~~ Sew your Disney side Alli-son-son!! ~~ Allison's grad trip Jan 2016 ~~ Complete 2/22

[DMGeurts]

Day 6 Part 2

Wasting as much time as we could before we were let into the theater for Cirque... We took pictures of the area, and continued to wander.

Once the gates were open - we were one of the very first people let it... We found our seats easily enough... And in hindisght - I was very happy with the seat recommendations I received from my friends here - we had section 205, row JJ, seats 9 & 10.

There were these clowns that ran around entertaining guests as sort of a "pre-show", they were pretty funny...

A few things...

First of all - there are NO pictures allowed once the show starts. They are VERY strict about this, because the screens can be a very dangerous distraction for the performers. At one point, there was someone below us, who had their cell out to take pictures and someone came and made them shut it off. We were told, if we were caught taking pictures, we'd be removed from the theater. The above person wasn't - but I am sure there were no second warnings.

At one point - at the very beginning of the show, these horrible people came and sat right in the open seats next to Allison - they were loud, obnoxious and we are guessing, they were drunk too. Just terrible and very rude. I felt so bad, because Allison paid a LOT of her own hard earned $$ for this show, she was so excited to see it - and if these people ruined her experience for her, I would have been very angry. As it turned out, they were seat jumpers - so they only stayed in those seats for about 15 minutes - then they jumped to their next best seats... We were very glad to have them gone!

Anyways - due to the no photo rule... I have no photos.

But I did take a few to use off of the internet (I will give photo credit to the photographers) - there are just so few pictures out there because of this...

First off - this photo is of the Silks... I used this photo from Allears.net.

The rest of these photos come from the official Cirque Du Soleil website...

I really loved "The Titan" - he was really cool to watch.

The show was about 90 minutes long, with various acts. My favorite part of the show, honestly, was the music. Allison and I didn't realize until the show was almost over, that all of the music was played live... And the music was just as you'd imagine it would be in a true Circus... It was really cool!

The one thing both Allison and I agreed that we didn't like, was the lights. They had a lot of really BRIGHT spot lights that would flash on and off, sometimes over the crowd and sometimes into our eyes... We did not like that at all. It happened a lot over the course of the show - and there was even one entire act where the spot light was in my eyes for the entire act - so I really couldn't see the stage. So, that was a big bummer.

I am glad we went to the early show though - I don't think I would have been able to stay awake for the late show?

One final picture from my camera...

The show let out at 7::30pm... The SoG bus picked up right behind the Cirque theater - this worked out perfectly for us, it was so convenient. Any other time we were at DTD, it was a big inconvenience - because we spend most of our time on the East end... but this time, it was nice.

We were back to the resort at 8pm. We hung out in our room, and we were in bed by 9pm. We needed our beauty sleep for Harry Potter tomorrow!

Link to Day 7 Part 1

D~​

 

[Terkina]

I'm glad to hear the horrible people that sat beside Allison walked to some other seats after a while.
How great that they had live music.
The lights in the show doesn't sound nice, but I hope Allison thought it was worth it to see the show.

 

[Sweetly]

Boy did you park hop. We usually do that all the time when we go. Only if it's the two of us.
I can't believe that Cindy had a trunk full of VB. What a VB shoppers delight.
I can't believe that Alli performed surgery on the "sterile" ground. That is something my daughter would do. Nothing bothers her. She didn't get it from me.
Cirque du Soleil looks like it was a great show. Shame about the lights, but I guess that is part of the show.
Santos is a great sport! So nice of him to join up with you and hit the rides.
I did SM once and never again. I got so sick. Next time I'll hold the bags. Then again, I do that on ToT too! You can usually find me on the park bench eating a pretzel holding everyone's stuff.
You can laugh all you want about the dinosaurs. I find it hilarious that she is that afraid.
Enjoy your day!

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 7 Part 1

Friday, January 22, 2016 - Universal Studios - Harry Potter!

Allison and I were so excited about this day! Don't get me wrong, we love Disney - but we've been so often, that it's fun to try new stuff too!

I was up at 5am... I did my usual coffee/FB/Dis.

Allison and I were out the door at exactly 7:15am.

As we were walking to the front of the resort, I received a call from Santos... He was at the guard shack and they didn't want to let him in. So, I had to give them my room #, and after a little bit of a hassle, they let him past. See, SoG has issues with Uber drivers - they are very strict about who is allowed on SoG property - and anyone suspected of being an Uber driver is made to turn around right at the guard shack. Once the guard saw that my cell # was programmed into Santo's contacts - he finally believed him and let him through. This was kind of frustrating - but at the same time, I understand. There were a few times, over the course of the trip, I felt like going through the guard shack - they were just being too nosy... If I am a guest there, with a valid military ID - I don't think there should be any questions of what I am doing, or why I am getting a ride. Ya know?

