Cass & Kira - Universal Orlando - First Mother-Daughter Trip August 2024
- Thread starter Timon
- Start date
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- Aug 18, 1999
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Aug 4th Part 2
We were thinking about maybe riding Hagrid's one more time before we headed back to the resort for our midday break but Kira had to use the bathroom so I told her I would wait out front of the ride for her. Right after she left, the skies opened up and it POURED! It was a deluge!
I have seen it pour many times here in Orlando, especially during our Summer trips but I have never seen it come down THIS much and this fast! I ran for cover inside the locker area to the right of Hagrid's and waited for her. I was taking video and photos but didn't realize that she was actually in them.
I had caught her running from the bathroom to the Owlery, it was a total fluke! You can see her in this photo, if you look closely, just as she is getting to the Owlery.
She then texted me, asking me where I was. I told her, not expecting her to join me until it had let up a bit but before I knew it, she was running towards me!
As I watched her with baited breath, I prayed she did not fall and hurt herself.
She made it just fine. She was soaked but she was just fine.
She told me that she had made it to the bathroom just as it started to pour and then people were taking shelter in the bathrooms and she doesn't like small, crowded spaces so she ran over and took cover the first chance she got. I told her that I was NOT expecting her to run over to me.
So, the weather had decided for us that now was the time to head back. We did wait until the worst of it was done before we left the locker area. It was still raining but both of us love the rain and didn't mind walking through light rain.
We took a peek at the store before leaving. She is such a sucker for stuffed animals, still, at her age!
As we were perusing, I came across this! Merchandise for Dueling Dragons, a ride that closed in 2017!
We ended up getting Rob the hoodie as a gift for his birthday the following week.
The water taxis were not running so we headed to the buses. As we passed by the Epic Universe Preview Center, we decided to head in so that Kira could see what they had in store for this park. I had already read over the ALL of the information about this epic park. I am so stoked for this park!
I love that you could even see the extended queues! Now that is detail!
Kira was literally drooling over what she saw.
This park looks AMAZEBALLS!!
I cannot wait!!
She posed in front of the new sign. This was our first time seeing it, she didn't even notice that it was a different sign until I showed her one of our old pics.
The rain had let up quite a bit by the time we got to the bus stop. They also changed the bus stop locations for Aventura and Cabana Bay.
Back in the room and in dry clothes, we enjoyed a nice rest. The rain continued for the next couple of hours, which was so nice to watch from our giant windows, laying in bed, relaxing.
We were getting hungry so we hopped on the bus and headed back to City Walk. We had really good timing this trip. Almost every time we took a bus or water taxi, we arrived just in time to get on the next one. We never waited more than a few minutes for any of them.
I was looking forward to having Bread Box, it's one of my favourite places to eat at Universal so that's where we headed to.
I was very sad to find out that they chopped their menu to one third of what it was before and my favourite sandwich, the hot turkey was not on there. The lady told me that the turkey pastrami sandwich was very similar so we ordered that to split. I was also bummed that they got rid of their fabulous fries! They had home made chips instead.
I will tell you right now that this tasted nothing like my hot turkey and the chips were terrible.
We didn't even eat half of it, it was so bad. 
The only enjoyable part of this meal was the unexpected entertainment. We had sat three tables away from the automatic door, far enough not to trigger it and even though there was no one else around, it kept opening over and over again. I eventually took a time-lapse of it, it was hilarious. I will put that in the video.
Off we went to the Studios!
It was raining again and it was supposed to rain on and off for the rest of the evening. I threw on a poncho just because I didn't want to get caught in a deluge but Kira decided to go au naturel.
This was our first time seeing all the new Minion additions.
First up was Minion Blast.
I thought it was super cute, well-themed and really great for kids. You basically stand on a moving walkway that moves throughout the ride and you shoot at screens. You are put on a coloured circle and you aren't supposed to move but I feel like the circles are way too close together and with kids, well, they aren't great at staying in one spot sometimes. Also, there's little to no explanation of what the target is so we didn't really know where to shoot. It was cute though and definitely worth trying but I think it's a one and done for us.
As we were leaving Minions, they sky opened up and it poured again so we stayed under the awning until the worst of it was over.
Next up for us was Transformers.
It was a walk-on!
I'm going to end it here today because of image limits.
I will have to continue this report next week, I have some big plans this weekend.
Stay tuned to hear about the rest of our evening at the Studios.
We were thinking about maybe riding Hagrid's one more time before we headed back to the resort for our midday break but Kira had to use the bathroom so I told her I would wait out front of the ride for her. Right after she left, the skies opened up and it POURED! It was a deluge!
I have seen it pour many times here in Orlando, especially during our Summer trips but I have never seen it come down THIS much and this fast! I ran for cover inside the locker area to the right of Hagrid's and waited for her. I was taking video and photos but didn't realize that she was actually in them.
I had caught her running from the bathroom to the Owlery, it was a total fluke! You can see her in this photo, if you look closely, just as she is getting to the Owlery.
She then texted me, asking me where I was. I told her, not expecting her to join me until it had let up a bit but before I knew it, she was running towards me!
As I watched her with baited breath, I prayed she did not fall and hurt herself.
She made it just fine. She was soaked but she was just fine.
She told me that she had made it to the bathroom just as it started to pour and then people were taking shelter in the bathrooms and she doesn't like small, crowded spaces so she ran over and took cover the first chance she got. I told her that I was NOT expecting her to run over to me.
So, the weather had decided for us that now was the time to head back. We did wait until the worst of it was done before we left the locker area. It was still raining but both of us love the rain and didn't mind walking through light rain.
We took a peek at the store before leaving. She is such a sucker for stuffed animals, still, at her age!
As we were perusing, I came across this! Merchandise for Dueling Dragons, a ride that closed in 2017!
We ended up getting Rob the hoodie as a gift for his birthday the following week.
The water taxis were not running so we headed to the buses. As we passed by the Epic Universe Preview Center, we decided to head in so that Kira could see what they had in store for this park. I had already read over the ALL of the information about this epic park. I am so stoked for this park!
I love that you could even see the extended queues! Now that is detail!
