Spring Break 2009 @ Universal, IoA & T-Rex Cafe **LOTS OF PICTURES**

[Nahanni]

Wow, 3 hours in Kids zone. This answers our concerns about not enough things for younger children....and dad may get to escape to ride a few roller coasters. As much as I enjoy the "adult" TR's, I really appreciate your emphasis on the kids because that's why we do these vacations.

 

[klacey1]

My family is such a Universal family-- until this year, when DBF and I took a Disney-Only trip. Your TR is making me sad I didn't go to Universal/IOA!!

 

[tampabrat22]

Enjoyed reading about your trip, lovely pictures

Thanks!

Wow, 3 hours in Kids zone. This answers our concerns about not enough things for younger children....and dad may get to escape to ride a few roller coasters. As much as I enjoy the "adult" TR's, I really appreciate your emphasis on the kids because that's why we do these vacations.

Glad you are enjoying the report. I too noticed most of the Universal/IOA trip reports focused on the bigger kids when I was looking for info. But my daughter wanted to go here for her 7th birthday so it was all about her this time! I guess most people with young kids automatically just think "Disney" when they pick parks, I dont know, but we love them all!!

Oh and yes, there is plenty to do in the kids area, we could have easily stayed there a few more hours, but we only had one day so we tried to squeeze as much as possible in!

My family is such a Universal family-- until this year, when DBF and I took a Disney-Only trip. Your TR is making me sad I didn't go to Universal/IOA!!

I'm sorry, I hope you can visit Universal/IOA soon!

 

[tampabrat22]

So as I mentioned before, we were in Disaster for quite a while. When we came out we realized the 360 Cinesphere Spectacular show would be starting soon, so we might as well grab a spot. We would have about a 45 minute wait for the show to start.

So we walked behind Richter's, there's a nice boardwalk type area that overlooks the lagoon. Thought I would mention, around this time it was really starting to get cold again and this area (by the water) was very windy/cold, so you may need a jacket or blanket in the cooler months. But it's a great spot to view the show!

For anyone who has never heard of or seen this show, it is an amazing laser light, pyrotechnics type show. There are 4 HUGE spheres in the lagoon that clips from blockbuster movies are projected on while you watch/listen to music. We loved it, it was really cool! I think they only do the show certain times of the year though.

Here are the ever-changing-colored globes before the show (that is the Men In Black ride behind it)...
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While we were waiting we decide to go in the San Fransisco Candy Store, which is connected to Richter's, we were actually sitting right behind it. OMG, this place is pure heaven for those who have a sweet tooth! They had tons of fudge and yummy flavored popcorns! Of course the kids loved it and we all ended up spending way too much $$$ (the prices are really high)!!

Some images taken while we were waiting for the show to begin;
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My son with his $10 stick of sugar, lol! Ok, I think it was more like $7 but for an over sized pixie stick, it's crazy! But he used his own $$ so whatever!
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Ok shows starting....
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Isn't that neat? I loved how they projected images onto the buildings. You just cant get the whole effect until you see it live, the musics blaring, the lasers zooming all around and fireworks going off...it's just a fun show!! But now our day at Universal is over, so we join the rest of the crowd and head to the exit.

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After we left the park, we had plans to eat dinner at the new Burger King Whopper Bar that had recently opened. We walked around the City Walk area briefly, the kids were all tired and extremely cranky and because of that we decided to just go to the hotel and eat some of the snacks & stuff we had brought instead.

So we found our way to the hotel (Howard Johnson Enchanted Land), quickly checked in and made ourselves at home. The hotel was easy to find, not a 5 star resort or anything but it was ok and would do for a few nights (and for a grand total of $152 for 3 nights I couldnt complain much)! We had room #118, it was at the end of a hall on the lower level. There was plenty of parking and we always got a space right in front of our room.

Next up is Day 2 @ Downtown Disney & dinner at the new T-Rex restaurant!!

 

[tampabrat22]

Tuesday 4/7/09
After a long day at Universal we all slept in a bit (well I slept in a lot, lol!), my niece and daughter went to the breakfast buffet at the hotel, it was about $6 and they said it was good. When they returned my son joined them and they all went to the pool with Grandma. I continued to sleep in, lol! Hey what can I say, I was TIRED, I worked overnight Sunday came home, drove to Orlando and spent the day at Universal Studios...what was I thinking?

