What are some of your favorite Universal vacation memories?

[Snoopymom]

Just thought I'd bump this for anyone who went over the summer and now I can add mine.

I was watching the Barney show with my tough and fearless foster-to-adopt 5 yr old spidy jr, and seeing him sing along and act so innocent and sweet was already making my heart melt, but then when we sang the... we're a great big happy family, I love you, you love me song, I couldn't stop the tears...remembering when he came home to us 3 yrs ago, how far he has come, how WE ARE a family, how I can't wait for the adoption to be finalized, and like all parents, wishing he wouldn't grow up so fast.

We got to Univ before the doors opened so we had already done tons of stuff, we were having a blast, doing whatever we wanted to do next without waiting in lines, just the most perfect day...sure wish I could put those few wonderful hours into a bottle to open up whenever I'm having a yucky day, LOL.

(btw, I thought the show was very well done. It had that intimate safe and cozy feel for the kids, and the preshow was very cute. I thought it might be hokey and old fashioned compared to everything else, but the lighting with the falling leaves, snowflakes, etc. was great...I'm almost a Barney fan now, and I'd definitely take the little ones no matter how much he annoys you, LOL)

 

[KLAIT]

Not sure if I can write out how great this moment was for us, but here it goes.

My son who was 5 at the time is a huge Spiderman fan. We were at IOA the first week in Dec and there was no crowds at all. We went into the Spiderman store and he watched Spiderman for a long time over in the area where the meet and greets are held...he was trying to get enough courage to go over there when suddenly Spidey jumped up on the counter and started acting "spidermanish". Well, that sealed the deal for my son...we were out the door in a quick moment-he wanted nothing to do with Spiderman.

Later in the day we were walking by the same store and he wanted to go in and look at some of the toys by the door....I saw out of the corner of my eye Spiderman walking around the store and heading towards my son..Long story short, he walked over to my son, who was startled and started talking to him.....asking him if he is going to be a superhero when he grows up and if so he needs to drink his milk....my son, who was so nervous told Spiderman that he did have an Ice Cream cone today...it was really cute...and as Spidey walked away, my son looked at me and and said " I wanted to run away from him because I was scared, but I didn't want to be rude".

 

[dpuck1998]

My best was at the Barney show. My two boys who were 2 and 4 at time enjoyed the show. At the end when the were singing the "I love you..." song, my 2 year old got up (he was sitting between my wife and I) and walked over to his brother and hugged him and said "I love you" it was the cutest ever.

 

[All Aboard]

Nothing overly special, just my first trip. I went to Orlando on business sometime in 1991. I was there to appear before some state real estate board to petition for some sort of variance on a development the company I worked for then was doing. The session was to run from 8-4 that day and I could be called at any time, even the end of the day. They called my name first. I stated our case, it was granted and I was out of there in 15 minutes. Not wanting to head back up to Tallahassee that early, I opted to check out the new park in town. That was the first of many, many trips to USO.

 

[dcookies]

This is a great thread!

So many memories... but the best had to be the time I tlaked my sister into riding the Hulk with me. I was at the park with my family (DH, 2 DS's) and my sister and her DD. I had spent a good part of the afternoon talking my sister into riding on the Hulk. She was petrified it was going to get stuck upside down in one of the loops. It was starting to drizzle a little, but I told her it would still be fun. I finally convinced her to ride and we went through the Express line (thankfully we had FOTL so she didn't have time to change her mind). While we were waiting to board, she's still obsessing out loud about getting stuck. She asked one of the ride attendants if the ride ever got stuck in one of the loops. His response (with a straght face): "Only when it's raining." I didn't think I'd be able to stop laughing!

Btw, she loves the Hulk now.

 

[3forWDW]

Alot of great memories, but on our last trip in Sept 2002, the look on my husband's face when we rode the Bilge Rafts and the water came over the side and drenched him the 1st time was priceless. I wish I had the waterproof camera at that moment!!

 

[Metallicat]

One memory that stands out is on my daughters 18th birthday, she rode the Hulk for the first time (been hooked ever since) and we finished off the day with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. the waitress overheard me tell DD she should have some sort of cake for desert since we were out of town and I didn't get to get her a cake. the waitress came back and made a huge deal out of it. she had DD stand up on her chair and everybody in the place sang happy birthday to her. the place was packed! needless to say, she didn't speak to me for 2 hours afterwards!

 

[MouseGirl]

We were at IOA and USF in March of this year and had a special experience that our two daughters, ages 10 and 8, still talk about frequently. We were at USF on one of the Mardi Gras nights and were right at the curb. The girls were so excited and were able to catch tons of beads/necklaces, which they wore around their necks. It was close to park closing time by the time the parade ended, but we thought we would see if we could get on Jimmy Neutron one more time (the girls had fallen madly in love with the ride and we had already been on it three times that day!)

We were staying at the RPR and got up to the front of the express line. A young woman was sweeping and cleaning the area and our 10 year old struck up a conversation with her, saying how she wished she could work there too and asking her if she would like one of the girls' Mardi Gras necklaces. The young woman said that wasn't necessary, but my daughter insisted and she seemed quite touched. The doors to the ride opened at that point, and the young woman told the ride attendant that she had a very special family here, and that she should give us the best seat on the ride to thank our daughters for the necklace. We got escorted to a really great position (I think it was fourth row far left that she put us in) and it was definitely our favourite of the four times.

