Disney Holiday Firsts At Last! - Final Thoughts Finally!

[mnmrmustard]

Glad to hear you’re all better.
Photopass+ is so worth it. I love it.
Love the tour of AofA. It will be my update tomorrow in my tr. LOL
Too bad you didn’t eat at AofA it was actually good.

Hey Scott! Glad to be better, I even ducked a second head cold that went through the household a couple of weeks ago I'll have to jump over to your TR and check out your tour of AoA, it is a very cool resort. And Dan was telling me the same thing about the food. I looked at the menus in his TR and some of it made my mouth water.

I love TSM but I do not understand the waiting lines at the attraction. They really do get long.
I am one of the people who do not like TGMR. I would like to get the cowboy scene once though.
Great Indy pics. I have not seen the show since 2009.
Great pic of the air cannon explosion.

The lines at TSM are cumbersome for sure. I'm just glad they have a better setup at DHS, CA's version has no FP offering and a lame queue half in the sunshine. GMR is an aquired taste, it is just so campy and outdated - but I live it nonetheless

I've gotten several compliments on the Indy show pics, it seems that quite a few of my DISbuds have skipped that one on recent trips. For me it is the same thing for LMASS, I haven't seen it since 2008. Thank you on the air cannon at Backlot - it was a lucky catch for sure. Didn't even know I caught it until I started going through my pics at home.

I would love the snowspeeder.
Great pics with Mike and Sully. What do you mean cm’s in their? LOL
The theme inside TOT is so good. Love it.
Hmm, I will have to check out the Pirate show in HS.
Great pics of Osborne Lights.

The snowspeeder rocks, maybe with a new movie coming out they might have one or two props to add to the tour. Doubtful though as it will all probably be CGI Mike & Sully were fun, I'm glad they had some time away from their duties in Monstropolis

ToT is one of those big Imagineer wins, they really did it up right. Yes, if you were let down by the Narnia thing you'll be much happier with the pirate offering that is in its place. Thank you on the Osborne lights. It was my first time experiencing it and something I'll enjoy going back to again and again.

Epcot is my favorite park. Love the strolling, rides and drinks.
I ate at Akershus in 2008 and it was Belle then.
Nice photos with the Princesses.
I love Soarin’ but do wish they upgrade the screen and maybe get more scenes.

Mine too, great combo of experiences to be had there and each time I go I see/eat/drink something new. I guess Belle is the standard "up front" host of Akershus then. Odd that a French-based princess would be the choice. But given that the most famous Norse princess was Sigrid "the Haughty" who is probably a bit too hard core for Disney I think they just made do with what they had

That aside the princess interaction was great and Bean was even okay that PumpkinGirl got all of the attention. I agree on Soarin' - it should have more of a Florida vibe and that screen is in DIRE need of repair.

Looks like a fun day at AK. Glad she was able to go and enjoy a little. Doing parks nauseous cannot be fun.
Nice pics of FOTLK.
Great EE pics. (I am noticing a theme here. Lol)
Wow you did the park that long and went to the party. I am not sure if I could.
The one ride I hate at WDW is Stitch. It should be made into something else more fun.
SM looks nice in the red.
I am now all caught up. Great report and pics.

AK was okay for Bean and she made up for it later in the week. Good day for PumpkinGirl for sure, fun but tiring for me. Thank you for the pic compliments all the way around

I will never try that agian with hitting a park and then MVMCP. Next time it will be a sleep in followed by relaxing at a resort and hitting MK at 4pm when the tickets kick in. I've learned my lesson! Stitch is one we went on because of Bean - if she hadn't been there I'm sure we would have skipped it. SM looked very cool with the red/snowflake design.

Way to go with the mega catch-up! Wow! I'll be posting another chapter today and hopefully more this weekend.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Love the Laugh Factory. Such a fun show. On our last visit, Steve texted in a joke under Trent's name and so did I and they picked both of the jokes. Plus, Steve was put up on screen, not as That Guy...but one of other things..blanking now who it is, but it was funny

So sorry to hear you missed wishes and parades

Glad by end, you were able to roll with it.

