Escape From Home to Dinosaurs, Wizards, and Alarm Clocks - A March 2021 Trip Report (**Completed 3/27/23**)

[queenofthehill]

ET...I know, I know, this ride probably needs to get replaced, but I’m a sucker for dark rides as I’ve said before! I still ride Peter Pan at Disney World any chance I get. I was excited for the boys to get their first ride on ET.​

Noooo!!! ET may you never change. EVER! lol
The smell in that queue is prob the most distinct non natural scent I have committed to memory.

Great TR

 

[cstorm65]

Noooo!!! ET may you never change. EVER! lol
The smell in that queue is prob the most distinct non natural scent I have committed to memory.

Great TR

I agree with you and I was certainly not saying I want it to be replaced, it is a favorite for sure. I just really can't believe it's made it this long. I mean I am still mad they took Back to the Future out to replace it with the Simpson's. I am still a little bitter at Universal about that!

Thanks for reading!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 3 Part 4 - Dinner by the Pool...This is the Life!

We were headed back to the resort, but DS8 wanted to stop in the gift shop by Jurassic Park first and look for a souvenir. He did find a nice hat to try on, but ended up not really finding anything he wanted to spend his souvenir money on.

It was about 3:00 at this point and we just walked towards the front of the park and by the time we got back to the Port of Entry the boys looked like this:

See you later for today IOA...we’ll be back tomorrow!

These boys were exhausted after our long, but great day so far!

We were back to Royal Pacific by 3:30 and headed straight to the room since they had texted us our room number and we already had our keys! We got into the room and got a few pictures before the boys got to crazy!

After we got into the room and took the pictures I headed down and got the bigger bags out of the car and got them brought up to the room. We spent about an hour in the room getting things settled before the boys talked us into heading to the pool. DW and I had decided to just let DS5 stay awake after his little nap in the stroller and then we would put the boys to bed at a decent hour, but first, some pool time!

The pool here is great and very big!

We found some great seats where DW and I could sit and watch the boys enjoy themselves! They also have a really fun water play area for the kiddos here at Royal Pacific.

We swam for a bit and we ended up just deciding to order food from the pool restaurant, the Bula Bar & Grill. A waiter came by and gave us a menu and he was awesome! He took care of us all evening while we were at the pool. I had asked him for four cups of ice water with our food and he just kept bringing us cups of water all evening which was great because it was hot! We ended up ordering the big Nachos and the Quesadilla and both were very good. They weren’t either one super special, but they were definitely something easy and good to eat poolside. The boys actually loved the nachos.

We swam for the next couple of hours and the boys had a great time!

We headed out at around 7:00 and were going to get the boys in bed for a nice early bedtime. DS8 wanted to ride Hagrid’s again in the morning which meant it was going to be an early morning again! As we walked out we did see the seating area for the pool restaurant, although like I said earlier, there are waiters visiting all of the pool areas so no matter where you sit you can order food.

We went back to the room and DW got the boys in bed while I actually ran to a nearby Walgreens to pick up a few snacks. We wanted some snacks to take into the parks for the boys. We normally get some when we’re at Disney so we aren’t buying snacks in the parks all the time, but we just never thought about it on this trip.

I got back at about 8:00 and stopped to get DW and I stopped in the Tuk Tuk Market in the lobby to get DW and I some gelato before bed.

I got sidetracked I guess and didn’t write down what we had, but I remember the gelato here was really, really good and this wouldn’t be the last time we had some! That will do it for our first park day. It’s another early morning tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Up Next: Day 4 Part 1​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Sounds like the perfect tend to a day. Dinner by the pool!

 

[Jess_S]

Great resort photos. They make me wish I was there now. And I am impressed that you thought to get room photos before everyone settled in and unpacked. (My hotel photos always have random dirty laundry and open suitcases in them).

 

[cstorm65]

Sounds like the perfect tend to a day. Dinner by the pool!

I can't tell you now much we enjoyed our time by the pool here at Royal Pacific, especially being able to just order a meal from our chairs. It was awesome and this won't be the last time we did it on this trip!

