Nana and grandbabies awesome trip to Universal

[Robo56]

Friday, May 20th

Up early this morning for trip to airport in Owensboro. Grandkids and I had our bags packed and we're ready to get this trip started.

We fly Allegiant as that's the only airline around our area.

Had a little turbulence for a short period of the flight, but after that it was a smooth ride into Sandford Orlando.

We picked up our rental car and headed to my home in Vero. Went to Wally World (Walmart) and purchased some snacks and supply's and then it was pool day.

Saturday, May 21st

We slept in then headed to my favorite place for breakfast. Mrs. Mac's Fillin Station. They have the best eggs benedict and grits. We all enjoyed our breakfast then it was off to the outlet mall. Grandson is not a shopper, but he was a good sport about it.

Hey Mac! Thought you would get a kick out of the name

After we had our fill of shopping it was back to the house and the pool.

The grandkids like Mulligans on the beach so we went there for dinner. Always a great meal. After the meal we enjoyed the beach for awhile then it was time to head home.


Sunday, May 22

Slept in and then had a light breakfast this morning. Grandaughter was not feeling well this morning so we had to make a visit to the after hours clinic. Then we were off to the pharmacy. With needed meds in hand and excited grandchildren we headed to Orlando and Universal Studios.

This is our favorite place to vacation. I have been bringing the grandchildren here for years. It just keeps getting better every year

We had to stop for our favorite pizza at Giordano's. It's a must have meal for our first day in Orlando. We love the deep dish pizza there. It takes 45 minutes to bake so you can call ahead and your pizza can be in the oven when you get there.

We are always so happy to be back home at Portofino. We are always welcomed with awesome smiles and great kindness. Anthony is a gem. We all picked the character room cards we wanted. Grandson and I chose the minions and granddaughter chose Harry Potter.



We settled in our room then headed to IOA guest services. Again greeted with a smile. Annual passes in hand we were off to the Big Trading Post store inside IOA. We all picked our lanyards.
Grandson and I chose Minions and granddaughter chose Betty Boop. We loaded our lanyards as we always do with park pass facing one window and Express pass facing the opposite window and room key in the middle.

We then headed over to Spider-man.

IOA was really busy. Express pass made our wait for Spider-Man painless. IOA was getting ready to close so headed for Hogsmeade to catch the Hogwarts Express.

The wait for Hogwarts Express was 45 minutes. We have always walked on in past. Haha, realize we were spoiled now.





We love entering Diagon Alley. It is really something to behold. Never get tired of it.

Diagon Alley was packed with people this evening. We wanted to ride one of our fav rides so we were off to Escape from Gringotts. Single rider line made this ride pretty quick. Regular line had 35 minute wait.

Sun was going down when we left Diagon Alley. The majority of the people at Universal Studios were in Diagon Alley. As soon as we stepped out of Diagon a gentle breeze kicked up and the rest of the evening was gorgeous. We walked on MIB and grandson hit the Simpsons as the park was closing.

We decided that we wanted to go to our favorite place for sushi Orchid lounge at RPR. Sushi and service were great. Sorry I should have taken pics, but the crew couldn't wait.

After our late dinner we went back to City walk then switched boats and were on our way to Portofino.

There is a shuttle van that will take you to and from the restaurants at The resorts, but we decided to enjoy the boat ride instead.

Time to turn in after a long full day.

 

[Lynne G]

Great start Robo. Pizza is always a kids' favorites too, and my kids prefer the Portofino.

Can't wait to hear more about your adventures in the parks.

 

[schumigirl]

Yay........a Robo trip report...........may take me a while to catch up......but looking forward to reading it!! Yep, DA is indeed an assault on the senses.........

Can't wait to read along........

 

[Kivara]

Sounds like a great first day!

 

[Robo56]

Monday, May 23rd

No early risers in this crew. We slept in. Decided on breakfast at Starbucks at Portofino then over to Universal Studios.

Minions was the first ride of the day. As always a fun start. Who doesn't love the Minions. We had a wait of about 20 minutes with our Express passes. The regular line was pretty long and the wait time for that was at 55 minutes.

Then we were off to the Mummy. Parks are really busy again today. Can't complain about weather. Sun is warm and there is a gentle breeze. That is good for Orlando in May.

Took HE over to IOA.

We had lunch at Mythos.



As always food and service were great. They have a new spinach dip with baked pita wedges. We tried that and it was very good.


After lunch we were off to Jurassic Park River Adventure. Grandson wanted the front row. Needless to say we were soaked good. We rode it two times for good measure.

