Tiny Bubble? I'm Here, Big Bubble - A July 2025 TR *Updated 9/22

[amazingact21]

Hi all! Welcome to my latest trip report. I’ve been around the boards for what feels like forever, and while I haven’t been as active the past few years, I wanted to change that pattern and recap my most recent trip to the parks. After all, it’s not often you get to visit a brand new theme park!


Let me set the scene in this update.



The Characters:

Me:


Alicia, writer of trip reports, chauffeur to offspring, washer of military uniforms, and countless other roles.



Him:


Alex, married to yours truly for over 14 years, closer to being finished with the Air Force than his brain can compute, and unwittingly the planner of vacations now.



This fellow:


Landon, a middle schooler in every regard. Attitude, independence, intelligence, he’s a far cry from the little 9 month old I brought to Walt Disney World for his first trip. Which, while shocking, also provided a new tour style that this mom can get behind. Hearing your kid make actual, legitimately funny jokes is a new level of parenting I’ve been excited to unlock.



This gal:

Evie, a daughter who always has luck on her side, loves anything scary and dark. Firmly in the camp of unearthing all the real lore of Norse mythology. (Did you know Loki was actually tied up with his kids’ intestines? Because I do now. Gah.) Also the sweetest human being alive and lives a life of service to others.


Special Guests: My brother and sister-in law came along with us for the first half of the trip.




The Stories:

This trip covers a lot of places. We spent 2 full days at Epic Universe. Meaning, this report is going to talk a lot about the portals, the food, and attractions, and everything in between. If you’re trying to avoid spoilers, the beginning and end of my report would best be skipped.

We also spent several days at Universal Orlando.

Four days at Walt Disney World.

And a day at Typhoon Lagoon!





The Settings:

We were fortunate enough to stay at Universal’s Stella Luna twice:




As well as 4 nights at:


All Star Music in a family suite.

Both categories were new to us, and I’m looking forward to discussing the rooms.



While my family did a lot of our old favorites this trip, we also crammed more new experiences in than I thought possible. It was our first time at a water park, first time at many restaurants, both at Universal and WDW, and it was our first chance to see the Starlight Parade during soft opening. We also were able to squeeze in the new song lyrics added to It’s a Small World. And, of course, again…Epic!


I am so excited to start diving into our trip and reliving the moments, and I’d love it if you come along for the journey!



Up Next: Ice, Ice, Hazel

 

[alohamom]

Can't wait to hear/read alllll about it!

 

[princesserin1350]

Excited for your report! We're staying in an All Star Music family suite in January so interested in hearing about your experience.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I'm here!!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip. And I can't believe how much the kids have grown up! Oh my goodness.

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Oooh! So excited to read all about your trip! I love your TRs and writing style

We went to Epic on the last preview day before opening- can’t wait to hear all about your experiences!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Here and raring to go! Unfortunately, just like Old Mother Hunbard’s, my cupboard is bare, so gotta go grocery shopping first . Excited to read all about your adventures

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Goodness me Landon and Evie have gotten so grown up! You and Alex haven’t changed a bit and look as young as ever
Great intro. Evie looks fabulous in her costume.
Looking forward to hearing all.

 

[amazingact21]

Can't wait to hear/read alllll about it!

Thanks for hopping over to this report! So glad you're here!

Excited for your report! We're staying in an All Star Music family suite in January so interested in hearing about your experience.

I loved having the perks of a family suite on this trip. While it's a still a value in regards to quality and theming, having that space was amazing. You'll get an entire master bedroom and second bathroom closed off with a door, and a full fridge and freezer and microwave. Those perks alone made life so much easier on vacation. I would not hesitate to stay there again.

 

[amazingact21]

I'm here!!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip. And I can't believe how much the kids have grown up! Oh my goodness.

Thanks for joining along!
I sometimes forget how much older the kids are getting. Alex and I have been talking a lot about where we hope to move to next, and we realized we had to take into consideration Landon will be learning how to drive soon.

Oooh! So excited to read all about your trip! I love your TRs and writing style

We went to Epic on the last preview day before opening- can’t wait to hear all about your experiences!

Thank you, and thanks for following along on this newest report!
Did you enjoy your preview day experience? Were they still using the virtual queue for Ministry at that point?

Goodness me Landon and Evie have gotten so grown up! You and Alex haven’t changed a bit and look as young as ever
Great intro. Evie looks fabulous in her costume.
Looking forward to hearing all.

