Trip Report A Not-So-Scary, Very Merry and Universal Vacation

Hello everyone, and welcome to my long-overdue trip report! I'll start off by introducing myself and family:

Left to Right - Me, Dad, Mom, Maddie

On this trip, we stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort from October 31-November 9, which allowed us to enjoy both MNSSHP and MVMCP, as well as the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival and Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. We took advantage of the free dining plan offer, so also expect some brief reviews and pictures of all the table service restaurants we dined at.

Itinerary:
Oct 31 - Hollywood Studios / Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Nov 1 - Universal
Nov 2 - Kennedy Space Center / Downtown Disney
Nov 3 - Universal
Nov 4 - Animal Kingdom / Magic Kingdom
Nov 5 - WDW Speedway / Hollywood Studios / Epcot
Nov 6 - Epcot
Nov 7 - Magic Kingdom & Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
Nov 8 - Hollywood Studios / Magic Kingdom
Nov 9 - Epcot

This is my first trip report, so it might not be perfect, but I hope you'll all enjoy following along!

 

[samosaurus]

Another look inside the restaurant, with the stage in the background:

Exterior:

After our meal, we we walked around for a little bit and then went back to the hotel.

 

[FlaggNL]

Guess we have to do Raglan next October

 

[joshsprincess921]

loving your report so far, you give great details and now I'm hungry!
your family costumes are awesome! love it!

 

[Disney Coco]

The food looks amazing! Especially the braised beef and bread pudding Im feeling hungry just looking at it! Im going in September might have to book a table here now! . Great trip report

 

[samosaurus]

Day 4​

Back to Universal we go! We started off the day in Islands of Adventure.

In Hogsmeade, we saw a performance by the Frog Choir, which was fun and a nice bit of atmospheric entertainment.

Another ride on the Hogwarts Express took us over to Diagon Alley at Universal Studios.

We had a quick chat with the shrunken head and driver of the Knight Bus, who asked us where we were from (Wisconsin) and proceeded to call us Cheeseheads.

 

[samosaurus]

Next, we grabbed a bite to eat and some Butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron.

Then we journeyed to the home of the Simpsons, Springfield!

This might be my favorite picture from the whole trip :

Those gloves look awfully familiar...

Dad stopped in Moe's to get a Duff beer and then we went over to Lard Lad Donuts to get a "big pink" doughnut.

 

[samosaurus]

After Springfield and experiencing some of the other attractions in the park, we went back to Diagon Alley to ride the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts coaster, which luckily had a short line. Unfortunately, I was a bit underwhelmed by this. I personally prefer Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure over it.

Of course, we couldn't leave Universal without trying Butterbeer ice cream from Florean Fortescue's and seeing the dragon breathe fire.

 

[samosaurus]

The rest of the trip would be spent on Disney property, so we returned our rental car to the AAA car care center, took their shuttle to Coronado Springs, hopped on a bus to Magic Kingdom, and then took the monorail to the Polynesian for our late dinner reservation at 'Ohana.

Having a late (I think it was 9:50pm) reservation, the restaurant was nearly empty:

View of Magic Kingdom from 'Ohana:

We were greeted by our 'cousin,' who explained that dinner is served family-style, meaning everything (except the grilled meats) is brought to the table on a large platter and everyone is free to help themselves. The grilled chicken, steak, and shrimp is served to you off of huge skewers. The meal started off with a yummy pineapple-coconut bread (which you can kind of see in the background of this picture because I forgot to get a picture of it on its own) and lettuce wraps.

Then, a huge platter of food was brought out. It consisted of Pork Dumplings tossed in Garlic-Ginger Sauce, Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings, Noodles, and Stir-Fried Vegetables. All of it was good! I particularly liked the pork dumplings.

I neglected to get a picture of any of the skewered meats. The shrimp was good and the pork and steak were a bit dry and just okay.

We finished off the meal with delicious 'Ohana Bread Pudding with Bananas-Caramel Sauce and a heaping scoop of ice cream on top.

Overall, our dinner at 'Ohana was good, but not outstanding like Raglan Road the night before. The steak and chicken being dry were the only real complaint, and this may have just been a rare occurrence, so I wouldn't let that completely change your decision on whether or not to eat dinner here in the future.

 

[party like it's 99]

A caught up! First of all, I love you families Halloween costumes! Did you end up trying the freeze dried ice cream from the space center? I didn't even know butter beer ice cream was a thing, I can't wait to try it! Following along!

 

[mrdrift]

Wonderful pictures of the day at Universal, just love the Harry Potter attractions. Ohana dinner is really making me hungry and want to return there on our next trip because the food never disappoints. Following along.

 

[samosaurus]

A caught up! First of all, I love you families Halloween costumes! Did you end up trying the freeze dried ice cream from the space center? I didn't even know butter beer ice cream was a thing, I can't wait to try it! Following along!

Yes, we did try the freeze dried ice cream. It was good! Tasted like ice cream, but crunchy. Thanks for following along!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

LOVE all of your MNSSHP costumes!!!! Lots of great food pics too. We really need to try Raglan Road at some point. The Kennedy Space Center pics were great too. It's been LONG LONG time since I've been there. Can't wait to see more

 

[samosaurus]

Day 5​

This was the "view" from our room - as seen through the peephole. Maddie randomly took this picture and I'm only posting it because I really don't have many other pictures from the resort. Plus I think it looks kinda cool

Anyway, on to breakfast! Nothing like Mickey waffles to start the day!

After breakfast, we took the bus over to Disney's Animal Kingdom.

On the way to Africa, we stopped to see the adorable little cotton-top tamarins. They're fun to watch as they jump from branch to branch and hang upside down.

 

[Tink28]

Enjoying your report, thanks for posting

 

[mrdrift]

Great start to Animal Kingdom and the pictures are really cool. Love those Mickey waffles. Following along.

 

[Rach&Eric]

Loving your TR, looking forward to more!

 

[samosaurus]

We got in line for the 10am showing of Festival of the Lion King and were in the theater within 5 minutes. To anyone who hasn't seen the show before: go see it at least once! It's a lot of fun and very entertaining!

Next, we had Fastpass+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris and were lucky enough to see a lot of active animals.

 

[samosaurus]

On our way over to Asia, I discovered a nice little photo spot with a great view of the Tree of Life.

We used our second Fastpass+ on Kali River Rapids. Dad didn't feel like getting wet, so he held our stuff while Mom, Maddie, and I rode. I was the only one brave enough to go on without a poncho, but still somehow managed to be the driest at the end.

Our third Fastpass+ was for Expedition Everest and only Maddie and I rode.

Moving on to Dinoland, U.S.A., we took a couple spins on Primeval Whirl and a ride on DINOSAUR.

There was time to spare before our 4pm Yak & Yeti reservation, so after walking back to Asia, we made our way through Maharajah Jungle Trek. We didn't see many animals, but it was still nice to walk through and see all the details the Imagineers created in this area.

 

[mrdrift]

Great addition to the report with EE and Dinosaur pictures from Dinoland area. Following along.

 

[party like it's 99]

This report is the only thing mentally getting me through preparing for finals (i have seven projects due tomorrow for one class...). It is a very welcome distraction! Looking forward to more!