My AP-ALOOZA Continues (WE RENEWED!!) ~ NEW TR link posted!

[Imagineer5]

Okay, let’s take this show to the skies! Day 1, Friday August 22nd!

We are leaving 2 days earlier than originally planned. This addition occurred when I heard that the new Harry Potter area (Diagon Alley) opened up at Universal, but I also was pining to go a bit earlier since Andrew was leaving Thursday for a wedding anyway.
The morning started off EARLY – 4AM my alarm went off! I fed the dogs, got the last of the bags in the car and then got Aria up to use the potty and get dressed. She was just as excited as me though and the early time didn’t seem to faze her at all. We then made our way to the airport – in TORRENTIAL rain, and I swung by the “departures” area to see if the curb side check in was working. It was MOBBED! I hopped out of the car leaving it running and Aria strapped in, and got in line with the two suitcases. It only took a few minutes thankfully, then I hopped back in the car to bring it around to parking.

So my first photo of the trip was a very exciting one – location of the car in the garage! Andrew was flying home Sunday so he needed to know where I parked. I’ll spare you the incredibly exciting pic LOL.

Next up was the TSA Pre-Check! YAY! This was my first time flying with that designation, and it wasn’t incredibly necessary but nice to leave Aria’s squeeze packets and other toiletries in the backpack vs taking it all out. We were through security in no time, stopped quickly at the bathrooms, and headed to the gate. For breakfast I had picked up croissants and fruit the night before so we enjoyed that and then I lined up at the A55 pole for A-boarding and quickly dismantled the stroller. Finally a pic! Aria was ready to be in charge of her toy suitcase. I struggled only slightly carrying the car seat, back pack and stroller (I ended up dragging the stroller down the tarmac lol).

Our flight went super smoothly. Aria basically watched a movie and played with the toys in her bag, ate some snacks, and that was about the extent of the flight. 2.5 hours goes by really fast! Soon we were landing in Orlando!

I not-so-secretly love the monorail at MCO. So much so that we rode it 4 times coming home…(actually that was by mistake haha).

With my cheapie Dollar rental, I was able to walk right out to the Dollar section and get in the car super fast, so I was making great time! Pulling two large suitcases (attached with a clip) while pushing the loaded up stroller was sort of a pain, but do able.

After a little traffic (breakdown at the turn to Universal) we made it to our resort, and it was only about 10:30!

Aria was happy & playing for the drive.

We pulled up to the Royal Pacific Resort and had bell services take our luggage (seriously I don’t know why I’ve always been hesitant to spend the $5 or so for such conveniences) and I also had Valet park the car. It was a difference of $20/night to park the car or $27/night to hand the keys to the valet and not deal with getting Aria strapped in again, so I chose to take convenience.

We checked in but the room was not ready, so headed straight to the park! First I had to stop at the Express Pass kiosk in the lobby to get our express passes, and also print off my annual pass. Then we found the walking path over to the parks and city walk. I let Aria choose between Woody Woodpecker’s coaster & E.T. (at Universal) and Seuss Landing at IoA and she chose Seuss so we headed there. MAN was it ever hot! The first few days of the trip had a “real feel” of 108 or so, but thankfully after a few days of walking around in it my body adjusted.

On the walk from the RPR:

That's a ride from IoA in the distance. RPR is just across a waterway from IoA.

I was very glad Aria chose IoA, as it is much closer of a walk than Universal!

Anyway we headed straight for Seuss landing!

First stop was the One Fish Two Fish ride, which is like Dumbo but has the potential of getting SOAKED! I brought my DSLR camera on because I read that if you follow the song's instructions you can avoid the water, but alas we both got soaked though thankfully I had stuffed the camera under my shirt before it was hit!

Then we hopped on the Cat in the Hat ride which was okay. They don’t allow photos on the inside attractions though which drives me crazy!

One pic before we boarded and were told to put the camera away.

The ride is along the lines of the Pooh ride, with some naughtiness by Thing 1 and Thing 2. It sort of scared Aria though and she was happy when it was over.

Aria saw the Cat in the Hat from afar, and said she wanted to go meet him! OK, can’t say no to a character meet!

Then we saw Thing 1 and Thing 2, and she was a bit more hesitant so this is the only photo I got. No photopass photographers, I know Universal has a similar park photo thing, but I hardly saw any photographers out so I am glad I didn’t waste the $$ for it!