Great resort photos. They make me wish I was there now. And I am impressed that you thought to get room photos before everyone settled in and unpacked. (My hotel photos always have random dirty laundry and open suitcases in them).

Well, we try, although sometimes we have kids in the room pictures because you know, they don't understand yet! haha

 

[cstorm65]

Day 4 Part 1 - That May Be His New Favorite Ride

I should also mention here on the TR that I have our trip videos up of this trip for the first couple of days. You can view those HERE.

Alright, after a relaxing evening at the Royal Pacific pool and an early bedtime we were back up around 5:45 AM and ready to head over and try to get on Hagrid’s one more time. We did decide to stop at Tuk Tuk Market because DS8 wanted another banana smoothie, he loved those things! We also got some coffee for DW and of course a donut for DS5.

After the quick stop we walked the path to CityWalk again, and made it into line at Islands of Adventure by 6:35. We made sure to get in the main entrance line today instead of going to the alternate entrance on the left and we got through so much quicker. Yesterday we didn’t get to the Hogsmeade entrance until about 7:15 and today we walked into Hogsmeade at 7:00 on the dot. Just for those of you wanting to know we got to the park at about the same time, it just appears you can get in much quicker using the main turnstile area instead of the alternate entrance. Probably because they have so many more entry turnstile areas at the main spot. Anyways, into Hogsmeade and another ride on Hagrids!

Again, we got onto the ride today at about 7:25, about 15 minutes ahead of yesterday. We all enjoyed the ride again, although DS5 still wanted to know when he would be tall enough.

DW and DS8 went first and then I went with DS8 with a ride swap. While DS8 and I went on with the rider swap DW and DS5 went over to do Flight of the Hippogriff again. DS8 and I got off Hagrid’s at about 7:45 and headed out into Hogsmeade.

DW texted me and said the Hippogriff line was moving slowly again, so DS8 and I ducked into Honeydukes. He thought he might want to spend some of his souvenir money.

I tried to talk him into getting Peppermint Toads with his money...

...but he chose some taffy instead and he enjoyed it a lot over the next couple of days.

We got a few shots by the castle before DW and DS5 got off Hippogriff and we moved on with our day.

Well, by moved on I mean we had to stop and get the first butterbeer of the day!

After a little Butterbeer for me and the boys and a whole one to herself for DW, which is just fine with me by the way, DS8 and I headed in to ride Forbidden Journey. I wasn’t quite sure if DS8 would like it or not as it has a tendency to be a little scary, but he did great and once we got off he even said it was his favorite ride of the whole trip, even better than Hagrid’s. So, I’m glad we did it!

We headed through Lost Continent as the rest of the day can now be pretty slow paced since we have express passes. We of course passed by the closed down Poseidon’s Fury, I’ve still only done that attraction once and I’d like to do it again, but who knows if it will ever open back up.

After walking by Poseidon’t we had the plan to spend some more time in a very underrated land at Universal, Seuss Landing! Come back to see what we did in the next update!

Up Next: “Dad, I Didn’t Cry This Time!"​

 

[Bethany10]

yay! We love Seuss! I didn't realize Poseidon was closed "permanently", DS was sad when we were there that we couldn't do it but I assumed it was a timing thing on the day.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 3 Part 3 - This Better Be a Good Meal

Moving on here in our first full day in the Universal Parks DS8 and DW had gone off to ride Escape From Gringotts while DS5 and I got in line for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. I had figured out what DW and DS8 wanted so I could mobile order while in line, but the line was out the door and around the corner down into Knockturn Alley. We got in line because this is a spot DW and I had never eaten and we both really like Fish and Chips, so it was something we for sure wanted to try. DS5 and I waited...and waited...and waited and it was about 25 minutes before we finally turned the corner out of Knockturn Alley and went into the actual entry area of the restaurant. At about this time DW and DS8 had finished and joined back up with us. DS8 played in the window while we remained in the second part of the line.

Finally, after about 45 minutes we were inside of the restaurant and seated at a table. It was definitely not the best experience waiting for a table here and I told DW at one point, “This better be a good meal if we are waiting this long!”