OK - anyways... I was going to grab all of us a Starbucks at SoG - but we wanted to get to Universal early, because I only had paper tickets, and I needed to turn those in and show my military ID at Guest Services to get the actual ticket to be let through the turn styles... I know how long these lines can sometimes be, and I wanted to be in the park when it opened.

We arrived at Universal at exactly 7:45... We had a PRIME parking location. I was so glad we had Santos with us - because already, I was lost!

We grabbed Starbucks on our way to Guest Services...

The line at GS was nothing, and getting our military tickets was a non-issue.

We were let into the park right away - at approx 8:15... We decided to start with Universal Studios proper, with Diagon Alley. It was rainy and it was cold... And there was no one there. We thought we had gotten lucky, because the park didn't officially open until 9am.

We got as far as Mel's Drive In, and we were stopped by a CM... Since we didn't stay at a US hotel - we couldn't go any further... Bummer - OK - so we waited... Our official chauffeur/photographer/tour guide/and all around great guy - Santos - took our picture...

We did a few bio breaks while we waited... FYI - big mistake to have coffee this morning... Allison and I were VERY acquainted with every bathroom in US by the end of the morning - it was almost embarrassing! LOL

And we waited some more - at one point, it started raining pretty good - so we sat at some tables under Mel's Drive In.

Finally - at 9am, we were let through the gates... Our first glimpses of Diagon Alley were impressive... Allison told me later, that she even let a few tears escape... She LOVES HP so much - and this was truly a dream come true for her! It was JUST like being in the movie! Disney does Disney awesome - and Universal did Harry Potter, I hate to say it, even more awesome!

Our first order of business was to ride Escape From Gringotts... I have a bit of ride anxiety... And I was definitely scared to ride these rides. Santos reassured me that I would be fine... For this first ride - I made Santos sit on one side of me, and Allison on the other - and I think I may have broke their hands... But I will say this - it was an AMAZING ride, and I was ready to ride it again. Woohoo!!! Conquered one ride. I knew this may be my only chance to ride this in my life, so I really wanted to enjoy the experience - and I feel as if I did.

After this ride - we decided to explore the shops. Allison had saved her small amout of souvenier $$ for an interactive wand... They are quite expensive, but if she was going to buy something that woulnd't work outside the parks - then I wanted her to buy it in the morning, so she could get some use out of it. We wandered around the shops for quite some time - exploring wands and other fantastic items that were so REAL! We did not get her wand at this point in time... but we did get it soon.

Allison's chocolate frog... She got Dumbledore!

We wanted to try butterbeer first...

We tried many variations of butterbeer through out the day - they were all delicious. Although - Allison preferred the regular butterbeer over the frozen.

It was time for another bio break. For the record - there are NO restrooms in Diagon Alley at all - you have to leave the area if you need to use the facilities. So, while we were outside the area, we took a few photos...

The Night Bus was awesome too... The driver loved my MN accent and stood here forever trying to figure out half of what I was saying... It was quite funny.

It was time for Allison's wand experience... This was so cool!

Link to Day 7 Part 2

D~​

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Wow I missed a bunch of updates!

Glad to hear there wasn't a big deal with Allison's nail.

How awesome to be able to explore the park with friends!

 

[lovegrumpy]

My oldest still has his frog from when we went in 2012. He never wanted to eat it.

 

[Ladyfish77]

First, I have to say I love Monica's Bag--is that a Lapu Lapu? I must go back in your reports and see if I can find details. I'm a minimalist, so I love the small size!

I have V going on Where's Mickey

I have the Where's Mickey mini-hipster. Funny story, I bought it for my trip this past fall. We went with myself, DH, DS, BFF, and DS's GF. DS's GF is the sweetest thing, but a terrible traveler--ie terrible packer for travel. She didn't have a bag for the parks, so I ended up lending her my mini-hipster to her for the trip. I used my other tiny bag that I had with me!

First off - this photo is of the Silks... I used this photo from Allears.net.

Are there silks in that photo? All I see is a gorgeous man!

If I am a guest there, with a valid military ID - I don't think there should be any questions of what I am doing, or why I am getting a ride. Ya know?

