theos_on_the_go
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2010
- Messages
- 12
Okay so Day 3 is our last day at the parks and we started out a little late. We decided to go to Universal first today. So we took the boat about 9am and our first stop was Despicable Me. As a side note - I love Despicable Me - I have Despicable Me shirts, lanyards, notebooks, you name it. I am a huge fan. So this ride was one of the ones I had been waiting for. It was soo cute and the dance party at the end with the Minion was so much fun. We then went to breakfast at the Beverly Hills Boulangerie. We had the breakfast sandwiches and they were big and they were excellent. The croissant was flaky and warm and they even had a little side of fruit. We were quite impressed and if we didn't have lunch reservations we would have come back here for lunch. Anyway after lunch we went out into the street and ran right into the Minion Dance Party in the street. It was so much fun they were bringing us all out into the street to dance with the Minions and the girls and Gru. They had a small float with it. It was so much fun and unexpected. After the party we went to ride ET (a favorite from long ago) it is a really cute ride. We backtracked and went to Shrek 3D (which was a theater with special effects to the chairs), Rip Rockit a couple more times, the Mummy a couple of times (that was a really fun ride and not overly terrifying for someone who likes little coasters). The special effects were quite fun in that ride. Then we went to Disaster where the host was so very funny - he was really good and the volunteers were great! We enjoyed the Blues Brothers Christmas show. It was a lot of fun! We then went to IOA for our lunch reservations at Mythos. The atmosphere for this restaurant was incredible. We went right at lunch time and we had a 10 minute wait with our reservations. They were taking walk-ins but they were quoted a 30 minute wait. We had the chicken sandwiches and hamburgers and they were good. I can see why this restaurant is popular. Afterwards we decided to visit our favorite rides at IOA. Needless to say it was more crowded than the day before and the waits were indeed longer and the crowds thicker in the Harry Potter section. We did ride the Forbidden Journey again one last time as well as the Dragon Challenge, the Hulk, and Fearfall. We then walked back over to Universal and enjoyed the RipRockit, Terminator 3D, Men in Black 3D and then got our spots for the parade in front of Finnegans. The crowd in front of the bar was a bit loud and they kept screaming "cover your beer" when the confetti from the parade would come out. My daughter decided she really wanted to ride Rip Rockit again so she went off to the ride. This is where we made our mistake - she left her phone with us and I said to her that I would meet her outside (I meant outside Finnegans - she thought outside Rip Rockit). It was really crowded and there was a Mannheim Steamroller Concert. So we could not find each other for over 2 hours. Needless to say we were getting a bit worried as how to locate each other. We should have been more clear and made a plan in case we missed each other. My husband finally went over to the Rip Rockit and talked to the photo people. This is where I will always be grateful to the kindness and friendliness of Universal staff. The girl went through all the pictures found out what time my daughter was on the ride and then a staff member took my husband to the ride and found my daughter in line. They had shut down the ride for the concert and she was in line and decided to stay in line. I can't say enough good things about the staff Universal Studios. They did not dismiss us and they went out of their way to help us - even thought it was our miscommunication. So it all worked out fine because of their help and we even made it to our dinner reservations at Mama Dellas ontime. We were able to go back to our hotel and change for dinner and take the boat to Citywalk where we transferred to a boat to Portafino. The restaurant was like an old time Italian restaurant with strolling musicians. The food was phenomenal! My husband had Chicken Parmesan, my daughter had Fettuccine Alfredo, and I had Chicken Carbonara. It was an excellent meal. Beautiful atmosphere and an end to a wonderful vacation. We walked around the resort for awhile then we took the boat back to Citywalk where we shopped for last minute souvenirs and then walked back to our resort. We stopped by the front desk where the helpful person behind the desk printed our boarding passes and arranged our trip back with a towncar ($ 50 + tip). It was worth it to travel back to the airport in style. We then stopped by the Orchid Lounge and had a drink to end our evening and talk about what a great trip we had. It truly was one of the best ones we have been on. It was a laid back amusement park trip and it was one of the best. Recommendations: Stay onsite - even during offseason makes everything easy and relaxing; Royal Pacific Hotel - the staff is excellent- pool is great- atmosphere is beautiful; Pat OBriens for dueling pianos-so much fun; Finnegans; Mama Dellas; Beverly Hills Boulangerie for breakfast sandwiches; Minion Dance Parade; Wonderful World of Harry Potter. Some items of note: food is kind of expensive; not a lot of quick inexpensive food available at resort. Park to Park passes highly recommended. Stop and enjoy the shows - they are great. Hopefully I have not forgotten too much but since I am new at this I am sure you will forgive 
P.s. I will be happy to answer any questions if I can. My first visit to Universal Studios in Florida was back in 1993 so this was quite different from the first time. I have been to Disney World 7 times throughout the years with the most recent last year. So I have a little bit of background for comparisons.
P.s. I will be happy to answer any questions if I can. My first visit to Universal Studios in Florida was back in 1993 so this was quite different from the first time. I have been to Disney World 7 times throughout the years with the most recent last year. So I have a little bit of background for comparisons.