Also to note - Aria doesn't really know the Seuss stories. We have really slacked in that department (actually when we go to read the Cat in the Hat she has always vetoed it? IDK why). So I think that when I got her so excited this morning saying we were going to Disney, she was honestly disappointed being at Universal. She kept asking for Mickey & the castle. I told her 2 more days and we'll be there!

Next we saw the Grinch out and Aria really wanted to meet him, but when it was her turn she got a bit shy so I went up with her!

We couldn’t resist the fun of the carosuessel anymore, and hopped on. Note – all of these have the Express Pass line but there was a ZERO wait for any of them. She enjoyed the ride, and for the rest of the trip she pretended that the animal behind her was trying to get her and then laughed about it. It has been so much fun seeing her imagination soar lately!

Next we attempted to ride the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Ride. I swear, on their website it said a 34” height requirement! When we got there however, we were turned away and told it has a 40” height requirement. That really pissed me off because 1) Aria had watched this go by while we were on the carousel and she was so excited to ride and of course I thought we could and 2) two of the wait time apps all stated 34” and 3) there is NO reason it needs to have a 40” height requirement! Universal is just being silly. Seriously, it is such a tame ride. Ok enough annoyance (yes I am still peeved lol).


Coming up next...time at Hogsmeade and a ride Aria wants to go on again and again!!


One big note - I am SO glad we brought the City Select. As you'll see probably in the next update, I didn't have to fold it up for the Howarts Express. Aria slept so well in it for every nap each day, and the huge storage area underneath is just KEY especially when out all day long.

 

[lilluv117]

Awesome update! I must admit I've been a lurker since your first AP trip report and I love hearing about all your travels with Aria! I have 2 little ones and we also love to travel so it's great getting tips and ideas from you. I think I saw in another post that you strap the car seat onto the stroller somehow. We'll be traveling with our car seat this time because we're renting a car. Do you happen to have a picture of how you strap the car seat on? Do you use just the car seat straps or something else to strap it on?

I read your pretrip report and it's so exciting reading how it all panned out! Especially the stroller decision. We've decided to take our Uppababy Vista this time because we will have the rental and won't have to deal with the buses. Like you said, the recline & storage and just comfort of the stroller are all luxuries I missed the last couple of trips.

I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip. Aria is so cute btw!

 

[Dugette]

Yes, I AM excited for all those photos! (And, also, that means you’ll need to do at least 140 updates!)

How cool to spend a weekend on an island. And that’s great that Aria loves her autograph book so much. I just got something for a free photo book and I’m thinking about making a WDW one for Izzy, since I think she’d love to flip through it (she’s currently obsessed with watching the videos I took of her character meets).

Ah, that’s annoying about the hours changing for your birthday and messing with your plans. Hope you can work out something you’re happy with.

Wow, lots of fun stuff coming up for you!

On to the trip. Glad Aria was excited to get up early too! Ugh, the rain and the curbside line – super annoying when you’re by yourself with a toddler. Glad it worked out okay.

Smart to do the car-swap thing at the airport.

That TSA pre-check is nice, just to not have to mess around with as much stuff and to leave your shoes on. For what it’s worth, one of my first flights with Izzy I asked if the pouches needed to be taken out and they were all wishy-washy trying to answer me, so I’ve left them in the bag since and never once been questioned or had any trouble. Smart to pick up the breakfast to bring with!

That’s the hardest thing about air travel solo (with kid) – getting from the gate down to the plane! And your mention of it got me thinking – WHY do they not have stroller bags with wheels? I even just searched online and couldn’t find any. Maybe I should invent that. If it’s an issue of wheels being easily damaged or something, I’m sure the bag could have a built in pouch where you can zip the wheels up in it when you get to the plane. Life would be much easier.

Glad you had a good flight. Okay, that’s funny: Izzy pulled out her water coloring books tonight and quickly lost interest and I ended up doing them, because – well, fun!! And that one Aria has is the same one I was doing! She’s doing a very good job too!

Uh oh, 4 airport monorail rides!?

Glad you got the car quick and were on your way without issues. I know that feeling of pushing the stroller and rolling the suitcases all at once!

Wow, your camera really draws trouble, huh? Glad you could shield it from the water. It was probably nice getting wet on a day that hot, though.

Hmmm, that explains why I don’t know what the inside of Universal/IoA attractions look like.

Good for Aria, jumping right in with the character meets!

Yeah, we haven’t gotten much mileage out of Dr. Seuss yet either. Someday! Aw, poor Aria, expecting Mickey and getting the Grinch!

