An attorney, a musician, and a genius walk into Diagon Alley...

[angryduck71]

Hi all! Just got back from our 7 days at Universal and am SOOOOOO in a funk that I'm back, thought I'd start my trip report to at least have my fond memories to soothe me. So, here's who we are: Jason, my boyfriend (were buddies in high school -- he had a crush on me, we went out once, he was shy as heck though, stayed friends all these years, then after we both went through divorces, started dating -- been dating for three years -- all of our kids love each other and it's great!) -- he's a teacher and a musician. He plays everything and is amazing. Davy, my son -- he's 8 -- and he's my little Sheldon (if you watch Big Bang Theory, you know what I mean).

We decided over a year ago that we wanted to do Universal. I talked to Davy and he said he only wanted to do Universal. We had done Disney a few times (the last time being a couple of years ago) and had done Universal once a few years ago, but he barely remembers it. He is now a HUGE Harry Potter fan. Also, Islands of Adventure was the first park he'd ever been to -- and he's always wanted to ride the Hulk. He was still an inch away when we started planning (need to be 54 inches and he was 53), but we were hopeful. So began the planning. The first date Southwest opened its flights, I used my frequent flyer miles to get us tickets. I closely watched cheaptickets.com for the 25% off code and booked a hotel as soon as we could. There was some debate about that. Jason and I were trying to decide do we want Royal Pacific or Portofino. Davy -- always the intelligent one -- one day said, "now look, the important things about a hotel are the pool and the restaurants. We can hop over to the other resorts for those things, so WHO CARES how big the rooms are -- we're just going to sleep there. Go for the cheapest. Plus, Royal Pacific is closer to the parks. End of debate." Again, we're talking about an 8 year old!

Unlike Disney, there wasn't much else to plan. I did get this to hold my phone and tickets/express passes: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AW2QT8I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

My boyfriend's kids went last year in August just after Diagon Alley opened and they stayed off-property. They waited 5 hours to ride Gringotts once. And, they about melted their whole trip -- and barely rode anything. I promised Davy nothing like that was going to happen to us -- we'd be going immediately after his school was out (May 30), it wouldn't be AS hot, we'd have express passes, we'd tour first thing in the morning, and Gringotts wouldn't be AS new.

Before we left, I saw that there was an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms everyday of our trip…. We were heading out May 30… flight leaving at 7 a.m., so we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. More to follow...

 

[schumigirl]

Oh looking forward to reading about your trip.........love your 8 year olds thinking.........glad you chose RPR........we can't see past it to be honest..........

Nice start and a lovely picture of all 3 of you..........

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm in too! I'm just finishing up my own May trip report so now it will be fun to get to enjoy someone else's.

Can't wait for more!

 

[angryduck71]

So, our adventure began on Saturday, May 30. I had bought our tickets through a military installation (I am a civilian who works for the Army). I got four day park-to-park passes and planned to upgrade to Power passes once at the parks. I paid about $126 I think for the adult passes (no tax) and $110 for the kids pass. We got up at 4:30 a.m. (ugh!), had breakfast ready to eat in the car, had the car already packed the night before, and took off. I had it all planned perfectly -- we live about 45 minutes from the airport in Kansas City. We were going to check in at the curb sky cab, then I was going to leave Jason and Davy there and go park the car at economy parking. Easy-peasy. It had been raining like crazy as it had been in the rest of the country it seemed, but it had stopped as we pulled to the airport. Seemed luck was on our side! Everything was going smoothly. No line at the sky cab. I find parking immediately. NO wait and there's a bus immediately. I hop on. I start to text Jason that I'm on my way…. and can't find my phone in my purse. Dang it! Did I leave it in the car? AACK. The only other guy on the bus said, "well, you should stop now before the bus leaves economy parking." I said, "well, now my phone has a black case, maybe I just don't see it yet…." The bus driver says, "I should stop now while I'm still close to your car." I said, "well, now, just a second…" They both say, "well, we should just stop here…" They practically kick me off the bus. As soon as I get off, of course I find my phone in my purse. DRAT. I didn't need to get off. So, I waited for the next bus… and here it comes… it's empty and she waves that the next bus following her will pick me up… okay… here it comes… and it's full… and there it goes… NOOOOO…. okay, now I'm getting worried. I'm flying Southwest, so it's first-come, first-serve. I had teased my son to save my seat and to act like a brat if someone tried to sit next to him if I'm lated getting back. Start crying and yelling I told him. He took it seriously and was at the airport starting to think he was seriously going to have to do it as I wasn't showing up. They were lining up ready to board. Finally 15 minutes later, a third bus showed up with no one. I waved him down. I told him, "I don't care if you're not supposed to stop, I HAVE to get on." I told him my story. He said, "I'll get you there on time." And, we do. My boys were waiting for me!

