“I do not deal with my problems like I know I should” - F&W Fest 2018 - Update 1/20 Going Home

Don’t Let The Muggles Get You Down

It was now time for us to begin the Harry Potter segment of our trip. My husband had never been to the Universal Orlando portions so he was very excited and this is why he wanted to go to Universal so badly this trip.

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Privet Drive

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Before entering

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Diagon Alley

First thing we did was enter than bank so we could get some money from Gringotts! You could spend the money around the Harry Potter areas but I found it to be a nice souvenir that wasn’t too overpriced ($10) It will eventually go on our scrapbook when I make it for the year.

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Tellar

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10 Dollars!

It was then over to Escape from Gringotts. This ride is a lot of fun and I love how well themed the queue is. It really makes you feel like you are going deep into the Earth as you reach the vaults.

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We then headed into Knockturn Alley where I was planning on buying some stuff from the store back there but I decided to be cheap and not buy anything.

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The area was super crowded so we headed out of there and my husband wasn’t feeling the crowds so we figured it was time to switch over to Islands of Adventure for the day.

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I love the Hogwarts Express as it was a pleasant ride over to the other park. This was probably our worst wait of the day as there is only one train that travels back and forth. The express pass didn’t really help here either as the wait was past the merge point.

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Hogsmeade was all ready for the snow of the season but we declined on doing any rides as we knew the main ride here would be too much for us with the 3D immersive nature. (We had done it in 2017 at Universal Hollywood and that was enough for a lifetime) The dragon ride is also no longer in operation and we didn’t want to do a kiddie coaster. My husband wanted out of the area because of the crowds so I didn’t get to get any butterbeer either.
 
Islands of Adventure

We decided to do a counterclockwise loop around Islands of Adventure, ending in Seuss Landing.

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Jurassic Park

The line to meet Blue was over 30 minutes long and my husband was close to done so we skipped and did another photo instead.

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Raptor

We exited Jurassic Park and headed to Skull Island. The attraction is very similar to the Backlot Tour one of Universal Hollywood but they have some impressive lead ups and exit to it so it flows as a solo attraction.

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Skull Island

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Kong Skull

We walked through Toon Lagoon as we weren’t going to do the rides that got us soaking wet.

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Toon Lagoon

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I’m 50% Fluff, 100% Tough

It was then time to dive into Marvel and visit Spider-Man. I saw Stan Lee three times in the attraction whereas my husband only found him twice. When leaving the ride, we talked about how sad the world is going to be when he passes as we knew he was up there in years. We didn’t expect it to happen so soon after that discussion.

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Spiderman

My husband skipped going on the Hulk as he wasn’t feeling that well but we went into Seuss Landing for two more rides before heading out. They were starting to get ready for Grinchmas!

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Seuss Landing

Our first ride was Cat In The Hat. It was a walk on! I don’t think this ride gets the 30+ min waits anymore like it did when the park first opened.

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Cat In The Hat Ride

Our last attraction of the day was The High In the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride. It is very cute. I remember how long it took to originally make that ride work as they had the track back when Islands of Adventure first opened!

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High In The Sky

Overall, we got all of our must do attractions done and a few of our possible attractions. We should have done more of the shows but we were tired as we had done a lot this day and more attractions than we usually do!

We headed out of the park and towards the car. We didn’t buy anything in the stores as nothing called out to us so buying anything would just be for the sake of buying something and that isn’t our style.

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Bubba Gump
 
I agree that Fast and Furious doesn't work well as a solo ride. It's not even a part I particularly like in the Hollywood Backlot Tour, but that one has so many other things going for it.

Hogsmeade was all ready for the snow of the season but we declined on doing any rides as we knew the main ride here would be too much for us with the 3D immersive nature. (We had done it in 2017 at Universal Hollywood and that was enough for a lifetime) The dragon ride is also no longer in operation and we didn’t want to do a kiddie coaster. My husband wanted out of the area because of the crowds so I didn’t get to get any butterbeer either.
I actually found the Orlando one to not be as bad as the Hollywood one. The first time I rode the one at Hollywood I was feeling queasy afterwards, but that was when they had the 3D glasses. I rode the one in Orlando without 3D goggles and it was fine. They also switched the one in Hollywood to remove the glasses and now it's better for me (though I don't visit Universal that much anyways).