That’s adorable that she was pretending she was being chased on the carousel! So fun to see the kids’ imaginations starting to develop! I’ve been noticing things like that (on a smaller scale) with Izzy lately too. So fun!

Bummer on not getting to ride the Trolley.

Glad that it was worth dragging the stroller down the jetway!

 

[Dugette]

I think I saw in another post that you strap the car seat onto the stroller somehow. We'll be traveling with our car seat this time because we're renting a car. Do you happen to have a picture of how you strap the car seat on? Do you use just the car seat straps or something else to strap it on?

Not who you were asking, but since I'm here and I stole that idea from Lauren and have used it multiple times and have pictures, thought I'd chime in. For me, I have a Britax B-Agile and an Evenflo Tribute, if that matters. I also have a big carabiner. I use that to attach the tether strap of the carseat to the handle of the stroller. Quick and easy. The bottom of the carseat just tucks into the back of the stroller basket. It stays pretty well, but if I want extra security, I've used the LATCH anchors from the carseat to attach it to various stroller parts nearby. Here are a couple views:





Hope that helps. I'm sure Lauren can chime in on anything she has done differently.

 

[lilluv117]

Thank you so much Dugette!! I didn't realize it was so easy! I'll have to find my "mommy hook" now!

 

[Imagineer5]

Awesome update! I must admit I've been a lurker since your first AP trip report and I love hearing about all your travels with Aria! I have 2 little ones and we also love to travel so it's great getting tips and ideas from you. I think I saw in another post that you strap the car seat onto the stroller somehow. We'll be traveling with our car seat this time because we're renting a car. Do you happen to have a picture of how you strap the car seat on? Do you use just the car seat straps or something else to strap it on?

I read your pretrip report and it's so exciting reading how it all panned out! Especially the stroller decision. We've decided to take our Uppababy Vista this time because we will have the rental and won't have to deal with the buses. Like you said, the recline & storage and just comfort of the stroller are all luxuries I missed the last couple of trips.

I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip. Aria is so cute btw!

I see Dugette answered your car seat question! One other plus for the City Select is the car seat actually fits better on the back vs the City Mini. I'd try it out at home to figure out the best configuration, but it definitely makes it easy when you can just pop it on and forget about it!

When is your trip?? Thank you so much for commenting! I'm happy to have you here!

Yes, I AM excited for all those photos! (And, also, that means you’ll need to do at least 140 updates!)

How cool to spend a weekend on an island. And that’s great that Aria loves her autograph book so much. I just got something for a free photo book and I’m thinking about making a WDW one for Izzy, since I think she’d love to flip through it (she’s currently obsessed with watching the videos I took of her character meets).

Ah, that’s annoying about the hours changing for your birthday and messing with your plans. Hope you can work out something you’re happy with.

Wow, lots of fun stuff coming up for you!

On to the trip. Glad Aria was excited to get up early too! Ugh, the rain and the curbside line – super annoying when you’re by yourself with a toddler. Glad it worked out okay.

Smart to do the car-swap thing at the airport.

That TSA pre-check is nice, just to not have to mess around with as much stuff and to leave your shoes on. For what it’s worth, one of my first flights with Izzy I asked if the pouches needed to be taken out and they were all wishy-washy trying to answer me, so I’ve left them in the bag since and never once been questioned or had any trouble. Smart to pick up the breakfast to bring with!

That’s the hardest thing about air travel solo (with kid) – getting from the gate down to the plane! And your mention of it got me thinking – WHY do they not have stroller bags with wheels? I even just searched online and couldn’t find any. Maybe I should invent that. If it’s an issue of wheels being easily damaged or something, I’m sure the bag could have a built in pouch where you can zip the wheels up in it when you get to the plane. Life would be much easier.

Glad you had a good flight. Okay, that’s funny: Izzy pulled out her water coloring books tonight and quickly lost interest and I ended up doing them, because – well, fun!! And that one Aria has is the same one I was doing! She’s doing a very good job too!

Uh oh, 4 airport monorail rides!?

Glad you got the car quick and were on your way without issues. I know that feeling of pushing the stroller and rolling the suitcases all at once!

Wow, your camera really draws trouble, huh? Glad you could shield it from the water. It was probably nice getting wet on a day that hot, though.

Hmmm, that explains why I don’t know what the inside of Universal/IoA attractions look like.

Good for Aria, jumping right in with the character meets!

