Trip Report Chunking on Orlando New Year's Eve (WDW and Uni)

What? Another WDW trip? Yeah this is my 4th on 4 years (including a Disney Cruise).

Now.. The Participants on the adventure:

My mother dearest. For companion purposes.
My niece and goddaughter (and the reason of why this trip)
My nephew (he had to tag along with his sister)

Anyway, It was the 15th Birthday of my Niece (I am her godfather). The 15th is the equivalent of the sweet 16th on the USA. Very important and sort of a "passing age" rite. She gets a huge party and stuff.
And I offered her a trip to UNI's Harry Potter lands (she's a big fan, infact she looks a lot like Hermione IRL). And also added a "side" trip to WDW on the offer.
Total of 9 days at WDW (5 days at WDW, 3 at Uni, with 1 day of rest and 2 of "sleepovers" for the airline movement.

After planning this trip for a year or so.
2 weeks before the trip.. Surprise!
We started with the WRONG FOOT (thank you American Airlines for f*.. things up so many times).
First.. they "canceled" my reservation. Which I didn't. No reason, no Explanation, no phone call, no email, nothing.
Had to call my reservation company so they could fix it. And they claimed American Airlines canceled it for "protection" because my flight was changed (aka numbers changed, hours changed.. minimally).
I had to make a huge bunch of calls, emails, and a lot of anger to finally fix it up.. Except for one thing.
The Flight was almost booked solid and had barely space left (scattered). Not to mention I had
purchased "premium" seats. And they told me I had to do a separate complain and wait until they return the money. (they claim it might take months.. not fun.. I'm still waiting).


So, Our trip starts on the 30th of December. Departing from PVR (Puerto Vallarta International Airport to Dallas Forth Worth).
We got ready and all.. and.. another stone...
Plane was delayed by a "programming error". The dispatched plane that was going to serve the route.. was 1 hour late.
This was critical, because we would be missing our connection flight.
American Airlines again sets my second flight into "canceled" mode for "protections so I could rebook". (wthell is wrong with them?)..

In the end, the flight was only 40 minutes late.. and the plane had zero delays inflight, so the total delay when we arrived to Forth Worth, was mere 20minutes.
So we passed immigration (fast.. it was empty! how different from Houston which is always packed), picked our bags and headed to get some information.
They recommended us to NOT try to get to the plane.. I insisted we could made it (it was just a block away). The woman politely tried but the computer refused to print new passes.
I was beyond furious at this point... We would miss our POR reservation.
And they only gave us skimpy vouchers and a cheap suite hotel for the night...As we got booked for tomorrow's earliest flight of 7:00 am.
Also got us premium seats in the next flight. We will still be separated due to the mess up.

Then they gave us instructions to wait for the "shuttle".
So we walked and walked and walked until we found the exit area where the Shuttles were.
It was very cold for us (PVR is always above 20C) and It was a mere 6C that day (with thermal feeling of 3C thanks to wind).
We waited.. and waited.. and waited.. 45 minutes later.. finally arrived. We got to the hotel, made preparations, we got separated suites.. the kids in one and my mother and I in another.
We took a shower.. and then we proceeded to order some food. Found out that only Domino's supports the vouchers at the moment. So we had to settle with default pizzas.
It was funny, because they called us via phone that the pizza was ready (30 mins later). We got down to pick it up.. we didn't find him, we got back up.. and the gentleman was waiting by our door.

We paid.. ate and prepared to sleep. It was going to be a very short sleep ( as we had to wake up at 4:30 to get the 5:00 shuttle, so it arrives at 5:20-5:30 to the airport).
So we did.. There was a mess up because my nephew ALWAYS takes way too much time making baggage( no seriously, we told him to be ready BEFORE going to sleep). Then he forgot his wallet somewhere and had to return when the shuttle was about to depart.
Thankfully the shuttle waited for him and turns out he had the wallet.. in his sister's bag. :|
I facepalmed and we got in our way.

The airport line wasnt troublesome as we had TSA-PRE. My nephew still was randomly selected for a search and that slowed down us a bit.
We then headed to our Gate and had time to buy some food.
My mother and I settled for "mexican food" (that was nothing like mexican food at all). A Giant burrito mixed with eggs and who knows what else (lol). It was good, but too big.
The kids got fried shrimp and chicken from Popeye's.

So.. we finally departed Dallas for Orlando (phew!).
The flight was pretty uneventful... We arrived at around 10 am... We ran to pick our bags and we headed to the Disney Magical Express. During this moment of moving bags.. I had a "bad moment" and damaged one of my nails (with blood and all).

Quickly patched it up and to the bus we went!
Its always amazing to see how much improvements they are doing to the roads.
Also a joy to finally reach the Walt Disney World archways and enter the Disney World area!.

Sadly, we missed our POR reservation, but we had 5 days of DVC at Old Key West.

They gave us a chance to check in a bit early and gave us our magicbands.. (which strangely were all grey instead of the colors we asked... the clerk happily got colored bands for each of us and when we had one of the bellboys drive us with their golf like kart to our room).

We were pretty far away.. ( Turtle Pond area). but the place was beautiful!. The room was AMAZING and with tons of space!.

We quickly made decisions of where each one will sleep.
And since it was her 15th birthday gift..

My Niece got the big main room. My nephew wanted to sleep on the kitchen area.

and my mom and I settled on the Doubles room.

We settled up, left our bags, changed our stuff.. and We went Straight for Epcot.
We had reservations for Coral Reef. So..
We took the Disney bus at Turtle Pond's Station.. and To Epcot We go!

 

[Cesar R M]

MAGIC KINGDOM DAY 1

We woke up fairly early and we Got ready..

The whole "waking up fairly early" was moth because My nephew always takes SO MUCH TIME on getting ready and sometimes even forgets the stuff he left right before the shower and couldn't find them AFTER the shower. *lol*

The day was unfortunately moody and cold. Raining softly but with wind( Hence it was pretty cold for us).
My mother was prepared as she had packed the poncho she had bought years ago at WDW.
I had some "hot" second skin suit behind my pants and my Oswald hoody that I had bought for my last january-february trip to WDW..worked really well!

And onwards to Magic Kingdom we went!.

We had to wait a few times.. because there were lots of Epcot and DHS buses, no idea why.
By the time the Magic Kingdom bus left Old Key West (after 3 stops). The bus was packed.

Then after a short time... It we left the bus and headed to Magic Kingdom's entrance.

We got in with no trouble despite the big line of people waiting for bag check.
It moved pretty fast.

The park was kinda empty(no surprise as it kept raining all day! on and off) and almost everyone had ponchos!

Once my Niece got a good look at the Square.. We decided to take the Train.
This part was hilarious, as we were told we need to move from the turnstile all the way to the end, so we could board the next train.

My mother misunderstood this and went INSIDE the building again and tried to go all the way the other side..
Then we were all "WHAT IS SHE DOING? moment.. and since she couldn't go the other way(no doors on the other side!) she had to return, we were all laughing at this!.

As we waited.. I Managed to get a shot of the StarWars "themed" monorail (seriously, they put very little effort in these compared to the ones I've seen of Disneyland)

So.. the next train took very little time and we boarded in one of the middle parts of the train.

We boarded it, enjoyed the ride and as we got closer to Frontierland... I started to check our time.
It was almost time for our first FastPass at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

After some hesitation, we got down at critter country (next to splash mountain) station and we went our way to Big Thunder to check and ensure my clock was not wrong (only 15 minutes wrong this time lol)
I gave the kids a small tour of the FrontierLand area and we immediately went to check. We still had 15-20 minutes to chill before our FastPasses started and we had a 50 minute window. So we decided to "flee" the rain and get into Pecos for food as we were starving.

