I Like Forbidden Journey, but This Is Ridiculous (March 2016) Updated 6/26 (Last Day)

[macraven]

tell us where you got the cat/hat cookie......mulberry street, is that the sweet shop at the ride exit you go through?
i'm putting it on my fall list of food groups i will get.

 

[soniam]

That's so weird - I took some pictures on Cat in the Hat during our April visit and never heard that announcement - I am a pretty devout rule follower so I definitely would have respected that request. I wonder if it's like WDW and the no photos versus no flash is at the whim of the cast/team member that day

It sounded like a pre-recorded announcement, but it could have just been a TM over a loud speaker. I had taken a decent number of shots before I heard it.

I've been to Toy Joy! I love that place! <3 Now I want to go back!

Are you in Austin or Texas?

tell us where you got the cat/hat cookie......mulberry street, is that the sweet shop at the ride exit you go through?
i'm putting it on my fall list of food groups i will get.

Yes, it's Mulberry St at the exit of the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley. They have a bunch of candy in the window but have a case of baked goods inside. I am so craving one right now

 

[angryduck71]

I'm in Kansas City, but get to go to Austin now and then for work and/or play (my boyfriend played in the last SXSW).

 

[soniam]

Happy Father's Day everyone! I am still digesting from our brunch. I forgot to grab the camera to practice my pics of food. We got DH a Dory Mr. Grumpy gills t-shirt and Enchanted Tiki room globe and print.

 

[soniam]

Day 2 PM - Universal Studios & Cow Fish

We were very excited to eat at Leaky Cauldron for the first time. It's really big with high ceilings and is much better arranged than Three Broomsticks. DH got the stew and enjoyed it. It looked and smelled good. DS got the mac n cheese. I got the fish and chips. They were good but pretty greasy. I, unfortunately, kept tasting it the rest of the day. I was torn on what to get. I recently gave up dairy, grains, corn, rice, and sugar and have add extra protein. I was trying to find the dish with the most amount of protein and the least amount of carbs. I did splurge on vacation, but I wanted to try to follow it as best as I could. I think next time I will try one of the pies. The fisherman's sounds good, but I have read bad reviews of it. Looking back at the menu, I am saddened that we didn't get the sticky toffee pudding Next month, I will try it. I suspect we got a frozen butterbeer to share instead














Next, we had uneventful times at Gringott's, Shrek 4D, and Terminator 2 3D. We did the single rider line at Gringott's. It seemed like we were waiting forever for DH to put our stuff in the lockers. The lockers were all full. He had to wait for one to open up. This was the first time to do the single rider line here. It dumps you immediately at the spiral staircase, skipping most of the queue, including the elevator. So be sure to do the full queue at least once. We always do Shrek at least once, not more than that. It's rough and really not that great. DS loves Terminator. It is really cool to include the animatronics, screen, and live action. They have a really cool gift shop, that has very little to do with T2. They had some T2 and Ghostbusters and Dr Who. DS wanted a stuffed Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man or a Dalek, but we forgot to get one Next month on our adult trip, I am going to get him both, especially with the new movie coming out.

We headed back to the hotel to swim again. Our favorite server, Kelsey, was there again I think I stopped at one drink this time. I had my laptop and was trying to keep up with the boards, but it started to sprinkle. It was just windy enough so that I couldn't find anywhere dry. So, I headed back to the room. Eventually, we all changed for dinner at Cow Fish.

It was about 5pm. We used their app from our room to get on the wait list. I think you have to be within a half mile of the restaurant. We hadn't quite left yet, when we were notified that our table was ready So we headed over, but it had started to monsoon rain. We just ponchoed up. We were seated immediately and of course it stopped raining. I thought about getting the smore shake, but no one else wanted any. I just couldn't bring myself to drink one of those by myself I knew I wanted that bento box. It was just so cool looking. I wanted more sushi than it came with, so DH and I shared the Firecracker Roll, shrimp tempura, yellowtail, salmon, and spicy mayo with ponzu sauce. It was really good. It had a good amount of spice, but not so much that it wasn't enjoyable. I liked the crunch too. To drink, I got the Hokkaido Nights, nectarine vodka, lemongrass syrup, basil, mint, and cucumber. It was sweet, but surprisingly refreshing. DH got the Bourbon and Bacon. He really enjoyed it, especially the candied bacon I got the Cowfish Bento Box with a California roll. I love the little box it came in. The burger wasn't anything special; it's just a little, plain cheeseburger. It fulfilled my beef craving though. The Thai cucumbers were really good. The sweet potato fries were good but not as crispy on the outside as I like. The California roll wasn't particularly unique, but it was a very solid, tasty one. I remember being full, but I ate all of the cucumbers. DH had ???. Yes, it's a mystery. Neither of us can remember what he got, and I didn't take pictures. He vaguely thinks it was the filet & lobster roll. Whatever it was, he remembered liking it. Must take food pictures, must take food pictures. DS got the kid's Ninja Nuggets, fried chicken nuggets, with french fries. He's been on a real chicken nugget kick lately. I don't really make him eat healthy when we are out, because he's such a picky eater anyway. I figure as long as he gets food in him to sustain his energy for the parks, then I can feed him healthy food at home and he can not eat it He didn't even really eat much of his fries, since he barely likes french fries The nuggets looked pretty good though. They had a tempura like batter and were real chicken. All in all the food was good. I would definitely go back, but there are a lot of other places that I want to try first. I like Margaritaville better though. I need to get that smore shake; it's become my white whale\

Next, Day 2 Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures

 

[soniam]

Day 2 PM - Islands of Adventure by Night

We headed back to Islands after dinner. We have never been to IOA at night, and I really wanted to see Hogsmeade lit up. We walked around some and got frozen butterbeer at the Hogshead Pub. The view from the back patio is amazing, and I love the animatronic hog over the bar DS did some magic with his wand, while I took pictures galore. We grabbed another single rider line ride on Forbidden Journey. Another day gone, but one more day to go.






