Oh, The Places We’ll Go! From the “stars” to the “sea”: Universal, SeaWorld & beyond - Spring 2016

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

A Giraffe can lick the inside of it's own ears.

And here I thought it was impressive that I can touch my nose with my tongue!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thursday, April 28th: continued (again)




The boys wanted to catch some of the characters in the Marvel area after lunch, but we had a little bit of time to kill before they arrived for their next session of meet-and-greets. While we waited, we decided to head back over to the games to see if the sledge hammer kiosk was back in operation. As we approached, we noticed that the guts of the machine were tucked back inside and all appeared to be back to normal after the morning’s breakdown.


Steve paid his money, handed off his hat/wallet/keys yours truly (the usual pre-swing process) and grabbed the hammer. He stretched his muscles and readied for the first whack. He wound up, slammed it down, and……


82? Whaaaa?


Now, ya’ll know that he’s played this game now on many occasions. He is pretty adept at figuring out how hard he needs to hit that target in order to win a coveted minion. While not every swing has hit the magic 100 and rang the bell, the ones that didn’t have always been close……95 and up. For my 290 pound Steve to only hit the low 80’s was bizarre to say the least .


Swings #2 and 3 were equally as short, despite a Herculean effort. While his pride definitely took a bit of a beating, we couldn’t help but wonder if those technical difficulties from earlier in the day had not been properly remedied. We stayed to watch as another fellow gave his three swings at glory…..another big fella with muscles rippling out of his t-shirt sleeves…..and his top effort yield a 76. Yep, something was most definitely off.


Jake, meanwhile, was eyeing up the basketball game and negotiated another try for a prize. He had spied some very cool Superhero basketballs in the prize basket and commented that he wanted to win one to send to a very special friend of his (we had been putting together a box of little surprises for this most awesome family and he deduced that this would be a very personal addition from one young man to another ). After our let-down on the sledge hammer game, we figured, what the heck?





Success! It appeared we were gonna need a bigger UPS box .


By this time, we knew that the Marvel characters would be arriving literally at any second, so we made haste back to the meet-and-greet areas. Just as predicted, they all came strolling out from the backstage areas (sadly, not roaring in on the ATV’s as we had seen on prior visits….Jake was kind of looking forward to seeing that event!) and we headed off to grab some pictures and enjoy some interaction with their comic book heroes.





Dr. Doom is one of Steve’s absolute favourites. He keeps telling me that if we ever are able to relocate to Central Florida, he wants to apply for a job as Doom since his body size and shape would be darn near perfect. I think he forgets, though, that he swelters in the heat while wearing dri-fit t-shirts and cotton shorts. I think he’d pass out after 15 minutes in that costume!!


Jake got a good laugh that he was bigger than Wolverine. Apparently not all super heroes are over 6 feet tall .





Storm and Rogue provided some good interaction too. We had met this exact same Storm before and she (again) was nothing short of excellently in character. This Rogue was new (and short! Seriously, I look tall next to her! ) and much older than other Rogue’s we have met on previous visits. She was great with guests, though, and it was fun for me to get in on a photo op with the ladies (and Jake).





Captain America was also out, but the line was enormous and the guys didn’t feel like waiting endlessly in the searing afternoon sun. Cyclops, too, was present and accounted for, but apparently he's not a favourite of my fellows (who knew?) so they voted to take a pass on meeting him as well. Once they had enjoyed their fill of geeking out in Marvel, we headed over to one of MY favourite sections of the park:





It was time to let that inner child loose!


I love this area of the park: it’s fun and whimsical and so incredibly well themed. The bright colours, cheery music and Seuss characters are the fond memories of my childhood. I walk underneath that arch and seriously feel 30 years younger. Seuss Landing is a fountain of youth.


We did all the rides here with no waits whatsoever....all Seuss attractions were accurately posted at 5 minutes or less. We started with the Trolley Train and stopped for a Photoconnect picture in the queue, but oddly enough it never showed up on our account. Boo .


We all enjoyed a ride on Cat in the Hat: Jake was especially happy to note that the spinning had been noticeably reduced since his last visit in 2012.





We tried to stay dry on One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, but alas…those water squirters nailed us more than a few times.





It was so hot out, though, that I honestly don’t think either of the guys minded an impromptu spraying. In fact, I may have heard a sigh or two of contentment as they enjoyed the brief cool-off!