Kira was literally drooling over what she saw.
This park looks AMAZEBALLS!!
I cannot wait!!
She posed in front of the new sign. This was our first time seeing it, she didn't even notice that it was a different sign until I showed her one of our old pics.
The rain had let up quite a bit by the time we got to the bus stop. They also changed the bus stop locations for Aventura and Cabana Bay.
Back in the room and in dry clothes, we enjoyed a nice rest. The rain continued for the next couple of hours, which was so nice to watch from our giant windows, laying in bed, relaxing.
We were getting hungry so we hopped on the bus and headed back to City Walk. We had really good timing this trip. Almost every time we took a bus or water taxi, we arrived just in time to get on the next one. We never waited more than a few minutes for any of them.
I was looking forward to having Bread Box, it's one of my favourite places to eat at Universal so that's where we headed to.
I was very sad to find out that they chopped their menu to one third of what it was before and my favourite sandwich, the hot turkey was not on there. The lady told me that the turkey pastrami sandwich was very similar so we ordered that to split. I was also bummed that they got rid of their fabulous fries! They had home made chips instead.
I will tell you right now that this tasted nothing like my hot turkey and the chips were terrible.
We didn't even eat half of it, it was so bad. The only enjoyable part of this meal was the unexpected entertainment. We had sat three tables away from the automatic door, far enough not to trigger it and even though there was no one else around, it kept opening over and over again. I eventually took a time-lapse of it, it was hilarious. I will put that in the video.
Off we went to the Studios!
It was raining again and it was supposed to rain on and off for the rest of the evening. I threw on a poncho just because I didn't want to get caught in a deluge but Kira decided to go au naturel.
This was our first time seeing all the new Minion additions.
First up was Minion Blast.
I thought it was super cute, well-themed and really great for kids. You basically stand on a moving walkway that moves throughout the ride and you shoot at screens. You are put on a coloured circle and you aren't supposed to move but I feel like the circles are way too close together and with kids, well, they aren't great at staying in one spot sometimes.
Also, there's little to no explanation of what the target is so we didn't really know where to shoot. It was cute though and definitely worth trying but I think it's a one and done for us.
As we were leaving Minions, they sky opened up and it poured again so we stayed under the awning until the worst of it was over.
Next up for us was Transformers.
It was a walk-on!
I'm going to end it here today because of image limits.
I will have to continue this report next week, I have some big plans this weekend.
Stay tuned to hear about the rest of our evening at the Studios.
missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,580
I love that Kira is still using her Eeyore backpack! I remember reading about it in one of the first Trippies of yours that I ever read! 
Those big glass windows on your room are so nice! We like the Volcano Bay view rooms at CBBR because of those same kinds of windows--we also love lounging around in bed watching the rain stream down them.
Those big glass windows on your room are so nice! We like the Volcano Bay view rooms at CBBR because of those same kinds of windows--we also love lounging around in bed watching the rain stream down them.
Pumpkin1172
DIS Veteran
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- Sep 14, 2016
- Messages
- 3,332
Great trip report so far!!!!!!!!!
That is soooo awesome. I'm sure he loved it!We ended up getting Rob the hoodie as a gift for his birthday the following week.
It will definitely be an amazing addition. I wonder how long it will be crazy with crowds after it opens?This park looks AMAZEBALLS!!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
August 4th, Part 3
Sorry about the break folks, Rob and I travelled to Nova Scotia for the weekend to spend Kira's 18th birthday with her.
Back to the report now.
I don't have a lot of photos left from that day but I will post what I have and finish this thing up!
Kira was very much wanting to see the Horror Make Up Show. She loved it so much on our last visit, we knew it would be a must-do this trip! I told her that I saw this show, way back in 1993 and that it hadn't changed much since then. Don't fix what's not broken, I guess.
We sat in the front row and she loved it. I think many people miss this show because of the name and also because it's just not in your face there, you really need to find it. There's only a handful of showings each day, please don't miss it. It's not for littles but I would say, depending on your child, 10 and above might be a good audience. There's a few creepy scenes shown on the TV's but you can also just cover their faces.
The store that you get dumped in has merch from both classic Universal monsters and The Bourne Stuntacular. I thought this shirt was a perfect example of recent merchandise. Not sure who is designing this stuff!
I was telling Kira about the pods from the movie The Fly and how they used to be in the Horror Show way back when. They had moved them into this store and when I went to show her, but they were no longer there.
We had wanted to ride Rip Ride Rockit but it was closed because of the weather so instead we headed for another roller coaster.
I call this the "bruiser" because every time I ride it, I get a new bruise. We both love it though. It's way too short though. Not as short as its' Hollywood counterpart but it's still short. 
It was still raining, so we headed to Diagon Alley. The rain kept many people away, it was lovely.
The dragon didn't breathe fire the entire trip. We waited every day to see if it would go off and it never did. Still amazing just to see though.
Off to the bank!
A little blurry but a nice empty bank! Very slippery in the rain though, gotta watch your step here! Especially us older, more fragile folks.
The ride was great but we had a screamer in our vehicle, which always makes it tough to enjoy it as much as you should enjoy this amazing ride.
Next up, our favourite part of visiting Diagon Alley, butter beer ice cream!
Neither one of us thought we could eat a whole one on our own so we decided to split one. They are normally MUCH bigger than this so we split this one and then went back and got another one to split.
We enjoyed the first one inside of Knockturn Alley and then we enjoyed the second one under the Hogwarts Express Bridge.
It was a good place to stay out of the rain and watch and wait for dragon fire.
It never came and we were pretty exhausted so we decided to head out. The rain would not be stopping anytime soon so no RRR for us.
We took the bus back to the hotel. Not too many people out and about with the rain.
I had checked the pool from our windows and it looked like it was closed so no pool time for us. We did get to see the fireworks from both Epcot and Magic Kingdom from our window though.
Our first park day was a great success! We love the rain, so it did not hinder our day. Visiting in August, we knew we were going to get some rain and we were looking forward to it and we loved every second of it.
Tomorrow is our Typhoon Lagoon day, stay tuned for the next chapter to see how that went down.