Hope you can get back to see it.

In all honesty, you didn't miss much.

Halloween Parade is way better. Have you ever seen that?

Nice job getting two jokes in! I can't remember what ours was but it didn't have the right grab apparently. I so wanted to be "that guy" in the show, I would have totally hammed that up.

Yeah, I'll know better next time as far as scheduling time and more than anything I think going to MVMCP will be a grown-up only thing. The kids just don't care about seeing that stuff at all.

Yup, I got over myself but was still just soooo tired We'll get back there someday.

I haven't seen WDW's Halloween parade other than in other people's TRs and on YouTube. We saw the one at CA but it is much smaller. That is something I want to do at some point too. Catch MKs Halloween stuff and hit Universal Orlando's too, which is much more grown-up and scary. Only problem there is that Roxy won't have anything to do with Universal's stuff.

 

[Trentmom]

Well, try and plan your next trip to WDW around Halloween Time.

Maybe you can do universal party either solo or with the girls

The hallowen parade at MK is awesome and love the music. So Catchy . I was still singing it months after

 

[mnmrmustard]

Well, try and plan your next trip to WDW around Halloween Time.

Maybe you can do universal party either solo or with the girls

The hallowen parade at MK is awesome and love the music. So Catchy . I was still singing it months after

Maybe after PumpkinGirl's grad in 2014. We would be able to take in the Halloween stuff at both parks, ride the Snow White coaster in Fantasyland, and experience the new Diagon Alley at Universal

 

[mnmrmustard]

We left off last time on approach to Eric’s castle for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This is another one where they’ve done a really good job with theming. To the side of the castle was a wonderful waterfall

One more shot of the area before we headed down the path

On the path we found a broken ship

Portholes and windows of treasures

Some glowing glass floats in nets – we sometimes have these wash up on the Oregon coast when they break up from Japanese fishing nets

Scuttle gives us a greeting

And on we go down to the ride queue. There was literally no line for the whole place, completely walk-on. Once on board our shells we entered the journey via the back of Eric’s boat

We get our start with a Scuttle serenade

We then ‘sink’ down under the ocean

There’s Ariel and Flounder

Singing about her treasures

Lots of fish swimming

Next up is a big chamber full of music and fun

We broke down twice going through this area so we got a good fill of the place. The music even shut down once which was a bit weird, just seeing the movement and hearing the click-clacking of the animatronics. Soon enough we started back up and said hello to Ariel herself

More musical fun

When we come back we travel from Fantasy to Hauntings to the Closing Time Shuffle


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 4 Part 11 - From Fantasy to Hauntings to the Closing Time Shuffle

 

[mnmrmustard]

The evil Ursula hatches her plan!

Ariel’s voice is captured

Quick fast forward to Eric and Ariel in the “Kiss the Girl” scene

We have some turmoil and then Ursula is vanquished

A silhouette smooch

The last scene is a big celebration

The happy couple

Triton gives his blessing

Farewell all!

We gathered ourselves up and headed back out. On the way out I snapped a pic of the cool masthead they did of Ariel outside the attraction

As we came out of the new area of Fantasyland we ran into Lady Tremaine, Drizella, Anastasia, Cinderella, and Prince Charming.

The wicked stepmother and stepsisters were one of our best character interactions with the girls back in 2008 so I had really wanted to see how it would go with them. Sadly as you can see they were packing it up – we missed our window of opportunity with them :-[

So we kept walking and took a ride on Peter Pan’s flight. No pics in there, it is such a dark ride and I just wanted to sit back and enjoy riding it with Roxy. By the time we got off it was just shy of 11:45pm so it was decision time on our last ride. Due to proximity and good fun we chose Haunted Mansion as the end to our attraction evening.