And I liked the Flight of the Hippogriff at Orlando much more than Hollywood. Still it's way way too short!
 


My husband has had some troubles this past month - he got hit by a car while running earlier in December and had a set back from that. The police never found the jerk. And now he's having some back problems plus the winter crude.
Oh no! Poor guy. Hope he is doing better.

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I’m 50% Fluff, 100% Tough
I got next to nothing on Universal but sadly have lived through this movie way too many times
 
I agree that Fast and Furious doesn't work well as a solo ride. It's not even a part I particularly like in the Hollywood Backlot Tour, but that one has so many other things going for it.
Exactly!

I actually found the Orlando one to not be as bad as the Hollywood one. The first time I rode the one at Hollywood I was feeling queasy afterwards, but that was when they had the 3D glasses. I rode the one in Orlando without 3D goggles and it was fine. They also switched the one in Hollywood to remove the glasses and now it's better for me (though I don't visit Universal that much anyways).
While that's good to know - we still weren't going to risk it especially with my husband already needing the dramamine. Maybe if we do a long weekend Universal only trip - we can risk being down the rest of the day in the worst case scenario.

And I liked the Flight of the Hippogriff at Orlando much more than Hollywood. Still it's way way too short!

It is too short! Feel the same about Barnstormer along my mother does love that ride.

Love all the US photos. Wish I could get hubby to go
One day I hope you could too!

Oh no! Poor guy. Hope he is doing better.
He is mostly but his taper to the marathon is going to be mostly rest versus any smaller runners. At least he has a base level fitness!

I got next to nothing on Universal but sadly have lived through this movie way too many times
And luckily for you - the sequel comes out this summer! You get a new movie to watch!
 
Flying Fish

When we got back to the hotel, I headed to the pool for a little bit. I came back and took a little nap as who doesn’t love a nap after a long productive day? We started getting ready a little after 6PM and made our way downstairs. It was nice having an easy dinner location after such a full day in the parks! After check-in, we were brought to a two top near the window and looked over the menu.

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Menu

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Wine Menu

We made our selections when our waitress returned with the seaweed bread and butter. I enjoy the brininess of this bread and it's a great improvement from those times that they had the potato bread.

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Bread & Butter

This restaurant has some special wines by the one or three ounce pours to make it a little more reasonable on the budget. My husband wasn’t in too much of a drinking mood so he went with the three ounce pour of Opus One as he always wanted to try it but as its an expensive bottle of wine retail depending on the year, we’re not going to buy that for normal consumption at the dinner table.

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3 ounce pour of Opus One

We got an appetizer to split to start. For some reason, I really wanted to try their crab even though crab isn’t something I crave or enjoy all that much. I wanted to finally try something other than my Pork Belly dish that I always get. These felt ordinary. We ate them but I wouldn't get them again. I should have stuck to my pork belly!

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Snow Crab Croquettes - Remoulade, Microgreens

The chenin blanc did pair with it well. Since my husband wasn’t in a drinking mood - I went with wine by the glass that was listed as the suggested pairing on the menu as I was too lazy to decide on anything else.

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L’Ecole Chenin Blanc

I went with scallops as I know they always do them well here. The grits also give it an edge as well. I did the enhancement of shrimp as it had been almost 48 hours since my last consumption of shrimp and that is just crazy. I was right that the scallops were perfectly executed and the peppadew sauce gave the dish just the right amount of kick to ensure we had different notes throughout. My shrimp were wonderful although I was a little surprised they added them to my main dish rather than serving them on the side like Jiko did.

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Hokkaido Scallops - Antebellum Grits, Sweet Corn, Peppadew Emulsion
Scampi Style Sustainable Shrimp Enhancement
Romey Chardonnay


My husband went with the steak as he wasn’t feeling like seafood. He’s had this here before and enjoyed it. As he cleaned his plate, I would say he enjoyed it this time around as well.

