"I smell Elephants" and Forbidden Journey's, Jaydens Make a Wish trip !

[Moodyzblu]

Sooooo ... we headed back off to IOA .. the boys really wanted to go back to WWoHP and ride Forbidden Journey. I had decided I wasn't going to ride it again since it had made me dizzy last time.

We made our way through City Walk (we were able to take the stroller from park to park ) which is good because it's a loooong walk !

We got through the gate and I was happy not to be in a rush so I could take in some of the details on the buildings. It's very nicely done.
These are just some random pics I took .. not exactly sure where each one was taken .. but it was all pretty cool to see ..

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We soon headed over to Spiderman since the boys loved this ride last time ..

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I sat this ride out .. I HAD gotten in line to grab a hotdog since we hadn't really eaten anything except for those desserts earlier and I was starving but the line was SO long .. the boys were off the ride before I could even got to the counter !!

So I skipped the hotdog and then we saw this guy ..

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He even signed their shirts !!

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After that we saw this guy ..

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Then we headed back over to WWoHP through the other side (didn't go through Suess Landing) .. which I didn't even know you could do ..

I could hear the boys chuckling about something and soon realized what it was ..

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The word POOP sends my boys into hysterics ..

Then we entered into the Jurassic period ..

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But we didn't go inside .. or ride the ride at all.

But we DID ride the Pteridactyl Flyer ..

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to be continued ..

 

[HalloweenNut]

Looks like a lot of fun! Universal will be high on our list when we return. Congrats on loosing weight while on vacation - even with the walking I went up 6 pounds but have since taken it almost all off again.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Looks like a lot of fun! Universal will be high on our list when we return. Congrats on loosing weight while on vacation - even with the walking I went up 6 pounds but have since taken it almost all off again.

I'm totally planning a trip back .. I think we'll do 2 days Universal before heading over to WDW. Years back we stayed at a hotel that was literally 8 minutes from the Universal parks .. actually it was pretty close to the WDW parks too .. I just might stay there the whole week and save some money on lodging !

As you can see from my report .. we don't eat a whole lot. Pretty much breakfast and dinner .. and a snack at some point. So between our lack of appetite and walking 10 miles a day .. it wasn't so hard to lose the weight !

 

[KatMark]

Still here and catching up AGAIN (we went to see our son and his fiance and then with Mother's Day the weekend got away from me).

Sounds like a great day at the Studios (I like the Great Movie Ride too and love the Wizard of Oz part the best).

Sounds like you guys had a great time at Universal (we've not been since 2000--and we LOVE ET and Men in Black).

What's wrong with dessert for lunch? You're on vacation...you can eat whatever you want whenever you want.

 

[Moodyzblu]

After the Pteridactyl ride we finally saw this ..

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Actually I have NO idea where in the park I took this pic .. but I thought it fit in well here


I was so amazed by Hogwarts and the whole setting .. I just couldn't stop snapping pics !!

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We made our over to the Forbidden Journey and at the last minute I decided to ride it again after all !! I wasn't nearly as dizzy this time around .. so it was all good.
After riding FJ we shopped around Filches Emporium and Jeremy bought himself yet another wand ! He loves those wands.

Then we ran into a little street show ..

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By this time I was STARVING so we headed here ..

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Yup .. the 3 Broomsticks ! Last time it was so overly crowded we popped our heads in but it was much too long a wait .. but there was NO line this time so we headed straight in.

I ordered a family meal ..

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AND .. finally .. Butterbeer !!

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Actually, I thought had ordered the Butterbeer in a mug but it came in a plastic disposable cup .. so I went over and asked the girl if I could just buy the mug and she went over and poured me a frozen butterbeer (in a mug) and handed it to me and said "enjoy" ! So now we had 2 frozen and one regular.
We enjoyed the frozen the most.

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The food was AWESOME !! The roasted corn was amazing and we did a pretty good job eating all this. I thin we ended up tossing just a little less than half (which is good for us !). I felt bad because we didn't even touch the HUGE salad they gave us with it. I snacked on a few cucumbers .. but that was it.

