Midnight Departures and Hoping for Sunshine - a January 2016 TR - Completed 2/1

[pepperandchips]

January 14 - arrival day

After our quick breakfast stop, we made our way back to Universal Boulevard. We initially missed the turn in (how could you miss the giant sign?) but eventually wound our way down the beautiful drive, passing the namesake bay and catching our first glimpse of this gorgeous resort in the blue dawn light. Knowing a 7:00 arrival would make an available room unlikely, we left our bags in the car, took our theme park day bags, and made our way up from the parking garage.

Every touch in this hotel was appreciated, from the folding french doors (rather than the standard automatic glass sliding doors) to the faux stucco decor and the soft lighting. There were a number of gentlemen in the front desk queue who appeared to be checking out after a business conference, but we were greeted in short order by a very friendly young lady who checked us in, gave us resort maps, told us about early entry (at Studios all week this week), and best of all told us that our room in the west wing was ready! I'd already decided that I wanted to ask for a west wing room as I thought it would be most convenient for us near the pools and boat dock. We found our way across the courtyard and into building 3. Our room was nearly at the end of the hall furthest from the lobby - which would be just our luck since we typically end up with a room in east Timbuktu, but as we didn't really need the lobby much for this trip, the location ended up being perfect.

I could go on for days about how much I loved this room! It was so spacious (as it should be at 450 sq. ft!), beautifully decorated with a mix of contemporary and classic decor, and extremely cozy and comfortable.

Garden view two queen room (standard size - 450 sq ft)

Beyond being excited that our room was ready at 7:00 am, I found the kiosks to print the express passes easy to use and the staff to be exceptionally friendly and warm. When we entered the room, the lights were blazing and everything was sparklingly clean. A quick peak out the curtains revealed our "garden view" to be an obscured view of the pool. We don't spend much time looking out the window in the room, so I had no real preference about our view, but I certainly prefer the pool view to a parking lot or rooftop view (which I've had in other Orlando accomodations).

As expected, the entry of our room was outfitted with a nice bar set up and a Keurig coffee machine. We don't use Keurig at home and I'd ended up wishing I'd bought some different K cups than what were offered - but the coffee was still ok and I was glad to see that they'd provided miniature liquid creamers rather than powdered creamer (yuck!).

The bathroom and toiletries were on par with everything else in the room. We had great housekeeping during our stay and I appreciated that she always left us plenty of washcloths and towels.

After a quick freshen-up, we were ready to head toward the park for early admission at Universal Studios. I was about to get my first taste of Universal in over two decades!

First day continued in next post...

 

[pepperandchips]

It's funny, I stop myself at times from commenting how cheap we find things in Orlando and cocktails are one of them........$15 is ok to us to pay for cocktails......it's a bargain to what we would pay for a "good" hotel cocktail over here........but when I told an American friend we paid $90 plus 20% tip for 3 drinks each one night she thought we needed our heads examined........lol........

I really shouldn't complain - the nicer hotels in the swanky area of town where I work are also $15+ sometimes. I'm just spoiled on $10ish drinks I guess so $15 was a lot to factor into the budget. I ended up bringing a small bottle of Maker's Mark (Kentucky bourbon) and a six pack of craft beer, which cost me about $45 for the lot, and we didn't finish either one! But we do like to have a drink or two with dinner (or before dinner or after dinner .. or both - hey it's vacation!) and I didn't want to stress about the prices. It's funny that I have no real problem with paying $3 for a bottle of water but the $15 cocktails are what set me off... Haha!

 

[pepperandchips]

After becoming conditioned to the mass chaos at Disney where hundreds of guests are dumped from the monorails, ferry, and water launches into the same few bag check lines, I expected something similar at Universal. I think I vaguely remembered reading something about security at the boat docks, but I did not expect to just experience security at the water taxis and breeze on through to ticket scanning!