We all rode the Caro-Seuss-El, and afterwards we indulged in some much-needed Slushies from the adjacent kiosk ($13.39 for three, including tax):

As we enjoyed our drinks, we popped into all the little shops and stores in Seuss Landing: we reminisced about our favourite books as children and checked out all the fun Seuss gear that they had for families. I tried to convince the boys to humour me with the purchase of matching Thing shirts, but neither were amused by that prospect . They reminded me with a wink that I was already planning to dress everyone in Minion wear for tomorrow morning’s character breakfast at the Studios, and we would all be matching for the Blue Jays game on Saturday in St. Petersburg. Okay, so maybe I was pushing my luck a bit….but you can’t blame a girl for trying!


By this point in the day, our feet were once again growing weary and the heat was literally zapping our energy. We decided to take the Hogwarts Express over to the Studios and exit that way rather than through the front of IOA. It felt good to sit in the air-conditioned train, and it was nice to enjoy one last ride of the day before heading back to the villa.


On our way over the bridge in CityWalk, there were Photoconnect photographers taking family pictures, so we took the opportunity to capture one more memory of the day’s enjoyment.





Back at the resort, we all grabbed cold water bottles from the fridge and dropped onto the nearest piece of furniture. A rest and cool down were both in order before anyone would be ready for dinner….the pace of this vacation and the much warmer than expected temperatures were definitely making us feel crazy tired . I called Mom while the boys watched an hour or so of TV and got caught up on the most recent sports scores for all their favourite teams.


Dinner, and the conclusion of our Thursday, is next.

 

[Inhislove]

SAVE10B

Thank you!!

 

[bankr63]

We indulged in ice cream last night, too:



I had a stinky work week and this was my "Yay! You made it" reward (though just to be clear, only the one on the bottom left was mine.....the guys ate the other two)

See how far behind I fall in a weekend away?!?

Just wanted to add my own ice cream experience from the weekend. We were camping in the Adirondacks this weekend; fantastic trip, blissfully peaceful kayaking, torrential rail to pack up by on Sunday morning. My boss had suggested an ice cream stop at a place called Donnelly's Ice Cream near Saranac Lake. Once upon a time the stand was on the front of a working dairy, but it appears that part of the business is gone. We made a run by on Saturday afternoon as we needed to hit Saranac for a couple of groceries for dinner. Raspberry Vanilla Swirl soft serve was the flavor of the day. The cones came in four sizes; baby, small, medium, and large. So we ordered two smalls.

OMG you would not believe how big a small was! I can't imagine anyone finishing off a large? They must have been for sharing. Great ice cream though. Very fresh and creamy, not too sweet and obviously made on site.

 

[Princess Leia]

Thank you!!

Hope the code works for you Inhislove!

Well boo, sorry to hear about your car . Auto repairs are no fun at all.

Cars and household appliances sense when you have no cash reserves. I have never had a car that has had so many problems. I am sick of the sight of all the warning lights and bleeps. We had just got my car back when another light came on. Fortunately this time the garage supplied and fitted the Exhaust Gas Recirculation cooler free of charge. I suspect it was a known fault but was relieved that I didn't get another hefty bill a day after the first.

It's a strange feeling to give up the super-planning that's required for a Disney trip, but it certainly can be very freeing. I look forward to hearing your review of BG....its on our radar for our 2017 vacation (whenever that happens to be...maybe April or May next year).

You see that's the problem I'm still booking Fast Passes because I can. Once I've booked them all (a day at a time) I will just need to convince myself I don't actually have to use them all.

I haven't been to Busch Gardens since our first trip in 2008. Peter was only 3 so he couldn't go on all the big coasters so he's looking forward to that.

Now, ya’ll know that he’s played this game now on many occasions. He is pretty adept at figuring out how hard he needs to hit that target in order to win a coveted minion. While not every swing has hit the magic 100 and rang the bell, the ones that didn’t have always been close……95 and up. For my 290 pound Steve to only hit the low 80’s was bizarre to say the least .

Swings #2 and 3 were equally as short, despite a Herculean effort. While his pride definitely took a bit of a beating, we couldn’t help but wonder if those technical difficulties from earlier in the day had not been properly remedied.

Sounds like my car really. They probably recalibrated it when they heard Steve was in the park.