I ordered a simple burger that was ok (very McDonalds style) and my nephew ordered one too. My niece and mother decided for some hotdogs and a salad respectively (the hotdog bought right outside of Pecos). The whole Hotdog thing was funny, because the hotdog stand was barely opening and they didnt had condiments ready... so My niece got her hotdogs and put the condiments on Peco's area.

We used the time to make a short trip to the restroom (wow, are they clean?? they were the most spotless restrooms in the whole Magic Kingdom).

Once we're all ready and full. We went our way to Big Thunder.
It always a pleasure to ride that thing. Feels long and enjoyable and gives you a good adrenaline boost. The line was not that bad.. The light rain made things better to get the line less longer.

Once we were down from Thunder, we decided to walk around the area and into the Liberty Square area in our way to The Haunted Mansion, where our next fastpass was.

We still had time so we took a few photos of the area. The kids loved the Liberty Belle. So each one got a few photos of it.

Once we were done, we reviewed a few areas of Liberty Square, explaining what are what... in that area. My mother used her time to buy a fresh fruit (she cringed at the fruit's price.. because its 20X times more expensive than in our country).

Once she was done.. We headed to Haunted Mansion, which was getting packed because of the rain. We took the FastPass route and we were in in less than 5 minutes.

The kids and my mother loved the show. It was definitively one of the best of Magic Kingdom ( my new favorite is splash mountain).

After that; we had plenty of time. As I had programmer our next fastpass for 5pm.. way after the Parade..

So, we went towards the castle via the Tangled Potties.
We had time.. so we decided to head towards Its a Small World.

The wait time was not that bad despite it saying 45 minutes (was less than 15 minutes actually, probably was higher when the rain was going hard but by the time we entered the rain stopped). The kids were also surprised on how much money (in coins) was in the fountains and the water in many attractions at Disney World... Specially inside Its a Small World.

My mother definitively fell in love with this show. It was her favorite along with Peter Pan and Universal's E.T.

Next we Proceed to make a quick tour towards New Fantasyland. Explaining Be Our Guest, The mine train, the pooh area...phillarmagic..etc.. We went all the way towards the Circus tent area so They could see the whole thing and the other Train Station.

We had a "pit stop" at the area's bathrooms, which where ok, but getting dirty (so many people there!)

After that, We used the time to get to Barnstormer.. Another error from my mother and she was insisting trying to enter the FASTPASS area when we had NO FASTPASS.
She even tried to use the fastpass sensor and turned red. *facepalm*. We had to scream at her to use the other door. And since she doesn't know english.. It was weird to see the CM gesturing at her that she had no fastpass.

After she finally managed to find the correct line. We got all the way to Barnstormer.
It wasn't that bad, a bit too short in my tastes.. but its for kids!.
I still think It feels a bit harder and faster than the minetrain on the first drop... (probably because it was a bare metal attraction?)

Anyway, after leaving Barnstormer, we decided to get to the Train again and head towards Main Street as we boarded the train at Circus(Fantasy Land Station) to leave at Main Street.

We used the time to Take a few pictures of the castle and Partners statue.

Of course, took photos of my favourite statues too!

Then we decided to camp next to the Castle for the Dream Along With Mickey show.
Sadly the show was a no go, the area was still very wet and slippery despite the industrial fans they used to dry the water in the dancing areas (the blue rounded things in the above photo).
So the characters came out, gave a mini "intro" then an apology for the rain.

And that was it for the time.. so we decided that we were hungry.
We then returned to Liberty Square using the wood bridge area (sleepy Hollow) and we headed into Columbia Harbour House.

I ordered my classic Fried shrimp platter. My mother decided for the salad, my nephew for the nuggets and my niece with the battered fish plate.

It was ok food (I liked it). We decided to make another quick "pit stop". before heading out.
But as we were leaving...SURPRISE.. They had speed up Festival of Fantasy. They were in the middle of Liberty Square when I noticed some of the floats.
When we managed to get nearby before it ended.. but we had no good line of view because it was so full of people (the parade was scheduled at 3:00 pm, it was 2:45 pm when it was out in that area, no surprise as it was starting to rain again).

We managed to take a few views and then we decided to make another go around the park..

before heading to Critter Country for our next fastpass.. SPLASH MOUNTAIN! (which was bad.. as it was raining hard now, we were hesitant on getting on).

So my nephew, Niece and I bought ponchos.. and we braved thru the winds to get to Splash. My mother in the other hand... decided to skip and wait in the splash Mountain area.

The ride was almost a walkon, no surprise as it was cold.. rainy.. windy and the water canons were all on (lol). It was still funny to see all the "you will get wet..warning!" banners every part of the queue until the "last chance to bail" on the loading area.
I talked with the CM and she graciously let me and my niece be in the back of the "log".

By the time we were in the top area of the Splash Mountain, it was raining with wind... brrrr! I had my poncho and still could feel the breeze and getting wet in the exposed areas!!.
Anyway... the ride moved on.
I swear.. the laughing place (dark second drop) took us by total surprise... but we knew something was coming because you feel the log flume gear engage and then get up.. before plunging...

We were all "ohh shi...." on the final drop.. The birds talking about your demise was hilarious!.
After the drop...We didn't get much wet. infact.. the poor person infront of us was getting completely soaked after the big drop(where there is a waterfall in one of the sides, the log flume stopped there for a bit and the water soaked her. It was funny because she was trying to climb onto her boyfriend to escape the water lol).

The final scene was awesome!, and thank god we were only partially wet after the whole thing(the ponchos dont cover the full arms and hands.. so my hoody was partially wet on the arms) Also ALL the animatronics were working!.

After that, We went to the store, where I bought the "what goes up" bird t shirt as a gift and the photos of the dropdown!.
The CM was kind and gave us a bonus photo for free as we talked on how good the ride was and how all effects seemed to be working, plus he was also Latin American!.

After that, we went our ways to pick up my mother...

We decided to do one last run around the area before going towards Fantasyland again..
We then decided to give a try at Phillarmagic, As it was raining constantly and was pretty cold.
So, good excuse to escape the rain.

The show was ok, one of the projectors was out of sync for a few..but mostly was allright. The kids all said the Bug show at Animal Kingdom was better (of course, its newer lol).
But they really loved the musical parts where Donald meets other princesses (little mermaid and Aladdin were my favourites).

After the show was done, We left and headed to the castle area again...

As we got around the Castle... my Mother and Nephew decided to check some things in the area and we split for a bit (my nephew wanted to buy some chocolates or gifts on the emporium)

My niece and I used the time to get to meet Princess Merida.
We got lucky as she had just returned from "resting" and it was her final meet and greets for the day (the place was SOAKED, all toys were packed, so it was an "adults" meet and greet now lol)

 

[Cesar R M]

Magic Kingdom day 1 Part 2

The line was pretty fast, There were just adults and young teens waiting to meet her.
Infact, most were adults. The rain continued as we got closer to her.

Thank god I did bring my external flash unit. I was able to take many pictures that would look bad with the onboard flash.


Anyway... after taking the photos with Merida, we decided then to head to Fantasyland area to meet my nephew and mother (they still hadn't texted us yet, so I presumed they were still purchasing stuff).
We decided to enjoy the free time and went towards the Pooh ride from Merida's meet and greet spot. As we got closer to the Mad Teahouse area, We managed to see Pooh walking to the Cast Member rest area with an umbrella.. So cute!