Earlier that evening we decided to maximize our park time and ended up eating ice cream and popcorn at IOA for dinner - the girls still talk about that night, our junk food dinner, and all the beautiful lights at IOA at night and the Mardi Gras parade. What a wonderful trip...we can't wait to go back!

 

[E&B's Mom]

Last week we were at IOA, and DD10 and DS7 asked me to take their picture in fron of a fountain at the Lost Continent. Well, once they started walking away, the fountain started spitting water at DS and calling him back. DS was a little freaked out and didn't even turn around to look back, but just kept walking away. We were trying to get him to talk back to the fountain, but he just kept walking. Another person watching told the fountain that he was probably afraid, to which the fountain replie "Afraid, what can I do, I'm only a rock!"

 

[dpuck1998]

 

[hardrockinclub7]

I have so many stories of IOA and US. I would have to say my favorite was going to HHN 15. My dad and i went together, and we just had an amazing time. We got a spot were a scareactor was and just watched him. It was great. I wished that night would never end.

 

[hardrockinclub7]

Oh yeah. One more. The first time I stayed at the Hard Rock, there was a halloween velvet session with Uncle Cracker. It was so loud and i was so tired. It was an experience I will never forget

 

[JenniferW]

Here it goes...

My daughter was 12 months old when we went to Universal for the first time and wasn't walking yet. We stayed on site so the trip was awesome in its own right. My hubby and I were taking turns in the morning for some of the big rides so I left him and Nikki (our daughter) by Merlin while I went on Dueling Dragons. When I came out, there was a bit of a crowd around my daughter and people were oohing and ahhing as well as saying precious, etc. I walk over and my daughter was taking her first steps actually a bunch of steps. For the rest of the trip we tried getting her to walk because I wanted video, but no walking at all. I tell everyone it was the magic of Merlin that helped her walk!

Jenn

 

[Figment22]

I have lots of great memories of times spent at UO:

1. My youngest son getting picked in Nickelodion Game Lab to be the kid who actually gets slimed. He was so excited and so I was too! They gave him a special suit to put on so his clothes stayed clean but his butt was green for a few days!

2. I got picked (twice!) to be one of the Ghostbusters in the pre-show of the original Ghostbusters show (where Twister is now). That was cool.

3. This was about 12 years ago when there was still a nighttime show on the lagoon at USF. We had had a fairly late dinner at Lombard's Landing and were some of the last patrons in the restaurant. We were having a nice, long conversation with our excellent waiter (his name was Woody and he was great). Well the lagoon show was starting shortly and we mentioned that we were going to go out to grab a good viewing spot. He told us not to bother and took us upstairs to the second level of Lombard's. (I guess it's used for private events normally.) We had the best view of the show. It was great.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

One of my favorite memories is walking through Seuss Landing for the first time. My kids got to meet the Seuss characters and they loved them more than the Disney ones.

 

[ickyviz]

Love this thread - it's making me wish for April to come round!

My best memory has got to be our first day ever (in 2003) - we walked to the park from our hotel on International Drive, and we didn't really know where we were going, or if we were even going in the right direction, and then we saw the Jurassic Park building, Dudley Do-rights and the Motown globe, and figured we were going the right way after all!

It was first thing in the morning, the sun was shining and it was really hot compared to the cold wet October we'd left behind in the UK! And then we arrived at the Universal Globe, a lovely man took our picture and we had a little chat with him, then we went into US....I just spent the whole day with my mouth wide open in awe - my DH has got the best picture of me, he took it without me knowing and I look like a little kid who's been let loose in the biggest toy store in the world! I just kept saying, Oh look at that, Oh look at this, etc etc! Our first ride was Jaws, and it just blew me away! It also made me really worry about our trip to Halloween Horror Nights the next night, cos I thought, oh no, if they can make a ride that real, imagine how scary HHN is going to be! (and I was right, but I still loved it....) We never did get to ride it again, cos it closed for refub the next day, and then last year when we went back it was closed again! So hopefully I'll get to ride it in April next year!

The whole day was magical, and seemed to last forever, and neither myself or my DH will forget it, as we got engaged at Winter Park the very next day! Apparently, my DH would have proposed that day because it was so perfect, but he'd left the ring back at the hotel cos he didn't want to lose it on any of the rides! Bless him!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Watching our young son laughing and running after riding Woody for the first time - before getting me to take him on it again (and again).

Will never forget how happy he was.

 

[lindalinda]

We have lots of wonderful memories of Universal, but one of my fav is a few years ago, the first time we stayed a HRH. My son, who was about 10 at the time, was checking out the memorabilia in the hotel lobby. He was looking at Elvis and blurted out "Look Mom he's got a bulge!" I busted out laughing and he was so embarrassed he thought he was gonna die. He's 14 now and everytime we go he points out the "bulge" to mom again.

 

[dan-tot]

Well I have already said about one it was the Macy Day Parade. This was so great the feeling you get sitting there and seeing the whole parade was great.
The second one was that my sister got a special audenice? with Barney. The first time she saw barney it just shook hands from the stage. since my sister uses a wheelchair it was a short shake. The second year was the year of 9-11 and we were ready for the same thing the quick hand shake and that was it. Porfessor Peeky Boo asked us to wait and after all the kids had left to the play area Barney came out with the professor and she was able to hug Barney. He couldn't get down low but he is so tall but he did his best. This past year he did the same thing. It was great that she was able to be with her favorite person by herself.

Dan-tot