Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

[PrincessInOz]

Finnegan's Bar and Grill



So how did I convince DS to leave the room? It really wasn't that difficult. He IS a teenage boy....and a veritable eating machine. The promise of food was all the enticement he needed.


I had spotted this place on our walkaround the park and whilst waiting for the non-parade to happen. DH checked out the menu and we figured that there was sufficient choice there for everyone.






We were definitely doing the rounds where Theme Park Irish American pubs and bars were concerned.
Finnegan's Bar and Grill prides itself as a lively pub and full service restaurant. For a mid-week day at a theme park, I guess it was lively enough.












The solo performer certainly added to the ambience.







Our server was decent. She came and took our orders in good time. It had been another hot and humid day and a slushie was definitely in order. I just didn't expect the added cream.







She also brought soda bread out for us to share. I rather liked this bread. It was dense and soft on the inside and not too crusty on the outside.







Our server recommended we try the Potato and Onion web starter. It was a good recommendation. We all enjoyed it very much.






For mains, DS had the battered cod and chips. He inhaled it in so I can only assume it was good.






I think this was the chicken Pot Pie. I don't remember it at all; which means it was neither good nor bad because I do remember enjoying our dinner at Finnegans.






DH went with the Grilled Salmon.







The servings were a decent size and I do recall that this was a good meal. It was also nice to sit down as a family and enjoy the meal together. Whilst we did have the solo performer on stage, it wasn't so noisy that we couldn't hear each other. For me, Finnegan’s definitely was a better place to eat at than Mel's Diner.




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[PrincessInOz]

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Comparative Quick Walk Round



After the dinner we had, we contemplated going on some rides. We did contemplate the Rip Ride Rockit and looked at the drop a couple of times before deciding that it probably wasn't best move after a full dinner.






Disaster seemed like a good idea but in the end I think we figured that we needed to go mark out some territory instead.







So, we meandered down the streets of the Studios. The theming is nice enough but it really isn't as picturesque as Disney.











But I figured that whilst comparisons were inevitable, it really wasn't fair. Universal isn't trying to be Disney at all. And it does deserve to be judged on it's own merits.






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[PrincessInOz]

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100 Years of Movie Memories



Universal's Cinematic Event - 100 Years of Movie Memories is Universal Studio's night time event in Orlando. One of the Cast Members had told me that the best spot to view the event was from this end of the lagoon.






On hindsight, I don't believe that this was necessarily the best spot to view this event. I think you're better off finding a spot on the side of the lagoon closer towards the Simpson’s area of the park. Still, for a newbie, I thought the spot we had found was pretty good.







There are three large projection areas on the water. We had a decent view of two of them. The third one was a little too far away but that was fine. We really didn't need to have that 3-D view.






The presentation runs through movie clips and music from the Universal bank of films and the images are projected on to screens made by spraying water from the lagoon.






And there were a lot of classics in that movie bank.



















What I liked best of this projection show was that the images weren't just limited to the screens. Universal made good use of the buildings around the lagoon and the visual imagery of the surround-view was different. It was definitely 3D viewing in a good way.







In my opinion, they didn't use the building projections enough. Maybe they will build on the show next time they revamp the images.







The show resorted to projecting a LOT of movie images on the screens.





































At the end of the show, there was the obligatory fireworks display. Neither DH nor I had brought tripods into the park, so I had to resort to taking hand-held shots instead. But we did spend more time watching these fireworks than anything else.







We also hung around after the show to enjoy the coloured lights on the water. They projected these for a good 5 - 10 minutes after the show.






For anyone interested, I used the flat sections on the balustrade along the lagoon to balance the camera for these shots.







It was a good enough night time event to check out. Great movie montages, stirring music and wonderful voice-over. I’m just not sure I would rush back in a hurry to see it again.



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[PrincessInOz]

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Closing out the Night



We made our way out via the permanent merchandising structures in the park. We saw lots to admire but nothing that we wanted to buy.






I did amuse myself at the entrance for a while.






And we got some vacation snaps in at the entrance.






DH and I did contemplate hitting City Walk....






....afterall, it was really close by.







But we were all so tired, we voted to head back to the room. So we avoided looking at the shops as we made our way to the water taxi pier.






And it was an effort not to go to City Walk. Afterall, there were some alluring neons!






It might have been cool to check this Hard Rock Café out. Next time!






I was rather glad to be catching the water taxi. It saved my feet and seemed like a real safe form of transport to catch at this time of night.







It also meant that we were getting off at the taxi dock at the resort. This gave us the chance to walk past the resort facilities at night.






Looks lovely, doesn't it?











We'd made the right decision to head back to the room. By the time we got back to the room, everyone one of us just crashed. It had been a busy full day at the Dark Side.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The Finnegan's Bar and Grill restaurant looks very nice and the food looks appetizing.

Very nice nighttime pictures that night at Universal Studios. Universal's Cinematic Event - 100 Years of Movie Memories looks like a very nice nighttime show that I should consider checking it out when I go back in the near future.