It's good to hear from you, M! And happy belated birthday!!! I hope you had a wonderful day and enjoyed delicious cake.
The kids are so grown up now, it's wild. I probably have similar reactions when I see you share photos of your grands. I'm pretty sure your granddaughter is older than your grandson was when I first started seeing your shared pics. When you shared L's cupcake day, I had to do a double take, because he looked more like a tween than a kid now!
(I can't remember if you use names or not so that's why I went safe and skipped them.)

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

And happy belated birthday!!! I hope you had a wonderful day and enjoyed delicious cake.

Thank you so much. Lots of cake was consumed along with tophats and cocktail sausages and all my favourite party nibbles

I probably have similar reactions when I see you share photos of your grands.

Isn’t it crazy how fast they grow!

When you shared L's cupcake day, I had to do a double take, because he looked more like a tween than a kid now!

He’s tall like his dad. Aged 7 now and definitely taking after the Danish side of the family. Us Irish folk are more leprechaun sized by comparison

(I can't remember if you use names or not so that's why I went safe and skipped them.)

I use their names on my fb but I only share with people I trust on there. Tend not to name them in public forums ( though I feel this one is fairly safe and probably have here) but thank you for caring. My boys on the other hand will never be seen or talked about

 

[suse66]

Hi Alicia! I'm here for all the fun!

 

[amazingact21]

Thank you so much. Lots of cake was consumed along with tophats and cocktail sausages and all my favourite party nibbles

Wonderful!

Aged 7 now and definitely taking after the Danish side of the family. Us Irish folk are more leprechaun sized by comparison

Hi Alicia! I'm here for all the fun!

Thanks for joining along, Susan!

 

[amazingact21]

July 11-13, 2025:


Getting to Orlando is no small feat when you live right smack dab in the middle of the United States and want to travel by car. In the past, Alex and I drive all the way to my parent’s house in Northwest Florida, but that is a brutal experience. 16 to 18 hours in the car, leaving at 3 or 4 in the morning.

Alex and I agreed that if we were going to Florida again, we needed to split the travel up by an extra day. And fortunately for us, a few weeks prior, Alex took on-call duties for the 4th of July weekend, which granted him a day off. Usually, people take it the day after they go off shift (because trust me, they need it!) but Alex took his the Friday before we were set to leave.

Which meant we were able to leave a day early!



So rather than waking up in the middle of the night and stumbling through a sleeping household to load the car, Alex and I were able to wake up at 5, make breakfast, and pack lunches for the road.

We got the kids in the backseat, after persuading them they didn’t need twelve stuffies (see: Evie) and enough books to house a traveling library (see: Landon). My kids would pack their entire rooms if we let them.

Then we started driving!





Texas highways have two settings. Dull companions and terror-filled pandemonium. Lucky for us, we were able to hit both on our way out of the state. The miles in between cities are open fields full of cows and slow moving trucks. There’s so little around that the speed limit is 75. Then you hit Dallas and you enter a pit of despair and chaos.

I hate Dallas traffic.

That’s why I married a guy who is willing to go toe to toe with the other drivers. Alex always takes the wheel in that city. I’ve driven here twice. I’ve developed tears and pain in my knuckles from a tight grip twice. It’s awful.


The only silver lining to Dallas is that it houses one of our favorite artisanal donut shops.
The Salty!


They are known for their location in East End market in Orlando, where they have the unique butterbeer donut, but I’ll tell you a secret: The Dallas one, specifically the one in Bishop Arts, is way better.

It’s nestled alongside a bunch of vibrant small businesses, and Alex and I love coming down here and grabbing a sweet treat with the kids, then walking around and taking in the wares for sell. It represents the opposite of what the driving the in city does.


And since we had a shorter drive today, Alex and I knew we had to hit up the store and grab some sweets for the road. (Plus, we had reward points and a coupon to use, so our bill was super low for this.)



If you ever try the Salty, I recommend the Horchata (pictured bottom right) or the brown butter cake donut (top right). The one in the top middle was a Girl Scout Somoa donut, and the bottom middle was a key lime. The key lime was a limited time and was amazing. We regretted not getting multiples.



Once we left Dallas, the rest of the drive this day was uneventful. We got into Louisiana and stopped in Shreveport at a Sam’s Club for gas. This particular one was located on the main road I used to drive on when I went to high school here. It was a weird stroll down memory lane.

I didn’t like it.



