National Lampoon's Pandemic Vacation: CBBR December 2021!

[Travelgrrl]

I went to take a smoke break, and there used to be a very pretty, tucked away spot right near the entrance to Jurassic World near Hogsmeade, but it was gone. Perhaps due to Velocicoaster, or maybe Universal is following Disney's lead in first decreasing, then eliminating smoking sections? The closest one was all the way by Mystic Fountain in Lost Continent. A 12 or 13 year old girl was there, hanging out with her mother, so after getting a discreet "OK" from the mom, I offered her something from the Ministry of Magic bag. She got a Time Turner necklace (remember the box of 20 pieces of jewelry for $7?) and was absolutely thrilled. She said: "It's my birthday today!!!" so I gave her another round in the bag and she got a pack of adorable Harry Potter stickers.

J, R, and H joined me and we watched the Mystic Fountain do its stuff. There was always a group of little kids waiting to talk with it and get squirted! We headed to the Jurassic Park Discovery Center which was just OK but afforded some hilarious photos:



We met the baby dinosaur:



And we posed for the obligatory dino shots. I'm pretty sure I nailed it.



No one wanted to ride the flume ride, and none of us were interested in queuing for Velocicoaster, so we headed out, riding Kong (terrific) and Spiderman (always great) on the way out. Then we met Betty Boop!




-10 points for fanny pack placement, + 6 points for proper foot technique!



J is doing a pretty great curtsy, considering she's wearing shorts! They had it set up great, where you had a spot to stand on, far enough from the characters, but without a rope in between.

Next up: Beach afternoon, Cuban round 2, and chasing the sun!

 

[Travelgrrl]

The kids stayed at the park, while J and I headed back to the hotel, changing into beach gear and grabbing the pool noodles. We got a nice spot in the sandy side of the pool. The Lazy River was calm and peaceful today! H was texting me asking to find them seats, which we managed to do, but by the time they got there, it was 3:00 and the area was shady! The long buildings are at an angle so by mid afternoon, you are in shade along one side of the pool, and 80% of the sandy area. The best spot is in the general area between the two Lazy River entrances, because there you've got the sun until 5:00. The other pool also has sun in most of its area far longer, but as noted it was closed all week.



When H and R arrived, we were about ready to head back to the room. I left them the noodles, trying to really interest them in the Lazy River. "I can't oversell it enough!" I kept admonishing them. J and I headed to the Food Court on the way back to the room. Everything looked yummy, but I couldn't resist getting the exact same thing I'd gotten the previous day: a pressed Cuban sandwich with home made chips and an extra side of pasta. It was delightful and made two meals and a snack. J pointed out they had 2 liter bottles of Coke, and even at $6 it was the cheapest source of pop.

Back to the room to relax, put on our night outfits, and have a picnic dinner! When H and R came back, they had ordered a bottle of Jim Beam from Instacart. It was the same price as in a store and came with two cut glass glasses. So they had room liquor while J and I contented ourselves with the booze chocolates she had!

Next up: Hogsmeade at night! Casting spells! Frozen Butterbeer! And accidentally catching the stunning castle show!

 

[Travelgrrl]

We all got ready and headed back to the parks about 5 PM and IOA was advertised as open until 8 PM. I had a black and white polka dot dress, headband and lanyard so felt pretty darned coordinated!



We brought the wands I'd gotten on Ebay to try them out. Here, R is wearing one in the wand holster which attached to his belt:



What a good sport!

We tried to make the last Grinch show but we we just missed it. I didn't realize that it's not the kind of program where you can just show up 5 minutes before showtime, due to the Bataan Death March walk from its ostensible entrance and the actual entrance to the theater. We would find that out the next day!

The weather was wonderful, balmy and warm. Hogsmeade at night was beautiful, but teeming with people as they lined up to watch the castle show.



We wandered around and did spells, with H being the best at it, often being successful on a first try after others had failed repeatedly. We rode Forbidden Journey again but had to use lockers this time due to the wands. We tried Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure but it was at 75 minutes, the same as it had been all week.