Once we got to the front of the line we were seated pretty quickly and got to take in a little bit of the decor.

One key part of this was to get some Butterbeer with lunch, I think we got two of them, one for DW and one for the rest of us to share. I really love Butterbeer, but DW loves it on a whole other level!

The boys also enjoyed it, although I don’t think they liked it as much as DW and I. I’m sure it will grow on them as they get older! After about a 15 minute wait at the table our food arrived, a whole bunch of Fish & Chips. DW, DS8, and I all got fish and chips, DS8’s was just the kids meal version. DS5, surprisingly (sarcasm!) got the mac ‘n cheese kids meal!

We all really enjoyed the fish and chips. I’m not sure we enjoyed it quite as much as Yorkshire County in Epcot, but it was very good. I actually think the fish was just as good as Yorkshire, but I’m not a big fan of these potato wedges that Universal uses in some of their restaurants. I enjoy the regular french fries like they have at Yorkshire in Epcot. Anyways, the meal was good though and we agreed it was probably worth the wait, especially with the cool decor inside of the restaurant.

We headed back out into Diagon Alley at 12:30 or so.

The next plan was to head over to see if we could get into the Shrek show. The streets were getting a little more crowded on our way to the front of the park.

We were able to get on Shrek with a pretty small wait, thanks to the Express Pass. When we were finished at about 1:00 we headed over to one of my favorite Universal Rides, ET...I know, I know, this ride probably needs to get replaced, but I’m a sucker for dark rides as I’ve said before! I still ride Peter Pan at Disney World any chance I get. I was excited for the boys to get their first ride on ET.

The boys loved the ride, especially DS5. I mean they’ve never even seen the movie, but that is the great part about a dark ride with a story, you don’t have to be an expert in the movie to enjoy the attraction.

After the ride some of the Spongebob characters were out and the boys wanted to say hi.

Next we headed on towards the back of the park for a ride on Men in Black. I knew DS8 was going to love this one and I was right.

DS8 loved it and DS5 actually enjoyed it too, even though he didn’t hit many targets! Of course I'm not sure how I remember that, they erased our memories!

They also enjoyed the stuffed animals in the gift shop!

This park has some cool picture options, that’s for sure with the lagoon in the middle and we snapped a few pictures as we headed back around to jump on the Hogwarts Express again.

We made it to the train at 2:15 and you guys may be thinking this is not like you guys to spend this many hours in a park without a break. Well, you are right, but we didn’t want to risk going back to the hotel and our room not being ready yet. We weren’t planning on coming back to the parks tonight, so we just figured we’d plow through and get some stuff done that we wanted! We had another great ride on the train as we headed back to Hogwarts!

I especially love all of the details they did to make it special as you go to platform 9¾.

We were onboard by 2:25 with our express pass and the boys looked so tired as we rode the train. Remember, we got up at 5:30 am!

We made it to Hogsmeade by 2:40 and had just a couple of more things to do before heading to the resort.

We knew that by now it would be 3:30 or so once we made it back to the resort and so the room should be ready for us! Also, I think it was about now that I got our room ready text from Royal Pacific, so we were sure we had a place to go! We’ll be back to finish the day out next time!

Up Next: Day 3 Part 3​

[/QUOTE

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

my prior reply got all weird my apologies but what I had said was that my family and I love the Leaky Cauldron but we like it slightly more for breakfast- I would highly recommend going for breakfast on your next trip!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

That early wakeup call is no joke but Hogsmeade looks gorgeous at sunrise! I hope I can get my boys up so we can try early entry at IOA at least once on the trip. And you had Honeydukes practically to yourself!

 

[cstorm65]

yay! We love Seuss! I didn't realize Poseidon was closed "permanently", DS was sad when we were there that we couldn't do it but I assumed it was a timing thing on the day.

I'm not sure it is permanently closed, but it was closed when COVID arrived and hasn't re-opened. We've done it once and it wasn't super special, but it was a little neat because it was just a very different type of attraction.

my prior reply got all weird my apologies but what I had said was that my family and I love the Leaky Cauldron but we like it slightly more for breakfast- I would highly recommend going for breakfast on your next trip!