Davy was VERY relieved that he didn't have to act like a brat!

Note: before the trip, I got a prescription for a patch to wear to ward off motion sickness. I had tried all over-the-counter drugs before with no success. We had lots of turbulence during the flight and it didn't bother me at all. This gave me some hope for the rides.

I had booked Tony H. as our driver based on recommendations off of these boards. He was not available, but he sent another driver, Richard to pick us up. He was very nice and waiting for us when we arrived. We made a quick grocery stop. OMG -- apples are EXPENSIVE in Florida!!!!

We arrived at Royal Pacific around noon I think and there was a LONG line to check in. Our room was not ready, so we dropped our luggage off, got our express passes, and headed to the park. First, I upgrade to annual passes -- power passes -- cost me about $70 for all three to upgrade. Not TOO bad. Davy wanted to eat lunch at the Three Broomsticks. Jason's kids had told him it was better than Leaky Cauldron and I had heard the same (we had actually eaten at Three Broomsticks years before, but he had no memory of it). He DID remember pumpkin juice, however! His face make look like he doesn't like it, but trust me, it was his choice drink for every Harry Potter meal!

Davy noticed right away that there were shadows moving on the walls at Three Broomsticks… this immediately made this his favorite place to eat -- whether or not he liked the food. We ended up eating here four times during our trip! I did NOT like the fish and chips (I ordinarily do like fish and chips). I did like the turkey leg and the roasted chicken, however. I must say, though, that although my motion sickness patch was AWESOME for the rides, I think one of the side-effects was I was not hungry (which helped with weight loss!), but I was also terribly thirsty the whole time. (I also had blurry vision when I tried to read -- another side effect but I could live with it.)

Next up, Davy was dying to get on a ride. We got on Flight of the Hippogriff. Jason was amazed how we breezed past everyone with our express passes. It was quite crowded on this Saturday afternoon. A note on that: the Universal site had the prices a bit cheaper for Saturday and Sunday express passes than the upcoming week. Some say that means it'll be less crowded. But, the weekend was MUCH more crowded than the rest of the week. We then got on the Hogwarts Express and headed to Diagon Alley. Loved the ride over. Davy then started looking at how he'd spend his gift cards (throughout the year, he'd get gift cards for holidays to save up for the trip). First thing he wanted was a wand. We went to Ollivanders. He was not picked as there was a birthday boy in the group. He decided to pick his own wand.

A note about the interactive wand stations: they work about half the time. Folks were really frustrated about them throughout. The interactive stations at Disney seemed to always work. I don't know what can be done to make it a little easier…. but kids were getting bummed about that. One of the stations said there was an anti-magic charm placed over it (so, obviously broken). I think more than one was broken as even the helpers couldn't get a few of them to work.

Anyway, Davy chose as some of his souvenirs, the interactive Maraders Map, a Bludger bat and ball set, some toys from the Weasleys shop -- one of those had to be shipped because it looked kind of like a bomb so it wouldn't have been allowed on the plane!, a howler, a Ravenclaw diary, and a quill. I got him a couple of Ravenclaw shirts. So many cool things to choose from! He also later chose a couple of Minion toys as well, but his main wish was to get Harry Potter souvenirs.

At 4:23 pm, we finally got notified our room was ready. We went to eat dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We had pre-purchased gift cards from Costco for McCormick and Schmick for $79 (but got $100 worth for them) which worked there. I loved this place years ago. This time I felt it was OK, but again, I think my taster was off due to the motion sickness meds. They did have some good summer drinks though. Also, only one waitress let us know that if you take your itemized receipt to the shop, they'll give you your glass your drink comes in as a souvenir! We ate there a few times -- and again, only one waitress (out of three) told us about that.

