Pinch me, did it REALLY happen????? - All wrapped up, and yes, it DID happen!

[franandaj]

Are pigs flying??? You're up way too early!!!

Woo hoo the DSL connections stayed up long enough for me to catch up on the last 4 pages. Looks like you're have fun so far.

I know can you believe it???? I doubt it will last when we get home. I think I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.

Amen, Sista!
My boys BOTH had to have the wands that chose them! And my little Ron broke his within the hour. (We taped it up when we got home - Just like Ron's )
They are made of a poly-resin type material - definitely not to play with!!!

I have Ron's wand. I got it for Christmas years before they even announced the Harry Potter land. Definitely not a toy. We also have the Gryffindor sword. In the new house there will also be a Harry Potter wall or cabinet.

Your pictures are beautiful! I didn't get any nearly that good!!!
We loved the frozen butterbeer, but didn't like the non-frozen too much. We also tried the pumpkin juice & couldn't drink it at all. It was super sweet!

I am loving your report & can't wait for more!

I'm glad I didn't try the pumpkin juice. I liked the frozen butterbeer much better than the other. It was just too sweet.

You're so prompt with the updates Alison that I forget we're not on real time. I'm still very interested in the roast.

That Butterbeer sounds too sweet for me. Was it better frozen or were you feeling too icky to enjoy either?

The wand shop sounds like a total scam. My kids would love it. And of course I'd buy it.

Sounds like you had a great day aside from the upset stomach. Fun trinkets too.

Admittedly I've read the HP books but lost interest after the 3rd. I know that's blasphemy but your report is making me want to finish them. HP land looks really fun and the details are amazing.

Even if I didn't feel icky, I would have liked the frozen better. We listened to them on CD on our long drives. For me with ADD, I retain a lot more than when reading. I find myself looking at the words, but not comprehending what they say. When I listen I can really get into the imagery. We were riveted with the last few books even though there were some awful and sad parts.

Wow, that ride really did you in!

Gasp, did you buy Hermione's Time Turner Necklace?! So pretty.

Mmm, that butter beer sounds delicious. Oooh, have you heard anything about the pumpkin juice? Wonder how strong of a pumpkin taste it is...

All of your pictures of Hogsmeade makes it look like it's freezing there, and then I see everyone in your pics and everyone's wearing shorts

Must go to Honeydukes whenever I get there.


p.s. you have no idea how excited I am seeing all these pictures of WWoHP

I did get Hermiones necklace! And comparatively, it was very reasonably priced. Most likely I won't really wear it, but will display it with all the other HP stuff we have.

It's ironic that they try to make it look cold, but it was one of the hottest January days ever!

Following along with your fabulous TR. We loved the frozen Butterbeer, but it was in May and pretty hot outside. Looking forward to tomorrow's report!

It was really hot for January, we definitely liked the frozen butterbeer (I had heard that version was better previously). Thanks for following along!

It's been two years, but we had the pumpkin juice. I love all things pumpkin & couldn't wait to try it. I can't remember the specific flavor - just that it was bad. A very sweet fruit juice blend I think. All four of us hated it.
But, we loved the frozen Butterbeer! We even sprung for the souvineer mugs! I think it was about $50 for four!

Sent from Tracey's iPhone using DISBoards

We have soooooo many souvenir mugs, and got rid of a ton of them at her father's Estate Sale a couple years ago, we are now picky about them. I did have to get a Carsland cone cup though. I'm glad I didn't try the pumpkin juice. I'm not a pumpkin fan anyways.

Fantastic update. Love the butterbeer and given the queasiness, I'm guessing you didn't have an extra one or six for me.


I think staying on site and having early entry is worth it just for the picture of Hogsmeade at 9.30 am.

Congrats on that necklace. It's beautiful.

Fran had the extra one for you!

The staying on site was definitely worth it, especially for commando types who CAN make it right at 8AM.

 

[franandaj]

On our way out of the park we stopped at the Poseidon Attraction, but it was down, so we just decided to head on out of the park and see what there was at Citiwalk for lunch. We headed out through Seuss Land, but didn’t really stop. I just captured some pics on the way out.

I took this pic of the Hard Rock because the last time we were here, there was a Cadillac was sticking out the front, now there was a landslide and a guitar.

We checked out a number of restaurants. Fran is smart enough to know that I don’t want Panda Express, Burger King or some other Fast Food restaurant. I want to sit down on a vacation and be waited on. Most of the restaurants were not even open. Margaritaville was not appealing. We were already planning to eat at an Emerils for dinner so we didn’t want that for lunch. We found and information booth and learned that our choices besides the other two were Hard Rock, NBA or some other sports bar. We ended up with Bubba Gump even though we have one at home (that we have never been to in however many years).

We decided to go for an appetizer fest. We started off with Clam Chowder and Shrimp Gumbo, both split.