Then we decided to brave the huge crowds (45 minute wait time posted) of the Pooh Ride.
Then got in the standby line which was half full. The rain finally stopped at this point.

The line moved kinda slow, as usual from this ride.. most capacity being eaten by FP+). But that was not the issue as we waited for the ride.
It was full of hyper kids playing with the interactive areas and doing other things.
For example: There were these asian kids (whose mother didn't seem to care much what her "precious" did ) that gave no darn about personal space. Kept hitting me(and other people waiting in line) bouncing, walking, touching.. all you can imagine while on line! Annoying!.

As we moved on the line, we reached the part where the fastpass line "joins" the normal line. Here we got told to move and got separated in the "split" from the rest of the standby line group.
The hyper kids were told to wait (they really tried to get behind the line to get behind us and prevent the FP people getting in lol) as the standby line was closed behind us and the fastpass line moved in.
The fastpass guys behind us were unlucky to get infront of the asian kids once the standby line was opened again.. they seemed very hyper and annoyed the crap out of everyone.

Anyway, we boarded the ride and onwards we went!.
Note that this ride is very simplistic.. but the movements of the little car is what makes it fun!
We were laughing at the Tigger part of the ride, a lot of fun for a child oriented ride!

After the ride... I almost convinced her to take a photo with Pooh.. Sadly the line was closed by a CM right in front of our eyes as she(my niece) was trying to decide if get a photo or not. lol so bad!

After that.. we were exhausted...so we decided to take a few pictures of the castle and then leave early and leave wishes and the night parade for tomorrow....
Too cold and was still raining

So we went towards the exit; But by the time we crossed the partners statue, I was very hungry then.
My niece and nephew were stuffed by churros and popcorn..My mother as well. So I was the only one who still haven't had anything for dinner.
so I decided to delight myself with a Casey's hotdog.
I tried the pulled beef this time. (what a weird combination of sweet pulled pork + salty hotdog), this combination was definitively not of my taste.. but after removing the pulled pork apart, the hotdog was quite tasty.

so.. onwards to the hotel we went.. all cold as it was raining again...We moved quickly...

because tomorrow was.. MAGIC KINGDOM Day 2

 

[Figgy1]

The one price that always gets me going in Disney is the price of fresh fruit And I but the organic apples!

 

[MinnieM123]

@Cesar R M , those were terrific photos as usual. Don't laugh, but my favorite was the one you took of the Chip and Dale statue! That is just so cute. (The dragon and castle pictures were awesome, too.)

Glad to see that you and your family visited quite a few attractions in the park. Had to chuckle over your mom going in the fastpass line without a fastpass; does she understand now about that system's queue lines? (My guess is that the line was shorter, and she figured it was better line and joined it. I'm sure it was just an innocent move on her part. ) There's always so much going on in WDW that it can be a bit of sensory overload. Thinking back to my own trips, I'm sure I've also ended up in the wrong queues unintentionally!

 

[Cesar R M]

@Cesar R M , those were terrific photos as usual. Don't laugh, but my favorite was the one you took of the Chip and Dale statue! That is just so cute. (The dragon and castle pictures were awesome, too.)

Glad to see that you and your family visited quite a few attractions in the park. Had to chuckle over your mom going in the fastpass line without a fastpass; does she understand now about that system's queue lines? (My guess is that the line was shorter, and she figured it was better line and joined it. I'm sure it was just an innocent move on her part. ) There's always so much going on in WDW that it can be a bit of sensory overload. Thinking back to my own trips, I'm sure I've also ended up in the wrong queues unintentionally!

not at all, one of my favourites is the chip and dale one as well.

As for my mother... I tried to explain the line stuff and how different fastpass is.
She understood the concept, but she thought that we had fastpass FOR EVERYTHING, which we didn't. (infact, she was wondering why we didn't get to the fastpass line at festival of the lion king when we were at AK, I told her we didn't have one, because you can only select 3 from the app. and when dinosaur went down, everything else was full except the kali river thing)

Hence why she made the mistake a lot of times.
I was worried about leaving her alone when we moved around the parks... not to mention she can speak very very little english, her reading is worse.

This error in particular was because she is not exactly "technological" knowledged. So she makes a ton of mistakes on things that have a tech side on it (like the magicband readers). That and the fact that we were screaming at her to get to the proper line and she kept trying the machine to read her magicband for a non existent Fastpass lol.

 

[Cesar R M]

Magic Kingdom day 2

We woke up way earlier this time, As I wanted to show the kids the welcome show of Magic Kingdom.
The day was fantastic weather wise, despite being cold and windy.. zero clouds! so it was an all sun day finally!

Unfortunately, the bus was packed at the Main Hospitality house.. and took a lot to reach to Magic Kingdom. Traffic was heavy as well.
We took almost 45 minutes to reach Magic Kingdom (very different from the usual 20-30 minutes of the other day)

And by the time we were reaching the unloading station.. The welcome show was at 50-60% done.. Infact, we managed to see the train full of characters approaching to the train station as we approached the bus drop.
It was funny to see both the train and the bus moving at same speed(perpendicular), and the characters waving at us and some of the bus waved back happily.

Sadly, by the time we passed the security line and entered the park.. the show was done and gone
There were a lot of people waiting to enter!

Anyway, We entered the park and we had luck, as there were not many people taking photos of the front area of the Park. So we got some beautiful pictures of the train station and the front planters.

My mother was also cracking jokes about doing "kung fu" to put my nephew in place for his bad jokes.. (all because my mother had bruce lee-like sport suit lol)

So first thing we did? walk all the way to the the castle. from Main Street and check some stores again.
By the time we reached the castle, my mother decided she was hungry.. So I started to tell her her options.. first we went to the Crystal House (which had a huge waiting line).. Then got scared of the prices lol (at first funny, then after many options disregarded and trashed.. and I was getting annoyed as we had limited time) she finally settled for StarBucks...
On our way to Starbucks.. We found the Citizens of Main Street doing a dancing and singing scene next to a car.. very nice!.. after they finished.. we were on our way.

So.. we went to Chunk some food from Starbucks(which had a loong line), We decided to Eat in the chairs area infront of the Plaza Restaurant. Where some vicious ducks and Seagulls were chunking anything that fell from the tables...so funny! XD

Once we were all full.. we went to Peter Pan's flight for our first FastPass.

We went there and DANG.. my darn clock failed again and It ends we had 1 hour before our fastpass!

So we returned towards the castle.. took a picture of my niece on Belle's statue..( which I do not remember it being a drinking fountain back in february 2015...)

Then we decided to wait in front of the castle to finally see Dream Along with Mickey.

The day was definitively beautiful!

Love the new lamps in the ramps!

The kids sitting preparing to watch the show.

After the show.. We were ready to go to Flight of Peter Pan, which was getting packed ! (The waiting time was now 90 minutes, up from 20 when we first arrived.. we had fastpasses so, thankfully the line was pretty short!
But as we waited.. the normal standby line grew FAAAAST!.

My mother loved the Ride, I love the ride system as well. The only complain is.. the ride is tooo short

Then we decided to head back to Liberty Square area to find something to eat.. but first.. a famous pit stop in the most famous restroom of Magic Kingdom!

Tangled POTTIES!

Once ready, we decided to take a small break from walking. My nephew wanted to see the Memento Mori store. We entered as well, but soon the kids wanted to go to the restrooms as well. We were closer to Columbia Harbour House and since the Tangled ones were pretty full of people.. we decide to.. cough cough.. do our "business" at the Harbour.

Once ready, I decided to cut down between Frontierland and Adventureland gateway (which leaves you right next to the Enchanted Tiki Room).
Then, We headed right straight to Pirates.. where the Captain Jack Sparrow's show was ending....(boooh!)

