Oh It's A Jolly Holiday With Katie! - Beach Club / Grand Floridian

[Aussie Wendy]

Back from our amazing trip and all caught up with your TR. I was so annoyed I only found out about the Tangled bathrooms and all the detail in that area AFTER we got back - nooo! So now I think we have to go back again to check it out. (DH does not entirely agree!) We never seemed to be in that area when Gaston was out and about - sounds hilarious. We loved the FoF Parade. I really like the different shots you took from the Station. At BOG we ate in the Rose Room - it had great special effects and was much more quieter and more intimate than the Ballroom but I suspect you end up there later this trip? I can't believe how quiet WDW was for you. It was a lot busier the last week of October. Overall looks like an amazing day 2. Next trip we are definitely staying in the Boardwalk area. I am so jealous of your pic in France. It is a beautiful photo of you both. We had a delic dinner at Chefs de France but the crowds were super crazy by the fountain so couldn't get near it for a pic - the Photopass guy even gave up. Looking forward to hearing your take on Universal down the track. We had a ball - I think I loved it almost as much as WDW - (sshh don't tell Mickey).

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Hey! What a lovely message to come back to! I'm so glad you're enjoying it
I love that you like the British accent.. because I LOVE American accents!! We should be friends
Thanks for reading, there's more to come soon!

Did we just become best friends?? Sorry, I had to throw a Stepbrothers quote in there

Loved the update! That pizza looks amazing!! The picture with all the cheese and pepperoni off cracked me up because that has definitely happened to me before. Not cool, not cool at all

Also, my whole life is a lie because I was sure that all of the U.K. smelled of fish and chips which happens to be a delicious smell

Your pictures are so pretty! Love the one of ya'll in Italy! You are both so photogenic

 

[TheLittleKatie]

oh.....I love your fountain picture! so, so pretty!

that pizza at via Napoli looks so good, but is SO huge! I really want to eat there when we go back.

your pictures of the empty pavilions are so cool. I don't think we've ever seen it that empty anywhere in Disney!

Aww thank you! I think I'm a big advocate for PhotoPass now I love all the pictures we got, but the fountain one is definitely a favourite!

It was huuuuge! We left a slice or two I think. You should definitely try to eat there some time, it's a really fun place to be

I know right! We picked a really quiet week to travel, we were really lucky with the crowds

Just started following you on IG

Yessss I have seen! Loving your pictures , I can't get over how beautiful your little family is

Back from our amazing trip and all caught up with your TR. I was so annoyed I only found out about the Tangled bathrooms and all the detail in that area AFTER we got back - nooo! So now I think we have to go back again to check it out. (DH does not entirely agree!) We never seemed to be in that area when Gaston was out and about - sounds hilarious. We loved the FoF Parade. I really like the different shots you took from the Station. At BOG we ate in the Rose Room - it had great special effects and was much more quieter and more intimate than the Ballroom but I suspect you end up there later this trip? I can't believe how quiet WDW was for you. It was a lot busier the last week of October. Overall looks like an amazing day 2. Next trip we are definitely staying in the Boardwalk area. I am so jealous of your pic in France. It is a beautiful photo of you both. We had a delic dinner at Chefs de France but the crowds were super crazy by the fountain so couldn't get near it for a pic - the Photopass guy even gave up. Looking forward to hearing your take on Universal down the track. We had a ball - I think I loved it almost as much as WDW - (sshh don't tell Mickey).

Hahaha I agree, there's ALWAYS an excuse to go back!!! If you want to find Pascal in the Tangled bathrooms then that is definitely worth a trip back to WDW in my opinion

We didn't actually eat in the rose gallery room at BOG, we ate in the ballroom twice. Your description sounds really nice though. We really liked the ballroom, but it was very busy!

Oh my gosh I know, I have been reading the disboards a lot since I got back, and I think the crowds picked up as soon as we left, and didn't seem to subside again! I hope the weather was good for you though? It seemed like as soon as we left, it began raining all day every day in WDW! I hope you missed the worst of that!

You will love the Boardwalk / Epcot resort area! We would both highly recommend it if that's what you're thinking about for your next trip!

Ahh I'm glad there are some Universal fans reading we had a GREAT time there! Jamie actually said that the original Universal Studios park was his favourite park in Orlando..! I can definitely see why, although I wont betray Mickey! Magic Kingdom will always be the best for me

Did we just become best friends?? Sorry, I had to throw a Stepbrothers quote in there

Loved the update! That pizza looks amazing!! The picture with all the cheese and pepperoni off cracked me up because that has definitely happened to me before. Not cool, not cool at all

Also, my whole life is a lie because I was sure that all of the U.K. smelled of fish and chips which happens to be a delicious smell

Your pictures are so pretty! Love the one of ya'll in Italy! You are both so photogenic

Wow ok, since you just quoted Step Brothers.. We DEFINITELY just became best friends!!!! Such a great film!!

Hahaha I know right, I felt so goofy accidentally pulling all the cheese off my pizza.. Major face-palm! Luckily I think I managed to stay composed for some of our more 'fancy' ADRs later in the trip

Oh my gosh EWW, it does NOT smell of fish and chips here..!! Although we do have a lot of fish and chip shops I guess.. Which I actively avoid! I can't believe you people like that smell

Aww thanks so much! Although personally I don't find myself very photogenic at all! Trust me, there are MANY.. 'unflattering' photos from the trip.. But I'm going to include them anyway because I don't think any of you lovely people on the disboards would judge me

Also, thank you for catering to my love of American accents by including a "yall" in your comment Love it!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Wow ok, since you just quoted Step Brothers.. We DEFINITELY just became best friends!!!! Such a great film!!