Yeah, we haven’t gotten much mileage out of Dr. Seuss yet either. Someday! Aw, poor Aria, expecting Mickey and getting the Grinch!

That’s adorable that she was pretending she was being chased on the carousel! So fun to see the kids’ imaginations starting to develop! I’ve been noticing things like that (on a smaller scale) with Izzy lately too. So fun!

Bummer on not getting to ride the Trolley.

Glad that it was worth dragging the stroller down the jetway!

Yeah the weekend was a lot of fun! We are planning one final weekend out on it but not yet sure where to - it'll be the weekend before Disney. Then it'll come out of the water for the season! I know Andrew is hoping to have a lot more free time next summer to enjoy it, we will see.

I am anxiously watching the October ADR cancelled thread for something for 10/5 in the MK. Citricos opens at 5:30 which is when our ADR is for, so it really will be pushing it to get to the MK by 7...IDK... but I was also really hoping to have a good meal there.

Good to know about the food pouches! I always just put them in an outside pocket of the backpack so it isn't that much of a pain, but still nice not to have to do that at all. When we go to Texas & Disney with Andrew though I won't be using pre-check since we'd have to split up. That seems sort of mean lol.

YES I have looked into stroller bags with wheels too! It would make so much sense. As it is, the bag was like $40, and I have used it about 20 times, so if I eventually have to buy a new one due to the holes coming in the bottom due to my dragging it, I still think it was worth it LOL.

hahaha I laughed at your mickey vs grinch comment. YES she was definitely NOT expecting to be at Universal. I tried to explain that we were going to Harry Potter first, but of course whenever I talked about the trip it was "2 days to Disney!!" so then when we didn't really go to Disney she was def confused. It is just not really a toddler-centric park as we all know, so she just wasn't loving it. Glad I'm not the only one slacking on Dr. Seuss lol!

Not who you were asking, but since I'm here and I stole that idea from Lauren and have used it multiple times and have pictures, thought I'd chime in. For me, I have a Britax B-Agile and an Evenflo Tribute, if that matters. I also have a big carabiner. I use that to attach the tether strap of the carseat to the handle of the stroller. Quick and easy. The bottom of the carseat just tucks into the back of the stroller basket. It stays pretty well, but if I want extra security, I've used the LATCH anchors from the carseat to attach it to various stroller parts nearby. Here are a couple views:





Hope that helps. I'm sure Lauren can chime in on anything she has done differently.

Thank you so much Dugette!! I didn't realize it was so easy! I'll have to find my "mommy hook" now!

Thank you Dugette!!

I attach the car seat to both the city mini & city select by placing the bottom front lip onto the bar across the bottom where your feet are, then placing the top at the parent console on the handlebar. If I didn't have the parent console it wouldn't work. Then I typically use one of the mommy hooks from the handlebar (I have 3) to loop it onto the car seat for extra security. Once it's in place, it isn't even noticable that it is there. It does fit much better on the City Select though vs. the city mini.

I'm looking for a better pic, but you can kind of see the car seat on the back of the stroller in the pic I posted from the monorail ride.

 

[Imagineer5]

This is about the best i have in terms of pics!

Oh wait, here is kind of a cool shot

I was taking photos of Aria pole dancing, but it showed up in the pic.

 

[JulieODC]

Yay for arriving by 10:30am!! I've had 2 friends head to WDW from TFGreen on the 6:30am flight in the last 2 weeks, and though the early morning is tough, you really get almost a full day!

Eek, HOT weather! That's my biggest fear about a summer trip.

It's been forever since I visited Universal. I'm dying to see HP though!

p.s. We move up on the 19th -- SO SOON! We're staying with my parents temporarily while we look for a house (they just moved to Holliston...isn't that where your DH is from?? -- nice town, but killer commute to Boston!)

 

[Imagineer5]

After that, we headed back towards the original Harry Potter area in Hogsmeade! This is where the Hogwarts castle is (and the Forbidden Journey ride) along with the Flight of the Hippogriph. This has a 36” height requirement, so I was excited Aria COULD ride it. OMG this thing was FAST! I seriously thought Aria would cry when we finally stopped, out of fright because we were squished back and forth during the ride. But no, she said enthusiastically “AGAIN!!” and we did just that! At Universal they make you walk back around even if there is no one in line (vs. staying on the ride to ride again) so we walked all the way around and rode again.

Cages on the ceiling of the loading area

Hi Buckbeak!

Hagrid's Hut

Getting ready!

Nice views!