Hogshead Pub



Three Broomsticks









View from Hogshead Pub Back Terrace














Continued...

 

[soniam]

Day 2 PM - Islands of Adventure at Night Continued

More pictures.









DS Concentrating Hard on His Magic Skills






Hogwarts by Night








Next, Final Day

 

[macraven]

i love your pictures !!

your son looks so intense in doing his spells....
you captured him well in that picture.

 

[rteetz]

Awesome pictures! Hogsmeade looks great at night.

I love the photos of your son working his magic. It looks like he is really enjoying himself.

Those hogwarts photos are fantastic.

 

[schumigirl]

Love Hogsmeade at night.......it is so beautiful! You got some lovely pictures there........

And your boy's face........oh my that is concentration!!!

Glad you enjoyed Cowfish........lovely food and sushi was indeed good!

Can't be final day coming up.........

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Love the night photos! I've never been to IOA at night, and look at what I've been missing! It seems like the wands which cast spells are well worth the investment...

Maria

 

[soniam]

i love your pictures !!

your son looks so intense in doing his spells....
you captured him well in that picture.

Thanks. I was pleased with the pics I got of him. I prefer action shots over posed.

Awesome pictures! Hogsmeade looks great at night.

I love the photos of your son working his magic. It looks like he is really enjoying himself.

Those hogwarts photos are fantastic.

Thanks. It's easy to take good pictures when Universal has set such a beautiful scene.

Love Hogsmeade at night.......it is so beautiful! You got some lovely pictures there........

And your boy's face........oh my that is concentration!!!

Glad you enjoyed Cowfish........lovely food and sushi was indeed good!

Can't be final day coming up.........

Thanks. I was pleased with how the night shots turned out. I wish I had gotten pics of Cowfish Reporting on the last day is kind of sad, but we will be back in a month.

Love the night photos! I've never been to IOA at night, and look at what I've been missing! It seems like the wands which cast spells are well worth the investment...

Maria

Thanks. We bought one for DS on the first trip. I liked it so much, that we bought another that DH and I share. It's actually not as easy as it looks, and some of them are phenomenal. The photos do not do them justice at all, especially the ones in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley.

 

[soniam]

Good news! I finally got an AP rate for Hard Rock next month. So now I can go back and take some darn pictures of the hotel We will only be there for a night unfortunately

 

[schumigirl]

Good news! I finally got an AP rate for Hard Rock next month. So now I can go back and take some darn pictures of the hotel We will only be there for a night unfortunately

That is good news!!

Lucky ducky going back so soon..........

 

[soniam]

Day 3 AM - Universal Studios - Last Day

Checked for Rivers of Light again. Still no dice. Hit the park bright and early one last time for early entry and rope drop. We did Minions for the last time this trip and then boogied over to Diagon Alley and Gringott's. Long line again, but it was moving fast. After Gringott's, we had time to kill in Diagon Alley before the rest of the park opened up, since it was still early entry. So I took a ton of pictures. We did more interactive windows too.





























Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor


Next, Last Day at Universal Studios, Continued...

 

[soniam]

Day 3 AM - Universal Studios - Last Day, Continued

Interactive Window









Knockturn Alley



DS in His New Hufflepuff Scarf















For out last day, we hit Men in Black, Simpsons, and Mummy again before heading to Islands. I let DH and DS do Mummy, while I went to get some pressed pennies. We hadn't gotten pennies for Terminator. We said goodbye to Studios until our next trip and took Hogwart's Express for the last time too, to Islands of Adventure I ecstatically found the Jaws penny press machine on the way It's really neat. I loved Jaws as a kid. It was one of my favorite movies, and I never swam in the ocean again I tried to get pics of the pennies, but I need a special lens to really get the details without too much glare.


DS Disneyland and Universal Orlando Pressed Pennies



Next, Last Afternoon at Islands of Adventure

 

[soniam]

Day 3 PM - Islands of Adventure - Last Day

We rode Forbidden Journey again. DH and DS are madmen and rode Dragon Challenge twice. It was a little later than expected, so there was a line for lunch at Three Broomsticks. It wasn't too bad though. I had the Cornish Pasties. I had been looking forward to them, because I had really liked them the last trip. They weren't as good though. There wasn't as much filling, and the filling was a little dry and less flavorful. DH got the Shepherd's Pie, which he enjoyed. It looked good. DS probably got the chicken fingers. We headed out of the park and back to the car parked at the Hard Rock. We had been taking the back way, through the Hard Rock parking lot, to the hotel from the parks. On our last journey back, we saw a sign saying that guests shouldn't go that way. Ooops! I don't know how we missed that on the 4 other trips back to the hotel


Next, Disney World.

Join my WDW trip report.

 

[macraven]

Love your pictures and love that penny collection!!

 

[soniam]

Well, I have unfortunately come to the end of this trip report Luckily, I have the WDW trip report. Also, we will be back at Universal in less than a month now. I am hoping to do a trip report, even though it is only a day and half. I will hopefully get some pics of the hotel and of the food this time. I hope you enjoyed it. Please join my WDW trip report, if you like going to the "Other side"

 

[soniam]

Love your pictures and love that penny collection!!

Thanks. I am hoping to get pics of the other parts of the parks next time. I think I have exhausted most of my urge to take pics of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade I have a collection about the same size as DS. We also have two books from non-Disney/Universal places.