes, but we were always moving so it wasn’t bad. Another cute show. When we were herded out, I don’t know if we missed the Minions or they weren’t out but we looked around in the shop a little bit. I love the Minions.
Somehow we ended up on Rodeo Drive (about 3:30) and Lisa Simpson was out and played around with both DS’s. Lisa saw DS19's shirt with Darth Vader on it and wanted to know where her dad was. She seemed to really like DS19. lol
Then we saw the entire Scooby Doo gang! We are Scooby Doo fans and made fast time to get into that line. They were all in character and so funny with the boys!
Fred was asking DS13 if he goes to trap camp and DS13 had no idea what he was talking about.
The boys posed for pictures and then DH and I got in and they said we looked like a fun family so we should all pose like we were scared. As you can see from the picture, we didn’t do a good job, but they certainly did!
Donkey, Shrek and Princess were out so we got in line. Donkey was hilarious. He talked to DS13 and then to DS19 and during the pictures he kept telling DS19 “I know you flexing.” Donkey was even yelling to people in the audience and walking by. So funny, I love it when characters get into it.
We express passed into Shrek 4D and the wait wasn’t that long, just waiting for the previous show to end. It is always a cute show!
DESPICABLE ME - Minion Mayhem was next! Another express pass wait of about 20-25 minutes, but we were always moving so it wasn’t bad. Another cute show. When we were herded out, I don’t know if we missed the Minions or they weren’t out but we looked around in the shop a little bit. I love the Minions.
Somehow we ended up on Rodeo Drive (about 3:30) and Lisa Simpson was out and played around with both DS’s. Lisa saw DS19's shirt with Darth Vader on it and wanted to know where her dad was. She seemed to really like DS19. lol
Then we saw the entire Scooby Doo gang! We are Scooby Doo fans and made fast time to get into that line. They were all in character and so funny with the boys!
Fred was asking DS13 if he goes to trap camp and DS13 had no idea what he was talking about.
The boys posed for pictures and then DH and I got in and they said we looked like a fun family so we should all pose like we were scared. As you can see from the picture, we didn’t do a good job, but they certainly did!
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon 12/21, Universal Studios - Part 6
Right after we were done with Scooby Doo, some Sponge Bob fish dancers on roller skates came out. We saw them a few times and they were only out for short amounts of time blocking the street. At the corner of Sunset & Hollywood Blvd's.
It was now about 3:50 and we were tired, hungry and I still hadn’t gotten a text from RPR telling me out room was ready. I really wanted to go back to the room! So we left Universal and headed out into CityWalk for dinner.
We headed over to Margaritaville for dinner. I really wanted to go here too and since we needed a good meal and some down time it was perfect. We got here about 4:00, were seated right away – it was pretty dead and had a very nice waitress who was not from Wisconsin but wanted to move here. You don’t hear that a lot! I was splurging on this dinner by starting with a drink!
A Chocolate Banana Colada for me. OMG – it was good! $10.25
DH ordered a Blackberry Moonshine Margarita and that was yummy too. $10.75
The descriptions:
DS19 had an iced tea for $3.75. My kids love ice tea. That's so weird since I don't.
DS19 & I shared a Volcano Nachos $15.99 which we didn’t finish. Yummy! DS19 did finish cold the next day though. Teenage boys!
DH had the black and blue burger $14.49. He had no complaints.
DS13 had the kids chicken tenders and apples with caramel $7.99. I think he had a chocolate milk with it. DS13 is not always happy with me. Until very recently he wasn’t eating a lot, so I’d always ask for a kid’s menu also. Then I’d get the evil eye. I just am trying to give him options and this time he actually wanted something off the kid’s menu (the apples and caramel probably helped.) I actually think we took a chicken tender back to the room.
The total bill was $67.43 plus tip but I just realized now that we weren’t charged for my drink. No wonder the bill looked so good!
Part of the Menu:
Right after we were done with Scooby Doo, some Sponge Bob fish dancers on roller skates came out. We saw them a few times and they were only out for short amounts of time blocking the street. At the corner of Sunset & Hollywood Blvd's.
It was now about 3:50 and we were tired, hungry and I still hadn’t gotten a text from RPR telling me out room was ready. I really wanted to go back to the room! So we left Universal and headed out into CityWalk for dinner.