With our bellies full we headed back out to Hogsmeade to look around the shops. I noticed that tonight there were NO lines to get into the shops .. YES !!
So we headed on in to look around .. and I grabbed a few pics here and there. Again .. I'm not sure the exact location each of these were taken .. but I know it was somewhere in Hogsmead ...

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Ran out of pic space .. continued in next post ..

We bought some candy stuff and headed out .. it was getting late and I wanted to start working our way back to Universal to get ready for Mardi Gras.

Ran out of pic space .. continued in next post ..

 

[Moodyzblu]

But before that we noticed it was almost time for the Eight Voyage of Sinbad show to start so we headed on in. There wasn't much of a crowd so we were able to choose where we wanted to sit.
You have to be careful because there IS a splash zone and my boys do NOT like getting splashed .. so we went as far down without getting wet as we could.
The show was pretty neat .. not something I would do each visit .. but glad I saw it at least once.
Snacking on cotton candy while waiting for the show to start ..

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The set ..

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The show ..

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Like I said .. it was a pretty good show. Lot's of action and comedy as well. The boys really liked it.

More to come .. Mardi Gras .. how many necklaces will we catch ???

 

[KatMark]

I finally comment on your previous updates and then you go and throw two more in there on me.

Sinbad show looks good...and I love the cotton candy picture.

That was nice of them to give you the Mug with a Butterbeer to boot!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Still here and catching up AGAIN (we went to see our son and his fiance and then with Mother's Day the weekend got away from me).

Sounds like a great day at the Studios (I like the Great Movie Ride too and love the Wizard of Oz part the best).

Sounds like you guys had a great time at Universal (we've not been since 2000--and we LOVE ET and Men in Black).

What's wrong with dessert for lunch? You're on vacation...you can eat whatever you want whenever you want.

I understand ! This weekend was busy for us as well. It was the best weather we've had since we came back from vacation and we spent it outside .. in fact the boys learned how to ride bikes without training wheels .. finally !!

I hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day ! Congrats on your sons engagement.

 

[Moodyzblu]

I finally comment on your previous updates and then you go and throw two more in there on me.

Sinbad show looks good...and I love the cotton candy picture.

That was nice of them to give you the Mug with a Butterbeer to boot!

I was on a roll !!

We haven't even gotten to Mardi Gras yet .. we did a LOT that day !

 

[Kenziema]

Seems like u guys has a blast at Universal. Which park was the boys favorite?

 

[Moodyzblu]

Seems like u guys has a blast at Universal. Which park was the boys favorite?

They liked the Universal side best. Really the only thing they liked about Islands of Adventure was Harry Potter world .. but if not for that, they would have just liked Universal. They really liked the rides over there. I'm just glad they were old enough and tall enough to enjoy it. If we had tried going a few years ago ... They wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much as they did.

Thanks for reading !!

 

[babynala]

Great update. You guys covered alot of ground at Universal. So many nice pictures of the boys (and I love their shirts). Your lunch is making me hungry! The butterbeer looks yummy too.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Great update. You guys covered alot of ground at Universal. So many nice pictures of the boys (and I love their shirts). Your lunch is making me hungry! The butterbeer looks yummy too.

Yeah we DID !! There's SO much to see and do ... I still feel like we missed stuff so I'm looking forward to going back with a little experience under our belts.

The food does look good doesn't it ?? ( I said the same thing as I was posting the pic)

 

[kaileighbug]

I had become weight conscious about 6 months ago and vowed to lose 10 lbs. So I kicked the snack habit and started eating cereal (Special K, Cheerios ect) for breakfast instead of whatever junk I was eating and I managed to get down 7-9 lbs but sort of just hovered there. I guess all the exercise is just what I needed to break the 10lb mark ! Now I just have to maintain it.

Ps .. just checked out your PTR (your family is adorable ).

Thanks...we are watching what we eat as well. I have cut down to one coke a day. (20oz bottle) We watch how much we eat and what we eat. I still like my sweets but in moderation. DH lost the 10 and is hovering there. I have lost 11 and trying to get my first 20 down. I walk at work and he will drop me off on the way home. I need to move more and it helps.


WTG breaking the 10 lb mark!