Halfway across Louisiana, we stopped to eat our packed sandwiches and apples and carrot sticks. When we made it to Jackson, Mississippi we stopped for the night. Our hotel was the hosting grounds for a family reunion, and it was fun to see others gathering and having a good time. (The next morning, at the free breakfast, we chatted with them and uncovered how everyone was related. I hope they ended up having a nice weekend together!)

The four of us went out to dinner, and it was there that I felt a little off. I equated it to bad allergies and car travel.

Spoiler Alert: I was wrong.



That evening, Alex attached our Apple TV so the kids could finish watching Jurassic World.




We’d finally shown them the original Jurassic Park and wanted them to see the new set so they knew all about Blue and Owen. Evie absolutely loved the films and is still obsessed with all things dinosaurs. (She was bummed we didn’t make it to see Rebirth in theaters.)




Our second day of driving was going to be much shorter. 5 hours.

Regardless, I needed coffee:



There was a ton of traffic on the road between Mississippi and Florida, especially around Mobile. We actually got stopped in the tunnel.

Didn’t care for that at all.



My family reached my parent’s house shortly after 1, where we graciously barged inside with all our million bags and raided the fridge for food.

Once a kid, always a kid.



My dad is a huge gardener and since he retired last fall, he has more time to devote to his passion. This was great for us, because me and the kids were able to use the afternoon to harvest goodies and prepare them for our dinner and the following morning’s breakfast.











This was a wonderful way to break up the monotony of the drive, as well as catch up with my loved ones. Plus, I used my mom's washer to clean our clothes from the previous day, preventing us from having to break into our suitcases.
Again: once a kid, always a kid.

When we woke up on Sunday, our third day, Alex and I cooked up a big breakfast and packed another set of lunches.
The big breakfast came to bite us in the behind, because we had to stop an hour in and let Landon's stomach settle. What's a trip for us if Landon doesn't get sick? For those friends who've been around since Landon was a baby, you know this happens. Every vacation.
(In hindsight, though, we realized it was his car sickness and allergy drainage.)

Anyways!

It was time to battle I-75.

I don’t have to tell you all the madness that occurs on this stretch of Florida. It’s as if people leave their common sense at the exit to I-10.



Our GPS is set to take us the path that consists of the least amount of traffic, so when we reached Ocala, it got us off the interstate and took us through horse farm country. Alex and I enjoyed the little detour, because it was a beautiful area to drive through:


As someone who loves greenery and trees, this was a nice respite from the empty expanse of North Texas.



Eventually, after what felt like a hundred hours in the car, my family reached Orlando.

Yay!

We stopped by my sister in-law’s work to say hello and meet her coworkers. As she puts it, “I talk about my niece and nephew so much, they feel like they’ve watched them grow up over the years through pictures.”



Then it was finally, FINALLY time to check into our first resort of the trip. Let’s go!



Up Next: Stop Hoping I’ll Change My Mind. I Won’t.

 

[suse66]

Texas highways have two settings. Dull companions and terror-filled pandemonium. Lucky for us, we were able to hit both on our way out of the state. The miles in between cities are open fields full of cows and slow moving trucks. There’s so little around that the speed limit is 75. Then you hit Dallas and you enter a pit of despair and chaos.

I hate Dallas traffic.

That’s why I married a guy who is willing to go toe to toe with the other drivers. Alex always takes the wheel in that city. I’ve driven here twice. I’ve developed tears and pain in my knuckles from a tight grip twice. It’s awful.

Dallas traffic sounds like it's no joke...

If you ever try the Salty, I recommend the Horchata (pictured bottom right) or the brown butter cake donut (top right). The one in the top middle was a Girl Scout Somoa donut, and the bottom middle was a key lime. The key lime was a limited time and was amazing. We regretted not getting multiples.

Yum!!!! That Key Lime would be right up my alley!

Spoiler Alert: I was wrong.

oh no!!

My family reached my parent’s house shortly after 1, where we graciously barged inside with all our million bags and raided the fridge for food.

Haha, I still do the same thing!

When we woke up on Sunday, our third day, Alex and I cooked up a big breakfast and packed another set of lunches.
The big breakfast came to bite us in the behind, because we had to stop an hour in and let Landon's stomach settle. What's a trip for us if Landon doesn't get sick? For those friends who've been around since Landon was a baby, you know this happens. Every vacation.
(In hindsight, though, we realized it was his car sickness and allergy drainage.)

Ugh, poor Landon!

Then it was finally, FINALLY time to check into our first resort of the trip. Let’s go!

Can't wait to see where you're at!