Dr. Jones and the Spitting Camel - Link to Alaska Cruise TR 9/18

[glennbo123]

The new room decor looks great! I bet Jeff loves it!

 

[jenjolt]

What a fun Universal day!! Love that express pass you can get SO much done!!! I had blast on City Walk glad you guys had a great time too!!!!

OOOH can't wait for your HP review!!!

Love the new room!!!!

 

[eandesmom]

the pictures look good, and htose are some big honken rocks outside.

They are big honken rocks! Granite boulders actually. We live in a cave lol. It's what happens when you build into a hill. It does keeps the hill from sliding down onto my house but has made landscaping the back a giant nightmare.

Great updates, Cynthia. We LOVED Beetlejuice and his Graveyard Review...we thought it was the best "live show" we've ever seen!

I absolutely loved it, definitely a Universal/IOA and overall trip highlight.

Love the family redo...very nice. And your hubby is so funny that he questioned you AFTER you offered. Typical.

He cracked me up with that comment!

A bit behind but all caught up now.
Mel's was typical hamburgers and fries fare. Teh kids were younger and pickier so I think they all ate so it was probably Ok food.

They turned Earthquake in to disaster? I guess that makes sense since I think there were several things going on during the Earthquake.

Yeah. It still ends with the earthwquake stuff but the disaster movie green screen stuff is 4 different kinds of "disasters". It was fun.

Sounds like you had a wonderful dinner and got a room refurb to boot.

Dinner was wonderful and it was a fun little add to the room.

Loving the TR !!Is gonna be sooo helpful next year !!I have even told Judy and she didn't freak that I was going and not her !!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

What a fun US day! I love seeing the Blues Bros. there. How fun that the boys dressed like that for Halloween!

Jake's bar looks worth a trip over - I love that decor! It's like the old shopping area in the now gone Aladdin hotel in Vegas! The fossil store just fits there.

I love your room re-do! I have two similar Hawaii posters in my office - your Family Room turned out really great!

 

[MEK]

Awesome pictures Cynthia. They look great!

Oh - an your soccer cleat storage is quite unique!

 

[eandesmom]

Great fun! LOVE all those photos!!! Matt says if/when we take the boys to Universal they will NOT want to give up Universal and will leave Disney in the dust. I DO NOT think this is the case, to be honest, but I know that Universal sure seems to cater to the boys in, well, my boys!!! (all three!!! LOL!!)

I don't think so, I haven't seen it with the boys, they definitely like both still and probably equally though in different ways. Taylor might have moved into the Universal Camp but I think Kendall is ambivalent on the park side but still Disney on the resort side. It's apples and oranges to me, room for both!

I love taking a print or art and building a room around it!! So fun. AND I love the retro flair! Very nice!! Is that hotel of choice the Portofino? It looke stuffy to me... is it nice?

One of the really great things about staying at a universal resort is that you can pool hop. We did that on our last day and fell in LOVE with the pool at Portofino. We obviously didn't stay or eat there but it didn't feel stuffy based on our limited time there. Still, I'd probably go for RPH for a family trip, I just couldn't justify the prices for Portofino, like I can't justify it for the GF. Unless I had a really great deal.

Love the room! Especially those black and white pics of the kids! That was from your photo shoot right?

Yep! Those are from the photo shoot.

Also love the window treatment. I want that for my sliding door!

That's so funny, that valance has quite the history. I had it custom made for a townhouse window before Evan was born. I've been able to fit it into 3 different houses since then, getting very lucky that it worked each time.

Thankfully I still like it.

Thanks for your very detailed description of the US attractions. We are not big show people, but it sounds like Beetlejuice is worth watching. I love the Blues Brothers, so I hope we are able to catch their performance.

Great Halloween pictures! What fun costumes!

Really loved Beetlejuice and the Blues Brothers were a ton of fun. Great energy at both.

Your family room looks fantastic. I loved that you made Jake's a one-stop eating/shopping/interior design location.

Thanks! I need to recover or replace that ottoman but overall we are pretty happy with it. The art added some nice colors to what was already there so we are happy about that and now the one we had before doesn't look out of place anymore.

Reading at the wrong time, because I can't see your pix.

One question - Did you do the Simpsons ride? Did I miss an update (probably). Did you like it? I've never done it and I would love to try it.

No we didn't. I know it's a popular one but no one was really interested, including me. At least not to the extent of missing other things.

I agree that MIB is a fun ride. My kids did that over and over again on our last Universal trip.

We did it at least twice, maybe 3 times. Very fun!