We got our room -- we got one of the renovated ones. As others have said, the shower leaks. But, other than that, no complaints. I didn't mind the flowers on the hallway floor outside the rooms -- in fact, Davy made a game of jumping from one flower to the next each time. The only thing -- this thing was looking over us while we slept…. reminded me of the Brady Bunch taboo…

We got to bed fairly early so we could get up early for early entry the next morning!

 

[schumigirl]

What a panic with the bus to get you back!! Not a good start, bet the little guy was so happy to see ya arrive........

Nice start so far..........I didn't like pumpkin juice, but did like the pumpkin fizz better.....not fond of that picture in the room.....but hope you got a good sleep........

 

[angryduck71]

Oh looking forward to reading about your trip.........love your 8 year olds thinking.........glad you chose RPR........we can't see past it to be honest..........

Nice start and a lovely picture of all 3 of you..........

THank you shmugirl! Always enjoy your reports!!! Question: I believe you are from across the pond -- there were SO many folks from England this trip -- is this a particularly good time to travel -- is school just out? I have a great (or, not so great depending no your point of view) story coming up about a toddler from England.

 

[angryduck71]

I'm in too! I'm just finishing up my own May trip report so now it will be fun to get to enjoy someone else's.

Can't wait for more!

Yay! I'll read yours too! Probably when I'm work… no, no, I'm just kidding… I'd NEVER do something like THAT at work!

 

[schumigirl]

THank you shmugirl! Always enjoy your reports!!! Question: I believe you are from across the pond -- there were SO many folks from England this trip -- is this a particularly good time to travel -- is school just out? I have a great (or, not so great depending no your point of view) story coming up about a toddler from England.

Aw thanks.......

School in England break up for summer around July 20th or thereabouts.......but half term is in May.....some get two weeks, some get a week and take kids out for the extra week......so yes it's a popular time for Brits to go.........oh curious about the story now......lol

 

[dixonsontour]

Great start.

 

[angryduck71]

Up and ready for early entry to IOA! Davy skipped 2nd grade math and next year will skip 3rd grade altogether (I'm a bit nervous about this whole business but if anyone can succeed, it's this boy -- as you will see in his later encounter with some adults! Although, at times, you'll also see he is still such an 8 year old boy!). He decided that this means he obviously belongs in Ravenclaw, thus the Ravenclaw attire. (Two years ago when we went to Disney, to pass the time in line, he asked us to give him math problems. Seriously, this sucked. I mean, my brain could only come with so many problems! This time, with the express pass we didn't have too much time to wait ever! Yay! My brain could rest or just think about what flavor of ice cream I was going to get over at Florean Fortescue's -- you know the important things in life!)

We were off to Forbidden Journey. Now, a few years ago, I attempted Forbidden Journey even though I get motion sickness just swinging on a regular swing set anymore -- and I wanted to DIE. I am pretty sure I was begging for the dementor's kiss even. Just GET ME OFF THIS RIDE! I was sick most of the day after that. So, I decided to just do the castle line with them and then let them ride while I waited. I was a little concerned about Davy; Jason's son who is a bit older (but a huge Harry fan) FREAKED OUT on this ride and cried his eyes out. Everything scared him about it. It was Davy's first time on it (and Jason's). I had Davy watch the youtube of it first and he said he'd be ok and wasn't sure why Jason's son was afraid since he's seen the movies. Davy got off the ride and said it was "the most awesome thing EVER!" Jason loved it too. They wanted to do it again and ran to the single-rider line. No wait whatsoever. Then they were off to the dragon challenge -- which is a 54" ride -- a test for the Hulk… and Davy was tall enough (yay!). I again elected not to ride. Roller coasters usually don't get to me too badly but I also have started getting bad migraines and was afraid all that knocking around would set one off (seriously -- what is this getting old business doing to me?!?!) -- and I wanted to look around. They got off of that and then we were off to Spiderman. I have not had TOO much problem with that before with bonine or dramamine so I tried it. Not one problem. (Davy thought the villains' voices on Spidey were a bit "screechy" and didn't like it THAT much; Jason loved it. I've always enjoyed it -- especially now that it doesn't bother me in the least with the motion sickness miracle patch!) Jason thought if I didn't have a problem at all with that, I really should be ok on Forbidden Journey. They then went for what Davy has waited for for years -- the Hulk.

