The Theme Parks, the Dining & Compeed..nailed it! (4/10) Life Update

[Princess Leia]

Great repot so far!! Great shot of the minions-too bad there wasn't a photographer, was that because it was so early? Or is that more typical?

We will be checking in to HRH early, as you did, and heading directly to the parks too. So, glad to hear it was a smooth process.

We have the photopass so would love to hear more about how that worked on each ride. Did you have to stop and get a code each time, and then do you enter the numbers that night? On a website? What is the purpose of the card on your lanyard then? Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks. There wasn't a photographer with Edith and Agnes although the blurry ones with the minion were taken by their photographer! The passing minions were just travelling by so I took those shots. There aren't as many photographers about as in Disney - you will get one at the entrance to each park and sometimes with certain characters.

We didn't take advantage of the early entry on our check in day but the system for express passes works well. Just wish the passes were a bit more robust.

Happy to answer any questions. The only ride you need to get code for is Rip Ride Rockit. Just remember to keep codes safe as they are just like a till receipt. You can view the photos on the Amazing Pictures website and download and post to social media. You have to get staff to add the photos to your account. The lanyard has a clip that allows you to detach the card to hand over for scanning.

Thanks for the link over on Universal boards.....would never have found you otherwise

There is something special about the Virgin Jumbo's isn't there!! We fly from Manchester usually and the last couple of years have been the A330's......I like 4 engines for a 9 hour flight!!! And the flight passes fairly quickly I find.....by the time you watch a couple of movies and they feed you twice.......you're there!!

Glad you enjoyed Universal............look forward to reading more. we are the opposite of your DH......we never want to leave our Universal bubble .....lol......

Nice pictures.....and lovely family.........

Thought I should post in the Universal as although this report can't be described as a Universal one the first part is very much Universal/IOA.

I really enjoying with Virgin. In 2013 we flew with Monarch having previously always flown with Virgin. We upgraded to Monarch's Premium Economy to try and make it more on a par with Virgin but their inflight entertainment system was woeful. I would have liked a bit longer at Universal but at least I got to go this time.

Awesome pics once again!! We missed the Beetlejuice show and now I'm kicking myself. Its on the agenda for October for sure .

I love, LOVE the Simpsons photos.....so fun! I love that whole area of the park, to be honest. Nothing like strolling down the streets of Springfield, dancing to "Do the Bart Man" .

Thanks Gina. At least you can remedy missing things - when I miss things I need to wait at least a couple of years. That would be pretty cool to see the Monster Mash-up for Hallowe'en.

I think you did the Simpson photos first. I agree - I love how they have made that whole area Springfield themed. The expanded Springfield area is new since we were last in Universal in 2011. Photo needed of you doing the Bart Man in your October trip report.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Photo needed of you doing the Bart Man in your October trip report.

Ha ha! Not even a remote possibility . "What happens in Orlando, stay's in Orlando"!

 

[Princess Leia]

Ha ha! Not even a remote possibility . "What happens in Orlando, stay's in Orlando"!

Shame! Now on the other hand what my DH does, even when I'm not there, will get shared with the rest of the world!

 

[Sailormoon2]

Another question: Were your names on your Express Passes and were they linked to the name on the reservation? I ask, not to try and cheat the system, but because my reservation is in my maiden name but I just wrote my married name on our tickets (pre-purchased) without even thinking, so now the two aren't going to match, and I'm a little freaked out. Are they even going to cross check these two? Did you have to show ID with your ticket?

 

[Princess Leia]

Another question: Were your names on your Express Passes and were they linked to the name on the reservation? I ask, not to try and cheat the system, but because my reservation is in my maiden name but I just wrote my married name on our tickets (pre-purchased) without even thinking, so now the two aren't going to match, and I'm a little freaked out. Are they even going to cross check these two? Did you have to show ID with your ticket?

I don't think that should cause a problem. The name is not on each express pass just a black and white photo of the person. The park tickets say that photo ID is required but we weren't asked for it. At rides they just scan your express pass.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I don't think that should cause a problem. The name is not on each express pass just a black and white photo of the person. The park tickets say that photo ID is required but we weren't asked for it. At rides they just scan your express pass.