Hello gents

We took the express route but I stopped to take a couple of pics of the interactive route

The ride itself only broke down once – whoohoo. So a bit after midnight we found ourselves walking back towards the hub. I stopped for the obligatory ‘reflection’ shots of the castle

At the hub I took a shot of the castle and of the fam

Gotta have the shot of the Partners

A bit farther on we came across our first PP photographer

Next up we end our very long day


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 4 Part 12 - The End of a Very Long Day

 

[mnmrmustard]

Main Street looked very magical and Christmassy

Snow!

And on we went with the flow of tired guests

One more shot of the Contemporary – a bit clearer than the one I caught on the way in

We made it back to our room right about 1am. We were all exhausted and shuffled through the process of showers, bathroom stuff, and PJs. I transferred some pictures, got money and clothes ready for the next day, and put away the lanyards as Universal was our destination.

I can guarantee one thing; we were not going to get up early in the morning!


Click here for the next Chapter: Stepping Back in Time at Universal Orlando!

 

[Trentmom]

Mermaid ride looks nice. It wasn't open yet on our last trip. Will have to check it out next time

Love the castle shots in the water


The photopass Snow pic is awesome


Good call sleeping in later tomorrow. Think everyone needs a good nights sleep, especially Bean. Hope she regains some energy next day

 

[DizNee Luver]

The mermaid ride is pretty much the same as the one in Disneyland or should I say~~Disney's California Adventure. It's a fun little ride & colorful.

Love the pics (especially the reflection ones) of the castle all lit up!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Mermaid ride looks nice. It wasn't open yet on our last trip. Will have to check it out next time

Love the castle shots in the water


The photopass Snow pic is awesome


Good call sleeping in later tomorrow. Think everyone needs a good nights sleep, especially Bean. Hope she regains some energy next day

It is very cute, a good ride for the wee ones and anyone who enjoys the story. Probably along the caliber of the Nemo ride in FutureWorld.

I can't get enough of those castle shots myself. This was our first time seeing the castle decorated like this so it was a real treat.

Thank you on the snow pic, it was funny because I looked at the weather back at home that day and it was really snowing there

Yes, sleep was a good thing and much needed for all. Bean bounces back pretty quickly, especially when there is a theme park that she has never experienced to look forward to

The mermaid ride is pretty much the same as the one in Disneyland or should I say~~Disney's California Adventure. It's a fun little ride & colorful.

Love the pics (especially the reflection ones) of the castle all lit up!!

I had seen the pics of the one at CA and yup, seems to be the same ride except the facade outside.

Thank you on the pics, more to come!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hello All!

I was about to start Day 5 of our little Holiday Adventure when I realized I could only do this piece properly by taking you on a little trip back in time first. Set your Wayback Machine to October of 2002, a decade earlier than this adventure. We had planned a big family vacation to Georgia where my family is and Florida where my great aunt has an oceanfront apartment and where we also wanted to do some theme parking.

We visited with family for a week in Georgia and had a nice time. Then my fam and my mom packed up and drove to Destin, Florida on the gulf coast. The apartment our family has use of is very cool being right on the beach in a hi-rise complex. My great aunt keeps it fully stocked other than perishables and has an updated sign-up sheet. You just have to pick a time with decent notice so she can send you the keys. Weve only used it that once but it was a lot of fun. We even had a front row seat to Hurricane Lili as it stormed across the gulf on its way to Louisiana!

Heres a shot of the girls and I having fun in the water

After 5 days there we packed up and hit the road for Orlando. Now you may think that for the girls first big theme park experience that Disney would have been a no-brainer. But my little ladies were only 3 and 6yrs old at the time. I did a bunch of research before the trip on which parks offered the most rides & kid activities for their height range. The info came back with more rides at Universal. Adding that to the price difference and the limited timeframe of 2 days we were going to have to give the Mouse a pass this time.