More on Part #2.... as this day was very photo heavy!

 

[Cesar R M]

Magic Kingdom Day 2 Part 2

So.. Jack Sparrow...

After this..
We entered into Pirates.. which had a looong non fastpass line.. but the fastpass line seemed almost nonexistent.
We made our way inside, but once entering the "fort" area of the pirates queue. There was a kinda big waiting line for FP+ too.. thankfully the line moved fairly fast.. they were loading 2 boats at same time, one for the normal, and another for fastpass.

I again asked the CM to leave me in the back of the boat just in case the water problems happened.
We were lucky.. as our boat had NO WATER and during the dropdown.. no issues with splash or water entering.
Also the ride was in very good shape..Almost everything was working. Including the mist screen of Davy Jones.

My mother was surprised.. because she really hated Pirates the time we came back in 2013.. where a ton of things were not working properly.

After this, we had plenty of time until our next fastpass (5:30 pm for the SDMT)

So we decided head back again to the Partners statue Area. As we moved through adventure land, the kids wanted to see the Robinsons house. My mother and I used time to relax a bit from walking so much.

Once they were back.. we decided to check some glasses for my mother at the Sun Glasses hut..
Which all were disturbingly expensive.. (way more than an airport store).
So we decided to bail and go towards Liberty Square.
We decided to get into the Country Bear Jamboree before moving forwards.
Its a nice attraction! Some of the animatronics were hilarious!.
Some had some twitches (failure of maintenance? dunno, first time there!.. for example.. the wall buffalo had one eye stuck completely open)
The show was pretty much walk on... so we quickly went in and out.

Once we were out..
We headed to the partners area again and took a few photos of the Main Street music band...

Once they finished their show, we went towards the Circus Tent area.
My niece wanted a picture with Daisy!. So onwards to Circus area!

We all went there and then split. My mother with my nephew and I with my niece.

My mother went with my nephew to quick pit stop at the nearby restrooms. Then went to buy some churros and popcorn and decided to rest in the circus seats area while we went inside the tent for the photos.

After we were done (the line was fairly long), we got into the Circus Tent store area.
They had this darn nice Stitch Tshirt, but they had only child size.
When asked, they told me thats the only model on in the entire store(Didn't know they only had this model in the entire resort!).

I was kinda worried.. (because later on as we passed the emporium.. I asked again and they claimed the system had NOTHING RESORT WISE. The only ones available.. were in the circus tent! )

At the Tent store, My mother decided to buy some little thingies as well.. and we went on our way to the partners statue again.

But now.. my niece and I were hungry.
so we decided to get back to Frontierland where they sold Hotdogs (which were tasty). The line was fairly long! Lots of people trying to get some hotdogs! As we waited, we were sad that Chip and Dale were not available for photos. Which was kinda weird. Because the day was clear, and they were getting photos during the rain of yesterday!

Funny part about this area is.. seagulls and ducks and other birds were constantly roaming and flying low. And attacked any dropped food with no mercy.
Be meat, bread, cookies..etc.. as soon they fell to the floor.. they dived and BOOM! GONE!.

Once we were done chunking a few hotdogs (My niece ate 3! D: )
We went towards The Partners statue yet again...This time to camp for the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

We decided to "take" the space right near the middle. Facing towards liberty square's bridge. On the outer "circle" of the partners statue.. perfect view.. the sun didn't block my lens or my eyes. So it was the best spot for taking photos and enjoying the whole thing.

The kids of course decided to go together to shop some stuff while we waited.

The wait was fairly ok. Not so boring as we seen the Dream Along with mickey show for another time.

Then by the time the CMs started to put the dividers and queue lines, the place started to get full of people. Lining to get a good spot for the parade.
I also allowed a few kids to get infront of me as they were tiny and they didn't blocked my photos.
Anyway, annoyances ahoy!
Despite the darn "walking" path that CMs set for crossing(that was mere 2 meters, think 4 or 5 feet away from us). Rude visitors kept trying to pass around us or above us. Pushing, shoving..etc..
Very rude, considering we were almost a solid wall of people that were waiting for the parade, these clowns were insisting in going above us or shoving us away!.
Those people seriously had no education!.

There worse was this man who actually hit the kids infront of me with his shoes as he tried to shove me and the mother of the kids away to pass us...no seriously, he outright charged on us and pushed us rudely away.

The nearby CM was annoyed as well, so decided to put the barrier line quickly to prevent more dbags from hurting the kids or the people waiting...

Ironically...
That wasn't the only issue with rude people.

There was this man who was throwing F bombs left and right because one woman CM refused to let him pass.. as the Parade was almost upon the road. He wanted to pass infront of the parade on the liberty bridge towards the castle area AT ALL COSTS.

He continued to be a total dipsh.... Until a very tall CM told him to go around the area..
Now since the "tough guy' man couldn't act all macho to the bigger male CM, The man rudely gave gestures and finally left going around.

Loved the pleasure of the CM going all "Have a Magical Day!" with a smiling face while a nearby CM(probably the manager CM?) reported the "Valued Customer" (aka a dbag warning to all other CMs in the area) via radio.. and then... parade started!

FESTIVAL OF FANTASY!
Love the floats!

Onwards to Part 3!

 

[Cesar R M]

Magic Kingdom Day 2 Part 3

More Festival of Fantasy

The Lost boys by John Tamale, en Flickr

Peter Pan's by John Tamale, en Flickr

Tinkerbell by John Tamale, en Flickr
This Tinkerbell was very pretty!

Maleficient Steam Punk Dragon by John Tamale, en Flickr

DSC_3287_DxO by John Tamale, en Flickr

Snow White by John Tamale, en Flickr

Pinochio and the Whale by John Tamale, en Flickr

That awesome float!

The Gang plus Chip and Dale by John Tamale, en Flickr

Mickey's Float by John Tamale, en Flickr

Mickey's Balloon float by John Tamale, en Flickr

Mickey's Balloon by John Tamale, en Flickr

Thats it!

Beautiful!

Onwards to Part 4!

 

[Cesar R M]

Magic Kingdom.. Day 2 Part 4!!

Once done with the Festival of Fantasy (which arrived to the Partners area 30 minutes late lol, no idea why it took so long this time).

It was time to finally check out Tomorrowland, so the kids could finally know the area.

After a quick trip around and displaying the options, attractions and shows.. my kids decided they wanted to try Space Mountain once we were done with fastpases.

At this point, We were then getting close to the hours of our next fast pass, which was The Seven Dwarfs Mine train.

So we went towards the Mine Train area via Tomorrowland.
My mother decided to bail because her back was starting to hurt after walking so much.
So The kids and I decided to go while she waited sitting nearby.

An enjoyable ride.. the animatronics beautiful.. but way too short compared to other coasters of MK.
Suffice to say.. the coaster was FULL to the seams, the line was almost going around the entire mountain (120+ minute wait time)
So god bless fastpass on this case!.


After the ride.. The kids and My mother and I planned everything.. The wait line for Space Mountain was pretty long(90 minutes).. So we decided to split, My mother and I rode the People's mover to relax a bit and let our feet rest. I used the time to take a few photos of the crowd and the area.

Funny thing! You know Magic Kingdom is busy with Stitch is reporting 60+ minutes of wait time...lol!.

Anyway, since My mother was starting to feel cold again and she said she was hurting. She said she decided to bail and return to the hotel by herself.
I asked if she wanted escort.. but as usual, she refused and that she knew where to go.