Hahaha I know right, I felt so goofy accidentally pulling all the cheese off my pizza.. Major face-palm! Luckily I think I managed to stay composed for some of our more 'fancy' ADRs later in the trip

Oh my gosh EWW, it does NOT smell of fish and chips here..!! Although we do have a lot of fish and chip shops I guess.. Which I actively avoid! I can't believe you people like that smell

Aww thanks so much! Although personally I don't find myself very photogenic at all! Trust me, there are MANY.. 'unflattering' photos from the trip.. But I'm going to include them anyway because I don't think any of you lovely people on the disboards would judge me

Also, thank you for catering to my love of American accents by including a "yall" in your comment Love it!

I'm from Texas - ya'll is a regular part of our vocabulary. Don't know if that's something to brag about though lol

I'm going to start telling everyone I have a British BFF now They don't have to know we only know each other through the DIS!

And you are correct, we'd never judge you for a bad picture! I find it hard to believe you take unflattering photos though, you are so pretty!

Can't wait to read more of your TR!

 

[nettii]

Thank you for sharing your trip!!!:good vibes I just sat and read every bit of it and loved every second my 13 year old son even joined in on reading it with me for a while....which is amazing btw can't wait for the rest

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
(September 4th 2014)
You see, the most fantastic, MAGICAL things can happen,
And it all *ENDS* with a WISH!
Part 1 - I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!

Good morning!
I chose this little quote from Pinocchio / Wishes fireworks as the tag line for day 3 because, when switching out the word ‘starts’ with ‘ends’, it summed up our day perfectly.

We had a FANTASTIC time at Universal Orlando today, and a MAGICAL time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the brand new Diagon Alley!

The quote is also a clue as to how we spent our evening…...

But let’s start from the beginning!

We got up bright and early at 7am again today because we wanted to get into Diagon Alley and ride Escape from Gringotts first thing.
Diagon Alley had only opened a few weeks before in July, so the lines had been ridiculous.
But due to serious excitement, I woke up at around 7am on adrenaline anyway!

So we were out the door at 8am!

QUICK TIP for those visiting Universal..
IF YOU CAN, oh my goodness, DO NOT TAKE A BAG..!!!
In 2012 before every ride, we were diverted into a tiny, SUPER-CROWDED locker area where you have to store your bags and any loose items.
As the park gets busier, this is kind of a nightmare.
We seemed to spend as much time standing in line for the locker kiosks as we did in line for the rides..
But I digress.

So, as I said, we were out the door at 8am!
...
With all of our belongings stuffed into our pockets!

In 2012 we also had a bad experience with the Mears shuttle bus that took us to Universal from Port Orleans Riverside.
It was cheap at $20 each return, but it seemed to take aaaaaaaaaages to get there.
I think we got the shuttle at about 9:30am. Between picking people up from a bunch of other resorts, and dropping off at Sea World, Discovery Cove AND Aquatica, we didn'’t get to Universal until around 11:30am!

So we weren'’t keen on doing that again. We thought we’'d suck it up and pay a little more for a direct taxi.

It can'’t be THAT much more, SURELY???!

The valet at the Beach Club called us a taxi, we were on the road for 8:15am and reached Universal by 8:30am!

SUPER!!

Until we saw the meter…

$40 !?!?!?!

FOR A 15 MINUTE JOURNEY!!!

Is this acceptable in the USA?!

THAT’S $80 IN ONE DAY
JUST ON HALF AN HOURS WORTH OF TAXIS.

We were kind of annoyed.
But HEY.
WE’RE IN FLORIDA.
So life is good.

We quickly got over it.

We were really excited for Universal.
We only visited Islands of Adventure last time.
So this was actually my first time back at the original Universal Studios park in about 10 years, and Jamie'’s first time EVER!

We went over the moving walkways and took a stroll through City Walk.
(I cannot believe there is a CINNABON there. I had to be dragged away.)

(This video is for me, and anyone else to enjoy a bit of Universal Studios entrance music from Harry Potter, ET, Back to the Future and Beetlejuice whilst reading!)

Look at that sky!

We were through the turnstiles at 8:45am. I didn'’t think they would let us into the park until 9am, so things were looking good for our early Gringotts ride!

We took a right as we entered the park and strolled through Hollywood and the Kidzone onto the London waterfront.

If you didn’'t know it was there, you could easily miss Diagon Alley..!
It’s completely concealed by Leicester Square station and Kings Cross.

So at this point, we decided to head straight over to Gringotts, and to explore Diagon Alley once we had ridden the ride.

Which was really hard to do!

Diagon Alley is TOO COOL to walk straight through!

But we made it.

We got in line for Escape from Gringotts at 8:55am and the wait time was posted at 30 minutes.

This was awesome considering the line had been SEVEN HOURS long a few weeks before!

In actual fact, we waited for 20 minutes, including the preshow, so it was well worth the early morning.

Before our trip I’'d heard that the ride was breaking down a lot, and I was surprised that we seemed to be constantly moving through the queue without any noticeable ‘break-down stops’.

