Our US/IoA Trip Report (Writing as we go)

[PixieDust82]

Hello This is my first Trip Report and I am new to this site (I've lurked before, but just recently joined). Our trip has begun and I will be writing this TR as we go. This should be lots of fun

Reason for trip: We have 3 special reasons for this trip. First reason, my son had open heart surgery two weeks ago. We were given the OK to come, only thing we have to avoid is pools for another month, and he's OK with that, so we're celebrating that big and scary process we had to go through being over now. Second reason, because my son had open heart surgery, we had to miss my other sons Kindergarten graduation (well I had to, my husband flew back home to be there and took his webcam and we (other son and I) were able to "be there" and watch that way). So we're celebrating his Kindergarten completion. Third reason, my husband is in the Navy and will be leaving for 8 months once we get back home from this trip, so we wanted to do something special before then. We are all Disney FREAKS, but we decided to come to Universal/Islands because we have a big Disney trip planned for this summer (even though my husband won't be here at the time ) with my sister (and her kids) and my parents. Either way, we wanted to do this because my husband and I have been here, but the kids were either too young to remember or not born yet, so thought this was a good opportunity for them (and us) to enjoy. We booked this trip and didn't tell the kids until Tuesday, they FREAKED OUT! It was awesome They loved their surprise.

Cast:
Me (30)- SAHM, Navy wife, mom to 3 beautiful kids. Thrill Seeker (Kind of! Lol)....Excited for this trip!
DH (29)- My high school sweetheart. Married for 8 years In the Navy(for about 9 years now), leaving to start his training to become a Navy SEAL. It's what he's always wanted. He's an AMAZING husband and father. Love of my life.
DD (7)- My fun, sparky little girl. She does Gymnastics and is really good (if i do say so myself. Lol). What she's looking forward to the most is visiting the Wizarding World or Harry Potter. She loves Harry, she has since she was about 4 (how cool is she? Hahaha). She gets it from me, I love HP (guess that's my highlight too).
DS (5) - Kindergarten graduate. What he's looking forward to: SPIDERMAN! He's a caring, lovable, awesome little dude.
DS(#2) (4) - He was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect in April. He had it since birth, but was not diagnosed until his pediatrician heard a murmur and sent us to a Cardiologist. Since the hole was so big, we couldn't wait or close it via Cardiac Catheterization, so we had to go with open heart surgery. He had it done a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Far far from home but a GREAT hospital) on May 21st. Recovery went smoothly and he's doing great! He's looking forward to Captain America!! He is obsessed with The Avengers (i.e Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk). Don't think I've seen any of them other than Cap at IoA. He's thrilled! He's our funny child. He's lovable, huggable, and cute as a button.

Trip:
Thursday - Arrive and go to Universal
Friday - Islands
Saturday - Do some of the rides we loved most in both parks and go home in the Afternoon.
Paid for 2 days got the third day free (Florida resident savings )
Staying at The DoubleTree.
Drove ourselves here.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. WE'RE HERE NOW (UNIVERSAL). TOOK A LITTLE BREAK BEFORE FINISHING UP OUR DAY HERE AND HEADING OUT, SO I WAS ABLE TO WRITE ALL OF THIS UP, BUT THEY'RE STARTING TO PULL ME AWAY FROM MY PHONE, SO GOTTA GO. I'LL WRITE ABOUT OUR JOURNEY TODAY WHEN WE'RE BACK IN OUR HOTEL.

 

[PixieDust82]