We headed over to Margaritaville for dinner. I really wanted to go here too and since we needed a good meal and some down time it was perfect. We got here about 4:00, were seated right away – it was pretty dead and had a very nice waitress who was not from Wisconsin but wanted to move here. You don’t hear that a lot! I was splurging on this dinner by starting with a drink!
A Chocolate Banana Colada for me. OMG – it was good! $10.25
DH ordered a Blackberry Moonshine Margarita and that was yummy too. $10.75
The descriptions:
DS19 had an iced tea for $3.75. My kids love ice tea. That's so weird since I don't.
DS19 & I shared a Volcano Nachos $15.99 which we didn’t finish. Yummy! DS19 did finish cold the next day though. Teenage boys!
DH had the black and blue burger $14.49. He had no complaints.
DS13 had the kids chicken tenders and apples with caramel $7.99. I think he had a chocolate milk with it. DS13 is not always happy with me. Until very recently he wasn’t eating a lot, so I’d always ask for a kid’s menu also. Then I’d get the evil eye. I just am trying to give him options and this time he actually wanted something off the kid’s menu (the apples and caramel probably helped.) I actually think we took a chicken tender back to the room.
The total bill was $67.43 plus tip but I just realized now that we weren’t charged for my drink. No wonder the bill looked so good!
Part of the Menu:
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon 12/21 - Universal Studios - Part 7
Finally as we were paying the bill at 4:50 I got the text that our room was ready. We took the boat back to RPR, collected our luggage and headed up to room 1531 in tower 1. One of the remodeled rooms (I know thanks to schumigirl's trip report.) It was nice and I liked the big flower and throw pillows. I wish they gave you more real pillows though. This room seems smaller than Disney’s Coronado Springs room – or did my kids just get bigger? We found room for our 3 suit cases and did a little resting.
A few sights on the boat heading back to RPR:
I never saw anyone using these, but I did hear they were used more during the day. It didn't help that directly across from the pond was construction going on so it wasn't the most peaceful setting on vacation.
The lobby area as we gathered out suitcases:
Hello Room 1531!
The bathroom was beautiful, but the shower door really leaked water as there was no lip to stop the water from dripping down the door and going onto the floor. Our floor was puddled!
I like the decorating!
There was a desk against the wall to the right of the dresser. The refrigerator is under the tv behind the 2 big dresser doors.
After getting things set up, we headed back to Universal around 6:30 pm via boat.
That's all the pictures I've got sized properly at the moment. I will work on more as I watch the Packer game!
Still to come on Day 3 - Macy's Holiday Parade and Harry Potter at night!
Finally as we were paying the bill at 4:50 I got the text that our room was ready. We took the boat back to RPR, collected our luggage and headed up to room 1531 in tower 1. One of the remodeled rooms (I know thanks to schumigirl's trip report.) It was nice and I liked the big flower and throw pillows. I wish they gave you more real pillows though. This room seems smaller than Disney’s Coronado Springs room – or did my kids just get bigger? We found room for our 3 suit cases and did a little resting.
A few sights on the boat heading back to RPR:
I never saw anyone using these, but I did hear they were used more during the day. It didn't help that directly across from the pond was construction going on so it wasn't the most peaceful setting on vacation.
The lobby area as we gathered out suitcases:
Hello Room 1531!
The bathroom was beautiful, but the shower door really leaked water as there was no lip to stop the water from dripping down the door and going onto the floor. Our floor was puddled!
I like the decorating!
There was a desk against the wall to the right of the dresser. The refrigerator is under the tv behind the 2 big dresser doors.
After getting things set up, we headed back to Universal around 6:30 pm via boat.
That's all the pictures I've got sized properly at the moment. I will work on more as I watch the Packer game!
Still to come on Day 3 - Macy's Holiday Parade and Harry Potter at night!
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Dec 12/21 - Universal Studios - Part 8
Once back in Universal, we wanted to watch the 8:00 Macy's Holiday Parade so we headed down near Macy's. Since we were early, we decided to ride the MUMMY.
Afterwards, we and found a spot to watch the 8:00 Macy’s Holiday Parade. Here are a few pre-parade pictures of the area.
Everyone was sitting nicely in the front row and stayed seated and we sat behind them. Then right before the parade starts this lady walks up and stands to my right blocking my view of everything coming down the road. Everyone else was seated except for this woman next to me and then she had to move even farther towards the street blocking everything. I know rude parade goers are such a big complaint and of course it had to happen right next to me.
