“Well, It’s Really Just 2 Meanies Who Show Up Every Now & Then...And Try To Kill You” August 2021 TR *COMPLETE* 7/22 x2

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Tuesday August 3rd

When we had finished riding Hagrid's, it was 11 am and we thought this may be our one and only shot to try Three Broomsticks for lunch since it was early and we were nearby. Despite the fact that there was really only a line inside the restaurant and one had not formed outside yet (like we saw later on in the trip), it still took over 30 minutes to make it inside and to a counter to order. On a previous trip, we had signed up for the credit card in the parking garage and our gift for doing that was free dining plan cards for DH and I. We had used a lot of the credits on that trip and had a few leftover, but they do not expire. DH asked if the TM could check them and tell us what was left, and we had 2 drink credits remaining. So we ordered our meal and got 2 lemonades with the credits, a frozen Butterbeer, the chicken & ribs platter for DH and I to share, macaroni & cheese for DD and chicken tenders for DS. When the TM went to apply the drink credits with our cards, the entire system froze. He called over his manager who saw how much the line was building up and how crazy the restaurant was getting, so she did an override and comped our entire $47 meal and shut down his station! So in the end, worth the wait for a free meal at Three Broomsticks!

It still took awhile after ordering for our food to be ready, and the kids were DONE.

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We had been able to snag another Hagrid’s virtual queue but this whole lunch experience had taken so long it was about to expire. DS and I hurried over to check in with just seconds to spare, but DH decided to take DD to ride something else since she was pretty tired of waiting for rider swaps. Instead, they went to do Flight of the Hippogriff.

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Since their ride was quicker than ours, they went next to Camp Jurassic for her to play while waiting for us to finish.

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Once we were all together again, DH wanted to give Velocicoaster another try, so he hurried over to see if he could ride Single Rider while the kids and I got another Icee and started walking towards Marvel Superhero Island.

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However, by the time he made it to Velocicoaster, the wait time had grown and the Single Rider line was at capacity. So he caught back up with us, and we decided to go ride Spider-Man.

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By this time, it was getting to be hoooootttt and we were ready for a break. We kept going to the front of the park.

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DS loves to shop, so he always asked to pass through the shop on the way out of the parks.

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Each kid had some souvenir money, and DS picked out a Toothless keychain, and DD bought herself a unicorn keychain from Despicable Me, and a pen with Chloe from Secret Life of Pets.

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We walked back to the room for a much needed break. We all took naps that day, I think. DS said he never fell asleep but I have a hard time believing he laid there quietly and still for the entire time the rest of us were napping!

Our nap lasted until about 4, and we decided to get some dinner from the pool bar instead of getting something in the parks and having to wait a long time. In the past we have done this and been able to share kids meals because the portions are so huge, but this time they were not offered as combos and everything was a la carte. So he just grabbed an assortment of entrees, fries and fruit for us to split.

After dinner, we were back on a water taxi and heading to CityWalk around 6, and soon after that we were heading into Studios. We made a quick stop to get another blue raspberry Icee…

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…then headed over for our very first visit to a Tribute Store! At this time, it was Jurassic World themed. It was really cool to wander the different rooms and see the memorabilia along with the merchandise! We are big fans of the Jurassic franchise, so I’m glad we got to experience this.

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In addition to the merchandise, in the last room they had all kinds of treats and snacks for sale.

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And on the way out, there is a statue of the man who made it all possible. John Hammond! “Spared no expense.”

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[erinch]

Loving your report!

 

[khertz]

Loving your report!

Thanks so much!!

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Tuesday August 3rd

Next, we went over to Fast & Furious, which is neither fast nor furious, but we get a good laugh out of it.

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Icee #4 for the day was Lemonade.

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Then we headed over to Diagon Alley.


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We went first over to Escape From Gringotts. DD still considers this her most favorite of all the rides at UOR!

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A TM in the queue took a photo of our family here too, which was really nice!

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The posted wait was 75 minutes, and with Express we had to wait about 25, which is not too bad for that attraction at that time of day.

All day, DD had been asking when she could get her Pygmy Puff, and DS really wanted a stuffed horned owl. So we stopped inside Magical Menagerie so that they could pick out their souvenirs. They were very happy with their purchases!