OK, here we go.
DAY 1:
We left our house at 3AM today and we hit the road for Orlando! The kids slept until around 6AM, then there was no one who could get them to fall asleep again. DH and I took turns driving so we could each get a little bit of sleep. DH drove first. We stopped at a rest area at around 6:40AM, used the rest room, stretched our legs, and had something to eat. There was a Dunkin' Donuts, so we each got a doughnut and some milk, ate, and got back on the road. We arrived at our hotel at 8AM, checked in, took our bags up to our room, and all got into bed for a quick nap before heading to Universal Studios. I was surprised the kids actually fell asleep. At 10AM, DH got up and went down and got some breakfast (right in our hotel) while the kids and I bathed and got dressed (pretty quickly). When he got back, we were dressed and ready (told you we were fast. Lol). We ate and waited for DH to finish getting ready. We left our hotel at around 11AM. Then.... drum roll....WE ARRIVED AT UNIVERSAL!!! We headed over to guest services to ask about Guest Assistance Passes (We know Disney has them, and knew they did too, but we didn't know much about theirs. I think that's what they call them. I know Disney calls them that). We were able to get it due to DS(#2)'s surgery. From there, we started at Rip Ride Rockit and walked the park all the way around to Terminator. DH rode Rip Ride Rockit alone and I waited with the kids. The line was LONG! It was about an hour and a half wait. I was not going to wait that long to ride it myself. The kids were already starting to get antsy. When he got back, we went to the Shrek 4D ride/show. The kids loved this! Twister? Not so much! DD was fine, but the boys wanted out! No tears, but but they were pretty scared. DD and DH rode the mummy and I waited with the boys and we did the Child Swap thing so I got to ride it after. From there, we rode the Disaster ride. I asked the boys if they wanted to skip it (since they weren't too fond of Twister), but they insisted on riding.... LOL. From there, Men in Black. We were all tall enough to ride. Yeah Then , the Simpsons. After that the kids wanted pop corn , so we bought one of those refillable pop corn buckets and some soda, ate/drank them, and went into the Barney show. We skipped "Curious George Goes To Town." It was hot, but 1.) we didn't have swimsuits and didn't want soaking wet kids and 2.) (even though it's not a pool and he wouldn't be submerged in water) we didn't want DS(#2) to get wet. We rode the Woody Woodpecker coaster like 4 times (Kids LOVED it) and then we let them play at Fievel's playland. Then we did ET. Another favorite! From there, we did Terminator and got some ice cream and refilled our pop corn. We headed back around the park for to hit the favorites again (Mummy, Simpsons, MIB, Woody Woodpecker, and ET), and sat down for a little break (that's when I wrote up the above). From there, the kids wanted to ride the Woody Woodpecker coaster.......AGAIN, and from there we headed out. At around 7PMish we were having dinner at NBA city (City Walk). We did Universal Studios in about 8 hours. We didn't watch any shows, except for Barney and the Superstar Parade, but the kids weren't really interested in the ones going on here. Along the way, we took pictures with Shrek, Fiona and Donkey, Woody Woodpecker, Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat, the Despicable Me Minions, and the penguins from Madagascar. CRAZY (but fun) day! NBA city was cool. We had a good dinner there and walked City Walk to make our way back to the parking lot. When we got back to our hotel, we changed into our PJs and the kids CRASHED! DS(#2) was asleep in the stroller on the way to dinner. I'm still up writing this but I'll be knocking out quickly tonight. LOL! Tomorrow is going to be great because the kids will see: DD and me - WWoHP and the boys will see their superheros which we're so excited about!!! Thanks for reading
Tune in for Day 2 tomorrow

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

So awesome! I can't wait to see what happened today! You are doing an awesome report...I am impressed!

 

[macraven]

sounds like an exciting vacation!!

i'm waiting for today's update and how excited you and your daughter were about parry hotter.

i'm sure the boys loved spidey and his crew.

how is your little doing in the park?
when you said he is recovering from heart surgery, i had to pause and pray.
i hope he is doing fine.
I'm glad the surgery went good and i'm sure both mom and dad are feeling more relaxed now.


tell us more about today's adventure!

 

[PixieDust82]

Thanks guys We were having so much fun I couldn't get to writing last night. macraven, thanks for the prayer He is doing really, REALLY well! He was born with an Atrial Septal Defect (A hole in his heart) and we had no idea about it until his pediatrician heard a murmur and sent us to a Cardiologist, where they did some tests and diagnosed him. With ASD's, they sometimes wait because there is a chance small ones could close on their own by the age of about 3. We didn't have the option of waiting because he's already 4 and if it was going to close on it's own it would have done so already and also it's a large hole. They can close small ones via cardiac catheterization, but his was too large and that couldn't have been an option, so we had to go with OHS. He was pretty out of it the whole day post-op. The next day, we got him sitting up and walking by that evening. It was uncomfortable for him and he didn't want to do it but we encouraged him and the day after he was sitting up in bed the whole day. By day 3 post-op and from then on he would want to walk the halls, go to the playroom, and was out of bed and sitting up all the time. Kids bounce back so quickly! We are so relieved now that that's over! We feel so much better now

 

[PixieDust82]