Enjoying the ride

Ride again!

Next up, one of my absolute MUST-DO’s is the Pteranodon Flyers. You MUST ride with a kid between 36”-56” so I’ve never been on it before. It had a posted 20-minute wait but we waited and had a great ride. I was however starting to really feel the non-Disney aspect of this time at Universal. While waiting in the ride there were teenagers with kids who kept trying to cut in front of us, like just to get one family ahead? If Aria lingered at all and the line moved like 3 feet, they would try to go around us! It wasn’t like the line was moving and we were just still (like at Pooh, if Aria is playing I don’t care if people just pass us…). Anyway it was really annoying having to keep tabs on them.

Waiting in line - it was also very hot with little shade! Phew!

Aria was staying cool in my shadow...haha

I was a little freaked out not being able to sit next to Aria, worried about how the straps go on to prevent her from falling. Kind of like Soarin' though, they have a middle strap for little kids and then a tight seatbelt goes through that. Then she has a bar across her lap to hold onto.

Happy kid!

This ride also had a no photography sign but I took a few pics anyway.

I don't know what Universal is working on.

Never actually went all the way around through Toon Lagoon and Marvel this time! haha

Here you can see Aria holding on

She kept yelling "We're flying!!" and was having a blast!

 

[Imagineer5]

Yay for arriving by 10:30am!! I've had 2 friends head to WDW from TFGreen on the 6:30am flight in the last 2 weeks, and though the early morning is tough, you really get almost a full day!

Eek, HOT weather! That's my biggest fear about a summer trip.

It's been forever since I visited Universal. I'm dying to see HP though!

p.s. We move up on the 19th -- SO SOON! We're staying with my parents temporarily while we look for a house (they just moved to Holliston...isn't that where your DH is from?? -- nice town, but killer commute to Boston!)

Yeah! We are taking the same flight on 10/3. I love it! Much better than waking up early (which I would do anyway) and waiting around! Especially now that Aria is older, and excited for the trip ahead.

Aw congrats on the move! It is so close! Yes, Andrew grew up in Holliston, though a year or so ago his parents sold their house to move to their Cape house full time. It was on Chamberlain Street. His friend's family owns the turkey farm at the end of the street, called Out Post Farm if you know that?

We leave for Texas on the 19th but when we get back, if you ever want to have a playdate for the girls or something feel free to PM me! We should be FB friends

 

[lilluv117]

This is about the best i have in terms of pics! Oh wait, here is kind of a cool shot I was taking photos of Aria pole dancing, but it showed up in the pic.

Thanks for the info & pics! I'll have to do some playing around with them before we leave. We actually leave TOMORROW! Yaaayyy!!! I have one more night shift to go and then from work I come home, get dressed, pack a few final things and then we leave. I have to catch up on your trip report later. Thanks for all your help!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yeah for starting this TR! You did great with how quickly you got down. I mean, while getting up at 4 is annoying you were there at 10:30 am - that's great!

Ugh, $20 to park yourself is pretty annoying - hate when hotels do that. Definitely worth the $7 to valet in that scenario

That strikes me as funny/annoying with regards to the no-pictures. I mean, I guess I get it for some of the big ones, Harry Potter stuff - especially when they are new, but really? You are losing money if someone takes a picture on the Cat in the Hat ride?

That looks like you get up pretty high on that Flight of the Hippogriph ride! Much higher than Barnstormer.

2 Other "I'm not in Disney" things I noticed were that you can definitely see the other "lands" from another - like Disney does such a great job making it so you can't see out of Tomorrowland into Adventureland or whatever. Heck, they painted the Tower of Terror the color they did because you can kind of notice it from standing in Morocco in EPCOT and they wanted it to blend in.

Other thing is their character costumes are just so chinsy compared to Disney. Oh well.

Pretty sure that construction site is for the new King Kong ride

 

[Dugette]

That’s awesome that Aria loved the fast coaster – raising her right! (Related: Izzy is a big fan of my Mine Train video).

Annoying line-cutters! I hate when people try to pull that stuff. I mean, really, let’s all cut the 2-year-old?!

Wow, that would make me nervous to not be able to be next to Izzy and make sure she’s safe and not scared. I actually just looked up a video of the ride to see what it’s like – looks fun! Glad Aria enjoyed it!

 

[Imagineer5]

Thanks for the info & pics! I'll have to do some playing around with them before we leave. We actually leave TOMORROW! Yaaayyy!!! I have one more night shift to go and then from work I come home, get dressed, pack a few final things and then we leave. I have to catch up on your trip report later. Thanks for all your help!

