I Went Running and Racing...and Boozing and Freezing!

[missangelalexis]

That photo of Jimmy walking into Diagon Alley is priceless! Sounds like you guys were having an awesome, HP filled morning!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Wow you basically had both HP lands to yourself! I feel like that has to almost never happen. Jimmy looks so happy!

 

[missjackiemcg]

It may have been me for the phone booth - I know Lauren told me about it and she was the one who took me in there on our trip!

It probably was!!! I only read your TR, Ariana's from a couple years ago and like one other one before we went.

Did the boys ride Forbidden Journey or was that also a skip?

Nope, I rode a lot of things by myself!!

Alot of the words you wrote make no sense to me. (not a big HP fan) But this picture says it all!

LOL It is hard to follow if you don't know the HP lingo!! I didn't realize I had gotten such a cute pic of him until later that day, but I said the same thing. This was worth every cent!!!

That photo of Jimmy walking into Diagon Alley is priceless! Sounds like you guys were having an awesome, HP filled morning!

It was such an incredible moment!! It was like we were really entering Diagon Alley--through his eyes, this was not just a theme park. I'm making myself tear up as I think about it LOL

Wow you basically had both HP lands to yourself! I feel like that has to almost never happen. Jimmy looks so happy!

We were among the first 20 people in line at the ticket gates, so I think that definitely helped!! When we visited later in the day, I couldn't believe how crowded it was!!!

 

[rteetz]

I have yet to go to universal and experience any of the potter stuff. I’ve never been a huge potter fan but hopefully someday I’ll get there to see it in person. Looks like a great time though!

Also wish the Brewers were playing today...

 

[missjackiemcg]

Also wish the Brewers were playing today...

Me, too!! What a heartbreaker!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Jimmy LOVES Splash Mountain, so I told him (because I’m an idiot) that this was exactly like Splash Mountain, but with dinosaurs. WRONG!! And they put us in the front row. It would have been a lot of fun if Jimmy wasn’t clawing at me like a spider monkey the entire time. I was trying to hold him so tightly, and I got so completely soaked. Wetter than I’ve ever gotten on a ride in my life. He was hysterical and I thought I had totally derailed our day.

THANK GOD FOR SEUSSVILLE!
20180623_104723(0) by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
Can you see his still tear-stained cheeks and the "I'll never forgive you, Mommy" face?

Jimmy was so incredibly happy. He didn’t care he was the biggest kid on the Trolley Train Ride or the Cat in the Hat ride, as we rode them over and over. We ran into some special friends! His smile came back and he was giggling and loving life again. Phew! Crisis averted.
20180623_110725 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We started getting a little hungry and thought about getting something to eat in Springfield. Conveniently there were three bar stools on the end, so we hopped up and ordered a couple of Duff beers and a Flamin’ Moe (instead of eating...because #priorities). Jimmy has never seen The Simpsons, and we honestly haven’t watched it in forever, but growing up, Rob and I both LOVED the show and watched it in reruns every day after school, as well as in prime time! It was a lot of fun to feel like we were right there IN Moe’s! I wish they would cast a bartender to be Moe, but the guy who served us was friendly enough.
20180623_112458 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
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Jimmy had the most fun using the phone at the end of the bar to reenact the clips they were showing on the TV with Bart crank calling Moe’s. “Can I speak to Mr. Tabooger? First name, Ollie.” His belly laugh was absolutely contagious. We were having the best day

We decided the food court looked a bit wild, and we were thinking of heading back to the hotel or City Walk instead, so we started walking toward the exit and bumped into another of my childhood favorite movie characters!
20180623_121111 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

I wondered if we were even going to be able to find a place to eat since we hadn’t made a reservation. As we were walking, it started to pour, so we made a quick call to eat at the Hard Rock Café...because we happened to be right in front of it as the skies opened up! Jimmy was wearing his birthday button, and was DELIGHTED when he was presented with a card signed by the whole staff, as well as a certificate for something special.
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He was even more thrilled when our waiter came to get him, brought him out to the front of the restaurant and had the entire section sing Happy Birthday!
20180623_132128 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
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We spent a bit more time in the park when we were through eating before heading back to the hotel.
20180623_140957 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180623_152432 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr Lightning "scared off" Donkey and Fiona, so we just got a brief pic with Shrek before they actually closed the Meet and Greet line altogether.