Glad to see you liked Jake's. We ate there when we stayed at RP and I remember it being very good.

Looking forward to seeing your room redo.

It was really good. Then again, so was The Kitchen at Hard Rock, and the Beach Club (pool bar restaurant) but I haven't gotten to that yet.

 

[englishrose47]

My guess is we will stay at RPR for my Free Trip !!!

 

[eandesmom]

Fun, fun, fun day at Universal! We have always loved Beetlejuice around here, so I bet that show was a blast!

It was, if you guys go you have to see it!

Love the room redo! I have always adored vintage travel posters!

Me too, I found some vintage travel sticker label type tapestry fabric that I might use to recover the ottoman...just can't decide if it's cool...or "too" cute. Jeff likes it though.

The new room decor looks great! I bet Jeff loves it!

He does!

What a fun Universal day!! Love that express pass you can get SO much done!!! I had blast on City Walk glad you guys had a great time too!!!!

OOOH can't wait for your HP review!!!

Love the new room!!!!

City walk is a lot of fun, we definitely enjoyed it. A bit funky in the layout in parts but anyplace that has margaritaville and the lone palm is good with us!

What a fun US day! I love seeing the Blues Bros. there. How fun that the boys dressed like that for Halloween!

It was cute that the did that

Jake's bar looks worth a trip over - I love that decor! It's like the old shopping area in the now gone Aladdin hotel in Vegas! The fossil store just fits there.

I remember the aladdin and that fossil store (I actually bought Jeff a wallet there lol!) but can't match it up to Jakes in my mind

I love your room re-do! I have two similar Hawaii posters in my office - your Family Room turned out really great!

It's fun

Awesome pictures Cynthia. They look great!

Oh - an your soccer cleat storage is quite unique!

LOL! That last picture is actually at his friends house, not mine so it's my girlfriends cleat storage. Which is very unique! I'm guessing it's the drying rack...in Oct in Seattle you need it.

 

[eandesmom]

My guess is we will stay at RPR for my Free Trip !!!

I think that's a great choice!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I remember the aladdin and that fossil store (I actually bought Jeff a wallet there lol!) but can't match it up to Jakes in my mind



It's fun

Oh, I guess you're right about Aladdin. When I was there I just thought the area decor reminded me of a scene from Indiana Jones, and then the Fossil store fit right in. I'm sure Jake's is much better for sure!

P.S. I miss the Aladdin the way it was - not impressed with PH

 

[eandesmom]

Oh, I guess you're right about Aladdin. When I was there I just thought the area decor reminded me of a scene from Indiana Jones, and then the Fossil store fit right in. I'm sure Jake's is much better for sure!

P.S. I miss the Aladdin the way it was - not impressed with PH

Ok, I can see it now...I was just thinking Aladdin...Arabian nights and all the color...not Indiana Jones. This is definitely south seas island sea plane decor so I was a bit confused.

I really liked the Aladdin, we were sad to see it change. Not that we are big Vegas people but I do have fond memories of Aladdin.

 

[eandesmom]

It’s hard to believe but 10+ months later we are finally here. Our last full day in Orlando. Technically some of us had already had their last full day, Jeff and Kendall would be flying out that evening. It had been a great trip and honestly though I probably should have felt like it (and we) were winding down, I didn’t. In fact I took more pictures this day than any other of the entire trip. By a landslide.

The E’s and I were off to visit Harry, again. Big kids and Jeff would sleep in and pack. Jeff and Kendall may have worked out but honestly, I can’t recall. I am pretty sure they did. We’d then meet back at the pool. The boys and I, crowds from the previous day fresh in our minds, planned to follow the same plan as before. Leave by 7:15 and hope to get in before 8. This time however, I got pictures.

Waiting for the gates to open. We made great time and were at the gate at 7:33, earlier than the day before I think! They opened them at 7:39

The rush back begins

Follow the signs!

Walk through Suess Landing

I had to take a picture of this, my town is called Lake Forest Park so we got a kick out of this

Our destination peeking from behind

Goodbye Seuss, sorry we’ve outgrown you! (your park attractions anyway..the books, never!)

Making progress, we are now in the Lost Continent

I still think this looks cool, wish the attraction lived up to the look

And now, a proper entry photo into…Hogsmeade!

Look! No crowds!

Our first order of business, of course, was the Forbidden Journey and of course, due to lockers and restrictions...no pictures. That mission accomplished we headed over to Dervish and Banges. We had a Quaffle to buy and the place had been far too nuts the day before, we hadn’t even attempted to go into the shop. I had been told this was the only place one could find a Quaffle. Turns out they are also at the shop at the front of the park but I didn’t find that out until I was at parcel pick up later that day!