I have to hope their diligence is also due to them protecting the resort--there seemed to be some upgraded security around the parks lateley, which I have to wonder if it was because of some perceived threat?

The Night Bus was awesome too

Love the Night Bus and all your HP photos. Confession, I read the books to both my DS's starting back before there were movies. Older DS and I are probably the biggest fans, but I think I'm a bigger fan than he is. I've read the books and watched the movies multiple times. Hmmm, I wonder if I should sneak a day into my "maybe trip" to US?

Wish the weather had been a bit better for you on your trip, but looks like you had a great time! I am booked at POFQ for my "maybe trip". I will definitely seek out Santos--such a great guy to tour with you and show you around! I will say "hi" to him!

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 7 Part 2

Ahhh... It's time for Allison to choose her ONE must-have souvenir for this trip... Her wand!

She had such a hard time choosing - in the end, her wand chose her.

Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa! It worked!

It was time for yet another bio break (we had about 80 more that I didn't feel needed to be added to the TR - LOL)... While we were out there, we decided to take a ride on MIB...

After this - we decided it was time for an early lunch...

I really wanted to use this day to eat all of our meals and snacks within Harry Potter - there was lots I wanted to try!

For lunch - we ate at the Leaky Cauldrin...

We all ordered Fish n' Chips... Now living in MN - we have some pretty great fish (10,000 lakes n' all...) - I was NOT impressed by this fish at all. It has great reviews - but it was so greasy that it was making me sick. I did not finish it.

One of Santo's friends (JD) was our runner - he did a great job!

For dessert, JD brought us a new - not yet on the official menu - Butterbeer custard. It was good, but to me, it tasted very similar to butterscotch pudding.

It's time to take the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade!

Link to Day 7 Part 3

D~​

 

[plutofan0902]

I am so jealous of your HP experience. It is now a must do for our next trip. Haha. I went to Hogsmeade three years ago but I have been dying to go to Diagon Alley!
I think Allison should do a trip report so we can see some of her pics too!

 

[ljcrochet]

Universal like amazing. Might hav to make my girls read the books some can go.

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 7 Part 3

We were very excited to go through the train station and into Hogsmeade. It's important to know here, you cannot even ride the train if you don't have a Park 2 Park pass... They scan your ticket before you are even allowed into the train station. Universal was very smart when they built the train this way.

But it's cool - really really cool. I took lots of pictures - lots n' lots. But I am not going to share all of them in my TR - as I don't want to ruin the surprise... But, do note - the ride is different in each direction. So, it's important that you ride each way.

Also - the theme... Yah - it's incredible!

Video of Allison and I walking through 9 3/4...

Even the interior of the train compartment - spot on! Incredible!

And oh my gosh - look at Allison's face... I didn't notice this on my tiny phone screen, but doesn't it look like she has Harry's glasses on and some sort of weird face overlay?

And that's all I am going to show you of the train ride... You must go, get a Park 2 Park pass and experience it for yourself.

Finally - we are in Hogsmeade...

It must be amazing if I can do one entire update on one 10 minute (tops) train ride.

Link to Day 7 Part 4

D~​

 

[disny_luvr]

I would love to experience Cirque once. I think the show looks awesome! I noticed a lot of empty seats. Do you know if it's pretty common for the show to not sell out or do you think it has more to do with the time of year you were there?

Your Universal day looks like fun. One day I hope to be able to tear myself away from Disney to spend a few days there. I think I'll wait until my boys are a little older though. I'd like to start reading the Harry Potter series with them this summer so maybe when we read through all the books we'll consider a trip there. I'm sure you were glad to have Santos along; he was probably a great tour guide!

 

[disny_luvr]

One other thing - Sorry!

I noticed in your pictures in the store where Allison purchased her wand it looks like shoe boxes on the walls. Do all those boxes have wands in them? If so, how on earth do you pick out a wand when there are so many to choose from? I'd be there all day. Also, what do you do with the wands?

 

[LinderInWonderland]

I loved the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We justmissed the opening of Diagon Alley when we were last there, but the theming of Hogsmeade was on point! I was excited to try Butterbeer. We got 1 frozen and one not. The unfrozen one was too sweet for us, but pouring the remainder into the half-finished frozen one turned out to be a huge win! I also got a Pumpkin Juice, just to try. I liked the Pumpkin Juice wayyyyy better than the Butterbeer.

Your daughter looks delighted with her wand! Excellent purchase!!

 

[Chrystmasangel]

This picture says it all! Her eyes are sparkly and bright and not posed for the picture.

