A Fantasy Holiday - our first Disney Cruise, WDW, UOR, New York and DLR - COMPLETED 4/9

[sayuracodfish]

Day 9 - Part 4 - A Serene Afternoon with fun friends

So after our photo extravaganza Jared and I took the tram over to Serenity Bay, the adults only beach area. We had already walked about half the island and decided our feet needed a break, however we almost got on the wrong tram back to the dock and the Disney Fantasy (oops!)...

We found the BBQ at Serenity Beach quickly and debated waiting for our table friends but we were so hungry we decided to just start eating. We grabbed a table and were pretty soon joined by Derrick and Becky and then Todd and Kim and finally Shaun and Kayla. We all enjoyed the BBQ immensely, especially the ice-cream cookie sandwiches which were invited by some one in our crew (there were cookies and soft serve and someone had the genius idea to put that together). Becky had to wait for the cookies to be replenished so she could get hers!

After lunch we headed down to the beach where Todd and Kim had saved some lounge chairs together. Kayla and Shaun had been at the beach that morning and were heading back to the main part of the island so we said goodbye to them for the time being. Todd very kindly (such a gentleman!) gave up his beach lounge in the shade for me as the doctor had told me the day before to try avoid the sun as much as possible as being on the antibiotics could lead me to burn quicker (at first he said don't go in the sun and I told him 'no we are going to Castaway Cay tomorrow and that's impossible' so then he advised to stay in the shade as much as possible!).





Here I am relaxing in my lovely shady spot. I got so relaxed in fact that I didn't really move for the rest of the afternoon!



Jared decided to brave the waters (it was a little cool that day), as did Derrick.

Jared going in...



I think this it his 'why are you taking pictures of me' pose!



Then he realized I wouldn't stop so he decided to say hi



I think he's trying to avoid falling into the cold water here!



And this is his best cheerleading pose



And I have no idea what this one is, it looks like he's doing some kind of nerdy dance move!



Derrick did a much more graceful job of getting in the water!



Deep in conversation about what's on the horizon I guess!



This may be the coolest photo I managed to take all trip - look at Jared kicking that water up! Once again, not looking very graceful is he!



Becky decided to give the water a go too.



And very quickly changed her mind!!



Meanwhile Kim was searching for shells further down the beach...



She found some interesting ones too!



And I was sitting on my beach lounge with Todd, and who knows what this pose is about!





I do love these photos of Kim and Becky, they were very fast friends.







Once again there were plenty of staff around with their drink wheels offering cocktails and other alcoholic beverages! This was Kim's banana mai tai? (correct me if I'm wrong about that Kim!)



Finally Derrick and Jared had had enough of the slightly frigid waters (they swore it got warmer the longer they were in there) and they headed back to us...



I love this photo - I can't really say why - it's just so...beachy!



Continued in Next Post...

 

[sayuracodfish]

Kim's tropical drink was a Banana Daiquiri

 

[wiscbugs]

I always love your reports

 

[teacher31]

Thanks for the info on your husband's camera. We are going on the Fantasy in 63 days for our anniversary and my husband is determined to find a new camera first. He's been researching that camera all day and it's in the running.

Your trip report had been so delightful to read and what a trip!

 

[Volunteer]

Thank you! That is so kind! I'm so happy to hear my report helped you planning your Tokyo trip. That was one of the reasons I wrote it as most of the information I used to plan my Tokyo trip came from others trip reports (Tokyo Disney has so little in depth English information on the web!). I'm happy to be writing again, I really enjoy it, and I promise to continue writing reports every time we do a trip! - We are planning to head back to Tokyo Disney late next year along with Hong Kong Disney and hopefully the newly opened Shanghai Disney too!

Every time I take a trip, I have good intentions to write a report but I never can full commit! Which is a shame because I've had a lot of great experiences like you and your husband - Tokyo (I miss DisneySea), a few cruises, Disneyland, etc.

So jealous you guys are making it back to Tokyo next year - I'm hoping to make it back one day. Shanghai Disneyland may be on the agenda in 2016 or 2017 - we will see (of course, if it is I'll have to swing by Tokyo on the way). Pretty sure work will be sending me to Hong Kong (my most favorite city in the world) this fall so I should be able to cross Hong Kong Disneyland off my list!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Signing on, love it so far. Business class, lucky girl! I love Virgin Atlantic I must say. Your husband took so many beautiful shots, my report is all iPhone pics lol! Love your Palo brunch top, I was rolled out of Palo dinner for sure! Next time I must try the brunch! What a shame you weren't well, Ive only had 2 UTIs, enough for me thank you very much!

