Better late then Never? A Christmas at the Dark Side 2014 TR

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Thinking this would be the last time we would be in Hogsmead we stopped by a few stores and got some sweets at Honeydukes as we strolled thru the streets of Hogsmead. I also did a few of the Spell casting locations that we hadn’t done yet that are near Honeydukes and Zonkos.











With our treats bought we were done with Islands of Adventure for the day so we hoped on the Hogwarts Express to head to London and Universal Studios. We walked right on to the train again and like the previous night we got a cabin all to ourselves. We loved that the rain was keeping people away.

 

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When we arrived in the Studios the rain had turned in to mostly a mist but there was still a fog about the area. It really felt like London with the grey sky and foggyness.





We made a quick stop in to Diagon Alley to grab some Butterbeers before continuing thru the Studios. Kena actually decided to try the Fishy Green Ale which is like a boba drink. Its a Mint drink with little balls that get sucked up thru a straw. I tried a sip or two of the drink and it was alright. Not something I would personally buy again though.







Although he had done Cat in the Hat and the Hogwarts Express Daniel was wanting to do more rides he could go on so we decided to make our way over to E.T. since we still hadn’t done that ride on this trip. The fastest way to get to Kidzone from Diagon Alley is to go across the bridge and thru Springfield.








Our visit to Universal back in June 2014 was the 1st time Daniel was tall enough to go on the E.T. ride and needless to say he wasn’t a huge fan of it. Even after we made him do it twice. So we were kind of interested to see how he would like the ride this go around. It was a walk on and he got a front row seat for the action. And this time he absolutely loved the ride. He liked riding the bike and helping E.T. get home. I was sad that we never got to take him on this ride again this trip. We were glad though that he liked it now though. This ride is the last classic attraction Universal has and other then a needed refurbishment we hope it never leaves the park.






After a quick stop in to Spongebob Storepants we walked thru Central Park and back to the New York Section of the Park.







There we first went to Twister. This had been rumored for years to be closing soon so the last couple trips we paid Twister a visit to say our goodbyes. Rumors were really ramping up at this time that Twister would soon leave for a Jimmy Fallon attraction so this time I really felt like it would be gone next time we made it to Florida (I feeling that was finally right). The attraction was a walk on as usual and its typical Twister self. Nothing really to write home about. Its alright to see once but nothing too amazing. I really won’t be sad that its gone. As you may know the attraction has been closed and “Race Thru New York featuring Jimmy Fallon” will be its replacement in 2017.

 

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We took some photos with the Universal Studios Christmas Tree and took a closer look at the Macy’s storefront windows.











Then we were ready for some more rides on Revenge of the Mummy. Which as we’ve encountered on every ride today, was a walk on. Gringotts is good but I gotta say I still I still think Revenge of the Mummy might edge it out as my favorite ride in the Studios Park.





While in the area I decided I wanted to go on Transformers as well. None of the Girls wanted to do it though so I took a short walk thru the Single Rider line and 5 minutes later I was done with the ride. Once again a good one but number 3 of my favorites in the Studios. I quickly meet up with the girls who were looking at some of the shops nearby.

 

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After Transformers we made our way back to Diagon Alley.








At this time we hadn’t seen any of the shows that take place in Diagon and looking at the map and seeing one would be starting soon we rushed back to see it. But unfortunatly for us the show never took place. We guess that when its raining they don’t do the show. Even though Horizont Alley is covered, the covering don’t keep out all of the rain. especially around the stage area. So instead we got another Butterbeer and watch Kena use the wand to try and squirt water at Kiera’s umbrella that got bird poop on it.









Then it was time for some rides on Gringotts. The wait was posted as 20 minutes but the we decided to do Single Rider. Since you can’t child swap with single rider on Gringotts I let the girls go first while I walked around Diagon Alley with Daniel. Then it was my turn which was another great ride although it did have a minor breakdown right before I borded.








Once I was done we walked around Diagon Alley a bit more taking it in as this would be the last night we would be in the Universal Parks.

 

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Upon seeing practically no wait for Olivander’s Kena wanted to see if she had a high chance of getting picked for a wand since our attempt the previous night was a bust. Daniel was asleep so I sent the girls in while I stayed out with him and what would you know. Kena actually got picked this time. So of course we bought the wand for her.