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

I am loving all of these updates! Kudos to Allison for doing the minor surgery herself on her fingernail -- ouch! I'm glad it felt better after that. I think it's so neat that you make friends with the CMs and that they remember you. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE POFQ and the beignets there -- I could really go for some of those right now. I am hoping we do Universal on one of our future trips....it looks amazing.

 

[sashal]

I love your trip report! We are huge Disney people too, but we do try to get to the dark side every couple of years. My kids love HP. I am now planning an October 2016 trip with my daughter. We are so excited for a girls only trip.

 

[andera42]

I love the zip a few doo da mug. And I would love to see coordinating shirt. You .must have restraint not buying souvenirs because I would want it all

 

[Wood Nymph]

The one thing both Allison and I agreed that we didn't like, was the lights. They had a lot of really BRIGHT spot lights that would flash on and off, sometimes over the crowd and sometimes into our eyes... We did not like that at all. It happened a lot over the course of the show - and there was even one entire act where the spot light was in my eyes for the entire act - so I really couldn't see the stage. So, that was a big bummer.

I'm glad that you were able to get good seats but that is really a shame about the lights. It makes me feel as if our front row sets on the side weren't so bad after all, since we didn't have those lights in our eyes.

Did Allison enjoy the show?

Our first glimpses of Diagon Alley were impressive... Allison told me later, that she even let a few tears escape... She LOVES HP so much - and this was truly a dream come true for her! It was JUST like being in the movie! Disney does Disney awesome - and Universal did Harry Potter, I hate to say it, even more awesome!

I am a huge HP fan, too, so I would feel like Allison.

Our first order of business was to ride Escape From Gringotts... I have a bit of ride anxiety... And I was definitely scared to ride these rides. Santos reassured me that I would be fine... For this first ride - I made Santos sit on one side of me, and Allison on the other - and I think I may have broke their hands... But I will say this - it was an AMAZING ride, and I was ready to ride it again. Woohoo!!! Conquered one ride. I knew this may be my only chance to ride this in my life, so I really wanted to enjoy the experience - and I feel as if I did.

Good for you for conquering this ride. I've heard that this is one of the best rides. I get motion sick so I would probably chicken out.

Allison's chocolate frog... She got Dumbledore!

My sister went to Universal and bought me a chocolate frog card. I got Dumbledore, too. We finally ate the chocolate frog about a year later and it was delicious.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Ok! I am all caught up! WOW! You did so many updates - but so much great stuff!

I ordered the Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich with fries and Allison ordered the Croque Monsieur with fries, both sandwiches were very good.

Yum your lunch at BOG sounds great! Glad you both enjoyed it and that the pre ordering worked out!

We took the express monorail to the TTC and bus to SoG in less than 15 minutes. Niiiiice.

We were hungry, so it was time to hunt down some food. We tried CHH - but we just didn't see anything on the menu that appealed to us tonight. So, we continued to wander... We ended up at Pecos Bills - I had the steak fajitas... Surprisingly - they were very good and the guac wasn't bad... I usually either love guac or hate it - and this was pretty good, I'd have it again.

This looks really good. I am thinking about going here in July...

The CM (Nial) working there was chatting with us - I told him that my fingers were so cold, even with wearing gloves, he felt my finger tips and agreed... A few minutes later, he was back with hot chocolates for both Allison and I. It was super nice and boy was it good... Warmed up my fingers too. Awesome Pixie Dust!

How nice! I love little magical moments like that!

A Then & Now for you all - from 2003 (the last time we rode this)... Allison was 5 here...

That is too cute!

Thanks to my trip with Suzi - I knew right where the photobooths were in MK... So I took Allison over there and we had some fun. I just love this girl - we have such a fun relationship, and I think it really shows here...

This is so cool! I never knew that MK had photo booths!

We took the SoG bus to AK - this is so slick! Literally, walk out our room, to the lobby, down the stairs, on the bus, and the bus drop off is right at the front gate. It was awesome!

You guys got so lucky with the busses!

As we were walking - Allison said "Mom, there's Pluto!" Cool... And as we kept walking - I noticed that other characters were following Pluto... Guess what? We stumbled upon Character Palooza! This was so fun! I just wish they had photopass photographers for these - as Allison and I had to take turns for pictures. Oh well!

Oh my gosh! I have always wanted to experience this! Character Palooza has always looked like so much fun! The pictures came out great too!