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We wanted to see Cinematic Celebration that night, but we still had time for one more attraction before heading over to find a spot, so we stopped for some training with the Men In Black.

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Then we walked through a lit-up Springfield to the City Park area to stake out our spot for the show.

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We found what appeared to be a great spot, and sat down around 8:15 to wait.

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DH went to get us one more Icee for the day.

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Cinematic Celebration started with a pre-show tribute of the Summer Olympics, which were still going on (and was usually what we ended up putting on TV every night once we were back in the room and going to bed!).

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[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Tuesday August 3rd

Then, it was time for Cinematic Celebration! I absolutely LOVE this show. The way they incorporate the fountains, colors, and IP is really fun and nostalgic and exciting to me. So get ready for what is likely way too many photos of it. Sorry not sorry!

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And with the end of the Cinematic Celebration, we joined the crowd exiting the park and called it a wrap on park day 2!

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[ofcabbagesandkings]

We didn't catch the cinematic celebration on our trip, just didn't prioritize it, so it's lovely to see some photos! My DS's both got pygmy puffs too, the little "adoption" ceremony at Weasley's was so cute, and kind of made up for them not getting picked for the wand selection at Ollivanders. I didn't realize they made noises until we got back to the hotel. The boys play with them a lot and love cuddling them.

 

[CheriePenguin]

Love your report! Especially liked seeing the Cinematic Celebration pics - didn't get to see the show last year and really hoping to get to see it this year.

 

[erinch]

Love the way your DS puts his arm so shelteringly around your DD!

 

[JoyW]

Love the picture of the Cinematic Celebration-we will definitely have to check that out on our next trip. Is there a list (or map) somewhere of the locations that do the Icee refills on the freestyle refillable cups?

 

[amazingact21]

I had no clue Universal had a nighttime show. I'll have to add it to our Must-Do's while we're there.
Had to laugh at Gringotts being DD's favorite attraction, because I think that's exactly what Evie is going to say, but only because it'll be one of the few coasters she's tall enough for.

I don't think the Three Broomsticks will ever not be busy, but at least you all got a free lunch! And I mean, frozen butterbeer is worth the wait.

 

[khertz]

We didn't catch the cinematic celebration on our trip, just didn't prioritize it, so it's lovely to see some photos! My DS's both got pygmy puffs too, the little "adoption" ceremony at Weasley's was so cute, and kind of made up for them not getting picked for the wand selection at Ollivanders. I didn't realize they made noises until we got back to the hotel. The boys play with them a lot and love cuddling them.

If you go back, Cinematic Celebration is worth prioritizing!! It's a really fun show.

Awwww, I didn't realize they did a ceremony if you got it at Weasley's! She wants a "sibling" for hers so maybe next time we go back, we will have to make sure we get one there instead of Magical Menagerie. I have to say, I am usually not a fan of them picking MORE stuffed animals as their souvenirs, but she still really loves that Pygmy Puff, so it ended up being a good choice. We have just gotten to the point in the books together where the Pygmy Puffs were discussed and Ginny adopted one named Arnold, she she has loved that!

Love your report! Especially liked seeing the Cinematic Celebration pics - didn't get to see the show last year and really hoping to get to see it this year.

I really love this show! We have made it a priority every trip so far. I couldn't find times for it for our upcoming adults only trip so I'm hoping we get to see it again.

Love the picture of the Cinematic Celebration-we will definitely have to check that out on our next trip. Is there a list (or map) somewhere of the locations that do the Icee refills on the freestyle refillable cups?

I don't think there is a list per se, but Touring Plans has menus for all of the carts and they have a feature where you can search for menu items, so you may be able to create your own list? At this point after so many trips with our cup, we have most locations memorized.

I had no clue Universal had a nighttime show. I'll have to add it to our Must-Do's while we're there.
Had to laugh at Gringotts being DD's favorite attraction, because I think that's exactly what Evie is going to say, but only because it'll be one of the few coasters she's tall enough for.

I don't think the Three Broomsticks will ever not be busy, but at least you all got a free lunch! And I mean, frozen butterbeer is worth the wait.

Yes, definitely!! It's like a World of Color light. We really enjoy it because we love so many of their IPs!

I think that's why DD enjoyed it so much too!! She wants to do more thrills (she was mad she couldn't do Hulk and Hagrid's!), and she is super excited to try Guardians when we go to WDW next year!

