Giving Thanks: Turkey Day at Universal

[disappearingme]

Hello!

We have been back for almost a month (sniff sniff).

Thanks to everyone who contributes on these boards - it was simply invaluable as my family benefited from everyone's tips & tricks.

So here goes.

Day One Wednesday

We had rooms at an airport hotel because we had an early flight. Met everyone for dinner (15 total) at ta local Mexican place. Good & everyone off to bed early for the flight the next morning. The first shuttle left at 5:45 & we wanted to be on it!

Day Two Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving. We all donned our family t-shirts for the plane ride. Very fun stuff. No problems with flight or getting luggage. We used Alamo & the lady was kinda rude at the desk but whatever - we can let it roll off our backs. We rented a mini-van & a 15 passenger van. Loaded up & got to Universal around noon. Our rooms were not ready so we went to Islands for their Thanksgiving buffet.

Note on the rooms - We had seven rooms (six of those seven rooms needed to be connected by two). I remember reading a trip report where someone had faxed a room list/people to the concierge before they arrived & it sounded like it saved some time. Wish I had done the same because they were all out of sorts that we needed connecting rooms (we had three families that needed to be connected). The rooms being ready sort of trickled: one was ready; then one was ready but the connecting wasn't, etc. . .) My family of five were the last to get rooms & my husband was STEAMED. This was about 5 p.m. so we had been there for five hours & even though we had eaten, he was irritated. It caused a fight between the two of us that was kinda dramatic (this is a theme in Orlando; three times in Orlando; three big fights). Go figure. We did get comped five breakfast buffets for the trouble with the room. That's fine though.

Islands Dining Room Buffet for Thanksgiving was just fine. I would have liked some beef options but loved the sushi & omelet stations. All good. We go in the hula dance line and enjoyed ourselves.

Got pics with Gru & Scooby as well

The experience at Islands was fine. Friendly & efficient.

We set off for Universal around 5:30 p.m. with the parks closing at eight. We went to Universal Studios first & did the Minions straight off. We used the handy dandy express pass & were in the ride queue about ten minutes later. We felt a little bad about it because we just zoomed right through but it didn't keep us up at night.

We absolutely loved Minions as our three kiddos are adopted. So sweet - my husband & I were both weepy towards the end (post big fight so we had all the feels going on). And we did have the spotlight on us as the ones who didn't shower (sorry folks).

We then met up with my husband's brother, wife & their three kids. We were in search of Diagon Alley and I won't lie - we passed it & didn't see it!! I knew it must be close because we saw Kreacher & the phone booth.

Oh my goodness - Diagon Alley. I just wish I had one day to spend there & Hogsmeade without my kids. Just to drink it all in. We just sort of started looking around & stumbled on Ollivander's. Oh so excited! Went in & we were the only ones in line. So we went in - the ten of us & were the only ones in the room. Ollivander came & started asking questions. I wanted to be picked sooooooo bad. My daughter was the witch whose wand choose her. It was absolutely a delightful experience. We then went into the adjoining wand shop & dropped coin for six wands - oh vey. I didn't get one (wanted George Weasley but you have to buy Fred as well. Glad I didn't get one because I would have hogged the magic making stations.

We did some magic. The kids ate some food at the Leaky Cauldron & we tried the warm butterbeer. We got on Escape from Gringotts & walked through & got on the ride in 15 minutes start to finish. I loved it so much.

I have never paid a lick of attention to Harry Potter until the day we found out we were going on this trip My niece is a hard-core fan but just missed it timing wise in terms of my interest. Well that all changed. We ended up listening to all the books (read by the imitable James Dale) and I fell in love with the whole darn world of Harry Potter. So everything about Diagon Alley & Hogsmeade was so precious to me.

The Gringotts Money Exchange was meh in terms of experience. Diagon Alley was deserted on Thanksgiving night near closing time for future reference.

Coming next . . . VIP Experience

 

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Day Three . . .VIP Experience

I convinced my in-laws to spring for the VIP Experience. It was the same day I bought their airline tickets. I had read some reviews, shared those with them & they said go ahead & make it happen. Woot. So generous!