So I was pretty much sitting down and watching the clock every 15 minutes for updates.. but nada.. nothing.
So I decided to ride People's mover again (almost 20 minute wait time)... and get a good view of space mountain.

My niece reported that the line for Space Mountain was EVEN BIGGER inside the building. wow! as the wait time skyrocketed to 160 minutes I think.

Sadly, no fastpasses were available. Only barnstormer and Philarmagic had FP available at this moment. So they had to brave the huge lines to get.

So waited.. and waited..
and I lost it. I had to do something!!
So decided to buy first some lemonade.. then spotted again some kids and adults with the Stitch and Chip and Dale hats.. so I asked where they buy them.. and they said in the area next to to the slushies..
So there I went.. and they finally had adult size!!!
and.. well.. I was weak and bought the Stitch munching hat

Then returned to Tomorrowland for the kids..

There was more and more waiting. I was even gathering valor to purchase a turkey leg... but decided to no in the last minute.. as the kids finally were out of Space Mountain. A bit dizzy but happy!


Once we were back.. We decided to try our next fastpass on The Barnstormer.. I swear every ride feels stronger when its dark, windy and cold
Once out, We used the time there at circus for a pitstop on the restrooms.

And then went to the circus store to buy the shirt I mentioned Earlier.. the Stitch emoticon one...
Yes, that darn Stitch Tshirt I wanted so much.. so I had to wiggle my way and try to find the XXL Large(child sizes) to fit me.. but oh woe is me.. they sold out!... luckily there was a clerk who said they had some few remaining in the back.. and she got me one!.. barely fit me! but bought it
View attachment 126725

BEST PURCHASE EVAH!

Once out.. We went to tomorrowland again.
My nephew wanted a picture of himself "dancing" with Mr. Incredible and Frozone.
It was funny because every time my nephew got close to frozone and Mr. Incredible. Mr. Incredible moved and thus made Frozone move.. and it looked like they were trying to get away from my nephew lol.

Once we took the picture(my niece got a video).. we still had time before the Electrical Parade.. so we decided to sneak to Stitch's Escape!

The kids kinda liked it for how silly and dumb it was.. (eww the chili smell).. they still rated the bugs show at AK way higher than this.

Also, it was sad to see the Stitch animatronic falling apart (holes in the "skin" , like the fabric that makes the skin of stitch had a big rip on the face from usage).

Once we were out..
We went towards the castle.. to prepare ourselves for the Disney's Electrical Parade.

The castle was gorgeous with the Christmas lights on!!.

So.. we got on a nice spot.. right on the "round" area, outer road ring (right by the exit of the partners circle towards tomorrowland, or the opposite of where we were during festival of fantasy) and I decided to save the spot with my bags.
The kids went for more churros and popcorn as I waited.

The place as usual started to get packed.. and the same problem as before(in the Festival of Fantasy parade) started to happen.
There was a CLEAR MARKED AREAS for people to "walk" towards the other side of the street.
But no.. rude people had to shove, push and even punch on the body to make way.
They hit another woman who was next to me in the floor with 2 hits.. SO RUDE!!!.

Now the funny thing, there was this very tall japanese teenager Lady who was getting hit and shoved most.. she was the first line of defense around 5-6 steps behind me on the line to see the show.
She was getting REALLY ANGRY at the constant shoving that she suddenly planted herself strong and refused to move or give away any inch for those rude guys who insisted in trying to pass over us.
And she did a marvelous job!!!. It was hilarious to see one angry tall man trying to go around her and she simply told him to F off and to go around the way if he wanted to pass.
The man was baffled but he clearly stood no chance against that angry asian lady.. (who was as tall as him, so the man had no advantage.)

After a looong waiting, the kids returned with a churro for me. Then my nephew sat on the floor while my niece just set herself standing next to me. We still had to wait a few more minutes before the Parade Started.. the place was packed to the seams!. Then I noticed some kids were struggling to see the road where the parade would be. So I offered again the spot infront of me to a pair of kid that couldn't see much and their parents were next to me. One took the offer and the other was way too shy and just sat there with his mom.

As the time for the show was approaching.. something kinda scary(for my niece) happened.
The Japanese tall girl "glued" herself to my niece.. making a barrier but also not respecting any personal space whatsoever. When my niece looked at her when she felt the young lady pretty much touching her with her(tall Lady's) bags..
The lady angrily said " I'm not going to move".

My niece then explained to me what was going on and I ended laughing at the whole thing..
Once I recovered my breath, I explained to her the whole shoving affair.. and how Japanese people have way smaller personal space radius than other people.
My niece understood the whole issue.. still she was uncomfortable at the closeness.

Anyway.... finally was time for the parade. The bad? aholes still were shoving people to WALK PAST ABOVE THEM to get to the road.. CMs were having a hardtime dealing with these idiots who refused to take the correct roads/crossing areas. Some CMs even screaming to people get back to the line or use the other way.. insane!!

Anyway.. I filmed the whole thing parade!


After the parade, we used the "scramble" of the people who were watching the parade (aka, where everyone stands up and start to move in a chaotic way)... to take a moment to find a better spot to see Wishes.
We found a nice spot with no tall people (right by one of the planters of the Partners area inner circle)



So we sat and decide to film everything. This time with my Cell phone..
It was COOOOOLD with WIIIINNDY..
So excuse the constant sound cutting and moving around.. as I had to constantly change the hands holding the phone XD

Always awesome to see Wishes!

After the show, It was finally time to say good bye to Magic Kingdom..
We went towards the By Pass( which was no where as crowded as Main Street) and we went our ways back to Old Key West.

Tomorrow.. it was time to check out and head towards UNIVERSAL STUDIOS.

 

[Figgy1]

Thank you and my ds and I can't wait for your UNI pics!

 

[Cesar R M]

Thank you and my ds and I can't wait for your UNI pics!

Hope to add them this week!in the meantime, enjoy the videos

 

[betty rose]

Again sorry you got off on the wrong foot. I can't wait for all your wonderful pictures. xoxo Figgy BTW I'm tagging @catmom46, @betty rose, @Gabe1, @MOXOMUMD, @ajrwdwgirl, @Songbird76, @MinnieM123 for you

Thanks for tagging me. I'm reading now.

 

[betty rose]

Magic Kingdom day 2

We woke up way earlier this time.. As I wanted to show the kids the welcome show.
The day was fantastic, despite being cold and windy.. zero clouds! so it was all sun finally!

Unfortunately, the bus packed at the Main Hospitality house.. and took a lot to reach to Magic Kingdom. Traffic was heavy.
And by the time we were closing by.. the show was at 80% done.. Infact, we managed to see the train full of characters approaching to the train station as we approached the bus drop.
It was funny to see both the train and the bus moving at same speed, and the characters waving at us.

Sadly, by the time we passed the security line and entered the park.. the show was done and gone

Anyway, we Entered quickly to the park.. Where we got some beautiful pictures of the train station.
View attachment 126694

View attachment 126695

My mother was also cracking jokes about doing "kung fu" to put my nephew in place for his bad jokes.. (all because my mother had bruce lee-like sport suit lol)

So first thing we did? walk all the way to the the castle..
But then my mother decided she was hungry.. So I started to tell her her options.. first we went to the Crystal House.. then got scared of the prices (at first funny, then after many options disregarded and trashed.. and I was getting annoyed as we had limited time) she finally settled for StarBucks...
On our way to Starbucks.. We found the Citizens of Main Street doing a dancing and singing scene next to a car.. very nice!.. after they finished.. we were on our way.