We made pretty good time and checked in at our hotel which had been provided by my mom. Unfortunately due to a logistical snafu she got us a hotel basically at the front door to WDW. So every morning we had to jump on I-4 and drive past the Disney exits and on to Universal. Go figure.

Our first day we went straight to Seuss landing, which the girls loved. First stop was to take a ride on a little cow bug thing.

PumpkinGirl on the egg

They rode the Seuss Go Round several times

Then it was on to the Cat in the Hat ride I think we ended up riding that one at least 10 times

Onto the Lost Continent and PumpkinGirl met up with Princesses and Sorceresses

No WWoHP back then so we walked past what was then called the Twin Dragons and rode what was then the little Unicorn coaster. Next up was Jurassic Park and a meeting with a big beasty!

We watched a baby dinosaur hatch which the girls were amazed by. Then we moved on to River Adventure. Here we had a big meltdown as wee little Bean was too short to ride it :-[ I stayed with her while the rest of the fam took the ride

Then Roxy and I switched out and I rode it with my mom and PumpkinGirl. Bean was distraught over missing that ride for the rest of the trip and basically for the following decade - lol. We came into Toon Landing and she was consoled by Olive Oil

We did the water rides and moved on to Marvel Island. At that time Spiderman was a very new ride so the lines were loooong. We braved it once or twice I think and moved on back to Seuss Landing the girls needed more Cat in the Hat. We also took a ride on One Fish Two Fish. A ride attendant was nice enough to take a pic of the whole fam

Day 2 brought us to Universal proper. On our way we took a moment to hang ten

In the park PumpkinGirl had a run-in with Doc Brown

Then it was on to Barney and Friends. I have to show the girls the evidence to prove that A) They liked Barney and B) They actually liked to wear pink at some point in their lives!

Then it was on to the E.T. Ride. Bean fell in love with this ride in a big way and we ended up riding it 7 or 8 times total. Here we are in line, aren't they cute?

On down the set streets we came across the Ghostbusters car!

And a car more the girl's size

Somewhere in here we did Earthquake, T2, King Kong, and Jaws no pics from them apparently. On past them was the Back to the Future ride (now The Simpsons) including the DeLorean

From there we of course headed to MiB, which we rode several times. I remember actually getting a tech call and helping through a network/server issue on the phone to work while in line for that one.

Our day wound down with a trip back towards the front and some great character interactions

As you can see the Rugrats were still big at this point in time

Hey look, its SpongeBob!!!!

We always left as soon as it started getting dark as they were doing the Halloween stuff and it freaked out the girls. I remember us being offered free jello shots by zombie schoolgirls on our way out that last night.

We had two full fun days there and a nice extended visit with my mom. We went back to the hotel that night for showers and sleep, and got up the next day for the long drive back to Atlanta and our flight home. I remember that flight was the last time in my life that I flew on a plane that actually had empty seats. It was a 747 and the last dozen rows were open so we were able to literally lie down and take naps on the flight from there back west.

So here we are, literally a decade later. Now Roxy and I had been there the previous April as part of my birthday trip so we knew the lay of the land. But the girls were REALLY chomping at the bit to get back to their first real theme park and of course experience TWWoHP. So brace yourselves for my next installments reflecting our familys return to Universal w00t!

Thanks for joining me on my little trip back in time! Oh, and as a little statistical aside, this post brings my pic count over 1,000!!!!


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 5 Part 1 - The Girls Return to Whoville after a Decade Away!

 

[mnmrmustard]

So as you know we came in late the night before (technically that morning) from MVMCP and the family slept until nearly 10am. I got up a bit earlier, maybe 9am and went down to the food court, grabbed breakfast, and tinkered with photos. When the ladies woke up I took their breakfast orders and brought them back to the room.

