Love is “Universal”: Our Awesome Anniversary Adventures in Orlando (May 2015 TR)

ArwenMarie said:

Yep! For three nights at Portofino, so we should be there early! (as long as we get up in time lol)

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ooooohhhhh, Portofino again! How awesome!!! (I just love the look of that resort.....it just has an aura of romance)

dancin Disney style said:

You're a horrible parent...you forgot your 'sons' seat belt. In fact, car seats are required in the state of Florida for all yellow, googley eyed children.

ETA: Not sure where the quoted picture went....well that just ruins it doesn't it? So imagine a picture of Bob, wearing a hat, in the backseat of the car.

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Bob was a bit of a rebel. I insisted he wear the seatbelt, but he simply refused and threw a horrible tantrum. He even threatened to use Gru's banana fart gun on me (I think he was on a sugar high....no more ice cream for him). So, I just figured it was easier to let him have his own way.....and told Steve to outrun the State Trooper if we were pulled over on the I4 .

dancin Disney style said:

Very long warped story. There was no physical fighting but lets just say that someone needs a good spanking....and it sure isn't me. There were lies, an ambush and a bunch of pouting. It's still going on, so the next week is going to be really special. Aside from all that BS, we had a great time....party on Saturday night that went until 2am at the hotel. When I got back to the room my DD said "you know those people that are always out in the hall that drive you nuts.....well that was you last night'.

If you're going to the falls this summer you had better let me know so that we can come and meet up with you. Promise me that if you win the lottery you will put me in your will.

Alright, I've finally caught up on the TR....thanks for adding another page today. Loads or fun and food. That chicken and waffles looks like it was as big as Steve's head. Carabba's (SP?) is really good. Didn't they give you the pizza dough to play with at the table?

All the Harry Potter stuff has changed since we went. I think it was about 5 years ago. The day we went it was NUTS...it took us about 4 hours to do 3 things and by that point we were so tired of standing in lines that we ended up leaving the park. We did manage to walk right into a show on the way out and tried to go on the Seuss ride but we stood in the line for 5 minutes and it didn't move even 2 feet so we left. That was our only time going to either Universal park.

Did you know that if the light is on at Krispy Kreme you get a free donut? I've been to the one in Mississauga a few times(it's only 15-20 minutes from my house) but it's not as good as the ones in the US. I have to say the best ones we've had were in South Carolina....don't know what the difference is.

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If I happen to win the lottery, you can bet your boots I'll be pickinig you up on my way through to Buffalo and we'll grab the next flight to Orlando to paint the town red. Keep your fingers crossed for me, K? I think this week's jackpot is "only" $10 mil but hey, we could still have a mighty fine time with that .

Sorry to hear that your weekend away was fueled by some drama. At least it kept things interesting for ya . You have way more stamnina than this old girl. I haven't seen 2 am in many moons. Please pass the Ovaltine.

You must plan to give Universal another chance some day. Your first kick at the cat sounds like it was a complete bust. There's still lots of time to plan for April 2016....say, the last week of the month.....I hear there might be a couple of other fearless Canadians who would be happy to tour around the parks with you and your DH. Just a thought .

Monykalyn said:

Caught up again! Great pics of DA-looks almost as if you guys had the place to yourselves.
Carrabba's is one of the better chain Italian places-like it better than Macaroni Grill. Love Italian Soda-know what is even better? Italian CREAM soda! Yep - take something delicious, add cream, and make it double delicious and decadent! And Krispy Kremes-we have one here-strategically located 2 blocks from a High School...that place has to be one of the highest profit places in the chain. As a bonus - their light seems to be on all the time as the teens eat them up so fast.

I always request top floor of places too-so many people seem to put on elephant boots when they walk. Too bad about sideways neighbors-thank goodness for security though...

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A Krispy Kreme near a high school....now THAT is pure genius!

schumigirl said:

Missed a few days!!! Think I'm all caught up........

Glad you had some Lush food...........lol..........I love that word!!!

Love your eye pictures......we cannot wait to get on that this year, I hate heights but will do it.......I just cling on to something all the time.......you should see my pictures of me at the top of The Empire State Building......I am gripping on for dear life.......lol......

Will give the skeleton place a miss I think though.......but will add hash house to our list for this year I think. I'm glad you had a good experience in Finnegans......ours was awful and we won't go back.....too many other options, but that's why I give a place a try despite some not liking it......everyone can have different experiences.

Love your minion!!! And Steve just looks far too cool in the Hulk picture.........looks like he's sat in front of his TV and not being flung around!!

Pictures are so good..........

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Hey there, welcome back! We missed you over here .

