nigel-bigel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2001
- Messages
- 558
We just returned Sunday night from our 5 day trip to Universal / Sea World. We had such a fabulous time I thought you would enjoy some highlights.
Our trip consists of me, my DH Peter, and two DDs, 16 and 12. We are big time WDW fans but the last time we went I was disappointed in how stressful a WDW vacation had become. I hated the need to wake early, hated needing to hurry to the next attraction and manage our FPs, and REALLY hated how the dining plan has 1) diminished the quality of the food at WDW, and 2) necessitated making dining plans and decisions six months ahead of time.
These frustrations, coupled with being a whole family of Harry Potter fans, made me decide that our next Florida trip will be an all-Universal visit. NO WDW - horrors!
We stayed at the Potofino Bay. I was a little apprehensive before arriving because I read a recent post here on the DIS about dirty rooms and snooty staffers. Fortunately, I could not have been more pleased. Our beautiful room was very clean, and as roomy as everyone mentions. The ceilings are higher than usual as well, and that adds a sense of spaciousness. Loved the big bathroom, it is so nice to not be in each others way when getting ready in the morning. And it is a little thing, but the robes were so nice to have. I realize I could just bring one from home, but this way I could get a clean one every day.
The staff was great - pleasant and fast. This was such a great place to stay! All in all, the hotel was great.
Our first day at the parks, we woke early (our only early day, BTW) to go to WWOHP. We arrived at the gate about 8:15, and it didnt matter that we werent there at rope drop, everything was still empty. Hogsmead - wonderful! But our first order of business was FJ.
Now, I can handle thrill rides. BUT. I am claustrophobic, which means I dont like those harness-type restraints used on some rides, the V-shaped ones that come down over your shoulders. They make me feel very trapped, ...which, essentially, I am. Usually it isnt so bad because I am still able to move my arms, but on FJ the seats are set into cubbies, so my arms are restricted. This led to major anxiety on my part. Once the ride got going I was distracted enough to enjoy it.
Hmmm... Forbidden Journey. Mixed reviews from my family. The DDs LOVED it, and my formerly chicken 12 year old wanted to ride again and again. So far it was the most thrilling thing she had ridden in her life. OTOH, the simulator gave my DH motion sickness. He can handle pretty much any kind of moving thrill ride, but simulators make him queasy. As you can imagine, this became a problem during our trip.
The spiders were not scary and the dementors were actually kind of lame. I would have liked to see them make the dementors in the same kind of 3-D virtual projection that they made the characters with one the castle tour. Loved chasing the dragon and the Whomping Willow was pretty cool, too. Overall I give FJ a B-.
Next was Olivanders. We only waited about 15 minutes to get in. Once in I kept trying to gently guide my DD12 to the front and she kept sliding back to me. She didnt know why I was doing it and got all attitude-y and 12 on me, saying Whhhaaat?, Stoooop it!!. Such a little flower. The show was cute, I had watched it on Youtube so I wasnt really surprised, but the fam liked it.
We then rode the Hippogriff a few times and DD15 and I did the dragons (I forget the official name. They will always be Dueling Dragons to me.) We had ridden it before but it was still fun. DD12 wasnt ready for anything that thrilling and DH was still queasy from FJ so we skipped it.
Next we ventured into the Lost Continent, where we spent a lot of time just watching Cosmo, the talking fountain. We got such a kick out of him, he was very funny. Finally made our way into the Poseidon attraction and waited a long time, even with Express Passes.
This is seriously lame. You wait a long time to go stand in one room, only to wait to finally stand in another room, to wait some more to finally stand in the main room and watch a filmed battle with some real fire. You do walk through a tube of swirling water which is kind of cool, but seriously not worth the time. I am amazed they have allowed this attraction to remain open, it is pitiful.
After the stunt show (always entertaining but could use some updating), we sauntered over to Mythos for lunch and got in after a 10 minute wait. Lunch was wonderful! We started with the pizza of the day, which was a Mexican pizza. It was tasty, but watch out for the chili oil drizzled on top. I got a big splash on my piece and my mouth was on fire. DH started with the famous mushroom soup, and I have to agree it was the best mushroom soup I have ever had.