 

[kaileighbug]

It was the best weather we've had since we came back from vacation and we spent it outside .. in fact the boys learned how to ride bikes without training wheels .. finally !!

I remember those days....I had to take the training wheels off of Christopher's bike to make him learn....

Kaileigh decided last summer she wanted to learn since her best friend could do it and she couldn't....she didn't like that....

 

[kaileighbug]

What a great picture....

 

[Moodyzblu]

So I left us off with the Sinbad Show and now we are off to go back to Universal. It was sad saying goodbye to WWoHP and I knew we had to plan a trip back.

Now Mardi Gras was MY thing. I was really looking forward to this. The boys were a little "iffy" and protested. The were tired and wanted to go back to the Village .. blah blah blah. But hey, I don't ask for much and I really wanted to do this .. so THERE we are doing it .. like it or NOT !

They were also planning a concert at Universal that night .. Cindy Lauper, in fact. As much as I would have loved to stay for that .. it was SO packed and .. yeah, I knew I was pushing it with staying for the parade .. so I snuffed out that idea.

The streets were already lined with people waiting for the parade to start so we started scouting for a spot. We came upon a special section corded off for families with young children .. and there was only 1 family there .. so we found our spot ! It was perfect.

The boys got a little impatient waiting but soon I could see the lights of the floats coming our way ! The floats remind me of Spectromagic.

There were people on stilts and other people on floats throwing beaded necklaces at the crowds. Well THIS was SO much fun and the boys got SO excited !!

Here's a short video of the boys catching beads ..

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And pics of the parade ..

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The boys with their beads ..

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Need less to say .. the boys had a blast at the parade and I'm really glad I "forced" them to stay for it. After all .. Mom really DOES know best !

To sum up Universal .. I have to say it has it's own special "magic". I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would .. but I'm also glad we waited until the boys were old enough to do everything they wanted to.
So we will definitely be going back .. I'm hoping for next spring !!


Next up .... Easter Sunday at Magic Kingdom !!

 

[mommy2mrb]

Yay for shorter lines when you went back to Universal! that lunch looks so yummy! and healthy too!!!

Mardi Gras looks like a fun parade! good job staying strong and "making" the boys stay! Mama's always know's Best!!!! that's a lot of beads and they look so cute with them!

 

[Moodyzblu]

The boys were very tired from our late night at Universal, so I let them sleep in this morning. It was Easter, and it was weird not to be home celebrating, but we were in Florida and the weather was perfect and we were going to Magic Kingdom !!
I know all the travel sites that tell you which day to go here and there probably said to avoid MK at all cost today .. but I don't really pay attention to all that hub bub, MK is where I wanted to be so MK is where I was headed .. crowds or NO crowds !

My sleepy boys ..

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We went over to the Gingerbread House for our usual breakfast, cereal for me and waffles for the boys.
We found these waiting for us when we got back from breakfast ..

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Now we had a total of 4 Easter baskets !! The boys emptied out the candy and we were on our way to Magic Kingdom !

The boys got these cute Easter shirts the day before we left (I believe they were from Heather ??) Sorry if I didn't post a thank you earlier .. they came at the very last minute !! But they were SO adorable I couldn't wait to see them on them ..

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We "hopped" into the car and we were OFF !

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Then we finally got to see my most favorite site ..

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This is usually where the tears start to well up in my eyes ..

Since it was Easter there were some special themed characters and such .. first we ran into these beauties ..

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I loved the dresses and all the colors !

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These guys were singing Easter songs ..

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Then we saw Pluto !

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After watching the entertainment on Main St we headed off to our usual left .. I noticed we were by the Wish Lounge and so we decided to stop on in for a visit ..

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We grabbed some waters and special pins and signed the guest book and then we were off to explore MK !

As soon as we came out we saw this guy ..

Click on the pic for a short clip of our talk with Peter ..

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This interaction was so much fun .. my boys aren't big into character meets and so this was special for me to watch !

Up next ... we go on a cruise .. Jungle Cruise that is with a very special Captain ..

 

[WDWCP96]

I have been reading but didn't realize I hadn't posted. Love all the pictures. How neat all the special appearances on Easter. The Easter shirts are so cute. I have never seen any like that.