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Char-Crusted New York Strip - Marble Potatoes, Pearl Onions, Sauce Foyot

We skipped desserts but I did take a drink to go since we were going to head back to the room. My coffee was wonderful and a great way to end the meal.

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Boardwalk Cafe - Maker’s Mark, Salted Caramel, Flying Fish Viennese-Style Blend Coffee, Topped with Decadent Whipped Cream

On the way back to the room, we picked up our purchases from EPCOT festival center from Monday. I love my new shirts!

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F&W Shirts

Back at the room, we watched some tv and went to bed. We had decided to cancel our tea as my husband really wasn’t feeling it so we would do lunch on the fly the next day at the Magic Kingdom.
 


Too funny that you and I ordered the same things at Flying Fish, sadly including those god awful croquettes. Crab is my shrimp, but those were a very sad excuse for grab. Glad the scallops could redeem it for us both though. Brilliant to order the shrimp with it. I'll have to do that next time.

How was the Opus One?
 
I love Flying Fish! One of my absolute favorite spots. I do wish they’d put the ahi crudo back on the menu, though. Sorry you were less than enamoured with your appetizer. I think I had lobster bisque last time. I was so bummed they didn’t do a special dinner for F&W this year. I wonder if those will reappear based on feedback or if they’re gone for good.

Your Universal day looked so fun. I’d probably only be into the Harry Potter stuff but like your husband, the crowds get to me and I fear the rides would make me sick. Maybe I’ll do a staycation at one of their resorts so I can do their version of extra magic hours or something.
 
Too funny that you and I ordered the same things at Flying Fish, sadly including those god awful croquettes. Crab is my shrimp, but those were a very sad excuse for grab. Glad the scallops could redeem it for us both though. Brilliant to order the shrimp with it. I'll have to do that next time.

How was the Opus One?

It is funny we got the same! Great minds think alike. If you are ever in the Chicago area or Naples - I had the best crab ever yesterday from a place called Hampton Social. It was a jar of king crab with melted garlic butter, grilled lemon and grilled sour dough bread. I'm debating if I want to go back there today before my movie with my girlfriend. It was that good!

The shrimp made the meal a lot more hearty but as you end up splitting your food with your daughter - that would probably be great! Who doesn't love more good food?

The opus one was enjoyable but I would never buy a $300 bottle of it as it wasn't good enough to warrant that.

I love Flying Fish! One of my absolute favorite spots. I do wish they’d put the ahi crudo back on the menu, though. Sorry you were less than enamoured with your appetizer. I think I had lobster bisque last time. I was so bummed they didn’t do a special dinner for F&W this year. I wonder if those will reappear based on feedback or if they’re gone for good.

Your Universal day looked so fun. I’d probably only be into the Harry Potter stuff but like your husband, the crowds get to me and I fear the rides would make me sick. Maybe I’ll do a staycation at one of their resorts so I can do their version of extra magic hours or something.

There are some favorites I'm missing from the revamped menu but overall I found other things that I enjoy.

I'm so sad about the lack of special dinners there! Flying Fish was one of the ones we were really looking forward to enjoying especially since it would have been an easy walk back to the room. I hope they have more events int he future! I mean, I enjoyed the events I did but I wished there was more.

Staycation sounds like a great way to enjoy universal, especially with their nicer hotels you get the unlimited express pass! I'm sure going in the middle of the week would help too.

We loved our meal at Flying Fish! Glad your meal got better after the appetizers :)

Glad you loved it as well! It is one of our favorite signatures nowadays - especially since we stay at the Boardwalk so much, the location is great!
 
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Magic Kingdom Morning

Another morning, another early wake up for my husband to run…at least that meant I was able to get him to the bus stop by 8AM. We didn’t have too bad of a wait for it to arrive and were walking thru the turnstiles of the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom had become even more decorated from Christmas than our first visit towards the beginning of the trip.

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Leaving The World Behind

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Christmas Tree

We rope dropped it towards Fantasyland and headed straight to Peter Pan.

