Day 7 – Hard Rock Hotel and Blue Man Group
Friday 20th May
Time to check out from the villa today. It’s been a great base for our first 6 days, and probably will be our villa of choice on future visits. Great pool and hot tub, comfy beds, all mod cons, and just a nice layout of the rooms etc so we didn’t feel like we were running into each other – which after all is one of the main benefits of an off-site villa compared to a hotel. Indian Creek is a great location as well, so close to the local restaurants and supermarkets, but still only 10 mins away from Animal Kingdom and the rest of Walt Disney World.
I take the kids into the pool for a bit to let Helen finish the packing, and we polish off the various bits and pieces of remaining food for breakfast.
We’re away from the villa by around 10.30am and head off towards Universal to check into Hard Rock. Traffic is bad, but we’re there by 11.15 or so, find self-parking and check-in to grab our room keys/FOTL passes, and wonderfully our room is ready. The kids are given some cute blow-up mini electric guitars by the check-in assistant, so we obviously need to blow them up immediately and start jamming!
We are on the 4th floor, with a view of the pool, and it feels very spacious. We grab the single bag we’ve packed for this part of the trip from the car, and we’re unpacked and ready to go before midday – result!
Do a quick exploration of the hotel, pool, etc and find the pool bar/café where we all have a range of fancy burgers, and sit for a short while to take in our new surroundings. We are only here for a couple of days, so I really walk to make the most of it.
Some of the activities going on around the pool
After lunch we head off to Universal Studios. We have annual passes that we upgraded at the end of the last trip, and together with front of the line status for staying at a Universal hotel, makes for a special park experience.
Straight onto Simpsons ride which is great, but as we are waiting to board I watch the cast members for a few minutes and notice the lack of enthusiasm from many of them compared to their opposite numbers at Disney. To me it often feels like they are one person down from the team compared to the staffing levels at Disney – does anyone else feel the same?
Split up and Helen takes Emma to visit Barney and the Woody Woodpecker coaster, while Ryan wants to do Men in Black. I’m much better at this than Buzz, and we both get decent scores. I think we manage this 3 times in less than 20 minutes, including the walk from the exit to the resort guest entrance each time.
Meet up in the ball house near Barney and the kids spend a happy 20 minutes collecting plastic balls from the air chutes, then firing them back into thin air – oh well, at least they have comfy seats for the adults!
We go for a stroll around the park at this point, and enjoy the fact that it really isn’t crowded at all. Emma loves some getting pictures we the characters here as you can see
We then take in the horror make-up show which is great fun, before heading back to the hotel via a few of the shops. Helen thinks about a makeover:
Brief rest for the kids in the room, and then we hit the pool, joining in with the various pool games which are in full flow – I seem to remember doing YMCA with about 100 other people, but for some reason we neglected to take photos of this party
Back to the room to have a quick shower, then to the Kitchen restaurant for a meal. The menu is pretty much the same as the pool bar from earlier, so we have flatbread for a change, and the kids choose hot dog and chicken fingers. There are a couple of magicians working their way around the room and keep families entranced as they wait for their food. At 7.30pm we head off to Blue Man Group for the evening entertainment, not knowing quite what to expect. Amazing show, loved the information screens at the start, the audience participation, the sheer inventiveness of it all, and the crowd reaction. We didn’t get to take pictures inside during the show, but managed this one afterwards – I think it gives you an idea of the cleanup needed at the end!
Out of the show by 10pm and wander back to the hotel. Long day, and we’re all in bed within 15 mins or so, ready for another early start in the morning.
Day 8 – Islands of Adventure
Setting the Scene and Index
Friday 20th May
Time to check out from the villa today. It’s been a great base for our first 6 days, and probably will be our villa of choice on future visits. Great pool and hot tub, comfy beds, all mod cons, and just a nice layout of the rooms etc so we didn’t feel like we were running into each other – which after all is one of the main benefits of an off-site villa compared to a hotel. Indian Creek is a great location as well, so close to the local restaurants and supermarkets, but still only 10 mins away from Animal Kingdom and the rest of Walt Disney World.
I take the kids into the pool for a bit to let Helen finish the packing, and we polish off the various bits and pieces of remaining food for breakfast.
We’re away from the villa by around 10.30am and head off towards Universal to check into Hard Rock. Traffic is bad, but we’re there by 11.15 or so, find self-parking and check-in to grab our room keys/FOTL passes, and wonderfully our room is ready. The kids are given some cute blow-up mini electric guitars by the check-in assistant, so we obviously need to blow them up immediately and start jamming!
We are on the 4th floor, with a view of the pool, and it feels very spacious. We grab the single bag we’ve packed for this part of the trip from the car, and we’re unpacked and ready to go before midday – result!
Do a quick exploration of the hotel, pool, etc and find the pool bar/café where we all have a range of fancy burgers, and sit for a short while to take in our new surroundings. We are only here for a couple of days, so I really walk to make the most of it.
Some of the activities going on around the pool
After lunch we head off to Universal Studios. We have annual passes that we upgraded at the end of the last trip, and together with front of the line status for staying at a Universal hotel, makes for a special park experience.
Straight onto Simpsons ride which is great, but as we are waiting to board I watch the cast members for a few minutes and notice the lack of enthusiasm from many of them compared to their opposite numbers at Disney. To me it often feels like they are one person down from the team compared to the staffing levels at Disney – does anyone else feel the same?
Split up and Helen takes Emma to visit Barney and the Woody Woodpecker coaster, while Ryan wants to do Men in Black. I’m much better at this than Buzz, and we both get decent scores. I think we manage this 3 times in less than 20 minutes, including the walk from the exit to the resort guest entrance each time.
Meet up in the ball house near Barney and the kids spend a happy 20 minutes collecting plastic balls from the air chutes, then firing them back into thin air – oh well, at least they have comfy seats for the adults!
We go for a stroll around the park at this point, and enjoy the fact that it really isn’t crowded at all. Emma loves some getting pictures we the characters here as you can see
We then take in the horror make-up show which is great fun, before heading back to the hotel via a few of the shops. Helen thinks about a makeover:
Brief rest for the kids in the room, and then we hit the pool, joining in with the various pool games which are in full flow – I seem to remember doing YMCA with about 100 other people, but for some reason we neglected to take photos of this party
Back to the room to have a quick shower, then to the Kitchen restaurant for a meal. The menu is pretty much the same as the pool bar from earlier, so we have flatbread for a change, and the kids choose hot dog and chicken fingers. There are a couple of magicians working their way around the room and keep families entranced as they wait for their food. At 7.30pm we head off to Blue Man Group for the evening entertainment, not knowing quite what to expect. Amazing show, loved the information screens at the start, the audience participation, the sheer inventiveness of it all, and the crowd reaction. We didn’t get to take pictures inside during the show, but managed this one afterwards – I think it gives you an idea of the cleanup needed at the end!
Out of the show by 10pm and wander back to the hotel. Long day, and we’re all in bed within 15 mins or so, ready for another early start in the morning.
Day 8 – Islands of Adventure
Setting the Scene and Index
