I went to a Land of Dreams to see an Ogre and a Donkey. There were Trolls. I saw a light show over the water and on the Castle. I saw a Epic Model.

[Robo56]

Monday, June 4th continued

Back out of the darkness of Knockturn Alley in the center of the street looking at the Dragon on Gringotts bank. This has to be without a doubt the most photographed spot in Diagon Alley. It is always fun to hear the preliminary hot gurgle before the Dragon spits fire. Everyone points their camera to the Dragon for the their picture.







There are some really wonderful angles to get interesting photos of the Dragon on top of Gringotts Bank.

Some of my favorites are from the side.








The Dragon is a Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragon.

I remember a few years ago wondering about the injury markings on the Dragon. I copied this from one of my previous reports.






To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Monday, June 24th continued

After a couple pics of the Dragon I decided to go into Madam Malkin’s Robe shop.

I always like to look for new merch in there.





These look like a pair of well worn Witches shoes




Then it was back our into the street for a couple more pictures. I love this sign. Not sure It would be easy to have a House-Elf especially if it was a mischievous one. Although I would make an exception for Dobby. He is one of my many favorites of the characters in the Wizarding World.




It was time to leave Diagon Alley. It was getting busy and I was ready to leave.


Here are a few photos of he area you need to be standing in to appreciate the show over the Lagoon.



You can see the bump out. This area was for those with AP’s the night I went.

This area gives an unobstructed view of the show on the water. I did see some folks standing across the Lagoon looking at the show right were I was standing taking these photos. I’am guessing they had a good view of the show on the water.

Seeing the Drones is not an issue as they are up in the air high enough to appreciate easily.







To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Monday, June 24th continued

I continued walking towards the New York area of the park. There was some construction walls up across form Starbucks on the corner. It is nice that Universal does not leave just bare construction walls. They do cover them in areas tastefully with posters.






Always nice to stop and take a few photos of the buildings along the way.




This alley way in New York is interesting. A lot of people don’t know about this area. It was closed to through traffic on the day I was there.

 

[Robo56]

I went to the Christmas Store that is on the corner across from Central Park area and the side of Transformers.

I never see many people in this store when I stop in. It was so nice to see all the WWOHP Christmas items for sale in one place.


The Christmas Hogwarts sweater is really cute and it seems to be really well made.

They had some really nice pieces to add to my Christmas decorations, but I did not want to deal with carrying the things back to the Resort. I could not send them back to the Resort as I was leaving in the morning. So I left them until I get back in September.





This platter is really cute.


Also the Hogwarts House stockings were nice.


The Snowman cookie jars were really cute.




The blanket was on my radar too.




This pillow is going home to.


I was in the shop alone and the TM was very nice as I walked around looking at all the nice Christmas decorations we had a nice converstion.

This would be a great place to work If you were working in a park. It was quiet and you are surrounded by all the Christmas decorations.

Halloween and Christmas are my favorite holidays so it was a joy to get a little Christmas cheer in this store. The Port of Entry Christmas store in IOA is really nice too.





To be continued

 

[disneyseniors]

Robo: I love the Harry Potter items that you pictured, especially the sweater! I will definitely check that store out in November. There are so many nice HP Christmas items to choose from. I know I will go "a little" overboard on our trip

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Your pictures are always amazing!!!

That pigmy robe looks like it would be great to snuggle in on a cold winter night or weekend morning.

 

[Robo56]

Robo: I love the Harry Potter items that you pictured, especially the sweater! I will definitely check that store out in November. There are so many nice HP Christmas items to choose from. I know I will go "a little" overboard on our trip

Ruth you will love that Christmas store. Enjoy browsing around and yes, treat yourself to some fun things for Christmas.

That pigmy robe looks like it would be great to snuggle in on a cold winter night or weekend morning.

It does look like a snuggle robe for sure. If you get the robe you will have to get the slippers too.

They do have some nice merchandise in the Magical Menagerie.

I do enjoy browsing all the shops and looking for gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

 

[keishashadow]

His favorite is “Fox in Sox”

Excellent choice!

ordered a Carmel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino

I tried once, tasty, then a friend told me she cracked a tooth on the “crunch”. Her dentist said, she wasn’t his first patient with that issue. My DiL did the same with one of the sonic drinks with Nerds.