This was now my view of the parade. Rude and clueless:
So I had to stand up to see anything. I was really upset. I still get a little upset seeing her.
Now some parade pictures while standing...
Once back in Universal, we wanted to watch the 8:00 Macy's Holiday Parade so we headed down near Macy's. Since we were early, we decided to ride the MUMMY.
Afterwards, we and found a spot to watch the 8:00 Macy’s Holiday Parade. Here are a few pre-parade pictures of the area.
Everyone was sitting nicely in the front row and stayed seated and we sat behind them. Then right before the parade starts this lady walks up and stands to my right blocking my view of everything coming down the road. Everyone else was seated except for this woman next to me and then she had to move even farther towards the street blocking everything. I know rude parade goers are such a big complaint and of course it had to happen right next to me.
This was now my view of the parade. Rude and clueless:
So I had to stand up to see anything. I was really upset. I still get a little upset seeing her.
Now some parade pictures while standing...
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Mon 12/21, Universal Studios - Part 9 - End of Day 3!
Here are a few more Macy's Holiday Parade pictures. In person the balloons aren't as big as they seem like on tv. Maybe it's the big buildings or something. They even look big in the pictures, but in person they don't. I loved them though!
"That's Santa Claus - I know him!" (from the movie Elf) lol
Now looking at the US brochure, I thought there were suppose to be Rockettes dancing which is why we were near Macy's. I didn't see any, and the brochure that shows them, does NOT list them - only says "with authentic balloons and floats direct from New York City." I really wanted to see them, I hope I didn't miss them!
I tried to talk DS19 into being a balloon handler for the parade, but he wasn’t really feeling it. We should have done it as a family if we had time later in the week.
After the parade we head back over to Harry Potter World and back on GRINGOTTS. DS19 did the locker and then we all entered the line. It was a little bit shorter than our first ride and this time they weren’t taking family pictures. DS19 was annoyed as there was a family in line in front of us, and then 4 more people jumped in line half way through. But this family didn’t blend in as they all had their winnings from the Simpson games. The dad was bouncing his basketball the entire time and then acting like he was throwing it (near the lighting per my DS19) and then others had their stuffed Duff Beers and other items. DS19 was really annoyed and we didn’t know how they were going to ride with all that stuff with them. Well they did ride, and all their stuff was sitting in a big pile near the exit. Sigh and eye roll.
The owls are lit up.
The wall:
We walked around a little more in the shops and DS13 and I went into Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and both got a cup of ice cream (we love ice cream!) I got the Earl Grey and Lavender (left) and DS13 the Strawberry and Peanut Butter. Both were interesting yet good and you could really taste the peanut butter in DS’s. $5.31 w/tax per cup
We closed the park and took the boat back to RPR.
Total miles walked today 8.03. I was starting to use some Aleve each day!
Here are a few more Macy's Holiday Parade pictures. In person the balloons aren't as big as they seem like on tv. Maybe it's the big buildings or something. They even look big in the pictures, but in person they don't. I loved them though!
"That's Santa Claus - I know him!" (from the movie Elf) lol
Now looking at the US brochure, I thought there were suppose to be Rockettes dancing which is why we were near Macy's. I didn't see any, and the brochure that shows them, does NOT list them - only says "with authentic balloons and floats direct from New York City." I really wanted to see them, I hope I didn't miss them!
I tried to talk DS19 into being a balloon handler for the parade, but he wasn’t really feeling it. We should have done it as a family if we had time later in the week.
After the parade we head back over to Harry Potter World and back on GRINGOTTS. DS19 did the locker and then we all entered the line. It was a little bit shorter than our first ride and this time they weren’t taking family pictures. DS19 was annoyed as there was a family in line in front of us, and then 4 more people jumped in line half way through. But this family didn’t blend in as they all had their winnings from the Simpson games. The dad was bouncing his basketball the entire time and then acting like he was throwing it (near the lighting per my DS19) and then others had their stuffed Duff Beers and other items. DS19 was really annoyed and we didn’t know how they were going to ride with all that stuff with them. Well they did ride, and all their stuff was sitting in a big pile near the exit. Sigh and eye roll.
The owls are lit up.
