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

[schumigirl]

Aww your little guy did look so tired in that picture....

Food looks good from the Chicken Guy and again, enjoying the pictures and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Dockside. We haven`t seen too many reviews on it yet.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

DS5 got Mac ‘n Cheese, I know if any of you have read our other trip reports, this is super surprising...haha! He enjoyed it and ate most of it.

It looks like really good mac and cheese!

 

[cstorm65]

Aww your little guy did look so tired in that picture....

Food looks good from the Chicken Guy and again, enjoying the pictures and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Dockside. We haven`t seen too many reviews on it yet.

The food was really pretty good. I think I'm still partial to Earl of Sandwich, but that may be as much about nostalgia for me as anything.

It looks like really good mac and cheese!

It was pretty good. I know DS5 loved it and he is quite the mac 'n cheese connoisseur.

 

[Tatum20]

So excited to read this! I am stoked you are staying at 3 different USO resorts- curious to read your take on each one.

 

[macraven]

May 5 2021
Thread of the day on the Disboards !

 

[cstorm65]

So excited to read this! I am stoked you are staying at 3 different USO resorts- curious to read your take on each one.

Thanks for reading! Trying to get a post ready which will include some fun stuff at Dockside!!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 Part 3 - Donuts for Dinner

We made our way over to the parking lot and found a spot in one of the garages. Dockside is a bigger resort than the sister resort Surfside, and so the walk down the hallways was pretty long. I would also recommend people to know which elevator bank is best for you as there are multiple banks in each building and at times some of them have long lines and some don’t have any lines. We finally found our way to our room and it was very cool.

We just had a standard view room, but it was very well put together and had typical features for a value style room.

We weren’t able to stay long because the boys were super excited about finally getting to swim on this trip and swim they did!

We swam for over two hours before heading back to the room to get some dry clothes on before heading to dinner.

We headed to dinner at Pier 8 and yes, per the title of this post, the boys had donuts for dinner. Now, that is not all they had. I think we got one kid's meal pizza and they split it, but donuts were certainly the star for them! We were really tired from swimming and traveling all day at this point and so I didn’t even manage to take a picture or make note of what April and I had. I do remember that I tried the chicken and waffles, which is kind of a specialty at Pier 8, and it was good. I mean neither the chicken and waffles were anything super special, but they were well done, the chicken was good, and the waffle was crispy. I also snagged a brownie for dessert and somehow managed to remember to take a picture of it and the donuts.

We headed back to the room at about 8:00 and the boys were very tired from the early morning, so we went ahead and laid them down to sleep. Now, here is where a trend started on this trip and I have no idea why this became a thing, but the boys took to falling asleep on the floor between the two beds? Don’t ask me why, they just wanted to. About 30 minutes after they fell asleep each night I would move them back on the bed!

After they fell asleep I went to look around just a bit, which included taking a short stroll through the Universal Studios Store in the lobby. This was a beautiful resort at night as they have everything lit up.

I headed back and I think I was asleep by 9:00 or so.

Up Next: I’ve Never Been This Cold at a Pool in Florida​

 

[mamamelody2]

Great TR so far! Your boys are adorable!

I think it's funny how they kept falling asleep between the beds. In 2017 my youngest was 11 and we stayed at All Star Sports. We got a smaller "kid sized" air mattress that fit between the beds for him to sleep in. He LOVED it. He said it felt so cozy down there! Ha!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We headed to dinner at Pier 8 and yes, per the title of this post, the boys had donuts for dinner. Now, that is not all they had. I think we got one kid's meal pizza and they split it, but donuts were certainly the star for them!

I mean that is what vacations are for! Donuts for dinner sounds like an excellent vacation dinner.

Now, here is where a trend started on this trip and I have no idea why this became a thing, but the boys took to falling asleep on the floor between the two beds? Don’t ask me why, they just wanted to. About 30 minutes after they fell asleep each night I would move them back on the bed!

This is so cute. strange.. but really cute.

 

[cstorm65]

Great TR so far! Your boys are adorable!

I think it's funny how they kept falling asleep between the beds. In 2017 my youngest was 11 and we stayed at All Star Sports. We got a smaller "kid sized" air mattress that fit between the beds for him to sleep in. He LOVED it. He said it felt so cozy down there! Ha!