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Peter Pan

It was then off to standby Winnie The Pooh!

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Pooh

Glad we got those done in the opening hour as they tend to get some heavy lines! At the Mine Train, we used our FP+ we had scheduled for 9AM to 10AM towards the middle of the time slot. It is an enjoyable ride when you don’t have to wait. Almost lost my ears but I was able to save them!

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Photopass Photo

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Shiny

And it was off to Under The Sea to visit Ariel.

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Under The Sea

We walked to Liberty Square. I wanted to try the bacon on the stick that had been recently added to one of the carts but they weren’t open yet. Defeated, we made our way to Big Thunder Mountain for our 2nd FP+. While we were in the que before boarding the cars, I was able to move up our Pirates FP+ to start at 10:20AM so I knew we would be able to head right there after this ride. I wanted to be able to get a 4th FP+ to hopefully get the Jungle Cruise in their holiday gear!

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Thunder Mountain

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Pirates Sans Mermaids

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As soon as we tapped our FP+ into Pirates, I kept trying to get the Jungle Cruise for anytime starting at 10:45AM or after. I was playing the refresh game on My Disney Experience. I was able to get a 1PM slot so I took it. I kept playing that game to move it closer and closer to a better time and eventually I got it to be at 11:10AM. This isn’t a normal method I recommend to get FP+ because its annoying to keep refreshing the modify FP+ on your phone but I was determined! It was only 10:45AM and we had 25 minutes to kill. We knew it was early but figured it was as good as time as any to eat lunch and ended up deciding on Casey’s Corner as my husband didn’t want Pecos Bill’s. I hadn’t been at Casey’s in a long time because the last time I went, they had moved to those weird cheap beef/pork hot dog and horrible dry buns and I wasn’t having that. I’m glad that they have returned to all beef dogs! My husband got the monthly speciality dog which was poutine. I’m not sure how I feel about cheese curds, gravy and fries on top of my hot dog but he seemed to like it. I was happy with some onions from the toppings bar and nacho cheese on mine. The leftover cheese made a great dipping sauce for the fries!

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Beef Hot Dog w/ Nacho Cheese Sauce & Poutine Hot Dog and Fries

After our meal, we headed to the FP+ line at Jungle Cruise right at 11:10AM. There was a long line for FP+ and stand-by was over an hour but it only took about 12 minutes until we were on a boat getting to listen to all the corny Christmas jokes we could handle. I was happy that the Ginger Snaps joke was back.

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We headed out of the park at this point. I went swimming (meaning I hung out in the hot tub after a quick ride on the slide) before taking a shower and getting ready for our late afternoon/evening at Disney Springs.​
 
Fun morning at MK! You really crushed the FP game! I’ve never done Jingle Cruise and I’m regretting it. I bet it’s cute. Casey’s is getting pretty creative with their monthly hotdogs.
 
I had the best crab ever yesterday from a place called Hampton Social. It was a jar of king crab with melted garlic butter, grilled lemon and grilled sour dough bread. I'm debating if I want to go back there today before my movie with my girlfriend. It was that good!
Yum!!! That sounds amazing and right up my alley. Jason made his "famous" crab cakes for me on Christmas and they were so good!

Love how the photo caught your ears just coming off.

was able to get a 1PM slot so I took it. I kept playing that game to move it closer and closer to a better time and eventually I got it to be at 11:10AM. This isn’t a normal method I recommend to get FP+
It's my normal method :P I get dang near obsessive trying to get extra fast passes at good times.

My husband got the monthly speciality dog which was poutine. I’m not sure how I feel about cheese curds, gravy and fries on top of my hot dog but he seemed to like it.
Doesn't sound good to be either, but glad to hear he enjoyed it.
 
I just watched The Tim Tracker and his 12 days of hot dogs at Casey’s, most of the dog combos looked really gross! Tim loved the poutine one, haha! Andi and I use to love going to Casey’s right at opening, we haven’t gone for quite some time now.

I’m not a fan of the thin fries now! I am a big fan of the all beef dogs!