Figures.

This would be completely full with the Ollivanders line but right now…completely empty

It’s a neat shop! Full of so much detail. Even if you don’t recognize these things from the books they are fun to look at!

Brooms everywhere. I can't imagine trying to get one home, ugh.

And a few wands! Ollivanders is actually connected, this is the front part with all the wands.

Just looking at that overwhelmed me, I was glad Eric had gotten his from the cart.

What treasures might be hidden above?

Today we thought we’d send something by Owl.

We purchased postcards, the quaffle, some special Hogwarts stamps and a wax seal stamp kit thing for my mom. With the exception of the postcards and stamps, we had the rest sent to the front of the park for pickup later.

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

Our main mission accomplished, we decided we needed breakfast

Frozen Butterbeer

It’s rich. It’s creamy. It’s frozen and all butterscotchy. YUM! But rich. It took the 3 of us to finish it (and keep our cool souvenir mug). While we were drinking/eating it we watched the Flight of the Hippogriff from the distance. This used to be a kiddie coaster and had been rethemed.

It took us a while to finish the darn thing so I snapped some pics while we sipped and spooned

I just love the entry to Hogwarts, and you can see the difference in the crowds, plus how early in the day it still was.

Filch’s is the dump shop for the FJ and has a ton of good stuff, on the side of Hogwarts. Some of which isn’t available anywhere else. I can’t count how often we were in Filches, between riding the FJ and shopping.

The Hippogriff cart. Close to the wand cart (seen behind)..not nearly as busy as when we’d been there buying Eric’s wand the day before. Iopurchased my dad a SS Gryffindor travel mug here. A side note on the park pick up service. We used this MANY times over the 3 days we were there. By in large it worked ok but they would often have to make multiple trips to find our packages and this item it ended up over at the other park which thankfully can be accessed from the outside. It was odd that it was the one that got sent off elsewhere when we’d had no issues with the wand cart delivery. Even odder as it was our first purchase of the day so certainly not a time issue.

Butterbeer FINALLY done, we decided to check out the flight of the hippogriff. Why not?

I love all the signage, stamped by the Ministry of Magic

Hagrid’s hut

Could it be…a nest?

And…we were off!

Hello Buckbeak!

The view from our flight

And with that, our flight came to an end. Our thoughts? Very cute theming, still a kiddie coaster. It was cute and fun.

Leaving buckbeak we moved on

Time to look at the shops that had been so crazy crowded before

We hadn’t seen this wizard (not that we’d tell if we had)

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

First stop, Honeydukes

These are big deal in the books and movies but supposedly really cheap chocolate. And expensive. Like bad easter candy. We didn't check to see if the rumors were true. Besides, they'd have melted unless you ate them right away.

Evan had promised to bring a bag of every flavor beans home to a friend

This just sounded weird to us. I feel kind of bad that we never tried it and I love pumpkin but in that august heat was just NOT appealing

Then to Zonko’s! which had some fun things to be sure

Surprisingly, in both shops, there just wasn’t a lot anything anyone wanted. Which was a bit of a relief. It was fun to just look and not have a lot of “I want” going on. Leaving, we thought about catching a train but the times weren’t right.

It was still pretty peaceful, a HUGE difference from 2 days prior

We thought about going here to the Dragon Challenge

Evan wasn’t quite sure

But he did it! He had promised himself that he wouldn’t wimp out and while it was dicey at moments he did it, and waited for the front. And loved loved loved it.
Afterwards, I really wanted some coffee. All that sugar from the butterbeer on an empty stomach needed at least that. I don't do sugar as a general rule (salt is my weakness) so that much in the early am had me feeling a bit icky. And I hadn't had much of it! I’d had one cup of coffee in the room I think or maybe one for the walk over, I couldn’t recall but at any rate I needed cup #2!

The Three Broomsticks wasn’t an option until lunch

So I checked in here

Yeah, it’s a bar but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. Nope, no coffee.

They did suggest I get some next door at the Three Broomsticks.

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

“But I don’t have reservations” I said

As some of you may know (and I’m not sure if it’s changed but I don’t think so) last summer the only way you could have breakfast at the Three Broomsticks was if you bought a special Harry Potter package deal and it included the breakfast. It didn’t open to the public until 10:30 or 11 and then it was for lunch. Our plan had been to wait until lunch as we did want to see it. It was now only about 9:25 and there was no way our bellies could wait until then, not with hitting the park running as early as we did.