Yes we were lucky, but we flew with Virgin Australia - still I'd say they were both awesome! My husband is an extremely talented man (he's a musician also!) and I do so love to brag about him! I really love that top too - it's one of my favourites! Yes brunch was good but I think I enjoyed dinner better - though perhaps I was just too full at brunch to really enjoy it properly! Yes UTI's suck, I do find I tend to get them when I get run down and I was stressing so much getting things in order before the trip (work wise mainly, the trip was too well planned for stress about that!) that I think that's probably what did it! I really hope you never have another one and I that I never have another one either!

CC is amazing, one of my favorite places in the world. Dd and dh parasailed together on our first cruise. A good excuse for you guys to go back! Love your Universal photos, esp London! I'm a UK transplant and try to get back every few years.

I completely agree, it's so stunning! You're making me jealous telling me your family got to parasail! You're right though, we now HAVE to go back and do those activities we missed out on!

Kim's tropical drink was a Banana Daiquiri

I knew it was a banana something! Lol - thanks I will amend the report with the correct and factual information about your drink!

I always love your reports

Thank you - I always love writing them

Thanks for the info on your husband's camera. We are going on the Fantasy in 63 days for our anniversary and my husband is determined to find a new camera first. He's been researching that camera all day and it's in the running.

You are welcome - I hope you find something you are happy with for the trip. Apparently the camera is called a Canon EOS Rebel T5i in the US, so hopefully that helps with your research. Also my husband has suggested you check out the disney tourist blog (www.disneytouristblog.com) written by Tom Bricker. He is an amazing photographer and lots of his tips helped Jared learn to use his new camera so well. Also Tom was the one who suggested the sigma lens as the best all around Disney lens for non-full frame cameras. The sigma lens is really the main thing that helped the photos turns out so well - it is such a great lens and not too expensive for what it is.

Your trip report had been so delightful to read and what a trip!

Thank you - I really appreciate the compliment. Yes we do tend to make each of our trips big and grand, its hard not to when coming from Australia as all that travel means you have to make it worth it! Though with the Australian dollar crashing like it is at the moment the US might be a bit out of reach for a while.

Every time I take a trip, I have good intentions to write a report but I never can full commit! Which is a shame because I've had a lot of great experiences like you and your husband - Tokyo (I miss DisneySea), a few cruises, Disneyland, etc.

Yes, I know what you mean, it does take a lot of time and effort to write them so you have to really commit. I enjoy it, I guess you could say its one of my hobbies, so I don't find it too hard, but its maybe not for everyone. Even still if you ever did get around to writing about your travel experiences I would love to read about them. I miss DisneySea too. I could just walk around that place all day staring at it!

So jealous you guys are making it back to Tokyo next year - I'm hoping to make it back one day. Shanghai Disneyland may be on the agenda in 2016 or 2017 - we will see (of course, if it is I'll have to swing by Tokyo on the way). Pretty sure work will be sending me to Hong Kong (my most favorite city in the world) this fall so I should be able to cross Hong Kong Disneyland off my list!

Well it isn't 100% confirmed at this point (it's likely though) but yes, we really hope to be back in Tokyo next year. That will be my 30th birthday trip! I have to say, from what I've read about Shanghai Disney, I'm really excited to visit because it sounds like its going to be so different from all the other castle parks around the world! I've never been to Hong Kong but have heard it's wonderful and since the opening of Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor and the Paint the Night Parade I've really wanted to go!

 

[GoDux]

Day 9 - Part 4 - A Serene Afternoon with fun friends

So after our photo extravaganza Jared and I took the tram over to Serenity Bay, the adults only beach area. We had already walked about half the island and decided our feet needed a break, however we almost got on the wrong tram back to the dock and the Disney Fantasy (oops!)...

We found the BBQ at Serenity Beach quickly and debated waiting for our table friends but we were so hungry we decided to just start eating. We grabbed a table and were pretty soon joined by Derrick and Becky and then Todd and Kim and finally Shaun and Kayla. We all enjoyed the BBQ immensely, especially the ice-cream cookie sandwiches which were invited by some one in our crew (there were cookies and soft serve and someone had the genius idea to put that together). Becky had to wait for the cookies to be replenished so she could get hers!