I had set a 10:25am pick-up for MEARS but was set to bump that to 11:25am if needed. But the family, Bean included, were energetic and ready to hit Universal! So down we went to the pick-up area for MEARS and took our ride to the park. We stopped at the Caribbean Beach resort to pick up a couple more passengers and I snapped a quick pic of the great wreath they had at that entrance

We did the big drive to Universal and pulled in around 11:15am. After unloading ourselves and waiting for Roxys ECV to get pulled out from the cargo hold underneath we hit the elevator on up. It brings us right to the security checkpoint, which went fast and off we went on the moving sidewalks.

Well the girls and I on the moving sidewalks

And Roxy zooming along beside us that ECV could get up and move!

As we went along I caught a quick pic of the monster house on the put-put course beneath the sky bridge. Very reminiscent of Grus house in my opinion.

Yay, we made it!

Coming in we stopped at the big wave

By comparison heres that pic from 10 years previous at the same spot. I think the old wave looked a lot cooler than the one they have now. My how PumpkinGirl has grown though!

We would of course be repeating our route from that last time and made a beeline for IA

We went to guest services and picked up our park tickets and meal deal tickets for the three days we would be spending here. For anyone contemplating it I highly recommend the meal deal there, only $20 per person per day for all you can eat at 3 QS-style restaurants in each park.

As you can see the crowds were very low coming into the market area

The market area had some great prop vehicles to pose on and the girls were actually motivated to pose in them!

Bean liked the leopard

I had tried to get a panorama of this area last time and didnt have the right angle for it to look good. This time turned out a lot better. See if you can spot the oddity in the picture ;-]

More fun pics on prop vehicles

And there it was Seuss Landing!

The girls probably werent quite as excited about this island as they were last time, but they were still happy

It was Christmas-time in Whoville

Including a sleeping Who!

The girls then ran into some more energetic Whos to frolic with!

Next up we take a quick tour of Whoville, wander the Lost Continent, and the girls say hello to the fountain!


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 5 Part 2 - More Seussian Fun and The Girls Meet a Playful Fountain

 

[heaven2dc]

I spotted the oddity in that photo - Bean is both on the left and right of the pic!

I would love to visit Universal Studios soon! Whoville looks like so much fun

 

[Trentmom]

Enjoyed the flashback trip to Universal

Bean and pumpkin girl so tiny and cute and in pink


Poor Bean not being able to go on River ride....


I have a pic of Steve and me sitting on that Flinstone Car....loved that thing

Glad everyone seems to be doing well this morning for Universal

I noticed the oddity too

Looked like two beans in the pic, plus another one with just her hat

Plus there were the lady in purple in that pic 3 times

 

[mnmrmustard]

I spotted the oddity in that photo - Bean is both on the left and right of the pic!

I would love to visit Universal Studios soon! Whoville looks like so much fun

Good call on the double Bean! Whoville was very cool at Christmas - it was the first time I've been there with actual Whos!

Enjoyed the flashback trip to Universal

Bean and pumpkin girl so tiny and cute and in pink


Poor Bean not being able to go on River ride....


I have a pic of Steve and me sitting on that Flinstone Car....loved that thing

Glad everyone seems to be doing well this morning for Universal

I noticed the oddity too

Looked like two beans in the pic, plus another one with just her hat

Plus there were the lady in purple in that pic 3 times

They were cute little girls, still are but you can't tell them that

Bean was so sad about the river adventure ride, but she will have redemption!

That flinstone car was very cool - too bad they don't still have it there.

Yup, we were all pretty chipper but still taking things at a very slow pace.

Nice catch with the Bean double - and I hadn't even noticed the triple purple lady. Good eye!

 

[mnmrmustard]

The Whos got the girls together for a picture

And then some more Whos showed up!

And even more!

The got together and sang a song from the Grinchmas show

We watched for a minute and then moved on  the icees looked good

Ye ole Cat in the Hat ride

We had decided on the bus over that we would breeze through Seuss Landing and The Lost Continent to get to WWoHP before it got too crowded so on we went!