Sorry about the break folks, Rob and I travelled to Nova Scotia for the weekend to spend Kira's 18th birthday with her.
Back to the report now.
I don't have a lot of photos left from that day but I will post what I have and finish this thing up!
Kira was very much wanting to see the Horror Make Up Show. She loved it so much on our last visit, we knew it would be a must-do this trip! I told her that I saw this show, way back in 1993 and that it hadn't changed much since then.
Don't fix what's not broken, I guess.
We sat in the front row and she loved it. I think many people miss this show because of the name and also because it's just not in your face there, you really need to find it. There's only a handful of showings each day, please don't miss it. It's not for littles but I would say, depending on your child, 10 and above might be a good audience. There's a few creepy scenes shown on the TV's but you can also just cover their faces.
The store that you get dumped in has merch from both classic Universal monsters and The Bourne Stuntacular. I thought this shirt was a perfect example of recent merchandise. Not sure who is designing this stuff!
I was telling Kira about the pods from the movie The Fly and how they used to be in the Horror Show way back when. They had moved them into this store and when I went to show her, but they were no longer there.
We had wanted to ride Rip Ride Rockit but it was closed because of the weather so instead we headed for another roller coaster.
I call this the "bruiser" because every time I ride it, I get a new bruise.
We both love it though. It's way too short though. Not as short as its' Hollywood counterpart but it's still short.
It was still raining, so we headed to Diagon Alley. The rain kept many people away, it was lovely.
The dragon didn't breathe fire the entire trip. We waited every day to see if it would go off and it never did.
Still amazing just to see though.
Off to the bank!
A little blurry but a nice empty bank! Very slippery in the rain though, gotta watch your step here! Especially us older, more fragile folks.
The ride was great but we had a screamer in our vehicle, which always makes it tough to enjoy it as much as you should enjoy this amazing ride.
Next up, our favourite part of visiting Diagon Alley, butter beer ice cream!
Neither one of us thought we could eat a whole one on our own so we decided to split one. They are normally MUCH bigger than this so we split this one and then went back and got another one to split.
We enjoyed the first one inside of Knockturn Alley and then we enjoyed the second one under the Hogwarts Express Bridge.
It was a good place to stay out of the rain and watch and wait for dragon fire.
It never came and we were pretty exhausted so we decided to head out. The rain would not be stopping anytime soon so no RRR for us.
We took the bus back to the hotel. Not too many people out and about with the rain.
I had checked the pool from our windows and it looked like it was closed so no pool time for us. We did get to see the fireworks from both Epcot and Magic Kingdom from our window though.
Our first park day was a great success! We love the rain, so it did not hinder our day. Visiting in August, we knew we were going to get some rain and we were looking forward to it and we loved every second of it.
Tomorrow is our Typhoon Lagoon day, stay tuned for the next chapter to see how that went down.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
I would love to see all of those!!You need to visit us down here in South Florida where we have some HUGE curly tailed lizards. Also, iguanas all over the place!
Universal is amazing, we love it! So many great things about it!
It's always good to take breaks!
I love that Kira is still using her Eeyore backpack! I remember reading about it in one of the first Trippies of yours that I ever read!
Those big glass windows on your room are so nice! We like the Volcano Bay view rooms at CBBR because of those same kinds of windows--we also love lounging around in bed watching the rain stream down them.
That was my 50th bday trip!
She uses it on every trip now. I even offered to buy her a Universal one and she said she was good with her Eeyore one. 
We have stayed in the tower rooms with the VB view and they were nice but these are so much better because they wrap around the entire room! So amazing!
Thanks!
As much as I want to see it, I also want to wait until the crowds calm down a bit.
missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,580
I love that the rain didn't stop you both from having such a wonderful day!! My Mom has always said the same thing, "The rain never ruins our fun!" Weird that the dragon never breathed fire though!! I'm hopeful you got to see it, and ride HRRR sometime during your trip.
Also, just have to mention again the AMAZINGNESS of the video from the big birthday surprise!! It brought big tears to my eyes and big hopes for the future when my one and only goes off to college. How absolutely precious that she missed you both so much.
Also, just have to mention again the AMAZINGNESS of the video from the big birthday surprise!! It brought big tears to my eyes and big hopes for the future when my one and only goes off to college. How absolutely precious that she missed you both so much.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
August 5th, Part 1
Today was our Typhoon Lagoon day but we woke up to a Tornado warning so that altered our plans a bit!
Hurricane Debby had made landfall and we knew we were in for some weather today.
We weren't panicking but we were very aware of the fact that we were surrounded by glass. I decided to pack a little go-bag, with essentials, and leave it by the door and get fully dressed, just in case we had to vacate quickly. We opened up all of our curtains and we both watched from our bed with the news channel on.
We only had slight winds and a little rain so far.
The rain got a little worse but no tornado, thankfully!
The tornado warning only lasted about 15 minutes and then the forecast was calling for some rain and that's about it. Once the worst was over, we decided to hit up one of our favourite places to eat at, while in the Orlando area.
As usual, it was delicious!
Kira's ham came right away, as did my breakfast but she was waiting for her pancakes for a bit.
With full stomachs, we headed back to the hotel. The parking rates at the UOR hotels have gotten insane.
So have the souvenir cups! We used to get them on every trip because my hubby uses them for his coffee all the time at home and they used to be a good value but I don't feel that's the case anymore.
I had popped over to the Urban Pantry to take a look at the menus for all of the food.
We spent the next few hours lounging in bed, laughing at reels together. I asked Kira if she wanted to walk over to Sapphire Falls to use their pool and hot tub and she said yes.
On the way out, she found Relay again.
You can pool hop to any other of the resorts, you just have to stop at the front desk to show your resort key and they will give you an amenity key to unlock the pool gates.
They have a lovely big pool here, with a slide and a hot tub that was working!
I have edited some of the pics for those of you who do not approve of me showing any of Kira's skin.
We found chairs close to the hot tub area. She decided to just chill on the side of the pool for a bit while I went for a swim.
I swam to the very far end and all the way back and then the skies opened up and it poured and then they closed the pool.
We took shelter over near the ping pong tables in the hopes that the storm would pass by quickly. After camping out there for about an hour with no change in the weather, we headed back to our resort.