Thanks. That alleviates some anxiety

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Two Part Three: Oh, the places you'll go! Where will the Hogwart's Express take us?

So off to King’s Cross station we go. For anyone who read my pre-trip report you will remember I warned that there may be an occasional throwback to previous trips. Before we travel back in time please listen carefully to a short safety notice:

"For safety, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure."

Hannah and I really enjoyed the Harry Potter books and films. I insisted she read each book before watching the film version. We have visited a number of locations in Britain including Alnwick Castle where they filmed ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ or for my American friends the ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’. Just think they had to film an alternative version every time they mentioned the Philosopher’s Stone. JK Rowling now wishes she had been firmer with her American publishers. We loved our visit to the Leavesden Studios when we were in London. Last time we visited Islands of Adventure in 2011 Hannah dressed in her Hogwarts uniform with her Gryffindor tie. I remember queuing up for an hour in the baking heat to get into Ollivander’s. She was delighted to be selected and as you know the wand chooses the wizard. She still loves her 13.5 inch holly wand with unicorn hair that chose her.

Here goes back to 2011...





We have travelled back to a time when Peter was happy to be seen in public holding his Mum's hand!

The Hogwart’s Express from Universal to Islands of Adventure did not exist back then. However, on July 4th 2015 we showed our tickets and took the long walk through the station. It was probably less busy than the real King’s Cross.

Hannah at King’s Cross Station, London, 2012

If you hold back from the rest of your family you will be able to see them pass through the wall at Platform 9¾. The Hogwart’s Express journey is cleverly done. I deliberately hadn’t watched any videos online prior to our visit. Of course what is really clever is that it really isn’t a steam train but a funicular railway where you are pulled along by a cable. Alan observed that there must be 2 trains given the frequency of departures. I loved the way you are loaded into individual compartments within a carriage. I also loved that in London every 3rd vehicle was a white van.





We quickly arrived at Hogsmeade station.







It was an incredibly busy day at Hogsmeade.





Remind me who was that young wizard back in 2011?



Can't be the same one as the muggle now appears to be a Ravenclaw!

Peter asked if he could go on Dragon Challenge. Since it was Pete’s first time we let him choose which side to go on. He chose the Hungarian Horntail. Hannah and I mentioned that there was the bit where you felt you were going to crash into the other one. We all really enjoyed it although the timing now has taken the near miss part out. We had agreed that we would go on the Chinese Fireball straight after but I think everyone was feeling slightly nauseous as it had been a while since breakfast.

We started to head towards the Jurassic Park area.





I always think that the view with palm trees in front of Hogwart's is a strange one. Then again it is hard to feel you are in Hogsmeade surrounded by people in shorts and t-shirts. A cold day in Britain with the wind whistling through you is much more atmospheric.

Peter had spotted a turtle in the water below so we stopped to watch the turtle.





"Yes, we will get to go on Doctor Doom’s Fearfall and The Hulk. Come on, we're heading for the Jurassic Park area."

We had missed going on the Jurassic Park River Adventure on previous trips. By this stage it was 1pm so we decided to have lunch at Burger Digs. We had chicken fingers and fries. There was a salad bar so we were able to get some side salad. We used our cups for drinks.





We had prepared for the wet rides and were going to do them one after the other. From previous experience we knew just how wet you get on Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges. We had brought a dry bag which is used for keeping items dry during water sports. We put my camera bag and at that stage passports inside the dry bag inside a rucksack. First up was the Jurassic Park River Adventure. We thought it was quite good although to be honest I'm not a big fan of Jurassic Park. For the most part it is quite a slow ride with the huge drop at the end. I imagine some younger children might find it quite scary.



We had more fun on Popeye’s and Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges where the spinning element meant it had a roulette aspect to who was going to get the biggest soaking. The people we were on with were good fun and we had good banter. The main source of laughter was that whenever there was a potential soaking it turned out to be Alan and Peter.

Finally we decided to go on Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. We decided that I would go on first with Hannah and Peter. This would allow Alan to stay with the bags instead of putting them in lockers. At the drop I realised I had been hit on the ankle by something. When I looked I found a bottle of water in the log. I told a member of staff and handed the bottle of water over. Later when talking to Peter it turned out that he had been hit on the face with the bottle. It reminds me of a time when I was at a funfair and a shoe randomly flew overhead.



