Short but Sweet Trip!

[chs27]

Loving your report, so far! Pictures are fantastic.

 

[tweetylori]

Loving this. I am getting more and more excited about taking my daughter back to Universal in May as I read your report and look at your photos.

Thank you...I'm excited for you!

Loving your report, so far! Pictures are fantastic.

Thanks, I appreciate it...more coming!

 

[schumigirl]

Nice update.........we missed Finnegans again this year........will have to remedy that to year........cool pics too

 

[tweetylori]

Nice update.........we missed Finnegans again this year........will have to remedy that to year........cool pics too

Thanks! Have you found other restaurants in the parks you like?

 

[macraven]

if schumi was awake right now, she would tell you Confisco Grille is another favorite.........mine too..

 

[schumigirl]

if schumi was awake right now, she would tell you Confisco Grille is another favorite.........mine too..

Lori.....we enjoy eating in the parks, lots of choice and most of it really good.

Confisco Grill is one of our favourites.....we prefer it to Mythos, but we do love Mythos too. We usually eat 3 times at CG while we're there Wenate at Mythos twice last trip and would have gone again happily.

Lombards we have enjoyed for lunch, but seems to be a hit and a miss for some people. Wouldn't do their dining option for the night time show, there's no need as you get great views around the lagoon without doing that.

Love Louie's in studios for counter service, cheap and cheerful with great pizza, in IOA we enjoy Thunder Falls Terrace for counter service........best chicken wrap in the parks the chicken and rib meals are big enough to share if you wanted to. And delicious!!

Blondies had lovely fresh made sandwiches that we enjoyed.

Ben and Jerry's for ice cream is a must do

We're not the biggest 3B's fans but lots enjoy it so it must be doing something right, and food is cheap so it would be worth trying.

Citywalk, we adore Nascar, Margaritaville and NBA.

All of the above are our must do places to eat............But will be adding Finnegans this year...........I always forget how much we enjoyed the food in there

As always, just our opinion

 

[tweetylori]

Thank you for the restaurant suggestions...I will remember them for next time! My apologies for not finishing this review...life got a bit crazy. Onward!

 

[tweetylori]

Full from Finnegans, and transformed from Transformers, we wandered over to Islands of Adventure before they closed. According to the sign, they were closing at 6pm! Doesn't sound very adventurous does it?

Anyway, that's what we were stuck with, so we did what any Islands Of Adventure guests should prioritize to...Spiderman! We used our Express Passes, but honestly Single Rider, which we have always done in the past, would have been just fine. I will say that having just come from Transformers, this seemed slightly tame, but still immensely enjoyable. Which is why we had to do it a couple times.

Then on past Jurassic Park we went. I must say I do wish there was something in Jurassic Park for those of us without small kids. Just a long trek, really, and on to Harry Potter, which we all know is awesome.

That being said, we were faced with the same locker issue, otherwise known as a buzz-killer, but not as much of one as Men In Black, as this one at least worked fairly quickly and didn't involve a long wait in line.

So our Express passes didn't work here, but it didn't matter, because we did Single Rider and still ended up together.

I will say that maybe I forgot how intense this ride is, or maybe it's more intense than it used to be? I don't know, but this was not the enjoyable adventure I remembered from the past. I felt like I was hanging on for dear life and hoping to not come out of my seat and land on my head.


Even Husband didn't beg to go back on it. Luckily we had no problem rescuing my bag from its locker this time and on we went.

Felt the need for some Seuss simplicity at this point. Before we knew it we got stuck on Cat in the Hat for some repetitive bathtime:

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[tweetylori]

So after some time stuck on Cat In the Hat Husband was slightly delirious



Personally, I found both he and the Cat in the Hat adorable!

Next up was the little Seuss train that is up high. This is when I discovered that I had somehow managed to lose my Express Pass.

As a result we waited in line for about half an hour to get on this little train, which was of course my own fault and I was kicking myself for it. Where the heck did that pass go????

 

[tweetylori]

Following along!

Thank you! So nice to know someone is along!

 

[tweetylori]

I must confess that I don't like that little innocent-looking train!

Why oh why must I be a scared-of-even-small-heights-wimp?

I seriously hate this about myself. I found the "engineer" to be absolutely adorable. He was full of expression and fun, yet could hold a pose for a remarkable amount of time. Loved him!