DD12 ordered some Italian-like panini and pronounced it just okay, but she is notorious for being an adventurous orderer and picky eater. I got the salmon and really enjoyed it. Perfectly cooked with a wonderful sauce on the side, and it was nice and light - perfect for the hot day. DD16 (the carnivore) went with the beef tenderloin and pronounced it very good - DH agreed - and DH had the short ribs. I found the short ribs to be very flavorful and tender, but an odd choice on a hot day. For dessert we ordered the required Gooey Chocolate Banana cake and ate every single speck. Mythos was terrific.
At Super Hero Island I skipped the Hulk (Ive ridden it before, it is more jerky than fun) and hopped over to Spiderman. Always fun, but I hate the jerky bouncing whenever someone lands on the car. It isnt thrilling, just annoying. Or maybe Im just getting old...
Next up... Dr. Dooms Fearfall. Worstest Craziest Most Horriblest Ride Ever. Ever Ever.
I can handle thrill rides. I love speed. Roller coasters, Im fine with. I dont love the jerky ones, but they dont scare me. Dr. Doom scared me big time, and not in a good way. I mean I seriously thought I would die on this ride. I felt so un-secured and exposed and vulnerable, which is pretty ironic considering how I hate feeling so claustrophobic and trapped on other attractions.
The weird thing about this ride is that you expect the fall (as in fearfall) to be what gets to you. Nope, its the ascent. Before you know it you are already up and then falling out of the sky and your palms are sweating so you cant even get a good grip on the restraints and oh my gawd Im going to fall out of this seat this is not good hold on tight honey I mean seriously because this is no joke no joke I could seriously die here and now. Do you know what I mean? Hated this stupid ride and couldnt stop shaking for 15 minutes after getting off of it. It is very bad, stay away and dont let your babies near it, no matter how old they are.
Oh, and my DD12 loved it, but I think she just wanted to seem braver than her mom!
After a while I ended up going back to the hotel because it was getting too hot for me, so I enjoyed some quiet time and a little nap! That evening we went to Bubba Gumps where the food was just okay. We did have a lot of fun with our waitress and discussing Forrest Gump trivia, so all in all it was a good night. Oh, and DD12 - the horrible orderer - ordered a PB&J shake, which is purple but really just tastes like PB.
The next day was DD16s 16th birthday and she wanted to spend it at Sea World. Our first show was the dolphin show - kind of cute. But they added all these birds and people on trapezes. I didnt need birds and trapezes, I wanted more dolphins. Next was Pets Ahoy, which was entertaining but kind of short. The Shamu show - One World was pretty forgettable. It seemed to be one big politically correct eco-rally, and not enough of Shamu doing cool stuff. We wants the whale! We wants the whale! It is interesting that the trainers dont go into the water anymore. I wonder if this is because a trainer was attacked by a whale last year?
As usual, the Sea Lions were the best. The script is so silly it is funny, but best of all the animals really seem to be having a good time.
Hmmm... Attractions... The Arctic Journey or whatever it is called... Pretty sad. I mean so lame people were laughing. However, we really enjoyed the exhibit afterwords. They were training some Beluga Whales and we also enjoyed watching the Walruses and Polar Bears. The exhibit is pretty good, actually.
Kracken was fun - very twisty - but I chose to skip Manta as I didnt like the restraints. DD16 Loved Manta and rode it twice. She thought the face-down POV was terrific and it was her favorite attraction of our entire trip.
We had lunch at Voyagers Smokehouse and I was amazed at how disorganized the entire set-up was. It was a weekday, yet there was a back up of people waiting for food that wasnt ready yet, there was a back up of people waiting for fountain drinks (Why why why? They should already be filled and waiting to go.), the cashiers were slow and inexperienced. We had the brisket, which was pretty good for theme park food.