We stopped at a cart and got a frozen Butterbeer. In the past, I've sampled the cold kind (too sweet, and I don't care for cream soda, which it reminded me of), but Oh, My! the frozen butterbeer was a revelation! Staff were shuttling people in a one way out of Hogsmeade and we were slowly leaving, when we found ourselves on the end of a bridge and the castle show started! It was amazing, it wasn't that we budged anyone out of the way, there were suddenly two spots where J and H could stand (the shorties), with R and I behind. It was truly beautiful, and so fun to be sipping my delicious Butterbeer while having such an unexpected treat!





J got the best shot of the night, though:



Don't mind the hands of the doofus on the right.

Next up: Dr Seuss, National Lampoon, Harry Potter gifts and a mildly unpleasant surprise.

 

[Travelgrrl]

J and I planned to hit a few rides at Seuss landing, so the kids went off on their own. We rode the Cat in the Hat which was fun for me because I love those old timey 'cart' rides like Mr Toad. Came off the ride, ready to address the High In The Sky Trolley, only to find our that the park was now closing at 7, rather than the advertised 8, because the cheerleaders were coming from 8-10. So that was kind of a bummer. I already knew USF was closing at 7, so that was not an option, and we headed out.

I tried to mobile order Voodoo Donuts but it was too busy and they weren’t accepting more orders by then. As we crossed the walkway, there were throngs of cheerleaders and their families heading the other way. I do have to note that other than the crazily long Starbucks line in the morning at CBBR and this time when IOA closed an hour earlier than had been advertised, the cheerleaders were absolutely no problem at all.

On the bus, two pairs of old lady orthopedic type shoes, that are strangely styled like little girl Mary Janes:



J had a steps tracking app on her phone and we averaged about 7 miles of walking each day.



It was back to the hotel to relax and eat more Cuban sandwich and pasta salad! For those counting, I'm on about my 5th meal in two days of the same food. That's how delicious it was!

J and I watched "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" on the TV, hence the title of this TR. The kids returned and we had a fun rest of the night. Harry Potter gifts this evening were a Dobby pillow sleeve, luggage tags, HP glasses / lightning bolt earrings, Snitch barrettes and a patch that said "It's LeviOsa".

As usual, I refilled the Ministry of Magic bag of gifts for random kids, and got out my clothes, facemask and fannypack for Wednesday.

Not too many photos in this section (and now that I look at it, our funny shoes were from a different night, because I had a dress on but Oh Well), so here's a pretty photo that J took of the Lost Continent earlier in the evening. She's a great photographer and her FB feed is filled with fantastic shots she gets almost every day.



It had been a wonderful second day! Next up: Touring for two, USF rides we missed before (and a brand new one!), and a little freelance proofreading.

 

[Travelgrrl]

Wed, 12/8

Today the kids planned to sleep in, and have a kind of a beach day at the hotel. This made for a fun switch up of touring partners, with only J & I to hit the parks. My morning routine is ibuprofen to head off any aches, non drowsy Bonine in case of any wild rides, sunscreen, and Bodyglide if I'm wearing a dress, as I was today. It was a long soft dress of the kind of material that doesn't wrinkle and dries quickly - perfect for the next time I'm backpacking across Europe!

Of course we woke the kids up a bit when we got coffee and later when we headed out, because you have to slide open the door to get to the kitchenette and the exit door, but they were happy to greet us and accept their morning gifts. I had handmade SPEW buttons for them (shown in an earlier post), and Harry Potter replica wands for each of them: Draco's black wand for R, Tonk's wand for H as she loved that character as a child, and Luna's pretty wand for J.

It was another misty morning! We were too late for EE and too early for rope drop, so we leisurely went to Starbucks at IOA then to USF for park opening.






Earlier in the week we had seen a family at the CBBR bus stop that had customized shirts with a Harry Potter logo that said "Mischief Maker", "Mischief Manager", etc, and for the Dad: "Mischief Funder". At the gates of USF they had another family that tried to work in "Mischief Creater" and the proofreader in me had to note it.