20180623_160057 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We tried going out for a swim, but unfortunately only got one ride down the slide before the lightning and thunder kicked in and the pools were closed. It poured the rest of the night, but we enjoyed ourselves at Cabana Bay Beach and checked out the gym before heading to bed!
20180623_190150 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180623_190157 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad Seussville could make Jimmy happy again! Cute pics with the characters. The rest of your day sounds fantastic!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Jimmy LOVES Splash Mountain, so I told him (because I’m an idiot) that this was exactly like Splash Mountain, but with dinosaurs. WRONG!! And they put us in the front row. It would have been a lot of fun if Jimmy wasn’t clawing at me like a spider monkey the entire time. I was trying to hold him so tightly, and I got so completely soaked. Wetter than I’ve ever gotten on a ride in my life. He was hysterical and I thought I had totally derailed our day.

Oh no! Yeah that ride is definitely scary!

Jimmy was so incredibly happy. He didn’t care he was the biggest kid on the Trolley Train Ride or the Cat in the Hat ride, as we rode them over and over. We ran into some special friends! His smile came back and he was giggling and loving life again. Phew! Crisis averted.

So glad he was able to have more fun! Think at Christmas when the whole area is decorated!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Glad Seussville could make Jimmy happy again! Cute pics with the characters. The rest of your day sounds fantastic!

Me, too!!! A cranky Jimmy would have been significantly less fun LOL

So glad he was able to have more fun! Think at Christmas when the whole area is decorated!

I had never paid any attention to the holidays at Universal, but now that I am looking into it, Grinchmas in Seussville sounds like a dream come true

 

[missjackiemcg]

June 24, 2018

We were up early again to take advantage of early entry into the park. This time, we loaded up our car and checked out before heading out the buses. We did the same route as we had the previous day, with a side trip over to San Francisco to see Bruce, then checking in with the Knight Bus and Kreacher on our way.
20180624_065941 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_070222 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
Jimmy couldn't stop laughing because the shrunken head kept saying, "Who's that up in my grill?!"

20180624_070350 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_070522 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We wandered through the park, met some friends and I tried a couple of new rides—E.T. and The Mummy, by myself.
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I also got my first ride on Riptide Rocket. It was incredible!!! (Speaking of Incredible, I had ridden The Hulk the day before, and besides the Wizarding World these were my two favorite highlights of our time spent at Universal).

20180624_095350 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We took another ride on the Hogwarts Express, met up with some of our friends in Sueussville. Jimmy LOVES the Grinch, so when we spotted him meeting I knew it was something we HAD to do. When the Grinch spotted his birthday button, things got interesting!
20180624_101734 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_102028 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

The Grinch went digging around in the bushes and popped back up with a large woodchip. He held it out to Jimmy, but before he could accept it, the Grinch rubbed it in both of his armpits and pretended to sniff it. Jimmy was laughing hysterically at this!
20180624_102039 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Then, he presented it to Jimmy and motioned that he should keep it safely in his pocket.
20180624_102048 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_102104 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_102110 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy made me keep it in our backpack to "keep it safe," and asked about it lots of times throughout the rest of the trip. It now sits on a little shelf by his desk because that's where he keeps his "special things."

We took another ride on the High in the Sky Trolley Train Ride before heading out of the park and over to Margaritaville for lunch. We used Wikki Stikks to make a pair of Harry Potter glasses and reminisced about all the awesome memories we had made during our short stay at Universal.
20180624_103137 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_110639 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy was sad to leave, but we had another surprise up our sleeves!
20180624_121151 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We got back to Cabana Bay Beach and walked to the parking garage this time for what Jimmy believed was the start of our long drive toward home. Driving along, we finally got to see the Mickey power lines in person!! I was excited, but a little sad thinking we were SO CLOSE to Disney and NOT going there!
20180624_125520 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Our next stop on the trip was about 45 minutes from Universal. We had arrived at LEGOland!
20180624_133110 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr 20180624_134847 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We spent some time at the pool (my sunburn that had started on day 1 in Hilton Head was now peeling terribly at this point, yuck! And ouch. So gross!) before the inevitable late afternoon thunderstorm and lightning had us evacuated from the pool. Legoland didn't take any chances with weather. The lifeguards had walkie talkies, and we would hear the announcement anytime there was thunder or lightning within several miles of the area. The pool was evacuated every single day at least until the storm danger passed.
20180624_142536 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We explored our Pirate suite, checked out the Disco elevator, and built with some LEGOs in the lobby before settling in for the night.
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Our view:
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Lobby LEGO fun!
20180624_155602(0) by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We ate dinner in the Bricks family restaurant each night of our stay. It was typical buffet food, but had the addition of a really nice custom station that changed each night. One night make your own pasta, one night made to order tacos, etc. Also, Rob may or may not have made a trip across the street to Publix to get some Miller Lite for way cheaper than it would have cost us to order drinks at the lobby bar surrounded by other people’s screaming children at the pajama party! We opted to spend our first night relaxing in our pirate suite.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Jimmy LOVES the Grinch, so when we spotted him meeting I knew it was something we HAD to do. When the Grinch spotted his birthday button, things got interesting!