I hae wondered about that and will definitely try it in the future. What I've seen it has a great breakfast!

That early wakeup call is no joke but Hogsmeade looks gorgeous at sunrise! I hope I can get my boys up so we can try early entry at IOA at least once on the trip. And you had Honeydukes practically to yourself!

I know, the park is so uncrowded at that time unless you are in the line for Hagrids or walking through Hogsmeade!

 

[BeckyEsq]

Really enjoying your report especially the big beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing!

 

[cstorm65]

Really enjoying your report especially the big beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for reading along!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 4 Part 2 - “Dad, I Didn’t Cry This Time!”

We had finished the first part of our day in Hogsmeade and had walked back to Seuss Landing for a little fun! We got into Seuss Landing at about 8:20 and spent a little time just looking around and buying the daily refills on DW and I’s refillable cups.

D8 wanted to look in one of the shops and so he and DW went to do that while DS5 and I rode the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley. DS8 did find a onesie that he thought was pretty cool!

Meanwhile, DS5 and I had a great view of Seuss Landing from above!

We even got a different perspective of Velocicoaster!

After our ride we met up with DW and DS8 and headed over to do One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The boys enjoyed this since I let DS8 control the up and down in our car. I think the best strategy is to let the kid try and get you wet because the ride is so confusing to me and usually they manage to do just the opposite of what they are trying to do. So, I was able to stay dry! haha

The boys liked this ride, mainly because it squirted water and wanted to go again. I took them and we all three went together while DW waited on us! For some reason DS8 decided to carry DS5 through the line!

After that ride we walked right into the Cat in the Hat line next door at 9:10 and walked right onto the ride with our express pass. I love this ride! I’ve said it before I’m a sucker for dark rides and this one is just that!

With that we finished up in Seuss Landing and headed across to Marvel Super Hero Island. DS8 wanted to ride Spiderman again and much to our surprise DS5 decided he wanted to try it again too after getting a little bit scared the day before.

We headed on into the ride, which has a pretty cool queue, even in the express pass line.

DS5 sat by me and pretty much buried his head into my side the whole time and I covered his other ear. So he couldn’t see or hear much at all. Well, as soon as we got off the ride he said, “Dad...Dad...I wasn’t scared! I didn’t cry this time!” So funny! He was so proud of himself and really we were too. We couldn’t believe he wanted to try it again, but it was good that he did!

After the ride we shopped in Marvel Island a bit before heading back to get on Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges. This one doesn’t open until 10:00, so we have been waiting to get back around here. We had even worn swimming suits to the park this morning because we knew we were going to get on this ride. Let me tell you if you haven’t done this, it is the best rapids ride at any theme park I’ve been to. You get soaked on it and I mean every person in the raft. There is not “getting lucky” or “getting unlucky” on this ride. Everyone ends up soaked, so wear your swim suit if you are going to ride this!

It was great, although the water was super cold, that is the only thing DS5 didn’t like about it!

After the rapids we had done everything we wanted and were ready to head back to the resort and hit up the pool, but first we wanted some food. There was a place I had wanted to try. It was still about 10:40 and so we thought we would just get a couple of items here to all split and then get some more food by the pool. I mean, we had been up since 5:45, so our bodies thought it was lunch time! We headed over to Green Eggs and Ham.

We wanted to try it, and DS8 especially was very excited about it. He loves eggs! Like I mean he would eat 3-4 every morning if we made them for him and they had read this book at school, so he wanted the green eggs! I got in line at 10:40 and DW and the boys went to find a table. I was the fourth person back in line and the wait began. There were at least three people working inside the restaurant, but I waited and waited and waited. Finally at about 10:45 one person left the window and we moved up a bit and again a few minutes later. Then it just stopped again. By 11:00 I was still not to the window and that is when someone from one of the nearby tables came up and firmly said in the window, “I ordered at 10:00, can you tell me when my food is coming out?” With that I decided I wasn’t waiting an hour for my food and the boys were getting restless anyway. So, we disappointedly headed out of the park. DS8 was certainly disappointed, but we hoped to try again later.