Looking back at what Ive written, I sound kind of cranky about Sea World. Actually I enjoyed our day there - very much. When we were there it was uncomfortably hot, like 95*, so maybe my irritation with that is coming through. I do like Sea World, I love the little exhibits and learning little factoids about the animals. However, one criticism is that it doesnt seem very well planned. MK, IOA, even Universal - there is a logic to the layout and you can see how to get to one place from where you are at. Sea World is a mess! Not only is the layout kind of meandering and seemingly unplanned, but the map is horrible and they actually closed a path that was on the map!
We wanted a special dinner for DDs 16th b-day so we had reservations at Tchoup Chop - our only reservations of our whole trip. What a wonderful evening we had!!! Nicole was our waitress and we also had a terrific busboy whose name I dont know. They both were a lot of fun. I was a little surprised they didnt do anything at all for DDs B-day, like confetti on the table or something, but it was still a wonderful evening.
DH and I ordered drinks which turned out to be pretty strong! At Nicoles suggestion I had a Melon Martini that really tasted like fresh canteloupe, and DH ordered some kind of raspberry thing that was very tart. Both were strong so we stopped at one.
Nicole started us off with an amuse bouche of asparagus salad in a wasabi dressing. Yummy. DD16 and I split the pork belly sticky bun sandwich appetizer, and it was interesting. Good, too, but interesting. Flavor combination I have never had before. DD12 ordered the California Roll (she has never had sushi in her life) and DH ordered the special appetizer call the Philly Roll. Well, when the Philly Roll arrived he handed it to me assuming it was mine, saying, I didnt order sushi.. Uh, yea you did, honey. Even I know that if its called a roll, it is sushi, and I dont like sushi! He thought it was some kind of mini-sandwich on a roll!!! After a good laugh he did eat it and thought it wasnt too bad. He wouldnt expect cream cheese on sushi (hence the name Philly).
Dinner time! DD16 ordered the Sea Salt Grilled Filet of Beef Tenderloin. It was so good we didnt her a word from her until it was finished. I had the Sake-Braised Short Ribs. Ahmmmmmmazing! So good! Boneless, not fatty, wonderful flavors all around, huge portion! I only ate half, I hated seeing it go to waste. I mean it was seriously good. Peter and DD12 shared the Mongolian Barbecue Grilled Pork tenderloin. It was served with long lo-mien type noodles. Even though they split it it was more than enough for both of them and they both really enjoyed it. All in all our entrees were wonderful.
For dessert the birthday girl ordered the trio of creme brulee (vanilla, mango and orange) and at least they wrote Happy Birthday on the plate. I cant even remember if they gave her a candle. The rest of us shared the Kahlua Chocolate Cake. It was rich! The portion wasnt huge, yet three of us together didnt finish it. Both desserts were very good.
Tchoup Chop was delicious and a lot of fun, too. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a special evening.
The next day was Universal Studios. Our first order of business was the Mummy, since DD12 decided she was ready for a real roller coaster and we thought this is a good one to start with. The Mummy is a blast and I cant tell you how many times we rode (Hooray for Express Pass.). She loved it!
We also did MIB several times. I am horrible at those kind of games and I still got to 229K points! I learned that the key is to press the red button on the holster just before shooting at the huge monster near the end - that is worth 100,000 bonus points. On a side note, I looked absolutely horrible in the photos they took of us on the ride. Does anyone ever look good in those? Please say no.
Lunch was at Lombards Landing (Or is it Lombardos), since it gets so many good reviews here on the DIS. It didnt disappoint! DH had the salmon, which was prepared perfectly, I enjoyed a half-size chopped salad which was the perfect portion - filling but light, and the DDs split a shake and a burger. Everyone was satisfied but not so full that we couldnt enjoy miscellaneous theme park junk food after. Lombards is a great choice. Good service, nice setting, quality food.
One nice surprise of the day was the Disaster attraction. I have never done it, expecting it to be like the Backlot tour at DS which I find kind of lame. But this was so different and so entertaining, I loved it. It really was a lot of fun, I enjoyed watching them pick all of the actors and shooting their scenes. I found the Christopher Walken part fascinating, as he really looked like he was on stage taking to us, yet it is obvious he wasnt simply projected on to a screen because the live actor was walking all around him.