So.. we went to Chunk some food from Starbucks, Eat in the chairs area infront of the Plaza Restaurant. Where some vicious ducks and Seagulls were chunking anything that fell from the tables...
Once we were all full.. we went to Peter Pan's flight for our first FastPass.

We went there and DANG.. my darn clock failed again and It ends we had 1 hour before our fastpass!

So we returned towards the castle.. took a picture of my niece on Belle's statue..( which I do not remember it being a drinking fountain back in february 2015...)
View attachment 126696

Then we decided to wait in front of the castle to finally see Dream Along with Mickey.

The day was definitively beautiful!

View attachment 126697
Love the new lamps in the ramps!

View attachment 126698
The kids sitting preparing to watch the show.

View attachment 126699
View attachment 126700
View attachment 126701
View attachment 126702

After the show.. We were ready to go to Flight of Peter Pan, which was getting packed ! (The waiting time was now 90 minutes, up from 20 when we first arrived.. we had fastpasses so..
The line was short but was starting to get people FAAAAST.

My mother loved the Ride, I love the ride system as well. So bad the ride itself is soooo short.

Then we decided to headback to Liberty Square area to find something to eat.. but first.. a famous pit stop in the most famous bathroom of Magic Kingdom!
View attachment 126703
Tangled POTTIES!

Once ready, we decided to take a small break and my nephew wanted to see the Memento Mori store. We entered as well before the kids suddenly wanted to go to the bathroom as well. They went to the Columbia Harbour House.. as the Tangled ones were pretty full.

Once ready, I decided to cut down between Frontierland and Adventureland gateway (which leaves you right next to the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Then, We headed right straight to Pirates.. where the Captain Jack Sparrow's show was ending....

More on Part #2.... as this day was very photo heavy!

Reading along, and having fun looking at your pictures. This is a very entertaining TR.

 

[Cesar R M]

DAY 6 - Double Tree by Hilton (January 5)

So, we didnt wake up particularly early.. I think we were all packed and called for the bellboy to help us with our baggage with their golf kart at around 11 or so...
Left a tip for the cleaning lady, wrote the reported issues with the DVC unit (1 light switch was loose and turned itself off randomly, and the hair dryer threw sparks before failing)
And to the hospitality house we went.

The process to check out was fairly easy, nothing was charged so we were clear.
We decided to put all the bags in storage while we had breakfast at Olivia's again.
Nothing fancy this time...

The day was good, barely any clouds, good temps and hardly any winds at all. Could have been a perfect park day lol.

Then we tried Uber for the first time.

Interestingly.. we had great service with Uber, and very cheap.
The best part is.. that we always had spanish talking drivers. So it helped us even more.


In even less than 5 minutes.. the Driver was finally there waiting for us.
He greeted us in spanish and put our bags in his car. (which was pretty big.. it was a VAN.. funny because we ordered the cheaper UberX).

The ride was fairly short and nice, We talked a lot about weather, jobs, immigration,etc..
We arrived to Doubletree by Hilton shortly, gave the uber driver a tip.. since it was just mere 15 USD for the trip (very cheap compared to the 40+ USD of a normal taxi..) and we went inside the hotel for check out.

I got in line and gave my papers to the clerk.
and another bad surprise..
One of our rooms was "canceled". I was again VERY ED (second time they canceled these rooms by the concentrator company despite being prepaid and already charged, the rooms were also canceled 2 weeks before the trip.. with no warning.. it took a lot of calls by my concierge friends to fix that up).
Thankfully the clerk made a few calls and fixed the issue.
The bad? the rooms could not be next to each other.No biggie as they were in the same floor and only one room away of separation.

We unpacked and sat... Sadly we had no big view.. (we were on floor 5, so we only managed to see the tip of a few things and the parking lot of Universal) and we were facing the restaurant on the side, not straight forward Universal.

No problem as we will be in the parks the next 3 days.

So as soon we finished unpacked, we decided to rest a bit and then go to eat something.
The best part of this hotel is.. it has starbucks, bar area, and a small UNO/Sandwich/Store.. plus theres restaurants nearby and a pharmacy.

So went out and decide to try Golden Corral, we had never ate in a fastfood type buffet before.. so It was interesting.
The food was ok, some stuff was good other not so good. We still got full and tried most of the dishes.

Once we were done, we went to the pharmacy to buy something for the next day (breakfast).
Then we went back to our room to relax. I expend most of the day working on a request my boss had.. and then to nap most of the day.

Then we decided to get to the Universal studios counter, where the lady convinced us to get the "unlimited drinks" cup and the quick dinning plan and also the tickets for the Bus to universal... (more on the unlimited drink thing later)

Then at night we ate at the UNO express. The kids ordered a pizza, I and my niece ordered some wings (the best wings Ive had so far since I went to Cancun's LA ISLA lol)

Sorry for not taking pictures of the room as I was exhausted. infact, I took no photos of that day at all.
I already had some serious ankle muscular issues, feet blisters and sore knees... so we took the day off seriously

so.. I prepared my camera and everything before going to bed.. as the next day it was time for UNIVERSAL STUDIOS Day 1

 

[Cesar R M]

Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure Day 1

We woke up to a light rainy day, was not that bad rain wise..but my mother and niece packed a poncho just in case.
The weather was constantly changing. First very cloudy then clearing sporadically with no winds at ground level.
So, It was not that cold temp wise.

Once we left the Bus, we proceed to pass thru security and then towards the long bridge towards CityWalk.

Impressed in the number of restaurants there, both on the area and infront of the lake. There was a lot to see!.

And we finally seen the "famous" Emeril's. (just from outside, because we were in a hurry to get into the parks and the restaurant was not opening until a few hours later)

Since the whole point of the trip was to let my niece see the Harry Potter lands..
We decided to prioritize these areas over anything else.

The LightHouse by John Tamale, en Flickr

The entrance area of UNI's ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE was definitively very well themed. A little ruined by these "ride this clearly fake animal for a photo" and the art stations that look out of place.

Anyway..So as soon we entered, we headed towards SEUSS land in route to Hogsmeade.

I had to explain to my mother the whole Seuss thing.. Seuss is not very well known in my country.. infact, pretty sure that most people do not know about it while Disney is HUGE.

Regardless, it was nice to see the area and meet some characters.
My niece and nephew preferred to take a photo with Thing 1 and 2 than with the Grinch or the Cat in the Hat. They were all right in the same part of the park.

The area was so silly and fun. Unfortunately... I do not know if the whole area was still opening or what. Almost everything was closed.. so the area was mostly empty.

So then we headed towards "The Lost Continent" area. Where the outside part of Poseidon's fury was impressive.

We skipped this zone and the "Bazaar" area to head into Hogmeade.
The clear change and jump of theme was a bit surprising.. but once you get there, feels just like in the movie!

To our surprise, the place was pretty filled. Lots and lots of people in Hogsmeade!
Also, a lot of people were waiting for the dueling dragons to open. There was a 4 x 4 (total of around 12 cast members) barrier of CMs infront of the entrance area.. awaiting for the go ahead(which didn't happen for most of the day, Who knows what kind of issue the ride had...)

My niece was of course jumping with joy.. I never seen her smile so much before (maybe when we entered Magic Kingdom and the Tree of Life for the first time lol )

There was so much to see, so much to go and do!.
From the stores, to photo opportunities.

After taking a few photos.. My niece and Nephew decided to go to the Zonko's store for candy (which was; as expected, pretty expensive) while my mother took a "pit stop" with Mirtle (aka the girl ghost in the bathrooms)and I just waited for them at the butterbeer cart infront of the 3 broomsticks.