But sure enough, as we sat down and got buckled into the ride vehicle.. we waited.. and waited..
It seemed like Voldie had been up to mischief down in the vaults, so eventually we had to get out of the car and back onto the platform while some technical issues were resolved.

But we didn'’t wait long!

I wonder what happens within the ride when you break down? I mean, what do they show on the 3D screens when you’re sat stationary?

Escape from Gringotts was AMAZING!!!!
I don’'t want to give away too much for those of you who haven’t ridden it yet. But it was so exciting, and the technology behind it is really clever.
Although I must admit, I still prefer the Forbidden Journey ride in the other park.
But I don’t want that to negate anything from Gringotts.
It really was incredible!!

The gift shop at the end of the ride is also pretty cool. I liked this feature on the ceiling.
Also, the cute star lights that are hanging from the ceiling are really similar to the ones you can find in the Mexico pavilion at Epcot!

(Photo on the right is from La Hacienda De San Angel in 2012)

It made me wonder if there’s an Orlando ‘star supplier’ that I can order some from..
They're adorable.

RIGHT!

Back to Diagon Alley!

Basically I just love how crooked everything is.

Straight in front there is Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour.
We didn'’t try anything, and it is one of my biggest regrets in life. I’'ve heard great things!

And of course, there’s THIS GUY !!

If you cut straight across the front of Gringotts and past Florean'’s you can take a look down Knockturn Alley.
This is the only picture I got down there, it was really dark and creepy.

It’s made to look like it’s outdoors at night-time. If you look up, it’s like a cloudy night sky.

I’m sure there were some weird decapitated heads in a window that were singing a song about toad in the hole or something.

Seriously.

edit: I found it on YouTube!

The heads also sing ‘Show me the way to go home’ – which is a song from Jaws, and a little nod to the attraction that Diagon Alley replaced.
I hate Jaws.
But I still thought that was nice.
(Again, not my video)

The other opening to Knockturn Alley brings you out here!

This guy BREATHES FIRE.

I know right.

But they make it excruciatingly difficult to predict when it’s going to happen.

I tried to catch it on video for a while, but to no avail.
It only happens for a split second, so if you’re not ready with your camera, it ain’'t happening.

But maybe I got a photo of it when we visited the following week……. MAYBE.

Jamie and I were laughing at the potential catastrophe this fire-breathing dragon could cause if it encountered some sort of malfunction.

(Yes, it does breathe fire downwards towards the street..)

We had a look in the Magical Menagerie where you can buy all sorts of magical pets, such as three headed dogs, phoenixes, pygmy puffs, etc, and in Weasleys Wizard Wheezes at the magical joke supplies.

Then we headed around the back of the other side of Diagon Alley, which is called Carkitt Market, and bought some pie for the evening....

We bought a bottle of plain Gilly water and stopped for a few minutes to absorb our surroundings!
I really wish I'’d taken more photos and videos of the details.
One thing I can describe to you though, is the interactive wands we saw a lot of people using!
These looked really fun.
Basically, if you wave your wand a certain way at a certain thing, something magical happens.

We noticed the following:
1. All the lanterns in a shop window lighting up.
2. Rain starting to fall from an umbrella above the street.
3. Drinking water being summoned from the Mermaid Fountain..

But we think this made the mermaid angry, as she spat water from the top of the statue all over the poor father who was taking photographs of his son performing his magic..!!

We absolutely LOVVVEEEEDDD Diagon Alley!
Now I will definitely be incorporating Universal Orlando into my future trips!

So just before 10am we said goodbye to Diagon Alley (for now!)

I opened up the wall for us using my wand (that I had morphed into a Gilly water bottle. I learnt how to do this in Professor McGonagall'’s Transfiguration class. I know, I’m awesome.)

(And don’'t ask me what I used to perform the spell onto my own wand. GREAT wizards never reveals their secrets.)

And with that, we headed back out into the muggle world.


Click for Day 3, Part 2!​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
(September 4th 2014)
You see, the most fantastic, MAGICAL things can happen,
And it all *ENDS* with a WISH!
Part 2 - Travelling to Far Far Away, the Sahara Dessert, outer space, and into the future.

Next we headed out of the London waterfront area and around the lake to TRANSFORMERS!

And it was a walk-on, wooo!

As we got into our car the safety lap-bar came down, and the cast member kept saying, “"Don’'t fall for it…. Don’'t fall for it.”"
I was like huh..? But then he loudly stated, “"OK guys put your seatbelts on!”"

And of course.. I fell for it.

I was looking around for my seatbelt starting to freak that I didn'’t have one!
As did a couple of other people in the car.
And the cast members laughed at us as our car moved away from the platform.

Haaaa.

This was another 3D ride, but for goodness sake, it was SO jerky.
Everything at this park seemed so jerky.
But it was fun.

After Transformers we had a look at a couple of shops in Production Central.

Here I’'d like to point out that Jamie and his friends watch this silly TV show called Facejacker. It’s basically just like the scenes in Jacka$$ when they do full body costumes and special effects make-up to prank people.
Their favourite character on Facejacker is called Brian Badonde.
This is him.

Jamie imitates him ALL the time and it drives me absolutely crazy.
But I couldn'’t deny that this t-shirt was hilariously perfect for him..

We went to Despicable Me, but the line was 45 minutes.

So we headed over to Rip Ride Rockit instead.

For goodness sake.

Again.

Now I am a serious adrenaline junky.
I will happily ride things like Rock ‘'n'’ Roller Coaster over and over again and have a GREAT time.