Then when we get onto the subway to act out the disasters we had a blast hamming it up. I only wished they played back the video of everyone being silly. I would have loved to see that. All in all, Disaster was a ton of fun and a great discovery for us!
I was determined to see the Beetlejuice show. We have been to Universal several times and never seem to have time for it. Come hell or high water, we were going today. So we did... kind of. We arrived just a few minutes late and after about 7 minutes it started to thunder sooooo... they had to stop the show. The major part of the storm passed in about 10 or 15 minutes but it was still drizzling so we decided to leave the park and catch a movie. Actually, the rain was a good thing because it forced us to slow down. I think we all were getting tired from the high heat and all of our activity from the past several days. Chilling out in a movie theater was a welcome break.
After going back to the room and napping a little, we went to dinner at Mama Dellas at our hotel. Again we had excellent service - Lance was our waiter. For drinks I just ordered a glass of wine, I cant even tell you what kind. Wait! I know it was white!
We started with the Caprese Salad. Good. Cheese was tender, tomatoes fresh and flavorful, balsamic sweet. Next came the house salad served family-style in a big wooden bowl. Can I tell you I hate family-style? Family-style means Mom serves everyone, and I am the Mom. But I dont want to serve anyone. I am on vacation. I want to be the servEE, not the servER Anyway I found the salad just meh.
DH had a pasta dish with lamb and eggplant (It must be new because I cant find it on the menu on-line). It was very flavorful - a little sweet. He enjoyed it but found it tiresome after a while. Always the same flavor, you know? Huge portion, he ate half. DD16 the Carnivore ordered Veal Marsala. What was interesting about this dish is that this wasnt a pounded veal cutlet, it was like a veal steak. Ive never had veal this way before. DD really liked it, but again the portion was huge - even she didnt finish it, and she always finishes her meat. (She is tiny, by the way.) DD12 and I split a chicken carbonara special and we both enjoyed it. It wasnt a creamy carbonara, but a butter and oil based sauce which Mama claims is more authentic to Northern Italy. Okay. I just know it was pretty tasty.
I cant even remember what we had for dessert - something chocolate maybe? - and Mama sends a plate of cookies over to every table after a meal. The cookies werent good at all. They have a strong aftertaste to them and not the last impression you want to leave with. But all in all, Mamas is a nice evening.
WARNING! Mamas has strolling musicians who are are very impressed with their own voices. If you go there, you will be hearing them a lot. We just asked Lance to have them skip our table and they did.
The following day was our day of departure but we had a good five hours at the parks before leaving for the airport. We decided to start back at WWOHP for shopping and lunch. Lunch was at the Three Broomsticks and I have mixed reviews. The atmosphere was great. The fish and chips, not so much. The fish part was fine, but the coating had a strong flavor, and so did the fries. We should have gone back to Mythos.
Shopping in Hogsmeade was not fun. It is way too crowded. We always leave souvenir shopping for our last day, but this time I wished we did it on our first day when we arrived early and Hogsmeade was not crowded. I know it has been asked before, but do you think they realized how crowded the stores would be? I would think people would spend more money if they could actually, you know, SEE what they were looking at.
DH is a big Green Lantern fan and we remembered we had seen Green Lantern T-shirts somewhere, so we went to Super Hero Island to ask for them. Well, they must have had the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons working there, because he told me, We are all Marvel comics. The Green Lantern is DC. It would NOT be here.. Uh, okay. They are all just cartoon men in tights to me.
And that just about wraps up our trip. All in all, we had a blast. It was very relaxing and there was a lot of laughter. However, on our next trip to Florida we must go back to WDW because there are just too many simulators at US/IOA for DH to have a great time. Its too bad, because there are so many things I loved about Universal. The Express Passes - THE BEST. The hotel - LOVED. The hotel value - FAB. The food - WONDERFUL. The pace - RELAXED.
We had such a great trip.