After several good experiences with Undercover Tourist in the past, I found an offer on my American Express card that would garner me a sweet $30 statement credit if I spent $150 or more on UT by the end of 2015. Since we'd started talking about visiting Universal close to a year ago, I wasted no time ordering a four day base ticket, which was already around $35 less expensive than purchasing directly through Universal. That ticket cost was $135.73 after the statement credit. We'd gotten R's 4 day base ticket as a Christmas gift from my mom, so that one was free to us. Immediately after entering the park, we stopped in guest services to upgrade our tickets to annual passes. R was getting the power pass and I was getting the preferred pass so that if we return in the future without an on-site stay, we'd have the parking privileges and we knew we could start using the discount on merchandise and food now.

Well, the computer system was giving our poor team member at guest services the worst time - after she'd put in all of our info and charged my card, the system voided her transaction and we had to start all over again. A more senior team member came to offer assistance, and offered us R's upgrade for free (it should have been $53.25). I told them it was absolutely not necessary but very much appreciated. Talk about a great way to start off our Universal vacation! My upgrade was $154.43, so I spent only $290.16 for a preferred pass (usually $356.77 for a non-Florida resident). The team members were beyond helpful and since we stopped in first thing in the morning, we didn't have to wait at all.

We knew the crowd level that day was only expected to be about a 3 or 4 on the touring plans scale, and we certainly enjoyed the feeling of having the whole park to ourselves making our way from guest services back to Diagon Alley. With the friendly team members, the Florida sun shining, and the streets empty, I think I fell in love right then and there! When we got to King's Cross I think I may have teared up a little. We were finally here!

Upon entering Diagon Alley, we found out where the "crowd" was hiding. It still wasn't bad that morning in my opinion, but team members had us queue through Carkitt Market for Gringott's. The wait time was posted at 15 minutes at 8:37. Well, lo and behold, Gringott's broke down. I guess it was good that I got this experience from the very first day so I knew what to expect. Unfortunately we were in the long hallway with the goblin offices for the duration of the delay and it seemed like many of the effects weren't on, so it was a bit of a tedious wait. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the ride and knew we'd do it again several more times this trip.

By 9:40, we were walking on to Hogwart's Express (I believe we were the last put on this train so we had no wait at all). I really enjoyed this attraction and told R that we could have ridden it all day! I loved when we were seated in a cabin with children seeing the effects for the first time. Their reactions just amplified the "wow" factor. Universal knocked that one out of the park. The whole queue experience from King's Cross was just surreal.

There were a few more folks in Hogsmeade than had been in Diagon Alley, but nothing close to the hysteria we'd see later that weekend. We rode Forbidden Journey with a pretty short wait (not long enough to see the whole pre-show in any of the various rooms). Unfortunately, this ride was tainted from the start for me because we were seated in the bench with another party and the man next to me was deliberately swinging his feet (not just the natural sway of your legs when the ride moves) and kicked me for the ENTIRE ride. I was furious by the time we exited the ride. I already have a difficult time with simulators, and fortunately I had some scopolamine patches so I didn't feel nauseated, but the simulator portion at the quidditch pitch still made me feel wobbly. It's one of R's favorite rides so I promised to give it another go another day.

We took the Hogwart's Express back the other direction and crossed off one of my must-do items from the figurative list: Florean Fortescue's! Thanks to the excellent trip reporting here on the boards, I knew I wanted to try the butterbeer soft serve and the salted caramel blondie. We decided for the hard pack ice cream, we'd get the blondie and the apple crumble. The blondie was my favorite of the three flavors, and I thought the butterbeer soft serve was just too rich and sweet. I'm glad we tried it but I only needed a tiny portion of that. Fortunately, my R is a good sport about finishing unwanted desserts for me...

We stopped into several of the shops, and I think my favorite was the magical menagerie. Those pygmy puffs are just about the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on. I think I'm a tad too old for a pygmy puff of my own (and our apartment is pretty dang tiny, so we're trying not to collect too many doodads) so I just snapped some pics and considered the puff slippers. Maybe next time. The best item in the shop, I thought, was the Hedwig backpack. My younger sister has a Duffy the Bear (from Disney) backpack that she wears in the theme park and I've been a little jealous that I didn't see it first, so I was seriously considering Hedwig. But did I really need a stuffed animal backpack in the Florida heat? Maybe not. So we moved on...

the rest of our pre-lunch adventures in the next post...

