We Really Did It!!! We Went To The Dark Side!!!!

[BarryCF]

Home sweet home We just got back from a wonderful week at Universal Orlando. I wasn't sure I was going to do a trip report, but after going to Universal for the 1st time since March 1995 I need to put this trip in writing. So on with the show.

The Players:

Me: Barry...46 year old Dad, over planner, driver, navigator, money man.
DW: Stephanie...46 year old Mom, lovingly gave me permission to plan this trip.
DD: Kayla...16 years old, and the only one in our party who has been here during her lifetime.
BFF: Annie...15 years old, at our house almost as much as she is at hers, and Kayla's sister from another mother.

The Plot:

Universal Orlando trip November 23-29, 2013. Driving from Texas, 3rd exit from the Louisiana state line. Staying at the Royal Pacific Resort for 4 nights with 4 day park to park passes.

The Back Story:

My wife and I went to WDW and USF in 1995, two years before our DD was born. We didn't go back to WDW until Kayla was 9 years old, in August 2007, which we refer to as the Great Water Fountain Trip. It was HOT HOT HOT and Kayla spent the entire trip looking for the nearest water fountain. The best decision I made that trip was to upgrade our tickets to AP's. In June of 2008 we did an 8 night trip during Star Wars Weekends. After another June trip in 2011 we went in December 2012 with the HS Choir and again in March 2013 with the HS Band (Our DD went with the band and we met them at the end and stayed five days after they left). At that point, we were ready for a break. We decided we weren't going back until The 7 Dwarves Mine Train opens.

Fast forward to June of this year...a commercial for Transformers: The Ride 3D came on TV and my wife looks at me and says "Maybe it's time to see what the Dark Side looks like." After I made sure I heard her right, I sat down and started looking, booking, and paying.

Next Episode: The Drive and day 1, or Man it's a long way to Orlando....

 

[Metro West]

Off to a good start...looking forward to reading more.

 

[RDawn]

We have never been to US, but are considering a side visit on our next WDW trip. I welcome your insights & thank you for the trip report.

 

[jjjmranch]

Can't wait to hear about your trip! Friends with DW on Facebook!

 

[schumigirl]

Looking forward to reading more Barry, especially as it`s been so long since you've been

 

[BarryCF]

The original plan was to leave Texas the minute the girls got out of school on Friday 11/22, especially with it being an early release day. Wouldn't you just know it, we decide to go to Orlando for Thanksgiving and the ATSSB (Association of Texas Small School Bands) decides the first Saturday of Thanksgiving vacation would be a good day to All Region Band Tryouts. I don't know if this happens nationwide, but Texas schools horn in on school vacation regularly.

Leaving on Friday would have put us in the parks starting Sunday 11/24, and I was worried about crowd levels, so the sooner the better. Turns out I worried for nothing. After All Region, where Kayla walked away as 1st Chair Bass Clarinet, not that I'm bragging or anything, we left home at 4pm. 15 miles later, when I suggested to our DD she call her Nana and let her know about All Region and that we were on our way, our sweet DD figured out she didn't have her phone. Thankfully, after a little drama, we (I) found it at home, and she didn't leave it at the Pilot Truck Stop where I topped off the gas and got coffee for the road. So we left home (take 2) at 4:45pm for the drive to Pensacola. After stopping for gas in Biloxi, Ms. we arrived at our hotel at 11:40pm.

The Red Roof Inn on Avalon Blvd in Pensacola/Milton, Fl. is within 2 miles of halfway from our driveway to Universal Orlando Resort. We stayed there going and coming. The room was $62.99 on 11/23 and $57.99 on 11/29. We had no complaints either night. They are doing some renovations on the Hotel but it didn't interfere with us either night that we were there. All Rooms are interior hallway entrances and there is a Waffle House in the Parking Lot.

After Bacon and Eggs at Waffle House, we got on the road at 9am. Knowing we weren't going to the parks until the next day, we didn't need to leave at the crack of dawn. I checked the mileage both ways and although I know Pensacola is halfway, the Pensacola to Orlando leg, and back, seems so much farther than Texas to Pensacola and back. Being all in one state, on a straight road where the scenery doesn't change much, makes the drive feel like this... ...but finally, after the time change, 2 gas stops and a trip to Walmart for Dayquil and girly stuff, we arrived at the Royal Pacific Hotel at 5:50pm. The Dayquil was for Kayla, who started the trip sick, and for Stephanie, who finished the trip sick, and for me, because I'm sick now. No comment on the girly stuff.