With nightfall coming upon us there was an attaction I had been wanting to do after dark for quite some time. And this would be the last chance to do it on this trip. That ride is the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit coaster. Time in the day was quickly running out. So we hurried to the front of the park where the coaster is located and were relieved to find it as a walk on. So was it worth the night ride? Heck yes it was. It was much more fun after dark then it was during the day. But then again most Coasters are.





We still had time to spare before Cinematic Spectacular was to begin so we hurried again back to Diagon Alley so that we could get some butterbeers to drink during the show.






This was the only time we got our drinks from the Fountain of Fare Fortune. We got them here so we could get the new Butterbeer mug that was introduced with Diagon.







With Butterbeer’s in hand we found a spot along the London Waterfront to watch the show from. This would be the 1st time we’d watch the show anywhere other then Central Park so we hoped it would be a good location. We didn’t have time to get to the usual spot.

 

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The spot turned out to be excellent for the show. We had a perfect view of one of the water screens and we were much closer with a better view of the fireworks then you get in central park. This is our new favorite spot to watch the show from. The show itself was good and enjoyable but its time for an update. At this point the show was 2 1/2 years old and they are still showing pretty much the exact same show and clips while still celebrating Universal’s 100th anniversary. I think its about time for the show to be retired with a new show utilizing a different water screen technology taking its place so the ugly barges can be gotten rid of. With that said though I still think the show is a must see if its something you haven’t seen yet.















With the show concluding the park was officially closed for the night. We heard that you can get Lard Lad Doughnuts for half price at the end of the night so we made our way to Springfield to see if that was true but everything was closed up already when we got over there (we later found out this was true but they no longer do it). Even though we didn’t get the doughnut I was glad we walked to the park exit this way as Central Park is beautiful during the Holiday’s with the icicle lights in the trees. And then walking thru Hollywood was nice as well as it is pretty well decorated during the Holidays much like New York. Just minus the Balloons.

 

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We held off eating Dinner in the parks tonight because we wanted to try something new. So for Dinner we decided to Eat at the new CowFish restaurant in CityWalk. I’d been watching this place since it opened and everything looked good. And we love both Burgers and Sushi so whats not to like right. I would end up ordering the Big Squeal which is a burger with an Egg Ham and Bacon. This is easily one of the best burger’s I had ever ate and has made me a fan of CowFish for life haha. Its gonna be a must do each trip now. Kiera got a Binto Box to share with Daniel as it came with a Slider and Sushi and multiple sides. Kena got a Chicken Sandwich. This is a restaurant I highly recommend checking out if in the mood for Burgers or Sushi. They even combine the two in to Burgushi but I haven’t tried that yet.

 

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It was 9:30 when we finished Dinner and it was time to head back to the hotel for the evening. It was so odd seeing CityWalk so dead at this time of night but I guess this must be what its like during the off season on a week night. We would soon be back to the Hotel where we took a quick swim and relax in the Hot Tub before they closed and then it was back to the room for some relaxation while watching Christmas Movies on TV and eating Cauldron Cakes.





We were soon off to sleep. Our really big day would be tomorrow. It was our Disney Day where we would be attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

 

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Day 6: The Disney Day

Today was our final full day of vacation. So far on this trip we have had an amazing time at the Universal Orlando Resort. But today would be different. We would be breaking away from Universal to go to Disney. Tonight we had tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom. We had always wanted to see the Magic Kingdom all done up for Christmas. And this would be the 1st chance we would be able to do so.

We would only be going to the Christmas Party though. That ment we wouldn’t be able to get in to the park until 4pm at the earliest. So how would we kill some of that time? By going back to Universal of Course. We wouldn’t have much time to spend obviously. Especially since we slept in a little bit this day. But hey we gotta get the use out of our Annual Passes right.




With no much time we really didn’t focus on doing any rides at Universal today. We figured we could try to do some characters instead and of course get a Butterbeer.




First up was a stop at Despicable Me to see if there were any different Minions out meeting guests then the one we saw earlier. They actually had 2 out when we got inside so we had to see them since the Minions are pretty much Daniel’s favorites. Right as we finished though another Minion we hadn’t seen yet came out to replace one of the others. So we again waited in line to see him too.








Then we went across the street where Shrek and Donkey were doing their Meet and Greet as well. Daniel likes Shrek but wasn’t too sure what to think here. Especially with Donkey talking to him.






After this we then proceeded to make our way to Diagon Alley so that we could get a Butterbeer before leaving the park.