WOW! Hope you have a wonderful trip! Let me know if you do a TR!

Yeah for starting this TR! You did great with how quickly you got down. I mean, while getting up at 4 is annoying you were there at 10:30 am - that's great!

Ugh, $20 to park yourself is pretty annoying - hate when hotels do that. Definitely worth the $7 to valet in that scenario

The parking fee really pisses me off at Universal! But I took that into account when doing the cost comparisons and it was still worth it. IDK why I even considered going w/o a car!

That strikes me as funny/annoying with regards to the no-pictures. I mean, I guess I get it for some of the big ones, Harry Potter stuff - especially when they are new, but really? You are losing money if someone takes a picture on the Cat in the Hat ride?

Yep I agree, It really makes no sense. even on the harry potter stuff. If someone wanted to steal their ideas all they have to do is ride it themselves? It did annoy me though - I always had my camera on me and I hated having to put it away!

That looks like you get up pretty high on that Flight of the Hippogriph ride! Much higher than Barnstormer.

Higher, faster, and longer! Granted, when I rode it in 2010 pre-Aria I remember being disappointed. But as a kid's roller coaster with Aria it felt a lot faster than I remember.

2 Other "I'm not in Disney" things I noticed were that you can definitely see the other "lands" from another - like Disney does such a great job making it so you can't see out of Tomorrowland into Adventureland or whatever. Heck, they painted the Tower of Terror the color they did because you can kind of notice it from standing in Morocco in EPCOT and they wanted it to blend in.

Other thing is their character costumes are just so chinsy compared to Disney. Oh well.

Pretty sure that construction site is for the new King Kong ride

Yes you are right. I did attempt to NOT do a mental comparison of Universal to Disney, and just enjoy the time there. But there are certainly glaring differences. THe characters were certainly not a priority, but it was fun seeing aria actually asking to meet them.

That’s awesome that Aria loved the fast coaster – raising her right! (Related: Izzy is a big fan of my Mine Train video).

Yeah! Aria LOVES that video too. Funny you mentioned that, I actually measured her last night with her cowboy boots on (she had another horseback lesson) but she is still 1/2" away. I KNOW she would stinking love it!

Annoying line-cutters! I hate when people try to pull that stuff. I mean, really, let’s all cut the 2-year-old?!

It was really weird. I felt like in general Universal-people were just NOT Disney-people. Like in terms of maneuvering a stroller around - Disney-people get it - i mean there are strollers everyhwere - whereas Universal people just find you annoying. It was hard to put my finger on it, but I was definitely yearning for the more toddler/family friendly park.

Wow, that would make me nervous to not be able to be next to Izzy and make sure she’s safe and not scared. I actually just looked up a video of the ride to see what it’s like – looks fun! Glad Aria enjoyed it!

I know!! And being so high up too. But I could have reached forward and held her hand if she was freaking out - thankfully that didn't happen though and we rode it a few more times!

 

[Imagineer5]

From there it was lunch time. First a quick stop to look at the castle - Aria wasn't nearly as excited over Hogwarts as she is over Cinderella's Castle!

The Hogsmeade eatery – The Three Broomsticks – was closed for some reason (technical malfunction in the kitchen) so I decided to hop on the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley as that is where I intended to spend Aria’s nap time anyway.

Walking to the Hogwarts Express

I am glad there was never a line for this - strollers/wheelchairs/ECV's have to get out of line to take the elevator to the platform, and the walkers all get there much more quickly.

Neat touches in the station.

We were loaded quickly onto the train, and were able to park the stroller at one end of the car we were on (on subsequent trips, a CM parked it for us).

Here we are in the compartment

Universal has the queasy stomach thing down pat, as just about every single ride makes me feel icky. Hogwarts Express also made me feel that way! But it was still a neat ride. I thought I read it was about a 15 minute ride, so I was surprised when it ended about 2/3 minutes after starting lol!

There were fireworks outside and then an "advertisement" for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was cute.

We went to the Leaky Cauldron which is a CS type place, but once you order your food an attendant brings you to a table and your food is brought to you, sort of like Be Our Guest at lunch. Very nice since it was just the two of us! It was a short (5 minute) wait to order.

Though it took a bit longer than it should have. The woman at the cash register I was directed to didn't speak english and was trying to use her AAA card to pay. It was not a credit card, but she didn't understand why it wasn't working. She eventually called a friend who brought over a CC to use.

