Why is the rum always gone? We might be responsible! UPDATE 7/13: My photos are back and other stuff

[ThreeBoyMama]

Your pizza looks so good!! It's kind of a family 'tradition' to eat at WPE as our last WDW meal every time we go. The first 2 times this happened were completely by accident, but then we just kept on the 'tradition' as we love that place! Since our last WDW trip in Oct 2015 we have moved to Indonesia, so I'm pretty far away from a WPE outlet.... or so I thought! Waddya know-- during our trip to Tokyo this past October we stumbled upon a WPE totally by luck (I didn't know that they have WPE outside the US) That definitely made up for the year lack of WPE food lol

I bet that was a fun surprise! We may very well make WPE our last WDW meal tradition as well. It was so nice to do something low-key and relatively inexpensive after all the other meals we'd had that week.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

The pizza at WPE is very tasty and a huge serving. I remember taking extras back to my room for breakfast nibblies. The entire menu is great & I always try to fit in a visit to WPE. Glad you had a great meal!

I am a total pig when it comes to pizza so I actually ate that whole thing! Though we had also been playing at Typhoon Lagoon all day and I hadn't eaten anything, if that makes it seem any better

 

[samsteele]

I am a total pig when it comes to pizza so I actually ate that whole thing! Though we had also been playing at Typhoon Lagoon all day and I hadn't eaten anything, if that makes it seem any better

No excuses needed! You're on vacation. Plus that Typhoon Lagoon can be a real bear. Massive workout. Good for you!

 

[lizzyshakuntala]

I bet that was a fun surprise! We may very well make WPE our last WDW meal tradition as well. It was so nice to do something low-key and relatively inexpensive after all the other meals we'd had that week.

It definitely was! Yes I agree with the low key, relatively expensive and delicious meals at WPE.
Can't wait for your Universal reports

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

October 25, 2016-Universal Day One

So let me preface this by saying I did a pretty lousy job of taking food pics at Universal. I think we were kind of burned out after documenting our WDW dining experiences. Anyway, I will include what I did take (mostly snacks and drinks, and dinner on our last night), along with a few other pics for anyone who might be curious about the parks and/or hotel.

We stayed on-site at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal so we had early morning entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (the Diagon Alley side at Universal Studios Florida) every day we were at Universal. The first morning we were there we were beat though, so we slept in and got to the park mid-morning. We actually never ended up using the early morning entry because we didn’t need it—the crowds at Universal were practically nonexistent compared to WDW, and with our Express Passes we had minimal wait times on almost everything.

Here’s the awesome view we had from our room:



Anyway, once we finally made our way over to the park we checked out Diagon Alley, got the boy wizards their wands at Ollivander’s...



…did some rides at USF and then hit Springfield, USA for lunch. We are huge Simpsons fans and thought they did an awesome job with this part of the park. After WWoHP (which is seriously incredible), this was our favorite part of Universal. DH and the boys all got lunch at the food court area, which is themed to look like a combination of Krusty Burger, The Frying Dutchman, Cletus’ Chicken Shack, and Luigi’s Pizza, with Moe’s next door. Once you get inside it’s basically a big food court—I found it a bit chaotic and somewhat confusing as to where/how you were supposed to order, but the theming was fun.



Nathan had the Krusty Burger (6 oz Burger with Secret Sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, a giant tomato slice, iceberg lettuce, served on a specialty bun), DH had the awesomely-named Clogger Burger (Two 6oz burger patties topped with applewood smoked bacon, Secret Sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, a giant tomato slice and iceberg lettuce, served on a specialty bun), Dylan had the Basket O' Calamari from the Frying Dutchman (Fresh calamari breaded and deep fried, served with tater tots, hushpuppy, and homemade tartar sauce or cocktail sauce), and Sean had the Chicken Thumbs from Cletus' Chicken Shack (Fried chicken tenders with tater tots and choice of BBQ sauce or honey mustard). Sorry, no pics of any of this. They also all got Buzz Cola (Zero Calorie Cherry Flavored Cola) to drink. They were all happy with their food.

I wasn’t in the mood for theme park fast food (or for my family at that particular moment) so I passed and actually went outside to the Quickie Mart and got Devon a souvenir pint glass...