I think the trick on the Eye might be to look out and over, rather than down. lol, NEVER look down!!!

mrsabbott said:

I am so enjoying your TR! The Eye looks cool, but I'm not sure that all six of us would survive to see the end! LOL! I can see my son trying to bounce off the walls! The skeleton museum looks cool also!

I love Olive Garden but we don't have one nearby. Their salad and Capellini Pomodoro is my favorite! We used to have a Macaroni Grill in Louisville and I ate there a few times years ago and remember it being good. They had this grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich that was really good. I've seen Carraba's before, but haven't tried there. I'm not sure if there is one in Louisville or not; I will have to look it up. I know that there is one up in Indy though. We don't have a decent Italian restaurant that is really close by. They opened one here in town, small locally owned place that I had high hopes for, but the food was awful.

I am very sorry about the bad experience with your neighbors at the resort! What a bummer! I can never understand how anyone can argue when you are on vacation.. but I guess too much alcohol can bring out the worst in people. I rarely drink in excess because it makes me sleepy. Hubs is actually very sweet when he drinks, but I have known people who become belligerent and mean. I'm just sorry that it interrupted your sleep and threw off your day. I wonder if those people were mortified when they sobered up in the morning!

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Thank you mrsabbott! I am glad you are still reading along!

You know, I don't think the types of people who would be that rude and inconsiderate are very often mortified about their behaviour. I think its a case of the "Center of the Universe" complex being alive and well.

That said.....as far as we could tell, the first trip by security must have been their warning, and the second was an escort off the property. The unit was empty when we left in the morning (the blinds were pulled up and there was no sign of anything, or anyone, in that villa. It remained empty for the duration of our stay. Saw some housekeeping staff going in and out (clean up crew maybe?) but otherwise, they were gone-zo.

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:

ooooohhhhh, Portofino again! How awesome!!! (I just love the look of that resort.....it just has an aura of romance)

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We love Portofino. It's our favorite theme-park hotel in Orlando by far. It's just so well done.

Wednesday, May 6th: part 2

While inside Diagon Alley, we popped into several of the little stores and shops to peruse the adorable array of merchandise that was available for sale. Serious Harry Potter addicts would be in their element in some of those retail outlets. And some of the things being sold….crazy funny! Especially in Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. My heavens, JK Rowling has quite an entertaining imagination.



I considered buying myself an owl…..they were so darn cute (and incredibly, wonderfully soft) but with Bob the Minion, Lisa Simpson and Santa’s Little Helper already vying for a significant amount of luggage space, I decided to take a pass.



We also went into Gringott’s Money Exchange to check things out.



We were caught a bit off guard when the goblin started up a suitable grouchy conversation with us….I had no idea he was interactive. What a cool and unexpected feature .



Once we had finished our exploration of the little nooks and crannies of Diagon Alley, we decided to treat ourselves to a Butterbeer ice cream from Florean Fortescue’s ice cream parlour. Since we had dined so sparingly at the resort for breakfast, we didn’t mind indulging in a mid-morning snack.







Butterbeer ice cream was on our must-do list for this trip, and neither of us were disappointed. It was so, sooooooooo good! If anyone finds the drink itself too sweet, this is a great alternative because ice cream is creamy sweet all on its own. We only purchased one to share ($4.25 tax included withour AP discount) but I could have easily eaten the entire thing myself.





We took our ice cream and headed out of DA and into the London Waterfront area. We picked ourselves out a lovely little bench adjacent to the Knight Bus, and enjoyed our sweet treat in that marvellous Florida fresh air.







We left London and headed toward New York, where a huge American Ninja Warrior hot set had sprung up from seemingly nowhere since our visit a couple of days prior:





We walked down to the Mummy so Steve could enjoy a ride on that coaster, then wormed our way toward Transformers. As we approached, we could hear that at least one of them was out for a meet and greet with guests, and Steve hoped it was one of the robots other than Bumblebee (since he had already met him on our arrival day).

Happily, it was Optimus Prime! Steve was quick to grab a spot in line, and we got this pic with our Photoconnect card:



Steve’s day was happily made right there . It got even better when he learned that my friendly chit-chat with the Photoconnect photographer yielded the information that Optimus Prime would be taking a break after this session, and would be replaced a short time later with Megatron. We got the times of Megatron’s scheduled meet-and-greets for the balance of the day from the helpful TM’s and said we’d be back.