I HATED RIP RIDE ROCKIT.

Basically, ever since I was a kid, I’'ve felt REALLY unsafe on any uphill climb of any rollercoaster.

Of course, the logical part of my brain that understands basic physics knows that, if we encountered a major malfunction, we would just slide back down the hill. But for some reason this knowledge never makes me feel any less tense.

Rip Ride Rockit, however, is a completely different story!

Yes, that vertical part is THE ASCENT.

I felt SO unsafe !!! And it seemed to take forever to get to the top.

I was so overcome with terror I couldn’'t even pick a song to play into my headrest during the ride…!!!

So I had some rubbish default track that I couldn'’t even sing along to.

The ride was long, and it’'s good that you get to see so much of Universal while you’'re up there. And it must be fun to have a familiar song playing into your seat.
If it wasn'’t for the vertical ascent I would'’ve loved this ride.

But I just felt so unsafe, and thus terrified for the rest of the ride, I couldn’'t enjoy it, and it was a disaster.

So that is the end of that.

(Me getting off the ride..)

Next we hit up Shrek 4D to calm me down a bit!!

This was cute. It'’s one of those short 3D movies in a theatre where the seats move and stuff.

But the next attraction was one of my favourite rides in the park, and appeared to be one of the most under-appreciated..

The Mummy!

There seemed to be no queue all day. And I just can’t understand why.
I am not a fan of the movie, but I loooove this ride!
Although it may not seem like it from my Rip Ride Rockit story, I am much more partial to a thrilling coaster type ride rather than a 3D simulator ride.

The Mummy has some great theming and special effects, and is just all-round FUN.

Plus one of the Mummy animatronics at the beginning had a Universal Studios baseball cap on, which was amusing.

After our trip through the Sahara Dessert, we walked back down to Despicable Me, because I wanted to look around the gift shop.

Everything was pretty expensive, and since I already own 4 Minion soft toys (I am an adult I swear..) I didn'’t buy anything.

But our timing was great because two Minions were meeting and greeting at the back of the store!

Yay!

(As I'm writing this, I've realised that I was kind of dressed up as a Minion..?!?!?! - This was completely unintentional, I swear!!)

Next stop (11:30am): ET!

I loved this as a kid. I remember standing in line for over an hour for it.

So I was happy to see this fabulous wait time.

(And as a bonus, it was actually a walk on!)

I used to love that they took your name before the ride, and ET would personally thank you at the end!

But because it was so quiet, no one was working in the queue taking names.. BOOO!

On the ride, you have to fly a surrey bike-type vehicle up into the sky and send ET home and save his friends.
The ET music throughout the ride gives me shivers and makes me emotional!

Even though visiting ET's home planet is extremely surreal and trippy.. the ride is adorable.

Next we went to see when the next showing of Animal Actors was!
It wasn'’t until 12:45pm, which was perfect because we were getting hungry, so it gave us enough time to eat first.
So we started heading towards the Simpsons area, as we’'d spotted Krusty Burger earlier in the day.

Only, on our way we ran into someone EXTRA SPECIAL..
There was NO WAY I wasn'’t stopping for a photo with THIS GUY..

THE DOC!!!

Look at the delight on my face haha!

I’'m a huuuge Back to the Future fan so this was the best thing ever. He was really fun. I love that the picture also has the DeLorean to the side, and the flux capacitor behind us.

AMAZING.

So after feeling very star-struck, I managed to compose myself, and we continued on our journey in search of Krusty Burger deliciousness.

I think we’re getting closer!

Hey heyyyy!

Although this is obviously NOT fine dining by any means, we both really enjoyed Krusty Burger!
It was air conditioned and quiet inside, and I really liked that you could choose from a bunch of different themed quick service counters.
Next to the Krusty Burger counter were also, Cleetus'’ Chicken Shack, The Frying Dutchman and Luigi’'s Pizzeria. You can get healthier options like sandwiches from Lisa'’s Teahouse, drinks from Flaming Moe's, and plenty of sweetness from Lard Lad Donuts!
All while Simpsons cartoons are playing on screens around the diner.

I am, by no means, a food critic; to me food comes under the headings ‘great’, ‘meh’, or ‘bad’.
And to me, these burgers were GREAT!
When I’m burning a lot of energy walking around the parks I often crave some greasy, fatty goodness.
(Although this quickly dwindled in our trip, as you'’ll soon see.)

I had the Krusty Burger, of course.

And Jamie had the Clogger Burger (a double burger with cheese and bacon.)
We couldn'’t work out if the name ‘Clogger Burger’ had some implication that it would ‘clog’ your arteries..??!!
We couldn'’t think what else it would be named after!
If it is, it’'s kind of outrageous, but also kinda funny.

We finished our burgers and relaxed for a little bit, and at around 12:30pm we left for Animal Actors!

Of course, I stopped to take a couple more pictures of these on the way.

We got some really good seats at Animal Actors, front and center with no one blocking our view, yay!

I knew we were both going to love this show.
Jamie and I are SERIOUS animal lovers, particularly dogs.

As soon as we sat down, a little pre-show act came running out!

The real show is pretty much summed up by the title ‘Animal Actors’, so here are a few photos and videos.

This show was HILARIOUS. We absolutely loved it.
When I asked Jamie if he would rather ride Escape from Gringotts or watch Animal Actors, he said Animal Actors!!!