So when I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and get ready, they all returned from the pool and showered. We then headed to Downtown Disney and decided to go to McDonald's for lunch. Not much to report here as McDonald's is McDonald's! The whole DTD area was PACKED, wall to wall people everywhere. I've never been here during the busy season so I'm not used to that, and finding a parking space was ridiculous!

After lunch we started visiting the shops...

The Lego store is always fun for the kids! For anyone who hasn't been, if you have a Lego lover in your family then you have to check it out! They have a HUGE wall of Lego's of every shape, size & color you can think of and you can fill a large cup/container full for about $15. We managed to escape without buying one!
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After the Lego store and an hour or so in the "World of Disney" store we stopped to have Jaden's face painted at one of the kiosks outside. They do a fantastic job, this cost Grandma about $12.

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While Jaden was having her face painted, I ran over to guest services to get her a birthday button and some Disney Dollars that my niece wanted to give her as a gift. It only took a few minutes, they are quick!

After this we headed over to the "Once Upon a Toy" store so Jaden could pick out a birthday gift. We were in here forever as well. She finally choose a GIANT Mr Potato Head that you fill with as many parts as you can for $50. And this thing can hold a lot of parts, it took forever to fill it!! And just for reference here is a pic, it's about 2 ft tall!!

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After this we basically just walked around looking in the shops and snapping pics. The girls rode on the carousel a few times and then the train ride (yes my niece is too big to be on the train, but Jaden didn't want to ride alone, lol!). The rides cost about $2 per ride/per person.

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A hidden Mickey?
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Too funny not to post, he hates when his sister tries to kiss him, lol!
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Next up, dinner and....dinosaurs?...

 

[tampabrat22]

When making our trip plans, my daughter chose to have her birthday dinner at T-Rex cafe. We had never been and were excited to try it. Our reservations were for 8:45 pm, I knew this was too late for the kids but it was all I was able to get, Spring Break and a new resturaunt made for very limited availability. So around 6:30 we decided to head over and see if we could get in early.

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The (silly) girls waiting patiently to get in...
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After a 30 minute wait in line we finally made it to the front where you can put your name on the list for a table. We were told that we could cancel the reservation and be seated with 45 minutes or so as a walk in. Ok, sounds better than waiting until alomst 9pm!

We make our way into the store area and look around a bit to kill time, it is packed wall to wall in here so we quickly exit to the Paleo Zone. But I had plenty of time to take pictures...
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As I mentioned before, we made our way out to the Paleo Zone. Jaden was kept busy in the Discovery Dig area, she enjoyed digging in the sand. It was a nice sized area for the kids to play and it's covered so you can get out of the sun for a few minutes! They also have an area where you can pan for gems, fossils or stones. You have to buy a bag of dirt in the store (about $6) and then you bring it out here to a worker who helps the kids.
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At this time we were all starting to get really tired & hungry, so we went to see where our name was on the list. We were directed to another line, where we waited about 20 more minutes. We were now going on almost 3 hours and I was starting to get annoyed. I mentioned this to one of the hosts who was doing the seating and after some confusion we finally got a table. I think they misplaced or lost our names or something, because they all seemed confused about who we were and where we were supposed to be. Anyways, we get seated in the Coral Reef Room. I was dissapointed. This area reminded me of the Rainforest Cafe, it's nice although very loud as it is right next to the bar and kitchen entry/exit. We had really hoped to be in one of the Dinosaur themed areas...I mean it is the T-Rex cafe, so how did we end up in the Ocean??
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The girls ordered some frozen drinks...my DD got some sort of icee in a plastic yard glass (or whatever they are called) and my neice tried a smoothie. They were both happy with their drinks.
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[tampabrat22]

By this time we are all so hungry it doesn't take long to decide what we wanted to eat. Once we were able to get our waitresses attention we placed our orders, then the kids were able to check out the different the rooms. About every 30 minutes or so there is a "storm", the lights change and it gets very loud with lightning and sounds of rain.

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Our food arrives rather quickly compared to all the other service around here! And for the foodies, here's a little food pron, lol...

My mom had the "Stegosaurus Steak & Cheese"...a version of the Philly Cheese-steak with onions, pepper, mushrooms, Monterey Jack & Swiss cheese. I don't recall her exact thoughts, but I don't remember her having any leftovers either, so it must have been pretty good!
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My son & Niece choose the "Paleo Shrimp"...parmesean crusted shrimp with linguine tossed on pomodoro cream sauce. They both ate it, but I think they didn't realize what they were ordering and wished they had something else. But at $18 a plate they knew they better eat it all!!
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Jaden had the Mac & Cheese from the kids menu. She liked it, although I wish she would have got something else. I just can't stand ordering mac & cheese as a dinner. It seems crazy to me to pay $6+ for a bowl of mac & cheese, I know kids like it but I'd prefer she get the chicken tenders or something. But it was her birthday so I digress...