Nicole
Our trip consists of me, my DH Peter, and two DDs, 16 and 12. We are big time WDW fans but the last time we went I was disappointed in how stressful a WDW vacation had become. I hated the need to wake early, hated needing to hurry to the next attraction and manage our FPs, and REALLY hated how the dining plan has 1) diminished the quality of the food at WDW, and 2) necessitated making dining plans and decisions six months ahead of time.
These frustrations, coupled with being a whole family of Harry Potter fans, made me decide that our next Florida trip will be an all-Universal visit. NO WDW - horrors!
We stayed at the Potofino Bay. I was a little apprehensive before arriving because I read a recent post here on the DIS about dirty rooms and snooty staffers. Fortunately, I could not have been more pleased. Our beautiful room was very clean, and as roomy as everyone mentions. The ceilings are higher than usual as well, and that adds a sense of spaciousness. Loved the big bathroom, it is so nice to not be in each others way when getting ready in the morning. And it is a little thing, but the robes were so nice to have. I realize I could just bring one from home, but this way I could get a clean one every day.
The staff was great - pleasant and fast. This was such a great place to stay! All in all, the hotel was great.
Our first day at the parks, we woke early (our only early day, BTW) to go to WWOHP. We arrived at the gate about 8:15, and it didnt matter that we werent there at rope drop, everything was still empty. Hogsmead - wonderful! But our first order of business was FJ.
Now, I can handle thrill rides. BUT. I am claustrophobic, which means I dont like those harness-type restraints used on some rides, the V-shaped ones that come down over your shoulders. They make me feel very trapped, ...which, essentially, I am. Usually it isnt so bad because I am still able to move my arms, but on FJ the seats are set into cubbies, so my arms are restricted. This led to major anxiety on my part. Once the ride got going I was distracted enough to enjoy it.
Hmmm... Forbidden Journey. Mixed reviews from my family. The DDs LOVED it, and my formerly chicken 12 year old wanted to ride again and again. So far it was the most thrilling thing she had ridden in her life. OTOH, the simulator gave my DH motion sickness. He can handle pretty much any kind of moving thrill ride, but simulators make him queasy. As you can imagine, this became a problem during our trip.
The spiders were not scary and the dementors were actually kind of lame. I would have liked to see them make the dementors in the same kind of 3-D virtual projection that they made the characters with one the castle tour. Loved chasing the dragon and the Whomping Willow was pretty cool, too. Overall I give FJ a B-.
Next was Olivanders. We only waited about 15 minutes to get in. Once in I kept trying to gently guide my DD12 to the front and she kept sliding back to me. She didnt know why I was doing it and got all attitude-y and 12 on me, saying Whhhaaat?, Stoooop it!!. Such a little flower. The show was cute, I had watched it on Youtube so I wasnt really surprised, but the fam liked it.
We then rode the Hippogriff a few times and DD15 and I did the dragons (I forget the official name. They will always be Dueling Dragons to me.) We had ridden it before but it was still fun. DD12 wasnt ready for anything that thrilling and DH was still queasy from FJ so we skipped it.
Next we ventured into the Lost Continent, where we spent a lot of time just watching Cosmo, the talking fountain. We got such a kick out of him, he was very funny. Finally made our way into the Poseidon attraction and waited a long time, even with Express Passes.
This is seriously lame. You wait a long time to go stand in one room, only to wait to finally stand in another room, to wait some more to finally stand in the main room and watch a filmed battle with some real fire. You do walk through a tube of swirling water which is kind of cool, but seriously not worth the time. I am amazed they have allowed this attraction to remain open, it is pitiful.
After the stunt show (always entertaining but could use some updating), we sauntered over to Mythos for lunch and got in after a 10 minute wait. Lunch was wonderful! We started with the pizza of the day, which was a Mexican pizza. It was tasty, but watch out for the chili oil drizzled on top. I got a big splash on my piece and my mouth was on fire. DH started with the famous mushroom soup, and I have to agree it was the best mushroom soup I have ever had.