After lunch we headed down to the beach where Todd and Kim had saved some lounge chairs together. Kayla and Shaun had been at the beach that morning and were heading back to the main part of the island so we said goodbye to them for the time being. Todd very kindly (such a gentleman!) gave up his beach lounge in the shade for me as the doctor had told me the day before to try avoid the sun as much as possible as being on the antibiotics could lead me to burn quicker (at first he said don't go in the sun and I told him 'no we are going to Castaway Cay tomorrow and that's impossible' so then he advised to stay in the shade as much as possible!).





Here I am relaxing in my lovely shady spot. I got so relaxed in fact that I didn't really move for the rest of the afternoon!



Jared decided to brave the waters (it was a little cool that day), as did Derrick.

Jared going in...



I think this it his 'why are you taking pictures of me' pose!



Then he realized I wouldn't stop so he decided to say hi



I think he's trying to avoid falling into the cold water here!



And this is his best cheerleading pose



And I have no idea what this one is, it looks like he's doing some kind of nerdy dance move!



Derrick did a much more graceful job of getting in the water!



Deep in conversation about what's on the horizon I guess!



This may be the coolest photo I managed to take all trip - look at Jared kicking that water up! Once again, not looking very graceful is he!



Becky decided to give the water a go too.



And very quickly changed her mind!!



Meanwhile Kim was searching for shells further down the beach...



She found some interesting ones too!



And I was sitting on my beach lounge with Todd, and who knows what this pose is about!





I do love these photos of Kim and Becky, they were very fast friends.







Once again there were plenty of staff around with their drink wheels offering cocktails and other alcoholic beverages! This was Kim's banana mai tai? (correct me if I'm wrong about that Kim!) - UPDATE - it was a banana daiquiri - I knew it had bananas in it! Thanks Kim



Finally Derrick and Jared had had enough of the slightly frigid waters (they swore it got warmer the longer they were in there) and they headed back to us...



I love this photo - I can't really say why - it's just so...beachy!



Continued in Next Post...

Kim and I are so enjoying the awesome memories! I might be a goofball when you point the camera at me but momma raised me to be a gentleman. We are missing our cruise family and a day doesn't go by that we don't talk about something that we did. These great photos really bring out the smiles here!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Kim and I are so enjoying the awesome memories! I might be a goofball when you point the camera at me but momma raised me to be a gentleman. We are missing our cruise family and a day doesn't go by that we don't talk about something that we did. These great photos really bring out the smiles here!

.

Aww thanks Todd!! Isn't it wonderful when you have such a great holiday that you have memories you know will last forever! We miss you guys too- and being on holidays! Jared's photos are awesome aren't they! Glad you are enjoying them. And I agree, your momma definitely raised a gentleman

 

[LivingforDisney]

Great photos, can't wait to read more

 

[pierresgirl]

Kim and I are so enjoying the awesome memories! I might be a goofball when you point the camera at me but momma raised me to be a gentleman. We are missing our cruise family and a day doesn't go by that we don't talk about something that we did. These great photos really bring out the smiles here!

.

Aww thanks Todd!! Isn't it wonderful when you have such a great holiday that you have memories you know will last forever! We miss you guys too- and being on holidays! Jared's photos are awesome aren't they! Glad you are enjoying them. And I agree, your momma definitely raised a gentleman

That's so awesome when you can relive your memories through anothers eyes. Plus make new friends!

Rachelle can't say I'm a Harry Potter fan but the pics from Universal are the coolest! Your trips sound fantastic!

 

[Volunteer]

Well it isn't 100% confirmed at this point (it's likely though) but yes, we really hope to be back in Tokyo next year. That will be my 30th birthday trip! I have to say, from what I've read about Shanghai Disney, I'm really excited to visit because it sounds like its going to be so different from all the other castle parks around the world! I've never been to Hong Kong but have heard it's wonderful and since the opening of Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor and the Paint the Night Parade I've really wanted to go!

The plans for Shanghai look incredible! I was in Hong Kong about 4 years ago before Mystic Manor and Grizzly Gulch came along, so I wasn't interested in visiting then. Now I'm trying to cross off all the parks in the world - got to fit Paris in there sometime! Paint the Night Parade is coming to Disneyland this year so I'll see it then (going in May for a day, and may go back in August for D23 Expo). And I'm trying to fit in another Disney cruise too .... definately first world disney problems!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Sorry for the delay with updates .. Have been very busy and then sick hopefully will get to some more tomorrow

 

[LivingforDisney]

Hope you are feeling better soon

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 14 - Part 3 - On the Hogwarts Express...