I love HP World, sorry your husband was not feeling well! Spiderman is a favorite of mine.

Keep the shrimp coming, haha!
 
I hope your husband is feeling better.

Looks like you had a great day at Universal. We almost went to universal last thursday the 27th. But between deciding that I wanted to plan better since we have not been sine 2009ish, wanting to go at a less crowded time and thinking that my girls had to be home for soccer practice, we decided to plan an actual 2 day trip to universal in the spring.
 
Yay MK! You have some awesome ride photos--they're a bit different and interesting, not like the standard normal pics everyone takes.

We rope dropped it towards Fantasyland and headed straight to Peter Pan.
I love this queue! So adorable. :)

We walked to Liberty Square. I wanted to try the bacon on the stick that had been recently added to one of the carts but they weren’t open yet.
WHAT?! there is bacon on a stick? I've never even heard of this!

After our meal, we headed to the FP+ line at Jungle Cruise right at 11:10AM. There was a long line for FP+ and stand-by was over an hour but it only took about 12 minutes until we were on a boat getting to listen to all the corny Christmas jokes we could handle. I was happy that the Ginger Snaps joke was back.
Aw, I so want to try the Jingle Cruise. :)
 
Fun morning at MK! You really crushed the FP game! I’ve never done Jingle Cruise and I’m regretting it. I bet it’s cute. Casey’s is getting pretty creative with their monthly hotdogs.

It is really cute! The insane long stand by line isn't cute though so I wouldn't do it without a FP+ but the jokes are mostly different and the decorations are fun.

Yum!!! That sounds amazing and right up my alley. Jason made his "famous" crab cakes for me on Christmas and they were so good!
Yum!

Love how the photo caught your ears just coming off.
It is! Glad I felt it happening and they didn't get taken by the ride!

It's my normal method :P I get dang near obsessive trying to get extra fast passes at good times.
I was just as obsessive - it just is a phone battery killer! We usually aren't in the park long enough to make it work but Magic Kingdom just needs those extra FP+ to enjoy!

Doesn't sound good to be either, but glad to hear he enjoyed it.
Men like strange things.
 
I just watched The Tim Tracker and his 12 days of hot dogs at Casey’s, most of the dog combos looked really gross! Tim loved the poutine one, haha! Andi and I use to love going to Casey’s right at opening, we haven’t gone for quite some time now.

I’m not a fan of the thin fries now! I am a big fan of the all beef dogs!

I love HP World, sorry your husband was not feeling well! Spiderman is a favorite of mine.

Keep the shrimp coming, haha!

A lot of them do sound really gross - like the Cheetos one or the mashed potato one! There are so many options around the parks that its hard to get all the favorites in despite multiple trips a year so I feel your pain! We've missed a few places we've loved.

Oh, I love the thin fries as I love a crispy fry but I know my husband isn't as happy with the choice.

Shrimp will come again :).

I hope your husband is feeling better.

Looks like you had a great day at Universal. We almost went to universal last thursday the 27th. But between deciding that I wanted to plan better since we have not been sine 2009ish, wanting to go at a less crowded time and thinking that my girls had to be home for soccer practice, we decided to plan an actual 2 day trip to universal in the spring.

He's feeling better! Guess we'll know for sure in a week and a half when we head back up to Disney for the races. So soon!

I don't blame you for wanting to go at a less crowded time - anyone that goes to the parks between Christmas and New Years has to know it will be a hot mess. We did that 5 years ago for my husband's 30th and it was just too much. The spring sounds like a great time to go!

Yay MK! You have some awesome ride photos--they're a bit different and interesting, not like the standard normal pics everyone takes.
We try!

I love this queue! So adorable. :)
It is! I'm also glad they have the queue out of the sun which is helpful.

WHAT?! there is bacon on a stick? I've never even heard of this!
Yes! Not sure if it was a limited time offering but I remember seeing it on The Disney Food Blog and was like - we have to have that! Who doesn't love bacon?

Aw, I so want to try the Jingle Cruise. :)
Just gotta come in November/December for your next trip :).
 

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