I love this area of the park: it’s fun and whimsical and so incredibly well themed. The bright colours, cheery music and Seuss characters are the fond memories of my childhood. I walk underneath that arch and seriously feel 30 years younger. Seuss Landing is a fountain of youth.

Me too! Hannah reckons I have never grown up. I much prefer children's literature and films to grown up ones. I just love reading Dr Seuss aloud especially Fox in Socks!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Sounds like my car really. They probably recalibrated it when they heard Steve was in the park.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

 

[pigletto]

Gina I think the temps you are describing were the ones that greeted us for the first three days of our trip. It was HOT. I don't know if I've gotten wimpier since our August trips or just wasn't ready for it since it had been so unseasonably cold at home. It was still a great time to go but your descriptions of the weather are reminding me how hot it really was.
It appears it was another lovely day at Universal! Other than the machine being recalibrated! I'm with the others.. I think Steve scans his ticket at the front of the park and they get an alert at the strength games to fiddle with the machines.

 

[Ruthie5671]

Wow, I don't log onto DIS for a few days, and I'm behind by five pages! But all caught up now.

Ummm, Jen - hello - do your job dear. I probably would not have said anything at the time. But a nice e-mail once getting home might have been warranted. Just because you order water does not mean that it's okay to not do your job.

The raptor is so cute. Universal is not on my list of must see adventure parks, but I think it nuzzling you behind the ears would fall safely in the "freak me out" zone!

 

[minniebeth]

I'm REALLY late to your party! I love reading all your trip reports! I'm going to start with your PTR and then move on over here! Can't wait! Glad you had another awesome trip!

 

[Lynne G]

Yeah, a poor server really ruins a meal. Never ate there, but maybe this fall. Food looked good.

Speaking of car issues, mine has been in the shop for almost 2 weeks so far. Moving money pit. At this point, I will give it to my DS and get a new one. I am apparently, hard on cars.





Here's to hearing more about your trip.

 

[Ritchielace]

A Giraffe can lick the inside of it's own ears.

That was laugh out loud random. Loving it, keep them coming.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just love reading your reports and such fun character photos and interactions. I am hoping my family will also indulge me in the same while there. We may not go out of our way to find characters but if some are there I definitely want some photos...especially if there are minions! What an excellent trip so far and still more to come and can't wait to read. We have just over a week to go until our trip!

 

[afan]

A Giraffe can lick the inside of it's own ears.

It's a good thing my dog wouldn't understand if I told him this or he would be jealous of giraffes. He loves earwax and his ears are his favorite thing to be scratched/rubbed. But he's a weird dachshund and would prefer the inside of his ear rubbed so he enjoys getting his ears cleaned.

LOL, oddly enough, I am no fan of Boston Pizza!! It appears we have totally different tastes. Of course, I've never been known for my refined palate .... so perhaps that accounts for many of our differences!

My main food groups if allowed would be pizza, donuts, tacos/quesadillas and cheeseburgers There's no refinement here, there's very few veggies I've ever met that I care to meet again. Your trip reports will have us trying Sweet Tomatoes though. It's also been helpful with where to eat at Universal, but I'm still not sure what we'll do. One of the HP places for lunch one of the two days for sure.

 

[ElenaJane]

Whew! I caught up! I swear I was only behind a few days, but you are a Trip Reportin' Machine! It is actually really fun though to be able to read like 6 updates in a row. Of course, I can't remember everything that I wanted to comment on now at this point! I do remember thinking "A Cookie?!" for Jake's choice, and also agreeing that the machine was obviously broken if Steve was in the 80s!

Thanks for keeping me entertained!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thank you!!

Don't we just have the most awesome little group of people on this thread?

I can't wait to hear what you think of Hash House A Go Go!

See how far behind I fall in a weekend away?!?

Just wanted to add my own ice cream experience from the weekend. We were camping in the Adirondacks this weekend; fantastic trip, blissfully peaceful kayaking, torrential rail to pack up by on Sunday morning. My boss had suggested an ice cream stop at a place called Donnelly's Ice Cream near Saranac Lake. Once upon a time the stand was on the front of a working dairy, but it appears that part of the business is gone. We made a run by on Saturday afternoon as we needed to hit Saranac for a couple of groceries for dinner. Raspberry Vanilla Swirl soft serve was the flavor of the day. The cones came in four sizes; baby, small, medium, and large. So we ordered two smalls.