After looking around Diagon Alley we decided to hop on the Hogwarts Express and head over to the Hogsmeade side of the Wizarding World to ride Forbidden Journey. I was so happy that it wasn't too busy that morning in line as Jared was able to hang back with the camera and get a picture of me 'disappearing' through Platform 9 3/4!





The Hogwarts Express and Platform 9 3/4 was so well done - I felt like I was really there - boarding the train to Hogwarts!















The steam coming from the train really helped sell the mood too!

The ride itself was lots of fun, and very cleverly executed. Of course the Hogwarts Express is really just a transportation ride similar to the Walt Disney railroad at the Magic Kingdom, but this time, you get to look into a Fantasy World rather than out the window. The screens are so well done, set back enough from the glass of the 'window' to make you feel you are looking far a field from the train. And the scenes you see as you travel past the countryside are well done. My favorite part however, was the silhouettes visible on the doors of your cabin which show the characters on the train talking, dealing with dementors or trying to round up escaped chocolate frogs!

On the train!





Sorry we didn't get any other pictures during the ride - it was very hard to as the lights in the compartment reflected on the screen and doorways.

That awesome steam!



By the time we were heading for Forbidden Journey that day the wait was 60 minutes! So we decided to ride as single riders. I don't know if it was just my imagination (or if we were always in Diagon Alley earlier in the day) but the Hogwarts side of the WWOHP was much busier than Diagon Alley this trip! It probably didn't help that that side of the park had early entry so was packed with people 1 hour before opening. Anyway, I have always heard complaints about how ridiculous packed the locker area gets when the ride is busy but had never experienced it until that day! And wow, do they need to do something about that. We could barely move through the throngs of people in the room. They were advising only 1 member of each family to go in (we had to both go in as we both needed to get lockers to fit all our stuff) but people seemed to be ignoring that advice! At one point, while trying to edge forward someone rammed into me and then fell backwards! It was insane! You had to push to get anywhere! Anyway the Single Rider line probably took about 15-20 minutes, which was good and we actually got to ride together because some stupid party came up to the front of the main line with a party of 15!! Seriously guys, you are supposed to work out your smaller rider groups before you get to the front of the line (sorry I have no patient for people who hold up lines when they've had the whole wait to work out who is going to ride with who!). The CM on the line couldn't get them to work out who was riding with who and because they have to keep the line moving she just let a whole bunch of the single riders go through! I love the Forbidden Journey so much, I love the feeling of soaring over Hogwarts and through the grounds...it is so magic! And I love love love the dragon! It always freaks me out - it's so well done (I don't love the dementors though, is it just me or are they getting tackier as the ride ages). I also love the range of motion you get on the robotic arms! Much more than a simulated vehicle on the ground! They need to work a little on the room with the Whomping Willow though as the roof is really obvious when you tilt towards it with the willow over you!

Anyway we didn't take any pictures in Hogwarts or Hogsmeade (we missed most of the Hogwarts line as single riders and it was too busy everywhere else) and as soon as we were done with Forbidden Journey we decided to head straight on back to Diagon Alley on the Hogwarts Express, as we wanted to look around some more. I actually enjoyed the version of the Hogwarts Express back to London better. Fred and George and their antics are very fun (they set off fireworks as you leave Hogwarts) and you get to see Centaurs as you leave the forest around the castle.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 14 - Part 4 - Here a dragon, there a dragon, everywhere a dragon - Dragon!

We finally made it back to Diagon Alley just in time to see the dragon mad! So we took more pictures of her! She is magnificent as is the fire she breathes!!











Just look at that wing span!





Gringotts without the dragon is not an easy picture to get!



We decided to stop in at Florean Fortecue's Ice Cream Parlour next for some ice cream. I got the earl grey and lavendar and clotted cream in a waffle cone and Jared got the butterbeer soft serve in a waffle cone....I really liked the earl grey and lavendar ice cream (it was subtle and well done) but the clotted cream was way too much for me! The butterbeer was by far my favorite though (I shied away from it because it was soft serve but tried some of Jared's) - I actually think its the perfect medium for butterbeer (I really like the drink but it is SO sweet!).



Here's Jared's butterbeer ice cream (I think he'd already eaten some!)



At this point we'd used all our Wizarding currency so we thought we should get some more and we headed back to the Gringott's Money Exchange. We finally got some pictures of the awesome goblin who answers questions when you ask!