The wall:
We walked around a little more in the shops and DS13 and I went into Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and both got a cup of ice cream (we love ice cream!) I got the Earl Grey and Lavender (left) and DS13 the Strawberry and Peanut Butter. Both were interesting yet good and you could really taste the peanut butter in DS’s. $5.31 w/tax per cup
We closed the park and took the boat back to RPR.
Total miles walked today 8.03. I was starting to use some Aleve each day!
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 3 - Universal Studios - timing
Oops, I had this all typed out and forgot about it. Here's a pretty close timing of our day thanks to the photo date & time.
Here’s a list of what we did:
Oops, I had this all typed out and forgot about it. Here's a pretty close timing of our day thanks to the photo date & time.
Here’s a list of what we did:
- 7:15 – 7:32 Uber from Sheraton Vistana to Royal Pacific
- 8:00 – 8:11 Boat to US from RP
- 8:25 Diagon Alley
- 8:40 Gringotts
- 9:30 1st Butter beers!
- MIB
- Simpsons Ride
- MIB
- ET
- 11:05 Lunch – Fast Food Blvd
- 11:55 Pic’s with Krusty the Clown
- 12:05 Transformers
- Mummy – 2 times
- 1:30 Rip Ride Rocket
- 2:13 Shrek picture
- Shrek 4K
- Despicable Me
- 3:30 Pic’s with Lisa Simpson and Scooby Doo & Gang
- 4:00 – 5:00 Margaritaville
- 5:00 Room finally ready at RPR
- Rest in room
- 7:00 Mummy back at Universal
- 8:00 Macy’s Holiday Parade
- Gringotts
- 10:00 closed the park
J'aime Paris
Living happily ever after
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
Still loving your TR! Thank you for being so detailed!
Literally laughed out loud about your waitress at Margaritaville wanting to relocate to Wisconsin!
Literally laughed out loud about your waitress at Margaritaville wanting to relocate to Wisconsin!
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Still loving your TR! Thank you for being so detailed!
Literally laughed out loud about your waitress at Margaritaville wanting to relocate to Wisconsin!
She was a Packer fan so maybe she was influenced by that - although they aren't looking too pretty at the moment.
Glad you like the TR, it sure takes a lot of time but I can't believe I'm almost done. It's almost like the vacation is almost done again...
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 4 - Tues, Dec 22 - Islands of Adventure - Part 1
** I seemed to have really rattled on on Day 4. I guess I had a lot to say.
It was early entry into both parks this week for Universal resort guests from 7:00 – 8:00 am. We were still on Midwest time, which means 6:00-7:00am and would need to be up around 5 something Midwest time. That wasn’t going to happen. I was able to rally the troops to a more fitting wake up at 6:45am and be there by 7:45. With 2 teenage boys, I needed to be realistic. It didn’t help we only had 1 shower for 4 people, but we made it happen! It was also going to be another great day about 82 degrees. Yeah!
Since it was Islands of Adventure (IA) day, we thought we’d walk. We took the path down by the boat and had some people from the elevator end up in front of us that went a different way that appeared to be faster. Not much though. The walk isn’t bad, but I wish it was a straighter line! Less curving and fauna when all you care about is getting to the parks (and your legs are already aching!)
We made it to the entrance at 7:40 am though.
Again, not a lot of people in line (maybe 2 or 3 in front in each) and then we were in following the “que” set up for resort guests and walking right past the line of other people waiting for the park to open. Boo-yah! (I’ve noticed 1st-I'm talking a lot more like my DS13 and 2nd - I’m turning into an express pass snob. We didn’t act like that but we felt like bosses! lol
We entered Hogsmeade at 7:50 am
We headed right over to Forbidden Journey, again a little confusing about the lockers and the line, but we figured it out and DS19 did his locker duty. There was a bit of a line, but not too bad. It’s nice to have time in these rides to see the theming that makes you feel you are there. Unfortunately, DH got pulled to the side and tried a test seat and it wouldn’t close with his belly. He told us he’d meet us out and we went on the ride. We liked it, I tried to figure out how we were moving, but I think without DH experiencing it with us, it just wasn’t the same. (I really tried to promote DH to lose some belly before the trip, but he was in belly denial.) We all agreed we’d tell him the ride was just ok. I don’t know if I even remember it, but I was thinking this was the lesser moving of the 2 rides and I was wrong. Wow – there was a lot of motion on that ride! So we headed out and DH said the girl apologized and felt bad so she gave him 4 express passes to almost any ride in the HP areas in both parks. Awesome, but not so awesome since it came at his expense.