…and then went across to the Duff Brewery for a beer!



Here’s a picture of me posing with Duff Man:



After spending the rest of the day at Islands of Adventure, we walked back to the resort for some down time at the pool. The boys didn’t think this pool was as “exciting” as the ones at WDW, but I loved it. We ended up spending quite a bit of time there during our stay:





We of course got a couple of beverages from the Bula Bar & Grille while sitting poolside:



These were the Witch Doctor (vodka, Cruzan rum, gin, triple sec, melon liqueur and sweet and sour mix) and...something. DH thought he got a blood orange margarita but I don’t see that on the menu. Anyway, they mix a pretty good drink at the Royal Pacific AND, not only are you allowed to get NEAR the pool with your drink, you can actually get IN the pool if you want. Take that, Disney! Universal definitely has the advantage when it comes to poolside beverage enjoyment.

After we got dressed for dinner we walked over to City Walk to check out our options. It was a totally gorgeous night:





We had originally wanted to try the crazy Chocolate Emporium whatever place but it was a total madhouse with a 60-90 minute wait. Um, that's a hard no. We ended up heading over to Margaritaville instead, which had a much more reasonable wait plus (duh) the significant advantage of margaritas while we waited for our table.





Let me take this moment to provide a short public service announcement: If you are coming off several days of Disney-fied drinks and spending some time in the relative real world of Universal, pace yourself when it comes to your cocktail intake. Unlike Disney, they put some actual booze in their drinks there. This is by no means a bad thing, but those margaritas packed a punch and I am no novice when it comes to drinking margaritas.

Anyway, we had dinner at Margaritaville. That’s about all I can tell you. Oh, they made balloon animals for the kids. I guess the food was fine? The margaritas were great, though!

After our trip we were talking about what our favorite restaurants were and Sean kept saying he liked the place with the steering wheel in our booth and we were like “what the heck is he talking about?” Well, sure enough as I was going through pictures, I found this:



OK then!

After dinner we made our way back to the resort for some downtime in the room. I took a tequila nap and by the time I regained consciousness the rest of them had gone on Pottermore and sorted themselves into their respective houses (Hufflepuff for Dylan and Sean, Ravenclaw for Devon, and Nathan in Gryffindor with me) and found out what their patronuses were. After I proudly accepted my Mother of the Year award, we called it a night with plans to hit the parks early the next day!

 

[floreksa]

Its the infamous steering wheel!!!

 

[ariane37]

LOL, at least you were able to review the drinks well, and that's the important part!
We're discussing doing a day at Universal in Aug. and I want to eat at Toothsome. I wonder if you can make reservations ahead of time? I'm totally not as up on Universal stuff as I am on Disney but I should know this anyway. Maybe by then it won't be as crowded since it won't be as new, although it seems pretty cool so who knows?

 

[pepperandchips]

I wasn’t in the mood for theme park fast food (or for my family at that particular moment)

We haven't eaten inside the Springfield area, but once we got tacos from the Bumblebee Man truck and had them behind the Duff bar. They were okay. None of the food inside really appeals to me so the taco truck is a good compromise. What beautiful weather you had that day!

Anyway, we had dinner at Margaritaville. That’s about all I can tell you. Oh, they made balloon animals for the kids. I guess the food was fine? The margaritas were great, though!

This is awesome. Also, I love your pre-margarita sunset pictures!! How gorgeous. We ate at Margaritaville last week too and loved it. The margaritas were, as you said, quite potent. After one marg we both switched to beer and I was still feeling good when we left! And I have to say, the portion size on your plastic cup marg is not too shabby at all! I should've had that one...

You're too right about the Universal pools kicking the Disney pools butts. We really enjoyed the quiet ("villas") pool and hot tub at Portofino when we stayed there last January. Unfortunately at my previous RPR stays we have not had the energy to go to the pool... and last week's RPR stay turned into a Hard Rock Hotel stay. LONG story but stay tuned to the dining reports board as I am sure the tale is forthcoming. Just gotta finish my current TR first...