I loved all the curves in this place  and such a nice Christmas feel

One of the themed restaurants on the dining plan - Circus McGirkus Cafe Stoopendous

And beyond the main street of Whoville

Hello Mr. Lorax

I loved the Horton-styled elephants outside the circus

We headed down the street

And caught their version of the people mover ride going overhead

On to the Lost Continent!

We rolled along until we came to the fountain. The girls saw how wet it was and knew something was going on

But they were still game for a posed pic in front of it ..hehehe

Nothing happened so I told them to give me a thumbs-up

Here it comes!

Aint I a stinker? Next up, the girls experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 5 Part 3 - The Girls Finally Experience TWWoHP!

 

[mnmrmustard]

So after about 3 years of seeing commercials for it, AND having to deal with the fact that their own parents went there without them the year before, our darling daughters were finally standing in front of the gates to Hogsmeade Village

The first stop was an enthusiastic interaction with the conductor of the Hogwarts Express

The ladies then moved along and spotted Zonkos and had to check it out

Roxy and I stayed outside while they explored the shops. The village was getting a bit more crowded

Roxy with the Express

The Express itself

Meanwhile Bean snapped a couple of pics of PumpkinGirl trying on a witchs hat

The ladies were ready for some action so they all headed up to the Dragon Challenge. If you want some cool pics of it check out my birthday TR, I took a bunch. But in this case I guarded Roxys scooter and our stuff while they took the big ride. They rode it twice and then came back down to check out some of the false storefronts. I wish more of these were real stores/exhibits we could explore.

Bean sure wanted to check them out in more detail

We were really bummed out that they were not doing the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons acrobatics/dance or the Frog Choir anymore. The girls had been looking forward to seeing that. They did however get to do a photo op with them

Then we were on to the Big Event! It was time for Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey! We made quick time up the path, I snapped a shot of the school on the way in

It was a mere 15 minute wait and again, I didnt take many pictures since we took so many the last time and we just wanted to RIDE! We rode it twice in a row and the girls LOVED it! They were very content at this point but we were all getting both hungry and thirsty, and in need of a bathroom break.

We doubled back to the village and the girls checked out the Moaning Myrtle-themed bathrooms while I got them butterbeer from the Boars head. That is a handy tip for any travelers wanting a Butterbeer if the lines are long for the stands outside, you can get your fill in the Boars Head!

The girls liked the Butterbeer well enough but now we were REALLY HUNGRY! We headed towards Jurassic Park and the Burger Digs (one of the other meal deal restaurants). On the way out I snapped pics of the ladies in front of Hogwarts

Next up we enter Jurassic Park, grab some grub, explore the Discovery Center, and then Bean finally gets a long-awaited wish!


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 5 Part 4 - Welcome to Jurassic Park, LETS EAT

 

[Trentmom]

Great update! You could see how happy girls were to be there and finally see Harry Potter Section

Love all the Whos.. They look fun

You are too funny with the fountains and tricking your girls

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Ok... I was a couple of posts behind... so here goes from memory...

Your tomorrow land photos at night were very cool... I like the wide shots... showed all of that lighting and theming...

(btw I'm impressed you all made it till evening... you are troopers... that was a pretty fully day at Ak all things considered...

We haven't done that Stitch attraction in a bit... but I remember it being cute..we'll have to give that another go...

OMG... David LOVEs the Laugh Floor... and he laughs so hard that it makes the rest of us laugh... (his joke didn't get chosen last time... we'll get it one day...

You have to love those colors in the newly done Circus Area in Fantasyland...

I love the Gaston fountain and that cute little tavern...

The theming in the New Fantasyland is amazing... really, really lovely...

I think the queuing in Ariel's new ride is cool and while I do think it's a cute ride I too think it's similar to the Nemo Ride in Epcot... ok maybe a bit more elaborate...

(I don't know if you get back to FL this trip... but the BOG restaurant is really stunning inside (and out) we went in there for lunch... and I found that impressive...


