Come with me on a Journey to a Far away place inhabited by Mythological Gods and Constellations. Through the Portals we go to an Epic Universe.

[Robo56]

Tuesday, May 6th

I woke up early this morning and just sat up in bed and looked out over the beautiful Celestial Park.

I had a great sleep. The bed is comfy and so are the pillows.

I got up and showered and got ready for the day.

I went downstairs and the lobby was pretty much empty.

I decided to start my day with breakfast at the


I stopped at the check in stand and was shown to a booth.

I decided to try the breakfast buffet.

It is so beautiful light and airy in the is restaurant. The view outside to Celestial Park is wonderful.



There was selection of bread and bagels and a toaster.


I stopped by and chose some of the fresh ingredients for an omelet.


Then I walked around and looked at all the other offerings.


All the hot foods were in Le Creuset pots.

There were breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage, pancakes, vegetable of the day, scrambled eggs, seasoned pearl couscous and chicken shawarma,








This cheese, meat and cracker assortment was nice.

 

[Robo56]

My waiter Jared was wonderful and attentive. He kept my coffee and juice glass filled. The coffee is really good.

My omelet was the best omelet I have ever had from breakfast buffet. It was fluffy and perfectly cooked.

I also sampled some fruit and breakfast potatoes, chicken shawarma and couscous and it was all very good.


The restaurant was not busy and I did not feel rushed. I just enjoyed the beautiful atmosphere and my breakfast. I did not want to eat to much as I new I would be out in the heat walking around.

After I was done I paid my check and gave the waiter a nice tip for his wonderful service.

On my way out I stopped by and thanked the Chef for the delicious omelet he prepared for me.

The lobby my now was getting busy with people checking in.

I went back up to my room and brushed by teeth and sat down and wrote a quick note for housekeeping and left the note and tip on the bedside table.

If I remember correctly the buffet was $36.00 plus tax. There was no AP discount at the time I was there. Not sure if that will change.

It was about 9:30 am and I knew the hotel park entrance did not open until 10 am. So I sat and enjoyed the view out the window and then went down to the lobby.

Wow……what a difference a day makes……..There was no line at the hotel guest entrance to the park. They had already started letting everyone through and it was about 9:40 am.

I was looking forward to another day of exploring Epic Universe. I had really only scratched the surface of this beautiful park and I was looking forward to another great day.


More to come

 

[DL1WDW2]

Hello again
I thought about “borrowing “ your pictures for my trip report on ******* …
Thankfully my son took his camera into the park.
Your report is so interesting & excellent … really appreciate Thank you.
And just for the record Helios hides their extra towels in the bathroom drawers
And those glass dishes hanging on the wall near the elevators are plastic .
The individual designs on each one are interesting to discover .
At first they did not seem special but I was waiting for my son to exit our room and took the time to really look at them . And I admit I touched them to check if they were heavy glass . They look like glass but they aren’t haha .

 

[DL1WDW2]

I also want to mention , the lobby seemed small in comparison to the Stella Nova. But it is beautiful
If you don’t want to dine at the buffet, the pre-made sandwiches were enjoyable but I don’t know if the variety would satisfy a family with children for more than one night … and they warned me about that coconut donut I could not resist and did not want to share! Good thing I ordered 2 to take back to the room !

Love the Helios and want to return soon but my AP is still good until 6/8 so I will return to Sapphire Falls and USOand Iof Adventure one more time.
Hope they offer APs with EPIC for holiday Xmas gifts from Santa

 

[Robo56]

Your report is so interesting & excellent … really appreciate Thank you.

Thank you for your kind words. So glad you are enjoying the trip report.

I thought about “borrowing “ your pictures for my trip report on ******* …

I would not have minded. Always happy to help someone to remember a wonderful time at Universal.

And just for the record Helios hides their extra towels in the bathroom drawers

Yes, I found the towels in the drawers. That is a nice touch.

And those glass dishes hanging on the wall near the elevators are plastic .
The individual designs on each one are interesting to discover .

I have been duped…..LOL……they sure do look like the heavy glass designs….I wondered to myself, that they were brave to put things like that in hands reach……They sure do look like glass.

If you don’t want to dine at the buffet, the pre-made sandwiches were enjoyable but I don’t know if the variety would satisfy a family with children for more than one night … and they warned me about that coconut donut I could not resist and did not want to share! Good thing I ordered 2 to take back to the room !

I did not try any of the donuts or desserts. Glad to hear you liked the coconut one.

Love the Helios and want to return soon but my AP is still good until 6/8 so I will return to Sapphire Falls and USOand Iof Adventure one more time.
Hope they offer APs with EPIC for holiday Xmas gifts from Santa

Hopefully they will offer the addition of EPIC to the AP.

I think it is nice you can have an option of 2 park or 3 Park pass now that includes or excludes Volcano Bay. I hope they set something like this up for EPIC. A three park or 4 park pass. I would be ok with IOA, USO and EPIC three park pass.

That would be a nice Christmas present.

I also want to mention , the lobby seemed small in comparison to the Stella Nova. But it is beautiful

The lobby for sure is smaller at Helios Grand and yes, it is beautiful.

Small for sure in comparison to Sapphire Falls. I don’t think there are many resorts that have a bigger one.

I have never been to Stella Nova. I have heard that this hotel is the nicer of the two Prime value resorts for Epic.

Have fun on your trip back to USO in June…..enjoy your time at Sapphire Falls it is a beautiful Resort.

 

[Robo56]

Tuesday, May 6th

There was no line at the Hotel guest entrance to the park. So off I went and I was through in no time.

I made my way over to the Constellation Carosel. I had heard a lot about this not being your normal Carosel and it was not.




It is beautiful both inside and outside.




Instead of going around in one big circle like a regular Carosel the animals are located in smaller circles on the floor that move and rotate past each other. It is so cool.


And of course in keeping with Celestial Park them there were stats and lights on the ceiling and beautiful ornate lamps.






I thought to myself this would be beautiful to see at night as the animals sparkle with tiny lights that are on the outside of them.


The animals turned in small circles around each other. It was so cool.

This is wonderful ride for adults and littles ones alike. Actually there were more adults on this ride then little ones this morning.

 

[Robo56]

Next up after getting off the Carosel I headed to Super Nintendo World,


I saw that they were holding people back with barricades the other side of the entry to Nintendo World. I guess these folks came in through the front entry and were waiting to enter.

I was glad to get into the world and have look around before they let that crowd in.





The escalator entry as you head up to the world is pretty cool.


Then you enter into Princess Peach’s Castle.

Once you walk out into the World your eyes take in everything and it is…..Wow.

I never played Nintendo, but I can imagine those that did and still do must be blown away to see Nintendo brought to life.


There are elevators available for you to use.

 

[Robo56]

I did ride Yoshi’s Adventure. It is a cute ride for the little ones.






The coaster was down in Donkey Kong Country and the meet and greet with Donkey Kong had not started yet.

Again I never played the games before so a lot of the things in this land are lost on me, but wow….on the theming.

 

[Robo56]

They have power up bands that you can buy to do the games inside Nintendo World. I watched parents and their kiddos having a blast with that.


As I was leaving they had folks lined up for a meet and greet with Mario and Luigi.




Even the exterior of the shop was impressive.




And the fountain with Marion and the spinning coins.

 

[Robo56]

If you are a Nintendo World fan you will not be disappointed with the range of merchandise available.



The stain glass windows of the various characters on the entry to the shop were beautiful.




















To be continiued