Flight of the Hippograff was next and it was a cute little roller coaster. Loved seeing the Hippograff and again all the theming and glad we had gone on it. They did not slack in any theming on Harry Potter. Kuddos!
Dragon Challenge was next and with our express passes we walked right up. There really wasn’t a line for the regular side either. We rode the blue side first - DH needed a modified seat, so we went to that row, were quickly loaded and off we went. It was such a fun ride, we rode it again right away – but red side this time! We all agreed that we liked blue side better.
** I seemed to have really rattled on on Day 4. I guess I had a lot to say.
It was early entry into both parks this week for Universal resort guests from 7:00 – 8:00 am. We were still on Midwest time, which means 6:00-7:00am and would need to be up around 5 something Midwest time. That wasn’t going to happen. I was able to rally the troops to a more fitting wake up at 6:45am and be there by 7:45. With 2 teenage boys, I needed to be realistic. It didn’t help we only had 1 shower for 4 people, but we made it happen! It was also going to be another great day about 82 degrees. Yeah!
Since it was Islands of Adventure (IA) day, we thought we’d walk. We took the path down by the boat and had some people from the elevator end up in front of us that went a different way that appeared to be faster. Not much though. The walk isn’t bad, but I wish it was a straighter line! Less curving and fauna when all you care about is getting to the parks (and your legs are already aching!)
We made it to the entrance at 7:40 am though.
Again, not a lot of people in line (maybe 2 or 3 in front in each) and then we were in following the “que” set up for resort guests and walking right past the line of other people waiting for the park to open. Boo-yah! (I’ve noticed 1st-I'm talking a lot more like my DS13 and 2nd - I’m turning into an express pass snob. We didn’t act like that but we felt like bosses! lol
We entered Hogsmeade at 7:50 am
We headed right over to Forbidden Journey, again a little confusing about the lockers and the line, but we figured it out and DS19 did his locker duty. There was a bit of a line, but not too bad. It’s nice to have time in these rides to see the theming that makes you feel you are there. Unfortunately, DH got pulled to the side and tried a test seat and it wouldn’t close with his belly. He told us he’d meet us out and we went on the ride. We liked it, I tried to figure out how we were moving, but I think without DH experiencing it with us, it just wasn’t the same. (I really tried to promote DH to lose some belly before the trip, but he was in belly denial.) We all agreed we’d tell him the ride was just ok. I don’t know if I even remember it, but I was thinking this was the lesser moving of the 2 rides and I was wrong. Wow – there was a lot of motion on that ride! So we headed out and DH said the girl apologized and felt bad so she gave him 4 express passes to almost any ride in the HP areas in both parks. Awesome, but not so awesome since it came at his expense.
Flight of the Hippograff was next and it was a cute little roller coaster. Loved seeing the Hippograff and again all the theming and glad we had gone on it. They did not slack in any theming on Harry Potter. Kuddos!
Dragon Challenge was next and with our express passes we walked right up. There really wasn’t a line for the regular side either. We rode the blue side first - DH needed a modified seat, so we went to that row, were quickly loaded and off we went. It was such a fun ride, we rode it again right away – but red side this time! We all agreed that we liked blue side better.
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 4 Tues 12/22, Islands of Adventure - Part 2
At 9:20 am Butterbeers were again ordered. A regular ($6 w/tax) and a frozen ($7w/tax) again. It’s weird that here the price included the tax and was 10-15 cents more than Diagon Alley. Again, they were delicious and we shared one of each. Just enough to get the taste and be refreshed without overdoing it.
We took some pictures with the castle in the background. How does that castle look exactly like the size of a regular castle? I think it’s amazing to see it in person and still in the pictures! Loved it!
DH use to be such a good smiler, I don't know what this face is but it's driving me crazy.
Well, we got all mixed up here and were going to head over to Jurassic World and found the bridge, but then walked down by the Jurassic Discovery Center but it didn’t open until 10:00. Since we had a ressie at Mythos at 11:00, we decided to head over to that area so we turned around and backtracked.