Again I chose to sit this one out, but it took them FOREVER in this line. I started to worry. Turns out, Davy went for the front car. That line was long apparently. Davy was THRILLED though. Jason was not. He hated the ride. Said it really jerked him around.

Then we decided to go back to Forbidden Journey and see if I could handle it. We did the single rider line -- still no wait. I was a little nervous about it. I got on -- and rode and I was FINE. I was THRILLED. I was SO HAPPY to be able to enjoy the ride and not be sick. After, I was jumping up and down telling them, "I didn't get sick! I didn't get sick!" and just then, a guy next to me lost his lunch all over the ground after getting off the ride. EWWWWW. And, dude, the trash can was just TWO STEPS AWAY. I mean, this wasn't even a kid. Surely you could have made it that couple of steps! Well, I did feel for the guy. I have been there (but I still could've made it to the trash can at least by the end of the hurling).

We spent a little bit of time hanging out with Dr. Seuss. Davy's a big fan of the Zax and kept stopping all throughout the trip to read the plaque and visiting these guys.

He also took some time to read a couple of the books -- there's always time for the classics!

After that, Davy decided he'd like to see if we could get a short line to Gringotts at the end of the day. So, we headed back over to the Hogwarts Express. Unfortunately, Gringotts was down for the evening. So, we decided to try the Ollivander's show again even though Davy already had his wand. Davy was picked! The wand that chose him was actually his second choice for a wand. They offered to trade the wand he already bought for the one that chose him, but Davy decided to stick with the wand he already had. He was still thrilled to be chosen for the show. What a treat! (Probably the Ravenclaw shirt didn't hurt and his enthusiastic smile!).

Tomorrow… an express pass to Gringotts (really!), we get fake passports, and Davy befriends a 500-year-old fountain.

 

[schumigirl]

Glad you got to ride FJ without being ill.......but yuk at the guy hurling......yep that would send me hurling too!!

Nice Davy got picked for the wand thingy, does make it more special........looking for next day now.....love the fountain......

 

[HM]

Enjoying your report!

 

[tink1957]

Love your report so far...congrats to Davy on getting picked at Olivander's.

I can't wait to read your next installment...sounds intriguing

 

[RocketCityMama]

Marking my spot to come back and read when I am more alert!

 

[angryduck71]

Next up, Monday, June 1. We head straight for Gringotts. We're ready! Yes! Let's do this!!! And… it's down again! Boo!!!! Davy was disappointed and threw a bit of a fit. I realized then that perhaps he wasn't getting enough sleep. Hmmmm…… Okay, enough pushing on getting up early. We have express passes -- and once we've seen the whole inside of Gringotts, we can do single rider on it too. NO more pushing to get up early I decide. I want this kid not to be grumpy! Anyway, we got express passes to come back once it was back up. Davy wanted to do some interactive wand stuff and then just wanted to go back to the hotel (!) until the ride was back up. I'm like, ummmm… WHAT??!?! STUBBORN KID! HE then said, well, or just go to Hogsmeade. I'm like, hey, we have PLENTY to ride over here at Universal he hadn't ridden yet until it came back. And, quite frankly, that's just ridiculous! I didn't want to run back and forth between the parks THAT much! NO WAY KID! You may be a spoiled only child but I'm putting my foot down here!!!! Anyway, we rode on Men In Black and he enjoyed it quite a lot. Jason scored a bonus and got quite a high score. Jason also started becoming addicted to frozen drinks at the parks… so, while Davy and I decided to ride E.T., Jason took a break to get another frozen drink (and to escape Grumpy Davy for a bit!). Davy had ridden E.T. before and loved it but didn't remember it. He loves the movie. Anyway, he LOVED the ride even at age 8 and wanted to do it again. I had a bit of a talk with him about his grumpy mood and told him, see, let's have a good time… his mood then changed.