We headed out of the park at about 11:10 and back towards Royal Pacific for some relaxation.

Up Next: Let’s Try Some Mardi Gras Food​

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

My kids are really psyched about Harry Potter land, but just from your photo I think they are going to be wowed by Seuss Landing too, it's gorgeous! I love the idea of the green eggs and ham but then they had to go and put it on tater tots. You probably made the right call by bailing out, but I'll be curious to see if you went back later and what you thought if you did order them.

 

[cstorm65]

My kids are really psyched about Harry Potter land, but just from your photo I think they are going to be wowed by Seuss Landing too, it's gorgeous! I love the idea of the green eggs and ham but then they had to go and put it on tater tots. You probably made the right call by bailing out, but I'll be curious to see if you went back later and what you thought if you did order them.

We really like Suess Landing. The rides are what you'd expect, but the theming is great. My DS9 loved looking around and finding things that he'd read about in the books!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 4 Part 3 - Let’s Try Some Mardi Gras Food

So, we had left off being super disappointed by not getting Green Eggs & Ham, which meant finding food was next on the agenda. Luckily for us it was still pretty early since the park had opened at 7 AM and by 11:45 we were settling into some great seats by the pool at Royal Pacific.

We had decided the poolside food was so good the day before that we would just try that again today, so as soon as we got to the pool we got an order ready. Our waiter from the day before, who was awesome and remembered our name, came by and we placed the order. It only took about 10-15 minutes before we had our food ready.

I ended up going with the Bula Burger ($17) - Angus Beef, Smoked Adobe Ham, Pineapple Pico de Gallo, Cheddar Cheese, Brioche Bun. Here is is:

Let me tell you, this was excellent! I had the burger at Bigfire earlier on this trip, but man, this one was pretty close. I especially enjoyed the Adobe Ham that was on this burger as it just gave it a little something different that was good! The burger meat was real meat instead of the pre-made patties in the theme parks, so again, that made it definitely better than you could get in most other places! I would absolutely order this again! I don’t have any other food pictures...I was probably in burger heaven or something, who knows! DW got the Turkey Wrap ($12) - Smoked Turkey, Chipotle Garbanzo Spread, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickled Vegetables. She really enjoyed this as well and said the garbanzo spread made it really good. The boys both just got kids meal hot dogs, which did the trick and gave them some more energy for the pool!

DW and DS9 also ordered a smoothie or something like that to split while we were at the pool and almost had to order another!

We packed up after about three hours and headed back to the room to let DS5 nap just a little bit. While he did that DS9 and I went down and just hung out by the fountains in the lobby.

We headed to the boat dock at 4:35 to head back to the parks and a boat was there quickly.

We walked into Universal Studios by 4:55 and were ready to try some of the Mardi Gras food booths!

Before we tried some food we went on the Minions ride, which both boys thought was hilarious, but the real highlight was DS5 in the dance party after the ride! He loved this!!!

We headed out onto the streets and went to the plaza by Rip Ride Rock It to try our first Mardi Gras food.

I ended up buying a tasting lanyard for $55 which would get us 10 items and most items are well over $5.50 so it was definitely a good value. We started with some Jamalaya!

It was really good and DS9 actually really liked it!

After the Jambalaya we decided to head in and do the Jimmy Fallon attraction, which again the boys thought it was pretty cool. I mean what boys wouldn’t love racing through the city streets!

After the ride we went over to the Columbia booth and got an order of the Carnitas Arepas, which had avocado and cilantro in them as well. These were so good! DW and I both loved them and since it comes with two we both got one! I almost had to go back for more though!

After the Arepas we tried to take DS9 on the Mummy ride, but when we got over there we found it closed.

The park was actually not too crowded this evening, which was nice compared to yesterday.

With the Mummy closed, what else is there to do, but try more Mardi Gras food. We stopped next at the Italy booth and got some Arancini. It was pretty good, although neither DW or I liked it as much as the Arancini at Via Napoli.