It turns out Hannah had the right idea in covering her face!

Even with the Express Pass we were gone half an hour so Alan decided that he would give it a miss. He had been drying out nicely and didn't really want to get wet again. It was always our plan to leave the park after the wet rides and we managed to stick to our plan.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I love how Hannah is constantly hiding in all the ride photos. LOL!

 

[schumigirl]

Nice seeing the pictures of Hannah from few years ago........how quickly they grow up!!

Such a fun day so far......yes you do get soaked on most of the water rides!! I love JP drop........Glad you`re enjoying it and weather looks great too!!

 

[Princess Leia]

I love how Hannah is constantly hiding in all the ride photos. LOL!

She certainly seemed to hide in the wet rides. It certainly wouldn't do much to keep her dry!

Nice seeing the pictures of Hannah from few years ago........how quickly they grow up!!

Such a fun day so far......yes you do get soaked on most of the water rides!! I love JP drop........Glad you`re enjoying it and weather looks great too!!

When I searched for the old photos I was amazed at how much she had changed in a few years. She was so into Harry Potter.

We were ready for a real soaking this time and had planned it into the day. I have memories of doing Congo River Rapids in Busch Gardens as our last ride and travelling back in the car with wet denim shorts. The weather was fantastic - missing it now as our weather is so miserably cold.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Another fabulous update with some pretty spectacular pics . Hannah has really grown from a little girl to a young woman since your last trip!

lol at the picture of Peter on Dudley Do-Right. That boy was having the time of his life!! Kudos to you too, Mom .... love the fact that you're hands-in-the-air, throw-caution-to-the-wind, just havin' fun!

 

[Princess Leia]

Another fabulous update with some pretty spectacular pics . Hannah has really grown from a little girl to a young woman since your last trip!

lol at the picture of Peter on Dudley Do-Right. That boy was having the time of his life!! Kudos to you too, Mom .... love the fact that you're hands-in-the-air, throw-caution-to-the-wind, just havin' fun!

Thanks Gina. It is quite amazing to see the difference a few years make at that stage with children. People always tell you that they grow up so fast and I don't think you really believe them until you have kids of your own. Peter is growing fast too - he is now 5 foot and has bigger feet than Hannah.

Peter had a blast at Universal. I was definitely his coaster buddy. I love on the Jurassic Park ride that it looks like we might have been on a different ride from all the others. Missing all that fun since we came back home.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Two: Part 4 Oh, the places you'll go! Where next? A Rockstar Mansion... Whoohoo!

Although we had only booked one night at the Hard Rock I really wanted to spend some time at the hotel. We thought it would be good to spend some time at the pool.

We walked back to the Hard Rock Hotel. The dark clouds were gathering. We went back to reception and checked in again. We were given another set of room cards. I asked about why the room charging didn’t work earlier and I was told it doesn't work until the proper check-in time. We were given a garden view room on the second floor.

Stop everyone - do not touch anything until I have taken some photos. Picture the family in the wake of me as they got clearance to crash on beds and sit on chairs. Here is a quick tour of our room.



Two queen beds. The beds were incredibly comfortable just a pity we'd to get out of them so early in the morning.



Aren't we always?



I liked the fact they had two armchairs by the window. The window overlooked some lovely lawns. I imagine it would have been nice to sit and relax there but unfortunately I hadn't scheduled sitting relaxing in an armchair time.




I loved some of the subtle theming. I really liked this etched mirror. We all measured up to see what singers we were the same height as. We also explained to Peter who the very small Shirley Temple was. "No, we don't remember her!"



https://flic.kr/p/wZbhCQ

The Keurig coffee maker was particularly good as I am the only coffee drinker in the group. It had cardboard cups so you could take one to go. There is also a fridge.

https://flic.kr/p/wZbhCQ


I want this! You'll be glad to hear I left it on the wall.



I loved the Seagrass toiletries -they smelled lovely! They also had cotton buds, cotton wool and a shower cap. I had positioned myself carefully when taking this photo to avoid being seen in the mirror but look who photo bombed me twice!