Everything looks so pretty with some rain.
Back at Aventura, she found Relay again.
We got a pizza at Urban Pantry to share for dinner. It was just okay. I had debated on driving over to the Portofino to grab a pizza from Sal's but we were both just too lazy and decided to try this pizza. I regretted that decision.
With the weather now cleared up, we headed back to the Sapphire Falls pool.
The sky was so gorgeous!
We had a fabulous night together. We swam in the pool, spent lots of time in the hot tub, laughed and just enjoyed each other's company. She laughed at me because I did the slide a couple of times. I guess she thought maybe I was too old for the slide?
I told this to the lifeguard at the top of the slide and we laughed together. She said she gets people of all ages on that slide and that the slide is open to anyone who wants to have fun! 
So that first time, we both waved to Kira from the very top and then I giggled all the way down. It's actually a really good slide! Not too crazy, enough thrill for younger kids and not too much for us old folks. 
Just before the pool closed for the night, we headed back to our resort and called it a night.
It wasn't what we had planned on for the day but we still ended up having a great time.
Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we meet up with our friends and spend the day together.
Today was our Typhoon Lagoon day but we woke up to a Tornado warning so that altered our plans a bit!
Hurricane Debby had made landfall and we knew we were in for some weather today.
We weren't panicking but we were very aware of the fact that we were surrounded by glass.
I decided to pack a little go-bag, with essentials, and leave it by the door and get fully dressed, just in case we had to vacate quickly. We opened up all of our curtains and we both watched from our bed with the news channel on. We only had slight winds and a little rain so far.
The rain got a little worse but no tornado, thankfully!
The tornado warning only lasted about 15 minutes and then the forecast was calling for some rain and that's about it. Once the worst was over, we decided to hit up one of our favourite places to eat at, while in the Orlando area.
As usual, it was delicious!
Kira's ham came right away, as did my breakfast but she was waiting for her pancakes for a bit.
With full stomachs, we headed back to the hotel. The parking rates at the UOR hotels have gotten insane.
So have the souvenir cups! We used to get them on every trip because my hubby uses them for his coffee all the time at home and they used to be a good value but I don't feel that's the case anymore.
I had popped over to the Urban Pantry to take a look at the menus for all of the food.
We spent the next few hours lounging in bed, laughing at reels together. I asked Kira if she wanted to walk over to Sapphire Falls to use their pool and hot tub and she said yes.
On the way out, she found Relay again.
You can pool hop to any other of the resorts, you just have to stop at the front desk to show your resort key and they will give you an amenity key to unlock the pool gates.
They have a lovely big pool here, with a slide and a hot tub that was working!
I have edited some of the pics for those of you who do not approve of me showing any of Kira's skin.
We found chairs close to the hot tub area. She decided to just chill on the side of the pool for a bit while I went for a swim.
I swam to the very far end and all the way back and then the skies opened up and it poured and then they closed the pool.
We took shelter over near the ping pong tables in the hopes that the storm would pass by quickly. After camping out there for about an hour with no change in the weather, we headed back to our resort.
Everything looks so pretty with some rain.
Back at Aventura, she found Relay again.
We got a pizza at Urban Pantry to share for dinner. It was just okay. I had debated on driving over to the Portofino to grab a pizza from Sal's but we were both just too lazy and decided to try this pizza. I regretted that decision.
With the weather now cleared up, we headed back to the Sapphire Falls pool.
The sky was so gorgeous!
We had a fabulous night together. We swam in the pool, spent lots of time in the hot tub, laughed and just enjoyed each other's company. She laughed at me because I did the slide a couple of times. I guess she thought maybe I was too old for the slide?
I told this to the lifeguard at the top of the slide and we laughed together. She said she gets people of all ages on that slide and that the slide is open to anyone who wants to have fun! So that first time, we both waved to Kira from the very top and then I giggled all the way down. It's actually a really good slide! Not too crazy, enough thrill for younger kids and not too much for us old folks.
Just before the pool closed for the night, we headed back to our resort and called it a night.
It wasn't what we had planned on for the day but we still ended up having a great time.
Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we meet up with our friends and spend the day together.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
I have fun BECAUSE of the rain! As soon as I win that lottery, I am moving to a place where it rains all of the time!
Yeah, that was a good surprise. I almost blew the surprise a few times but it all worked out and we had a great weekend together.
Hopefully your one and only goes to a college MUCH closer to home.
Happy Birthday, Kira!
Awwww, that's sweet! She reads these reports, so she will definitely see this.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
August 6th, Part 1
Hope my
readers had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! 
Fun fact: If you search "USA" in the smilies on here, this is what comes up:
Let's carry on, shall we?
Today was our BFF day. I don't have a lot of photos because we basically just hung out together, laughed a lot and had so much fun.
Our friends, Jen & Claire had just gotten off a cruise the day before and had spent the night at an offsite hotel and they didn't have a car so we picked them up at their Flamingo Crossing hotel and then drove them over to All Star Sports, where they would be spending the next 7 days. When I bought our water at Target the other day, they only had a 24-pack and I knew we weren't going to drink all of that so we brought them our extras and helped them with their luggage. We stopped by the lobby to see if their room was ready and it was. Yay!
We sat on the sidelines and let them get settled in.
These rooms are "squeezy."
Once they got unpacked, Kira made herself comfy on Claire's bed and then Jen gave her a gift for her High School Graduation. She obviously loved it!
The best, and funniest part was her opening this box that had dollar bills in plastic sleeves in a continuous stream. It was hilarious!
Pictures don't do it justice but I did take video and it translated much better on that.
We hung around and visited until we all got hungry and then headed to The Cheesecake Factory, which is a must-visit for all of us.
Kira had her usual...
And I had a delicious club sandwich!
We went to Wal-mart so they could load up on supplies for the week and then back to their room. We made ourselves at home and enjoyed each other's company for the next couple of hours.
We all had the same idea of having a nice sweet snack so we drove over to French Quarter to get some beignets.
It's hard not to have a great time with these two! And the beignets were delicious too!
Kira got Claire hooked on finding Pokémon's. Apparently, there were TONS on Disney property.