This is when it dawned on me that we still had not got our traditional family photo in front of Hogwarts castle on this trip. Knowing it was something we had to have done we walked in and right back out of Diagon Alley and hoped on the Hogwarts Express to go to Islands of Adventure. Lucky for us the Train had no wait.

 

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Since we rode a ride we didn’t plan on doing (as well as going to IOA) we were in a hurry to get things done. We got our traditional photos in front of the castle. Then we grabbed our Butterbeers for the day and our time at Universal was finished.









We quickly made our way out of Islands of Adventure and thru Citywalk back to our car so that we could head to Disney for the remainder of the day.

 

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It was about a 25 minute drive to Disney Property where we made our way to the Magic Kingdom’s Parking lot for tonight’s Christmas Party. After getting parked we had a little over an hour until we would be able to enter the Magic Kingdom for the Party.







As many of you know you pretty much have to have some sort of plan to tackle Disney. Although we were over an hour early this was intentional so that we could enter the Magic Kingdom right at 4pm. This was because we would only have 10 minutes to use our First Fastpass+ that I booked. To kill the time til we could be let in we decided we would check out the Magic Kingdom Resorts and see how they were done up for Christmas.








We decided not to go to the Polynesian though and instead went strait to the Grand Floridian first. This was actually the first time we had set foot inside this resort. It was very beautiful and elegant. The Christmas tree was gorgeous and the huge Gingerbread House was amazing to see.

 

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After our quick stop we hopped back on the Monorail and continued our loop over to the Contemporary where we would again be getting off. Here they have another large Gingerbread display but this one was of the Frozen characters done in the style of “Its a Small World”. It too was pretty cool to see.













While at the Frozen Display Kiera soon realized something was missing. She had left her Cell Phone in the car. With only about 30 minutes to spare until we could enter the Magic Kingdom and knowing how much she would want the phone to take pictures during the Christmas Party I decided to run back to the car and get it for her.



So back on the Monorail we went. Once at the TTA I got off to run to the car while the girls and Daniel continued on to wait in line at the Magic Kingdom. And when I say run I literally meant Run. There was no time to wait for a tram. I ran all the way back to where the car was parked. I found the phone and was lucky to catch a tram right as it was about to depart back to the TTA. It was nice to catch my breath. I then got lucky again to catch the Express Monorail to the Magic Kingdom right before it departed.

 

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In all it took exactly 30 minutes to retrieve the phone and get to the gates of the Magic Kingdom. The rest of the family was already inside. I found the entry that specifically said “Christmas Party Entry” and entered the park there. I had my Christmas Party Ticket out (as well as my Magic Band) and all they did was scan the Magic Band to grant me entry to the park. I thought it was odd they didn’t take the Christmas Party ticket but whatever. I had to get to our first Fastpass where the rest of the family was already waiting.






I made it in the nick of time. Lucky for me it was right at the front of the park as it was the Mickey Mouse Meet and Greet. I never thought I would use a Fastpass for a Meet and Greet. But you can’t go to Disney and not see Mickey. So with what little time we would have we knew 1 of our 3 Fastpass+ needed to be something we didn’t need to child swap on. So here we were.





Even with the Fastpass we waited about 10 minutes until we could see Mickey. This Meet and Greet was pretty cool as it was the first we had seen the interactive Mickey before. You could tell Daniel was really shocked when Mickey started talking to him. He honestly had no idea what was going on as Mickey usually doesn’t talk. It was still super cute and a lot of fun and we were glad we did it.







While in line for Mickey the girls had wristbands for the the Christmas Party. I still hadn’t gotten one as the person that scanned me in (remember I was in the Party entry line) never directed me where to go to get the party Wristband. No big deal I figured as I would just got get one. I found the lines for the wristbands in front of the train station and again with my Party ticket in hand I got in line to get the wristband. This was where I had the biggest Disney issue I ever had. Right before it was my turn I had a couple Disney Security guys come up and ask what I was doing. I told them I was getting my party ticket. They then very rudely told me I had to exit the park if I really could get a wristband. I showed them my ticket and even told them I already entered thru the Party entry earlier but they wouldn’t listen to me. They were very rude about the whole situation and totally made me feel like a criminal trying to cheat entry to the party. I understand where they were coming from and all but it could had been handled so much differently then how they were treating me. Again this is the 1 and only issue I think i’ve ever had with Disney.



As directed I did exit the park just to re-enter again in which they now scanned my ticket (why they couldn’t do this from the beginning is beyond me) and I now had my Party Wrist band. Being gazed upon with smerks from those Security staff members and no apologies for how I was treated although I was not in the wrong.