I had a frozen butterbeer, which Aria significantly helped me finish! And a refreshing glass of white wine. Aria had chocolate milk!

She had a sip of chocolate milk but was reaching for more Butterbeer! (BTW in case you are unsure, there is no beer or alcohol in Butterbeer of course!)

For our meals, Aria got a beef pie (I think she tried 1 bite, and then ate the grapes…)

And I had the chicken sandwich (also gave Aria my bacon, she enjoyed those).

Also ordered a Pots de Chocolate to share with Aria.

Lunch was good, though I definitely find it is much easier to eat when we can be seated next to each over vs. across the table. I find it really nice when we are seated at a 4-top vs. a 2-top as she otherwise wants to get down and sit in my lap constantly.

Anyway, after lunch it was past nap time but there was 1 more thing I really wanted to do – Ollivander’s! For you non-harry potter aficionados, Ollivander is a wand-maker and they have a cute little show where one person gets to try out a few wands until the perfect wand pics them. I had heard the line for the Diagon Alley Ollivander’s was significantly less than the one at Hogsmeade, so we headed right in. Within 2 minutes though, we had to leave as Aria was TOTALLY freaked out by the “show” which basically the first wand made it lightning & thunder inside.

Walls of wand boxes-

Oh well! Instead I decided to just take a look at the wands they had in the shop. They have wands that match various characters from the books, and then wands that match up with your birthday. I first looked at Aria’s birthday wand but it had an evil skull at the end so quickly replaced that. My birthday wand was nice and simple, so I went with that one.

 

[Dugette]

Neat to see all this Universal stuff.

Glad you were able to bring your stroller on the train, but too bad it was such a short ride!

Lunch sounds nice, with them bringing the food and all. Yeah, that would be hard to be seated across from a toddler like that. Which do you prefer - Butterbeer or LeFou's Brew? Looks like Aria was enjoying it! And that dessert looks cool.

Aw, too bad she didn't like the wand show. Glad you were able to find a souvenir one, though.

 

[JulieODC]

Love all your HP pictures! It really looks so much like what I imagined when reading the books! How was the butterbeer??

To be honest, I had actually never once been to Holliston before we visited a few weeks ago! I'll PM my name, and we can connect via FB

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That's very nice that you don't have to fold up the stroller for the Hogworts Express ... kinda makes it like the monorail of Universal

Also nice that you were able to get a cold glass of wine with lunch! Given that they serve alcohol there would be cool if they offered an alcoholic version of Butter Beer (actually, they could just have a beer with butterscotch flavor to it and give it a fancy name )

Sorry to hear the wand choosing ceremony scared Aria but I can definitely understand that - sounds like something that would bother Peter too

 

[Imagineer5]

Neat to see all this Universal stuff.

Glad you were able to bring your stroller on the train, but too bad it was such a short ride!

Lunch sounds nice, with them bringing the food and all. Yeah, that would be hard to be seated across from a toddler like that. Which do you prefer - Butterbeer or LeFou's Brew? Looks like Aria was enjoying it! And that dessert looks cool.

Aw, too bad she didn't like the wand show. Glad you were able to find a souvenir one, though.

Butterbeer is really amazing!! LeFou's is good, but I don't HAVE to get it, whereas the frozen butterbeer is just too much fun.

The wand show was a little disappointing - I skipped it back in 2010 when we last went (line was like 2 hours long) so I was really looking forward to it! Oh well!

Love all your HP pictures! It really looks so much like what I imagined when reading the books! How was the butterbeer??

To be honest, I had actually never once been to Holliston before we visited a few weeks ago! I'll PM my name, and we can connect via FB

Mmm Butterbeer is great. On our first trip to see Hogsmeade (2010) I tried the frozen and regular butterbeer, and frozen definitely wins out.

There isn't much to do in Holliston so I can see that! LOL! Though I think Pajamajo (sp?) is downtown and has fantastic crepe sandwiches!

That's very nice that you don't have to fold up the stroller for the Hogworts Express ... kinda makes it like the monorail of Universal

Also nice that you were able to get a cold glass of wine with lunch! Given that they serve alcohol there would be cool if they offered an alcoholic version of Butter Beer (actually, they could just have a beer with butterscotch flavor to it and give it a fancy name )

Sorry to hear the wand choosing ceremony scared Aria but I can definitely understand that - sounds like something that would bother Peter too

Yep it was just like a monorail! Less waiting than a normal monorail though! LOL.