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

LOL, at least you were able to review the drinks well, and that's the important part!
We're discussing doing a day at Universal in Aug. and I want to eat at Toothsome. I wonder if you can make reservations ahead of time? I'm totally not as up on Universal stuff as I am on Disney but I should know this anyway. Maybe by then it won't be as crowded since it won't be as new, although it seems pretty cool so who knows?

They weren't taking reservations when we were there in October (Nathan and Sean and I stopped in on our way back from the park the following afternoon) but I don't know if that's their usual policy or what. They kind of were like "we're not taking reservations right now" which I don't know if that meant sometimes they do but for whatever reason weren't that day? It does look pretty cool. Maybe next time!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

We haven't eaten inside the Springfield area, but once we got tacos from the Bumblebee Man truck and had them behind the Duff bar. They were okay. None of the food inside really appeals to me so the taco truck is a good compromise. What beautiful weather you had that day!


This is awesome. Also, I love your pre-margarita sunset pictures!! How gorgeous. We ate at Margaritaville last week too and loved it. The margaritas were, as you said, quite potent. After one marg we both switched to beer and I was still feeling good when we left! And I have to say, the portion size on your plastic cup marg is not too shabby at all! I should've had that one...

You're too right about the Universal pools kicking the Disney pools butts. We really enjoyed the quiet ("villas") pool and hot tub at Portofino when we stayed there last January. Unfortunately at my previous RPR stays we have not had the energy to go to the pool... and last week's RPR stay turned into a Hard Rock Hotel stay. LONG story but stay tuned to the dining reports board as I am sure the tale is forthcoming. Just gotta finish my current TR first...

The weather was insanely perfect for pretty much our entire trip. It was so awesome.

The Bumblebee Man truck seemed popular, and I thought the menu sounded pretty good and was reasonably priced. Just didn't have occasion to eat there this trip, but I'd try it in the future if/when we return to Universal.

And OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the margaritas were strong! I honestly was surprised (obviously, LOL). We ended up loving the pool at RPR. The bar/food was good, the theming was nice, and it was fun that there were inner tubes and a ping pong table for the kids, and a movie the last night we were there. Curious to hear what happened on your last stay there...I need to go find your TR!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Its the infamous steering wheel!!!

Yeah. We were like OK Sean, suuuure, the place with the steering...oh. To quote Homer, now *that's* parenting!

 

[MamaMeggie]

October 23, 2016-Part Two

So after leaving Hollywood Studios we arrived at...



...the Poly! At the last minute I had changed our third night at Kidani to a one-night stay in a one-bedroom villa at the Polynesian Villas & Bungalows so we’d be closer to Magic Kingdom for the Halloween party that night.



We had a ground floor room in the Tokelau building. These rooms are really nice! I loved the color scheme and the décor, and it’s a great layout for a family of five, with a full bathroom and then also a separate half bath.

Our plan was to hit the pool, have some food, and then get ready for MNSSHP. Off to the pool we went!



I really had only one thing on my mind at this point, though, and it was something I’d been wanting to try for months leading up to our trip…the Lapu Lapu!



This is Myers's Original Dark Rum and Tropical Fruit Juices served in a fresh Pineapple topped with Goslings 151 Rum. Devon had to go inside to Tambu Lounge to get me the one that is actually served in the pineapple (you can only get just the drink in a regular cup at the pool bar). I think he felt sort of silly carrying it back over to me, but he still did it because he knows that a wife with a giant pineapple full of booze is a happy wife.

I then proceeded to have a full on photo shoot with my Lapu Lapu:







Yes, I took a picture of my drink by itself on the beach. Is that not normal? This is what it looks like in its boring, non-pineapple form:



This thing took me forever to drink. It was good, but pretty heavy on the rum. Captain Jack would approve!

Around this time a CM started up a poolside trivia game. She had a microphone and would ask questions and have people shout out the answers. At one point she asked what the Beast’s real name is. Nobody said anything, so I yelled out “Prince Adam!” She was like “nobody EVER gets that right!” Ha!

The boys were getting hungry so we decided to grab some food from Captain Cook’s. Nathan had the Fish Tacos—Blackened Fish of the Day on a Flour Tortilla topped with Broccoli Slaw. He was all about the fish tacos on this trip. Of course he didn’t touch the broccoli slaw so I ate it. It was pretty good.