Thanks for reading!

I mean that is what vacations are for! Donuts for dinner sounds like an excellent vacation dinner.

This is so cute. strange.. but really cute.

Well, the more I think about it I think it had something to do with the boys were bothering each other so DS8, pouting, just said something like, "Fine, I'll just sleep in the floor." Well DS5 was having none of that so before too long he was down in the floor with him! haha

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Well, the more I think about it I think it had something to do with the boys were bothering each other so DS8, pouting, just said something like, "Fine, I'll just sleep in the floor." Well DS5 was having none of that so before too long he was down in the floor with him!

Younger Siblings can be so annoying!!!! (I say this as the oldest of 3 girls... )

 

[queenofthehill]

Great TR so far. Happy to be along for the ride

 

[HumblePie]

Wow! Your boys are getting so big! Can't wait to read more...

 

[angryduck71]

Great report so far!

 

[disneyseniors]

Following along and better late than never, LOL.
Your boys are adorable. It's a" Universal" truth that kids that age would rather swim at the pool than anything! Can't wait for more.

 

[NashvilleTrio]

Looking forward to more of your report!!

 

[macraven]

Those are striking pictures of the hotel in the evening!

 

[cstorm65]

Younger Siblings can be so annoying!!!! (I say this as the oldest of 3 girls... )

No doubt!

Great TR so far. Happy to be along for the ride

Thanks for reading!

Wow! Your boys are getting so big! Can't wait to read more...

More coming up!

Great report so far!

Thanks for reading along!

Following along and better late than never, LOL.
Your boys are adorable. It's a" Universal" truth that kids that age would rather swim at the pool than anything! Can't wait for more.

For sure...our boys love their pool time! It definitely helps us to get them to behave in the parks..."If you guys don't get it together their will be no swimming today!"

Looking forward to more of your report!!

Thanks! Finally got another update done!

Those are striking pictures of the hotel in the evening!

Yes, Universal really designed these new value hotels to be pretty cool looking, especially at night!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 Part 1 - I’ve Never Been This Cold at a Pool in Florida

We got up the next morning and took our time getting ready. This was going to be our rest day of this short trip and we were just going to spend the morning and early afternoon at the pool here at Dockside. We headed down to the pool at around 8:45 to get good chairs when they opened at 9:00. It turns out we didn’t need to do that as it was dead down here until about 10:00 or so.

Anyways, we got some chairs and I took orders and went to grab everyone some breakfast from Pier 8 to have by the pool. It wasn’t super crowded in here this morning.

They have a selection of pre-packaged breakfast stuff, but thankfully that wasn’t the only breakfast stuff. They had plenty of hot food options as well.

After getting everyone’s food I headed back out by the pool. I tried a Croissant with ham, egg, and cheese and it was really good. The bun was a different looking croissant, but it was very tasty.

The boys enjoyed pancakes out by the pool and they loved them. Not only did they love them, but it was a huge portion. They both could have split one kids meal, but DW and I helped them today! haha

DW went back inside as she just wanted Starbucks coffee for breakfast and so she was ready for the day once she had a coffee in hand. LIke I said earlier, the pool was not crowded at all. In fact when DW got back from getting coffee we were sitting there and I told her, “I’ve never been this cold at a pool in Florida.” The way the pools are situated here at Dockside they are completely in the shade until 11 AM or so. It was also pretty breezy this day and that made it pretty cool.

Eventually the boys made their way in the pool for some fun!

DS8 was the one who got cold the quickest and ended up with multiple towels over him in the chair!

The boys also spent a good deal of time playing in the sand. DS5 was doing his best to take some sand back to Oklahoma with us!

After playing for a bit they also got the bright idea to bury themselves and they worked pretty hard on it and eventually got their lower bodies buried.

They didn’t stay under the sand for too long though and we got back in and did a little more swimming before heading back in for some lunch at around 12:30. Overall, it was a nice, relaxing morning in the pool at Dockside.

Up Next: Don’t Steal All of My Dip​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Nice to have the pool to yourselves-ish even if it was a bit cool. Sounds like the boys made the best of it!