Then we split an order of spinach, artichoke, red pepper and cheese dip

And order of crab stuffed mushrooms.

As we were signing our checks we noticed another table who had ordered Coronatinis. We decided that there were a few more dishes we would like to try at Bubba Gumps, and we would like to try this drink, so we may actually finally get to the one in Long Beach!

After this we headed back to the resort. Fran REALLY needed a nap and I began to write and post updates to the trip report. I spent a couple hours catching up on the DIS and then took a photo sightseeing trip around the resort while she caught up on some more ZZZs. I’ll have some of those photos up next.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Fantastic! Glad to see you and Fran at a sit-down meal at Bubba's. You both look like you had a good time......at least enough of a good time to want to go back for a repeat meal sometime.


Looking forward to more.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thanks for sharing all the photos of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As a big Harry Potter fan, I have wondered if a return visit to Islands of Adventures is in order. We have never rated Universal Studios or Islands of Adventures. Now I feel I don't have to. I got a good impression on what it is like and I think Forbidden Journey would make me miserably ill. I think we may just visit the Harry Potter experience in London instead.

Corinna

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Is it just me or do the Universal parks really lack in the restaurant category? I've never enjoyed eating in those parks, I'd head out too to eat. Your lunch looked good, I'm looking forward to the resort pics.

 

[dgbg100106]

The necklace is beautiful!!!!!

The butterbeer does not sound like my kind of drink....

Beautiful pictures.

 

[franandaj]

Fantastic! Glad to see you and Fran at a sit-down meal at Bubba's. You both look like you had a good time......at least enough of a good time to want to go back for a repeat meal sometime.


Looking forward to more.

Thanks, I'm always happy for a sit down meal, especially one that I don't have to reserve 180 days in advance!

Thanks for sharing all the photos of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As a big Harry Potter fan, I have wondered if a return visit to Islands of Adventures is in order. We have never rated Universal Studios or Islands of Adventures. Now I feel I don't have to. I got a good impression on what it is like and I think Forbidden Journey would make me miserably ill. I think we may just visit the Harry Potter experience in London instead.

Corinna

From the pictures that I've seen, I would go for the one in London. That's the REAL sets and they look very cool. This was OK, but so much was just facades to house shops. It was cool, but not THAT cool.

Is it just me or do the Universal parks really lack in the restaurant category? I've never enjoyed eating in those parks, I'd head out too to eat. Your lunch looked good, I'm looking forward to the resort pics.

You know to us, "Everything" about the Universal parks really seem to be lacking. We enjoyed visiting but I'm not sure we would be back. The last time we came, they had just announced that they would be building it, and we both sort of said, "OK, I guess we'll come back here when that's done". But otherwise we really had no reason otherwise to go back.

The necklace is beautiful!!!!!

The butterbeer does not sound like my kind of drink....

Beautiful pictures.

I bought it more for display purposes than wearing, but if I ever go for Halloween as Hermione, it will be good for the costume.

The Butterbeer is not something I would normally drink, but I had to try it.

 

[franandaj]

This was the first time that I could see the view from our room. In the evening it was too dark to see anything. In the morning, the window was covered with dew and fog and we could see nothing.

Here is our trashed room. We really need our one bedroom villa!

So at this point I decided to get out of the room and take some pictures of the resort. As I was waiting for the elevator, I realized that we could see the tip of Hogwarts from the elevator waiting platform window.

If you can’t make it out, here it is in a close up.

These umbrellas were all over the place as decorative pieces.

This fountain is the centerpiece of the Lobby.

As were the Orchids. The Sushi bar is called Orchid Court.

Back to the fountain

I took this one for any Lakers fans out there.

The check in area

The breakfast service location (currently made up as a bar).

Lisa, I took this one for you…

Continued, more resort shots

 

[franandaj]

The entrance

These frog guys line the walkway from the valet to the entrance.

Continuing around the resort….just some random artwork.

Then I headed upstairs to the CL to check out the offerings.

Nothing really appealed to us, especially with our dinner plans and how much we ate for lunch, so I just had some wine and passed on the munchies.

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Beautiful resort pictures, and I didn't have to wait long for them

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great looking resort and I love the frogs and artwork.

 

[franandaj]

Beautiful resort pictures, and I didn't have to wait long for them

Thanks! I'm trying to plug along to Kidani, Jenny is getting so impatient about those roast pictures! I'm not sure if I will be able to keep up the speed much longer. Now that we are at Disney, I am taking hundreds of pictures in each download! It's taken me from (travel day) Monday until Friday to get up pics from most of Tuesday. After Wednesday night, updates will take much longer, so expect that I will be finishing the majority once I'm home.

