If Grandma's riding it can't be too bad... 12/20 Wrap up: Travelling home, souvenirs

[natebenma]

Mmmmmmm.... Finnegan's looks great!!! The reviews I have read have all been favorable, so I think the next time we are in US we will try it, instead of Lombards.

Coconut crème dessert shot? Yes, please!

Great way of looking at the tip mistake.

Cool Halloween costumes. Jake from State Farm- that's really clever! My son and his best friend were Hobbits (Bilbo and Samwise), but they had to keep explaining to people that they weren't vampires

Clearly, my neighborhood is not "Geek-enough"

Thanks for the info on the photo-ops.

 

[schumigirl]

Finnegans does look good........we missed it out again this year, but will aim for next year for sure.

Like the outfits too

 

[tink1957]

Joining in on the fun.

Love the bread and fish & chips at Finnegans...its a must do for us every trip.

Great report so far

 

[-Hope-]

Mmmmmmmm - raspberry cheesecake! Sounds divine!
I bet you made that housekeeper's day!

The cheesecake was fantastic! And I hope it made her day- that's my only comfort!

Mmmmmmm.... Finnegan's looks great!!! The reviews I have read have all been favorable, so I think the next time we are in US we will try it, instead of Lombards.

Coconut crème dessert shot? Yes, please!

We enjoyed it, especially the bread and fish 'n chips. And I didn't try the coconut creme but my mom liked it a lot.

Great way of looking at the tip mistake.

Cool Halloween costumes. Jake from State Farm- that's really clever! My son and his best friend were Hobbits (Bilbo and Samwise), but they had to keep explaining to people that they weren't vampires

Clearly, my neighborhood is not "Geek-enough"

Vampires?!

Samwise is my favorite fictional character EVER! (Well, tied for favorite with The Doctor.) We don't live in a geeky enough area either, only one house Kya went to knew who she was. She was a bit disappointed, especially because at Universal the kids got loads of comments about their Doctor Who shirts.

Thanks for the info on the photo-ops.

You're welcome!

Joining in on the fun.

Love the bread and fish & chips at Finnegans...its a must do for us every trip.

Great report so far

That bread and apple butter was fantastic!

 

[-Hope-]

After lunch we wanted to squeeze in a few more attractions before we left for our afternoon break so we walked back toward the Hollywood area which we'd basically just breezed past in the morning. On the walk of fame mom stopped to get a pic with one of her favorites...


I may have mentioned once or twice that I'm a sucker for the nostalgia factor. When I was a kid we used to watch Magnum PI as a family and my mom had the biggest crush on Tom Selleck.

We kept walking and bumped into a couple of ladies Kya had really been looking forward to meeting...




Kya really does love Lucy so this was a real treat for her. She's not as familiar with Marilyn but knew enough to enjoy the interaction. Lucy was great and really impressed with having her own page in Kya's autograph book. She also noticed that we had the page for assorted characters we met without their own page marked with "Dumbledore's Army" instead of simply "Autographs" at the top. She commented that Marilyn was really lucky to be on that page and part of the DA. She made lots of Lucy-esque jokes that I can't remember now but she was a hoot and Kya enjoyed the interaction with both of these ladies.

After meeting Lucy we walked across the street to her tribute...


There were some fun and interesting displays in here including actual wardrobe and props, video taped interviews with cast members as well as their kids, and a model of the set. Jace found the model really interesting because he's always curious about behind the scenes things from movies and TV.

When we left the Lucy tribute the kids really wanted to find the shop I'd read about that sells Doctor Who stuff. I knew it was near T2 3D but wasn't exactly sure where. As we were looking we noticed the line for Shrek was really short so we hopped in line. This was a cute 4D show with rumbly seats, once again my mom had to find the stationary seats. She was always a good sport about this but I could tell that having to constantly do things alone was a bit bothersome.

After Shrek we were once again on the lookout for a shop with Sci-fi stuff. I finally said we should just go to T2 and perhaps it would be the shop the show pushed us out into. Seemed like a good plan but we were sidetracked along the way when we were approached by a mysterious man and woman in black.


The woman walked up to Jace saying, "Sir, sir, excuse me, sir. A man in a blue box told me to find you and that you should meet him at 4:00 PM. He said you'd know who he is and what this is in reference to."



This was SUCH a great character interaction! It was especially great because THEY approached US! They both kept making veiled references to Doctor Who and then walked us over to the shop we'd been searching for. When I commented that we'd been looking for it a hilarious conversation followed that implied we'd been there before but had been neuralized.

There was also a pretty funny exchange when we asked for a pic and they handed out the little toy guns for the pic. As the woman pulled out the first one she asked which of the kids was most responsible. Kya said, "I am," at the exact same moment that Jace said, "She is!" At least he's honest!