The dogs were sooo gorgeous and well behaved!
They got a bit ahead of their cues sometimes, but my family’'s Weimaraner, Stanley, is reallyyy playful and cheeky, so compared to what I’'m used to, they were absolute saints!

I'’ve actually seen a version of Animal Actors on YouTube that involved an Orangutan..
THAT would have been awesome. They'’re possibly the only animal I prefer to dogs, but I’'ve never seen one up close before!
Hopefully next time there’'s an Orangutan trying to break into acting.

But still, this was definitely a highlight for us!

Click for Day 3, Part 3!​

​

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

LOVE all your pics of Diagon Alley! I want to go see it soooooooooo bad. I am a huge, huge, huge Harry Potter fan. I got to see Hogsmeade and ride Forbidden Journey a few years back and it was so amazing! As much as I love WDW, I have to admit that they don't have anything right now in WDW that can compare to how incredible Forbidden Journey is. I don't know the next time I will be back so I am going to live vicariously through your pictures! Also, very impressive bit of magic using your gillywater wand - Hermione would even be impressed! I am not a huge Universal fan but the HP stuff alone compels me to go back there Of course, last time I was there I only went to IoA and not Universal, I think I might like Universal a little better!

Also, great pic with the minions! They are so cute! My son loves the Despicable Me movies - well, who am I kidding? So do I I know he would love to go there just for that!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
(September 4th 2014)
You see, the most fantastic, MAGICAL things can happen,
And it all *ENDS* with a WISH!
Part 3 - Saving the world from Sideshow Bob, aliens, Dementors, and natural disasters.

After Animal Actors, we walked up the street to…...

(Mouthception..)

We did the Simpsons ride, which was really fun. It’'s another simulator ride, but on a really huge scale. I think it'’s kind of like Soarin', with huuuuuge screens all around you. The dialogue is really funny too, you can’t really go wrong with this ride!

Next we carried on up to Men in Black.
But of course, Jamie had to stop here..

He loved these cooling mist fans.

While he was cooling off, I took some photos.

We’'re here!!

As I mentioned before, Jamie and I love a good shoot out game!
Men in Black is pretty different from Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story Mania though.
You work as a team in your car versus another car, as well as gathering your own points.
There are alien animatronics that you have to shoot around the eye area.
But both the aliens, and the opposing team can shoot at your car to make you spin out, which loses everybody points.

There is also an announcement at the beginning to NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, press the red button in front of you..
Jamie and I both completely missed everything related to this red button, and played the whole game without really noticing it was even there.

But when we visited next week, maybe one of us did the unimaginable and pressed it..
MAYBE.

But anyway, Jamie completely annihilated me at Men in Black.

Boooooo.

By this point it was 2pm, and we decided to leave the fun and games behind, act responsible and head back to school for the semester.

We went to the station and through platform 9¾ with our luggage.

(The usual "not my video" disclaimer.)

And I couldn'’t forget my owl.

And we waited for our train.

Thanks Orlando, it'’s been fun!
But now it’'s time to go back to reality.

Okayyy okayyy I lied to you guys.

I never got my Hogwarts letter.
The owl that was carrying it must be lost somewhere.
I was just going to visit my BFFs, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

The Hogwarts Express was REALLY special !!!
It'’s so similar to the old-fashioned train you see in the movies.
If I had to say something negative, it would be that the compartment was a little/very cramped and hot.
This was exacerbated by the man next to me, who was sat with his legs AS WIDE APART AS HE COULD POSSIBLY STRETCH THEM.
His sweaty, hairy leg was literally pressed up against mine..

You can only ride the train if you have a 2-park ticket, since it takes you over to Islands of Adventure.
To be honest, this was a really smart way for Universal to encourage people to splash out on more tickets.

Rather than looking out of the window at the backstage areas of Universal, the window is actually a screen that shows the journey through the countryside to Hogwarts.

We arrived in Hogsmede and walked up to the castle to meet Harry and co. Harry had texted me to say he had some kind of Forbidden Journey he needed my help with, and I was more than happy to oblige.

I really love this ride. Like I said before, I prefer it to Escape from Gringotts.
Every time I ride it, I am overcome with screams of terror and hysterical laughter! It really is a rollercoaster of emotions.

Isn'’t it prettyyyy.

Once I had said goodbye to Harry, we decided to save the rest of Islands of Adventure for next week, and we hopped straight back on the Hogwarts Express to Kings Cross.

We then made the impulsive decision to check out ‘Disaster! - –A Major Motion Picture Ride... …Starring You!’

This was a great decision.

It is essentially a demonstration of how special effects are filmed for movies.

You start off with casting, where a bunch of people are selected from the crowd to star in the movie.
I would’'ve looooved for Jamie to have been picked, but unfortunately we were the last ones in so we were stood right at the back where the casting guy couldn'’t see us.

This guy was so funny by the way. He was definitely the highlight of the show.

After casting, we moved into the next room for filming.
This basically makes all of the participants look really goofy, where they have to act over the top terrified and do slow motion reactions.. It was really funny to watch!

My favourite line from the director was to the elderly participant who was playing Grandma, to whom he said,

“"Look up at the light Grandma, keep looking up at the light, just don'’t go into the light..”"

Haha!

Am I a bad person for laughing at that?!?

After filming we moved into the next room for some group filming in an underground subway scene..

Which I IMMEDIATELY recognised as the old Earthquake ride from when I was a kid!!