DD12 ordered some Italian-like panini and pronounced it just okay, but she is notorious for being an adventurous orderer and picky eater. I got the salmon and really enjoyed it. Perfectly cooked with a wonderful sauce on the side, and it was nice and light - perfect for the hot day. DD16 (the carnivore) went with the beef tenderloin and pronounced it very good - DH agreed - and DH had the short ribs. I found the short ribs to be very flavorful and tender, but an odd choice on a hot day. For dessert we ordered the required Gooey Chocolate Banana cake and ate every single speck. Mythos was terrific.
At Super Hero Island I skipped the Hulk (Ive ridden it before, it is more jerky than fun) and hopped over to Spiderman. Always fun, but I hate the jerky bouncing whenever someone lands on the car. It isnt thrilling, just annoying. Or maybe Im just getting old...
Next up... Dr. Dooms Fearfall. Worstest Craziest Most Horriblest Ride Ever. Ever Ever.
I can handle thrill rides. I love speed. Roller coasters, Im fine with. I dont love the jerky ones, but they dont scare me. Dr. Doom scared me big time, and not in a good way. I mean I seriously thought I would die on this ride. I felt so un-secured and exposed and vulnerable, which is pretty ironic considering how I hate feeling so claustrophobic and trapped on other attractions.
The weird thing about this ride is that you expect the fall (as in fearfall) to be what gets to you. Nope, its the ascent. Before you know it you are already up and then falling out of the sky and your palms are sweating so you cant even get a good grip on the restraints and oh my gawd Im going to fall out of this seat this is not good hold on tight honey I mean seriously because this is no joke no joke I could seriously die here and now. Do you know what I mean? Hated this stupid ride and couldnt stop shaking for 15 minutes after getting off of it. It is very bad, stay away and dont let your babies near it, no matter how old they are.
Oh, and my DD12 loved it, but I think she just wanted to seem braver than her mom!
After a while I ended up going back to the hotel because it was getting too hot for me, so I enjoyed some quiet time and a little nap! That evening we went to Bubba Gumps where the food was just okay. We did have a lot of fun with our waitress and discussing Forrest Gump trivia, so all in all it was a good night. Oh, and DD12 - the horrible orderer - ordered a PB&J shake, which is purple but really just tastes like PB.
The next day was DD16s 16th birthday and she wanted to spend it at Sea World. Our first show was the dolphin show - kind of cute. But they added all these birds and people on trapezes. I didnt need birds and trapezes, I wanted more dolphins. Next was Pets Ahoy, which was entertaining but kind of short. The Shamu show - One World was pretty forgettable. It seemed to be one big politically correct eco-rally, and not enough of Shamu doing cool stuff. We wants the whale! We wants the whale! It is interesting that the trainers dont go into the water anymore. I wonder if this is because a trainer was attacked by a whale last year?
As usual, the Sea Lions were the best. The script is so silly it is funny, but best of all the animals really seem to be having a good time.
Hmmm... Attractions... The Arctic Journey or whatever it is called... Pretty sad. I mean so lame people were laughing. However, we really enjoyed the exhibit afterwords. They were training some Beluga Whales and we also enjoyed watching the Walruses and Polar Bears. The exhibit is pretty good, actually.
Kracken was fun - very twisty - but I chose to skip Manta as I didnt like the restraints. DD16 Loved Manta and rode it twice. She thought the face-down POV was terrific and it was her favorite attraction of our entire trip.
We had lunch at Voyagers Smokehouse and I was amazed at how disorganized the entire set-up was. It was a weekday, yet there was a back up of people waiting for food that wasnt ready yet, there was a back up of people waiting for fountain drinks (Why why why? They should already be filled and waiting to go.), the cashiers were slow and inexperienced. We had the brisket, which was pretty good for theme park food.
