From Las Vegas to the Fantasy - May 2015 - NEW 7/10 !!!!

[princess aleya]

We are headed on the Fantasy in November and we are so EXCITED!!! The hotel looks pretty cool, loved the throwback vo5 shampoo. Looking forward to reading more about your trip.

 

[DisneyDivaCrissy]

Day 2: Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure

One of the perks about staying onsite at Cabana Bay is the option for early entry into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Well when we checked into the hotel they made us aware that it was Grad Night and both parks would be closing early, however both IOA and US would be open at 7am. Sweet! Next thing I knew the alarm was beeping loudly and it was time to start our adventure!

A little backstory... The last time we were in Florida was for our honeymoon. My wonderful father works for Disney so as a wedding gift he sent us complimentary park hopper passes for Walt Disney World! We didn't know when we would be back in Florida so we also decided to really splurge and purchased tickets to US and IOA as well. Our week long cruise turned into a 2-week vacation in no time
Being very familiar with Disneyland in California we were blown away with Disney World. It was amazing, of course! We are also huge Harry Potter fans so we were SO excited to check out Universal. Sadly, we only spent a couple hours in IOA before the terrible weather hit. It was so windy and raining so much that they closed down 90% of the parks and almost all of the attractions. We had no choice but to leave the park. As we approached the gates we saw the park attendants ushering everyone into lines and offering them FREE passes to come back. What?! Free passes?? This kind attendant took down our names and assured us that the free passes would not expire and we could come back at any time and use both parks. What great customer service! We didn't know when...but we knew eventually we would be coming back to the Sunshine State.

We woke up early, I stopped by Starbucks for my Carmel Macchiato (love that they have a Starbucks in the hotel) and rode the shuttle to the park. We purchased a park hopper pass for Ky and headed to guest services to pick up our free passes. We presented our ID's and explained that we should have passes waiting, a very unpleasant woman began searching for our ticket and explained that she had my husband's pass but not mine. Huh? We came together...?? Luckily I keep everyyything just in case and I handed her the passes that we had from 2012, I showed her the part of the ticket that says "park hopper" that was circled and they were initialed by the gentleman that issued us the credit along with his business card. This still did not suffice. I asked her to contact the gentleman to verify and she said he no longer worked for the company. Hmm, ok..
Then the supervisor came to assist and explained that as a courtesy she would give us the passes, well when she hands them to us I notice that they aren't park hoppers, they are only good for Universal Studios. When I point this out she's says it will cost us $70 each extra to upgrade! At this point over 45mins had passed and my kids were getting restless. I tried to remain calm as I explained that we just paid $140 for our 5 year old to have a park hopper pass because thats what we were told we would be receiving. A back and fourth argument took about 30 more mins of our time before she reluctantly gave us the park hopper passes. My goodness, there wasn't enough coffee in the world that could have prepared me for that conversation at 7am.

- Finally we entered the park, it was a beautiful day -









We boarded the Hogwarts Express - totally recommend this ride, such a neat experience!





This was so neat, as you are approaching the platform it appears as though the muggles are disappearing into the wall



- Headed into Diagon Alley -







​

 

[DisneyDivaCrissy]

There were so many delicious treats to choose from, we settled on a Cauldron Cake & a small bag of mixed candies.



& Ky went with a frozen Butterbeer, the baby reallyyy wanted to try some lol







I didn't catch a picture but this dragon that was guarding the Gringott's bank would breathe fire every 15 mins or so.







This was our favorite ride! As soon as you step foot into the bank you are completely immersed into the story. The entry into Gringott's had big beautiful chandeliers dripping with crystals and all along each side were these life-like goblins weighing their gold. The line was filled with interactive stories and holograms, which made the time go by quickly. Once we reached the elevator that takes you up to the final room our party split up for the ride swap. If you aren't familiar with ride swap it basically allows one parent to ride the ride while the other one waits and then you can switch that way you don't have to wait in line twice. Even the family waiting room wowed us, it even had a flatscreen TV showing clips from the movie. I would have ridden this ride over and over again!



We promised Kylie a souviner & she of course chose a wand. It was so neat going around the park and casting spells. She struggled with a few of the spells in the beginning but eventually didn't even need our help. The look on her face when she would make things levitate or sing was just priceless.

Up next: Springfield & Lunch at Mythos...To be continued...​

 

[chunkymonkey]

Wow the new sections of Universal look amazing! It's about time I booked another trip! You kids are so adorable and I love how the baby wanted the frozen butterbeer...too cute!

Sorry that you had trouble with the desk about the tickets...it's better than forgetting your Universal park-hopper tickets which I had done back in 2010.
I had to buy new tickets and then sell the old ones on ebay.

 

[ImaginAli]

So exited you included a trip to Universal and Cabana Bay. This would be an ideal trip for our family!

 

[Alex Aymar]

Like your TR so far

 

[lillygator]

joining in

 

[PizzieDuster]

I can't wait for more!

 

[princess aleya]

You're kids are so cute! Looking forward to hearing more about your time in Universal and the cruise!

 

[cheermom2four]

There were so many delicious treats to choose from, we settled on a Cauldron Cake & a small bag of mixed candies.

This looks yummy!!! Hoping to read more about your cruise!!

 

[JoAnnPan]

Your children are just adorable! Thanks for sharing - enjoying your report.

 

[PinkyBean]

Kylie didn't choose the wand, the wand chose her.
Great trip report....can't wait to read more.
PinkyBean

 

[starousse]

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Toria]

Great start! The customer can be hit or miss there. I about came unglued when one of the security officers at the checkpoint dropped my sons phone and cracked the screen really bad. The customer agent was great about the whole ordeal. I can't wait to read the rest.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

So excited to hear about the cruise!!!