Dylan and Sean had flatbreads, pepperoni and cheese respectively. Try to contain your shock. I swear I don’t let them eat pizza every day at home.

Devon got the Pan Asian Noodles and Vegetables with Chicken. I had a couple bites of this and it was pretty good.

Where are the pictures, you ask? I have no idea. I can’t believe I didn’t take any, but then again, I was most of the way through my Lapu Lapu at that point. I did get one picture of Nathan eating his tacos, so I feel confident that we did actually feed them that evening:



After that we goofed around on the beach for a while. How beautiful is the beach at the Poly? I would stay there again just for the pool/beach area.







Then it was time to get ready for MNSSHP!

Our building was located basically right in between the TTC and the resort lobby, so we decided to just walk the 5 minutes over to the TTC and catch the express monorail from there. I took this picture of the boys on the monorail platform at 7:00 p.m….



...and this one inside the park at 7:15 p.m.



That is a seriously awesome commute time! Once we were inside the park and had our candy bags I went in search of my “dinner,” which was something I’d wanted to try forever…



…the cream cheese stuffed pretzel! This was delicious, of course. With this and the Lapu Lapu, I was two for two on my food bucket list items today.

This was when Sean decided that he wanted to give Space Mountain a try. He LOVED it. The first thing he said when we got off was “let’s ride it again!”

We then went in search of @floreksa and her family! We finally found each other over by the Haunted Mansion, which we all rode together, then headed back for another trip on Space Mountain while my boys talked Pokémon with her DH. Here is a super cute picture of all of us together:



After that we split up so those guys could hit Cosmic Ray’s and we could do Laugh Floor (Dylan was one of the kids they talked to during the show!) and Astro Orbiter. We all met back up to watch the Halloween fireworks from a great spot on the bridge from Tomorrowland, and then grabbed spots to watch the parade. Sean was literally falling asleep on me at this point, but we managed to stay for the whole thing.

The party was so much fun and it was great to hang out with @floreksa and her family. The kids all had a great time and got a ton of candy, too.



We headed out of the park just before midnight and almost immediately hopped onto an express monorail back to the Poly. I was texting with @floreksa and we were literally back at our room and changed into PJs before they had even managed to get on a bus back to the Beach Club. The Poly really can’t be beat when it comes to getting to/from Magic Kingdom.

The boys were done for the night, but DH and I were hungry so we went in search of a snack at Captain Cook’s. Unfortunately it was about 12:30 a.m. and the selection was pretty limited at that point, so we grabbed two sushi rolls and took them back to the room:



This was the California Luau Roll—Jumbo Lump Crab, Pineapple, and Avocado and some kind of spicy shrimp roll that I don’t see on a menu anywhere. The California roll was just OK—we weren’t huge fans of the pineapple in it and left a couple of pieces. The spicy shrimp was the better of the two, and we ate all of that one.

At that point it was definitely time to call it a night. We of course had more fun…and food…planned for the next day!

Thanks for all the great Poly pics and reviews! I need to make sure we spend enough time there on our trip.

 

[MamaMeggie]

And be sure to have at least one Lapu Lapu!!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

And be sure to have at least one Lapu Lapu!!

Yes! I think it should be required!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Universal Day Two-October 26, 2016

Day two at Universal! We got to the park earlier this day and hit up Escape from Gringotts and bunch of rides at USF before taking the Hogwarts Express over to IOA...



...to do Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and the Dragon Challenge Coasters. These rides are all a ton of fun! WWoHP is just so awesome.



We decided to grab a late breakfast at the Three Broomsticks while we were in Hogsmeade. DH and I both had the Traditional English Breakfast (hey, when in Hogsmeade, right?) which is Farm fresh eggs, sausage links, black pudding, English bacon, baked beans, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms and breakfast potatoes. These also came with a drink, so we were able to get two of the regular butterbeers for everyone to try. Dylan and Sean shared the Pancake Breakfast (Three fluffy buttermilk pancakes, crisp bacon and link sausage with butter croissant) and, because they were just switching over to their lunch service, Nathan was able to get the Fish and Chips (Fresh North Atlantic cod battered and fried with chips and tartar sauce). The food was decent—nothing amazing but it was fun to eat in the Three Broomsticks and enjoy the atmosphere which, really, is what you're there for. From there we hit Honeydukes and the boys picked up their chocolate frogs:





In case you can’t tell from the photo, these things are huge and are solid chocolate. They made for cute souvenirs. We rode a bunch of rides in IOA and then headed back over to USF to grab our next must-have snack…a giant Homer donut!