 

[schumigirl]

Oh the guy on FJ would have got a piece of my mind for the kicking!! No need for that ever........I would be mad too.........

But so glad you enjoyed your day......the ice cream is rather nice isn't it.........so glad you enjoyed the HE!

Love the pygmiepuff slippers......but didn't buy them......my best friend and podiatrist forbids me to wear slippers with no support.......but they are so cute.........I have a normal pygmiepuff......was supposed to be a gift for someone........

Enjoying reading about your trip........

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Awesome updates and photos!! Portotofino looks beautiful....so classy and elegant.

So sorry you found the Butterbeer ice cream too sweet. I am glad your R took one for the team, and polished off the leftovers . He sounds like my Steve!!!

That was such a nice little gesture on Universal's part to upgrade the second ticket for free. Awesome customer service!!

Can't wait to see and read more. Keep the updates coming!

 

[schumigirl]

I really shouldn't complain - the nicer hotels in the swanky area of town where I work are also $15+ sometimes. I'm just spoiled on $10ish drinks I guess so $15 was a lot to factor into the budget. I ended up bringing a small bottle of Maker's Mark (Kentucky bourbon) and a six pack of craft beer, which cost me about $45 for the lot, and we didn't finish either one! But we do like to have a drink or two with dinner (or before dinner or after dinner .. or both - hey it's vacation!) and I didn't want to stress about the prices. It's funny that I have no real problem with paying $3 for a bottle of water but the $15 cocktails are what set me off... Haha!

Sorry I missed this post!!

Yep, drink during or after dinner........my kinda gal.......

I hear ya on paying whatever things cost.........I won't penny pinch on vacation......heck, I don't do it at home so definitely won't on a trip.......things cost what they cost I agree. I did laugh at you saying you would pay $3 for a bottle of water and not think anything of it, I agree with you again,.......my mum still gets annoyed I buy ice for drinks.........she stil thinks we should make them up in those silly little trays........lol.......

Never tried that bourbon you mentioned.........

 

[pepperandchips]

Day 1, part 3

Sorry for being long-winded! I love reading trip reports and apparently I now love writing them too.

[posters for sale from Borgin & Burkes]

We next checked out Knockturn Alley - I did not get a wand but we watched others casting spells and enjoyed the effects that resulted from their wizardry. We stopped in Borgin & Burkes but didn't buy anything just yet. We also took the time to experience the Ollivander's wand selection show. We just missed the previous show, so we ended up standing at the front of the line talking to the Team Member wizard for the duration of one whole show. He was a nice guy but he was perhaps a bit too engaging, if that's possible? R ended up telling him some weird stuff about making a wand from a hippogriff feather and unicorn blood and the Team Member and I decided R must be a death eater (and a definite Slytherin).


The little girl chosen to experience the wand picking at Ollivander's did not speak any English at all so the show was... well, to put it nicely, a total flop. Her family kept translating and shouting things to her but it was just weird and since she wasn't doing things when directed, the effects going off in the shop weren't timed quite right. When the lights shone and the music played, we were disappointed and relieved at the same time. I definitely want to experience this attraction again next time.

[details at the ceiling area of Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment]

Round about this time, we exited Diagon Alley and started talking about what else we wanted to see before lunch. It suddenly dawned on me that what I most wanted to do was to go back and get that Hedwig backpack! So we turned tail and went back to the magical menagerie shop. Best $35 dollars I think I ever spent. I got so many compliments on it during our stay (which always confuses me as I get similar compliments on my mouse ears at WDW and both Hedwig and the ears are readily available for purchase... it's not like I made them myself!) Anyway I am glad I took the time to consider my purchase as it was one of only two real souvenirs I got and I really enjoyed wearing it around the parks.