Oh, its too bad you couldn't get out here for the Grinch stuff at Universal. My brother's best friend (who I've known since he was born) used to be one of the Grinches and it would have been fun to surprise Jimmy with it. He was also a Walker in the Walking Dead maze. But I think he left the company a year ago. He would love to be cast at Disney, but has an unfortunate tattoo of Mickey on his forearm...

Jimmy made me keep it in our backpack to "keep it safe," and asked about it lots of times throughout the rest of the trip. It now sits on a little shelf by his desk because that's where he keeps his "special things."

Awww, so cute!

Our next stop on the trip was about 45 minutes from Universal. We had arrived at LEGOland!

How did Jimmy react to the surprise?

 

[MeghanEmily]

I walked through ahead of Jimmy because he was nervous, but it was for the best because as I turned around, I was able to snap this awesome shot of Jimmy’s reaction when he walked through.

This is amazing!

Rob has a touch of Vertigo and Jimmy is a nervous ride-goer, so I was on my own for riding Escape from Gringotts. However, I didn’t want them to miss out on the queue, so it was really great that they were able to walk all the way through with me to check it out.

I'm glad you all got to see the queue and that you got to ride! This one is just about the most intense of the rides I can ride without getting sick. But it's such a neat ride!

Jimmy was excited to notice that while Hedwig was there in her cage, Scabber’s cage was there empty!

Clever kid you've got there! Love it!

Jimmy LOVES Splash Mountain, so I told him (because I’m an idiot) that this was exactly like Splash Mountain, but with dinosaurs. WRONG!! And they put us in the front row. It would have been a lot of fun if Jimmy wasn’t clawing at me like a spider monkey the entire time. I was trying to hold him so tightly, and I got so completely soaked. Wetter than I’ve ever gotten on a ride in my life. He was hysterical and I thought I had totally derailed our day.

Oh no! Poor Jimmy! I hadn't really thought much about it, but you're right that it's definitely scarier and more intense. I loved it at his age, but I would have been scared of Harry Potter at his age, so it's funny how different kids can be!

He didn’t care he was the biggest kid on the Trolley Train Ride or the Cat in the Hat ride, as we rode them over and over.

I love that! Cat in the Hat was my favourite as a kid.

His face is priceless!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great final day at Universal!

Your room at Legoland looks pretty awesome!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Oh, its too bad you couldn't get out here for the Grinch stuff at Universal. My brother's best friend (who I've known since he was born) used to be one of the Grinches and it would have been fun to surprise Jimmy with it.

That sure would be amazing!!!! Since I can't keep a secret--did I already tell you we decided to add one Universal day before our cruise? I'm excited to do the breakfast with the Grinch

How did Jimmy react to the surprise?

He didn't even know Legoland existed, so as we were turning in by the sign he was like, "WHERE are we??" He has been to the Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumburg by our house, but it's just a very mini version, so he was blown away by what we saw/experienced in Orlando.

I'm glad you all got to see the queue and that you got to ride! This one is just about the most intense of the rides I can ride without getting sick. But it's such a neat ride!

I enjoyed it so much! Forbidden Journey made me a little wobbly though!

His face is priceless!

This kid has the best expressions There is no hiding how much fun he is having (or how cranky he is! LOL).

Your room at Legoland looks pretty awesome!