However, if Fran keeps pushing herself like she did today, I'll have lots of her nap time to work on updates. The unfortunate thing is that they will take a long time. The good thing is that I have a lot of detail so you can live vicariously for quite a while!

Great looking resort and I love the frogs and artwork.

It is a very nice resort and fun to stay at. I actually like the resort better than the parks!! I would probably enjoy just hanging out at the pool and trying some restaurants and stuff there more than trying to go to US or IOA. I also love that all the frogs are playing some kind of musical instrument!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm deciding between portofino bay and hard rock for universal. I think hard rock is edging slightly in front right now....but I love the look of portofino bay.

 

[sarahk0204]

You're there! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!



Just read a little. I will have to go back and catch up tomorrow.

Yay!!!!!!

 

[rentayenta]

The hotel is quite pretty!

Suessland (name?) looks darling and HP looks very cool but I don't see us doing Universal anytime soon. We gave the kids the option during our last trip to WDW and they all opted out. I've Disneyfied them I think.

I'm glad your at Disney now!

You both look relaxed and that you're having a great time.

And I'm waiting to see the roast.

 

[TruBlu]

Alison,
Could you please do me a HUGE favor?

If you are in the parks and see the red shiny reversible Mickey tote bag that you can only purchase if you spend a certain amount of money on other things (can't remember the amount $40, $50??), would you PLEASE get the item number for me?

It is bright red with a rhinestone Mickey shape on the bottom corner.

I bought one last week & when I got it out today to use it I noticed one of the rhinestones is missing! I called Disney but they can't even look it up without the item number - very UNMAGICAL phone call.

I've searched for the last hour for the reciept - I've got one for every cookie we ate, but NOT that bag! UGH!!! They said I need the item number to exchange it for a new one.

Did I mention, PLEASE?

 

[TruBlu]

However, if Fran keeps pushing herself like she did today, I'll have lots of her nap time to work on updates.

Oh, poor Fran! Don't let her wear herself out!!! We don't want her feeling bad again. I know how she feels - you want to push as much as you can, but it's worth it to slow down, not do as much, but truly enjoy what you do!

I'm always sending Fran hugs, but give her another one from me!

We can wait for updates... you just might have to post that meat pic out of order!!! THAT we can't wait for!

 

[rentayenta]

What's the cool looking drink with the Corona sticking out of the top?

 

[ACDSNY]

You'll need to get the Corona drink next time at Bubba Gump's my family likes them.

The resort pics are lovely and it's great to see the elephants kept their trunks on.

 

[franandaj]

I'm deciding between portofino bay and hard rock for universal. I think hard rock is edging slightly in front right now....but I love the look of portofino bay.

We picked the Royal Pacific because it was the least expensive and the closest, plus I liked the food options there the best. I'm not sure about the others.

You're there! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!



Just read a little. I will have to go back and catch up tomorrow.

Yay!!!!!!

I know I can't believe that we are FINALLY here!

The hotel is quite pretty!

Suessland (name?) looks darling and HP looks very cool but I don't see us doing Universal anytime soon. We gave the kids the option during our last trip to WDW and they all opted out. I've Disneyfied them I think.

I'm glad your at Disney now!

You both look relaxed and that you're having a great time.

And I'm waiting to see the roast.

I know, it will take a lot to get us back there. I much prefer Disney. The Dr. Seuss part was my favorite, the last time we were there.

Alison,
Could you please do me a HUGE favor?

If you are in the parks and see the red shiny reversible Mickey tote bag that you can only purchase if you spend a certain amount of money on other things (can't remember the amount $40, $50??), would you PLEASE get the item number for me?

It is bright red with a rhinestone Mickey shape on the bottom corner.

I bought one last week & when I got it out today to use it I noticed one of the rhinestones is missing! I called Disney but they can't even look it up without the item number - very UNMAGICAL phone call.

I've searched for the last hour for the reciept - I've got one for every cookie we ate, but NOT that bag! UGH!!! They said I need the item number to exchange it for a new one.

Did I mention, PLEASE?

I asked Fran, she said that they are now offering a different promo, but we will definitely look.

Oh, poor Fran! Don't let her wear herself out!!! We don't want her feeling bad again. I know how she feels - you want to push as much as you can, but it's worth it to slow down, not do as much, but truly enjoy what you do!

I'm always sending Fran hugs, but give her another one from me!

We can wait for updates... you just might have to post that meat pic out of order!!! THAT we can't wait for!

It's hard to tell her anything! But hopefully she's not pushing too hard. She is getting in several hour naps every day so that helps!

What's the cool looking drink with the Corona sticking out of the top?

They called it a Coronatini. We want to try those!

You'll need to get the Corona drink next time at Bubba Gump's my family likes them.

The resort pics are lovely and it's great to see the elephants kept their trunks on.

They look/sound good, so we'll have to try them.

at the bold!