“Can they sell me just coffee”
“I’m sure they can, just go up and tell them what you want.”
The Three Broomsticks and Hogs Head are connected so we walked over and up to the counter. I ordered a coffee, mentioning that they’d sent me over from Hogs Head.

“Is that all, no breakfast?” she said.

“Will you sell me breakfast?”
She looked around, saw it was pretty darn slow and consulted with another CM. She wasn’t exactly sure how to ring it up as a charged item since we didn’t have the tickets.

“Sure, I don’t see why not!”

SCORE! We were starving!!! It is a counter service restaurant and the lunch menu is very British and wasn’t appealing at that moment (too early in the day for lunch food, not the menu itself).

It is SO cute inside

The boys opted for the American Breakfast, I went for the English
Eric decided to try the regular butterbeer (non frozen)

Just a few kinds of tea to choose from

It was a little early in the day for this

I loved looking around

Evan looks pretty happy with his choice

Eric too (butterbeer in the background)

Butterbeer closeup

Not busy at all, guess it wasn’t a peak time for the package people, matched what we were seeing with the early entry though by now the park was open.

My English breakfast

Looking through the fireplace into Hogshead. We didn't’ have any floo powder so we stayed put.

I had a hard time capturing the size of the place, it’s really deceiving from the outside. And the lighting with or without flash didn’t cooperate with me (or my camera) at all. Of course then again it could have been that I was trying to capture pictures of shadows of house elves cleaning and owls flying into the windows. Those darn house elves were hard to catch. But so fun to see!

We decided to take our unexpected breakfast time to write our postcards.
Gotta love what kids will write. I swear, they’d forgotten how to write, and spell.

This looked out of place, like they’d morphed the Three Broomsticks with the Leaky Cauldron but since one is in London and the other in Hogsmeade, who knows.

I have to say, we LOVED the Three Broomsticks. The food was good, the atmosphere was amazing, it wasn’t crowded and it was such a surprise to get in (we’d been talking for months about how it would have to be lunch or dinner and it was a long shot it would work with our schedule, lines would be long etc etc etc) that the three of us were seriously giddy. Spotting House Elves will do that. I’m sure that’s what it was, not the butterbeer.

I wasn’t sure what the rest of our day would bring food or drink wise so wanted to document what I could of Hogs Head so we went out the way we came in.

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

No, these weren’t for me. At least not at that moment. But you can see the souvie Hogs Head mug in the shot.

There is actually a patio off of here

Which offered yet another view (because I didn’t take enough pictures)

I like this angle though as you can see the “back” entry into WWOHP from the other side of the park via that bridge

Eric was still working that butterbeer (frozen is better we’ve decided)
What next?

I’ll model my Dobby Shirt for my mom!

I swear that kid ended up with a whole new wardrobe on this trip. He used all his money towards shirts and a necklace plus one shirt from Sandie & Paul. By the end he had one from WOD (ESPN), Margaritaville, Harry Potter and Hard Rock! He'd have gotten a Yeti one but we didn't make it back which is why he ended up so universal heavy but I was able to get the yeti shirt for him in May (seriously cool shirt I must say). It's been fun recently to see all of them reappearing over the summer, many of them were adult smalls and a bit big at the time and he's now much more grown into them before.

Now what? We had enjoyed a VERY leisurely breakfast and amazingly had been there almost 90 minutes, chatting, writing, eating and observing. It’s funny to look at the time stamps now and realize we were there that long but I guess arriving so early and doing so much gave us the mental permission to just relax and enjoy. Though honestly, with the lower crowds, we’d done that all morning! Hmmn…should we see what the others were up to?

When the Volcano Blows

 

[tinacaplan]

WWOHP sounds amazing. I have few points of reference, though, having never read the books and only seen bits and pieces of the movies themselves. Looks like Universal did a really nice job, though. What a great morning you had! Looks like you're wrapping up the trip on a positive note.

I also wanted to say, and I thought I had already done so, that the new posters are fantastic! I love graphics for that time period and those are really cool. What a great reminder of your trip!

 

[Native NYer]

Great update!
It's amazing that WWoHP is so empty!
I love the Dobby shirt.
Can't wait to visit next month!

 

[KatMark]

Cynthia, what AWESOME updates. Since we'll probably never get to see this in person, your pictures are much appreciated and what detail and great photos!

Your breakfast(s) look great...what a fun restaurant.

 

[englishrose47]

Awesome pix of Three Broomsticks !!!It is soooooo on my list for next year and I can't wait for that English breakfast , I LOVE black pudding , fried tomatoes ooh I am drooling !!!!!