OMG you would not believe how big a small was! I can't imagine anyone finishing off a large? They must have been for sharing. Great ice cream though. Very fresh and creamy, not too sweet and obviously made on site.

You know you have to be worried when they offer a smaller size than "small". Those that offer "baby" size generally mean business when it comes to portioning.

I don't suppose you have some photos of your ice cream indulgences? We love a little food porn here .

Hope the code works for you Inhislove!

Cars and household appliances sense when you have no cash reserves. I have never had a car that has had so many problems. I am sick of the sight of all the warning lights and bleeps. We had just got my car back when another light came on. Fortunately this time the garage supplied and fitted the Exhaust Gas Recirculation cooler free of charge. I suspect it was a known fault but was relieved that I didn't get another hefty bill a day after the first.

You see that's the problem I'm still booking Fast Passes because I can. Once I've booked them all (a day at a time) I will just need to convince myself I don't actually have to use them all.

I haven't been to Busch Gardens since our first trip in 2008. Peter was only 3 so he couldn't go on all the big coasters so he's looking forward to that.

Sounds like my car really. They probably recalibrated it when they heard Steve was in the park.

Me too! Hannah reckons I have never grown up. I much prefer children's literature and films to grown up ones. I just love reading Dr Seuss aloud especially Fox in Socks!

Yep, there is almost always a large expense that crops up before a pricey vacation: if it's not a vehicle issue, its a large appliance that gives up the ghost or an issue with the house. It happens often enough that we have often joked that we should have a special line on the vacation budget to cover whatever financial catastophre strikes within the month before we travel .

Fingers crossed that your car issues are finally resolved . The last no-charge repair was certainly a step in the right direction!

That's exactly what I was going to say.

Steve likes your theory. I think his pride was a teeny bit wounded .

Gina I think the temps you are describing were the ones that greeted us for the first three days of our trip. It was HOT. I don't know if I've gotten wimpier since our August trips or just wasn't ready for it since it had been so unseasonably cold at home. It was still a great time to go but your descriptions of the weather are reminding me how hot it really was.
It appears it was another lovely day at Universal! Other than the machine being recalibrated! I'm with the others.. I think Steve scans his ticket at the front of the park and they get an alert at the strength games to fiddle with the machines.

The temps were MUCH warmer than what we expected (significantly warmer than the same time last year), and even the locals were commenting on how hot it was. Now, for everyone else who is reading along, let me note it wasn't humid.....so it wasn't really sticky or uncomfortable. Just HOT. And blazingly sunny .... which just made it feel hotter. For the record, I adore the heat: as far as I'm concerned, bring it on . But it does tend to zap one's energy a lot faster than cooler days, and the guys are bothered by the heat much more than I am, so we always have to adjust when its really, really warm.

As pigletto mentioned, while Orlando was toasty warm, it was ridiculously cold at home. When I talked to my mom each day, she was quick to point out that they were having snow flurries on many of the days we were away . In late April! Needless to say, the trees were still leafless when we pulled into the driveway late on May 3rd .

Wow, I don't log onto DIS for a few days, and I'm behind by five pages! But all caught up now.

Ummm, Jen - hello - do your job dear. I probably would not have said anything at the time. But a nice e-mail once getting home might have been warranted. Just because you order water does not mean that it's okay to not do your job.

The raptor is so cute. Universal is not on my list of must see adventure parks, but I think it nuzzling you behind the ears would fall safely in the "freak me out" zone!

I think Jake was prepared for a rather hokey Raptor experience, and was blown away at how realistic they were able to make it. It was definitely ann awesome kind of "freak me out" moment!

I'm REALLY late to your party! I love reading all your trip reports! I'm going to start with your PTR and then move on over here! Can't wait! Glad you had another awesome trip!

minniebeth! Glad to have you back!

Feel free to get caught up on what you've missed, and don't hesitate to jump in on the chatter .

Yeah, a poor server really ruins a meal. Never ate there, but maybe this fall. Food looked good.

Speaking of car issues, mine has been in the shop for almost 2 weeks so far. Moving money pit. At this point, I will give it to my DS and get a new one. I am apparently, hard on cars.
View attachment 173899

Here's to hearing more about your trip.

Oh no, sorry to hear that you are having vehicle issues too . I often think it would be easier to just give up my car and take the bus (I don't drive a lot....my 2012 Sonic only has 17,000 km/10,000 miles on it) but yet, I like the freedom of coming and going on my own schedule.