But once that tiny train took off, I had to close my eyes for most of it, because I'm a stupid scaredy cat!

I was fine going through buildings, but outside high-up, well, not my thing. When we got off and I told Husband I didn't like that ride, he said "yes you do". Uh, no I don't. "You know you do". Uh, no, but I can see why others like it.

By now it was almost closing time for Islands of Adventure anyway. So I refused to panic anymore about losing my Express pass.

Back to Studios for the night show.

 

[tweetylori]

We have been to Universal many times over the years, but we have never seen an evening light show there, so we were excited to experience it. The big question then became, where to view it from?

Being the foodie that I am, my instinct was to head to Lombard's, get a drink, a nosh or two and watch the show. Great sounding plan, huh?

Well, after trudging the miles, we soon discovered that Lombards was so not open.

Early evening on the water before the big light show and this prime-land area isn't frickin' open?

With tired and sore feet, we ambled on to find a spot to view the festivities. Finally we were rewarded the show




I wasn't the only one taking pics:

 

[tweetylori]

I do have to say that while I enjoy any kind of "free" show, this one lacked the emotion that the Disney ones do. Most of the movie shots were hard to see and even harder to hear.

I do think Universal is on to something, but maybe should fine tune it a bit? Still nice, and here is one last photo from it, before I move on to dinner.

 

[gister]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[tweetylori]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Thank you...I will now move it along...close to ending it!

 

[tweetylori]

By now we had had breakfast at Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter (see Disney Restaurant Review site for my Disney part of the trip food review), and lunch at Finnegans, but it was time for some kind of nosh and drink or two before turning in.

Both of us agreed to head to Margaritaville, where we had been before in the past. After a good walk, we arrived only to find it was closed for a private party! We tried to get around behind it where it looked like there was a Mexican place, and that too was closed for the same giant party that we were so not invited to!

Feeling the off-season angst, and having our first-ever on-site-one-night-hotel stay at the Royal Pacific, we decided to go back there for a meal. Over the years, I had experienced incredible jealousy for all those folks who only had to hop a boat to get to their resort, so now this was US. After another bit of a walk, and a short wait, we were indeed treated to this special short boat ride.

Now what to do for dinner? When you get off the boat, you walk by a couple places including Emeril's, but we were only slightly hungry, so we didn't want anything that fancy.

Nice that this resort has Jake's American Bar as an option. Ordinary American food. Not bad. Not jump up and down good. But good. We decided to share two sandwiches...the crabcake one with apple slaw and basil tartare for $16



...and Roast Beef n Pretzel Bun
Caramelize Onion, Provolone Cheese, Horseradish Aioli for $15.






We were one of only a handful of tables on a recent January Tuesday night. Service was mostly good. We had a charming gal Server, plus our food was brought by a nice guy. Even the wine guy helped us out at one point by breaking into the otherwise impossible sealed tiny bottle of ketchup for us.

The crabcake was good, with only a small amount of basil tartare that barely covered the bun when spread. Apple slaw was so minimal that I couldn't tell it was apple anything. The crab itself was good. Light. Not bad.

The pretzel bun was very good, with the beef being a close second. It was good and beefy in a nice lean way, which we love. It was quite dry, however. Would have loved more onions and/or more cheese...more flavor and especially more moisture. Some nice jus to dip in would have been especially good.

I will say that Husband can drink a ton of tea. When his glass went empty that was not unusual. However, when both my wine and my big glass of water went empty also...that is very unusual for us. And it didn't appear to be our Server's fault. She seemed to have been pulled away for paperwork or something with management in a nearby room?

She was finally turned loose and promptly refilled our drinks. Offered dessert. I was too full, but Husband opted for the small key lime dessert, which was nice. Just the right size for him. Loved that small dessert was even an option.

House chardonnay was a decent one for nine bucks...William Hill.

I would not hesitate to go back, but would encourage them to go for it a little more when it comes to bolder flavors.

 

[tweetylori]

Coming up, the last part of our short but sweet adventure, which includes more food porn.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Joining in the fun. Cant wait to hear more!!

 

[ChristineNic]

Enjoying your trip report! I just made reservations for an impromptu trip to Universal this weekend! We haven't been since 2004. Your trip report has be so looking forward to seeing all the new things and the old favs.