Luckly that didn’t mess up a great night. With the party stuff now handled we went over to the Fire Station to get the special Elsa Card for “Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom”. This card was exclusive to Christmas Party guests. We have never played the game before but now we have a whole bunch of cards if we ever want to. Then we took some pictures down Main Street before it got too dark.








We were now in the window for our 2nd FastPass which was for Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain is my all time favorite Disney ride (espeically the Magic Kingdom version) and so it is always a Must Do even with the chance of getting wet on a cold night like today. I scheduled it as our 2nd as the sun would still be up for its window.

 

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Since we had to Child Swap we got the swith card and I ended up riding it both with Kiera and Kena while Daniel enjoyed the waiting time playing on the small playground near Splash Mountain. It was a great ride as usual.
























We timed Splash Mountain perfectly as right when we finished our rides on Splash our third and final FastPass+ was ready to use. And it wasn’t a long walk ether as our final FastPass would be for Big Thunder Mountain. Kiera and Kena would end up riding first while I got the Child Swap card and waited with Daniel. Keira would then ride again a 2nd time with me. Thunder has quickly become one of my favorite Disney rides as well. I might even consider it my favorite Disney Roller Coaster. Its so much fun although Disneyland’s version is better in my opinion.

 

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After the 1st couple rides it was becoming apparent that Kena wasn’t feeling too good. So we decided to take a small break and get her a drink to see if it would help her feel any better. It took some time but it did eventually help her. Remember at the start of the trip how Kiera had Hand, Mouth, Foot? Will Kena somehow ended up catching it from Kiera and now she had it as well.



With it now dark we decided to try to head to the Hub and try to see the 1st Castle Lighting Show of the night. This was the 1st year that the show was done with the Princesses from Frozen instead of Cinderella. We intended to watch the show from middle of the hub but with the park not yet closed to day guests the area was extremely crowded. So we ended up watching it from the Frontierland bridge which worked out just fine. So long as you didn’t care to see the characters that is lol.








The castle lighting was pretty decent for what it is. We really couldn’t see the show taking place on the stage from where we were but we had a great view of the castle lighting up. I would say the show drug for a bit too long and it Elsa “freezing” the castle took much longer then it should have. But overall it was cool too see. This was the first time we had seen the Castle lit up for Christmas and it is amazing once all those lights are on. We have seen Disneyland at Christmas a couple times and this blew their castle lighting out of the water. The projection mapping used while Elsa does the freezing is also impressive.









After the castle lighting and done with the Frontierland attractions we walked back to Adventureland and to the Jingle Cruise. the Jungle Cruise is classic and this would be our first time experiencing it with the Christmas Overlay. The wait was 30 minutes but we wanted to see it so we waited it out. The que was pretty well decorated with fun Christmas Decor. The wait time was pretty close to being correct when we finally loaded on a boat. This is where the Jingle Cruise got kinda boring. The Christmas Jokes fell pretty flat and we were shocked at how little decor there was on the actual attraction. Honestly Florida should leave the Christmas overlays to Disneyland who really go all out (including their Jingle Cruise).

 

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When we finished with the Jingle Cruise the park was officially closed to Day guests and the Christmas Party had officially begun. This meant low waits were in store for attractions pretty much the rest of the night. So we made our way next door to our next attraction. Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait was only about 10 minutes which was much better then the nearly 30 that we just waited for the Jingle Cruise. The ride is classic and of course a must do. Although it still pales in comparison to the Original Disneyland version of the ride.









One cool thing about the Christmas Party is that there is free Hot Chocolate and Cookies for the Party guests. And one of the stations for this was right across from Pirates so we had a little snack break after the ride. There happened to be a band playing Christmas songs in here at the time and Daniel had fun eating cookies and dancing to the music.








After our snacks we made our way thru a very packed Hub area as people we’re awaiting the first showing of the Christmas Parade. We would be waiting for the 2nd showing so we pushed our way thru the crowds and made it to the other side where we would be going to Tomorrowland. I really love the ambiance and vibe of Tomorrowland at night. However despite its flaws I think I like Disneylands Tomorrowland more.

 

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We only ended up riding one Tomorrowland attraction this night and it was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We did it mostly because its one Daniel loves and a little competition is always fun in our family. The ride was practically a walk on which was great.