I really wanted to try as many things on offer in Diagon Alley as I could and the look of the Eternelle's Elixir's drew me in! In reality they are syrup flavorings for water, which you can pour into your own bottle of Gilly Water, but in the Fantasical world of Harry Potter they are in fact potions, draughts and elixirs to help you manage your day. I bought a draught of peace and enjoyed its effects as I drank it!







Pouring the magic into my Gilly Water!







The Draught of Peace had made me, well peaceful, so we decided to stop and relax and watch a little of the Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees show that was playing (we didn't get any pictures as we were too far back) but there was an adorable part of the show where an audience member was called up on stage with the girls while they twirled and danced around him and covered him with feather boas and hats!

Next I needed to get my interactive wand so I could perform 'magic' around the Wizarding World! So we went to Olivanders. It was packed and hard to move around in so I picked the first wand I liked the look of an made my way over to the counter!



After a last look in the other shops we headed to Gringotts and decided to ride it as single riders (the wait was posted as 60 minutes at that point).



Well the single rider line was right at the start of the entrance to the main bank lobby. Had we known what kind of wait we were in for we may have just decided to skip it but we didn't so we waited, and waited and waited and after 50 minutes (yes that's right, only 10 minutes less than the actual posted wait time) we were on the ride. I think that wait was made worse by a couple of ride break downs, so perhaps the main wait was longer too (though the family I was on the ride with said they had only waited 60 minutes), and we had more success with the single rider line earlier in the morning on another day but we were a little grumpy about the wait! The wait felt longer as well as the line simply went through a long boring wood paneled passage and then into another long boring rock work passage so you didn't get to admire the line as you went along. Still the ride was great fun and worth the wait and we were lucky enough to not have to experience any ride break downs any time we rode it! After all that we had run out of time to look around Diagon Alley so we headed back to Islands of Adventure on the Hogwarts Express for our 1:15pm lunch at Mythos.

Continued in Next Post....

 

[RachelleBeaney]

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[RachelleBeaney]

Day 14 - Part 5 - Islands of fun

We had to wait until about 1:50 to be seated at Mythos for our 1:15 lunch reservation (we got to the restaurant right on time) as it was super busy. Lunch was fine, though I have to say not as good as other times that we've eaten at Mythos. I had risotto with beef and Jared had pork and both were good, just not absolutely wonderful! We walked back into Hogsmeade after lunch and took one photo there that was any good (it must have been busy again!).



After lunch we thought about going on Jurassic Park (even though it was cold!) and so we decided to walk the long way around to Superhero Island through Jurassic Park, only to discover the ride was down for maintenance (I actually think, in the back of my brain, I knew it was not open, but I had forgotten!)

Oh well, it was a nice long walk through to Superhero Island but we were excited when we finally arrived as it meant it was time to ride the Amazing Adventure of Spiderman (I really love that ride!). We had our Express Passes in hand and were able to ride twice in a row fairly quickly when the wait was about 50 minutes. After Spiderman we went on the Hulk, which I think is probably my favorite coaster at Universal Orlando. Jared tried to get some shots showing the coasters motion.







I'm not sure they really worked but it was fun! These photos however, look awesome!





For some unknown reason (perhaps because there was a long wait for the Hogwarts Express or because we were close to the entrance to IOA) we decided to walk back over to Universal Studios rather than take the train. We had some fun with the Universal Orlando globe as we did.







We had discussed taking a ride on Despicable Me - Minion Mayhem but the wait time was again 100 minutes and we knew the Express Pass wait would still be a while so we skipped it (we actually didn't end up doing it at all because the wait times were always so long, except first thing in the morning, and we weren't willing to prioritize it over Harry!)

Instead we went on Transformers (dodging around the parade to get to it) and on the Mummy again and never waiting more than 5-10 minutes when the posted wait was always 30 minutes - 1 hour (I love the Express Pass!). Finally we made our way back into Diagon Alley where we thought we would wait until the park cleared out and darkness fell to get night shots (our plans were somewhat changed when we discovered there would be an event in the area that night, so it wouldn't be empty, and by how tired we were from the long day!).

I wanted a peak in the Leaky Cauldron (I didn't want to eat there as I really dislike the quality of the food at The Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron looked like more of the same kind of food).







It was well done and I think next time we might have to eat in there just for the atmosphere (waits were ridiculously long though!).

Next I decided to try out some of my magical ability using the spell map to find 'magical zones' around Diagon Alley. I was not very good! It took me a lot of tries, and the help of a 10 year old kid, to get this spell to work (agumenti) - and still water did not squirt from the main fountain just from the little frog on the sink at the front of the fountain!