Once they were done. I had to turn into full Tour operator mode, describing which part was what.. as we followed the path towards the castle.

Hogwarts Castle by John Tamale, en Flickr

But before we could reach the Castle area, my niece switched her attention to Ollivander's. I explained her about Ollivander's and the show and decided that we should try to get inside so we can all see it.

So we waited a few.. (around 30 minutes as there was a small slow line in the outside),
The wait was not that bad, the issue was the rain lol, it started to rain again as we were in the middle of the queue. My mother had to seek shelter in the archway near the exit of the dueling dragons, Then we finally got into Ollivander's.

The whole show was very good done, The special effects, the noises, the guy who does ollivander's position, etc... Only bad thing was.. my niece was not elected for the part so we all had to only see.
Wont spoil what they do there!!! you must do it if you're an HP Fan!

After the show, they lead you towards the store portion. Where you can buy your own wand based on the characters, or get a "generic" unique non character design wand.
My nephew (who was not into Harry potter until now lol ) changed ideas and decided to also buy a wand.

So they both bought active wands to use in the parks.. both of them "generic" non character wands (there are MANY models, my niece had to check 8 or 9 models before selecting what she wanted).

While they selected their wands, I used that as excuse to check the rest of the store.
The Ollivander's store was connected to the main store building(Dervish and Bangers), They had scarves, small clocks... cups, collectibles..etc..


The stores also had a ton of moving props and details everywhere!

Then If you add the "wand ready' areas where you can "cast magic" and do things.. makes the whole Hogsmeade area is fantastic!


After we were done.. We headed to the castle line. Because it was time to ride FORBIDDEN JOURNEY..

Next.. Islands of Adventure Part 2!

 

[MinnieM123]

@Cesar R M , your photos are so clear and the colors are so brilliant--especially the parade photos.

(As for some people trying to get up front closer to the parade, and pushing other guests out of the way, that must be really hard for the CMs to deal with during the parade times. People should be more polite.)

 

[Cesar R M]

@Cesar R M , your photos are so clear and the colors are so brilliant--especially the parade photos.

(As for some people trying to get up front closer to the parade, and pushing other guests out of the way, that must be really hard for the CMs to deal with during the parade times. People should be more polite.)

well, they weren't trying to get upfront.. they just wanted TO CROSS THE STREET towards the other side.
So it was infuriating.. as I explained.. there was the "walkway" designed by the CMs.. just mere meters away (literally 2 secs of walking away from where I was)

 

[Cesar R M]

Islands of Adventure Part 2!

The line was fairly large.. I think 80% of the Queue was used. The wait was around 60 minutes or so...

The outside queue is indeed boring.. but once you get inside the castle.. you just cant stop watching at all the details!
From the realistic 3d projections, to the stuff moving AND the talking portraits!.
Unfortunately.. like most rides at Universal.. they were enforcing a very strong "no bags, no cameras, nothing loose.. get a locker" with no exceptions in the entrance!

Hell, they even told a guy to remove his gopro unless he had a full body attachment thingy.
So sadly, no photos of the inside queue from me!.

Speaking of the locker part.. its CRAZY, lots of shoving, pushing, etc.. I think Universal blew it twice .. because both diagon alley (for gringotts) and the castle locker area.. were packed and it was VERY HARD to navigate.. The space between the Lockers is TINY. specially at the castle.
Some CMs had a hardtime leading people and screaming for people to move toward other locker areas.

So, on the queue: I think my nephew managed to sneak his small cell phone and took a few (specially of the statues, like the Griffin that leads to Dumbledore's office, wont know until they check and send me the files)

Loved the detail inside!
From the simply statues, to the 3d projections.
The perfect dumbledore's office replica and of course.. some of the classrooms and hallways!
My niece was all shaking with excitement!

And soon we got to the loading area where my mother decided to bail, her back was hurting and the warnings on the ride walls about back pains discouraged her.. so she was escorted out while we went in.

The loading area has a nice effect on top of you. My niece was in awe of this effect of the "floating candles".

We quickly boarded the "chair". I got right in the middle right side while my nephew and niece were next to my left. And a single rider on the remaining slot on my right.


The ride was wild as always, lots of shaking!
Love the dragon part best!, the dementors part and the spider one were darn nice too.
Truly great blend of 3d and real stuff. There was one issue. Screens were really blurry and dirty in some areas.. the "phase in" and "phase out" were the most affected. All the first scene until the quidditch race.. got me very dizzy!

My niece and nephew were impressed but also shaked. Its a strong ride!..

So we headed out of the ride towards the store area. We purchased our ride photo AND then we had to get to the nighmarish pile of people in the lockers area to get our stuff out.
Very worrysome to have expensive camera equipment around so many people! D:

Anyway! We headed out to meet my mother right by the entrance, Where my niece and nephew were talking about the ride. And were distracted by the screaming of the flight of the hypogriff.
Since the dueling dragons were still down for maintenance or something.. they decided to run to ride the flight of the hypogriff.

I waited for them to pass and managed to get this photo in the curve next to the entrance to hogwarts castle. Good place for taking a photo of the ride in motion!

So.. after the ride, we meet outside and we prepared to find where to eat.
The answer was obvious! As we headed to The Three Broomsticks for eating.. there was a HUGE line by now.. almost heading out of the restaurant. but the line moved fairly quickly.
I was surprised by the new system where you first order, they give you your food, then they have you wait until a table was open for the number of people in your party. This would prevent fights or people "parking" the seating area for too long.

I ordered the fish and chips, my niece the ribs, my mother the chicken and my nephew the chicken with ribs.
The fish was not that good honestly.. compared to the Chicken and ribs which were tons of times better! Thankfully my niece got full after the huge platters and I took a bit of their food.

Once we were done: We left on our way to sit down a bit in the show area. Where we managed to get a glimpse of the "singing frogs" show (lol). and then we decided to head towards The Hogwarts Express towards King's Cross Station 9 3/4 on Universal Studios.
My mother as usual, had serious trouble with her fingerprints in the scanner area. So we waited a bit until finally cleared.

The queue was pretty long, but tolerable.. seeing the Hogwarts Express moving in real life for the first time was fantastic!

The trip is short, but the effects and 3d screen makes it very entertaining. My niece loved when the trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione) would talk outside of your cabin, then ron checks and find that your cabin was full and then moved to the next one.

Soon.. we were leaving Platform 9 3/4 and we passed King Cross's (wow, does it look like a real metro area?)
And arrived to the London area of Universal Studios.

Both my niece and my nephew got pictures of Grimmauld Place (one right where Kreacher sneaked to see lol)

Then we had time to check out the famous purple bus with Stan the ticket kid.

The talking head was a nice touch lol.. very funny!

Soon I was scrambling as I had NO IDEA what to do in this park. Never been there so I had to pick up the map again and check were we were heading.
My nephew and Niece instantly voted for Diagon Alley!!! so there we went!
At first it was confusing, because the entrance is very nicely concealed like any other facade in the london area. as soon you enter.. WOW!!!

Talk about theming!

As soon you enter you see this:

The entrance looks like this...

and once you move a bit forward toward the WWW (Weasley's Wizard Wheezes) store.. you get to see the most spectacular part of this area..
Gringott's Dragon by John Tamale, en Flickr

If Hogwarts didn't wowed you.. Diagon Alley WILL.


ONWARDS TO PART 3!

 

[Cesar R M]

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure - Day 1, Part 3

A better shot of the dragon at gringott's

Lots and lots of fake stores, some really working and a restaurant on one of the sides.. right Where I am standing, you can turn right to another covered area of the Diagon Alley.. Such a marvel of construction it is!