To pass some time until Megatron emerged, we strolled through Hollywood to see if there were any characters out and about in that area that we hadn’t yet met since we arrived the Friday prior. Lo and behold, we met up with Homer and Marge:



(sorry this pic is a little blurry….apparently the TM had a hard time holding the camera still)

……and also with Doc from Back to the Future (Doc didn’t like my wardrobe, apparently……he wanted to know why I was “highlighted”. I told him it was because I was short, and it helped Steve find me in the crowd ).



By then, it was pretty much time for Megatron to be emerging from behind the massive doorway, so we headed back over there and Steve returned to the line, which was reasonably lengthy (apparently Megatron is a popular fellow). Thankfully, though, we always find that the lines for the Universal meets are super efficient, and it wasn’t long before it was his turn for a picture. The Photoconnect guy encouraged me to join him for a second photo, so I did:



More to come!

I loved meeting Doc...he was probably my favorite character at Universal or Disney...just hilarious!!!

Boo on lousy neighbors! Your TR is making me so antsy to get to Universal! I love seeing all the pictures, I was telling hubby about the photo card last night and I think we're going to splurge because we rarely get family photos, it's usually one of us and the girls. Do you happen to know off hand, the difference in will call pickup and the kiosk pickup? We're leaving in 8 days so no time to order via mail. I def want to preorder to save $!

I can't wait to eat some of these yummy foods you guys are indulging on too! Pink donut, hash house, butterbeer ice cream and more!

Butterbeer ice cream...Yum! Haven't had that yet.

Ah, Diagon Alley. I've bought so much stuff there. (Holyhead Harpies shirt, Ministry of Magic shirt, Hufflepuff headband, Hufflepuff socks, Hufflepuff scarf. Guess you can't guess what house I'm in? ) Did you see any of the shows in the area? My husband got pulled up onstage during Celestina Warbeck's show and it was absolutely amazing.

Sorry about your noisy neighbors. I'm glad to hear they were kicked out after that, though!

I missed the interactive goblin and money exchange. So fun, we must look for it

Fun review of DA. The ice cream was really good too. None of us had the butter beer flavor, but what we had, none shared. It was that good.

Kids have a 10 dollar bill from the goblin, so I may bring it with me to spend in the fall.

Nice pictures. Thanks.

Your pictures are all great. I'm really feeling the urge to visit Universal. The London streets look amazing...I love places like that.

After reading the mentions of noisy neighbours I went back to re-read. I guess I should say 'sorry' for all the noise....it was me and yes, I'm part Spiderman, I was walking on the roof.

Nice update Gina.........I'm now craving a butterbeer ice cream again...........

We found the photo connect guys to be so good too and would always offer to use our own camera to take pics too as well as theirs.........well worth it........we felt it was a real bargain..........

Waiting for more of your trip..........

wiscbugs said:

I loved meeting Doc...he was probably my favorite character at Universal or Disney...just hilarious!!!

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He was quite a chatterbox . And surprisingly, there was hardly anyone going over to meet him . I know back to the future is "old", but its not THAT old (okay, maybe it is....I just looked it up....1985!!).

RocketCityMama said:

Boo on lousy neighbors! Your TR is making me so antsy to get to Universal! I love seeing all the pictures, I was telling hubby about the photo card last night and I think we're going to splurge because we rarely get family photos, it's usually one of us and the girls. Do you happen to know off hand, the difference in will call pickup and the kiosk pickup? We're leaving in 8 days so no time to order via mail. I def want to preorder to save $!

I can't wait to eat some of these yummy foods you guys are indulging on too! Pink donut, hash house, butterbeer ice cream and more!

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If you pre-order online, you will get a voucher emailed to you that you can print and redeem at the Photoconnect stores that are just inside the entrance to both parks (the one at IOA is in Port of Entry, the one at US is across from the Universal Store). They will set you up with a card, a lanyard, and you're good to go . I don't know about the kiosk pick-up....we didn't see any Photoconnect kiosks at the park.

ArwenMarie said:

Butterbeer ice cream...Yum! Haven't had that yet.

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Mmmmm.....its delish. Be sure to try it when you're there in August!

nancipants said:

Ah, Diagon Alley. I've bought so much stuff there. (Holyhead Harpies shirt, Ministry of Magic shirt, Hufflepuff headband, Hufflepuff socks, Hufflepuff scarf. Guess you can't guess what house I'm in? ) Did you see any of the shows in the area? My husband got pulled up onstage during Celestina Warbeck's show and it was absolutely amazing.

Sorry about your noisy neighbors. I'm glad to hear they were kicked out after that, though!

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We didn't stop to watch any of the shows....we actually only saw one going on at Hogsmeade (our timing must be terrible). We'll have to make a point of adding that to our to-do list for October ... seeking them out specifically .

jm106 said:

I missed the interactive goblin and money exchange. So fun, we must look for it

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It was rather neat. Scared the crap out of me when he first started talking to me, though .