All very good points! Butterbeer is totally worth the wait, and you just can't beat FREE!

 

[khertz]

Love the way your DS puts his arm so shelteringly around your DD!

It's so nice to see them be loving to each other every so often!! They fight a lot, but they really do love each other.

 

[khertz]

Day 4: Wednesday August 4th

This morning, we decided to sleep in! Well, mostly. DD was up at 7 and woke DH up, but he sent her back to bed. She fell back asleep but he couldn’t. She is pretty good at that party trick! Lol We were actually up and moving around 8:30. Our plan for the morning was doughnuts & water rides!

We got ourselves dressed in our swim stuff, and mobile ordered some Voodoo Doughnuts, then headed out to CityWalk.

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We found a place to sit over near the restaurant where they have some chairs and wooden tables set up.

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DS had chosen a Chocolate Frosted Cake and an Eight Mile, DD chose a Little Pink, DH got the ODB and Butterfinger, and I got the Mobile Order Exclusive S’mores and a Chocolate Coconut Cake.

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The S’mores was delicious but it was huge and rich! I couldn’t finish both doughnuts.

Fully stuffed, we headed to Islands of Adventure ready to get soaked! We did start off with our first Icee of the day, a strawberry one!

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I took photos this morning of our water rides experiences, but they didn’t make it onto the computer before they were overwritten on our DCL vacation But DH did capture some videos on the Go Pro that he stitched together. This was DD’s first time experiencing all of these rides, and she absolutely loved them! We did the Jurassic Park River Adventure first, and this one scared her a little but covering her eyes for the T. Rex did the trick. Then we did Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls, and Popeye & Bluto’s Bilgerat Barges twice in a row.

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Around 11:30, we were sufficiently pleased with the amount of water rides we had done, and were ready to head back to the room. Since we were at IOA, we decided to take the walking path back to RPR. DH and I were still stuffed from breakfast, but the kids grabbed a snack while we were in the room to tide them over. We dried off and changed clothes, then took the water taxi back. I found it amusing how much water had ended up in the pouch of my lanyard that morning!!

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DD always enjoys posing whenever she can, and the walk down to the water taxi launch was no exception! I love this dress on her, but I think unfortunately this past trip will be the last time we go that it still fits! It has gotten a bit short.

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We decided to head to Studios, stopping first for some photos with the globe on the bridge over to the entrance.

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It was just before 1 pm and there was a Bourne Stuntacular show scheduled at that time, so we hopped into the show building. This was new to us, and we had heard great reviews on podcasts and online, so we were excited to check it out!

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DH is the only one of us who has seen a majority of the Bourne franchise. I have only seen the first one, and of course the kids had never seen any of it. But that didn’t affect our enjoyment of it! The stunts are very cool, the story easy to follow, and the effects they use during the show were really impressive! Even the kids enjoyed this show!

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It was way past time for another Icee by this point, so we stopped for a Coke one before heading over to E.T.

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Then we headed over to take a couple of spins on Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster.

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We walked through Springfield to get over to Men In Black, which the kids wanted to do next.

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We stopped at the cart near MIB for a snack and got a churro and a lemonade Icee to share.

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After our snack, we went to help with the first, last, and only line of defense against the worst scum of the universe.

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[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Wednesday August 4th

It was only about 3:30 pm, so we thought maybe this would be our best chance to get some food in Springfield for an early dinner since we hadn’t eaten a full meal since breakfast. Even at such an off time for a meal, the line was out the door there!! So we found ourselves again mobile ordering a pizza at Louie’s instead.

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This was the photo DH took of the walkup line to order while in the completely empty mobile order pickup line! Even in that weird time between lunch and dinner when you wouldn’t expect eateries to be busy, they were packed.

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After dinner, we split up. DS and I went to go ride The Mummy while DH took DD over to ride Jimmy Fallon. Since I had to put everything in a locker, there is only photo evidence of DH & DD’s adventure through New York!

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DS and I finished up first and walked through the Tribute Store again while waiting for DH and DD to finish and meet up with us. DS wanted to ride Mummy again, so we swapped and DD requested another ride on Jimmy Fallon, so that’s where she and I went.

DH is a lot braver than me (and has deeper pockets) so he took his phone with him through Mummy and took some photos.