Right before they opened the gates, they had a little girl read a welcome script which ended in “Lights, camera, action!” which was adorable!

I was determined that with our smaller party, that we would move a little faster and ride more attractions! The first one was Minions. I've never done this before because if it's early we're usually rushing to Diagon Alley and if it's later, it's usually really crowded. So we hit it right away and it was delightful! Then we did Shrek which was great as always and then Jimmy Fallon, which I enjoyed more than the first time because we had no wait at all. When H and I rode it years ago, there was an extended and tiresome 'Green Room' experience.

Our wining streak was over, as the Mummy was down! Another ride I never got to go on this trip, but no worries!

One thing I haven't mentioned was that in addition to the festive decorations in the parks, there was LOUD holiday music pulsating through every land except the Wizarding World (thank goodness for that, at least). On the other hand, it was old favorites like Brenda Lee and Andy Williams, so I generally found it festive.

One last photo, and then next up: Lunch, a show, and an old favorite ride!

 

[Travelgrrl]

J and I posed around New York:



Then we went heading towards the Simpsons area, to see if the food courts were open. On the way, we found the crepes cart near Central Park on the lagoon and since people had talked up the brisket and lemon blueberry ones, I ordered one of each. First, they were gigantic and $12 each, so I should only have gotten one. Second, although they were wrapped up in a cone, they were hard to eat, with the fillings far below and tons of crepe above. And Yeeesh! The crepe part was not the kind I've had in the past which is thin and slightly crispy on the outside - these were flabby and raw-ish and kind of gross. And there was so much of it sticking out on top.

Maybe they had forks at the cart, but I hadn't seen them and by now we were on a bench further away. I resorted to just digging through the cones to first spork up some brisket, and then finishing off with some lemon blueberry. (The fillings were in fact delicious though the crepes were awful - with high marks for the lemon meringue filling with whole blueberries and whipped cream.) J ate a little and the sight of me savaging the crepe cones for their contents was too much for her and she had to walk off for awhile. I finished gorging, feeling slightly ill myself, cleaned up, and then chatted with a Dad who sat next to me on the bench to smoke. It was only once Jeanine returned and motioned to her face did I realize that although I had nicely cleaned my hands of brisket and bbq and lemon and whipped cream, I still had a chunk of lemon meringue on my face!!! Ladylike!

J and I were hoping to catch the next Hollywood Horror Makeup Show, but since we had time we continued on towards Simpsons and she got a Bumblebee Taco. Two tacos and warm, homemade type taco chips and salsa - very delicious and far easier to eat than the dreaded crepes! While she ate, I hit the bathroom by ET, and saw there was a minimal line. So we ran to ride it! Hadn't been on this one since 2009 and it's still adorable but I don't know why they bother asking your name anymore, because even 11 years ago all you could hear was "Goodbye Bleruchgrlsnnfl" at the end and it's the same today.

We were now almost late for the Horror Makeup Show. We screamed up to the entrance with about one minute to spare and got in! A great and hilarious show (we had two male hosts), and it seemed as if the 'audience member' was a plant? In any case, towards the end the host started gently teasing a little girl in the front row and he did it over and over but she giggled every time. So that was a fun end to our morning of touring! Here's the Horror Makeup Show building (based after the Pantages Theater, I believe) at night:



Here I am on the way out, with Hello Kitty. My face is free of lemon meringue, but the bush behind me appears to be a gigantic green afro:



Next up: Poolside fun and some donut Voodoo!

 

[jcapizzi]

J and I posed around New York:

View attachment 641398

Then we went heading towards the Simpsons area, to see if the food courts were open. On the way, we found the crepes cart near Central Park on the lagoon and since people had talked up the brisket and lemon blueberry ones, I ordered one of each. First, they were gigantic and $12 each, so I should only have gotten one. Second, although they were wrapped up in a cone, they were hard to eat, with the fillings far below and tons of crepe above. And Yeeesh! The crepe part was not the kind I've had in the past which is thin and slightly crispy on the outside - these were flabby and raw-ish and kind of gross. And there was so much of it sticking out on top.