[Hedwig backpack]

Once my loot was acquired, we moved on to the Mummy. I was not prepared for the awesomeness! We loved this ride. Although we were starting to get hungry and feeling the effects of our lack of sleep, we rode the Mummy twice. Man we loved having that Express Pass! We loved the indoor dark roller coaster portion and loved the cheese-factor and quotability of the narration (BEHOLD YOUR FATE!) We decided to hit the Despicable Me attraction on our way out of the park before lunch. It was cute but I don't love those 4-D simulator attractions - I think it's largely due to my motion sickness but I just don't enjoy the feeling of being jostled around while essentially watching a movie. I thought the storyline was cute and true to the films and I will probably do it again on a subsequent trip if I am able to get another prescription for the scopolamine patches.

[poor pink Kyle was killing me]

[view of patio of NBC Sports Grill and Brew - great people watching location!]

For lunch we decided on NBC Sports Grill and Brew, largely based on the glowing reviews from the Dis Unplugged Universal podcasters. The day had warmed up considerably and we were eager to enjoy an afternoon meal al fresco. The Grill and Brew has a nice large patio that had many tables in dappled sunlight, so the hostess allowed us to take our pick from the available two-tops and we soaked up the sun while perusing the GIANT menu. We started off with beer selections (they've apparently got well over 100 choices). I selected a local double ipa and R tried to order one of the "house" selections, but unfortunately it wasn't available. We thought that was a bit odd since the restaurant is sort of billed for having in-house beer. We liked what we ended up ordering and both had two.

[chips - sorry, we noshed on a few before I remembered the photo!]

[excellent wings - these were a bigger portion than it looks - they are sort of stacked up on each other]

[beer - FL brewing Co Swamp Ape]

Partly due to the ice cream snack and probably partly due to exhaustion, neither of us was interested in large entrees for lunch so we selected a couple of starters to share between us. (And aren't appetizers the best part of "bar food" anyhow?) We settled on the blue cheese chips (which I requested with some jalapeño, a substitution our server happily made) and the roasted wings. We like a bit of spice! The wings were wonderful and had a good level of heat - they were somewhat lighter than usual fried wings so we liked that. The homemade chips topped with blue cheese, queso, bacon, chives, and our addition of fresh jalapeno peppers were scrumptious. I would order both dishes again with no hesitation. Our server, Shawna, was wonderful - attentive but not hovering, with a great personality and demeanor. We forgot to ask about the AP discount, so our total before tip was $58.34 for two appetizers and four beers.

[football at the bottom of my pint glass]

We finished up and admired the blue sky. And with that, we unanimously decided we were due for a nap...

 

[pepperandchips]

Okay, I promise I am wrapping up the first day!

In my exhaustion/delirium pre-nap, I mistakenly set my alarm to wake up from the nap at 4 AM... so we slept a bit longer than we'd planned and decided it wasn't worth trying to go back to the parks since they closed tonight at 7 anyhow. We don't regret driving through the night at all, as it feels like it gives us so much more time, but I was not feeling great when I awoke. We have a joke in my family that when we are in Orlando, we have a "two drink minimum" - R fixed us each a bourbon cocktail in the room and I started feeling much better.

While we chilled out in the room, enjoying our plush digs and watching a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory and some other sitcoms, we sipped our drinks and started to feel those familiar tummy rumbles.The fairly skimpy lunch had finally given way to full on hunger, so we weighed our dinner options. We'd heard great things about Sal's Market Deli and since it was so nearby, we decided we'd have pizza.

[Nighttime at Portofino Bay Resort]


[Click through for larger image of menu]

Still somewhat giddy about the warmer-than-home weather, we thought it might be nice to sit outside again. We ducked in to the glow of the deli and ordered up a large margarita pizza, an order of the cheese sticks, and a mista salad to share. Total cost was $34.05 (forgot to ask for discount again). R had optimistically left his jacket in the room, so while I waited with the buzzer, he went back to fetch something warmer to wear. While he was away, the buzzer went off and I went to collect our grub but found that we'd ordered more than I could carry on my own. I informed the ladies at the counter that I'd be right back but they were having none of it! One of the crew very kindly helped me carry the overflow and opened the door for me, got me all set up and made sure I had what I needed. I was impressed by this touch and noticed that they'd set up the large wooden tray perfect for transport, had I wanted to dine in the room. There were ample napkins, silver, and everything we'd need to enjoy what we ordered. Sorry the below food pictures are sort of bad quality - flash iPhone pics at night...