Our tour started at 9. We didn't get the early start that I wanted but maybe that was better. The VIP tour would include some pastries so we decided to feed the kids that & we ordered some eggs from room service. I ordered the kids egg breakfast (two eggs, bacon, hash browns & toast) & my husband ordered cereal & coffee. Total was $40!!! That is some crazy tips/taxes but now we know.

We took the boats to entrance. Took the obligatory Universal picture & headed to the Tour office. Arrived at 8:30 (email states they open at 8:30 for breakfast). We are an insanely punctual family. It did not appear they were ready for us. We hung out in the downstairs room while I guess they got ready in the dining room. But when we got escorted up there at 8:45, they didn't have the food ready. But whatevs. We partook in coffee & then the pastries & cereal when they arrived. Met Skylar & Kingston (our two tour guides). They asked what we wanted to do & I told them we wanted to ride as many rides as possible in our time together. We wanted to go on every major attraction in the two parks.

The guides get us our Photo Connect cards but also get one for themselves. This was fantastic because they used our card to get ride photos without the hassle of us giving them our card at every ride. We ended up with thirty plus ride photos for the day so that was fantastic.

We left the VIP area around 9:25. It is somewhat difficult herding that many people but they did wonders. First up was Minions. This was the only ride that our VIP "status" was so obvious. They take us to right where the Express Pass & regular line enters the holding area. We are immediately put into lines & get to see the show/ride. The rest of the rides they took us in the back entrance so nobody really saw us getting to the front of the line.

Next up was Transformers. Some of our group wanted Starbucks and the guides seem to be hanging back a bit to accommodate them. I told them that it was not necessary. If they wanted Starbucks, that was fine but they would just have to meet us at the next ride. The Starbucks crew were mainly non-riders anyway so it was time to go!

It's sort of a whirlwind after that in terms of rides. We rode all the major rides. They take you in the exit to get on the rides so before each ride, they give you the backstory that you would normally get in the queue. Sometimes that made the ride a bit anticlimactic and even confusing (hello Transformers).

After Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, my niece cried "Let's do it again." So I asked the guide if we could go again & we got loaded right back on & went again. It was incredible.

List of Rides:
Minions
Rip Ride Rockit
Gringotts (multiple times)
E.T.
MIB (multiple times)
Revenge of the Mummy (twice)
Simpsons (twice)
Transformers
Spider Man
Cat in the Hat
Doctor Doom
Dudley Do Right (twice)
Hogwarts Express (twice).
Forbidden Journey (three times)
Dragon Challenge (multiple times - that was my fav rollercoaster)


We had lunch at Mythos which was crowded but fine. I thought lunch took too long (1.5 hours). Fifteen people ordering food (including picky kids) takes too long. I felt like we could have sped it up a bit. We stopped for about fifteen minutes for a Butterbeer break but otherwise on the move the entire time. My in-laws & eldest BIL left the group around 3 p.m. to take a rest back at the hotel but the rest of us pressed on. At the end of the tour, my fitbit read 22,000 steps. We tipped them each $100 & went to get the Big Pink & back to the hotel for some pool time. So great.

The VIP tour includes lunch and dinner. We didn't realize the dinner part until the tour date. We could eat in the park or at four different restaurants on CtiyWalk. They gave us a voucher for dinner but never used it. We were just too zonked once we got back to the hotel. We divided that night for dinner with my family eating nachos at the pool (sorry the nachos were salty and underwhelming).

Was the VIP Tour worth it? Considering I didn't pay, I say ABSOLUTELY. That was absolutely amazing. Imagine getting onto every ride almost instantaneously. You just didn't have to worry about a thing. Magical.

Up Next . . . Beach Day & Luau

 

[disappearingme]

Some pics from our VIP Day:

Forgot they also swung us by the Raptor Encounter which was cool but not sure I would have waited in line for it (same with Hogwarts Express).