I was slightly better at this spell (specalis revealo) - and it only took me a few tries to get it right and make constellations appear in the window!



Here I am performing magic!



The magic windows and props around Diagon Alley were fun, but I wish they would make them a little easier. It was really hard to get them to work (and I'm an adult) and though there was staff around each one helping people to get the magical props to move it was still really hard and not everyone was able to get it (I saw lots of disappointed kids who couldn't make the magic work). The sensors that pick up the RFID chips in the wands have to be hit precisely (hence the different wand actions you have to perform) and it was hard to get right! Still it was a silly and fun way to spend some time in Diagon Alley. I joked with one of the 'wizards' helping me out that I couldn't make all the spells work so I must only be a 3rd year, still learning my magical trade!

Continued in Next Post

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 14 - Part 6 - Dusk with the Dragon, she wasn't so mad at that time of day!

We hadn't yet gotten to visit Knockturn Alley so we decided to have a peak









It was all a little dark and gloomy for my liking but hey, each to their own!

Jared really wanted to get another shot of the dragon breathing fire, so we decided to hang out for a while and wait for her next angry outburst. Of course, she wasn't really angry at that time of day and so we waited around for about half an hour waiting for something to happen (Jared chatting with a lovely Disney CM who was visiting Universal on his day off and was also waiting for the dragon to get mad!)

While we waited we took more photos of the stubborn beast! We must have photographed her from every angle by that point!



















While we were waiting for the dragon to do her thing Jared decided to try see if he was a wizard by performing some magic in the vicinity of the area we were waiting for her highness to decide to get mad! And he got it, first try! Damn him and wonderful magical abilities!







Waiting....waiting...It was getting darker too and the lights were coming on!








And then she finally obliged us and got mad!





And so we left, taking just a few shots of the alley with the lights on before we did





Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 14 - Part 7 - Night-time at Universal Orlando

Finally we begun to make our way out into Citywalk, where we planned to have dinner at Cowfish. The park was looking lovely during blue hour!











When we finally made it out to Cowfish we were told the wait would be an hour. Normally I wouldn't wait that long for food when I was starving however, I had heard such good things about Cowfish I knew we had to wait for it (annoyingly they don't take reservations otherwise I would have made one!).

While I waited, Jared decided to take the tripod and get some night shots of the Citywalk/park entrance areas.















When he was done it was time for us to be led up to our table. We ordered very quickly and were soon bought our appetisers, a salmon roll and truffle fries with cheese and bacon.





Wow - was it good. The sushi was some of the best I've ever had (bar a dinner at Yamashiro in the Hollywood Hills back in 2012) and the fries were so addictive, we just kept eating them. When our dinner came (we both ordered burgers with sweet potato fries, mine was a black truffle burger and Jared's a pulled pork burger) we barely had room for them, which was a shame as they were some of the best burgers we've ever had!! Seriously, bring your appetite to Cowfish because you'll need it. We didn't even get to try dessert we were so full! Next time I plan to eat nothing all day and then eat everything on the menu there because the food is so seriously amazing! And that ended our third day at the Universal Resort. We really got our monies worth, having got to the parks at 8am and back to our room at about 10pm!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 15 - Part 1 - Early Entry

After some deliberation we decided to take advantage of the early entry on offer to hotel guests for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade. We planned to ride Forbidden Journey and Dueling Dragons, get some quick photos and hopefully be in line for the Hogwarts Express by the time in arrived for its first trip over to Diagon Alley at 8:35am.

All was going well - we were at the parks early but then ended up in the SLOWEST check in line over! We got into the park a little after 8am and bee-lined for Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Journey. By the time we got there the wait was already 20 minutes so we decided to go in the single rider line again as we knew we didn't have that kind of time! We only waited 5 minutes with single rider. Next we rode the Dueling Dragons twice in a row with no wait (both sides - they were both open this time!) and then we took some pictures around Hogsmeade!





























We made it over to the Hogsmeade Station at about 8:30am and saw people milling around the station. Cast Members were out telling people the train was delayed. So we decided to take more pictures.



















Finally we made our way back to the train (it was about 8:50 at this point) hoping it would be open and wondering if we were wrong about the first train arriving at 8:35am. It was still closed and we realized it must be an issue with the ride itself so we decided to walk over to Universal Studios so we could get to Diagon Alley before it got too busy!

Continued in Next Post...