[Margarita pizza - large - $16.99]

[Fried mozzarella sticks - $5.99]

[Mista Salad - $8.99]

We polished off the cheese sticks, salad, and about half the pizza. The salad was much appreciated after our lack of veggies at lunch. The dressing was nice and light as well and we really enjoyed it. What was left of the pizza we figured we'd have for breakfast. We lingered a while on the patio at Sal's enjoying the wafting tunes from live music being played outside at the Thirsty Fish. This was such a nice, relaxing touch! On the way back to the room, we gave ourselves a tour of the resort - trying to locate an open hot tub, actually, but as there were several young children playing in the hot tub and it was nearing closing time, we decided to save it for another night.

[Beach pool at night]

 

[schumigirl]

Don't apologise for long reports!! They're excellent.......

I love your hedwig backpack.......it's so cute!

Glad you enjoyed NBC, it's not doing great with reviews, so glad you had a good experience......and love love love Sal's pizza!! Your pictures are fine.........

Glad you had a nice chill out time in your room......that's always nice to do for a bit..........

Pics are lovely........

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

That backpack is just adorable!!! I am so glad you went back and purchased it .

Love the pics of the hotel at night. So pretty .

Jake is doing his best to convince me that we need to try NBC Sports Grill in April. Your review is making me want to acquiesce!

Looking forward to the next entry!

 

[pepperandchips]

Don't apologise for long reports!! They're excellent.......

I love your hedwig backpack.......it's so cute!

Glad you enjoyed NBC, it's not doing great with reviews, so glad you had a good experience......and love love love Sal's pizza!! Your pictures are fine.........

Glad you had a nice chill out time in your room......that's always nice to do for a bit..........

Pics are lovely........

That backpack is just adorable!!! I am so glad you went back and purchased it .

Love the pics of the hotel at night. So pretty .

Jake is doing his best to convince me that we need to try NBC Sports Grill in April. Your review is making me want to acquiesce!

Looking forward to the next entry!

Thank you! Glad you are both reading along!

Maybe our experience was colored by the expectation that we were going to have a great meal at NBC sports, but we did - we actually bookended our trip with this restaurant as it was our first and last lunch of the trip, so another review is forthcoming. If it didn't take me 4 entries to get through each day, it would be up a lot sooner!

 

[schumigirl]

Take your time Melinda.........it can take ages sometimes.......but it's lovely to read along with you.

 

[pepperandchips]

On to Day 2: Friday, January 15, 2016

Nothing beats the excitement of waking up in Orlando with a full day in the theme parks ahead of us! The forecast today was looking grim but we were determined to enjoy every minute of our vacation, so we put on our rain jackets and threw an umbrella into our bags.

Once again, the first item on our agenda was riding Gringott's. I think we may have made it through to loading this time without a breakdown. I didn't take any pictures this morning in the queue, so I think I'd left my phone in the lockers. After narrowly escaping Bellatrix and Voldemort, we grabbed another couple of seats on the Hogwarts Express and enjoyed the ride over to Hogsmeade. I think this was the morning we shared our compartment with a father/daughter pair who were hilarious and we later saw them tons of times throughout the parks! He made a joke that having a teenager was like always traveling with a heckler.

The Forbidden Journey line was pretty reasonable when we arrived, but we got to experience more of the details of the queue as it moved slower through the parts we hadn't seen Thursday.