Then we were off to the Lost Continent. We went to Treasures of Poseidon and grandson wanted to pick a pearl. He picked a oyster that had a lovely 6 mm pearl. We had it set into a ring for granddaughter.


Hogsmeade was the next stop. Always have to stop in HoneyDukes to look around.

Our must haves from HoneyDukes

 

[Robo56]

Hey! Lynne, Schumi and Kivara. Welcome to our trip report. Thanks for reading along.

 

[Lynne G]

Great pictures Robo. Love that the kids like to do everything.

I cannot ever stop going to the candy store. I love the chocolate frogs and all the neat packaging. I still use the glass jar from the sours for candy in my office. It's just the right size.

That dip looks delicious. May have to try it if it's still around in October. Mythos is always a good place to eat.

 

[Robo56]

Tuesday, May 24th

Had our breakfast at Starbucks and headed over to catch the boat to Universal.

Sun is warm again today and there is a nice breeze. As we were getting off the boat I looked up at the bridge that leads to Universal Studios and there was a sea of people heading into the park.

Crowds are still heavy.

Grandkids decided to start our day in Universal Studios. So over to Transformers we went and it was not running. TM's said it would be down for about a hour. Some of the Transformers were out for pics though.

Bubblebee came out and was dancing to Metallica. The kids thought that was pretty cool.

Grandson informed me that Megatron was a a very bad transformer.

Later we returned and rode Transformers 3 times. Express Pass again helped make getting on this ride easy.

Then we were off to MIB. Granddaughter was the winner in points on this one today.

We decided to ride ET next. Always fun to do this ride with the grandkids.

We took in the Blues Brothers show. We always enjoy this show it is so fun to watch everyone dancing in the street from little kiddos to grandmas and grandpas. Grandson is not shy about dancing. He was right in the middle of the dancing.

After Blues brother we decided to do Mummy and then to Gringotts single rider line. We love this ride.

We took the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade. I have to be honest. There were so many people waiting to get on the train we were herded in like cattle. It is necessary from a logistic standpoint to get as many people in a cabin as possible, but it was a little sweaty and close. I think I mentioned before that we were spoiled in the past because we never had to wait to get on the Hogwarts Express. We basically walked on in the past. Last two years I noticed more activity during the time we go in May. This year was no exception. There were even more people this year.

It doesn't change our love of Universal. Just have to go with the flow. Universal is growing and changing.

We had ressies at Confisco Grille for lunch. Was concerned with all the people in the parks not to have ressies for certain places this trip. Food was good and we had great service.





We had the nachos as a appetizer. Grandson had the beef dip sandwhich and fries. Granddaughter had Pad Thai and I had chicken fajitas.

We stopped and shopped our Potter souvenirs at the Islands of Adventure Trading Company. It's the big store located on the left when you enter the park. I always have the grandchildren decide what things they want around the parks and then we buy them all at one time and I get the larger discount with AAA because I bought my Florida Perferred pass from them this year.

Bought the pass before the increase in prices when they had the extra three months added to the annual pass for a total of fifteen months. Was a sweet deal. The discount card from AAA is good for a year.

After our shopping we went back to Portofino for some pool time.

 

[Robo56]

Tuesday, May 24th continued

Rested from the parks and fun at the pool we headed over on the boat to CityWalk for dinner at Margaritaville





I had the nachos. Pictures do not do justice to this pile of nachos. This is big enough to share as a appetizer for 6 people. I didn't even put a dent in this plate, but it was still yummy. Grandkiddos had fish dinner and the portions were large. Service was great and as usual music was fun.

After dinner we decided to go back into IOA and rode Spider-Man and rode HE over to Diagon Alley rode Gringotts then went back to Portofino per boat.


We had gelato on the piazza. The small is plenty. I noticed the gelato was a little different and they said they had changed the company they were getting it from. It was good, but noticed
it was not as creamy as before. It was nice to set around the table and enjoy each other's company. There was a nice breeze this evening again and we saw the fireworks from where we were sitting.

Staying onsite just makes the experience so much more less hurried and relaxing. This is why we keep coming back to Universal. Great rides, great food, great accomadations with great service and friendly park employees. What's not to love.

We were tired and ready for a good nights sleep after a full day.