We wandered through the store, Kira bought a pin and then we headed over to Disney Springs. We walked through the World of Disney and had intended on spending more time here but it was SO hot.
I mentioned Dole Whips and we all were in agreement that we needed one, stat!
Jen and Claire had never been to Swirls on the Water before, they were DS Dole Whip virgins.
Now that they knew where to get them, there was no stopping them!
They got fancy ones.
We had planned on going to dinner with them as well but we were all full from all of the sweets so we dropped them off at their hotel and then headed back to ours. We would see them again, later on in the week.
We chilled in our room for a bit until it was time for me to go to the pool. Kira is more of a hot tub girl and ours was still not open so she decided to skip out that night. As I headed to the elevator, I had heard Relay delivering something to our neighbours so I texted Kira to come quickly. Well, she RAN out to see him, it was so funny! Like I said, we saw him so many times this trip!
She followed him to the elevator but he was on a mission, so she didn't chat with him. I went down in the elevator with him.
There was a guy that got in with us a few floors down and when he saw Relay, he kind of freaked out, it was hilarious! I had to explain to him who Relay was and what he was doing. He was still weirded out, almost like he didn't believe me and then we watched as Relay got out and headed back to the lobby. I wish I had this guy's reaction on video, it was so funny!
I enjoyed a couple hours in this magnificent pool.
And way too quickly, this fantastic day was over.
Stay tuned for our second UOR park day.
Hope my
readers had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! Fun fact: If you search "USA" in the smilies on here, this is what comes up:
Let's carry on, shall we?
Today was our BFF day. I don't have a lot of photos because we basically just hung out together, laughed a lot and had so much fun.
Our friends, Jen & Claire had just gotten off a cruise the day before and had spent the night at an offsite hotel and they didn't have a car so we picked them up at their Flamingo Crossing hotel and then drove them over to All Star Sports, where they would be spending the next 7 days. When I bought our water at Target the other day, they only had a 24-pack and I knew we weren't going to drink all of that so we brought them our extras and helped them with their luggage. We stopped by the lobby to see if their room was ready and it was. Yay!
We sat on the sidelines and let them get settled in.
These rooms are "squeezy."
Once they got unpacked, Kira made herself comfy on Claire's bed and then Jen gave her a gift for her High School Graduation. She obviously loved it!
The best, and funniest part was her opening this box that had dollar bills in plastic sleeves in a continuous stream. It was hilarious!
Pictures don't do it justice but I did take video and it translated much better on that.
We hung around and visited until we all got hungry and then headed to The Cheesecake Factory, which is a must-visit for all of us.
Kira had her usual...
And I had a delicious club sandwich!
We went to Wal-mart so they could load up on supplies for the week and then back to their room. We made ourselves at home and enjoyed each other's company for the next couple of hours.
We all had the same idea of having a nice sweet snack so we drove over to French Quarter to get some beignets.
It's hard not to have a great time with these two! And the beignets were delicious too!
Kira got Claire hooked on finding Pokémon's. Apparently, there were TONS on Disney property.
We wandered through the store, Kira bought a pin and then we headed over to Disney Springs. We walked through the World of Disney and had intended on spending more time here but it was SO hot.
I mentioned Dole Whips and we all were in agreement that we needed one, stat!
Jen and Claire had never been to Swirls on the Water before, they were DS Dole Whip virgins.
Now that they knew where to get them, there was no stopping them!
They got fancy ones.
We had planned on going to dinner with them as well but we were all full from all of the sweets so we dropped them off at their hotel and then headed back to ours. We would see them again, later on in the week.
We chilled in our room for a bit until it was time for me to go to the pool. Kira is more of a hot tub girl and ours was still not open so she decided to skip out that night. As I headed to the elevator, I had heard Relay delivering something to our neighbours so I texted Kira to come quickly. Well, she RAN out to see him, it was so funny! Like I said, we saw him so many times this trip!
She followed him to the elevator but he was on a mission, so she didn't chat with him. I went down in the elevator with him.
There was a guy that got in with us a few floors down and when he saw Relay, he kind of freaked out, it was hilarious! I had to explain to him who Relay was and what he was doing. He was still weirded out, almost like he didn't believe me and then we watched as Relay got out and headed back to the lobby. I wish I had this guy's reaction on video, it was so funny!
I enjoyed a couple hours in this magnificent pool.
And way too quickly, this fantastic day was over.
Stay tuned for our second UOR park day.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,398
I have four daughters and we all love Disney!
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,398
Thanks so much for posting. I enjoyed reading about your wonderful trip.
missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,580
What a bummer that your hot tub was still not working! But I do love that you can pool hop at Universal. The pool at Sapphire Falls is GREAT!! A perfect way to spend the day (once a tornado has passed!)
I love that you were able to have a hang out day with your friends, and even better to squeeze in a little Disney fun at the same time!
I love that you were able to have a hang out day with your friends, and even better to squeeze in a little Disney fun at the same time!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
Aug 7th, Part 1
We woke up early so we could rope drop early entry this morning. Looking down at the construction at the CB bus stop.
We made it before rope drop, yay!
We beelined it to Velocicoaster, of course, for ride number 4.
Which was followed immediately by ride number 5.
They had paused operations for a few minutes and I managed to snap this pic of the locker area with zero people. If you have ever ridden this ride, you will know the constant chaos of this area so this is super rare.
The crowds were just arriving so we decided to take one more spin on our fave! Number six.
I love taking this pic on every trip.
The early entry was now over and the crowds were here. She was a happy girl though, with 6 rides total on her favourite ride.
Her mother was starting to get a little banged up but hey, the things we do for our kids, right?
We had a tradition now, 3 rides on VC and then a nice break in Three Broomsticks, at our introverts table with a butter beer for Kira.
Time for a spin on Hagrid's. Kira was wearing Rob's shirt that he bought way back in 1999, on our very first trip to IOA. We had fallen in love with Dueling Dragons and he had purchased two shirts on that first trip and every time Rob wears them in the parks, he gets so many comments from Team Members. Kira got two comments that day, from TM's, both of which were huge fans that had a personal connection to DD.