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Meanwhile, DD and I were over visiting NBC studios again. When she and I got upstairs, Hashtag the Panda was out greeting guests as they came into the waiting area.

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Once we were all together again, we got another snack and Icee, this time a cinnamon pretzel and lemonade Icee.

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A quick rainshower passed through but we managed to avoid most of it, then we made our way back to Diagon Alley.

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The Gringotts standby wait was posted at 80 minutes, so we knew Express could be a bit of a wait, but we were okay with that given the weather.

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We got another Icee after that, then went over to do Transformers.

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It was about 7 pm by then, and some nasty weather was on the way so we decided to call it a night. It was a shame because it had actually gotten a little cool and pleasant, but we knew it was just a matter of time before the downpour and we didn’t want to get stuck in it. It was probably not a terrible thing to have at least one night where we got to bed early!

 

[khertz]

Day 5: Thursday August 5th

Since we had gotten to bed early the night before, getting up in time for early entry was not as painful today! We were up at 6:30 and took breakfast with us to eat while waiting for the park to open. DH and I were hopeful to get another shot at Velocicoaster today.

The gates were opened for us at 7:45 to enter IOA, but as we made our way over to Velocicoaster, we found out it was not opening early today. We didn’t want to wait around to see how long it would take for it to start running, so we went over to Hogsmeade instead.

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DS did a quick video for his YouTube channel before it got packed over by Hogwarts.

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He and I went to do Forbidden Journey together, while DH and DD rode Flight of the Hippogriff twice in a row waiting for us to finish.

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Then we swapped again so DH and DS could ride Forbidden Journey together and DD and I got another couple of spins on Hippogriff together.

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We wanted to give Velocicoaster another try so we headed over to Jurassic Park.

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But the line was crazy long, so we decided against joining it and instead pivoted over to the Raptor Encounter.

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Blue was very thrown off by DS’s hat. It was a fun encounter! The TM actually did photos, and this video!

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Since it was still early in the day, Pteranodon Flyers was still a short wait so we all jumped in line for that. DH and DS rode together, and DH (again, braver than me) took some photos. I didn’t because no way do I trust myself to hold on to my phone while on one of those!!

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Then we headed over to Skull Island.

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The snack stand there is the only one we know of for sure that has DS’s favorite Icee flavor of strawberry so we stopped for our first one of the day.

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Icee in hand, we backtracked to the attraction entrance to ride.

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After the ride, we decided to stop and get another Icee so DS could get his strawberry fix since they are so hard to come by!

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[khertz]

Day 5 Continued: Thursday August 5th

Then we decided to go check out Spider-Man.

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The kids and DH went to do Storm Force Accelatron while I picked us up a Coke Icee. I can’t do that one with the spinning!!

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We walked over to Seuss Landing after that and did The Cat in the Hat next.

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We had each gotten into the Hagrid’s virtual line earlier that day at some point, and DH’s time kept getting shifted earlier and earlier, so we headed over to use that next.

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Unfortunately, we only got part of the way through the line when the ride went down. We waited it out for a good bit, but we also had a lunch reservation at NBC Sports Grill & Brew at noon, so eventually we ducked out of line when we realized we were going nowhere fast in that line. It was a bummer for sure! But we got an Icee on the way out to help our disappointment.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We made it over to NBC and were seated right away.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DH and I both got the Extra Cheesy Wisconsin Burger.

IMG_4287 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DS got the kids sliders, and DD got the kids chicken tenders.

IMG_4288 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4289 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

 

[khertz]

Day 5 Continued: Thursday August 5th

I still had my Hagrid’s virtual queue spot, so after lunch we headed back into IOA around 1. We started working our way back towards Hagrid’s again by way of Seuss Landing.

IMG_2646 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We did the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride.

IMG_2647 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_2648 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_2650 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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IMG_2658 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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IMG_2660 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We got another Icee on the way to Hagrid’s after a fun spin around on the train.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4290 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4291 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

DH and DS stayed in IOA to record some Pokemon openings, but DD and I decided to do a little magic, and then take the Hogwarts Express over to Studios.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We picked up a blue raspberry icee. Then DD requested Jimmy Fallon AGAIN!! She really loves this ride! Hashtag was there again, so we stopped to see him too.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

For the first time this trip, they were actually using the color cards, so we had a little bit of a wait. While waiting, DD suddenly had to potty, so we had to ditch the line.

