Saturday, June 25 Cape May breakfast, Hard Rock Hotel, Universal
Me, the Disney-fanatic
DH, Craig, who puts up with my Disney obsession
DD, Jessica, age 10, part fish, goes with the flow for just about anything
DS, Ryan, age 6, also part fish, would prefer to always have his way
BIL and SIL, Craig's brother and his wife, joining us for the weekend
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Today we would leave my beloved Disney World behind. But at least this trip we had more vacation to look forward to. First we would go to the other side and check out Universal for the first time. Then we were off to recover with a week at the beach.
We got up, packed, and checked out. We left our bags with bell services while we went for our late breakfast at the Cape May Café. The food was typical Disney breakfast buffet food, which is usually very good. This was no exception. Goofy was very goofy here. He stole Jessicas stuffed bear and insisted on posing it on Jessicas head for a picture.
We collected our bags, loaded the car and headed off to the Hard Rock Hotel. Since it was only noon, it was no surprise that our rooms werent ready. So we left our bags and headed to Universal. We had read that a lot of rides get you wet at Islands of Adventure, so we figured wed better save that for when we had a room to change in.
We had bought 5 day park hopper passes on an internet special offer. We would only use 3 days, but it was cheaper than a 3-day pass. We picked those up at the e-ticket kiosk.
In Universal we figured since we had front-of-the-line room keys, we didnt need any particular strategy, so we just started at the front. We did Jimmy Neutron first. It was cute, but kind of rough. Next we did Shrek. That was okay as well. Not as good as Philharmagic, I didnt think, even though the seats moved. Wed sure been bounced around a lot on the first two rides.
We stopped for a snack of those weird ice cream dots that Jessica seems to like and some soft pretzels. Then we did Twister. This was different. And not too bad. The kids didnt seem too impressed so far, and neither were we.
Jessica is an Animal Planet fan, so we changed directions and headed there. This show was really bad. Someone needs to write them an actual script. It was just a few animal stunts interspersed between clips from the TV channel. Not worth the time at all. And was very hot in there.
Our rooms were ready now, and we were hot, so it was time to swim. We had connecting rooms on the third floor all the way at the end of the building. So we had a nice side door to get to the pool and the walkway to the parks quickly. The view was of nothing (but nothing was what we paid for), but we liked the location. Craig had a headache, so he went up for a nap while the rest of us went swimming.
We really liked the pool here as well. It is rather shallow with no real deep area, but that is a good thing if you have little ones. There were some strange rules on the slide. You needed to be over 48 to slide without a life jacket. The water at the bottom of the slide is 3.5 feet deep. Ryan is 46.5 inches, but swims like a fish. He was on the Beach Club slide which empties into deep water with all that water rushing off the slide with no problem. So he was rather insulted by the life jacket rule. He managed to go on a few times without one when no one was checking, but there was no way he was wearing one if they told him no. Hed rather not slide at all than wear a life jacket.
Dinner tonight was snacks by the pool. I was liking this pool arrangement with waiters and a pretty good snack menu. We had pizza and mozzarella sticks and quesadillas. So much for the low carb diet. Craig showed up at the pool just as we were heading up to shower. He couldnt believe it had been 3 hours. Quite the power nap.
No one was in the mood for rides tonight, so we went over to Citywalk, where we had more pizza since Craig hadnt eaten (it sounds like that was all we ate) and played a few games. The games are expensive at $3 a game, but they are pretty easy to win and we came away with 3 stuffed animals and a small basketball after only blowing $20.
We had been trying to decide whether the kids could see the new Star Wars movie. We had gotten mixed opinions from other parents. We decided to go see it. Ryan fell asleep before the really bad parts, which was good because if I had previewed this movie, he wouldnt have gotten to see it at all. PG-13 was the right rating for this movie.
Craig had the lucky job of carrying a sleeping 45-lb 6 year old boy all the way back to the hotel. Good thing he had that nap.
Me, the Disney-fanatic
DH, Craig, who puts up with my Disney obsession
DD, Jessica, age 10, part fish, goes with the flow for just about anything
DS, Ryan, age 6, also part fish, would prefer to always have his way
BIL and SIL, Craig's brother and his wife, joining us for the weekend
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Today we would leave my beloved Disney World behind. But at least this trip we had more vacation to look forward to. First we would go to the other side and check out Universal for the first time. Then we were off to recover with a week at the beach.
We got up, packed, and checked out. We left our bags with bell services while we went for our late breakfast at the Cape May Café. The food was typical Disney breakfast buffet food, which is usually very good. This was no exception. Goofy was very goofy here. He stole Jessicas stuffed bear and insisted on posing it on Jessicas head for a picture.
We collected our bags, loaded the car and headed off to the Hard Rock Hotel. Since it was only noon, it was no surprise that our rooms werent ready. So we left our bags and headed to Universal. We had read that a lot of rides get you wet at Islands of Adventure, so we figured wed better save that for when we had a room to change in.
We had bought 5 day park hopper passes on an internet special offer. We would only use 3 days, but it was cheaper than a 3-day pass. We picked those up at the e-ticket kiosk.
In Universal we figured since we had front-of-the-line room keys, we didnt need any particular strategy, so we just started at the front. We did Jimmy Neutron first. It was cute, but kind of rough. Next we did Shrek. That was okay as well. Not as good as Philharmagic, I didnt think, even though the seats moved. Wed sure been bounced around a lot on the first two rides.
We stopped for a snack of those weird ice cream dots that Jessica seems to like and some soft pretzels. Then we did Twister. This was different. And not too bad. The kids didnt seem too impressed so far, and neither were we.
Jessica is an Animal Planet fan, so we changed directions and headed there. This show was really bad. Someone needs to write them an actual script. It was just a few animal stunts interspersed between clips from the TV channel. Not worth the time at all. And was very hot in there.
Our rooms were ready now, and we were hot, so it was time to swim. We had connecting rooms on the third floor all the way at the end of the building. So we had a nice side door to get to the pool and the walkway to the parks quickly. The view was of nothing (but nothing was what we paid for), but we liked the location. Craig had a headache, so he went up for a nap while the rest of us went swimming.
We really liked the pool here as well. It is rather shallow with no real deep area, but that is a good thing if you have little ones. There were some strange rules on the slide. You needed to be over 48 to slide without a life jacket. The water at the bottom of the slide is 3.5 feet deep. Ryan is 46.5 inches, but swims like a fish. He was on the Beach Club slide which empties into deep water with all that water rushing off the slide with no problem. So he was rather insulted by the life jacket rule. He managed to go on a few times without one when no one was checking, but there was no way he was wearing one if they told him no. Hed rather not slide at all than wear a life jacket.
Dinner tonight was snacks by the pool. I was liking this pool arrangement with waiters and a pretty good snack menu. We had pizza and mozzarella sticks and quesadillas. So much for the low carb diet. Craig showed up at the pool just as we were heading up to shower. He couldnt believe it had been 3 hours. Quite the power nap.
No one was in the mood for rides tonight, so we went over to Citywalk, where we had more pizza since Craig hadnt eaten (it sounds like that was all we ate) and played a few games. The games are expensive at $3 a game, but they are pretty easy to win and we came away with 3 stuffed animals and a small basketball after only blowing $20.
We had been trying to decide whether the kids could see the new Star Wars movie. We had gotten mixed opinions from other parents. We decided to go see it. Ryan fell asleep before the really bad parts, which was good because if I had previewed this movie, he wouldnt have gotten to see it at all. PG-13 was the right rating for this movie.
Craig had the lucky job of carrying a sleeping 45-lb 6 year old boy all the way back to the hotel. Good thing he had that nap.