We obviously love this ride and I think this was the time I finally lucked into getting the front row!
Kira wanted to go talk to the Mystic Fountain. She ended up having a long conversation and surprisingly, the fountain did NOT soak the crap out of her.She was a little bummed because that is basically what the MF does and she was looking forward to it with it being so hot out.
We perused some stores, where we found this dragon head for a mere $200! Not sure it would fit in my suitcase.
She was wanting to buy a ring but she wasn't sure exactly what she wanted. We ended up at the store on the second level of the JP Discovery Center and in a small corner, there was a jewelry store with rings made from amber. After a lot of looking, we decided to get (sort of) matching rings, to commemorate our first mother-daughter trip.
We both chose rings that fit our middle fingers and since we both have a warped sense of humour, as a gesture of love, we flip each other the bird now. When we said our goodbyes when we dropped her off at university, (and again when we saw her on her birthday trip) the last thing Kira and I did was flip each other the bird with our matching ring fingers.
We took the bus back to the resort and rested for the next few hours. Taking a nice long break during the hottest time of the day is the only way either of us can make it through the day in August.
Rest and relaxation completed, we headed back to the park!
I somehow talked her into doing Dr. Doom's and although she was nervous, she ended up liking it. Not enough to do it again but I was proud that she tried it. She had done it once before but didn't remember it. I think she had blocked it from her memory.
We then rode The Hulk, which is so rough that we both agreed once was enough. That sucker just scrambles my brain.
We then hopped on the Hogwarts Express to get over to the other park.
We did try to ride RRR but the line was too long for me. This ride queue is all outside and has no AC and I always overheat when I ride it. She loves this ride but is also a little terrified of that first lift.
We decided to try the Minion Cafe for dinner. This pic is from the night before as I forgot to get one that day.
It's really well themed and super cute!
The ordering process was the same as TB, where you sit at your table and then order in the app. I had to go up to the till though to use my gift card and then they brought it out to us.
Kira had the spaghetti. She said it was just okay.
I got the roast beef and cheddar sandwich, which was also just okay. I think it was a one and done for us.
Kira was laughing because I got a normal-sized fork and she got a huge fork.
We spent some time exploring the restaurant. It was hilarious!
She definitely found some art that she relates to.
The sky was gorgeous by the time we were done. We wanted dessert and in this park, there is only one choice for us.
We saw that Gringott's didn't have a line so we took a nice spin through the bank first.
Then it was time for dessert, this time, we each got our own.
We didn't think we could take our ice cream into the queue of Hogwarts Express but we asked the TM and they said we could! We made our way back to IOA via Platform 9¾ .
We saw part of Hogwarts Lights but we had one mission and that was to ride Hagrid's at night.
Once we did that, it was time to head out. We were so pooped, we didn't even make it to the pool that night. We took showers and then passed right out.
Stay tuned in the next chapter for our last park day.
We woke up early so we could rope drop early entry this morning. Looking down at the construction at the CB bus stop.
We made it before rope drop, yay!
We beelined it to Velocicoaster, of course, for ride number 4.
Which was followed immediately by ride number 5.
They had paused operations for a few minutes and I managed to snap this pic of the locker area with zero people. If you have ever ridden this ride, you will know the constant chaos of this area so this is super rare.
The crowds were just arriving so we decided to take one more spin on our fave! Number six.
I love taking this pic on every trip.
The early entry was now over and the crowds were here. She was a happy girl though, with 6 rides total on her favourite ride.
Her mother was starting to get a little banged up but hey, the things we do for our kids, right?
We had a tradition now, 3 rides on VC and then a nice break in Three Broomsticks, at our introverts table with a butter beer for Kira.
Time for a spin on Hagrid's. Kira was wearing Rob's shirt that he bought way back in 1999, on our very first trip to IOA. We had fallen in love with Dueling Dragons and he had purchased two shirts on that first trip and every time Rob wears them in the parks, he gets so many comments from Team Members. Kira got two comments that day, from TM's, both of which were huge fans that had a personal connection to DD.
We obviously love this ride and I think this was the time I finally lucked into getting the front row!
Kira wanted to go talk to the Mystic Fountain. She ended up having a long conversation and surprisingly, the fountain did NOT soak the crap out of her.
She was a little bummed because that is basically what the MF does and she was looking forward to it with it being so hot out.
We perused some stores, where we found this dragon head for a mere $200!
Not sure it would fit in my suitcase.
She was wanting to buy a ring but she wasn't sure exactly what she wanted. We ended up at the store on the second level of the JP Discovery Center and in a small corner, there was a jewelry store with rings made from amber. After a lot of looking, we decided to get (sort of) matching rings, to commemorate our first mother-daughter trip.
We both chose rings that fit our middle fingers and since we both have a warped sense of humour, as a gesture of love, we flip each other the bird now. When we said our goodbyes when we dropped her off at university, (and again when we saw her on her birthday trip) the last thing Kira and I did was flip each other the bird with our matching ring fingers.
We took the bus back to the resort and rested for the next few hours. Taking a nice long break during the hottest time of the day is the only way either of us can make it through the day in August.
Rest and relaxation completed, we headed back to the park!
I somehow talked her into doing Dr. Doom's and although she was nervous, she ended up liking it. Not enough to do it again but I was proud that she tried it. She had done it once before but didn't remember it. I think she had blocked it from her memory.
We then rode The Hulk, which is so rough that we both agreed once was enough. That sucker just scrambles my brain.
We then hopped on the Hogwarts Express to get over to the other park.
We did try to ride RRR but the line was too long for me. This ride queue is all outside and has no AC and I always overheat when I ride it. She loves this ride but is also a little terrified of that first lift.
We decided to try the Minion Cafe for dinner. This pic is from the night before as I forgot to get one that day.
It's really well themed and super cute!
The ordering process was the same as TB, where you sit at your table and then order in the app. I had to go up to the till though to use my gift card and then they brought it out to us.
Kira had the spaghetti. She said it was just okay.
I got the roast beef and cheddar sandwich, which was also just okay. I think it was a one and done for us.
Kira was laughing because I got a normal-sized fork and she got a huge fork.