Once the subway station had collapsed around us and we had filmed our best reactions, we were set up to watch the final cut of our movie ‘Mutha Nature’ on the screens..

But for some reason, they used the wrong film, and none of the actors were the ones we had been filming!!
Which kinda sucked.

But overall it was a great experience!

After Disaster we walked down to our last attraction of the day…

And I spotted this..

This prompted Jamie and I to burst into Arrested Development quotes.

(This was too long to include, but too great not to include..! AD fans - CLICK)

…
Despicable Me!

I love that this is themed as Gru'’s house.

This is another 3D simulator ride where you have to go through Minion training!

In my opinion, this wasn'’t as good as the Simpsons simulator ride.. But it was still really fun.
And who doesn'’t love those little Minions?!

When we got out of Despicable Me it was around 4:15pm and it was just starting to rain, so we decided to head back to the Beach Club (in another $40 taxi… - WAAH).

When we paid the taxi driver, Jamie realised he had lost $20 from his pocket!!
If you remember yesterday, he dropped $60 in the Magic Kingdom!! Although some lovely people chased after us to return it.
But still! What a goof!

When we got back to the room, Jamie did some.. interesting.. stretches…..

And I ended up falling asleep whilst watching a show about Big Foot.
(Of course, no one found Big Foot.. Hence me falling asleep.)

So we rested up for a while, as we had some night-time spectaculars to watch later in the evening!


Click for Day 3, Part 4!​

​

 

[ursalita]

I continue to LOVE your photographs of the parks.

We have an ADR for lunch at San Angel Inn and I think I might have to switch that to Via Napoli. I have a dinner ADR at Biergarten which I can't switch because it's DH Jamie's favorite restaurant. Sausage! I was torn between Mexican and Italian for our other ADR and I let him choose. I'm sure San Angel is good but I think I'll have to override him and go with VIa Napoli. You make it sound so great!

I'm so glad you're sharing your day at Universal. My kids are still young so we're not ready for Universal yet but I can't wait to visit when they're older. They've only read the first 3 books and seen 2 movies but I'm sure we will be thrilled to visit the Harry Potter attractions someday.

Blue Man Group! It's funny to see them in Florida, I thought they were a Boston thing.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[beckykarstetter]

Yay! More posts from Katie! You both look like you had so much fun.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

"But let’s start from the beginning!" Awesome idea!!

"IF YOU CAN, oh my goodness, DO NOT TAKE A BAG..!!!" This is the best advice for Universal EVER!!!!! And FYI... On my Universal day I went bag-less. I have spent way too much time in the past dealing with those lockers. Never again!

Oh Lord, stopping at Sea World, Discovery Cove AND Aquatica. YIKES!

Oh man they really did a job on this. My previous time there was 2012 so this was all still in progress. But WOW the London Façade is so well done. And YES, Diagon Alley is so well hidden, and when I visited in Sept., they needed a TM out front pointing it out.

YUP!!!! Escape is great, but surprisingly, FJ still is better in my opinion. It actually seems to be a common opinion too which make me feel better.

HAHAHAHA, the Dragon is actually SOOOOO entertaining. Well, more the people trying to catch the fire breathing moment. I swear, he would breath fire, and directly after a hundred cameras up in the air... waiting... and waiting... and waiting... Cracked me up every single time. Of course, I love watching people act unintentionally foolish. I guess they figured they're in Wizarding World, surely they can take a picture in the past.

Rip Ride Rockit does feel unsafe... and for good reason. That's all I'll say about that...

THE MUMMY!!!!! Unappreciated????? Not by me!!! I'm delighted when the queue is empty. MORE FOR ME!!!! One of my absolute favourite rides in all of Orlando theme parks. It used to be my top favourite until Manta opened at SeaWorld. Freaking LOVE THIS RIDE!!!!

I remember when the Simpsons ride was Back to the Future.

ALWAYS press the red button... ALWAYS!

HAHAHAHA, I remember the first time seeing Disaster. The "older lady" was sitting directly behind us on the tram. After her "part" at the end she exclained, "THEY BLEW ME UP!!!!". I just about died. That sucks that you didn't get your actors in the movie.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

How did I miss this update? We haven't been to universal for years. Your pictures are making me want to squeeze it in to our next trip for sure!

I love all the Harry potter things! That looks like you walked right into the books! And the dragon from gringotts--perfect!

I love the minions and the Simpsons areas. Our girls would die for a chance to get their picture taken with the minions! (Maybe me too.....)

I hope one of you did press the red button because I don't remember that and I'm dying to know what happens!

Minus the expensive cab ride and losing $20, it seems like an amazing day!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

I'm from Texas - ya'll is a regular part of our vocabulary. Don't know if that's something to brag about though lol

I'm going to start telling everyone I have a British BFF now They don't have to know we only know each other through the DIS!

And you are correct, we'd never judge you for a bad picture! I find it hard to believe you take unflattering photos though, you are so pretty!

Can't wait to read more of your TR!

Haha I know! There is nothing wrong with only knowing each other through the DIS though we will have to go to WDW at the same time and do a little DIS meet up, as long as you agree to throw in a few "ya'll"s here and there ..!

Do you have any WDW plans in the pipeline ?! We're starting to think about when we might go again.. I have Disney withdrawal already!

Awww that's so sweet, thank you!! I definitely take plenty of bad photos though Splash Mountain is my favourite ride and I tend to make the hasty decision to ride it as soon as we get to MK.. resulting in my hair being a frizzy, humid mess for the rest of the day but it's definitely worth it!