It was really awesome!! When we booked I didn't realize every room is themed. We could have chosen from Pirate, Kingdom (castle), Adventure (Indiana Jones-ish), or Friends (this is the pink/purple Lego girlfriend stuff). There was a fun little safe in the room that he had to find the combination for by solving questions on a little card. Inside he found juice boxes, plastic doubloons and two Lego sets. Every day when we returned to our room, Housekeeping had left him 2 more sets of Legos.

 

[Lesley Wake]

That sure would be amazing!!!! Since I can't keep a secret--did I already tell you we decided to add one Universal day before our cruise? I'm excited to do the breakfast with the Grinch

I think you had mentioned it! I will do a day there but it probably won’t be until after NYE! Crossing my fingers we get to meet up at Disney!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We got back to Cabana Bay Beach and walked to the parking garage this time for what Jimmy believed was the start of our long drive toward home. Driving along, we finally got to see the Mickey power lines in person!! I was excited, but a little sad thinking we were SO CLOSE to Disney and NOT going there!
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It really was a trip of surprises! Becareful! I picked up Morgan and Gwen from school yesterday and said I had a surprise for them. And then both immediatly asked if we were going to Disney. Nope... just cool unicorn pop tarts girls.

I love the lego lady behind you.

Also, Rob may or may not have made a trip across the street to Publix to get some Miller Lite for way cheaper than it would have cost us to order drinks at the lobby bar surrounded by other people’s screaming children at the pajama party! We opted to spend our first night relaxing in our pirate suite.

Sounds perfect to me. It's half the reason I still order groceries for our trips to Disney.

 

[missjackiemcg]

It really was a trip of surprises! Becareful! I picked up Morgan and Gwen from school yesterday and said I had a surprise for them. And then both immediatly asked if we were going to Disney. Nope... just cool unicorn pop tarts girls.

That is hilarious!! I told Rob the same thing though! Jimmy will never again believe us when we say it's time to head home from a trip.

I love the lego lady behind you.

Ha! She's the real reason I took that picture Afterward when I noticed how bad I was peeling, I was like, WOW...I need some shade!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Wow what a fun trip of surprises! Legoland sounds awesome, I wish it would have been around when I was a kid. My brother and I lived for legos so we would have loved the hotel!

 

[missjackiemcg]

My brother and I lived for legos so we would have loved the hotel!

The hotel is really awesome!! My husband and I enjoyed it just as much as Jimmy did The park itself is really geared toward much younger kids, so I'm glad we visited this year. I'm afraid he'll already be "too big" for it by next year the way he's growing up!

 

[Pluto0809]

We were surprised to see that only one bus line existed no matter which park we wanted to go to. There were three buses sitting right there, so no waiting whatsoever.

I actually had no idea there were buses at Universal! I think when we went last Cabana Bay was still being built. It's amazing they have gone from three hotels to six in three years!

We had no clue where we were walking, but figured following the rest of the crowd would lead us to our destination.

What, you didn't study the maps beforehand?

and trying to dial in to the Ministry of Magic

I didn't know about this either last time we were there. I guess I need to go back.

I was able to snap this awesome shot of Jimmy’s reaction when he walked through.

This is just an amazing shot!

However, I didn’t want them to miss out on the queue, so it was really great that they were able to walk all the way through with me to check it out.

I love that Universal lets you walk through the lines.

Get ready for a major Mommy fail.

Uh oh.

He was hysterical and I thought I had totally derailed our day.

Oh no! I haven't done the Jurassic Park ride because it's been chilly both times I was there. I'm guessing there were lots of Dinosaurs jumping out at you? Maybe like a cross between Dinosaur and Splash Mountain?

He didn’t care he was the biggest kid on the Trolley Train Ride or the Cat in the Hat ride, as we rode them over and over.

I didn't care that I was an adult on those rides! I especially liked the Trolley because it has great views of the park.

I wondered if we were even going to be able to find a place to eat since we hadn’t made a reservation.

I've never made a reservation at City Walk. I don't think it's necessary like at Disney.

It now sits on a little shelf by his desk because that's where he keeps his "special things."

What an awesome story!

We explored our Pirate suite, checked out the Disco elevator, and built with some LEGOs in the lobby before settling in for the night.

I love the hotel here! It was still under construction when Jim and I went a few years ago.