DAY 2:
We got up at 7am, got dressed, and went down for breakfast. We left and headed for Islands of Adventure!! We were waiting at the gate at around 8:30AM until they opened, we went in, got our guest assistance cards (I'm just gonna call them that, I don't what what US/IoA calls them. LOL), and in we went. We decided to go straight to the WWoHP, we knew the lines there would be terrible later on in the day. Oh, tears of joy DD was fascinated (and so was I). DH rode alone and I stayed outside with the kids. Practically no line, very quick. Then, THE FORBIDDEN JOURNEY! We loved this so much! DH and DD rode it together first and then we did the swap and I got to ride it. Loved it! We got a souvenir at Filch's Emporium, then Flight of the Hippogriff. Everyone was able to ride and this was a favorite for the boys. We rode it 2 times. Ollivanders was next, it was awesome! After that, we walked around and checked out the shops, got something at Zongo's and Honeydukes, and made our way back to Seuss Landing. We planned out going back for Butterbeer later. We rode The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride first and then the Caro-Seuss-el. Then One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and The Cat in the Hat (twice). DS(#2) loved Seuss Landing! We walked to Marvel Super Hero Island. YAY DH rode The Incredible Hulk and then DH and I took turns riding Doctor Doom's Fearfall then we all rode Storm Force Accelatron. Now it was time for the boys to meet their favorite superheros. They were in shock. It was so cute We rode Spiderman and then walked out of "Superhero world" as the kids called it. We rode the Popeye ride (with rain coats on!) and let the kids play at the Me Ship, The Olive play area. DH, DD, and DS rode Dudley Do-Right's and I stayed with DS(#2). We rode Pteranodon Flyers and then DH, DD, and DS rode Jurassic Park River Adventure and I waited with DS(#2). We went into the JP Discovery Center and then we were back at The Wizarding World. We had our Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice and DD and I rode The Forbidden Journey while DH and the boys rode the Hippogriff coaster. At IoA we watched the Oh! The Stories You'll Hear show, The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad, and even watched the Frog Choir at WWoHP. We took pictures with Popeye and Olive Oyl, Spider Man, Captain America, The girls from Beau Battons school and the platform operator of the Hogwarts Express (Wizarding World), The cat in the hat, and thing one and thing two. We left the park at around 5:30PM and went back to the hotel, showered and got ready to go to Dinner. We had reservations for Arabian Nights (really cool dinner show) at 8:30PM. We were all starving and really enjoyed that dinner! Lol. After dinner, at around 10:30PMish we went to Old Town and walked around until the stores closed at 11PM. We went back to the hotel and went off to bed. It was a GREAT day and we had a blast!!

 

[macraven]

WOW..........

you did a lot yesterday!

i bet you all were smiling the entire time while you were there.
i can just feel the smiles sitting here reading about fridays fun.


kind of hard to say what was the favorite for the family.
everyone loved something different it looks like and that is a good thing!

dr doom is one of my favorite rides.
i always request to be put in the room that faces the parks.

hulk is best for me first thing in the morning.
there is a mist you go through at the low drop section. so kewl.

after the day, the dinner and the night time walk around Old Town, i bet you all fell asleep quickly.

at the darkside they call it GAP
guest assistance pass. the motherland calls it GAC.

 

[PixieDust82]

DAY 3:
We woke up super early today! We were up at 6AM, got dressed, packed up, and put everything in the car. We had breakfast at our hotel again, checked out, and made our way to IoA. We were at the gate at 8:00AM. Went in, got our GAC, sprinted to The Wizarding world, rode The Forbidden Journey (DD and DH, then me. Child Swap is the best!), and Flight of the Hippogriff. Seuss Landing - Rode The cat in the hat. "Superhero World" : Rode Spiderman. Left IoA and went to Universal. I got to go on Rip Ride Rockit. Crazy ride! Then The Mummy (DD and DH, then me), and Woody Woodpecker (Of course). Then it was time to go We made our way back to the car and drove to a nearby McDonald's to get a bite to eat before hitting the road back home. It was around 1:30PM when we started heading home. We have about 45min. before arriving home.
We had an AMAZING time! We had so much to come her for, from DS's Kindergarten graduation, to DS(#2)'s surgery success, to DH leaving for 8 months tomorrow. I'm glad we decided to go on this trip because we had a great time! We will be coming back hopefully one day soon
Thank you for taking time to read about our trip. It was a blast!

 

[PixieDust82]

Haha, thanks macraven.
We had such a good time. By the end of each day we were exhausted, but in a good way

 

[macraven]

did your family get to see the marvel heros ride into marvel land?
did you do the meet and greet or see spidey in the corner store by the ride?

i really hope you answer yes......
your kids would have been thrilled.


you have made such wonderful family memories on this short vacation.
they will last you all for the 8 months your dh will be deployed.

tell him that i thank him for what he does for all of us in this country.
his serving us is very appreciated!



one of my sons was in the service but out now.
even though he went thru a medical discharge at age 22, he enjoyed serving our country.

 

[pixeegrl]

Great TR and it sounds like everyone had a wonderful time!!!! So glad your little one is doing well after surgery too. Thank your DH for what he does as well. DH was in the Navy for 9 years and I know what those deployments are like!

 

[PixieDust82]

Thanks gals