70 to Freezing in 7 hours. A Nov/Dec 2011 trip report. Updated 4/28

[MEK]

Those are great pics! Love the Christmas Hat on Homer. Another park I need to see at Christmas!

 

[amandaw]

The Simpsons area at US looks so cute! I haven't been there since they opened up, so it's neat to see some pics of it.

That's so fun that you got to see Minnie & Mickey in Dublin!

 

[petals]

Fun update at Universal. Now there's no Jaws. Can't wait to see your hidden Mickey.

Thanks. I heard that Jaws was going to become a second part to Harry Potter!

I hope you hear back from job applications soon. Don't get discouraged, it seems to be the norm now not to get a reply. Even after interviews, it's rare to get a response

It's just a little hard to keep the faith sometimes when I saw the dance one though I loled at it!

Love the Simpsons area. It is so fun. I never made it in the kwiki mat. I sure wish I did....
But how ironic. I was just editing Universal pictures and look!

I got one too!

I was Christmas shopping there is only reason we spent so long there. Love the way we so many similar pics

Those are great pics! Love the Christmas Hat on Homer. Another park I need to see at Christmas!

I have their big Christmas thing coming up in an update soon.

The Simpsons area at US looks so cute! I haven't been there since they opened up, so it's neat to see some pics of it.

I've heard that ride is a little rough if you don't like thrill rides so I haven't chanced it but think the whole thing looks cool.

That's so fun that you got to see Minnie & Mickey in Dublin!

Yeah I totally got over- excited when I saw them. It was hot today in Dublin which is fairly rare but there seems to be hundreds of spainish/french/italian/i'm not sure what students and tourists around and the crowds were driving me mental because it was that annoying type of crowd where people walk so slow in front and then stop dead for no apparent reason and you nearly walk into them so was totally having a not a people person day and then saw those two and was like WOOOOO Disney! even though they look a little thin and shabby but still it's Disney. Maybe they didn't take well to flying all the way over to Ireland they're a little jet-lagged like!

 

[afwdwfan]

I love the Simpsons area, but it really is kind of disappointing that they took out Back to the Future to put it in. You should have done the ride, it's a good one!

 

[jenseib]

I love the Simpsons area, but it really is kind of disappointing that they took out Back to the Future to put it in. You should have done the ride, it's a good one!

That was the best ride EVER!!!

 

[petals]

I love the Simpsons area, but it really is kind of disappointing that they took out Back to the Future to put it in. You should have done the ride, it's a good one!

That was the best ride EVER!!!

I like gentle rides like small world so when I heard it was rough i was like i'll just look! Very nice now where's the Barney area





(I didn't actually go to Barney area)

 

[Caretames1]

Kwiki Mart! That would have been fun just to say you had been there!

I like that T-shirt, "Are We There Yet?" I know a few kids that could wear that one!

 

[petals]

Kwiki Mart! That would have been fun just to say you had been there!

I like that T-shirt, "Are We There Yet?" I know a few kids that could wear that one!

There's lots of little quirky things in the Kwik-e-mart especially the posters around the shop and side of the displays. You really need to take your time in there.

 

[petals]

OMG The musical society I go to occasionally have announced their show for 2013 tonight.....



They're doing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST DISNEY WOOOOOOO


Oh yeah and tomorrow I'm 100 days off the Disney Paris trip anyways:

Day 11, part 3:
So after exploring the Simpsons area for a while we headed off towards the Animal actors theatre as there was a show due to start soon. We did have time to stop to take a few pics:

I also got my pic taken with this guy:

We then went to look in the shop and this is where Momma became a bad liar. I don’t have a picture of them but I was getting pressed pennies and Momma was looking for lollipops for someone and then she went to look at these red and white striped toe socks with Cat in the hat on. I was like oh who are you getting those for. Her answer was go away they’re for me. I didn’t say anything but I knew they weren’t for her because she hates toe socks… I got them for my last birthday lol: We did Seussical with the musical society two years ago and I was a who so have a soft spot for the Dr. Seuss tales now!
Anyways after shopping for a bit we went to Animal actors show:

This bird played Max in Evan Almighty apparently:

This dude was in Hotel for dogs:

I don’t remember what this dude was in but he was good at his tricks:

I have good news as well for those that were huge softies and cried at Marley and Me. (sorry for the spoiler if you haven’t seen the movie) He didn’t really die that was only in the movie, he’s still alive and this is him apparently:

He was taking part in a bit of the show where they take a small boy from the audience and get him to think of clothes and the dog goes to get what the boy is thinking of…
Then this dude comes out because the dog takes something belonging to him… I’m trying to avoid to many spoilers here in case you haven’t seen the show:

Anyways last Animal actor is the pug from the Men in Black movies:

After the show we decided to go on E.T. because wait time was only ten minutes. I saw this and wondered were they going to do something this year for its anniversary they haven’t so far:

They give you a passport for this as well it’s important because they take your name and if you listen closely at the end of the ride E.T. thanks you for your help.