 

[Robo56]

Wednesday, May 25th


We started the day at the Trattoria at Portofino for breakfast. This is a buffet breakfast. They have a station were they have a chef making to order omelets. They have a fruit station, French toast, pancakes, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, pastries, a selection of breads, biscuits and gravy etc. I will be honest. This was a free breakfast. We had eaten here before. The food is ok, but I would not have paid to eat here again.

My grandson put his bagel in the grill toaster and I heard him laughing and looked over and he said his bagel came flying out of the grill toaster because they had forgotten to pull out the catch tray. Nothing like flying bagels to start the morning

After breakfast we were off to the boat. Grandkids wanted to start the day in Universal Studios. We rode Transformers, Minions, did Shrek, ET, MIB and The Mummy.

We decided to go to the Mall's this afternoon. Took the boat back to Portofino and hopped in the car and headed over to Mall at Millenia.

We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. The food here is always good.



Granddaughter and I had the Chicken Madeira and grandson had a burger and fries. We decided to have dessert after our lunch. Grandson wanted the chocolate torte cake and granddaughter wanted strawberry cheese cake.
The picture of the chocolate cake is misleading. It was huge. We all shared the desserts and there was still some left. Everything we had was delicious.

Then it was onto shopping. Granddaughter found some sandals at Michael Kors then we were on our way to have a mooch (as Schumi would say) around Chanel, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton.
When we were done with our look around Chanel granddaughter wanted a picture outside Chanel. The security guy photo bombed us. We all had a good laugh including the two security guys in Chanel.

Then we were off to the Premium outlet Mall. We shopped some things at Vera Bradley. We like the crossbody bags there. They are really light weight for traveling and carrying in the parks. We always find something in the Vera store.

We then decided to go over to the Florida Mall. Three Malls in one afternoon sounds like a lot, but we had pretty much decided what stores we were going to shop at so it made the hunt easy.

After a long day we drove back to Portofino rested a little then caught the boat over to HardRock for dinner.

After dinner we went over to Universal Studios. The grandkiddos rode RRR, Transformers, MIB then to Diagon Alley and of course our fav ride Escape from Gringotts.





These pics were taken in Borgin and Burkes.

 

[Robo56]

Wednesday, May 25th continued

Some pics at Escape from Gringotts our final ride of the evening.






After Gringotts, Diagon Alley was closing so we left in time to get a nice spot for the Cinematic Spectacular.

Another beautiful evening with a nice breeze.

This was the nicest weather we have ever had at Universal over the last few years during this time in May. Nice sunny days with a gentle breeze. For folks who are not from the south it might have been hot. For those of us from the south it was beautiful.

Headed back to the boats for trip back to Portofino. There were a lot of people standing in line for the boats to return to the resorts. Will give compliment to Universal for handling the increased crowds with quick fill in boats to get everyone back to their resorts in a timely fashion.

All the resorts were sold out while we were there so that might give you an idea of the amount of folks that were waiting for the boats.

We always walk through the the big stores in IOA (Trading Post) and Universal Studios when we are on our way out of the parks at closing. I always see something new

I had never seen these charm bracelets before. They have one for each house of Hogwarts.
There are three charms on them.

They also have watches.

I liked these luggage tags.

 

[Robo56]

Thought I would add a few more pics on neat merchandise at the stores




They have the Kong merchandise out.

Love the animals.

Always a nice selection of pins.
And grandkiddos pointed this out to me at the Port of Entry Christmas shoppe in IOA.


Can't forget the Minion apples.

We always gets questions about souvenirs so thought these might help.

 

[Lynne G]

Awesome pictures Robo. You did a lot with the kids. All the food pictures are making me hungry. Food is always a good part of a vacation. So nice to try places and food not usually eaten at home.

Loving your TR.

 

[Robo56]

Thursday, May 26th

Had a leisurely morning. Went to Starbucks and had coffee. I' am not really a big breakfast fan unless it's the occasional trip to Mrs. Mac's for breakfast. Grandkiddos like the breakfast sandwiches and beverages at Starbucks.
Made gold status level on my Starbucks woot woot


Granddaughter helped me load my cards on my Starbucks app on my phone and showed me how to use my phone to pay.

You can teach an old dog new tricks after all

After coffee we caught the boat and went to IOA.

Hogsmeade was our first pick to start the morning.







Hogs Head Pub



Some beverages for sale on the carts in Hogsmeade


First ride of the day was Forbidden Journey, then onto Dragons Challenge did a walk through Honeydukes


Then over to Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley

 

[Robo56]

Thursday, May 26th continued

We rode Gringotts then wondered around Diagon Alley







The grandkids wanted to ride the Mummy so we left Diagon Alley.