Maybe they had forks at the cart, but I hadn't seen them and by now we were on a bench further away. I resorted to just digging through the cones to first spork up some brisket, and then finishing off with some lemon blueberry. (The fillings were in fact delicious though the crepes were awful - with high marks for the lemon meringue filling with whole blueberries and whipped cream.) J ate a little and the sight of me savaging the crepe cones for their contents was too much for her and she had to walk off for awhile. I finished gorging, feeling slightly ill myself, cleaned up, and then chatted with a Dad who sat next to me on the bench to smoke. It was only once Jeanine returned and motioned to her face did I realize that although I had nicely cleaned my hands of brisket and bbq and lemon and whipped cream, I still had a chunk of lemon meringue on my face!!! Ladylike!

J and I were hoping to catch the next Hollywood Horror Makeup Show, but since we had time we continued on towards Simpsons and she got a Bumblebee Taco. Two tacos and warm, homemade type taco chips and salsa - very delicious and far easier to eat than the dreaded crepes! While she ate, I hit the bathroom by ET, and saw there was a minimal line. So we ran to ride it! Hadn't been on this one since 2009 and it's still adorable but I don't know why they bother asking your name anymore, because even 11 years ago all you could hear was "Goodbye Bleruchgrlsnnfl" at the end and it's the same today.

We were now almost late for the Horror Makeup Show. We screamed up to the entrance with about one minute to spare and got in! A great and hilarious show (we had two male hosts), and it seemed as if the 'audience member' was a plant? In any case, towards the end the host started gently teasing a little girl in the front row and he did it over and over but she giggled every time. So that was a fun end to our morning of touring! Here's the Horror Makeup Show building (based after the Pantages Theater, I believe) at night:

View attachment 641399

Here I am on the way out, with Hello Kitty. My face is free of lemon meringue, but the bush behind me appears to be a gigantic green afro:

View attachment 641400

Next up: Poolside fun and some donut Voodoo!

Really enjoying your trip report!!!!!

 

[Travelgrrl]

On way out, it was quiet at midday so we picked up some VooDoo donuts for the next couple of mornings. I got a couple of the Voodoo men that you stab with a pretzel to get out the red jelly inside, an Orangesicle which was on a stick like a popsicle, a Maple bacon, and a Portland cream. I asked if they had a business card (for a scrapbook) and the nice lady gave us a flattened extra box and a paper bag, which I did end up incorporating on a scrapbook page!





Honestly, the donuts were just OK. They looked better than they tasted. (The exception was the Portland Cream which didn't look fancy but was soft and yummy.) But we had fun goofing around with the VooDoo man and I brought one back to my Mom two days later and it was no more stale than originally, so: win?



Back at the hotel we got on swimsuits and joined R and H at their primo spots between the two Lazy River entrances. Sun for hours more there than on the other side of the pool! The Lazy River was great as always and I finally convinced the kids to try it and they liked it too. The inflatable noodles I brought were terrific.



Here's a photo of J and I poolside. I'm not sure what's more startling: my two chins, or my two girls. +10 points for the Sword of Gryffindor necklace.

Next up: Grinch show, Diagon Alley in the dark, and a light up night!

 

[Travelgrrl]

That night, I decided to celebrate my 60th birthday, which had actually been right before we left for the trip. One of my sisters gave me a rhinestone tiara that said "60"on it, and I had a blue top with silver glitter, and a light up skirt that had a NASA photo of galaxies printed on it. (Underneath was a crinoline with a series of LED lights throughout, with a tiny Off/On switch at the waistband.) Add in a galaxy print face mask and lanyard, and I was ready to get my middle age sparkle on!



I had an over the shoulder Baggelini instead of the dreaded fanny pack, and I didn't bother bringing the gifts for random children.

The kids toured on their own tonight, and J and I set off for IOA, determined to catch the Grinch show. We got there in plenty of time and entered the official entrance in Seuss Landing. I guess I knew that the new auditorium was the old Blue Man Group space near Citiwalk, but I was a little fuzzy about where that was. Turned out, we traversed a looooong and strange walk backstage to get there. But we made it, and it was worth it! (Once the show was over and it was dark, it seemed we were sent on a different, shorter route and came out somewhere else in IOA.)