And last but not least I had the "Paleozoic Chicken Sandwich"...fried pizza dough with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, avocado, & lemon aioli. This was delish and I highly recommend it!!
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Ashley giving Jaden her bday gift...Disney Dollars! Yay!
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And since we were here I was not able to buy Jaden a birthday cake...so I ordered her the "Chocolate Extinction" desert! This thing is HUGE and was more than all 5 of us could even eat! It has 4 large slices of ultra rich chocolate cake, scoops of vanilla ice cream, whip cream and hot fudge and caramel drizzled all over it. They bring it out with a cup of dry ice so it's quite the effect (notice no one could keep there hands out of the smoke, lol)!
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After we paid the bill (can't remember the exact amount about $125-150 for all of us) we made our last stop of the night. Build a Dino was calling the kids name, they just had to have one. It is located inside T-Rex, in the back behind the store. Dino's are $18+ and more if you add sounds or accessories.
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decisions, decisions...
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The girls and their new friends!
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And that was the end of our night, it was well after 10PM, actually it was close to 11p and they were closing the place down...we were all so ready to go get some rest!

*~*My overall thoughts on T-Rex Cafe*~*
-Wait times were horrible, hope that gets better as the novelty of being new wears off.
-Servers were not very friendly and service was slow.
-Food & drinks were great!!
-Prices are comparable to Rainforest Café (average about $20 per person).
-Love the kids play area
-Very loud and chaotic atmosphere, may not be good for kids who scare easily.
-Decor is nice, be sure to walk around and see everything.

All in all it was a great day at Downtown Disney. I completely busted the budget today, but it was worth every penny for my baby girl!

Next up will be the final installments of the report, we have a day of Islands of Adventure ahead of us!

 

[Poohbug]

Love your trip report and your pics are beautiful. What kind of camera do you have?

Too bad you had to wait so long for T-Rex. I think they were just overwhelmed with the Holiday crowds, but that is just crazy.

Waiting to read about the rest of your trip.

 

[mrsnj91]

Nice pics. We are going to U/S for the 1st time in Aug and your report has been helpful! LOVE the face paint. She looks so pretty!

My kds would LOVE the dino cafe!

 

[klacey1]

Sorry you guys didn't have a great T-Rex experience-- we were a forrest room, which you guys probably would have enjoyed more. Lots of dinosaurs!
Our food was really delicious and we had a terrific waiter. Try it again and maybe you guys will have better luck!!
Excited for the next installment!

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

Loving your update!!! Your pictures are great. Kids are so photogenic!

Can't wait for more!

Best, E

 

[pixeegrl]

Love your trip report and your pics are beautiful. What kind of camera do you have?

I was going to say the same thing!

 

[tampabrat22]

Love your trip report and your pics are beautiful. What kind of camera do you have?

Too bad you had to wait so long for T-Rex. I think they were just overwhelmed with the Holiday crowds, but that is just crazy.

Waiting to read about the rest of your trip.

Thanks! The camera I used on this trip was my Canon 20D with the Canon 28-135mm lens!

I too think that since T-Rex was new and it was a holiday it was over crowded. I just wish it had been a better experience, maybe next time.

Nice pics. We are going to U/S for the 1st time in Aug and your report has been helpful! LOVE the face paint. She looks so pretty!

My kds would LOVE the dino cafe!

Thanks!

Sorry you guys didn't have a great T-Rex experience-- we were a forrest room, which you guys probably would have enjoyed more. Lots of dinosaurs!
Our food was really delicious and we had a terrific waiter. Try it again and maybe you guys will have better luck!!
Excited for the next installment!

I was really hoping to be in the Forest Room, maybe if we try it again we will get lucky!

Loving your update!!! Your pictures are great. Kids are so photogenic!

Can't wait for more!

Best, E

Awww, thanks so much, I think their kind of cute too (the kids)!

I was going to say the same thing!

Thanks!

Hopefully I will get back here tonight or tomorrow and get this report finished, I've already started a TR for our Disney cruise this weekend and need to start packing...so I need to finish this one before I get too far behind!!