Super impressed that you were all so bright eyed and bushy tailed for Universal... (or maybe it was some of that Harry Potter Magic)

LOVED the photos of you and your family from that early trip to universal... so fun to see what characters were popular at the time...

Seuss Landing looks incredibly whimsical and picturesque....

& Harry Potter World.... WE'RE GOING there this JULY.... can't wait... loved your photos and have to go back and see your birthday trip report for more...

(obtw... I agree with Nemo being my preferred show... I'm not sure why... maybe because it's a bit different... maybe a lot of Lion King saturation... but I really enjoyed Nemo)

 

[mnmrmustard]

Great update! You could see how happy girls were to be there and finally see Harry Potter Section

Love all the Whos.. They look fun

You are too funny with the fountains and tricking your girls

Yes, they were very excited and had a great time checking everything out and riding the rides.

The Whos were very cool and really added something to Seuss Landing.

Yeah, I couldn't help myself with that fountain, I'm actually surprised the girls didn't give me any payback for that

Ok... I was a couple of posts behind... so here goes from memory...

Your tomorrow land photos at night were very cool... I like the wide shots... showed all of that lighting and theming...

(btw I'm impressed you all made it till evening... you are troopers... that was a pretty fully day at Ak all things considered...

I love the neon look of Tomorrowland at night, it just feels like a cool view of the future. I don't know how we all made it through that long day, I'll never attempt anything like that again!

We haven't done that Stitch attraction in a bit... but I remember it being cute..we'll have to give that another go...

OMG... David LOVEs the Laugh Floor... and he laughs so hard that it makes the rest of us laugh... (his joke didn't get chosen last time... we'll get it one day...

You have to love those colors in the newly done Circus Area in Fantasyland...

I'm getting that from a lot of people, not many partaking in it in recent trips.

The laugh floor was fun, the girls had a good time - it seemed a bit shorter than last year's though. We'll get a joke in there some day too

The circus area was very fun, I'm looking forward to exploring the Dumbo queue next time we go.

I love the Gaston fountain and that cute little tavern...

The theming in the New Fantasyland is amazing... really, really lovely...

I think the queuing in Ariel's new ride is cool and while I do think it's a cute ride I too think it's similar to the Nemo Ride in Epcot... ok maybe a bit more elaborate...

(I don't know if you get back to FL this trip... but the BOG restaurant is really stunning inside (and out) we went in there for lunch... and I found that impressive...

If they had a good ale in there I'd like to have a couple of drinks in that tavern. If you can get adult beverages in Be Our Guest why not in Gaston's???

The queue is a big part of the magic of that ride, it really brings you into the world of the movie.

Yes, next time there will be a reservation at BOG for sure!

Super impressed that you were all so bright eyed and bushy tailed for Universal... (or maybe it was some of that Harry Potter Magic)

LOVED the photos of you and your family from that early trip to universal... so fun to see what characters were popular at the time...

Seuss Landing looks incredibly whimsical and picturesque....

& Harry Potter World.... WE'RE GOING there this JULY.... can't wait... loved your photos and have to go back and see your birthday trip report for more...

(obtw... I agree with Nemo being my preferred show... I'm not sure why... maybe because it's a bit different... maybe a lot of Lion King saturation... but I really enjoyed Nemo)

I do think the Harry Potter magic had something to do with us being so chipper

Thank you on the trip back down memory lane, it was fun looking back on it and sharing it with everyone. Yup, Rugrats were big for sure. I also had pics of PumpkinGirl with Jimmy Neutron and a very scary looking Shreck but I had hit the posting limit

Seuss Landing is a very fun place to experience. No "E Ticket" rides but a great atmosphere.

WWoHP is great fun, you'll love it. It will be hot for ya though hitting it in July since so much that you look at is on the streets. The rides are worth it though and the experience is amazing overall. Too bad they won't have DiagonAlley done yet when you go.

Yes, more pics in that last TR, and I'll be posting some more when we get to our 3rd day at Universal

Nemo rocks!!!