The show was great and had some special effects.



I got a little teary afterwards, when they sang the final “Favoo Foray” song and it snowed!




This might seem dumb, but when I was planning the trip I considered buying tickets to the Disney after hours Christmas party for one evening, since R and J had never been to Disneyworld. (We would have Ubered over.) But thought the party offered less than previous Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties, the tickets were even more! For less time at the Magic Kingdom! It would have cost almost $1K for tickets for the four of us, and it just seemed ridiculous compared to the $475 each of us paid for hotel AND 4 day multipark tickets at Universal.

Yet I kept thinking: "I hear it SNOWS on Main Street!" and thinking how charming that would be. And here we were, hearing the Whos singing their sweet song, with snowflakes falling. Included in what we paid. No wonder I was crying with happiness!

This has gotten long so Diagon Alley at night will be next up, along with a sweet birthday gesture at the Hogwarts Express, and a magical end to the evening.

 

[Travelgrrl]

After the show, J and I walked towards Hogsmeade, to take the train to see Diagon Alley at night. We stopped on the way at Lost Continent and split a Gyro. When we got to the Hogwarts Express station the Conductor outside stopped me because he noticed my birthday tiara and went and got me a birthday button at the train station! As we boarded, he said he was putting us in a special compartment - the "B" one, for “birthday”. So we had our own compartment and I think this was the first time I had taken the Hogsmeade to London route!



The train station was decorated with students' luggage and gifts! They did warn us that USF was closing shortly after we got there, but we didn’t mind as we just wanted to experience Diagon Alley at night. Here I am, glowing in the dark.



We got lots of photos of the buildings at night and it was such a nice peaceful vibe.





Remember the cheap cardboard ‘fireworks’ glasses that I gave the first night? I brought them with and decided to use them as sort of a refractor, by just holding one lens over my phone camera lens. Some fun effects!





Next up: A lovely farewell to the park, room gifts, and reuniting with R and H!

 

[Travelgrrl]

Leicester Square was lovely at night and after a guy inadvertently jumped into our selfie, his penitent girlfriend took our picture.



The lights on the bay were pretty, too.



We wandered out of the park. It was warm and quiet and no one was rushing us to leave, although it was probably 20 minutes past park closing. So we shot a couple of night photos!






On the final leg out of the park, we passed under some kind of twinkling, streaming type lights that hung like Spanish moss. It was so magical! Each night we had something special happen: the terrific parade, the Hogwarts Castle show that we stumbled upon moments before starting, and now tonight the fantastic Grinch show and this randomly lovely walk. It was one of those moments that really take you out of yourself enough to think: "Right now, I'm truly happy".

Back to the room, the youngsters were already there. I think they went to USF in the evening, and to Citiwalk. Tonight's Harry Potter gifts were Hedwig socks for R, I Solemnly Swear socks for H, a Snitch pendant watch for J, and a little bag with a Mystery Minifigure in it for each. Donuts for a snack! I can't remember what holiday movie we watched, but there was something cute on each night.

One funny thing is that as others have noted, since there's a TV on each side, and they're set perpendicularly from each other, it's entirely possible to try to change channels in the 'living room' and end up changing the other TV's channel, too. Or turn on or off the wrong TV. Just made for a few laughs!

Next up: We tour together for our final day!

 

[Seeker615]

Love your trip report and love your HP outfits!

 

[Travelgrrl]

Thursday, 12/9

Our final day! We got up early enough for rope drop at USF. Today I just wore a normal skirt and flowered cardigan. We planned to celebrate my daughter H's birthday today! (Hers landed a couple of days after the trip.)

Morning Harry Potter gifts were a magnet that said something about "The House Elf Is Not On Duty" and a Platform 9 ¾’s keychain for R, a Hogwarts keychain and Thestral and Moaning Myrtle Lego minifigures for H, and a Marauder’s Map makeup bag and a TY stuffed owl for J.