 

[WyldLynx]

I have been pouring over report after report on disney and this was a wonderful change of pace. We are going in Sept 2010 and are doing both disney and universal. Original plans were for 100% universal because of budget and Harry Potter, but budget expanded so now we are going to try to do 7 parks in 7 days and that is after driving from TN... I think I'm a little nuts but that is ok we are a theme park commando crew anyways.

Thank you so much for this wonderful report.

 

[kmc33]

Thanks for the report and sharing your fabulous pictures. I was so glad to find your report since we are planning a trip for 2010 Spring Break and I wanted to get an idea of what to expect in terms of crowds.

 

[tampabrat22]

I have been pouring over report after report on disney and this was a wonderful change of pace. We are going in Sept 2010 and are doing both disney and universal. Original plans were for 100% universal because of budget and Harry Potter, but budget expanded so now we are going to try to do 7 parks in 7 days and that is after driving from TN... I think I'm a little nuts but that is ok we are a theme park commando crew anyways.

Thank you so much for this wonderful report.

Sounds great, you are a brave family to tackle that many parks in 7 days!! I dont think my out of shape body could handle all that, lol!! Glad you are enjoying the report!

Thanks for the report and sharing your fabulous pictures. I was so glad to find your report since we are planning a trip for 2010 Spring Break and I wanted to get an idea of what to expect in terms of crowds.

Thanks, hope this helps you for your trip! We always try to avoid theme parks during holidays but sometimes you just have to go when you can go, so we just tried to make the best of it. The crowds were really heavy, but the kids were able to ride most of the rides they wanted. We could have definitely done everything if we had 2 days in each park, but when you have younger kids in tow you just can't see/do everything.

Ok, moving on to our last day....we're going to Islands of Adventure!! YAY!

 

[tampabrat22]

We got up early this morning and ate a quick breakfast in our room, stuff that we had brought with us (muffins, pop tarts etc.) and headed to IoA first thing. We arrived right when they started allowing cars into the garage. This morning looked as if it were going to be even more packed than Monday. Oh and I think it was even more cold this day, sunnier but still cold!

So we make our way to IoA...
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and head straight to the HULK! My niece and son get in line and even though the park had just opened, there was already a 30 minute wait! They knew it would get longer later so they rush to get in the line. I found a nice comfy spot to wait with all the bags!
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My niece & son are in the 2nd row on the left!
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I've rode both the Hulk & Spiderman and they are probably my 2 fave rides from any themes I have been too. But my mom hadnt been on any so I told her she should take my daughter to Spiderman before the line gets huge. So they ran to that and were back in about 20-30 minutes, they loved it!

After that we headed over to Suess Landing!
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Our first stop was at the Cat In The Hat Ride (the wait was minimal). This is a cute ride for people of all ages so we all rode and enjoyed it. The kids then rode One Fish, Two Fish (no line) and then we waited for the Suess show "Oh, the Stories You'll Hear" to start. The show is held right in between the two rides I mentioned, in a small courtyard type area.

The characters come out and dance & sing, a funny costumed lady comes out and reads a short Suess story then the characters pose for photos. It was cute for small kids, my daughter loves the Cat in the Hat so it was great for her!
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Some of the characters werent very happy that they werent on the Cat in the Hat dress, lol!
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[FLVacationGirl]

I love your pictures! Love your daughter's Cat in the Hat dress. I'm hoping to do my first Universal Studios trip soon with my 3 and almost 6 year old so it's helpful to see your 6 year old enjoying her trip so much.

 

[phlffhd]

test

 

[tampabrat22]

I never got around to finishing this trip report, we had two vacations in the Fall during holiday season and then life just got in the way the last few months, but I have wanted to finish this so I am back to do that now! I know it's late, but I hope it may help some vacationers out there!

I left off right after we just seen the Suess show "Oh, the Stories You'll Hear" and my daughter took pictures with a few Suess characters. From there we hopped on the Caro-Suess-el where there were no lines.

me & my silly mom

the gang under the Truffala trees, lol

After a few spins on the Caro-Suess-el and exploring Suess landing we made our way to The High In The Sky Trolley Train Ride! We all wanted to ride this, it looked so neat! But I think everyone else in the park thought so too, because the line was huge! When we entered there was a 45 min wait but we ended up waiting about an hour, but it was starting to get pretty crowded by this point (around 12:30) so it was to be expected. But you can see some neat views from here, so it was worth the wait for us!