Looking back at what Ive written, I sound kind of cranky about Sea World. Actually I enjoyed our day there - very much. When we were there it was uncomfortably hot, like 95*, so maybe my irritation with that is coming through. I do like Sea World, I love the little exhibits and learning little factoids about the animals. However, one criticism is that it doesnt seem very well planned. MK, IOA, even Universal - there is a logic to the layout and you can see how to get to one place from where you are at. Sea World is a mess! Not only is the layout kind of meandering and seemingly unplanned, but the map is horrible and they actually closed a path that was on the map!
We wanted a special dinner for DDs 16th b-day so we had reservations at Tchoup Chop - our only reservations of our whole trip. What a wonderful evening we had!!! Nicole was our waitress and we also had a terrific busboy whose name I dont know. They both were a lot of fun. I was a little surprised they didnt do anything at all for DDs B-day, like confetti on the table or something, but it was still a wonderful evening.
DH and I ordered drinks which turned out to be pretty strong! At Nicoles suggestion I had a Melon Martini that really tasted like fresh canteloupe, and DH ordered some kind of raspberry thing that was very tart. Both were strong so we stopped at one.
Nicole started us off with an amuse bouche of asparagus salad in a wasabi dressing. Yummy. DD16 and I split the pork belly sticky bun sandwich appetizer, and it was interesting. Good, too, but interesting. Flavor combination I have never had before. DD12 ordered the California Roll (she has never had sushi in her life) and DH ordered the special appetizer call the Philly Roll. Well, when the Philly Roll arrived he handed it to me assuming it was mine, saying, I didnt order sushi.. Uh, yea you did, honey. Even I know that if its called a roll, it is sushi, and I dont like sushi! He thought it was some kind of mini-sandwich on a roll!!! After a good laugh he did eat it and thought it wasnt too bad. He wouldnt expect cream cheese on sushi (hence the name Philly).
Dinner time! DD16 ordered the Sea Salt Grilled Filet of Beef Tenderloin. It was so good we didnt her a word from her until it was finished. I had the Sake-Braised Short Ribs. Ahmmmmmmazing! So good! Boneless, not fatty, wonderful flavors all around, huge portion! I only ate half, I hated seeing it go to waste. I mean it was seriously good. Peter and DD12 shared the Mongolian Barbecue Grilled Pork tenderloin. It was served with long lo-mien type noodles. Even though they split it it was more than enough for both of them and they both really enjoyed it. All in all our entrees were wonderful.
For dessert the birthday girl ordered the trio of creme brulee (vanilla, mango and orange) and at least they wrote Happy Birthday on the plate. I cant even remember if they gave her a candle. The rest of us shared the Kahlua Chocolate Cake. It was rich! The portion wasnt huge, yet three of us together didnt finish it. Both desserts were very good.
Tchoup Chop was delicious and a lot of fun, too. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a special evening.
The next day was Universal Studios. Our first order of business was the Mummy, since DD12 decided she was ready for a real roller coaster and we thought this is a good one to start with. The Mummy is a blast and I cant tell you how many times we rode (Hooray for Express Pass.). She loved it!
We also did MIB several times. I am horrible at those kind of games and I still got to 229K points! I learned that the key is to press the red button on the holster just before shooting at the huge monster near the end - that is worth 100,000 bonus points. On a side note, I looked absolutely horrible in the photos they took of us on the ride. Does anyone ever look good in those? Please say no.
Lunch was at Lombards Landing (Or is it Lombardos), since it gets so many good reviews here on the DIS. It didnt disappoint! DH had the salmon, which was prepared perfectly, I enjoyed a half-size chopped salad which was the perfect portion - filling but light, and the DDs split a shake and a burger. Everyone was satisfied but not so full that we couldnt enjoy miscellaneous theme park junk food after. Lombards is a great choice. Good service, nice setting, quality food.
One nice surprise of the day was the Disaster attraction. I have never done it, expecting it to be like the Backlot tour at DS which I find kind of lame. But this was so different and so entertaining, I loved it. It really was a lot of fun, I enjoyed watching them pick all of the actors and shooting their scenes. I found the Christopher Walken part fascinating, as he really looked like he was on stage taking to us, yet it is obvious he wasnt simply projected on to a screen because the live actor was walking all around him.