We went into E.T.’s little shop then to explore for a bit.

This was the back of one of the hoodies:

Then on the way out much to my surprise I found a Mickey head and went MOMMA I found a hidden Mickey in Universal!

Ok maybe not but it was funny in a weird way at the time.
After the excitement of our first and only ride of the day we headed back towards Beetlejuices graveyard Revue taking pics along the way:
One more pic of the funny Simpsons signs:

While we were waiting outside the Beetlejuice theatre there was Universal staff going around asking guests that looked over 18 if they wanted to take part in the parade that was going to be happening that evening. We declined as we wanted to see the actual parade not be in it since we only had one day to see it. Anyways soon after Beetlejuice’s show started. It’s kind of a rock/pop music show with lots of monsters:

Next up: Christmas at Universal begins

 

[amandaw]

The animal show looks cute!

That's funny about the Mickey head.

Sounds like y'all were having a fun day!

 

[petals]

The animal show looks cute!

It is a fun show. They say all the animals are from movies but I don't know if that's the truth or not. We saw it in 1995 when I was little as well and they actually had Beethoven the dog at it. I remember that because we took a photo of him and when we got the photos developed the photographer had stolen the picture and Momma lost the negative so we couldn't get a new one.

That's funny about the Mickey head.

I thought that was funny to.

Sounds like y'all were having a fun day!

It was a relaxing unrushed kind of day!

 

[petals]

So I thought I might finish the Universal day off now.

Don’t miss the update I did last night/early this morning as well on the previous page!


Day 11, part 4:
So after Beetlejuice we decided to grab a spot for the parade. We made a little mistake here which I’ll get to in a bit but I left Momma minding the spot and I went to get some treats for us although she didn’t know that she thought I was just wandering around taking pics:

One of each please:

I came back with two chocolate spores for us:

They were yummy. I was squirrel spotting while we were eating:

Then soon enough it was time for Christmas to start in Universal in the form of the Macy’s holiday parade:

We had waited near the gates that the parade comes out… this was our mistake the parade comes out:

Splitting because I’ve too many pics for one post!

 

[petals]

Day 11, part 5:

The parade comes out goes down one street to the Christmas tree… Then Santa gets off the float and lights the tree... This we did not know so we missed this part but the parade then circles around and comes back up and goes in the same gates it comes out. It was a good parade not Disney but still good even though we did encounter our next rudey at this parade. We had been waiting maybe an hour or so at our spot because there was nothing else we wanted to do in Universal anyway. So parade comes and we’re at front me happy I can get my good pics. Ten mins before the parade starts a very mouthy Momma and her about 8 year old son come up behind the crowd and her attitude stank she stood behind me trying to push him in front and when that failed she started shouting behind me about how appalling it was for adults to be stood at the front for a parade in a child’s amusement park that children should be given first priority for a spot at the front so they can see the parade. I completely ignored her but had she not have had such a rubbish attitude I probably would have asked the child if he wanted to stand in front of me it was just her rubbish attitude that made me not want to bother!
Anyways after the parade we strolled around again looking at the floats around the park:

We headed down towards the Christmas market and the now lit up Christmas tree:

In the market there was food, toys, games, glass blowing, funny signs one was for a guard dog and read “I can get to the fence in 3 seconds can you?” There were also a lot of Christmas decorations:

Next we went over to the stage area to wait for the next big event:

The Mannheim Steamroller was playing. They were good but we didn’t stay very long only a couple of songs and then we decided to head towards the exit:

We did of course stop over in the gift shop along the way and Momma was going to buy this little guy. I think he was only 8.99 which wasn’t bad compared to the other plushies but she decided against it anyway:

After that we went back out to Citywalk and decided to go to the cinema. We went to see The Muppets. It wasn’t going to be out in Ireland until February so I was delighted to be able to see it in December and these dudes were in the cinema:

We hadn’t been to cinema at Universal in a while but roley moley the price has gone up. When we went in 2008 it was only 4 dollars for me this time it was 10.50. Maybe it was the time of the year we went or something but seems like a very large hike in the last few years. We got a taxi back to the hotel after the movie and I went on facebook for a while to use up the cards I had for the computer. Momma went back to the hotel room while I checked facebook and my emails and that. I hadn’t been watching facebook a lot and there was a few Dissers looking for me because we had something planned in the next few days and they had been wondering if I was still interested in taking part. Emails checked, deleted and the important ones replied to I went to bed, sad because we were nearing the end of our stay in Florida.