We spent some time exploring the restaurant. It was hilarious!
She definitely found some art that she relates to.
The sky was gorgeous by the time we were done. We wanted dessert and in this park, there is only one choice for us.
We saw that Gringott's didn't have a line so we took a nice spin through the bank first.
Then it was time for dessert, this time, we each got our own.
We didn't think we could take our ice cream into the queue of Hogwarts Express but we asked the TM and they said we could! We made our way back to IOA via Platform 9¾ .
We saw part of Hogwarts Lights but we had one mission and that was to ride Hagrid's at night.
Once we did that, it was time to head out. We were so pooped, we didn't even make it to the pool that night. We took showers and then passed right out.
Stay tuned in the next chapter for our last park day.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
August 8th, Part 1
I would like to start off by posting a photo from yesterday that I forgot to include that I love so much. I have been seeing these Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts since my first visit in 1999. As the years went by, they added more such as "Mother of All Things" etc., but we saw a shirt that was perfect for only children. I love it so much! 
Okay, back to the morning of our last park day. As usual, we walked through Sapphire Falls and took the water taxi to City Walk.
We made it just before rope drop for early entry again and beelined it to VC for ride number 7.
Followed immediately but ride number 8. I love how the ride 7 pic shows her hair still a little damp from her shower but it looks nice and well-kept and then ride 8 pic below, her hair is dry and crazy. That ride will mess you up! 
And it gets worse each time.
Ride number 9 baby! Good Lord, this ride is killing me.
I figured that this would be my last trip where I could do this ride more than once per day and I knew that Kira was really aiming for 10 rides this trip so I took it like a champ and cried on the inside.
I needed a break, she needed a break so off we went to Three Broomsticks. They were still serving breakfast and for some reason, they go back to the normal way for breakfast, where you have to stand in line and order, no mobile ordering and the line was way too long so Kira grabbed our table while I went and got her BB from Hog's Head next door.
Happy girl!
Here's the view from our table for introverts. Perfection.
We wanted to have one more spin on Hagrid's.
"There's a unicorn, and look, she's a mum!"
By then we were hungry so back to Three Broomsticks for our usual Fish & Chips.
Looking back, I realized that I forget to mention in the previous park day that we also had F&C at Three Broomsticks. In fact, we had it every single day for lunch while we were in the parks. We did the same thing every day, early entry, VC until the crowds came, butter beer and AC break, Hagrid's and fish and chips before heading back to the hotel. We were creatures of habit every single morning.
Okay, we just had to do it, here goes number ten!
We made it to ten!!
Of course, it broke down on us. Normally we probably wouldn't have waited but since this was going to put us at our final goal, we decided to stick it out. It was down for maybe 20-30 minutes. At least we were stuck at a cool place and we got to watch Blue and his crew chase...well, no one.
I love the lighting in this part of the queue too. It reminds me of the first movie when the raptor broke into the lab and the DNA code was projected all over its face. That movie was so good! Definitely in my top 5.
Well, we did it! We rode Velocicoaster TEN times during our three park days.
I think we did 8 of them in front row, one in the last row and then one in the second-to-last row.
Kira finally admitted that her legs were also hurting every time we hit the zero g's and floated up into the lap bar. The other parts of the ride are wickedly amazing and I love it so much but man, my legs hurt every time the top of my thighs hit that bar.
Goodbye, Velocicoaster, the good parts of you will be missed.
It was time to go back to the hotel, it was HHHHAAAAWWWWTTTT!!
We both walked all the way to the bus with our fans blowing an inch away from our face.
Those buses were amazing though, the best AC on property!
Today was definitely the hottest day! Feels like 107F!
We waited until it had cooled down a bit. It was still hot but we had a list of things we still wanted to do and the clock was ticking!
Instead of the water taxi, we opted for the cooler temps and closer proximity of the bus. Kira found the perfect seat for her!
Our last time making this journey this trip.
Kira really wanted to see the Horror Make Up Show again. She loved it so much.
We had different actors in the main roles, which made it even more enjoyable.
She is big into Tarot and she saw this shirt and just had to get it. She had very limited spending money this trip and she had her eye on a few items but this was our final day and this is what she got.
I had heard that the Tribute Store had moved into the old prop/AP Lounge store and that it was themed to the '80's so that was MY priority.
Even the outside was themed!
Oh. My. Dog.
This was freaking AMAZEBALLS!!!
There were different sections to it and the first part was set up like a video rental store. It was like going back to my childhood, it was so cool!
It was part store, part arcade, it was so well done! Kira was a little bored and walked through it really quickly but I lingered and tried to take it all in.
For her, there was no nostalgia attached so I understood her speedy walk-through. I on the other hand, loved every part of it.
I remember making those banners on my dot matrix printer!
And the the last part was just the greatest thing ever!! It was part-movie-theatre, part-movie-prop-....something! I don't what it was but it was fricken FANTASTIC!!! It probably helped that my favourite all-time movie is Back to the Future.
I bought that 88 MPH shirt years ago!
I was so stoked and wanted to spend all day in this place!
The freaking CLOCK TOWER!! Oh my doggggg!!
Unfortunately, we still had so much to accomplish and we had to get going. I'm so bummed that this isn't a permanent thing, it was so fun!
Next up was the Bourne Stuntacular. I think this is so underrated and underappreciated! I saw it on my own, years ago and the last two trips with Rob and Kira, we tried to see it together but the showtimes never worked with our schedule. This trip I made sure that Kira got to see it. She is a Theatre major and I knew this would be up her alley.
It's hard to describe. Yes, it's a stunt show but it's also a great show/experience that is just so well choreographed and designed. Yes, there are some cheesy parts but overall, it is something everyone should see.
There was a malfunction during our show, the whole thing came to a stop and one of the showrunners came onto the set to let us know that there was an issue and that they had to reset it but even with that, we both loved it.
I am going to have to stop here due to image limits so stay tuned in the next chapter for the rest of our last park day.
I would like to start off by posting a photo from yesterday that I forgot to include that I love so much. I have been seeing these Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts since my first visit in 1999. As the years went by, they added more such as "Mother of All Things" etc., but we saw a shirt that was perfect for only children. I love it so much!