The kids were happy and excited to finally be in the shop but we noticed the crowd from T2 pouring out so we decided to go to the show and then look around as we exited.

The T2 show was okay. It was a mix of 3D screens and live action blended in a way so at times the live actors appeared to be standing on things that were on screens. It was well done and while I could take it or leave it Jace liked it a lot, especially the blending of live and filmed action.

After the show we looked around the shop for a bit. The kids each got a shirt and Jace also got Volume 1 of the Walking Dead. We've been watching the show but he hadn't read the comics so was excited to compare the two.

We'd had a full morning and early afternoon with good food, fun rides and great character interactions. We were all tired and ready for a break.

Up next... back to Springfield!

 

[Tinker326]

Great photos from the face characters. We always had a lot of luck with the face characters at Universal. And they are never mobbed with people or usually even a line. (if so it's like one person behind or in front of us!).

Fun updated.... My hubby LOVES that shop where you got the MIB picture. He's a huge Terminator fan. Like- Huge. Like constantly quotes it until I give him that 'look' that says STOP!

 

[-Hope-]

Great photos from the face characters. We always had a lot of luck with the face characters at Universal. And they are never mobbed with people or usually even a line. (if so it's like one person behind or in front of us!). Fun updated.... My hubby LOVES that shop where you got the MIB picture. He's a huge Terminator fan. Like- Huge. Like constantly quotes it until I give him that 'look' that says STOP!

Yes, the face characters were great! And no lines makes it possible to see so many.

We loved that shop. We're a family of sci-fi geeks so this place was amazing to us. And the guy who checked us out was an even bigger Who fan than I am so it was fun to chat with him.

 

[schumigirl]

We loved that shop. We're a family of sci-fi geeks so this place was amazing to us. And the guy who checked us out was an even bigger Who fan than I am so it was fun to chat with him.

Nice update Hope.......my DH is a massive Dr Who fan too.........me, not so much but they do have some cool stuff in that store

 

[-Hope-]

Nice update Hope.......my DH is a massive Dr Who fan too.........me, not so much but they do have some cool stuff in that store

Not a Doctor Who fan!?! I love, love, LOVE Doctor Who. Though I have to admit that I don't really like the old series pre-reboot. Shhh... Don't tell anyone. This is the Whovian equivalent of being a muggle.

 

[-Hope-]

Oh man, I feel like such a slacker when it comes to this TR! In the summer/early fall I had loads of time on my hands but not much to say on my PTR and now I find myself with loads to say and extremely busy with work and kids stuff. Murphy's law I suppose!

Anyway, after we saw T2 we decided it was time for a break. Mom and Kya had a nap, Jace read his new graphic novel and I... argued with the rental car company. I didn't realize they were going to place a $250 hold on my debit card even though the rental fee was only $100. I'm still annoyed by this but there was nothing to be done about it.

So, after everyone else was rested and I was worked up we were all ready for some more fun in the park! We headed back to the studios and found our seats for the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review just as the show was starting. This show was loads of fun with pop covers, dancing, cute costuming and campy humor. I highly recommend it!






This show highlighted another big difference between UO and WDW for me. The jokes and costuming were just a bit more mature, geared more toward teens than younger kids. I really felt this way about the park in general, especially during character interactions, but this show personified it really well for me.

After the show we made our way around the park back to Springfield, USA. We'd heard great things about the Simpson's Ride so we we hopped in line for it first. (And you can see that Kya changed into her new DW shirt while we took our afternoon break.)


What a fun ride! It's a pure motion simulator, not a ride/simulator combo like Spiderman but loads of fun. We were crashing our way through Krustyland with the cast of the show and we enjoyed it a lot! Unfortunately my mom had to sit this one out. She said she was going to go grab a beer while we were riding but she ended up just waiting for us in the shop near the ride exit.

Next we rode the newly opened Kang and Kodo's




This was a cute, Dumbo style ride that Mom could do with us. There were corny alien jokes and the ride was set up so you could try to lower and raise your riding car to pass in front of certain sensors to hear different phrases from the Simpson's cast. We enjoyed it a lot but liked the one in Seuss Landing more simply because we missed the water element on this one.

At this point we were hungry and ready to explore Moe's and Krusty Burger!




Once inside there is seating in both a Krusty Burger themed area as well as Moe's. The food choices also include Cletus's Chicken Shack and Lisa's Teahouse of Horror (I think there may be more but I can't remember right now). It's set up like many theme park restaurants where you can order from the various restaurants but then pay at one counter. We had used all of our CS credits on our DP at this point but were able to use drink credits for the kids and my soda. Mom got a Duff beer so she had to pay OOP for her beer. :drink:

Kya got Chicken Toes from Cletus's. It came with tater tots, which she doesn't like, and there were no substitutions. She just ordered some corn on the cob and didn't eat them.