The pool looks so nice and there were people swimming that late?

 

[dolphingirl47]

The evening show looks really nice and I loved the coloured fountains. The pool area reminds me a bit of Stormalong Bay.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

The Finnegan's Bar and Grill restaurant looks very nice and the food looks appetizing.

Very nice nighttime pictures that night at Universal Studios. Universal's Cinematic Event - 100 Years of Movie Memories looks like a very nice nighttime show that I should consider checking it out when I go back in the near future.

The pool looks so nice and there were people swimming that late?

The food was nice. I'd be happy to go back there again.

We got back about or just after 10 pm at night. I think they were the stragglers in the pool. I remember that there were no life guards on duty when I looked.

The evening show looks really nice and I loved the coloured fountains. The pool area reminds me a bit of Stormalong Bay.

Corinna

It's a very nice resort. We all agreed that if we are ever in Orlando again, we would need 5 days at Universal to really enjoy everything. It was much more relaxed than Disney.

 

[franandaj]

Its good that you and your DH found some time for yourselves on the trip. I can completely see why your DS wanted to stay back in the room and rest. Thinking about it you have not had one day where you just blew off everything and had a lie in all day. You have Benn going solid for a month at this point! I guess that is the difference with healthy folks. If I don't plan in downtime for Fran to nap during the day, it just happens and we have to miss something.

It sounds like you and DH had a fun afternoon together. Nice that Shrek and donkey had plenty of Aussie jokes! We ate at Finnegan's back in 2008 and enjoyed it very much. I believe we had the bangers and mash. I've seen that show in another TR but I believe the pictures were from a cell phone, so I wasn't quite as clear. Your pictures of the screens were fantastic! I have a better understanding of the show now. Fran might really like it as she is really up on vintage movies.

Good call on heading back to the room. We often make the mistake of staying up when we should have gone to bed. Tired and crankiness always ensues.

 

[cheryllarsen]

Very interesting reading. Thanks for posting!

 

[tiggrbaby]

You did a great job of fitting in so many attractions!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Soaking it all up!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I am so far behind, but I have just spent the last half hour enjoying all your wonderful Universal posts.

I loved it at Universal so much and actually enjoyed the theming as much as Disney's. I wish I got that Star card as it looks like it was great value for money.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

So how was Simpsons Ride? I keep hearing about people getting motion sick on it. We are generally fine on simulators but after DH experience on EE last time (as per yours this visit but EE is a roller coaster not a simulator) thought you could give us some more info - is it really nauseating movements? How does it compare to Star Tours 3D for example? Thanks. I would have comfortably left DS alone for a couple of hours for some "down time" too - we used to do that with DD when she was younger as well. Looks like you and DH had a fun afternoon together. Is DS staying behind in Oct with family when you do your SoCal dash? (given school and all).

Forgive me for addressing a question that wasn't addressed to me, but I thought I should mention our experience with the Simpsons. My DH struggles with motion simulators and 3D images, and he counts the Simpsons as the worst ride he's ever been on. DS and I loved it and didn't feel the slightest bit ill, but DH had to sit out every ride for the next hour or so until he started to feel better.
He was perfectly fine with EE and Star Tours. Probably the only other rides he didn't cope well with was The Forbidden Journey Ride, and one too many rides on Spider-Man.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Its good that you and your DH found some time for yourselves on the trip. I can completely see why your DS wanted to stay back in the room and rest. Thinking about it you have not had one day where you just blew off everything and had a lie in all day. You have Benn going solid for a month at this point! I guess that is the difference with healthy folks. If I don't plan in downtime for Fran to nap during the day, it just happens and we have to miss something.

It sounds like you and DH had a fun afternoon together. Nice that Shrek and donkey had plenty of Aussie jokes! We ate at Finnegan's back in 2008 and enjoyed it very much. I believe we had the bangers and mash. I've seen that show in another TR but I believe the pictures were from a cell phone, so I wasn't quite as clear. Your pictures of the screens were fantastic! I have a better understanding of the show now. Fran might really like it as she is really up on vintage movies.

Good call on heading back to the room. We often make the mistake of staying up when we should have gone to bed. Tired and crankiness always ensues.

Thanks Alison. It was actually strange having 1-2-1 time with DH. We were just used to travelling as a family unit. But it was great fun and we just did what we wanted to do.

That Universal montage was really good (no Disney! LOL).

Very interesting reading. Thanks for posting!

Thank you for reading and welcome!

You did a great job of fitting in so many attractions!

Thanks!


(But wait.....there's more!!! )

Soaking it all up!

Hope it's giving you ideas for your trip.

I am so far behind, but I have just spent the last half hour enjoying all your wonderful Universal posts.

I loved it at Universal so much and actually enjoyed the theming as much as Disney's. I wish I got that Star card as it looks like it was great value for money.

Thanks for stopping by again. Universal was a lot of fun. It was so much more relaxed than Disney and I quite enjoyed not having to plan by the minute. I thought the Star Card was really great value.

