A Disney Girl visits the Darkside - Complete!!!

[ThinkTink09]

Our last day!

We'd been so lucky with the weather during the Universal portion of our trip. Our good fortune held - it was a beautifully sunny day to close up our visit.


Riptide rocket was first up! We've never been on it before, but we almost did ride last year...the same night those poor people got stuck on it for hours!


My sister went on first, in single rider lane, while I held her stuff. She really liked it! She told me I might want to skip it though as it was a really rough ride ( I have to be cautious of rides too harsh on the neck since brain surgery a few years ago). I was a bit bummed, but didn't want to risk it.


The Mummy was next. This is my favorite ride in the studios!! It is so detailed and exciting. Just love it! Especially the end where you think it's over and the mummy makes a surprise reappearance. So fun!


We wandered around the lake afterwards and caught the minion parade...how cute is that!?


I was really amazed at the lack of lines for all the characters. Some of them had no one waiting!! I couldn't get over it, especially since I'm used to the craziness that is a Disney Character line.


We wanted to finish the day in Diagon Ally. It is so easy to spend hours in there. We sat for a bit watching people play with their wands and enjoyed another frozen butterbeer.









I bought a buckbeak plush from the magical menagerie for my little sis back at home. That store is really great. Cornish pixies are around, along with a huge snake in the window, and some magical rats. I also love how all the HP shops have you sign your receipt with a feather pen. The menagerie was especially cute, as I was asked to sign the adoption papers.


Lunch was had at the leaky cauldron. I chose a cottage pie this time and my sister had a chicken sandwich. Both were tasty.










Knockturn Ally next. I think that it is my favorite area. Especially Borgin and Burkes!








I could hardly decide what to buy, but ended up purchasing a black, small-sized glass skull and a darkmark scarf. Love em!



The vanishing cabinet vibrated when you touched it - felt like something was trying to get out!







The Hogwarts express was a really long wait, so I'm sad to say we missed out on the trip to Hogsmeade. We said our fond goodbyes to the studios, and then headed back to Cabana Bay.


I'd wanted to finish up the trip with a visit to Margarittaville. Love it there! Especially the banana havana drink....but my sister was beat! I wasn't a ball full of energy myself. We grabbed dinner later-on at the resort and ate near the fire by the pool. It was a lovely, relaxing way to end our vacation!


Final thoughts next:

 

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It's crazy how fast a vacation passes. I wish your average work week followed the same formula, but I suppose all good things must come to an end.



So, as a self professed Disney-girl, you might wonder how our first full-length trip to the darkside compared to the world.


Going into it, I'd wondered if Universal would usurp Disney's place, for us, as the favorite FL vacation destination. From our past day visits, I knew that we enjoyed the parks and the restaurants and thought that perhaps: the close proximity of the hotel to everything, the new HP addition, HHN, and the freedom of not having to plan; could tip the balance in Universal's favor. My thoughts before the trip were that most likely I'd find that I like them both equally; and be unable to pick a favorite.



The truth is that Disney is the easy winner for me. Don't misunderstand, I loved Universal! It was amazingly fun. We saw and did so much and loved our hotel; but the experiences stacked up against each other have Disney with the edge. I'll explain why this was the case for me.


The lines.
We choose the value resort for affordability and therefore did not have front of the line access. I prefer not to get up early on vacation, and found that when we arrived at the parks most waits were already high. With planning at Disney, we got on all the headliners and smaller attractions with ease (utilizing FP+ and yes, it does have it's problems I will agree, but the benefits outweighed them). We could sleep in and know that there were FP's ready and waiting.


Food quality.
City walk restaurants are great, as was the leaky cauldron, but the other in-park offerings just weren't as good. I actually had to throw away a soft pretzel that was terribly hard and stale. Other snacks were great, and not a terrible value, especially compared to Disney whose prices border on absurd ( thank you dining plan).


There's not as much to do.
I can easily spend over a week at Disney and want more time. It is, of course, a much larger resort. Wouldn't it be great if Universal could add a third gate!? Their creativity and innovation is impressive; I'm sure it would be fantastic.

One other pet peeve I found throughout our stay was that the bathrooms were always lacking soap and hand towels. I don't know why. We surmised it had something to do with HHN crowds.


Don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to be a downer. There was good...and tons of it!!! Diagon Ally was phenomenal. HHN was amazing. Cabana Bay was awesome. I loved our visit, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Disney just is a bit more awesome; a bit more amazing. For me.


Will I return? Absolutely!! If I'm in Florida in October I certainly will visit at least for a day. HHN is the best!



Thanks for reading along with me!!!
I'm considering doing a TR for the Disney portion of our trip and I'll add the link if I decide to! Here's a teaser photo from MNSSHP. We were Snow Miser and Heat Miser:





Peace out!

 

[Dutchie Guy]

enjoyed reading this, thanks a lot!

 

[mrsabbott]

I definitely enjoyed your trip report! Thank you for sharing!

 

[HM]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[ThinkTink09]

enjoyed reading this, thanks a lot!

I definitely enjoyed your trip report! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Thanks so much for reading everyone!!

 

[gofordrew]

Great report! I'm really excited about being back at Disney/Universal for the first time in 10 years. We leave in just over 2 weeks!!

 

[elaine amj]

Thanks for your report - It's nice to hear some details about how you feel. I am planning a May 2015 visit to the Dark Side and I am predicting we will have a ball, but our hearts will stay with Disney.