Then we decided to do Poseidon’s Fury and we were walking in circles and couldn’t find the entrance. I know that sounds stupid since it’s this giant thing, but we were over by the fountain and did more backtracking. Ugh – we seemed to be doing a lot of walking and not a lot of doing if you know what I mean. Finally we figured it out and headed in with our express passes. There were already quite a few people in and we didn’t know what it actually was. Oh, a walking tour. Great, I wanted to walk some more! Well, if you’ve seen it, then you know you probably don’t have to see it again. The special effects were interesting, the actor a little goofy, and the video screens too, but that’s what parks and vacations are for.
We still had time before 11:00 so we headed over to Seuss Landing. Amazing theming again! I love that area.
At 10:25 the Lorax was out as we were walking by so of course, we stopped by for a picture.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish was next and we express passed it at 10:33an. DH and DS13 were together and DS19 and I were. We both let the boys “drive.” You need to listen to the song and go up and down when it tells you or you get wet. Well, we all got wet – but mostly DH and I since we were on the outside! DS19 insists if we had just stayed high we would have been fine. Right.
DS19 & I and a throwback too. His fish driving skills haven't change much! lol
At 9:20 am Butterbeers were again ordered. A regular ($6 w/tax) and a frozen ($7w/tax) again. It’s weird that here the price included the tax and was 10-15 cents more than Diagon Alley. Again, they were delicious and we shared one of each. Just enough to get the taste and be refreshed without overdoing it.
We took some pictures with the castle in the background. How does that castle look exactly like the size of a regular castle? I think it’s amazing to see it in person and still in the pictures! Loved it!
DH use to be such a good smiler, I don't know what this face is but it's driving me crazy.
Well, we got all mixed up here and were going to head over to Jurassic World and found the bridge, but then walked down by the Jurassic Discovery Center but it didn’t open until 10:00. Since we had a ressie at Mythos at 11:00, we decided to head over to that area so we turned around and backtracked.
Then we decided to do Poseidon’s Fury and we were walking in circles and couldn’t find the entrance. I know that sounds stupid since it’s this giant thing, but we were over by the fountain and did more backtracking. Ugh – we seemed to be doing a lot of walking and not a lot of doing if you know what I mean. Finally we figured it out and headed in with our express passes. There were already quite a few people in and we didn’t know what it actually was. Oh, a walking tour. Great, I wanted to walk some more! Well, if you’ve seen it, then you know you probably don’t have to see it again. The special effects were interesting, the actor a little goofy, and the video screens too, but that’s what parks and vacations are for.
We still had time before 11:00 so we headed over to Seuss Landing. Amazing theming again! I love that area.
At 10:25 the Lorax was out as we were walking by so of course, we stopped by for a picture.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish was next and we express passed it at 10:33an. DH and DS13 were together and DS19 and I were. We both let the boys “drive.” You need to listen to the song and go up and down when it tells you or you get wet. Well, we all got wet – but mostly DH and I since we were on the outside! DS19 insists if we had just stayed high we would have been fine. Right.
DS19 & I and a throwback too. His fish driving skills haven't change much! lol
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 4 Tues 12/22, Islands of Adventure - Part 3
At 10:41 we walked past the “Oh! The Stoies You’ll Hear!” show. There was anyone barely watching so we stopped by and watched the remaining 5 minutes or so of the show. I was hoping that the characters would stay out after the show and I was right! I loved getting the picture of Thing 1 & Thing 2. As you should know by now, we love character pictures!
View attachment 143549
At 10:49 we were done with pictures and took a look in the Sweet store – yummy! Look at those caramel apples that look like ornaments – so cute & so big!
It was almost 11:00 am and we headed back over to Mythos. We were starving again! It wasn’t open, but there was a line so we got in line to get ready to check in. All of the sudden people would show up and start circling around the door. There is a line! What’s going on? Get in line, it’s not a free for all to get into the restaurant! Seriously! So the door opened and everyone starts to converge so DS19 and I just blocked out everyone who rushed the door. Nobody comes between us and our food – especially when we’re hungry. We gave them our name and were like the 3rd ones seated. Those who didn’t have ressies were told it would be about 11:30 for them to dine. The theming is awesome and we took some pict’s.
At 10:41 we walked past the “Oh! The Stoies You’ll Hear!” show. There was anyone barely watching so we stopped by and watched the remaining 5 minutes or so of the show. I was hoping that the characters would stay out after the show and I was right! I loved getting the picture of Thing 1 & Thing 2. As you should know by now, we love character pictures!