After a quick change I headed down to the pool with Hannah and Peter. Alan told us he would come down shortly. I went to grab the camera but Alan told me not to bother as he would bring it down with him. I really liked the look of the pool when I saw it in brochures. It felt a lot smaller than I had imagined. Hannah and Peter spent some time on the slide. Peter then joined in with some volleyball nearby. The pool wasn't that great for swimming as it was quite shallow in places and was incredibly busy on this Saturday afternoon. This seemed to suit a lot of people who were sitting in the pool, relaxing with a drink in hand.

There was a singer called Brock Berryhill singing as he played his guitar. I ventured over to the hot tub and ended up in amongst a group of college friends. They were talking about some girl and the style of her swimsuit. I didn't really feel I could join in the conversation and I really wished I hadn't left my sunglasses over on a lounger. I really felt I had crashed their party. When Brock started singing "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)" I wanted to sing along as I have done at a Proclaimers' concert or at a football match. Oh well, there will be other times. Now if Hannah had been with me in the hot tub now that would have been another story. I went back to the pool and met up with Hannah. At one stage there was some heavy spots of rain and I thought "Here goes" but it didn't come to much. At 5pm we decided to leave the pool so we would have time to get ready for dinner. I liked how they had chilled water dispensers with lemons in them at the entrance to the pool areas. Alan didn't appear at the pool. We suspect he opted for an afternoon nap.

Next decision: Where shall we go for dinner?

 

[cajunfan]

The drumstick art would be easy to make and relatively cheap...at least for me...I seem to always find random lonely drumsticks in weird places in my house...the life of living with a percussionist son! Or you can buy a fairly cheap box of sticks from most music stores!

 

[Princess Leia]

The drumstick art would be easy to make and relatively cheap...at least for me...I seem to always find random lonely drumsticks in weird places in my house...the life of living with a percussionist son! Or you can buy a fairly cheap box of sticks from most music stores!

That's funny that's what I thought too! It could go along with the expensive ornament of a drum kit we have at home. Alan decided a few years ago he wanted to take back up playing drums so I got him a set for Christmas.

 

[ariane37]

love all your pictures! I've heard you get much more soaked on the Universal water rides than the Disney ones.......as much as I hate the thought of lugging around extra clothes I fear we'll be bringing extra ones into the park to change in to Although it should still be hot enough that we'll dry off fairly quick.....idk........but I have to figure it out soon as we go in 3 weeks!

 

[Princess Leia]

love all your pictures! I've heard you get much more soaked on the Universal water rides than the Disney ones.......as much as I hate the thought of lugging around extra clothes I fear we'll be bringing extra ones into the park to change in to Although it should still be hot enough that we'll dry off fairly quick.....idk........but I have to figure it out soon as we go in 3 weeks!

The one that you get the wettest on is Popeye’s and Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges. Saying that I've also got pretty wet on Kali River Rapids. Jurassic Park is more about the drop. It's probably more about grouping them together and deciding the best time of day to do. I will never be as wet as the time we did Quest for Chi first thing at LEGOLAND. We were wringing out our clothes after that ride. The Bilge Rats has a centre section just like KRR. I'm sure you will have lots of fun!

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Two: Part 5 Nice Pants!

We showered and got changed for dinner. All our ADRS were booked for Disney but I had not made any bookings for this part of the trip. I had researched some possibilities for the Universal resort area. We didn’t want to spend too long deliberating on where to go. I put 3 options to the others and pulled up the menus online. The options were as follows:

Option 1: Hard Rock Cafe at the City Walk

Option 2: Confisco Grille in Islands of Adventure

Option3: The Kitchen at Hard Rock Hotel

Alan suggested we go and have a look at The Kitchen as when we stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort they had some good buffet options for the children.

On the way down in the elevator we heard the phrase that was to be repeated numerous times that evening “Nice pants!” We were clearly on the other side of the pond.

We stopped off at ‘The Kitchen’ and were told that they were doing a Mexican buffet for the children. We checked if Hannah would be counted as a child and they said she would...that was it decided!

They were able to seat us straight away and quickly brought us out drinks. We were seated at a table by the arched windows.



I really liked the surroundings at The Kitchen. The tables had a polished black marble top and the chairs were brown leather. They had black cloth napkins and attractively designed cutlery.