I forgot to mention it in my day 1 post, but as we were in the queue for Gringott's on Thursday, the woman in line in front of us told her husband that Alan Rickman had passed away. Knowing that celebrity deaths are frequent twitter pranks, I googled for myself and confirmed the sad truth that the world had lost a wonderful actor this week. It was sort of surreal experiencing the wizarding world at the same time much of my generation was mourning the loss of the embodiment of Severus Snape. While I think we're all cognizant that Alan Rickman is such a bigger actor than just his role in the Harry Potter series, the movies had a huge cultural impact on my generation and the role of Snape in those films can't really be overstated. Alan Rickman was the perfect Snape and such an integral part of the formative years of so many young adults that there was just an absolute outpouring of grief and loss on social media. By the time we reached the potions classroom in the FJ queue this morning, a lone lily blossom sat outside in memorial. Later that afternoon, both the potions classroom and the door to Snape's office were scattered with a few tributes left to honor Alan Rickman.

[FJ queue and tributes, sorry for the quality]

To continue with the glum ambiance of the morning, the sky had completely clouded over and was looking like rain. Since there wasn't any real precipitation yet, we figured we'd do dueling dragons before the rain arrived. BIG HUGE GIANT MISTAKE!!! We waited for the front row (my motion sickness acts up on those suspended coasters if I'm not in the front since I can't see where I'm going) and were soon on Hungarian Horntail with another couple. Just as we loaded, a light rain began to fall. Do you see where this is going? Each time we inverted, a giant splash of water pelted us in the face (think a bad splash from log flume rides) and there was a constant smattering of rain driving at us as we swooped through the air. It actually physically hurt. When we got off the ride, it looked like we'd spent the morning in Toon Lagoon, not Hogsmeade.

We stopped into Hogs Head for a hot butterbeer and to try to dry out. The rain slacked off a little while we enjoyed that creamy goodness - I was able to help R with it but would not have been able to finish one on my own. These are sweet, sweet, sweet! ($5.27 with tax and AP 10% discount) We figured we were safe to go collect our things from the lockers near Dragon Challenge, so we went to go do that...

[Hog's Head was basically empty this morning]

[The Hog himself!]

Bad timing! The sky fell out, unleashing a downpour like I've rarely seen. Folks retrieving things from lockers stayed put under the shelter alongside unsuspecting muggles who ducked in to avoid the rain. Let's just say it was unpleasantly crowded in there, and gusts of wind were soaking us with the heavy rain. We opted to run across to the covered picnic area adjacent to the Owl Post. We waited out the worst of the rain with what seemed like everyone else in the park and decided to cut our losses and make our way to the front of IOA.

[the lost continent was practically deserted]

[as was seuss landing]

We took a spin on Cat in the Hat since it's indoors - this is a cute ride, and as others have mentioned, reminds me a lot of Winnie the Pooh at WDW. There was no queue at all and I think we only saw one other family inside the attraction. We then looped back to the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride as I wanted to experience this and there was no wait - later this weekend, we'd see waits at up to 60 minutes. This was just ok in the rain. They were only running the alphabet side and I really wanted to do the Sneetch version that went inside Circus McGurkus. Oh well, something to save for next time.

[empty Cat queue]

We did some souvenir perusing and headed out of the park. I know rainy days are some of the best in order to experience attractions with no lines, but we were just soaked through and miserable by this point. That drenching ride on Dragon Challenge had done us in. We sort of felt defeated but I snapped a few pictures to remember what port of entry looks like with no one lingering!

[port of entry, pretty even in the rain]

A little worse for the wear and feeling slightly sad that the rain had thrown a kink into our plans, we walked around City Walk and scoped out lunch choices. We'd pretty much decided on Antojitos by the time we realized they weren't open for lunch... oopsies. So we decided to try Cowfish, even though I'd sort of been saving it for a dinner.

[fun VW bus outside Antojitos]

We were seated immediately at Cowfish and spent no time stripping off rain jackets and drying ourselves out. Of course we noticed that the sky was beginning to clear, but no matter, we were ready for some lunch! In short order, we'd both eyeballed the drink menu and settled on two bourbon cocktails - R ordered the bourbon smash (bourbon, elderflower liqueur, lime, raspberries, and blueberries - $11.50) and I ordered the Buffalos and Bacon (bourbon, cherry, bitters, honey, candied bacon - $11.00). Both were good - I'm a big fan of Old Fashioned cocktails and this was a good specimen. The bourbon smash was light and refreshing and we enjoyed the drinks.