Although we do enjoy Space Mountain it had one of the longer waits in the park at this time and honestly Florida’s version is so rough that it just isn’t as enjoyable as it could be. We figured if we had time we would do it again later. But with how rough it is we wouldn’t miss it if we didn’t. Needless to say we never did get back to it.






We were pretty hungry at this point so we stopped in to Cosmic Ray’s to find something for dinner. We choose Cosmic Ray’s as it has a large variety of food options although I don’t recall for sure what we all had to eat this night. I think I may have had a Pulled Pork Sandwich and Kiera and Kena may have got a Greek Salad. Daniel went with Chicken Nuggets i’m sure. Also in Cosmic Ray’s during the Christmas Party is a dance area with Phineas and Ferb called Club Tinsel (I think). Here kids can dance around with the characters to popular music.





Once done with dinner we quickly pushed our way back in to the Hub and Main Street so that we could find a spot for the soon to start Holiday Wishes Fireworks show. We were able to get a spot with a strait on view of the castle. One we have never had before at the Magic Kingdom. Honestly we were really surprised at how easy we found this open spot considering how crowded the Hub and Main Street were. First up though was the “Celebrate the Magic” projection mapping show thats done on the castle. It may have had 1 or 2 holiday elements but for the most part it was the same show it usually is.







Shortly after Celebrate the Magic the Holiday Wishes fireworks began. This view of the fireworks were amazing and I’m so glad we got it. The fireworks were incredible as they usually are. I loved the finally with what seemed like fireworks going off completely around us. However other then that I wasn’t super blown away. I honestly though the Holiday Fireworks at Disneyland were better. Still you can’t go to a Magic Kingdom park and not watch the Fireworks. You must do it and Holiday Wishes is pretty darn good. I would even put it above the Regular Wishes Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.

 

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After the fireworks we had intentions of going to Fantasyland and try to do some attractions before the Parade which was still 45 minutes away. But with only 1 route in to Fantasyland open at this time it proved nearly impossible. We literally sat in on spot for over 5 minutes as the crowd just could not get thru the only small pathway. So we gave up and decided to not waist our time fighting crowds. So we took some photos with the Castle all lit up instead.






Since we knew now that we really wouldn’t have time to chance rides if we wanted to see the parade we decided to go stake out a spot. We went all the way to the end of Main Street where we were lucky enough to find a spot with a view strait down Main Street. The lit up castle would create a perfect back drop. I couldn’t believe we got this spot so easily. With Christmas Music in the air and “Snow” falling Main Street was truly Magical at this moment.




While waiting for the parade we could faintly see that the “Celebrate the Season” show was taking place on the stage in front of the Castle. Although we couldn’t see very well we could at least hear the show still. We also took the time to take some photos around Main Street.

 

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Finally it was time for the “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime” Parade to enter Main Street. We loved the ambiance of the Music with the falling snow during the parade and this by far is the best location we have ever watched a parade from before. It was amazing.
















The parade itself was really good although too Frozen heavy in the beginning. Despite Frozen overload I would still say its better then Disneyland’s Christmas parade. We loved almost everything about it. It was alot of fun and entertaining. A must do at the Christmas Party.

 

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When the parade ended we had less then an hour until the Christmas Party was over for the night. And we still hadn’t done any of the Fantasyland Attractions. So we pushed thru the leaving crowd and got in to Fantasyland much easier then earlier when we tried. The first ride we got to was the Winnie the Pooh ride. One typically crowded but we were able to walk right on. Maybe we would get the rides done we wanted to.





We then made our way to New Fantasyland and to the Little Mermaid ride which was also a walk on. I know this ride gets a lot of crap from fans but its a favorite of our family. And the que for it is so good.







There was no time to do anything else in New Fantasyland. Although it would have been fun to do the Mine Train. We didn’t want to wait 30 minutes. And so we went to the next wild card which gets crazy waits during the Day. Peter Pan. It had the longest wait we had seen since the party started. 15 minutes. We opted to do it anyways. Lucky for us the wait was much shorter then it said it would be. We were just sad the recently opened interactive que for the attraction wasn’t opened at this time.






Could we possibly have time to squeeze in one more ride before the park closed in 2 minutes upon departing Peter Pan? Good thing our final ride was right across the way. In the final minutes of the park hours we entered the Que of “Its a Small World” and were among the final riders of the attraction that night.






As annoying as it can be we were glad we didn’t miss Small World. It really is one of those things that must be done at Disney. Although Disneyland’s version is still much better. And Longer too.