We exited Epcot via the International Gateway... As we were walking out, a CM stopped Allison very rudely and said "You can't leave here with that!" Both Allison and I looked at each other confused... The CM then said "You MUST drink ALL alcohol on the premises of the park!" Allison and I were even more confused, until we realized she was referring to Allison's Kaki Gori. We then had to explain that Kaki Gori is a non-alcoholic "snow cone" from Japan, and we also had to explain that Allison was only 17 and not legal to drink alcohol in any state, offering to show the CM her ID to prove her age. The CM waved us through, but she (and her CM friend) didn't look like they believed us. Allison ate a little bit more of it, then threw it away - she was then very self conscious that everyone thought she was drinking alcohol. I told her not to worry about it - but she was still uncomfortable because the CM was so rude to us about it. But, I guess I could see where maybe it looked like a drink? I dunno...

Oh wow, that CM was very rude! Sorry that happened to Allison...

The carriage that Allison will get to ride in one day... I was amazed at how beautiful it was... I always thought "glass carriage - ho hum..." But to see it sparkle in the sunlight - whoa!!!! It's really amazing and incredible!

BEAUTIFUL! That would be like a dream!

Yah - guys - no. can. do. I am outta here... Yup - there you have it, D~ took the chicken exit on ToT. I did laugh a little at the CM who took me to the unload waiting area... I told him I was a bit afraid of the elevators in ToT... He told me, the elevator we were in was the one I needed to worry about... After all - the elevators on the ride are monitored by Disney every moment of every day.... The elevator we were in was checked by ~whoever checks elevators~ once a year. Ahhh... Valid point... And then the doors closed and the CM chuckled nervously. Way to make me feel comfortable. LOL

I don't blame you - I find ToT so scary! I always scream when I'm on it!

Auntie Rachel was sooo funny... There was a window behind our table and once she punched her head through it, parting the curtains and said "I'm watching you!" And Allison replied "You sound like my Aunt Rozz..." Hehehe...

It was a fantastic meal - and we laughed so hard many times, that we were nearly crying.

We paid Auntie Rachel and tipped her gloriously... She was fantastic!

We all put our elbows on the table and posed for what would be the most epic picture of the trip.

Your experience at 50's sounded like so much fun! The aunts there can be either a hit or miss- glad you guys were able to experience it with a very fun Aunt! Too bad about the picture though...

So, while my baby girl was performing minor surgery next to us, on the sterile ground... I was shopping for VB in Cindy's trunk. :whistle If it makes you all feel better - I was shopping for Allison. Bummed that I have no pictures of this either - because it was a sight! I ended up purchasing a Vera Bradley Purple Punch Vera Tote in almost perfect condition and a mini-hipster (can't remember the name of the pattern) in almost perfect condition - both of them for Allison. The tote would make a perfect carry on for her for our trip home and she carries my old mini-hipster all the time - it's near death actually... So, it was a good time for her to get a new one.

How cool is that! How nice you and Allison were abel to spend time with your friend, and buy some Vera Bradley off of her!

Finally - it was time to meet up with Allison's friends. We found out that Allison's BFF and another friend would be in FL at the same time we were... we took the long way to Tomorrow Land because the MSE parade was going on... They were all waiting for us in Cosmic Ray's. All 3 girls were so excited to see each other in Magic Kingdom! They all decided to ride Space Mountain together, along with Santos and Cindy... I only have the one Photopass picture - Santos, Allison and Marah... Marah has been Allison's bff since about 5th grade.

That is so cool that worked out! You and Allison really lucked out with all your meets this trip!

We were in bed by 11pm, successfully completing our mission of 4 parks in one day!

I think it is so cool that you and Allison did the 4 Park challenge! It looked like you two had a lot of fun - and you really accomplished a lot! Something I would definitely want to do one day! Does V want to do that during her trip as well?

I ran down and grabbed our Starbucks to enjoy in our room while we were getting ready, I also grabbed my coffee mug I'd purchased in MK on our first day and had shipped back to the resort.

I am in LOVE with that mug!!! Where did you get it?! I would love to try and get one in July!

Then a bus to French Quarter to meet up with a very special person & say hi to our favorite Disney resort. Allison curled my hair for Cirque - what do you think?

Your hair looks great! Allison did a great job! You two are like twins!

The show sounded fun - sorry about the lights and stuff but it looked like it was very exciting.

I love all the pictures from Universal - makes me want to go there and check it out! They really did such a wonderful job creating Hogwarts there! I love all the pictures and I love the wand that Allison got. I think that is such a cute idea!

Looking forward to the rest of your updates!