Living the Verandah Life! A Feb/March 2022 DCL TR *COMPLETE* 10/7

[khertz]

Day 9 Continued: Saturday March 5th

We did Flight of the Hippogriff one more time, and stopped on the way through Hogsmeade to watch the Hogwarts Frog Choir performance.

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Our room wasn’t ready yet, and we were starting to wear down. The kids didn’t really want to re-ride anything else. So we went to check out the If I Ran the Zoo play area for a little while so DH and I could figure out what to do next. While the kids played, we decided we’d go get an early dinner in CityWalk in the hopes that our room would be ready while we were eating and we could go back for the night after that.

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The kids can’t pass these figures on the way out without stopping to sit on them and beg for a picture to be taken.

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DD had been a real trooper for the whole day without a stroller, but she weaseled her way into a piggyback ride on the way out.

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We decided to go to NBC Sports Grill & Brew since we knew we liked the food there and it was near the boat dock so we could take the water taxi back to the resort after. We had no problem getting a seat and our table was upstairs right over the grills.

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DS got the kids sliders with tots, and DD had the macaroni and cheese with orange slices.

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Both DH and I had the burger with with Wisconsin cheddar cheese and crispy cheese bites on it.

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We had to stop for one more photo op with the Voodoo Donuts chair before heading down to the dock.

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We spent the rest of the evening in the room and went to bed early so that we could get on the road early the next morning to get home.

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Ultimately, this was a great way to spend the day after getting off the cruise. We enjoyed it a lot more than Disney Springs like we had done in 2019, and the only way it would have been better would have been if we’d had access to Studios as well because we accomplished everything in Islands rather quickly with Express and would have liked to go over to the other park and ride some more. But since it didn’t cost too much to upgrade our tickets in August to the seasonal APs it was the best choice. And it made the pain of leaving the cruise just a little easier knowing we had a day at Universal before we went home!

Our drive on Sunday was largely uneventful. It just stinks having to make that long drive all in one day! But we managed to get home around 6:45 pm I think, so it wasn’t really late which was good since we had work and school in the morning!

Thanks so much to everyone who followed along for our second cruise TR! We have absolutely fallen in love with DCL, and the pain of the cruise being over is made just a little easier by being able to share it with all of you!

If you'd like to follow along with my next TR, I am starting one for the anniversary trip DH and I took this summer to UOR to experience the Orlando Informer Meetup.

Mom & Dad’s Meetup Anniversary Getaway!

 

[missjackiemcg]

You definitely hit up several of our favorites! It would've been so nice if you were able to get over to Studios, too, but I agree THIS sounds like a really nice way to spend the day after the cruise instead of disembarking and just driving home.

We really like the NBC bar and grill. That's the one restaurant we've eaten at on every USO trip!

I enjoyed your Universal day It's got me very excited for next summer when we'll be spending a week there celebrating my son's 8th grade graduation!

 

[Mickey.MAC]

Other reviews believe that Disney Fantasy has worsened over time. What was your conclusion? Are you planning to try out the new Disney Wish ship?

Thanks for all your photos, you worked hard to make this trip report!

Do you prefer Universal Orlando over Walt Disney World?

 

[josefina022]

Love your review, beautiful family! Thank you for the trip report. Love that they decorated your door and you got some pixie dust swag, so cool!