View attachment 143549
At 10:49 we were done with pictures and took a look in the Sweet store – yummy! Look at those caramel apples that look like ornaments – so cute & so big!
It was almost 11:00 am and we headed back over to Mythos. We were starving again! It wasn’t open, but there was a line so we got in line to get ready to check in. All of the sudden people would show up and start circling around the door. There is a line! What’s going on? Get in line, it’s not a free for all to get into the restaurant! Seriously! So the door opened and everyone starts to converge so DS19 and I just blocked out everyone who rushed the door. Nobody comes between us and our food – especially when we’re hungry. We gave them our name and were like the 3rd ones seated. Those who didn’t have ressies were told it would be about 11:30 for them to dine. The theming is awesome and we took some pict’s.
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IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 4 - Tues 12/22, Islands of Adventure - Part 4
Mythos Continued
Our waiter took our order and was very nice. He was very good at refilling our sodas and iced tea. I really wish we would have ordered water, and kept the cost down as it was $3.19/drink so that added another $13.59 to the bill. I know, I’m so cheap sometimes.
We ordered our food and although they were all sandwiches and not the fancier meals, we received a bread basket with some delicious bread – 8 pieces and cute butter! The food came pretty quickly.
DH ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Salad Wrap – chicken salad with cucumbers, red grapes and tomatoes wrapped in a grilled tortilla with quinoa tabouli (14.90 w/tax) and a Diet Coke. I don’t know why he did, probably cuz he felt bad about his belly on the Forbidden Journey. There wasn’t a lot to eat and I’m sure he was hungry later.
DS13 and I both ordered the Grilled Chicken “BLT” with French fries ($12.77 w/tax). It was marinated chicken breast, cheddar cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato jam and pickled red onion. I almost ordered the Porchetta Panini but glad I ordered the chicken – it was yummy! I had a Diet Coke and DS13 had a Mr. Pibb.
DS19 had the Mythos Signature Hamburger - lamb with French fries ($15.97 w/tax) and a sweet tea to drink. DS19 is too nice once in awhile and offered us all a bite. It was good! Once we all had a bite, he had ½ a sandwich left. Poor guy!
We got the bill about 11:40 so the meal took about 45 minutes. It came to $70.00 plus tip. It was a good quality at reasonable prices and I didn’t mind taking a break from all the walking we had already been doing. I was also able to take a look at the map and figure out what else we wanted to do and in what order. I would like to try Confisco’s the next time we’re at IA.
After lunch we returned to Seuss Landing to finish up the things we missed.
At 12:00 we used on express pass and jumped on the The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train. I think the wait was about 30 minutes without it. Cute! I liked the views of the area. It reminds me of Disney’s Transit Authority People Mover.
Mythos Continued
Our waiter took our order and was very nice. He was very good at refilling our sodas and iced tea. I really wish we would have ordered water, and kept the cost down as it was $3.19/drink so that added another $13.59 to the bill. I know, I’m so cheap sometimes.
We ordered our food and although they were all sandwiches and not the fancier meals, we received a bread basket with some delicious bread – 8 pieces and cute butter! The food came pretty quickly.
DH ordered the Mediterranean Chicken Salad Wrap – chicken salad with cucumbers, red grapes and tomatoes wrapped in a grilled tortilla with quinoa tabouli (14.90 w/tax) and a Diet Coke. I don’t know why he did, probably cuz he felt bad about his belly on the Forbidden Journey. There wasn’t a lot to eat and I’m sure he was hungry later.
DS13 and I both ordered the Grilled Chicken “BLT” with French fries ($12.77 w/tax). It was marinated chicken breast, cheddar cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato jam and pickled red onion. I almost ordered the Porchetta Panini but glad I ordered the chicken – it was yummy! I had a Diet Coke and DS13 had a Mr. Pibb.
DS19 had the Mythos Signature Hamburger - lamb with French fries ($15.97 w/tax) and a sweet tea to drink. DS19 is too nice once in awhile and offered us all a bite. It was good! Once we all had a bite, he had ½ a sandwich left. Poor guy!
We got the bill about 11:40 so the meal took about 45 minutes. It came to $70.00 plus tip. It was a good quality at reasonable prices and I didn’t mind taking a break from all the walking we had already been doing. I was also able to take a look at the map and figure out what else we wanted to do and in what order. I would like to try Confisco’s the next time we’re at IA.