I did not know that Universal had a medical team on hand in the parks. I'am always amazed by Universal.

They provided some assistance to a youngman from England who was in need of some help.
Hope he did well and he and his family were able to resume their vacation.



For those nostalgic souls who have been coming to Universal like me for years Bull's Gym in Universal Studios still sells
I Love Lucy, Jaws and BeetleJuice souvenirs.



We decided to have lunch at Lombards. In the past when we have eaten here we did make a reservation, but even with the increased crowds of people they did not seem busy at all and were able to accommodate us getting a table in short order.

We were seated in the upstairs dining room. We had never been here before. We have always sat in downstairs dining area. It was nice and quite and a cool reprieve from the warm sun.

We all had seafood dishes.....LOL....I thought I had taken pics, but guess not. I could not find them. Food was good and our server was very attentive.

After lunch the grandkids wanted to ride RRR. Decided to sit this one out as I have to let the food settle a little before the riding starts again.

I did a walk around the inside of Monsters Cafe. It was not busy as it was well after lunch. I love horror flicks especially the old ones as you can tell by my avatar. There are some neat nooks in this cafe to have a meal and enjoy the pics. When its crammed with people it loses it ambiance. I took some pics to share

 

[Robo56]

Thursday, May 26 continued






Ok. I think I sorta have that out of my system now. That will have to hold me over until my trip to HHN this year

We decided to take HE back to Hogsmeade and do a some more rides then back to Portofino for a rest.

We really enjoyed riding HE between the two Potter parks. I know I have read others who are questioning whether having park to park tickets are worth it. YES THEY ARE. First of all if you are a Potter fan Hogwarts Express is a must to complete the experience. Second, we park hopped everyday and enjoyed not being limited in our ride options or dining options.

The grandkids decided what park they wanted to start out at in the morning and we moved between each park as the day progressed.

That is another reason why Universal is so special to us. The parks are very to close to each other and there are plenty of rides and attractions to choose from.

The resorts are fabulous and this is a safe and secure place to have a great time with your family. There was never any rush to be at any certain ride at any certain time.

There were some questions on the boards some weeks ago about increased security at Universal. Having just returned from Universal I can tell you. I was pleased to see that Universal had implemented increased measures to make sure all their guests have a safe and fun time while visiting.

As an onsite resort guest you have to be wanded and your bags looked into before boarding their vessels. The security people are very kind and professional. In this ever changing world we live in knowing those extra security measures are in place are comforting to me and no inconvenience at all.

Love the cute wagon that was pulled by the Thestrals that only Luna and Harry could see.


The grandkiddos wanted some treats from HoneyDukes. We bought a Cauldron cake, Pumkin cake, and Carmel Apple to sample. The Cauldron cake was good and the Pumkin cake tasted like spice cake to me and the Carmel on the Carmel Apple did not have much flavor to it. Overall we enjoyed the sampling and we were off to the catch the boat back to Portofino for some pool time.

After pool time and a little rest we caught the boats over to Royal Pacific for our Character meal at the Islands dining room. Scooby and Shaggy were there

We started out with the spring rolls then the grandkids had the buffet and I had General Tso chicken.


Food was plentiful and tasty and service was great. The characters were very attentive and visited every table and spent a nice amount of time and were not rushed. Was a nice treat.

After dinner we went to IOA and rode Spider-man, Dr Doom Fearfall then to HE for a ride over to Diagon Alley. We did Escape From Gringotts and left Diagon and rode MIB, Mummmy, ET then back to the boats for Portofino after a full day.

 

[Robo56]

Friday, May 27th

Started our morning as usual at Starbucks for breakfast on piazza at Portofino. The grandkiddos getting their breakfast sandwhiches and beverages and me getting my morning fuel of caffeine.


Today we decided we would start out the day at the pool and stay until we felt we had enough sun and water. We went to the beach pool at our resort Portofino and were able to get 3 chairs together and an umbrella so we would have the option to get out of the sun when needed.

We had lunch at the pool from Splendido. We had a fruit platter and some sandwhiches. All the food was tasty and fresh.

After an afternoon of pool fun. We had a nice rest in the room. Then decided to catch the boat over to IOA. We rode Spider-man and did Poseidon. The belly's were rumbling and we wanted a gyro and went to the fire eaters grille and it was 5:55pm and they close at 6:00pm. The girl said they were closing. So no gyros.

We then decided to take HE over to Universal and we ate at Louie's.

