The great thing about going to Universal and staying onsite is you hardly have to do any planning.
The bad thing about going to Universal and staying onsite is you can hardly do any planning.
The Universal portion of our trip is driving my OCD crazy.
I kind of like that though. I mean, the planning is done... You know you're hitting the Harry Potter stuff first thing in the morning. Then it's just a matter of deciding between clockwise or counter-clockwise and waving that Express Pass around.
Now I guess if you want to be OCD planner, you could put together an elaborate plan to jump from say, Men in Black to Spiderman in an elaborate park hopping scheme.
I’m planning on arriving at the gates before early entry both days. The ideal scenario is if they open both parks early and we can do one each day, but I don’t think that happens very often. The other ideal scenario is if one park opens one day and the other park opens the next day. If the early entry park is the same both days, I’ll play the second day by ear.
Yuck. Yeah, being this close to the trip and not having that information is frustrating.
I hadn't noticed.
Food-wise, I’m pretty open to eating anywhere with three exceptions: we absolutely must eat at the Leaky Cauldron, the Three Broomsticks, and the Simpsons food court. I don’t care if it’s for lunch or dinner – all of these are absolute must-do’s. I haven’t decided what I’m going to eat from the Simpsons area yet, although I’m leaning heavily toward a Krusty Burger.
Sounds like a good plan. I think I'd have to go to the Simpsons area for a Krusty Burger and a Duff.
Can I just say how weird it is to not have two days of planned ADRs?
Weird... and kind of nice to, in a way. I like the planning, but I also like to just decide I'm hungry for ____ , and decide where to go then and there. That option is pretty limited at WDW.
If any of you know of other attractions, experiences, or food (it is us, after all!) that we need to add in to our Universal experience, please let me know!
I think you've got a good plan. I always like to eat at Margaritaville there... although it is pretty much a chain place and nothing special. I just like their burgers and the vibe of the place.
Also, it isn't very Anika friendly, but if you find yourself walking around City Walk, stop by the window at Pat O'Brien's and get a hurricane to go. They're very good. And very strong.
We rode on a few more slides, such as the Downhill Double Dipper and the Snow Stormers. I don’t remember which (I think it was the Snow Stormers?), but one of them was so bumpy that it gave Anika a bloody nose.
Wow! That's crazy!
What was spectacular were the mini donuts – I don’t even LIKE donuts and these were just to-die-for awesome.
Our first attraction of the evening was my beloved Muppets:
Always a good one!
By that point, we were still an hour away from Fantasmic but we were just done. Our lack of sleep had caught up to us and Anika was especially grumpy. We decided our best plan was to head back to the room and see Fantasmic the following night.
That stinks. I totally get it, but it is never fun to hit that wall.
The lobby has a lot of neat touches, from the model of the roller coaster:
Cool! I've never seen that before. At least I don't think I have...
Let me tell you – I was crushed when I heard this restaurant was closing because our breakfast was DELICIOUS. It was right up there with Kona Café in terms of its awesomeness. Anika and I both loved it.
I'm sorry. I've never been there, but I've heard great things about the breakfast there. Maybe they just didn't do the other meals as well?
I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed that Gonzo hangs off the Muppet’s clock!
I don't think I have either! That's the cool thing about that whole area. So many fun sight gags basically hidden in plain view.
Our server was pretty slim on the antics, but he did deliver a fire-tastic birthday cupcake for Anika:
Wow! What kind of candle was that???
I love and adore Murder, She Wrote – I own all 12 seasons on DVD and have seen all of them multiple times. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few from my generation that even watched this show, let alone someone that considers it one of her favorite shows of all time. Angela Lansbury rocks!
Ok, I've seen it. I remember my parents watched it when I was growing up. But it has been years since I've seen it. I don't even hardly remember what exactly the show was.
Followed by a ride with Aerosmith:
I don’t remember how on earth we rode these back to back with so little wait. We must have had Fastpasses for all of them, as we rode all three in less than an hour according to the timestamps on my pictures. We were on fire that day!
We also had another Fastpass for this:
FP or not, you guys really did an awesome job of getting plenty of rides on the headliners. I'm impressed. I would be thrilled with getting multiple rides on ToT, Star Tours and TSMM in the same day.
(I was seriously a Fastpass- champion. I don't think a day like this is possible with Fastpass+.
)
You're right. It sadly isn't. This is one of my biggest knocks on it. Although, unless you really went hardcore and did a lot of FP running before, it is an insignificant change to most.
It’s Grand Floridian Day!
I haven't decided whether to reveal this surprise to Anika this morning or the evening before. The morning of would make sense, but I also want to give her the opportunity to leave Universal early in case she wants to rush right over there.
Morning of!
I’d love to reveal the surprise to her by driving up to the hotel and state that we’re checking in, but I’d REALLY love to get her reaction on video. It should be priceless! The result of the video need likely results in resort envelope #3 (I still need to MAKE all those envelopes for all these reveals!
).
Ok. I'm excited about the surprises. And I'd love to see video of her reaction. But I LOVE the idea of just rolling up to the hotel and just seeing when she puts it all together. I think it would be worth the sacrifice of not being able to get it on video to do the more impactful reveal on this one.
Dinner is at our FAVORITE Disney World restaurant, Via Napoli!
You've got great taste.
We’ll definitely be ordering an individual pepperoni pizza and an order of zeppole. We’ll likely get an appetizer, another individual pizza, or a pasta dish to supplement the rest of our order. I can’t wait for another meal here!
Individual pizzas? You mean mezzo metro, right?
We're interrupting our regularly scheduled programing for this very important announcement:
IT'S SINGLE DIGIT DANCE TIME!!!
Nine more days, baby! 
Awesome! It's coming up fast now!
So definitely looking forward to a TR from you! 
(You are doing one, right?!)
The good news is that you only have to endure ten more days of PTR! 
I would LOVE to do that too and have the time to take in all the detail at the shops and restaurants. Annika will be so happy!! (as would anyone LOL)
Uh... er... I mean, Oh, that's too bad. But happy for you that it's coming soon.
I can't WAIT to see Diagon Alley and spend more time in Hogsmeade. I think Anika will be pretty thrilled! 
We're right next to Magic Kingdom, so it may be fun to enjoy a few attractions there before heading over to Epcot. We could enjoy a cinnamon roll from Gaston's or enjoy our first Starbucks coffee on Disney property. 
I would also love to grab my avocado margarita and enjoy some chips and salsa in La Cava this afternoon. It would be a great place to get out of the heat and sun!