Then when we get onto the subway to act out the disasters we had a blast hamming it up. I only wished they played back the video of everyone being silly. I would have loved to see that. All in all, Disaster was a ton of fun and a great discovery for us!
I was determined to see the Beetlejuice show. We have been to Universal several times and never seem to have time for it. Come hell or high water, we were going today. So we did... kind of. We arrived just a few minutes late and after about 7 minutes it started to thunder sooooo... they had to stop the show. The major part of the storm passed in about 10 or 15 minutes but it was still drizzling so we decided to leave the park and catch a movie. Actually, the rain was a good thing because it forced us to slow down. I think we all were getting tired from the high heat and all of our activity from the past several days. Chilling out in a movie theater was a welcome break.
After going back to the room and napping a little, we went to dinner at Mama Dellas at our hotel. Again we had excellent service - Lance was our waiter. For drinks I just ordered a glass of wine, I cant even tell you what kind. Wait! I know it was white!
We started with the Caprese Salad. Good. Cheese was tender, tomatoes fresh and flavorful, balsamic sweet. Next came the house salad served family-style in a big wooden bowl. Can I tell you I hate family-style? Family-style means Mom serves everyone, and I am the Mom. But I dont want to serve anyone. I am on vacation. I want to be the servEE, not the servER Anyway I found the salad just meh.
DH had a pasta dish with lamb and eggplant (It must be new because I cant find it on the menu on-line). It was very flavorful - a little sweet. He enjoyed it but found it tiresome after a while. Always the same flavor, you know? Huge portion, he ate half. DD16 the Carnivore ordered Veal Marsala. What was interesting about this dish is that this wasnt a pounded veal cutlet, it was like a veal steak. Ive never had veal this way before. DD really liked it, but again the portion was huge - even she didnt finish it, and she always finishes her meat. (She is tiny, by the way.) DD12 and I split a chicken carbonara special and we both enjoyed it. It wasnt a creamy carbonara, but a butter and oil based sauce which Mama claims is more authentic to Northern Italy. Okay. I just know it was pretty tasty.
I cant even remember what we had for dessert - something chocolate maybe? - and Mama sends a plate of cookies over to every table after a meal. The cookies werent good at all. They have a strong aftertaste to them and not the last impression you want to leave with. But all in all, Mamas is a nice evening.
WARNING! Mamas has strolling musicians who are are very impressed with their own voices. If you go there, you will be hearing them a lot. We just asked Lance to have them skip our table and they did.
The following day was our day of departure but we had a good five hours at the parks before leaving for the airport. We decided to start back at WWOHP for shopping and lunch. Lunch was at the Three Broomsticks and I have mixed reviews. The atmosphere was great. The fish and chips, not so much. The fish part was fine, but the coating had a strong flavor, and so did the fries. We should have gone back to Mythos.
Shopping in Hogsmeade was not fun. It is way too crowded. We always leave souvenir shopping for our last day, but this time I wished we did it on our first day when we arrived early and Hogsmeade was not crowded. I know it has been asked before, but do you think they realized how crowded the stores would be? I would think people would spend more money if they could actually, you know, SEE what they were looking at.
DH is a big Green Lantern fan and we remembered we had seen Green Lantern T-shirts somewhere, so we went to Super Hero Island to ask for them. Well, they must have had the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons working there, because he told me, We are all Marvel comics. The Green Lantern is DC. It would NOT be here.. Uh, okay. They are all just cartoon men in tights to me.
And that just about wraps up our trip. All in all, we had a blast. It was very relaxing and there was a lot of laughter. However, on our next trip to Florida we must go back to WDW because there are just too many simulators at US/IOA for DH to have a great time. Its too bad, because there are so many things I loved about Universal. The Express Passes - THE BEST. The hotel - LOVED. The hotel value - FAB. The food - WONDERFUL. The pace - RELAXED.
We had such a great trip.
Nicole
and love them.....but he hates Dr Doom with a passion. He feels as if he is going to fall out all the time and has actually uttered the words Im gonna die here once or twice 