We decided to enter the WWW store, checking the joke stuff..
unfortunately, seems that my video of the store got deleted.. I cannot find it anywhere.. but did show how everything was moving.
At this moment.. both my niece and nephew decided to get out their wands.. and decided to activate the "medallions" with spells around the alley. Lot of fun for them! (although a bit frustrating sometimes lol)

My mom, my niece and my nephew trying out "potions".

A gringots goblin guy selling merchandise and chocolate bars. They were indeed UGLY lol.

A side view of the Dragon before heading to Gringotts.


We moved around, letting the kids cast magic around while we waited to see if there was a show nearby..
sadly.. We arrived right as the Beadle and the Bard show was finishing.. so we went on our way to try Gringotts.

My mother bailed again and decided to sit down by the statue next to the gringotts bank and we had to endure the nightmare of the lockers..
Then we decided to just give our stuff to my mother as all the lockers were in use... and onwards we went!

I sneaked with my phone to take a few photos.
Sadly most of them are blurry as the whole are is dark.
Loved the Posters in the extended queue area.

The chandeliers were also impressive.. the animatronics of the goblins too. I found it interesting that there were some missing and new ones out compared to some photos I seen online. I suppose that when one breaksdown.. they just "lower it" to hide behind the desk...

The irony is.. you think the ride is right next door after passing the "manager" goblin.. wrong... The line first goes on the side.. enters the vaults areas.. then they take your photos to get you "enrolled" in the bank.
Along the way, you can find animated newspapers that show stuff.. like the escape of Azkaban, and Harry being the undesirable #1.

Then they pack you so you can enter to the "preshow" area..
Sadly, the area is FLAT, so if you're small and you are in the middle of back of the room.. BAD LUCK, you wont see CARP.

So if you're heading to this.. and you want to see the entire thing well.. get glued to the right area! (as soon you pass the photo area, keep your right at all costs, then you enter double doors on the right.. keep your right.

Once the show is done... You will get split to enter an "elevator" . Which imitates the movement very well. Also some funny things will be visible in the top.. so remember to keep your eyes peeled!.
Once down, there will be another fairly large queue.. along with a double top staircase.
Each staircase goes to a different loading area.

Then we had to face one of the "awful" things of not speaking english.
There was this chinese young man along with others.. whats the problem? THEY WHERE IN THE SINGLE RIDER area.. and they WHERE TOGETHER. the companion of this chinese young man tried to get with the other at all costs.. The CM was trying again and again to explain that only one at a time can enter.

After finally somehow he got it.. he stayed put as we advanced, and he filled the space we left empty.

The ride was definitively awesome!!.. a mixture of the screen/car systems of Spiderman and a coaster...
Quite a bit of shaking in some areas.. most of the scenes were crisp sharp and nice! so rarely any real dizzyness.. except of course when you drop in the dark in one scene and then you get hit by a 3d scene that moved fast...

Then after the final scene.. you feel like they are going to drop you on another "rollercoaster" part, but nope.. they just push you fast a bit, then slowdown and you get back to the loading area to get out.
The ride was VERY GOOD, but the finale has you wanting more, like you expected one final big drop to glory or something..

Once we were out, we decided to head out to see the left side of the Studios ( hollywood area) to see the Mummy ride.
I decided to bail on this as my legs were pretty much destroyed at this point and wanted to sit down.
Used it as a nice excuse to relax and wait for the parade...

Onwards to Part #4!!!

 

[Cesar R M]

Universal Studios Day 1 Part 4

After we left Diagon Alley, my niece decided to take a photo on the grafitti wall that is next to the building of Diagon Alley (are they building something there?)

We managed to see Optimus Prime on the distance as well...

We turned around on the 5th Avenue.. and sat on one of the benches near Finnegan's bar and grill facing the park.

While the kids visited The Mummy (which according to them, was in the top 5 of universal studios resort , and higher than the harry potter ones). We enjoyed a small singing and dancing choir in the park avenue area.
Then decided to use the cards to get to use our unlimited refill cups plus some popcorn for my mother and a drink for me.
So I headed to the small food cart in the park avenue.. and surprise.

They claim that I had no snack points left. I was like. lol wait.. what? we only had food at three broomsticks, we didnt had any "snacks".
So the lady was trying to explain her best (in spanish as well.. and decided to let me talk with a supervisor). I explained him everything and how it was our first time and we didnt used any snack points yet.
So he kindly used his authority and let us have a "free" popcorn bag and then he gave us our unlimited refill cups and a normal soda for me with my drink points. (note this is the first of many problems we had with the cards).
Not to mention.. you only could refill on very specific areas that had the sensor machines.. and they were almost never nearby when we wanted a drink.. making the cups annoyingly useless.

Anyway.. I got the popcorn, returned with my mother and the kids were already back.. talking about the ride.
Then my niece decided to buy some food as well, including a hotdog.

So we just decided to relax, drink a bit.. and then wait for the Parade to start.
Now heres the fun part.. as my niece returned.. she claimed her hotdog was absolutely AWFUL.
They were NOTHING alike to Disney's hotdogs. I was not surprised at that point, as the popcorn was cold as well.. while they were served feeling fresh at Disney..
So BAD points for universal x 2 on quick food.

Anyway, as soon we finished talking, I put myself on the line as the Parade was about to start.

The parade was ok, nothing surprising but looked pretty disparate theme wise.. as lots of the characters were from nickelodeon,others from cartoon network and others from original Universal movies (Minions, Sponge bob, HOP, Dora the Explorer. 3 + 3 + 2 + 1 floats respectively). The detailing was also mismatching.. The most fun part was of course... seeing the Pink Berrets doing "karate" poses and then dancing.. and the Sponge bob dancers with roller skates.

Once done, It was time go to back!.. We could see the rest of the shows on the next 2 days.. but first..

We decided to go back to Islands of Adventure and see the other scene of the Hogwarts Express.

On our way to King's Cross. There was some live entertainment with the theme of fishermen vendors.. They were doing some basic stunts and dancing.. sadly, we caught it as it was ending..

So we continued our way to King's Cross. Where we again.. had issues with my mother finger prints.. and surprisingly.. my nephew had issues too lol.

The line was PRETTY LONG this time.. almost 80 minutes of wait at King Cross.. filling most of the bottom waiting area..
But the problem was the stairs...
Not to mention people wanted to stop to film the "platform 9 3/4 trick" of crossing a "wall' and vanishing in it.

On the platform, you can also see other details, like the moving owl (hedwig perhaps?)
DSC_3490_DxO by John Tamale, en Flickr


King's Cross Platform 9 3/4 by John Tamale, en Flickr


And of course, the whole place was very well done.

It was also nice to see that the "to hogwarts" trip was a bit darker than the trip from hogwarts to king cross... with a lot of death eaters.. the lightning thing with lord voldemort.. the dementors on the train.. and the gang fighting them out of the train.

Once we were back, we decided to watch all we could of the Sinbad show.. which was.. ahem.. COMICALLY BAD.
Its like they tried to merge Indy with a doze of Fantasmic.. and failed miserably...
We actually were all with our "WHAT THE HELL DID WE SEE" faces when the show ended..

The lack of people also confirmed the show bad quality (the theathre was only 10% filled lol).

So, after this.. we were exhausted and it was time go to back. So we headed all the way back to the elevated bridge after city walk, took our bus.. and back to the hotel we were.
Since we were hungry.. we decided to again order some food..So we ordered more wings from the UNO EXPRESS store in the hotel and chunked the wings before going to bed..

as for tomorrow.. it was ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE DAY 2..