Jason joined us for the next bike ride to E.T.'s home planet… so, when we get to the part where they ask for our name for our inter-galactic passports, I say, "Alice" (even though the first time E.T. said my name it sounded something like "isss"), Davy said, "David," and then Jason said, "Mevlin." Davy's eyes got HUGE. After he whispered to Jason, "why did you give a FAKE NAME???!!!" Jason said, "why not? My name is Melvin when I am here." Davy could NOT believe it. He HAD to ride again and have us all give fake names then. So, Jason was again Melvin, I was Georgia, and Davy was Peter. So, we are now officially space criminals.

Jason then found a ride he hates more than the Hulk: Rip Rockit Roller coaster! He said it really knocked him for a loop. I was really looking forward to the Mummy, but I have to say -- wasn't really all that excited about it after. I kept checking the app to see if Gringotts was back up… in the meantime, we went looking around some of the shops. I got a kick out of some of these items:

(Something for after your shower…)

And here are some shirts for the geek in you:




Then, one more illegal E.T. space ride, and FINALLY, Gringotts was back open! So, we RACED over there and rode on it. I thought it was FANTASTIC! The boys loved it too (but put it a close second to Forbidden Journey for them). We rode it again with the single rider line. No wait!

Then, we went over to IOA for a bit. That's when Davy discovered the Mystic Fountain. I got some good video of this I should put up. Anyway, Davy did NOT miss an opportunity to chat with the ol' Fountain the rest of the trip after this first encounter. What a hoot! You really must stop by and talk to this fountain of knowledge/comedy/delight. Pure gold! And on a hot day -- a bit of relief!

Another fun unexpected discovery…. Davy recognized Emeril on a banner from a cookbook he checked out at a library. He and grandma made a recipe from one of Emeril's books that his absolute favorites -- some kind of African sweet potato. So, we ate at Tchoup Chop and had a great time (note: they take AAA as a discount).

I have to admit, that once again I was suffering from an "off" taster and am not sure if it was the motion sickness meds or what. Davy loved his meal and so did Jason… as well as the desserts. I didn't even enjoy the dessert that much so I KNOW something was off!!!

Tomorrow: Davy jumps into The Rock, tells everyone how they will NOT get wet on Popeye, and Jason makes us watch the Monsters of Rock… sigh….

 

[angryduck71]

OH, and here is Davy with the Mystic Fountain and one of our Royals shirts… Interestingly, we saw lots of KC Royals shirts!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Reading along. So pleased your patch worked, but loss of appetite is such an unfortunate side-effect.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I got a prescription for a patch to wear to ward off motion sickness

Can you remember the name? Beyond the lack of appetite/dry mouth, did you experience any other side effects? Were you truly not drowsy? I am considering taking Transderm-V (name in Canada) the medicine used I believe is scopolamine, because my motion sickness sounds as bad as yours normally, but the list of side effects is really freaking me out. LOL. I will probably test it before leaving home. Did you? Or just wing it?

 

[angryduck71]

Well, folks, sorry, I had a loved one die unexpectedly, so I haven't had much of a chance to get back here. Sigh, real life can just suck at times.

In any event, Sailormoon2: transderm scop is the name of the patch (I had to call the pharmacy -- I can't find my meds now! Aack! I was going to use it at my local amusement park to make the roller coasters a little easier -- they usually don't bother me TOO much, but it's starting to get worse. I do have a refill though! Anyway, that's what the pharmacist said it was called). Really, the worst side effect was the blurry vision when I tried to read at night. I was not drowsy at all. I didn't really have dry mouth either -- just thirsty (but mouth was particularly dry). but, seriously, the side effects didn't bother me much and it was SO WORTH IT!

I will try to get back to the report at some point… have the funeral tomorrow… then, luckily, the family who lost their father/uncle/grandpa has some GOOD times ahead -- Friday night one of the young ones in the family ("Q") who is a cancer survivor is going to throw the first pitch at a Royals game. Before the game, a bunch of celebrities, such as Paul Rudd, Eric Stonestreet, and tons more, in Big Slick KC will be doing a charity softball game for the local children's hospital here in Kansas City where Q got his excellent treatment.

And, then, the week after that, I am stalking Bono in Chicago.

Take care everyone -- I shall return.

 

[schumigirl]

So sorry to hear you have had some sad news. Hope the family enjoy Friday night.........Love Eric Stonestreet!!

We`ll be here when you get back ..........