Definitely give Confisco's a go in October, I think you'll really enjoy it. Hopefully Jen won't be working that day .

That was laugh out loud random. Loving it, keep them coming.

And it was surprisingly innocuous . I wonder what she'll have for us today?

Just love reading your reports and such fun character photos and interactions. I am hoping my family will also indulge me in the same while there. We may not go out of our way to find characters but if some are there I definitely want some photos...especially if there are minions! What an excellent trip so far and still more to come and can't wait to read. We have just over a week to go until our trip!

The minions are so much fun! If your budget will allow, a great character opportunity is the breakfast at Cafe La Bamba. My review of that will be coming up reallly soon, so stay tuned. It featured 8 different Universal characters, including Gru and a minion, who will all come right to your table while you enjoy a nice morning meal. It was a ton of fun!

It's a good thing my dog wouldn't understand if I told him this or he would be jealous of giraffes. He loves earwax and his ears are his favorite thing to be scratched/rubbed. But he's a weird dachshund and would prefer the inside of his ear rubbed so he enjoys getting his ears cleaned.

My main food groups if allowed would be pizza, donuts, tacos/quesadillas and cheeseburgers There's no refinement here, there's very few veggies I've ever met that I care to meet again. Your trip reports will have us trying Sweet Tomatoes though. It's also been helpful with where to eat at Universal, but I'm still not sure what we'll do. One of the HP places for lunch one of the two days for sure.

Okay, so perhaps you and I could dine together quite happily after all . Your comment about vegetables made me laugh right out loud....because that is totally me as well!

We are so excited to return to Sweet Tomatoes in October, this time for lunch (we had breakfast there this past trip....also good, but lunch is still our preference). I think you will love it, too!

Whew! I caught up! I swear I was only behind a few days, but you are a Trip Reportin' Machine! It is actually really fun though to be able to read like 6 updates in a row. Of course, I can't remember everything that I wanted to comment on now at this point! I do remember thinking "A Cookie?!" for Jake's choice, and also agreeing that the machine was obviously broken if Steve was in the 80s!

Thanks for keeping me entertained!

Welcome back! I was wondering where you were!

I am still gobsmacked that that boy choose a plain old cookie at Croissant Moon. LOL, I was hoping he'd pick something else that I thought looked really delectable so I'd get to sample it too . When he picked the cookie, he offered me a bite but I was like nope, its all yours!

A cookie. Sheesh.

 

[dixonsontour]

I'm back and all caught up. Can't believe you have not had nutella. I's one of DD's food groups. Steak and shake and breadbox at citywalk do a milkshake with nutella.

 

[wiscbugs]

I love Seuss Landing too...so fun and whimsical.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm back and all caught up. Can't believe you have not had nutella. I's one of DD's food groups. Steak and shake and breadbox at citywalk do a milkshake with nutella.

I remember reading about Anna's Nutella love in your trip reports! Someday I'm going to have to give it a try, except I'm afraid I might just love it and there goes my "diet" .

Welcome home, by the way! I loved seeing your pics on Facebook while you were away. Looks like you had perfect weather and a great time! Be sure to post the link to your trip report here when you get it underway.

I love Seuss Landing too...so fun and whimsical.

I just love all the books they have for sale in their little stores, too. Such good souvenirs for kids (both little ones, and the big ones like me! ).

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thursday, April 28th: the conclusion


After a very satisfying rest, we eventually found our legs again….and the guys, especially, had found their hunger . We were all looking forward to a nice, relaxing dinner: especially when tonight we had a family favourite on the itinerary . Once everyone had freshened up and was ready to roll, we hopped in the car and made the short drive to here:





Those of you who have read my previous reports will already know we LOVE Chili’s . We love the consistently excellent service, we love the casual atmosphere, we love the food, and we LOVE the value. We don’t have a Chili’s anywhere near us at home (though I hear they’ve moved in to select Canadian markets, and we can get the frozen entrees at our local Walmart) so dining here when we’re in Orlando is something we all look forward to.


We were seated immediately upon arrival in a comfy booth, and were soon being greeted by our server who was an absolute ROCKSTAR! She was genuinely friendly, she was incredibly efficient, and she was amazingly good at her job: we wanted for nothing from the time we sat down until the time we rolled our bloated bellies out the door. After such a woeful experience with Jen earlier that day, I’m sure that made” Tori” shine even brighter…..but it was a refreshing change, for sure!