On the bus we were seated across from several children and I leaned over to whisper to the Mom whether her child(ren) could have a gift, and she said yes. So I gave the little girl next to her something, and then the boys next to her. Turns out they were from two other families and I had accidentally given gifts to random kids! Their parents laughed and OK'd it after the fact and we all laughed at my embarrassment.

While we waited for the gates to open, H got a birthday button from park office outside USF. A different child read the opening script – not quite as professionally as the little miss from the previous day!

I insisted that we ride Minions which we all liked. I hadn't noticed these wall drawings the last time we raced through the queue:



Awwwww! Also, IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!



The kids went on Jimmy Fallon while I sat in Gramercy Park (I see I've been spelling that incorrectly this entire trip report) to try to get phone reservations for lunch and/or dinner for H's birthday. I had wanted all 4 of us to go to Toothsome's and tried to get reservations 3 months out (and practically daily ever since) and it was always booked from 3:00-10:00 PM. So I waited until we were there and landed on lunch for the 4 of us at Mythos and dinner for two at NBC Sports Grill. There was a Vikings game on that evening and I knew that the kids would really prefer to do that than dine with 2 old fogies (though they would have been cheerful to do either). I didn't know if there was a "Vikings section" but did mention that was the game they wanted to watch, in case various things were airing at the same time.

While I was making reservations and H and R went on the Fallon ride, J popped over to see if the Mummy was running, and it was not. But she made profitable use of her time!



Next up: Diagon Alley, a sweet Beauxbatons student, and more snow!

 

[OOMHS]

Fantastic trip report, so loving living vicariously through you! Great pics and commentary.

 

[Travelgrrl]

Love your trip report and love your HP outfits!

Fantastic trip report, so loving living vicariously through you! Great pics and commentary.

Thank you both so much!

 

[Travelgrrl]

The four of us made it to Diagon Alley!



I love how weathered the 'stone fountain' is behind us. Exactly as you might find in Europe. We rose Escape From Gringotts and then visited the Goblin Bank and talked to the Goblin in charge, which was a first for me. Fun! Was kind of proud of this photo:



We noodled around and looked into shops:



And I got a nice shot of the dragon fire:



We stopped at Carkitt Market and the kids got some kind of hearty ale and I got another frozen Butterbeer. While we were waiting, we found the most adorable Beauxbatons student! This was a cosplayer, not a CM. I love that Universal is less freaked out than Disney about people dressing up in costume!



We watched Celestina Warbeck do her holiday show, and it snowed again!!! I was in my glory; this time it was outdoors snow! I bought my one and only souvenir this trip, a gorgeously made but hideously expensive Gryffindor onesie for my niece's new baby:




Next up: Kings Cross Station, Pepper's Ghost, and lunch at Mythos!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Aww I love that Beauxbatons costume! Wearing those shoes to a theme park is real commitment. I keep trying to think of a subtle way I could Disbound as Tonks but it's nice to hear Universal isn't too strict about that.

 

[Travelgrrl]

You can come in full Tonks costume and no one will care. You are not supposed to pose with guests or give autographs (so the young lady above was briefly flouting that for us) but you can really wear any costume you'd like. At Disney, it's so restrictive that you literally have to have tickets for one of their Halloween parties to wear a costume if you're over 14. Obviously, subtle cosplays are OK both places.

Love Universal's take on this! There is a gathering of Harry Potter fans that used to be sanctioned and promoted by Universal (and has been unofficial since COVID) that just happened, and there were scads of people in full blown kit. I don't know if I can link to another site, but if you go to Epbot.com they have photos of some of the best costumes, and at the end there's a darling video of all of the HP looks. Including a pretty great Tonks!

 

[musika]

Late to the party but just wanted to say I've read and enjoyed your full report! Your joie de vivre comes through loud and clear

 

[Travelgrrl]

Late to the party but just wanted to say I've read and enjoyed your full report! Your joie de vivre comes through loud and clear

Well, that's about the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!