Next up: Another day's adventure begins!

 

[amandaw]

The parade looks fun. Sorry about the rude woman, though. Some people are just ridiculous!

That's cool that Mannheim Steamroller was there. I love their Christmas music!

The Muppets was a cute movie! Yeah, the price to go to the movie theatre is insane these days. We only go to the movies that we are REALLY interested in seeing.

 

[petals]

The parade looks fun. Sorry about the rude woman, though. Some people are just ridiculous!

It was a fun parade. I wouldn't mind her if she had of just asked would you mind if he stood in front of you because he can't see the child was shorter than me so I would have still gotten the pics and video over his head it was just her attitude like I'm here move over that bugged me.

That's cool that Mannheim Steamroller was there. I love their Christmas music!

They were good. I'd heard alot about them so thought I'd take the time to check them out.

The Muppets was a cute movie! Yeah, the price to go to the movie theatre is insane these days. We only go to the movies that we are REALLY interested in seeing.

I love the Muppets movie. I went again in February when it came out but brought my niece that time. She's 11 and had never seen muppets on tv or anything she loved it thought they were really funny. I don't go cinema that often either. We were kinda going thinking it was still going to be 4 dollars and then just went anyway because we had decided on a movie already.

 

[MEK]

Checked out your last updates this morning and I must say that the Christmas parade looks like fun! ACK to the lady just assuming her child could stand in front of you. There IS a way to nicely make that request.

I remember seeing that animal show years ago. I totally forgot about it, but it was very entertaining.

 

[petals]

Firstly let me just say doing the double digit dance yeah

Checked out your last updates this morning and I must say that the Christmas parade looks like fun!

Yeah it was a good one. It was different like

ACK to the lady just assuming her child could stand in front of you. There IS a way to nicely make that request.

What annoyed me most about her was her rudeness. I would have had no problem offering if she hadn't have been so rude about it and the fact we'd been waiting for an hour she arrived ten mins before the parade.

I remember seeing that animal show years ago. I totally forgot about it, but it was very entertaining.

It is a funny show. I love all the doggies anyway though

 

[petals]

98 days til I see this beauty

Oh have also edited all day 12 pics so more update coming soon.

 

[petals]

Happy August!

Day 12, part 1:
Monday 5th December, 2011

We got up early today as we wanted to start packing. We had breakfast in the room I had these:

I took some photos around the hotel as we would be leaving it the next day:
Momma didn’t like the towers because it reminded her of a prison this is taken from the ground floor looking up from in the middle of the towers:

They had a little pond on the ground as well:

And there was even goldfish:

This little dude was hanging around the car park:

And this was hotel pool:

We never did get around to using that last year. Anyways after that we headed back to Citywalk . We had wanted to go cinema early but when we got there the movie we wanted to see wasn’t on until later in the evening. This was also a hot day. I think it had finally reached the 80’s but it was definitely the hottest day we’d had in the 12 days. Since the movie wasn’t on we just took a stroll around the endangered species shop in Citywalk:

They had many funny t-shirts:

We eventually started to wander towards a park, passing my stage which was all decorated for Christmas:

It’s my stage because that’s where we danced on St. Patrick’s Day with the dancing school. We also danced in the Hard Rock Café:

And everytime I see either of those now I go I danced there! lol
We eventually made our way to Islands of Adventure:

We walked up through the shops because it was so warm out and shops were cooler. I took pics along the way of course:

When we came back out onto the street these guys were wandering around:

Then these guys started playing some quirky music and dancing around:

We stayed to watch for a few mins before heading off to our next destination.

Next up: A free character brunch!

 

[amandaw]

That's too bad that the movie wasn't playing yet for y'all.

Love all of the Christmas pics! Those little gingerbread men (I can't tell if they're ornaments or what not) are so cute!