 

[Leshaface]

Fun! A little US park date, just the two of you Not that i'm in any hurry, but it will be nice when DS is responsible and of age to hang back in the room while DH and I go out for a few hours.

The Shrek meet and greet sounds like something I would love to do!

Oh my gosh. The Simpsons. So you know that huge marathon that has been going on for 12 days straight, 24 hours a day? Yeah. We've been watching and recording. We are about halfway with over 250 episodes under our belt Although I haven't been on that exact ride (have done US here in CA back in 2008) and we really enjoyed it!

Finnegan's looks like a nice, chill place to have dinner. Glad you guys liked it!

What a fun night time show! It's kind of neat to see movies that aren't animated on those screens, like Happy Gilmore!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Fun! A little US park date, just the two of you Not that i'm in any hurry, but it will be nice when DS is responsible and of age to hang back in the room while DH and I go out for a few hours.

The Shrek meet and greet sounds like something I would love to do!

Oh my gosh. The Simpsons. So you know that huge marathon that has been going on for 12 days straight, 24 hours a day? Yeah. We've been watching and recording. We are about halfway with over 250 episodes under our belt Although I haven't been on that exact ride (have done US here in CA back in 2008) and we really enjoyed it!

Finnegan's looks like a nice, chill place to have dinner. Glad you guys liked it!

What a fun night time show! It's kind of neat to see movies that aren't animated on those screens, like Happy Gilmore!

We haven't had the Simpson's marathon start up here yet. It's just a matter of time before it comes on. It's a yearly event. Yes....12 day event here too.

Enjoy your DS whilst he's young. They grow up fast.

We enjoyed our time at Universal Studios.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Universal Orlando - Islands of Adventure 08 October 2013


Early Entry of a Different Kind



There are two benefits to staying on-site at Universal. We'd already enjoyed the benefits of the (unlimited) Express Pass and we were to reap the benefits of the second one this morning.


My love of Harry Potter is a long-standing one. Not as long as my love of Mickey; but it is serious enough for me to actually CHEAT on Mickey. Without a doubt, the Wonderful World of Harry Potter has been a game-changer for Universal in my opinion. For me, Universal is no longer the Dark Side; the other end of I-Drive, to be ignored. Universal became a destination for me when WWoHP opened at Universal in 2010. I pretty much moved heaven and earth to go there in 2010 for a brief day and it was enough of a taste for me to know that we needed to dedicate some time to experience UO.


Three years on and the queues to Mickey cheat with Harry are still somewhat legendary which is where the other benefit to staying on-site is priceless. The other benefit is, of course, Early Entry into Islands of Adventure. They let the UO guests into the park about an hour before regular opening hours; and might open the gates about 15 minutes or so before that espoused EE time. We got in at 7.50 am when we were there.






I pretty much got the boys out of bed and rushed them down without breakfast.






They wanted to stop at the Croissant Moon Bakery but I said no.






DS was a little grumpy at the turn of events.






And he was a little tired but there were no quick rides to our destination today.






We kept on walking. No stopping for anything.







Even if Green Ham and Eggs were on the menu.







Afterall, look at the crowd ahead of us; or lack thereof. We needed to maximise our time with Harry!






There are no shortcuts or getting lost on the way to Harry anymore. The Universal Cast Members make sure everyone stays on the straight and narrow.






On this route, I got to appreciate the Islands of Adventure theming.






At times, it can be jaw-droppingly amazing.






We were pointed in this direction. Nearly there.






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[PrincessInOz]

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Hogsmeade



I think it took us about 10 minutes to walk to Hogsmeade.






This was last year. Hogwarth's Express was permanently parked here then.






I expect that it's very different this year. I need to go back and grab a ride at some stage.






I think you can see why we paid to stay on-site. The early morning walk-in is priceless!






The Owlery is an interesting building.






You could spend a bit of time checking out the details in here. Not just yet for us.






It was so early that the magic wasn't working yet with Hermione's dress yet. It was a rather static window.






The thing about Hogsmeade is that a lot of the shop fronts are purely for show. I think Universal missed out on merchandising space in this village.






Just think....we could be wall to wall in merchandise selling ball robes in here. The little girls would just love the opportunity to dress up and walk out with a dress just like Hermione's....don't you think?






I took the opportunity to take a picture of the wall. Someday, I'll be able to do a before and after shot.






The last time, I headed in the front entrance. This time round, I found the back door.







But we weren't looking for back door entry into Dervish and Banges at this stage. We were seeking the front door elsewhere!

 

[mvf-m11c]

That was neat that you were able to go to IoA for early entry and see it all quiet that morning. It is nice to see IoA from a different view while it is empty that morning.

Great photos while in IoA especially at the WWoHP.

 

[Leshaface]

Wow no one's there. Awesome!

What does Hermoine's dress do?

Looking forward to what's coming up! I'm always interested in reading and seeing WWoHP.