We checked in, were put in room 1212, with a great view of the pool, and went to City Walk. The walkway looked a lot like the River Walk in San Antonio, minus the drunks. Being our 1st time to City Walk, we explored and shopped and the girls decided they wanted to eat at The Hard Rock Cafe. The food was okay, not bad but nothing to write home about. The building itself was great, especially for an old rocker like me. The memorabilia was great, and the music was LLLOOOUUUDDD, but it's supposed to be. My one complaint would be that my definition of Rock n Roll doesn't include Taylor Swift, or Rhianna, or a lot of the other music they had on the video screens. But I guess they have to play to the crowd. After eating we figured out quickly that we were all very tired, so we took the water taxi back to the hotel and crashed.

Next episode: Day 2, our 1st time at IOA...or...Harry, you're a Wizard....

 

[jjjmranch]

The Hard Rock is really really loud. I thought City Walk was really cool, especially the kiosk vendors!

 

[BarryCF]

After a good nights sleep, it was time to hit our 1st park. DD Kayla had spent 1 day at IOA in March 2013 but the rest of us had never been. We decided to do IOA the 1st day because of Early Admission to the Wizarding World. Kayla had already been in March but she isn't much of a Potter fan. Annie and I on the other hand are serious Harry Potterheads. Checking into the RPR the evening before, we got our room keys and Universal Express passes, so off we go to IOA....only to find out after standing in line and getting to the turnstile that what we didn't have was our park admission.

Wait...What???? What do you mean we don't have our park admission?!?!? No sir, you have to go to guest services. But, But, But Harry freakin' Potter is at the end of the Rainbow. So, off to guest services we go to get our tickets. Glad I had the card I paid for the tickets with, since NOBODY told me I needed it. After getting our park admission and City Walk Complimentary Passes, it's off we go. On a side note, Room Keys, Universal Express Passes, Park Tickets, and City Walk Party Passes make for a lot to keep up with. I'm not sure why they can't put it all in one. Maybe someday they will.

Needless to say, our little detour put us behind a lot of the crowd going to the Wizarding World. The Forbidden Journey had a 20 minute wait time posted. It took about 15 minutes to get on. That was the 2nd longest wait of the week. Three words for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey...BEST.RIDE.EVER!!!! There's nothing else like it anywhere that I know of. I had been waiting to ride it since the day it was announced and it was worth the wait. I made myself not watch YouTube videos of it for years because I didn't want to know. I had seen the Sum of All Thrills at Epcot before so I understood the technology, but Forbidden Journey just blew me away. After Riding twice we started using our Express Passes on:
Flight of the Hippogriff -short
Dragon Challenge - (both sides, the Hungarian Horntail was much better to us).
Jurassic Park River Adventure
The Incredible Hulk RC - The takeoff is a great start to a very good coaster.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. - What a great ride. Everything I thought it would be and we all liked it better than Transformers: The Ride 3D
The Cat in the Hat - Cute ride but got to Stephanie a little. She has motion sickness issues so she was really indulging us on this trip. But she swears she enjoyed it and is ready to go back.
High in the Sky Seuss Trolley - Really cool little train ride.

After some browsing and picture taking in Seuss Landing it was time for our Reservation at Mythos. It was good. Both soups and the Meatloaf were all great. After eating we got one the biggest surprises we had all week. Poseidon's Fury was MUCH MUCH better than we thought it would be. It was a little on the cheesy side but the effects were good. I wasn't expecting much, and it was a pleasant surprise. After some browsing around The Lost Continent we went back to Marvel Super Hero Island to ride The Hulk and Spider-Man multiple times and do some exploring. That island is my childhood in a nutshell. Everything about it turned me into a 10 year old all over again.

We browsed our way out of The Port of Entry and made our way to the RPR to freshen up for supper at Nascar Grille which was much better than I thought it would be. We went so we could watch MNF and ended up enjoying it a lot.

Next Episode: Day 3, What a beautiful park...or...Wow, why can't HS be like this....

 

[tink1957]

Great start

Wow that's a long drive from TX...we usually drive 7 1/2 hours and I thought that was bad.

Sounds like you had a good day at the park and got a lot done for a holiday week...gotta love that express pass.

 

[BarryCF]

Great start

Wow that's a long drive from TX...we usually drive 7 1/2 hours and I thought that was bad.

Sounds like you had a good day at the park and got a lot done for a holiday week...gotta love that express pass.

It wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. We never waited as long as 10 minutes for a water taxi. I wasn't dead by any means but it wasn't mobbed either. Universal is better at moving people than I thought they would be. Having said that, I'm glad we had Express passes. The longest posted wait times were Despicable Me and Transformers on Wed. at 70 and 65 minutes each. Lots of other attractions were 30-45 during the week.

We drove roughly 7 hours each day, with gas and Potty stops. We talked to a gentleman from San Antonio and they drove 2 vehicles 20 hours over 2 days....no thanks. If we lived 2 hours west of here we'd fly.

 

[Metro West]

I'm not sure why they can't put it all in one. Maybe someday they will.

Universal doesn't own the onsite hotels...that's why you can't put everything together.

Looking forward to more of the TR.

 

[schumigirl]

Looking forward to day 3

 

[macraven]

i don't know how i missed your trippie when you started it.
but i am here now and really interested in your vacation fun!

don't tell me you skipped over Dr Doom.
for me, it is a kewl ride at the darkside.

 

[BarryCF]

Hi everyone, sorry it took so long to get to day 3, but everyone has been sick and we've been busy as heck. So...On to day 3!

Before the trip, I was really looking forward to IOA, with the Wizarding World and Marvel Super Hero Island, but I was blown away by Universal Studios Park. A little background boys and girls...I LOVE LOVE Hollywood Studios at WDW. The Back Lot Tour is a joke, Star Wars Land or Cars Land needs to be added because the park needs something to pull people away from Toy Story Mania and there aren't enough E-ticket attractions, but I'm a movie and television buff, and I love the architecture and feel of the park. I remember liking USF the last time I was there, but I wasn't prepared for how much I enjoyed the park. Again, our Express Passes were great. We experienced:

Despicable Me - WE LOVE MINIONS!!!!
Transformers The Ride: 3D - Great ride, although we all like Spider-Man better. We rode it twice.
Horror Makeup Show-This was an unexpected BIG hit with everyone. The Kids saw it 3 days in a row. Great show and VERY funny.
Spongebob Meet and Greet - Lots of SpongeBob characters came out and we took pictures with all of them.
The Blues Brothers - We had reservations at Finnegans at 11:45. We were hungry early and decided to see if we could get a table. The Blues Brothers Show started as we rounded the corner. It was fabulous. The Blues Brothers Rule!!!
Finnegans - Better than Mythos. I had the Ruben and Potato soup, Stephanie had the Mixed Grill (chicken and sausage), Annie had the steak sandwich, and Kayla had the Shepherds Pie. Even though it's made with beef instead of lamb it has a very good flavor. For apps we had Scotch Eggs and the Potato and Onion Loaf. We liked it so much, we came back and ate Thanksgiving lunch there.
Springfield USA - It was really cool to walk through the world of the Simpsons. It also gave us a chance to let our food settle.
Shrek 4D - We love the 3D shows at Disney, and this was just as good. The pre-show was funny.
Revenge of the Mummy - I liked it a lot. The girls LOVED it. They rode it so much during the week that the guy checking Express Passes knew them by name. It was too much for Stephanie. WAY too much.

At this point, the girls went their own way for awhile. Stephanie is a trooper, but Mummy did her in so she hung out while I rode MIB - Alien Attack. I liked it. I'm not very good at it but I liked it. After that we did Disaster, which we enjoyed, and Terminator 2:3D which we both really liked. It's a little dated, but it was still a cool show. After that, we met up with the girls and Kayla and I rode Rip, Ride, Rockit twice. After it got stuck going up the lift hill prior to our trip, I had my misgivings, but Kayla wanted to ride, so off we went. It's a rough ride. I enjoyed it, but it's at the bottom of the list for coasters at USO. It got stuck at the 2nd brake run the next day, and we didn't get back on it, but I'm glad we got to ride it. After that, we shopped our way out the gate and went and ate at Olive Garden on International Drive before turning in for the night.

Next episode: Days 4 and 5...Park Hopping Time...or...Hey, I like this single rider's line.

 

[macraven]

totally agree about finnegans.
i prefer that place over mythos also.

my trip i october had me eating at finnegans 5 times........
good food and reasonable prices.

 

[schumigirl]

Glad you had another good day.......shame about RRR.......we found when we sit at the front it's very smooth........

But I agree when it's rough it's not as much fun.

 

[tink1957]

Sounds like another great day at US

IOA had always been our preferance, but we found ourselves enjoying US more on our last trip and with the new HP addition it's sure to be our new favorite place.

Looking forward to hearing about day 4.