[bourbon smash]

[buffalos and bacon]

We tried to select a burger and sushi to share, but R kept suggesting things with barbecue sauce on them (um, no thank you) so we both ordered the bento box. I selected Mark's Roll for my sushi selection in the box and R selected the Boss Roll. We really liked everything in these boxes! The cucumber salads were spicy and delicious - different from your usual cucumber salad with ponzu sauce. The sweet potato fries were perfect - crisp and tender and seasoned well. My sushi roll was excellent and I tasted R's and liked it as well. This was a great meal! I want to come back for a full size hamburger next time. The total cost for two cocktails and two Fusion Bento Boxes with the 10% AP discount on food was $54.64 including tax.

[my bento box]

[R's bento box]

My clever boo had noticed that there were several interactive screens at the hostess stand downstairs where you could build a fish and send it to the "aquarium" above the bar area. We didn't build any fish ourselves since we didn't have to wait, but we thought this was a cool feature and created some fish on our way out. I love the pop art modern/retro style inside this restaurant. We had absolutely wonderful service from Ivy, who chatted with us about Atlanta and Korean barbecue. She was a perfect doll and made our experience even more wonderful.

[inside the restaurant]

[build your own fish]

After refueling, we were ready for more action, but I knew that wet shoes would lead to blisters. We decided to scoot on back to the resort for fresh footwear and a little rest.

 

[schumigirl]

Oh that really was a miserable weather day wasn't it!!!

We were on the front of RRR once when rain came bashing down as we started to climb.......it was so painful!! Yes, sometimes when you're so wet short lines don't matter........you just want to be dry........

Glad you enjoyed Cowfish too.......nice cocktails......may have to try both of those.........and yep, I thought the sweet potato fries were excellent too!

Nice update........

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Aw, that totally stinks about the rain!! I always fret about weather (which is so useless, I know.....you can not change it!) because it can impact so much of your trip.

Cowfish looked really, really cute. Loved the Build-A-Fish! I am not a fan of sushi (or any seafood for that matter) but it might be worth trying sometime, just for a burger .

 

[pepperandchips]

Day 2 Continued....

What we lacked in activity this morning due to the rain, we made up for this afternoon!

After a quick rest (R took a quick 40 winks and I caught up with trip reports on the Disboards), and some fresh footwear, we were ready to get back into the action. First... dessert! From the moment my beloved spotted the word "gelateria" on the signage at Portofino, it was only a matter of time before I knew we'd visit for a sweet treat. R selected a chocolate hazelnut variety and I picked chocolate brownie or something of the sort. $12.61 including a $2 tip. I thought these were meh. R liked his ice cream (I'm not sure he's actually ever met an ice cream he didn't like).

Chocolate hazelnut gelato

Photo op at the resort - it was gorgeous out, but windy!

We posed for a photo op at the resort and took some photos since the sun had decided to grace us with its presence (finally!). Seeing the gorgeous weather and knowing it wasn't so nice at home, we elected to walk to the Studios. First order of business: Rip Ride Rockit. I selected Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas. R wanted to wait on the front row, but I was too intimidated to go for the front on my first round. We were toward the back, I think, and I LOVED THIS RIDE! It looks so scary but it's actually fairly tame (especially compared to Dragon Challenge). I love the drops and the view of the parks.

Ceiling outside the pre-show at ET

Making our way toward E.T. (a must, since it was about the only thing I remembered from my last visit to Universal as a child that was still open), we spotted the Transformers meet and greet. I was equal parts fascinated and freaked out! This has to be one of the coolest meet and greet opportunities, and we were lucky enough to spy Bumblebee as the available character. I've never seen any of the Transformers movies (not my thing at all) so I was somewhat fascinated by Bumblebee's use of songs to communicate with the guests. Very cool. We circled around the building and entered NEST for our service. WOW! This ride managed to make me extremely queasy despite wearing the motion sickness patch... I managed to watch about the first half of the ride, but had to watch my hands for the remainder of the attraction. That was the first and last time I'll ride that one. On our way out we ran into our wonderful server from NBC Sports Grill & Brew - Shawna. She was there enjoying a day with her daughter and some family. She was so funny - she saw us and blurted out "Hey I know you guys!". We loved her and thought it was sweet she spoke to us. This just goes to show how the team members at Universal are so friendly and wonderful.