Meanwhile, DH and DS had finished recording in IOA and were walking over to Studios to meet us.

IMG_4306 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4310 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

When they got to us, DS still wanted to do some more content, so DD and I gave Jimmy Fallon another try. We played the matching game while we waited.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DH and I had discussed the pros & cons of upgrading our APs and had ultimately decided it was worth it. While it was more than we had been anticipating to make the upgrade to Seasonal, we had gotten the idea that a day at Universal would be fun for the day we got off our upcoming Disney cruise before heading back home to Louisiana. Last cruise, we had spent the day in Disney Springs, and it just didn’t feel like it was worth staying after the cruise just for that. But $60 for an extra day at UOR sounded like a good idea! DH and DS had already gone to get in the guest services line.

By that time, it was 4:30 and I suddenly remembered, I had to return our stroller rental to the hotel by 5! It was the latest time we could schedule for a return, and keeping it an extra night for just a few hours that evening and a few more in the morning would make the cost of the rental go up quite a bit so we had decided to return it. I left them to do the upgrade while I took the stroller back to RPR. Having no idea how long the water taxi would take, I decided to walk back. I returned it to bell services just before 5 and went up to the room to get the umbrella stroller we had brought with us for precisely this use.

Meanwhile, DH successfully upgraded all of us, which was wonderful…but as I took the water taxi back I realized I didn’t have a ticket now! They were enjoying an Icee and the Animal Actors show while I did all of this.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_2662 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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IMG_2688 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I was texting DH about my ticket issue, but the best he could do was text me a photo of the barcode on the back. When I got to the gates, Ali who was working the turnstile tried very hard to help me, but he couldn’t. Scanning the photo of the barcode didn’t work, he tried manually typing in the barcode number and that didn’t work, and for some reason when I tried putting them into my Wallet on the Universal app it only came up as everyone else in my family but not me!

Finally, DH walked to the front with my new ticket once their show ended and was able to pass it over to me. Ali checked it with my ID and I was able to get in! He was so great and patient and kept trying to find a way to help me get in but it was almost comical how everything kept not working!

IMG_2690 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It was 5:30 by that point and we were ready for dinner. We really wanted to eat at Springfield at least once, so we bit the bullet and waited in the 25 minute line to even get to the point of ordering. The kids got pizza, and both DH and I got the chicken and waffle sandwiches. I realize this waffle looks a little pale but it actually tastes really good with the chicken!

IMG_2691 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_2692 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We did Men In Black a couple of times while DS did some more recording, then we wrapped up our evening in Diagon Alley.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_2694 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_4341 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We headed out of the park and got on the water taxi back to RPR. Since it was our last night, we took time to start packing up our stuff that night before bed. We would still have some of the day in the parks in the morning before heading to the airport. But it was a little sad to know we had just ended our last full day already!

 

[wdwrule]

Loving all the fun, amazing pics! The icee count is too cute! I really miss the Hagrid’s virtual queue system.

 

[khertz]

Loving all the fun, amazing pics! The icee count is too cute! I really miss the Hagrid’s virtual queue system.

Thanks so much!! We started the Icee count one trip trying to see if we could outdo ourselves and beat our highest number of Icees in one day, and it just stuck! lol Now it's a staple of our Universal trips.

I really miss the virtual queue too!!! It was so much easier than standing in line for a long time. My DH and I just got back from a trip without the kids, and it sucked having to check the wait time all day long and take a gamble on whether or not the wait time was inflated or if it was a length we were ok waiting, etc. etc. Virtual line was so much better!

 

[wdwrule]

Thanks so much!! We started the Icee count one trip trying to see if we could outdo ourselves and beat our highest number of Icees in one day, and it just stuck! lol Now it's a staple of our Universal trips.

I really miss the virtual queue too!!! It was so much easier than standing in line for a long time. My DH and I just got back from a trip without the kids, and it sucked having to check the wait time all day long and take a gamble on whether or not the wait time was inflated or if it was a length we were ok waiting, etc. etc. Virtual line was so much better!

Agree!! It was nice too to adjust the time if needed, such as while being at dinner and needing a few more minutes etc. Great tradition with the Icee count! Haha maybe hubby and I should start a Perfect Margarita count from Citywalk But seriously, love that! Something the kids will always remember.