First Universal Trip for the Fam! 12/23/21-12/24/21...Portofino Bay!

[mickeymom22]

Hey all!

Hubby and I took the kids to Universal to celebrate Christmas and our son's college graduation! We have been to WDW lots of times, but we have never been to Universal. We really wanted to see all the Harry Potter attractions and see who would be brave enough to tackle the Velicicoaster!

Hubby, DS (24), DD1 (21), DD2 (15), and myself spent two days making mostly great memories!

On to the trip report.

We have family that live in Kissimmee so we spent 12/22 with them with plans to wake up super early on the 23rd and check in to Portofino Bay to get our Express Passes and head over during the early morning access hour.



Well, we didn't quite make it there as early as we wanted, but we were at the check-in desk at 8:00 am.



There were 3 staff members working the front desk. Each had someone with them when we got into the online check-in line. I had checked in the night before. While we were waiting another family got in the regular line. When the one staff member finished with a guest, he called them over instead of us. We didn't fuss. We only wanted positive energy on our first day. We got called about 5 minutes later. The staff member that helped us was very nice and knowledgable. He did a great job, but I don't like the fact that he literally had to input everything back in the computer that I had already put in the night before.

We headed to the water taxis at 8:40ish.



There was a boat there and we were able to board. We got to City Walk at about 8:50ish.

Our first view from the boat:




Islands of Adventure, here we come!

 

[mickeymom22]

Park Time/Hotel Time Day One:

We went to Island of Adventure first. We walked briskly through Seuss Landing and straight for the Harry Potter area. Hagrid's wait time was already long so we hopped in line for Forbidden Journey. We were all in awe of the theming of this area, but I was a little disappointed on the ride. You can see the mechanical arms on the dementors. Some of the effects just needed to be more "magical" in my opinion. After the ride, hubby wasn't feeling well, but he said he would try the Flight of the Hippogriff. The line moved really slow on this and I was wondering what the advantage to having Express Passes were. It seemed like there was only one ride vehicle going...not sure.

After this ride, hubby definitely didn't feel well, but he walked with us over to the Marvel area. The kids and I rode Spiderman and Hulk. I really liked the Spiderman ride and the Hulk was fun. The Hulk isn't a smooth ride so expect to be beat up a little on that one.

After that, hubby thought food might help so we walked back through Seuss Landing trying to make it on the Hogwarts Express. We decided to ride the Cat in the Hat ride first.

We all absolutely loved the train. The attention to detail was amazing in this area and on the attraction.

I just realized I didn't take any pictures of this part of the day!


Up next Diagon Alley...now my favorite area of the parks!

 

[mickeymom22]

When we stepped into Diagon Alley, I was in awe! This is now my favorite part of both parks. The theming is amazing!



It was 11:00 am and we needed breakfast/lunch. We headed to the Leaky Cauldron, but first we made our way to Knockturn Alley. This part is amazing too! We just walked around and soaked up the atmosphere. We watched some people casting spells.

I need to say here that our family that lives in Kissimmee gave us their wand to use at the parks while we were there. The lines to do the spells were long and we really only did one spell....the Leviosa one which matched a shirt I was wearing. It is not LeviOsa, it's LeviosA!

There was a fast moving line of people ordering at Leaky Cauldron so we got in line ready to try some butter beer. I got a kids Cottage Pie meal, DD2 got a chicken sandwich, and everyone else got fish and chips. We ordered two frozen butter beers and one regular butter beer. Everything was good. We all liked the frozen version the best. We also found out they don't sell soft drinks in here either. The staff member said they don't drink those things in the Wizard World. We sat inside and really enjoyed the theming there as well.



After that we made our way over to Gringott's. We all enjoyed this ride and queue.



After this my timeline gets a little fuzzy. I know we rode Men In Black and ET (just not sure the order).

We also rode Jimmy Fallon. By this time, hubby was feeling a little better, but I was starting to feel bad. He and I both waited outside while the kids rode the Mummy ride. This area was a mess. They were testing a virtual queue for this ride and no one knew where to go or what to do even the staff. Finally, I asked a staff member where to go for express passes and he pointed in a general direction. The kids went that way and I guess it was correct as they got to ride and said they liked it.

We had received a text that our room was ready, and I was fading fast. I needed to lie down so we headed to the front of the park and took a water taxi back to the resort.

Up next...room key fiasco and hanging out in the hallway.

 

[mickeymom22]

Day One continued:

We took a water taxi back to the resort. We headed straight to our car to get our luggage and then to the room. Our room was #1496. Guess where that is! In the East Wing as far as from the elevator as possible, well not really. It wasn't the last room on the hall, just the next to last.