Everyone was quite hungry, so appetizers were definitely in order. I let the guys pick our shareables, so they got busy pouring over our options. They settled on three (!!), which included chips and queso:





….as well as fried cheese bites and panko spiced onion rings:





Jake was a bit disappointed to find that their fried cheese was now only available in “bites” format versus the standard … and much more s-t-r-e-t-c-h-a-b-l-e stick shape, but they were still very good. Everything was delicious, for that matter…..and served remarkably fast. We’re always impressed with how efficient their kitchen is here .


We had just the right amount of time to enjoy our appetizers without rushing before our entrees were brought to the table. Of course, after all the food that we had just eaten, no one was super hungry, and we wondered (as we always do) why we ordered so many appetizers! Thank goodness for a full fridge in the villa….there would be leftovers making their way back to the Vistana with us for sure.


Steve had chosen the steak and ribs with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. His steak was cooked perfectly and he very much enjoyed the ribs. He noted that the steak was one of the best restaurant steak’s he’s ever eaten (high praise from Mr. Meatatarian) and the ribs were good, but not incredible.





I always say I’m going to have something different this time! but alas, I love their Cajun Chicken Pasta…..so yes, that’s what I ordered again this visit. It was every bit as delicious as I had remembered, and I patted myself on the back for another good choice. Sometimes, it’s perfectly okay to “go with what you know”.





Jake, my fellow creature of habit, had his customary Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers with fries and a side of corn on the cob. He adores this entree…..every single aspect of it. He considers it as close to perfect as a meal can get .





While our spirits were willing, though, our stomachs couldn’t keep pace with the quantities. As I predicted, we had to have Tori bring us take-out containers to transport our left-overs back to the resort to enjoy as a late night snack. We covered the bill (three appetizers, three entrees, a mango iced tea for Steve and strawberry lemonade for me ….. Jake had water…..totalled $63.64 with tax, SO CHEAP!) and left an extra good tip for our server. She not only received her much-deserved portion but also the rest of what Jen could have earned .


Before heading back to the villa, we had one more stop to make: today was a special day in the dessert world that we had been anticipating with great excitement, and it would have been a shame had we missed it. Today was Superhero Day at Krispy Kreme, and it warranted a short side-trip to Kissimmee before we retired to the hot tubs for the evening.





The concept of Superhero Day was simple (yet brilliant): Krispy Kreme was offering buy one dozen, get one dozen free as well as several other more detailed promotions that involved tweeting photos of yourself dressed or with your favourite superhero in an effort to win free donuts for a year (or was it life? I can’t remember ). While I’m not a Twitter person, the latter didn’t really appeal, but who can say no to a dozen free donuts? Surprisingly, while the restaurant was busy-ish (a tad more so than usual) we were rather shocked that the parking lot wasn’t packed. Especially when we noticed that THE HOT DOUGHNUTS NOW LIGHT WAS ON!


Does vacation get any better than this?


Well yes, actually it does .


Heading up to the glass counters to make our selections, we noted with a giggle that Batman was working the till and ringing folks through with their BOGO boxes of sweet awesomeness. I was kicking myself for not bringing in my camera, because he was having a ball (and was as in-character as he could get while still saying “That will be $9.49 please!” ) and it was just the perfect topper to a fun promotion.


We got a dozen hot glazed and a dozen assorted. Unfortunately, my guys who had been groaning with the kind of agony that only comes after over-indulgence at Chili’s miraculously found room to devour a hot donut each even before I was able to snap a picture . Sigh.





For the record, we didn’t eat them all at once : we put a dozen in the freezer to enjoy later in our vacation. Light and fluffy as they, we probably COULD have eaten them all before they went stale ….but hey, we have to exhibit SOME self-control every once in a while.


The balance of the evening was spent swimming in the pool and soaking in the hot tubs. After late night snacks courtesy of Chili’s leftovers and Krispy Kreme’s Superhero Day, we headed to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour. Tomorrow was a BIG day on the itinerary, and we would be kicking it off on an early note at Universal’s Superstar Character Breakfast!

 

[ArwenMarie]

The Cajun Chicken Pasta is my favorite too.

Wow that server, yikes. I'm sure she doesn't work there anymore, she wouldn't last long like that.

Loved reading about your Universal day, it made me a little (reverse) homesick! Which means your trip report is great