Okay, back to the morning of our last park day. As usual, we walked through Sapphire Falls and took the water taxi to City Walk.
We made it just before rope drop for early entry again and beelined it to VC for ride number 7.
Followed immediately but ride number 8.
I love how the ride 7 pic shows her hair still a little damp from her shower but it looks nice and well-kept and then ride 8 pic below, her hair is dry and crazy. That ride will mess you up!
And it gets worse each time.
Ride number 9 baby! Good Lord, this ride is killing me.
I figured that this would be my last trip where I could do this ride more than once per day and I knew that Kira was really aiming for 10 rides this trip so I took it like a champ and cried on the inside.
I needed a break, she needed a break so off we went to Three Broomsticks. They were still serving breakfast and for some reason, they go back to the normal way for breakfast, where you have to stand in line and order, no mobile ordering and the line was way too long so Kira grabbed our table while I went and got her BB from Hog's Head next door.
Happy girl!
Here's the view from our table for introverts. Perfection.
We wanted to have one more spin on Hagrid's.
"There's a unicorn, and look, she's a mum!"
By then we were hungry so back to Three Broomsticks for our usual Fish & Chips.
Looking back, I realized that I forget to mention in the previous park day that we also had F&C at Three Broomsticks. In fact, we had it every single day for lunch while we were in the parks. We did the same thing every day, early entry, VC until the crowds came, butter beer and AC break, Hagrid's and fish and chips before heading back to the hotel. We were creatures of habit every single morning.
Okay, we just had to do it, here goes number ten!
We made it to ten!!
Of course, it broke down on us.
Normally we probably wouldn't have waited but since this was going to put us at our final goal, we decided to stick it out. It was down for maybe 20-30 minutes. At least we were stuck at a cool place and we got to watch Blue and his crew chase...well, no one.
I love the lighting in this part of the queue too. It reminds me of the first movie when the raptor broke into the lab and the DNA code was projected all over its face. That movie was so good! Definitely in my top 5.
Well, we did it! We rode Velocicoaster TEN times during our three park days.
I think we did 8 of them in front row, one in the last row and then one in the second-to-last row.
Kira finally admitted that her legs were also hurting every time we hit the zero g's and floated up into the lap bar.
The other parts of the ride are wickedly amazing and I love it so much but man, my legs hurt every time the top of my thighs hit that bar. Goodbye, Velocicoaster, the good parts of you will be missed.
It was time to go back to the hotel, it was HHHHAAAAWWWWTTTT!!
We both walked all the way to the bus with our fans blowing an inch away from our face.
Those buses were amazing though, the best AC on property!
Today was definitely the hottest day! Feels like 107F!
We waited until it had cooled down a bit. It was still hot but we had a list of things we still wanted to do and the clock was ticking!
Instead of the water taxi, we opted for the cooler temps and closer proximity of the bus. Kira found the perfect seat for her!
Our last time making this journey this trip.
Kira really wanted to see the Horror Make Up Show again. She loved it so much.
We had different actors in the main roles, which made it even more enjoyable.
She is big into Tarot and she saw this shirt and just had to get it. She had very limited spending money this trip and she had her eye on a few items but this was our final day and this is what she got.
I had heard that the Tribute Store had moved into the old prop/AP Lounge store and that it was themed to the '80's so that was MY priority.
Even the outside was themed!
Oh. My. Dog.
This was freaking AMAZEBALLS!!!
There were different sections to it and the first part was set up like a video rental store. It was like going back to my childhood, it was so cool!
It was part store, part arcade, it was so well done! Kira was a little bored and walked through it really quickly but I lingered and tried to take it all in.
For her, there was no nostalgia attached so I understood her speedy walk-through. I on the other hand, loved every part of it.
I remember making those banners on my dot matrix printer!
And the the last part was just the greatest thing ever!! It was part-movie-theatre, part-movie-prop-....something! I don't what it was but it was fricken FANTASTIC!!! It probably helped that my favourite all-time movie is Back to the Future.
I bought that 88 MPH shirt years ago!
I was so stoked and wanted to spend all day in this place!
The freaking CLOCK TOWER!! Oh my doggggg!!
Unfortunately, we still had so much to accomplish and we had to get going. I'm so bummed that this isn't a permanent thing, it was so fun!
Next up was the Bourne Stuntacular. I think this is so underrated and underappreciated! I saw it on my own, years ago and the last two trips with Rob and Kira, we tried to see it together but the showtimes never worked with our schedule. This trip I made sure that Kira got to see it. She is a Theatre major and I knew this would be up her alley.
It's hard to describe. Yes, it's a stunt show but it's also a great show/experience that is just so well choreographed and designed. Yes, there are some cheesy parts but overall, it is something everyone should see.
There was a malfunction during our show, the whole thing came to a stop and one of the showrunners came onto the set to let us know that there was an issue and that they had to reset it but even with that, we both loved it.
I am going to have to stop here due to image limits so stay tuned in the next chapter for the rest of our last park day.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 9,211
What's not to love, right?
Thanks for letting me know you are here and reading about our adventures.Thanks so much for posting. I enjoyed reading about your wonderful trip.
There's always time to squeeze in a little Disney!
SF pool is great, although I wish they didn't have that sandbar thing right in the middle. I will be staying there next week, so I get to hopefully enjoy a few more pool nights.
Oh my gosh!
Love the matching ring fingers!! Ha ha!!
LOL, right?! We love it and we even send those emojis to each other with hearts.
Awww, so glad you enjoyed your MD trip!
I am so glad we did it, we made so many wonderful memories and we still talk about it and I think about it a lot too.
missjackiemcg
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 3,580
That is an awesome picture!!!
I absolutely love this!!!the last thing Kira and I did was flip each other the bird with our matching ring fingers.
PERFECT!!!! I have an Only Thing at home, too! He would be very excited about this!
My husband swears that the best AC in all of Universal is on the Cat in the Hat ride LOL so he makes us go on multiple times a trip! Lucky for him there is usually zero wait, and it is a pretty quick ride!Those buses were amazing though, the best AC on property!
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