Lynne G said:

Fun review of DA. The ice cream was really good too. None of us had the butter beer flavor, but what we had, none shared. It was that good.

Kids have a 10 dollar bill from the goblin, so I may bring it with me to spend in the fall.

Nice pictures. Thanks.

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Which kind of ice cream did you guys try, Lynne? They had some delectable flavours up on the menu. The toffee soft serve also sounded pretty delish.

dancin Disney style said:

Your pictures are all great. I'm really feeling the urge to visit Universal. The London streets look amazing...I love places like that.

After reading the mentions of noisy neighbours I went back to re-read. I guess I should say 'sorry' for all the noise....it was me and yes, I'm part Spiderman, I was walking on the roof.

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I should have known it was you. You're such a troublemaker.

schumigirl said:

Nice update Gina.........I'm now craving a butterbeer ice cream again...........

We found the photo connect guys to be so good too and would always offer to use our own camera to take pics too as well as theirs.........well worth it........we felt it was a real bargain..........

Waiting for more of your trip..........

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lol, you're craving butterbeer ice cream, and Steve just said to me at dinner......."I could really go for a Butterbeer right about now" . A tad addictive, that stuff!

More updates comin' up .

Wednesday, May 6th: part 3


Having lucked into meet and greets with Optimus Prime, Megatron, Doc, Homer and Marge all virtually one after the other, we thought we’d take in another ride or two before lunch. Steve was feeling all warm and fuzzy from his time with the Transformers (lol, I will admit, I had NO CLUE who they were…never seen ‘em, never watched the movie ) so he wanted the ride(s) to be my pick. Well, you know where I was headed, then.

ET, we’re about to send you home (yes, again!) so you can save your planet .

On our way over to the ET queue entrance, who did we see in the window of Spongebob Storepants?



Confession: neither one of us are Spongebob Squarepants fans. Jake was never really into that particular cartoon, so as a result, neither did we take much of an interest. But c’mon, it’s a character meet. You didn’t expect us to turn this down, did you?



We were the ONLY ones in the store to meet Spongebob. I almost kind of wonder if people realize he’s there? The store itself is kind of set back a bit from the main path, and it’s not super easy to see inside the windows, so I think many people inadvertently pass by this Photoconnect stop. On the Friday of our departure, when the park was much, much busier, we did see a TM outside of Spongebob Storepants with a sign advertising the character spot. They must only spring for that extra manpower when the crowds are substantially thicker.


We milled around the store for a bit and checked out the colourful Nickelodeon merchandise. There were a few additional kid-centred photo ops within the store…….and because I’m a kid-at-heart, we snapped some of our own shots.




We left Spongebob and headed straight for ET. The wait said 10 minutes but it was 5 or less in reality. I am realizing now, as I am on the latter half of my report (and have gone through most of the pics I took over the course of our vacation) that I didn’t get a single photo of the outside of ET. My bad.


Steve was starting to get rather peckish by this point, so we decided we’d head back to Diagon Alley for lunch at Leaky Cauldron. On the way, we grabbed a ride on the Twirl & Hurl since it was a walk-on.





Arriving at Leaky Cauldron, we perused their menu and pondered what to try. There were so many intriguing choices, and it was so unlike your typical quick service! We placed our order, were given our drinks, and were escorted to a waiting table. The ambiance and décor inside the restaurant is spectacular, if I might say so. Right out of the movies. It was hard not to stand and stare for a few moments and soak in all the little details.








Steve, not surprisingly, had a Butterbeer (I think I’ve lost count of how many he/we were up to at this point). I stepped outside the box and opted to try Otters Fizzy Orange Juice.




I really, really enjoyed Otters Fizzy Orange Juice. The presentation was really quite cute (a cinnamon sugar rim and an orange slice for garnish) and it was delightfully refreshing to boot. I can’t say that I enjoyed it more or less than Butterbeer. It was more a case of being equally awesome.


We had barely had time to take a first swig of our drinks when our meals were delivered by one of the many wizards whisking food to hungry patrons.




Steve had the chicken sandwich, which rather surprised me. Mr. Adventurous doesn’t normally play it that safe. I had expected him to order Fish & Chips or something a little more…..British. You know, in the theme of the whole experience. But yet, it looked very good, so perhaps it was the perfect choice after all.


I, Ms. Better-to-be-safe-than-Sorry, jumped right out of the box and picked out something that I thought looked very authentic: the Toad in the Hole.