This is a cute and creepy Halloween shirt. I saw this at the All Hallows Eve Boutique too. It is kinda growing on me. Might have to get this one.

Love retro halloween anything

As we entered inside her mouth dropped and I told her everyone pretty much has that reaction the first time and told her to have fun exploring.

I’m not one for spoilers but, it always surprises me when people say they don’t do any sort of research into their first orlando visits to the parks.

There are some really wonderful angles to get interesting photos of the Dragon on top of Gringotts Bank.

That’s a good action shot!

 

[Robo56]

I tried once, tasty, then a friend told me she cracked a tooth on the “crunch”. Her dentist said, she wasn’t his first patient with that issue. My DiL did the same with one of the sonic drinks with Nerds.

Interesting. The Crunch is basically Crunchy Carmel Sugar. Never thought about the potential dental issues.

I’m not one for spoilers but, it always surprises me when people say they don’t do any sort of research into their first orlando visits to the parks.

Me too, but this is not the first time someone has asked me where the entrance is to Diagon Alley.

I also read online that people have been to Diagon Alley and could not find Knockturn Alley

That’s a good action shot!

Thank you. This side of the Dragon really shows the chains and injuries to the Dragon which peeked my interest to see if there was any information on it and there was.

 

[keishashadow]

Interesting. The Crunch is basically Crunchy Carmel Sugar. Never thought about the potential dental issues.

My 1st thot was the poor people had to have some sort of unknown tooth weakness/hairline crack for that to happen with the hard objects. Enough to scare me off them tho lol

Do think part of the charm of HP areas is how things aren’t always obvious on first view. So many people seemingly rush thru it to the rides. Wonder if off they go without smelling the roses?

 

[schumigirl]

Me too, but this is not the first time someone has asked me where the entrance is to Diagon Alley.

I also read online that people have been to Diagon Alley and could not find Knockturn Alley

This made me laugh, I remember several years back we walked outside of DA and two women were standing with a map, they asked us if there was anything worth seeing in there, pointing to the entrance to DA....lol.....everyone said later we should have said, nah don`t bother there`s nothing......but we were just a little surprised and blustered that was exactly where they wanted to be!!

And I agree, several have mentioned on my TR`s over the years several places they had no idea existed and KA was one of them.

Yes, a little research helps.

 

[Robo56]

Do think part of the charm of HP areas is how things aren’t always obvious on first view. So many people seemingly rush thru it to the rides. Wonder if off they go without smelling the roses?

Absolutely, you hit it on the head. It is the part of the charm for sure that there are things that are not easily evident. That is the magical part of the DA.

Do think part of the charm of HP areas is how things aren’t always obvious on first view. So many people seemingly rush thru it to the rides. Wonder if off they go without smelling the roses?

I remember a few years ago I would always get a photo or video of the grandchildren going through the wall in the queue leading up to the Hogwarts Express. I would hang back and take the photo then continue on.

People were just walking thru without knowing the magical part of you appearing to disappear in that area. I remember a guy asking what I was taking a picture of and then he realized he and his family had been through the wall all those times and never seen the magic of it.

It would be really sad if this was a persons first and only trip to Universal and they missed some of the best parts of the parks.

And I agree, several have mentioned on my TR`s over the years several places they had no idea existed and KA was one of them.

Yep, It seems this is a regular occurrence. I would kinda be bummed if I went to DA and missed KA. If folks just buzz through DA only focused on riding Escape from Gringotts it would be easy.

Yes, a little research helps.

Absolutely.


I’am always happy to help folks if they ask or look lost.

 

[Robo56]

Monday, June 24th continued

As I was making my way out of the Park I of course had to take some photos of what I call Minion Avenue on my way out.

This Popcorn stand is really cute.



My sister and i ate at the Minion Cafe last September when we were at HHN. It was open during the event last year and was a welcome respite from the heat and the food was good.


We sampled a few things.

Mel’s Meatball Mountain. All those little lumps in the dough are meatballs. The meatballs were good, but it needed more sauce. It was a little bit dry.



Chicken Stuart’s Szechuan Surprise. This was good. The roasted chicken was tender and the noodles were good and flavorful.



El Macho’s Salsa y Ropa Vieja. The meat was tender and spicy in this dish. The rice was good, but the two tostones served with the dish were like rubber and inedible.