My mom and Jace both got a Krusty Burger with a side of curly fries.


I got the Chicken and Waffles from Cletus's


Everyone thought the food was okay. Nothing special but not bad either. The Chicken and Waffles was a little dry but with the special sauce they give you (mayo and syrup, maybe??) it was okay. My mom really enjoyed the Duff beer; she said it tasted like draft even though she saw them pour it from a bottle.

We ate in the Moe's area and I had to get some pics. It was themed really well and was like actually be in the tavern. (All of these pics, food and all, came out blurry because of the lighting inside, sorry)










After we finished eating we had a little time to kill before Cinematic Spectacular and the kids wanted to ride Despicable Me one more time. Mom decided to sit it out this time so the kids and I rode. Still loads of fun!

When we left DM it had started to sprinkle a bit but we made our way to the lagoon anyway for the show. It was about to start and I knew we were giving up prime seating by taking the time to ride DM but the kids said they'd rather ride than have good seats so that's what we did. The show is a combination of a few fireworks mixed with iconic movie images projected onto water screens on the lagoon and it's all narrated by Morgan Freeman.

Sorry, I don't have great pics. It started to rain more and we had to pull out our ponchos so the camera and phones pretty much didn't get pulled out after the first few minutes.


This was an okay show for us. We aren't really fireworks people (I know it's DIS blasphemy to admit it but I even find Wishes kind of boring) and I thought the movie clips would make it more interesting for us but it didn't. Maybe if it hadn't been raining. I don't know. We didn't stay until the end and started making our way back to CityWalk. I'd wanted to avoid the mass exodus after the show and thought we'd accomplished that but as we passed the bathroom we had to make a stop.

As we left the bathroom we ran smack into the crowd who'd been watching CS and we all walked out together. But, unlike WDW, it wasn't so bad. The park exits directly to CW so the crowd dissipates. We had some souvie shopping to do anyway and we grabbed a few things from the NASCAR shop (which also has football and other sports themed items) for my hubby and brother.

Then we were finally headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow was our last park day as well as travel so we needed a good night's rest! Unfortunately we also still needed to pack a bit and had to get our postcards ready for the owl post so it was actually kind of late when we actually got to sleep but it had been a fun and productive day so no complaints- we slept when we got home!

Up next... some wet and wild fun at IOA!

 

[macraven]

still with youse Hope on your trippie!

 

[-Hope-]

still with youse Hope on your trippie!

Good to know because I'm really dragging my feet!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Duff's looks awesome!! So the Krusty burger was just ok? That's disappointing, but it looks like the theming was awesome! I'm gonna ignore that blasphemous comment about Wishes!

 

[-Hope-]

Duff's looks awesome!! So the Krusty burger was just ok? That's disappointing, but it looks like the theming was awesome! I'm gonna ignore that blasphemous comment about Wishes!

Yep, pretty much a standard theme park burger with gooey cheese sauce on top. Oh well, I kind of knew that going in but everyone (including me) wanted to eat there just because of the theming. And, I've prob uttered worse blasphemy but I'm glad you're giving me a pass this time.

 

[mrsabbott]

I am still following along!! Love the pics!!

We love fireworks.. Well, Hubs doesn't care for them much because they remind him of mortar fire. He is usually ok if he mentally prepares himself, so hopefully we can stay to see them! He did ok at Wishes back in 2009.

Question.. Did you happen to notice if there was a veggie burger option in the food courts?

 

[macraven]

Good to know because I'm really dragging my feet!

the reason i don't do trippies is it would take me 10 months to finish them.
and i doubt many would read them.

 

[-Hope-]

I am still following along!! Love the pics!! We love fireworks.. Well, Hubs doesn't care for them much because they remind him of mortar fire. He is usually ok if he mentally prepares himself, so hopefully we can stay to see them! He did ok at Wishes back in 2009. Question.. Did you happen to notice if there was a veggie burger option in the food courts?

I don't specifically remember a veggie burger but I'm pretty sure there were vegetarian options at Lisa's Teahouse of Horror.

The fireworks are not loud like some shows we've been to, at least I didn't feel like they were. If your hubby did okay with Wishes I think CS should be okay.

 

[-Hope-]

the reason i don't do trippies is it would take me 10 months to finish them. and i doubt many would read them.

I'm sure you'd have readers! My views count is much higher than my post count. I figure someone might benefit from some nugget of info. But mostly I just like having the documentation. Even if it takes forever.

 

[macraven]

don't you wish you were back in orlando now.........


it's warm there and cold here.

 

[-Hope-]

I usually wish I was in Orlando, the weather is just one more reason.