Of course DS5 just wanted to refill his popcorn bucket, no fancy food needed for himn!

We planned on heading over towards Transformers, but it too was closed when we got over there. That’s two rides in a row that were down! Oh well, I guess we should go try some more food booths! We’ll see what we had in the next update.

We are heading out to Disney World in a couple of days, so this may be the last update for a while! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Up Next: We Are Going to Need Another One of Those​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 4 Part 3 - Let’s Try Some Mardi Gras Food

So, we had left off being super disappointed by not getting Green Eggs & Ham, which meant finding food was next on the agenda. Luckily for us it was still pretty early since the park had opened at 7 AM and by 11:45 we were settling into some great seats by the pool at Royal Pacific.

We had decided the poolside food was so good the day before that we would just try that again today, so as soon as we got to the pool we got an order ready. Our waiter from the day before, who was awesome and remembered our name, came by and we placed the order. It only took about 10-15 minutes before we had our food ready.

I ended up going with the Bula Burger ($17) - Angus Beef, Smoked Adobe Ham, Pineapple Pico de Gallo, Cheddar Cheese, Brioche Bun. Here is is:

Let me tell you, this was excellent! I had the burger at Bigfire earlier on this trip, but man, this one was pretty close. I especially enjoyed the Adobe Ham that was on this burger as it just gave it a little something different that was good! The burger meat was real meat instead of the pre-made patties in the theme parks, so again, that made it definitely better than you could get in most other places! I would absolutely order this again! I don’t have any other food pictures...I was probably in burger heaven or something, who knows! DW got the Turkey Wrap ($12) - Smoked Turkey, Chipotle Garbanzo Spread, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickled Vegetables. She really enjoyed this as well and said the garbanzo spread made it really good. The boys both just got kids meal hot dogs, which did the trick and gave them some more energy for the pool!

DW and DS9 also ordered a smoothie or something like that to split while we were at the pool and almost had to order another!

We packed up after about three hours and headed back to the room to let DS5 nap just a little bit. While he did that DS9 and I went down and just hung out by the fountains in the lobby.

We headed to the boat dock at 4:35 to head back to the parks and a boat was there quickly.

We walked into Universal Studios by 4:55 and were ready to try some of the Mardi Gras food booths!

Before we tried some food we went on the Minions ride, which both boys thought was hilarious, but the real highlight was DS5 in the dance party after the ride! He loved this!!!

We headed out onto the streets and went to the plaza by Rip Ride Rock It to try our first Mardi Gras food.

I ended up buying a tasting lanyard for $55 which would get us 10 items and most items are well over $5.50 so it was definitely a good value. We started with some Jamalaya!

It was really good and DS9 actually really liked it!

After the Jambalaya we decided to head in and do the Jimmy Fallon attraction, which again the boys thought it was pretty cool. I mean what boys wouldn’t love racing through the city streets!

After the ride we went over to the Columbia booth and got an order of the Carnitas Arepas, which had avocado and cilantro in them as well. These were so good! DW and I both loved them and since it comes with two we both got one! I almost had to go back for more though!

After the Arepas we tried to take DS9 on the Mummy ride, but when we got over there we found it closed.

The park was actually not too crowded this evening, which was nice compared to yesterday.

With the Mummy closed, what else is there to do, but try more Mardi Gras food. We stopped next at the Italy booth and got some Arancini. It was pretty good, although neither DW or I liked it as much as the Arancini at Via Napoli.

Of course DS5 just wanted to refill his popcorn bucket, no fancy food needed for himn!

We planned on heading over towards Transformers, but it too was closed when we got over there. That’s two rides in a row that were down! Oh well, I guess we should go try some more food booths! We’ll see what we had in the next update.

We are heading out to Disney World in a couple of days, so this may be the last update for a while! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Up Next: We Are Going to Need Another One of Those​

Another great update! Enjoy you WDW vacation!

 

[cstorm65]

Another great update! Enjoy you WDW vacation!

Thanks so much! We are going to! Thanks for reading!