Thank you for sharing your trip!!!:good vibes I just sat and read every bit of it and loved every second my 13 year old son even joined in on reading it with me for a while....which is amazing btw can't wait for the rest

Hellooo and Aww that's so nice! Thank you And I'm so glad you both enjoyed it I'll try and get some more up this week

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[TheLittleKatie]

LOVE all your pics of Diagon Alley! I want to go see it soooooooooo bad. I am a huge, huge, huge Harry Potter fan. I got to see Hogsmeade and ride Forbidden Journey a few years back and it was so amazing! As much as I love WDW, I have to admit that they don't have anything right now in WDW that can compare to how incredible Forbidden Journey is. I don't know the next time I will be back so I am going to live vicariously through your pictures! Also, very impressive bit of magic using your gillywater wand - Hermione would even be impressed! I am not a huge Universal fan but the HP stuff alone compels me to go back there Of course, last time I was there I only went to IoA and not Universal, I think I might like Universal a little better!

Also, great pic with the minions! They are so cute! My son loves the Despicable Me movies - well, who am I kidding? So do I I know he would love to go there just for that!

I just replied to one of your comments in my previous post, then spotted this one too

I'm glad you like the pictures, although to be honest they don't do justice to Diagon Alley! Ahh at least you've done Hogsmede and Forbidden Journey. Like I said in my post, I think I prefer Forbidden Journey to Escape from Gringotts. But as a huge Harry Potter fan you should definitely try and see it sometime! (also, just to build upon our new DIS-friendship, I also love Harry Potter, and I listen to the audiobooks when I have to drive long-distance by myself )

I know exactly what you mean, I am a WDW girl through and through, but they definitely need a couple more thrill rides. Because that's the main reason Jamie and I visit Universal, for a bit of a 'bigger thrills' day.

Ahh yes, in my personal opinion, the Universal Studios park is much stronger than IoA! We went back to do IoA later in the trip, and only spent a couple of hours there before heading back over to US

And I was so overjoyed to meet those Minions!! They're too cute.
Did you hear, there's a new Despicable Me spin-off movie coming out, it's called 'Minions'.. I can't wait!! I bet you and your little man would enjoy it

I continue to LOVE your photographs of the parks.

We have an ADR for lunch at San Angel Inn and I think I might have to switch that to Via Napoli. I have a dinner ADR at Biergarten which I can't switch because it's DH Jamie's favorite restaurant. Sausage! I was torn between Mexican and Italian for our other ADR and I let him choose. I'm sure San Angel is good but I think I'll have to override him and go with VIa Napoli. You make it sound so great!

I'm so glad you're sharing your day at Universal. My kids are still young so we're not ready for Universal yet but I can't wait to visit when they're older. They've only read the first 3 books and seen 2 movies but I'm sure we will be thrilled to visit the Harry Potter attractions someday.

Blue Man Group! It's funny to see them in Florida, I thought they were a Boston thing.

Can't wait to read more!

Hi Colleen! By the way, I was reading your PTR the other day, it looks really fun to do, I might write one if we get another trip planned! Also, your trip in April will come around so quickly! I bet you're getting excited

Ooh that sounds like a hard choice. I haven't eaten at San Angel Inn before, but I LOVE Mexican food. And I also love Via Napoli! I guess you won't know what food you'll fancy until the day which makes it difficult.. I'm sure you'll enjoy either option though!

Your boys will love Universal! The attractions are definitely more intense than at WDW, so I think you're smart to save it for when they're a little older. I don't think you have to have read all the books or seen all the films to enjoy the Harry Potter area

Aww thanks!!! I'll hopefully get some more up this week!

Yay! More posts from Katie! You both look like you had so much fun.

Hey! Thanks! We had a great day
I've just noticed your ticker... What dates are you staying at the Poly..?! We've been discussing the possibilities of another trip, maybe around the 23rd or 24th of September.. Also for the Poly!

"But let’s start from the beginning!" Awesome idea!!

"IF YOU CAN, oh my goodness, DO NOT TAKE A BAG..!!!" This is the best advice for Universal EVER!!!!! And FYI... On my Universal day I went bag-less. I have spent way too much time in the past dealing with those lockers. Never again!

Oh Lord, stopping at Sea World, Discovery Cove AND Aquatica. YIKES!

Oh man they really did a job on this. My previous time there was 2012 so this was all still in progress. But WOW the London Façade is so well done. And YES, Diagon Alley is so well hidden, and when I visited in Sept., they needed a TM out front pointing it out.

YUP!!!! Escape is great, but surprisingly, FJ still is better in my opinion. It actually seems to be a common opinion too which make me feel better.

HAHAHAHA, the Dragon is actually SOOOOO entertaining. Well, more the people trying to catch the fire breathing moment. I swear, he would breath fire, and directly after a hundred cameras up in the air... waiting... and waiting... and waiting... Cracked me up every single time. Of course, I love watching people act unintentionally foolish. I guess they figured they're in Wizarding World, surely they can take a picture in the past.

Rip Ride Rockit does feel unsafe... and for good reason. That's all I'll say about that...

THE MUMMY!!!!! Unappreciated????? Not by me!!! I'm delighted when the queue is empty. MORE FOR ME!!!! One of my absolute favourite rides in all of Orlando theme parks. It used to be my top favourite until Manta opened at SeaWorld. Freaking LOVE THIS RIDE!!!!