 

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Day Four Beach & Luau

Departed for Cocoa Beach around 9:30 which put us there at 10:30. That was about the quietest van I have ever traveled in. Everyone was still exhausted from the day before I guess.

We found a spot at the public beach with a pizza place right behind it. We were able to rent some chairs and an umbrella. It was really just perfect. We got pizza for lunch & brought it back to the beach (hello seagulls!). The kids played in the water & we dug sand castles & some of us napped and read. Just a lovely beach day. We departed around 2 p.m. which gave us some time to relax before the luau that night.

Beach time is happy time for my family, especially my husband. So glad we got the time to frolic on the beach.

We hit up the video arcade at the hotel & Mom took a nice hour long bath before getting dressed and going down to the luau. Our room location was the best for the luau but that was about it. Otherwise we were doing lots of walking to the pool & the boat, etc. . . .

My MIL had paid for priority seating (unsure what that meant b/c we were still in line for about a half hour before being seated). We got some wine & beer at the bar but also had them bring the mai thais. I really tried to drink as many as I could but once the show got started, they stopped coming around with the drinks. The show was entertaining (if not a little sexist & homophobic - definitely geared to a different generation). But we thoroughly enjoyed it & enjoyed the food as well (the pork was amazing!). We got some pictures with the entertainers after the show and headed to the pool to swim.

Up Next: Early Entry & Watching NFL at Universal

 

[disappearingme]

Day Five: Early Entry & Chiieeeefs

I was just going to let what happened happen on Sunday morning. If I got up early enough to get the kids up for Early Entry, great. Otherwise, we were just going to go whenever. At 7 a.m. I was up & ready to get them up. They were happy to get up & get moving. My husband opted to hang around the hotel & get coffee. We were headed to the boat but saw the rickshaw & jumped on that instead. $5 for a tip? Not fond of "do what you will" tip situations. Just tell me the price man & I will pay you.

Got us to the line & ready to go through about 7:45. They started letting people in at 7:50 and we headed off to Hogsmeade. It was great to get in early & take a look around. We had some breakfast at Three Broomsticks. The hostess freaked out when she saw our Royals shirts - I mean totally freaked out. We are always excited to share our excitement about the Royals and this was no exception. I gave her one of our World Series lanyards (we had plenty of lanyards) and she gave me a big hug.

We were able to watch Tales of the Beetle Bard which was very well done. We also got some souvenirs (mainly Chocolate frogs). We did spells and generally just drank in the atmosphere. My husband kept texting & asking if he should come over and I was like "forget it - you won't like what we are doing." Silly muggle.

We had agreed to meet at the NBC Restaurant to watch our Chiefs play at 1:00 p.m. We arrived later than the rest of the group & they were already seated. Apparently no problem with the large group & they asked which game we wanted to watch & seated us appropriately. Nice. Food was underwhelming - too salty. Dang I am sounding old about the food. But as a whole, I wasn't that impressed. But who cares? I wasn't there to fine dine; I was there to explore Universal in & out.

We headed back to the Parks after lunch with some of our group staying to watch the game. The Chiefs won! I headed to the Owl Post in Hogsmeade where I sent out eighteen postcards. Also bought ten postcards with just the Hosgmeade postmark. These cards went out all over the world and I was so excited to send it. That night we we rode the Dragon Challenge about six times in a row & also did Forbidden Journey twice right before closing. They basically had to drag me out of there at closing time.

We did get our Duff beers in as well.

Dinner that night was at Antojitos in Citywalk. It was fine but we were all so exhausted, it was sort of hard to enjoy. We sat outside which was great for the people watching. Back to the hotel & some more pool time. I packed me & the kids that night so we it would be easy peazy in the morning. Our flight wasn't until 3 but we were planning on leaving around 11:30 for the airport.


Up Next: Another Early Entry Jaunt & Goodbye Universal

 

[angierae]

I'm kind of sad to hear about the homophobia in the luau. I've got it booked for two and a half weeks from now and now I'm kinda on the fence about canceling. *sigh*