Here are the boys posing with Lard Lad the day before. I had promised Dylan a donut the size of his head and, well…



The boys ate this for dessert later that night and all said it was really good. At this point in the afternoon we were ready for a break, but Dylan really wanted to ride The Simpsons ride again so he and DH went to do that and Sean and Nathan and I headed back to the hotel. Here’s a picture of the two of them walking through USF—I’m including this just to highlight the low crowd levels at Universal while we were there. Apparently mid-week in October is the time to go!



We went back to the hotel and hit the awesome pool again for the afternoon. The boys ended up ordering off the pool bar menu for dinner while we were hanging out and having drinks. We were all just in the mood for something chill that evening, so this was perfect and their menu has quite a few options:



Nathan had the Korean beef sandwich (no slaw), and the other boys had chicken fingers and fries and fruit. They were also letting the kids make free slushies by the pool that evening, which was fun:



We eventually got the boys situated back up in the room, and then Devon and I headed back downstairs to get some dinner at the resort…but not before we took a group shot with our giant donut:



That thing was totally worth the (very reasonable) $5.00 it cost!

Devon and I ended up grabbing an outside table at Jake’s American Bar. We ordered the Mediterranean Appetizer Platter (Roasted Bell Pepper Hummus/Eggplant Tapenade/Kalamata Olives/Grilled Flatbread), and then a couple of their flatbread pizzas for dinner. Devon got the Beef Steak Flatbread (Caramelized Onion/Blue Cheese/Cabernet Glaze) and I got the Spinach & Artichoke (Sundried Tomato/Mozzarella/Parmesan Cheese).

I have no pictures of anything. Not even Gru, who randomly wandered through the restaurant at one point, LOL. I either left my phone in the room or was too busy drinking the wine we ordered with dinner, or both. At any rate, we enjoyed our dinner and it was nice to have a little bit of kid-free time

 

[quandrea]

I'm enjoying your Universal reviews. We will be there starting on Tuesday after ten nights at WDW. Your reviews are giving me a lay of the land!

 

[buzzrelly]

Awesome report! I've been reading a little bit all week before I'd leave for work and I just finally finished! Beach Club/AKL/Poly sounds like a FANTASTIC vacation! Plus, now Universal! I love it!

That Lapu Lapu and cream cheese stuffed pretzel are definitely on my bucket list to try next time.

I'm excited to hear more about your Universal stay. We stayed at RPR in 2015 for three nights and had a great time. We are going back next year and I think we'll check our Hard Rock.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I'm enjoying your Universal reviews. We will be there starting on Tuesday after ten nights at WDW. Your reviews are giving me a lay of the land!

Yay, lucky you! We really enjoyed Universal. Very different than WDW, but not in a bad way at all. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Awesome report! I've been reading a little bit all week before I'd leave for work and I just finally finished! Beach Club/AKL/Poly sounds like a FANTASTIC vacation! Plus, now Universal! I love it!

That Lapu Lapu and cream cheese stuffed pretzel are definitely on my bucket list to try next time.

I'm excited to hear more about your Universal stay. We stayed at RPR in 2015 for three nights and had a great time. We are going back next year and I think we'll check our Hard Rock.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks so much! We had such a great trip. I go back and read my own report from the beginning every so often just to relive it all, LOL! Of course I am back in the snow and cold of Wisconsin so it's a nice mental escape

I wish I had done a better job of documenting our time at Universal. I will try and include a few more pictures in the next post, and I actually did manage to photograph our dinner on our last night so those pictures will be coming up. I think Hard Rock looks really fun, though it seemed like it wasn't quite the right fit for us for this trip. I would definitely consider it when the boys are older, though!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Mom2m&k]

I love Disney so so much but really wish their pool bars had better menus! Looks like Universal was a good time!