I remember when the Simpsons ride was Back to the Future.

ALWAYS press the red button... ALWAYS!

HAHAHAHA, I remember the first time seeing Disaster. The "older lady" was sitting directly behind us on the tram. After her "part" at the end she exclained, "THEY BLEW ME UP!!!!". I just about died. That sucks that you didn't get your actors in the movie.

Hahaha Robbbb thanks for pointing out how goofy I sound..!!!

The Universal lockers are a problem! And there's always THAT GUY who forgets their locker number and spends ages at the kiosk while everyone waits behind them.. (yes, I was THAT GUY later in the trip.. ) Shame on me!

And yes, I was also that guy that held the camera up waiting for some dragon action! DOUBLE SHAME ON ME! I only did it when it hadn't happened in a while though.. I also saw people holding their cameras up as soon as it was over, that was kinda hilariously stoopid

Oh my goodness.. Your comment about Rip Ride Rockitt intrigued me.. I looked it up and I found a news story about the train breaking down ON THAT VERTICAL HILL... FOR TWO HOURS.. Is that what you were talking about? Or is there something worse?! I would literally cry if I was stuck on that hill..

Exactly!! The Mummy is amazing!! I was so confused as to why there was no line??! But I'm not complaining, it means that you and I can ride The Mummy round and round while everyone else waits hours in line for Gringotts/Simpsons/Despicable Me

I haven't been to Sea World since 2001 so I haven't done Manta yet! I think I'll go next time though. But I'm not sure. To me, one of the big draws of Sea World was the Shamu show, but now that (rightfully) the trainers don't go into the water with them, I'm just a little less excited by Sea World. I'd really like to ride Manta and Kraken though

I actually remember the Back to the Future ride, very vaguely though, I haven't ridden it since the 90s! I think there was a dinosaur..?! I don't know. I LOVE BACK TO THE FUTURE. I'm so glad you can at least meet the Doc

I don't know why, but we were both completely oblivious to the red button!! I think we were discussing a very in-depth strategy! We noticed it the following week though..

I love that anecdote about Disaster!! It was a shame we didn't get to see our own movie, but the filming part was still hilarious, and made the whole experience worth it!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

How did I miss this update? We haven't been to universal for years. Your pictures are making me want to squeeze it in to our next trip for sure!

I love all the Harry potter things! That looks like you walked right into the books! And the dragon from gringotts--perfect!

I love the minions and the Simpsons areas. Our girls would die for a chance to get their picture taken with the minions! (Maybe me too.....)

I hope one of you did press the red button because I don't remember that and I'm dying to know what happens!

Minus the expensive cab ride and losing $20, it seems like an amazing day!

Hey Lori! You would love the Harry Potter areas! And I bet Hannah and Madison would love Despicable Me! The ride is great, and there's a little dance party at the end which is really cute They would probably want to buy EVERYTHING from the gift shop too so much good merchandise!

Ahhh don't worry.. We noticed the red button when we returned the following week but I'll tell you now.... there were tantrums from one of us...!!!!

joining in

Hello! And Thanks for joinging in, I hope you enjoy it

 

[han22735]

Joining in as well. Love the TR so far!! We are heading back to the world 9/9-9/19 so I'm excited to see the low crowds!!

 

[Leshaface]

Woah! 40 bucks one way does sound like quite a bit! I'm wondering if a one day car rental would be cheaper?!?

Oh my gosh, Diagon Alley looks absolutely amazing! The imagineers did such a great job, from the looks of it.

And the fire breathing dragon on top of Gringotts is pretty darn cool

On RipRide Rocket, you get to choose your own music?! How are you able to do that, is there a screen in front of you? Is it like Top 40 type music? Or do you even know since you were probably closing your eyes the whole time

How cute, you were definitely Minion-like!

I love that they still have ET. I really enjoyed it when they had it at Universal Hollywood waaay back in the day.

The DOC!!! My DH would FLIP! Speaking of BttF, I found the cutest Valentine's day card on Pinterest that says on the front, "You're my density" on the front and on the inside it says, "I mean, my destiny" that i'm totally giving him. He'll appreciate it!

OH MY GOODNESS THAT PUG IN A SUIT! I have a Pug named Percy (from Pocahontas of course ) that i'm obsessed with. What a fun show!

What in the world...what kind of stretches are those?

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

And yes, I was also that guy that held the camera up waiting for some dragon action! DOUBLE SHAME ON ME! I only did it when it hadn't happened in a while though.. I also saw people holding their cameras up as soon as it was over, that was kinda hilariously stoopid

Haha, for the Dragon/camera stuff, I was totally only referring to those who popped the camera right after. I absolutely did it when it hadn't gone off in a while, so you're not lumped in with "them".

Oh my goodness.. Your comment about Rip Ride Rockitt intrigued me.. I looked it up and I found a news story about the train breaking down ON THAT VERTICAL HILL... FOR TWO HOURS.. Is that what you were talking about? Or is there something worse?! I would literally cry if I was stuck on that hill..

I'd say potentially worse. Within a year of it opening (and I had ridden it by this point) it shut down for "routine maintenance" for an extended period of time. It seems the builder of this coaster alerted customers (including universal) that used the particular cars used in that ride that they were flawed. This was back in 2010, and the ride was down for months. I don't actually recall if I've ridden it since.