Actually I left my I.D. in the stroller somehow, and I was apprehensive ordering the wine but thankfully they didn't ask for it. It was very refreshing. I don't like the taste of beer, so a butterbeer flavored beer would be more up DH's alley lol.

Yeah thunderstorms at home don't seem to faze her, but fake ones do. She also doesn't like the one on the Pooh ride, but then loves the rain scene so quickly gets over it.

 

[Imagineer5]

I need some inspiration! We are doing the MNSSHP sort of last-minute as I hadn't intended to do the party but wanted to see Wishes on my birthday. I feel bad not going in costume, so I need to come up with a good family costume idea. DH is not nearly as willing to dress up as Khertz's husband who was Michael from Peter Pan last year - that was awesome... and we can't pick anything that would be too hot. I thought something like Jasmine, Aladdin and aria being Rajah or Abu would be cute, but Tiger / Monkey costumes are hot. LOL...any ideas?? Also, I don't have time to make anything so I just need to buy it.

Anyway moving on!


We then headed outside and got back to the stroller. It was definitely time for a nap and Aria was 100% excited to take a nap EVERY DAY of the trip! LOL! Like, she would help me configure the stroller laying down, grab out her muslin blanket and hop right inside. I fasten the blanket overhead and tell her good night, and she says “night night mommy” and closes her eyes. This kid loves her naps!

From there, I decided to spend some time visiting all the Diagon Alley shops – I checked out the Weasly’s Wizard Weezes emporium and ended up buying a few presents in there – a Jacob’s ladder for Aria’s stocking, Pick up sticks, an antique looking elephant on a bike, and an egg & spoon race game. They were all old fashioned type of games and seemed like they would be fun for Christmas.

The pinnacle of Diagon Alley. Every 15 minutes this bad boy shoots fire out of his mouth. It is impressive! And somehow I never got a photo of it!

There was a fountain outside of Gringotts that had this goblin standing on gold galleons.

Just some random scenery. At the top of the photo you can kind of see the roofing for the area - this is a good place if it rained!

Inside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

More of the main Diagon Alley

Then I headed over to Madame Malkin’s where they had robes for sale (nothing small enough for Aria, I looked!) and also had a side room where the Owls “slept”. They have costumes from the movies on display as well.

One place I really wanted to check out was the Magical Menagerie – the “pet shop” – which was basically all stuffed animals from the books. This was definitely on my list to revisit when Aria was awake, I didn’t want to pick one of them out for her.

It's crookshankes!

Then I strolled down the dark Knockturn Alley, which I can say Aria would HATE if she had been awake! It is very dark, dreary and a bit scary down there! I had heard reports that many people’s favorite shop was the Borgin & Burks shop in Knockturn Alley, but I didn’t find anything I like down there. Too dark for me! I’m not into wearing Azkaban shirts and Dark Marks and Death Eater stuff LOL.

Inside Borgin & Burks

At that point it was around 2:30 and I thought I should have heard about the room by then, so I decided to walk back to the resort and see about its availability.

But first, I took a quick pic of the Knight Bus. Stanley Shunpike was standing at the door taking photos, but I did not wait in line to meet him.

But I did take a pic of him meeting someone else! LOL

For some reason I decided to walk back (actually I wasn't sure if the boat allowed strollers on unfolded).

Looking back at the Universal ball

I passed the Islands of Adventure entrance

I finally made it to the front desk and waited a bit to talk to someone. It was about 3 now. Apparently MY room wasn’t available, but she was able to get into a king bedroom anyway – weird as I didn’t have any room location requests at all? I was happy to get into the room though and sit in some AC for a bit – though the room I was given seemed like it was way smaller than it should have been as it had an odd angle to one wall closing it in. At that point I didn’t care though and called for my luggage to be brought up. I parked the sleeping Aria in the stroller around the wall, and was able to completely unpack while she continued her nap.

Lots of drawer space, though that middle area was locked up?

Note the Keurig in the last photo. Universal does get its coffee right - they even have to-go cups in the rooms so you can take it with you.

My overall thoughts on the room? I wished I HAD put in room requests and done a little homework on where to request its location. I was in Tower 3, which was far from everything. I think it was the pet-friendly tower, but we never did see any dogs walking around. However the room itself despite being small was fine. Bed was comfortable, bathroom was nice, and I still thought the overall value was there with the unlimited express pass & early park entrance included.