After dinner rode Minions, did Shrek, RRR, MIB, Mummy, and Escape from Gringotts. We rode Transformers 3 times and it was time for the Cinematic Spectacular.

When the show was over we left the park and heard the DJ on the water at CityWalk. Grandson danced to his hearts content. When he was done dancing we caught the boat for Portofino and a good nights sleep.

 

[Robo56]

Saturday, May 28th

After having read a trip report by Schumigirl awhile back. I made arrangements to take the grandchildren to the Orlando Eye. I went online and they had a package ticket for the Eye, Wax museum, and Sea Life Aquarium.

When you purchase your tickets online they give you a some times to choose from and I chose 10:30 am.

So we got up and had our breakfast needs taken care of at Starbucks. I decided to be lazy today and we took the car hire over to the Eye.

Granddaughter did not like the Eye so well. I told her this was nothing compared to Dr. Doom and RRR. She still did not care for it. Grandson and I on the other hand enjoyed it. It gave me a good view of the land around that area of Orlando. I was supprised to see plenty of green space and horses on undeveloped land yet.


You can see the horses in the lowers left side of picture.

Our next stop was the wax museum

Does anyone recognize this fellow. I'am a science geek. Was glad to see his wax figure here.

After we had our fill of the wax museum we went to the Sea Life Aquarium.

Then onto lunch at the Sugar Factory. They have an extensive menu with lots of options.

The first option was choosing one of the fun drinks. The grandkids chose the Lollipop Passion. You can get the drink with or without alcohol.

They do make a show of the presentation. The waitress brings the drink glass to the table with the ice in the glass and candy then pours the juice mixture over the ice and it bubbles away to the glee of the kiddos.



It was pretty tasty. It had two big lollipops in it and a candy necklace. If I remember correctly the price without alcohol was $ 26.00 with alcohol it was $ 32.00.

We had sandwiches for lunch


I had the club sandwich grandkids chose burgers. Food was ok and portions were plentiful.

After lunch there was no room for desert, but we did build a sampling in a Sugar Factory container of goodies from the candy wall.

 

[Robo56]

Saturday, May 28th continued




This is a not a quiet place to eat, but the grandkids enjoyed it and that's what matters.

Grandson wanted one of the Lollipops they showed in the pictures on the walls with all the movie, music and reality stars licking on them. . They had sequined handles. I picked up one of the boxes and it was $26.00 for one Lollipop

$ 26.00 for a dollop of sugar on a stick was a bit much. We took a pass on that besides they had two big lollipops from the drink left to finish.

The grandkids had a nifty idea for their lollipops they took drink cups to go with water and put their lollipops in their drinks through the straw hole and enjoyed their lollipops for awhile longer.

We had a good time. I will return with sisters and niece in September for the adult beverage options.

Thanks Schumigirl for the idea

We called the car hire and went back to Portofino for some pool time.

 

[Robo56]

Saturday, May, 28th continued

After some fun at the pool we caught the boat over to CityWalk for dinner at Cowfish. Granddaughter had wanted to eat here. We had some sushi as a appetizer and then we all ordered bento boxes.

Everything was very tasty. I had never had edamame before. I put the whole bean skin and all in my mouth and it was awful. My granddaughter told me you are supposed to suck the beans out of the skin....LOL....ok the beans tasted better out of the skin. So I schucked all the beans out of the skin by hand (forget the sucking the beans out) I looked around the dining area and it looked like everyone was nursing tiny bean pods...LOL...and of course they were
Grandson and I made a game out of picking up the beans with our chopsticks much to granddaughters amusement

The sushi was very good and the sweet potato fries we're the best I have ever had.

We had a great time visiting and enjoying our meal at Cowfish. Will return here again for sure.

This was our last evening at Universal so we wanted to make the best of the time we had left. We decided to go to IOA after dinner and ride Spider-man. It was another warm evening with a gentle breeze.

After Spider-man the grandkids did Doctor Dooms Fearfall. Next they wanted to get wet. So off they were to Popeye and Bluto's Bilge barge. They rode this twice and they were soaked. From there they ran to Dudley Do-Rights Ripshaw falls. They rode this two times and were dripping wet when they were done. The park was close to closing time and they wanted to run and ride the Jurassic Park River Adventure. They rode it twice front row.

We decided to walk through Hogmeade as this was our last evening. We took Macs advice and closed down the park. It was cool walking through Hogsmade in the dark. No one there but two dripping wet grandkids and a happy Nana.