Our server brought out a plectrum shaped board with a cast iron skillet of corn bread and pretzel bread. These were really tasty. The pretzel bread was delicious.



Hannah and Peter enjoyed the food from the buffet which included fajitas, chilli con carne and churros. They also had other food choices such as chicken nuggets and fries.



Alan and I took a look at the menu. I was torn between a few choices: pasta, grilled pork chop or a flatbread. In the end I decided to get the BBQ Chicken Flatbread and Alan ordered “The Kitchen Burger”.

Soon we had a visitor to our table



Woody Woodpecker was quite taken with Hannah’s leggings and was quick to point out that red, white and blue were the best colours to wear.



Woody was keen that Hannah and Peter joined him in a performance. Clearly he has a background in musical theatre.





Olga, our server, was attentive and kept our drinks filled. She was quick to spot that we had devoured the pretzel bread and brought us more. It really was delicious.

About 5 minutes after Woody’s departure our entrées arrived.


The Kitchen Burger



Alan enjoyed his burger but avoided the battered pickle.



I really enjoyed my flatbread which had a great flavour with plenty of chicken and the right amount of seasoning.

Just as we were finished our entrées look who quietly arrived at our table. No other than Homer! We had met Homer a number of years ago with Bart when dining at the Royal Pacific Resort. I like that the character aspect is quite low key and isn’t disruptive to the dining experience.


Homer compared hair lines with Alan.

I really liked The Kitchen. The food was fresh and tasty. It was a peaceful dining experience where we were able to chat over our plans for the rest of the evening. We decided not to order desserts in order to get to the parks.

We opted to take the path back to the parks. It would have been a pleasant walk but the rickshaw bicycles were a pest on the walkway. You would suddenly hear a bell and have to quickly try to move to the side of the path. We continued to get comments of “Nice pants”, Love the pants!” This raised a smile as in the UK pants always refers to underpants. It was quite unusual for us to have so many people making comments about pants. We won’t even go there with fanny packs!

The plan was to watch Universal Studios Cinematic Spectacular at 9.45pm. Hannah and Alan wanted to go over to Islands of Adventure to Seuss Landings and Hogsmeade. Peter was ready for another ride on Rip Ride Rockit.



We put my bag into a locker and entered the express pass queue. We had been waiting in the queue for 10 minutes but we were quite far back and it didn’t seem to be moving too fast. I returned to the entrance to the ride to ask why the express queue was so slow only to be told they were not running the express queue just now. As the wait time was 60 minute we decided to give it a miss for now.

We headed further into the park to go on a ride we hadn’t been on yet.



Zapping aliens is a serious business.

During this time Alan and Hannah went to Seuss Landings. One of Alan’s favourite rides is The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride. Alan has particularly fond memories of the Sneetches as he used to read this with his Dad when he was little. After this ride they headed to Hogsmeade which again was busy. They decided to get the Hogwart’s Express to King's Cross so they would be in time for the evening show.

We ended up watching the show in different locations. They picked out a spot at Sunset Boulevard which they said was a good location to view the screen. Peter and I ended up picking somewhere close to where we came out of Men in Black. We watched the show from the bridge. This turned out to be not so good a location in terms of seeing the footage on the large screen.











It wasn’t a particularly spectacular show. It certainly wasn’t on a par with Wishes or Illuminations. It was interesting that Universal chose to make no reference to it being July 4th at anytime during that day. I was disappointed that Universal had put in no effort to plan anything special. We have previously been at Disney for the Fourth of July and it was amazing.





We paid homage to Jebediah Springfield. It was time for the park to close so we headed to the exit. It was very congested and dark. We headed for one of the further away exit gates but they were not all open. Alan later told me that they opened another gate to deal with the congestion.



Peter complained of sore feet on the way back to the hotel. It was even harder in the dark keeping out the way of the rickshaws. We were first back with Alan and Hannah arriving shortly after.



We headed for bed as we planned to be up at 5.30am so we could go to the early entry for Universal hotel guests.

 

[buteraa]

Following. I love your trip report, you have such a lovely family!

 

[Princess Leia]

Following. I love your trip report, you have such a lovely family!

and . Good to hear you are enjoying it - there's plenty more to come.