My thought would be to get rid of the tostones and add 3 rolled up soft tortias and they would have a hit on this dish.



This is Otto’s Pet Rock. This is banana cake with a peanut butter mouse, strawberry jelly filling and crushed peanuts dipped in chocolate. It was cute and tasted pretty good.





This was the Minion Swiss Roll. My sister liked this, I tried a little taste of this and the cake was moist. The cake roll has a pineapple cardamom whipped ganache and there is a passion fruit mini banana with chocolate shell.


This is a cute presentation with a piece of the Minion Swiss roll and a little mini banana.



I think they really gave the menu some significant thought and came up with dishes that would appeal to everyone.

The portion size is nice and with a little tweaking on some of the dishes I think the Minion Cafe will be a hit for a long time.

If you have one of the refillable drink cups there is a refill station inside the Cafe to your right. This station was definitely not as busy as others in the park.




To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Monday, June 24th continued



The theming in Minion Land is awesome. So colorful and fun.







The Bake My Day store is so nice.

The little ones really like this store with all its goodies to choose from












There were some Minions out for photos.

 

[Robo56]

The photos of the characters on the outside of the Villain-Con-Minion Blast ride are cool.











Universal has a wonderful sense of what works as far as the design aesthetic on the exterior of their buildings in the parks and at CityWalk.

 

[Robo56]

To be continued

 

[Robo56]

Monday, June 24th continued



After walking down Illumination Avenue I stopped in the big Universal Store to pick up something for my little great-Nephew J. He loves the Minions. His favorite is Bob the Minion and his little Teddy Bear Tim. He loves fans so I knew he would like this.



I have already bought him all the stuffed Bob’s and Tim’s I can find so I will have to look when I’am back for HHN to see if I can find any new Tim merchandise.

They had a Zombie Tim that was only exclusively sold during HHN last year and he loves that one too.

Little J is the sweetest little fella. His birthday is the end of September. So HHN is the perfect time to shop his gifts.

Here is a picture of the Tim pillow and Zombie Tim.




Here is the Pictures of little J getting his gifts at his birthday. He loved them.






After purchasing the fan I headed out of the park and to the Water Taxi dock. It was about 2:30 pm. I didn’t have to wait long for the boat back to Sapphire Falls.

I decided to stop and have a nice meal for lunch at Amatista. It is located to the right when you come into Sapphire Falls after getting off the Water Taxi.

I have eaten at Amatista on a number of occasions for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The breakfast Buffet in the morning is very nice. I have enjoyed that with my sisters and grandchildren a few times.


A few years ago I had the best New York Strip steak there for dinner.



I really like the Mojo-Marinated Rotisserie Chicken. I have had this a number of times and it has always been good except last year.

When I ordered the Mojo Chicken last year while I was staying over a few days for Mardi Gras the chicken looked like it had been left out in the desert. Have you ever seen chicken that has been sitting under the warmer light to long, that was the chicken they brought me. It was not edible at all. The fruit and fries were perfect, but the chicken was no good.

I told the waitress the chicken was not edible. She asked if I wanted her to get another one. I told her no I would just eat the sides. She offered to bring a couple of rolls and I told her that was fine. When the rolls arrived they were so hard and cold you could have used them for a hockey puck.

This is the first time in all the times I have eaten at Amatista that the food had been bad.

The service at Amitista has always been wonderful.

I decided to give the Mojo chicken another try.

The Mojo chicken is half a small chicken and when made properly is moist and really good.

When my food arrived this time the waiter delivered my meal and took off. The chicken had been pieced together. The wing and leg were dried out and the breast had been cut in half and pieced together and also looked dried out. The fruit and fries looked good. The waiter came back and I told him the chicken was not edible. He said he would let the cook know and walked away.

A couple minutes later the the cook came over and told me the chickens they received at the restaurant were very small so they were having to piece them together. I told the cook that the chicken was dried out and inedible. He asked if I wanted something else and I said a cheeseburger would be ok.

I asked for the burger to be medium and then the burger was delivered I cut into it and it was basically raw in the middle, but cooked medium around the edges.

At this point I just ate some of the fries and fruit enjoyed the atmosphere as the Amatista which is really nice, but again the food was a disappointment.