After lunch we returned to Seuss Landing to finish up the things we missed.
At 12:00 we used on express pass and jumped on the The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train. I think the wait was about 30 minutes without it. Cute! I liked the views of the area. It reminds me of Disney’s Transit Authority People Mover.
IckyMickey
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
Day 4 Tues 12/22, Islands of Adventure - Part 5
As we got off and walked down a little bit, there was a line forming for pictures with the Grinch. I had asked earlier and knew he was inside of the bookstore, so when we passed the bookstore and saw the line we got in it. However, someone had set up a private shoot with the Grinch so we sat outside for about 20 minutes as about a group of 8 people posed in all different groups. It was about 12:30 when the Grinch was finally ready to see us normal folk. That is also when the cast of Grinchmas came out and started taking pictures with people standing in line waiting to see the Grinch. We were let in the bookstore about 12:37 and they have their own photographer and will take a picture with your camera also. However, the background is a blue screen – boring!, but if you buy their picture for $24.99 ($26.57 w/tax) you get a nice background added in. We decided the blue background was good enough and left.
Walking out, we saw that the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular was starting at 12:45 and we booked it in. It is actually in the building closer to Universal and we had to walk a bit. Only the 2 top rows were empty when we were seated so it was a popular show. It was very cute with singing and acting. This was a must do for me and I’m glad we saw it and it fit in so nicely! (I am still figuring out my camera and dark pictures just weren't working correctly.)
Once we left the show, I decided that I did want the picture of the Grinch. I like to put up a Christmas picture of our family each year and wanted this one to be for 2015. We went back into the shop and bought it. It did come with a clear plastic frame, but I put ours in a holiday frame with the year on it. $26.57
The Cat in the Hat ride was next and we again used our express pass. There was a wait of about 25 minutes so it came in handy! We sat on our couch and toured the pages of the book.
We never did make it on the Caro-Seuss-el, I would have liked it, but not everyone looked so enthusiastic. We also skipped If I Ran the Zoo - the interactive play area. I would have liked to have walked through it but didn’t even think about it at the time.
We headed over into the Marvel Super Hero Island where the boys rode Storm Force Accelatron together. DS19 did most of the spinning – they were spinning pretty fast. DH and I were happy to sit this one out and watch the boys. It’s pretty much the tea cups. No thank you!
As we got off and walked down a little bit, there was a line forming for pictures with the Grinch. I had asked earlier and knew he was inside of the bookstore, so when we passed the bookstore and saw the line we got in it. However, someone had set up a private shoot with the Grinch so we sat outside for about 20 minutes as about a group of 8 people posed in all different groups. It was about 12:30 when the Grinch was finally ready to see us normal folk. That is also when the cast of Grinchmas came out and started taking pictures with people standing in line waiting to see the Grinch. We were let in the bookstore about 12:37 and they have their own photographer and will take a picture with your camera also. However, the background is a blue screen – boring!, but if you buy their picture for $24.99 ($26.57 w/tax) you get a nice background added in. We decided the blue background was good enough and left.
Walking out, we saw that the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular was starting at 12:45 and we booked it in. It is actually in the building closer to Universal and we had to walk a bit. Only the 2 top rows were empty when we were seated so it was a popular show. It was very cute with singing and acting. This was a must do for me and I’m glad we saw it and it fit in so nicely! (I am still figuring out my camera and dark pictures just weren't working correctly.)
Once we left the show, I decided that I did want the picture of the Grinch. I like to put up a Christmas picture of our family each year and wanted this one to be for 2015. We went back into the shop and bought it. It did come with a clear plastic frame, but I put ours in a holiday frame with the year on it. $26.57
The Cat in the Hat ride was next and we again used our express pass. There was a wait of about 25 minutes so it came in handy! We sat on our couch and toured the pages of the book.
We never did make it on the Caro-Seuss-el, I would have liked it, but not everyone looked so enthusiastic. We also skipped If I Ran the Zoo - the interactive play area. I would have liked to have walked through it but didn’t even think about it at the time.
We headed over into the Marvel Super Hero Island where the boys rode Storm Force Accelatron together. DS19 did most of the spinning – they were spinning pretty fast. DH and I were happy to sit this one out and watch the boys. It’s pretty much the tea cups. No thank you!
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