None of our keys opened the door. At this point I was really sick and needing in the room. I started texting the front desk of our situation. We went back and forth for about 15 minutes before a nice gentleman let us in our room. We were all camped out in the hallway. Thank goodness no one was in the room beside us, or at least they didn't come out. I separated myself from everyone in the corner. The staff member offered to go get us some new keys and bring them back to us. We took him up on his offer.

I won't go into much detail, but this is where I was sick for about 6 hours. I told hubby to take the kids back to the parks, but he stayed with me and sent the kids to the parks. They went to the parks and rode the Velicicoaster, Hulk and Rip Ride Rockit (twice). They also ate at the Simpson's restaurant. When they texted they were on their way back. Hubby met them downstairs and they ordered pizza from Sal's. I didn't have any of the pizza, but my family said it was good. I am not sure what made me so sick. I was the only one that ate the cottage pie so that may have been it.

We all went to sleep thinking that we would not be at the parks the next day. I was so tired and weak. I did not set an alarm.

Thoughts on my first Universal day: I really like the details in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. My favorite rides of the day were Spiderman and Gringott's. Butter beer is okay, but not a must to repeat. The kids loved the Velicicoaster and Rip Ride Rockit. They said the food at the Simpson's was super yummy, but that may be because they hadn't eaten anything since breakfast/lunch at 11:00 am. I really like the Portofino Bay resort. I wish we had one more night without me being sick so I can just hang out at the resort and soak it in.

Up next: Day Two...we make it back to the parks, and everyone feels so much better!

 

[mickeymom22]

Day Two:

No alarm was set, but I woke up feeling much better and I talked hubby into going back to the parks. I told him at least I could walk around even if I couldn't ride anything. We didn't leave the room until 10:30. Everyone nibbled on left over pizza, but me and out we went. We packed up the car and decided to walk over to the parks. It is a beautiful walk. Everyone else felt great! I was better but not 100%.



Hagrid's was an hour wait (actual wait time 45 minutes). We decided to get in line. The line moved at a nice pace, but it started way outside the ride. Once we got to the inside queue, I was starting to feel bad and I decided to bail. I wanted everyone else to ride so I took the nearest exit door. I literally left through the last door before you board, but I was just afraid I would get sick on the ride. I got a water ($5.50) and a bag of chips and sat by the lockers and watched people. The salt on the chips helped and by the time the family exited the ride, I was feeling much better. I could tell they liked the ride, but didn't want to show too much since I hadn't got to ride it. We headed over to the Velicicoaster. I sat this one out, while everyone else went for a spin. The kids had ridden it last night, but now hubby wanted his turn. They all really enjoyed it. They said it was like no other roller coaster they had ridden before.

We headed over to the Hulk and hubby and I waited while the kids rode this one.

After this we needed some food and the kids talked us into the Simpson's. The line was long and took forever. Chicken thumbs and hamburgers filled us up, and I felt like I could ride Hagrid's.

Yes, the family was ready for a 2nd spin. Again the wait time was posted as 60 minutes, but the line actually started right in front of the ride so we thought it wouldn't be as long. We debated on getting in the single rider line, but the staff member said the wait time was about the same in either line. We went in as a family and it was actually a 35 minute wait. When we were boarding, the staff member wouldn't listen to us that we were together so we all got separated with single rider people. That was annoying, but the ride was fantastic. I really enjoyed it.

We decided to ride Hogwarts Express so we could ride it back. We hadn't ridden it from US to IoA and we wanted to "see" the effects both ways.

I don't think they were doing the through the wall effect, but maybe they were and we just missed it. The line was definitely longer coming from US to IoA and it took awhile to get to the train.

The theming on this side is amazing.



Kids decided one more ride on the Velicicoaster was needed so we headed that way.

Hubby and I sat outside the exit and tried to time pictures of the ride vehicles plunging down the big drop.

We all agreed in was time to leave the parks and head back to our family's house to start our family's Christmas celebration.

It was probably around 7:00ish when we left, and I hadn't seen the resort at night since I was stuck in the bed the night before.

It was Christmas Eve and beautiful weather. The tree was beautiful. People were eating at the outside tables. Lots of happy families. There was a wonderful singer singing Christmas songs from one of the balconies. We stood and listened to him for a bit before we headed to the car.



It really was a beautiful scene on the water.

We headed to our family's home and I got a sneaky picture of the resort sign on the way out.




Thoughts on this day: Hagrid's is a great ride with great theming. I really liked Portofino Bay and would like to just stay sometime and hang out at the resort and City Walk. We didn't have time to see anything there or eat there. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a great area with great attractions, but I am still a Disney girl at heart. Next time I am in Kissimmee, I feel like the mouse will call me more than Universal.

Thanks for reading!