The waiter returned and he saw that I had not eaten any of the cheeseburger and asked if it was ok. I kindly told him to bring my check and he did.

I paid for my burger, sides and drink left a tip and was on my way. I won’t be back for another lunch are dinner meal again.

I would like to try the breakfast buffet again sometimes to see if it is still good.

It pains me to give a bad review to places I have really liked in the past, but two strikes on the same meal and then to be served a raw hamburger is too much.

I hope they get things straightened out at the restaurant.

I had some snacks and drinks in my room for later if I wanted them. So I headed back to my room.

It was nice to be in the airconditioning. I took a nice long hot shower and got into some comfy clothes and turned on the TV.



To be continued.

 

[Robo56]

Monday, June 24th continued

I enjoyed a nice relaxing evening in my room. I don’t usually watch much TV, but I found and show to look at for a little bit.

I called by sweet hubby to let him know what I had done for the day. Then I packed my suitcase and with my clean clothes I had laundered earlier in the day.

I was ready for a good snooze and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.



Tuesday, June 25th

I was up early so I decided to take my shower and get moving. I needed to be in the SUV and heading to the airport by 9.

I got ready and walked over to Aventura for my Starbucks coffee. The sun was shining and the sky was a pretty blue with not a cloud to be seen.

Coffee in hand I walked back over to Sapphire Falls and sat down in the beautiful expansive Lobby and enjoyed my coffee.

Before long it was time to head back to the room and collect by suitcase.

I stopped and had one more look at he Lagoon as I was walking to the Elevator.

The Water Taxi was at the dock collecting people for the ride to CityWalk.

I was sad to be leaving, but I would be back in a couple months for HHN and I had plans to stay at my home resort Portofino Bay for that trip.

After I checked out I headed to the garage and loaded up the SUV and I was on my way to Sanford down the I4.

I usually avoid the I4, but it is the most direct route to Sanford. Also with the addition of the Express lane they have added it does not seem as bad as before. If you have the EZ Pass or SunPass you can use the Express lane. It was so nice bypassing all the other traffic on the I4.

I made really good time getting to the airport this morning. I returned the SUV to the rental agency and then walked across to the Airport.

I went through security without issue. There was a young lady and her grandpa ahead of me and they did take her large jar of hand cream, hairspray and a large bottle of lotion. I felt sorry for them, but the TSA will take any items that are not 3 ounces. I’am sure the items cost plenty and the lady was pretty upset.

I found a seat near my departure gate and called grandson P and let him know I would call him to let him know about what time to be at airport.

Then before I knew it we were boarding the plane.

I went to my seat and settled in. I always pay for priority boarding so I can make sure to have a space in the over head bin by my seat to put my suit case in. Also I don’t feel as rushed as I walk a little slower.

Before long the plane was loaded and we actually pulled away from the gate a little early.

For me the scariest part of flying is the take off. For some reason this morning it seemed like the pilot was taking a longer time to lift off the runway then usual, but he finally pointed the nose up and we were off the ground.

We had an uneventful flight back and I was so glad to see my grandson. He was not working today so he offered to pick me up at the airport and drop me off at home.

I was glad to get home and see my sweet hubby. Grandson came in for a visit and then he had to be on his way. He got some big grandma and grandpa hugs on his way out and I gave him some money to fill the tank in his truck and to get himself a nice meal out or whatever else he wanted. He did not want to take the money, but I put it in his shirt pocket and told him we loved him.

We are truly blessed with family who are always there when we need them and I’am so thankful for their kindness and love.

I had a wonderful stay at Sapphire Falls. They do have the nicest staff there. It is a beautiful resort and if you have ever thought of staying there you will not be disappointed.

This had been another great vacation to Universal.

If you are a solo traveler or traveling with family you will love Universal and all it has to offer for a wonderful vacation.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and had a look at my trip report. I hope it inspired you in some way to visit Universal and make your own memories there.

Now it is time to make a few plans for HHN

 

[frenchfryseagull]

I love your trip reports, Robo! I think I've gone back and read them all.

Glad you had a nice trip!

 

[Robo56]

I love your trip reports, Robo! I think I've gone back and read them all.

Glad you had a nice trip!

Thank you so much for your kind words frenchfryseagull. I’am so glad you have enjoyed all the trip reports.

Looking forward to starting the HHN 33 trip report soon.