We moved on and went around to the kids area and queued up for ET - no wait with express, just had to wait behind a couple of other parties inside to be assigned our bikes. I would like to come back and do this sometime with a reasonable wait in the main queue - I love that forest and the effects in there! So relaxing. I adored this ride just as I had as a child. I wish I could really visit ET's green planet - the scene with all the little aliens is just so vibrant. It's hard to believe how well this attraction has held up over time.

We kept walking and went on back around to London, stopping in the Kwik E Mart to size up a big pink donut. Not today, since we'd had the gelato earlier. The sun was shining and we were enjoying the relatively low crowds and the lovely weather. Back to Diagon Alley - R wanted a standard butterbeer and I was ready for a real beer - we stopped in the Hopping Pot and acquired both ($14.36). I'd been eyeing the lanyard choices as I was tired of fishing out the express passes constantly, and I spotted a marauders map lanyard ($9.54 with AP discount) at the cart just across from the hopping pot tables. We took it slow and enjoyed the atmosphere in Diagon Alley.

Since it was fairly quiet, we made a point to see all the shops. Gringott's had a reasonable queue so we had a quick tour of the bank. We were ready to move on to Hogsmeade and by this point had gotten accustomed to the fact that food and drink are permitted on the Hogwarts Express, so we grabbed a fresh round of beer - dragon scale for R, Stella Artois for me ($17.02 from the hopping pot) - and made a run at the wall for platform 9 3/4.

I love owls so this detail was amazing to me...

Once in Hogsmeade, we saw all the shops there while we finished our drinks. We rode both sides of Dragon Challenge - one side in the front and the re-ride in the back. Either side was a walk on except the wait for the front, which was quite a fair queue. Riding in the back wasn't great for me due to my motion issues, so after experiencing both sides, it was time to move on.

Hogsmeade at night was gorgeous and the FJ area was so striking and different at night than it had been during the day. It had gotten late on us and the park was closing at 8:00 - forbidden journey was a walk on at 7:30, so we did that but were getting hungry at this hour so I nixed a re-ride in favor of dinner. We took the long way out, enjoying an eerily quiet Jurassic Park and toon lagoon before hitting the neon and noise of superhero island on our exit tour.

Earlier that day, we'd decided Italian was on the menu for dinner. With several choices at our hotel, where would we end up for dinner...?

 

[pepperandchips]

Glad you enjoyed Cowfish too.......nice cocktails......may have to try both of those.........and yep, I thought the sweet potato fries were excellent too!

Cowfish looked really, really cute. Loved the Build-A-Fish! I am not a fan of sushi (or any seafood for that matter) but it might be worth trying sometime, just for a burger .

Yes, cowfish was wonderful! It's a shame we didn't have more time as I'd have definitely come back for another meal! I love burgers and I loved the vibe in here.

Gina, I'm not much for a lot of seafood but for some reason sushi is fine. Nevertheless I will be sticking to the burger portion of the menu next time as the ones delivered to neighboring tables looked killer!

 

[schumigirl]

Yes, cowfish was wonderful! It's a shame we didn't have more time as I'd have definitely come back for another meal! I love burgers and I loved the vibe in here.

Having had both of those things on different nights I can definitely recommend you have a burger.......ours were amazing!! We really wanted to go back again, but so many other places.........

You latest update pics are lovely! I agree Potter after dark takes on a whole new level of impressive.......it is stunning all lit up........

 

[froggy922]

I'm enjoying your trip report! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip

 

[pepperandchips]

I'm enjoying your trip report! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip

Welcome! Thanks so much for saying hi! Glad you are enjoying reading along. It has been fun to write I read so many great reports before our visit and I am hoping mine helps someone else plan, in addition to it just being a nice way to remember our wonderful vacation!