(so sorry about the quality of some of these meal pictures….the dim lighting was definitely not helpful in snapping good quality photographs)


I just couldn’t bring myself to say that I ate at the Leaky Cauldron and didn’t have something very Harry-Potterish. YOLO .

Despite this being a counter service location, we were quite impressed by the quality of the food. Everything was hot and tasty. Sitting directly across from each other, it was easy for us to share just about everything…..Steve was quite interested to try my Toad in the Hole, specifically. It was really good….very different than anything we’ve ever had before, but yummy (and happily, the sausage was flavourful without being ridiculously spicy). Steve curled his nose at the notion of minted peas (“why on earth would you want to put mint on peas?”), but tried them anyway and was surprisingly impressed. He also ate my root veggies. I had some of his wedge fries (very good) and we sampled each other’s drinks.


Total cost for our meal, tax inclusive and with the AP discount: $26.95.

We took a pass on dessert at Leaky Cauldron, as we had other plans for sweet treats that involved a trip back to Springfield.


Over the bridge, around through Krustyland, and we hopped aboard the Twirl & Hurl again. We did a little shopping at the Kwik E Mart:



…..and when we emerged, we lucked into another character meet: Homer, Lisa and Bart were greeting guests just outside the store. It was starting to get rather cloudy outside, and the TM’s warned that if the skies opened up (which they are apt to do without warning in central Florida), then the characters would cut short their time with visitors. We crossed our fingers and waited our turn. (Note…it never did rain on our trip . The sun came out a short time later, and that was the closest we got to rain over our entire vacation, with the exception of a 10 minute downpour at dawn one morning that had passed by the time we had finished our showers).

Lisa is, without a doubt, my favourite Simpson. I can relate to Lisa in so many ways. So you can imagine how much it made MY day when I was welcomed by Lisa with a big old hug.





It was cool that the TM working the meet and greet caught that moment for me with my camera. Super fun!




We strolled around Springfield for a bit, watched some of the games being played and checked out some of the menus of places we didn’t eat at on our visit a few days prior, and then decided it was time for dessert, Simpson-style.


A Brain-Freezin’ Doh!-nut Sundae and a Flaming Moe are next.

great character meets! i'm glad to know that you can meet some really great characters in universal. do you know if they have a list/schedule for character meetings/opportunities?

choppee said:

great character meets! i'm glad to know that you can meet some really great characters in universal. do you know if they have a list/schedule for character meetings/opportunities?

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Some are listed on the park map (the Marvel characters, for example), some are in their meet-and-greet area on a regular, ongoing basis (like Spongebob and Shrek) and others are completely random. The TM's in each section of the park are great at helping you determine when someone you are hoping to see might be out and about.

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:

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How wonderful...you never mentioned a family reunion.

Oh, yay, you got the Orange drink! That's so good. Next time you're at Leaky Cauldron I highly recommend the stew. It's really, really, really good, and super filling (but doesn't make you feel gross afterwards).

Great character meets! Yeah, that Spongebob meet has never had a line that I have seen. I think it's because he is kind of hidden in there.

Fizzy Orange Juice, yum. Another item to place on my Must-Try list for August!

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:

If you pre-order online, you will get a voucher emailed to you that you can print and redeem at the Photoconnect stores that are just inside the entrance to both parks (the one at IOA is in Port of Entry, the one at US is across from the Universal Store). They will set you up with a card, a lanyard, and you're good to go . I don't know about the kiosk pick-up....we didn't see any Photoconnect kiosks at the park.

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Awesome, thanks so much! I can't get the FAQ to load on that one page for preordering so I was confused! I think we'll just print email and take in. Off to read the rest of your report!

dancin Disney style said:

How wonderful...you never mentioned a family reunion.

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But....but.....I thought you were Spiderman?

nancipants said:

Oh, yay, you got the Orange drink! That's so good. Next time you're at Leaky Cauldron I highly recommend the stew. It's really, really, really good, and super filling (but doesn't make you feel gross afterwards).

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Didn't the stew have lamb in it? I've never had lamb....so I was a bit hesitant to give that dish a try.

Is it like beef? Pork? Or nothing like either?

ArwenMarie said:

Great character meets! Yeah, that Spongebob meet has never had a line that I have seen. I think it's because he is kind of hidden in there.

Fizzy Orange Juice, yum. Another item to place on my Must-Try list for August!

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We still have to give the hot Butterbeer a try, and the Fishy Green Ale. Have you had either of those yet?

RocketCityMama said:

Awesome, thanks so much! I can't get the FAQ to load on that one page for preordering so I was confused! I think we'll just print email and take in. Off to read the rest of your report!

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