Trip Report The Griswolds go to Orlando!! Live trip report...or something like it. Pictures on page 11 !!

Alright, I'm to give it a go at doing a live trip report. This way it will be easier for me to remember what we do. Hold fast folks, I might not be able to add photos until we get back but I'll try.

As some of you know, we had a 7 hour flight delay yesterday which nixed any chance of park time but we muddled through it. We ended up getting our APs via guest services at CityWalk which was convenient.

Day One: Universal.

Diagon Alley.......Holy crap. This place is amazing. The details are to top notch and there's no denying what they've done here. The ladies did Gringott's and they loved it. The train crossing into the other park was awesome. The only let down was Cat in the Hat. I must have missed the memo but it has almost no spinning now.

So, right now we're waiting on the girls to finish the Hulk and then it's chow time at Mel's. More to come!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Alright, I'm to give it a go at doing a live trip report. This way it will be easier for me to remember what we do. Hold fast folks, I might not be able to add photos until we get back but I'll try.

As some of you know, we had a 7 hour flight delay yesterday which nixed any chance of park time but we muddled through it. We ended up getting our APs via guest services at CityWalk which was convenient.

Day One: Universal.

Diagon Alley.......Holy crap. This place is amazing. The details are to top notch and there's no denying what they've done here. The ladies did Gringott's and they loved it. The train crossing into the other park was awesome. The only let down was Cat in the Hat. I must have missed the memo but it has almost no spinning now.

So, right now we're waiting on the girls to finish the Hulk and then it's chow time at Mel's. More to come!

Glad you finally arrived! Have a great time! I'll be following along!

 

[Disneyhead'71]

And it's not nuclear hot today. Feels almost fall like.

Glad you guys made it and have commenced with the fun.

 

[fractal]

This should be good - Enjoy your adventures!

 

[Nemo14]

Just read about your ordeal yesterday - hope that's the end of any difficulties, and that you have a great time!

 

[AmberFaith90]

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[draybook]

Lunch done. The gals hit the Mummy and Transformers while me and the young man hit Men in Black twice in a row. We're a bit rusty at it but we managed to break 400 both times. We're really loving Express Pass and the Star Photo Connect card. Worth every penny.

Now we're sitting in here waiting on the Horror Make Up show. This is one of our favorite things to do here.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I think the Horror make-up Show is one of the best written theme parks shows in town. It is LOL funny.

 

[draybook]

After the makeup show we split up so they could hit the thrill rides while Justin and I hit Men in Black 4 or 5 times. We're pretty good at it, usually averaging around 430 per ride. I think my top score today was in the mid 600 range.

After we met back up we hit the Springfield food court for some pizza and Krusty burgers! Then it started.....The all too familiar rainstorm. Since it was already 5:30 I decides to make a break for the hotel room to get our ponchos but I didn't make it back before the cutoff, as tonight was a 6 pm close due to Rock the Universe. I got absolutely soaked and wouldn't you know that it's barely drizzling now? But it did run off a lot of the crowds, which have been surprisingly large for this time of year. Thanks goodness for these Express passes....

So, we're waiting for the girls to get back from the Forbidden Journey and then we're going to do Seussland before we leave and hit the resort pool.

All in all it's been a great day. I have a handful of photos if I can figure out how to post them without having to copy the img link, seeing as how I'm using my phone for this report.

Stay tuned...!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Love your title!!

 

[draybook]

Love your title!!

Trust me, it fits us to the t. I had said before the trip that I wish we were flying when it's dark so the kids could see the cities lit up from the sky. You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.

 

[draybook]

Day 2: More Universal


After staying up late swimming and running to Walmart, we overslept a tad. So, we just missed the 8 am opening but the ladies did squeeze in around 8:15. Meanwhile, the son and I headed to Guest Services to buy our HHN tickets for the 20th. Allow me a side rant if I may. Self parking for RPR can be a real pain in the rump on the weekend. After we got back from Walmart around 11:30 we made a full loop around the lot to no avail. We ended up having to park around the back and make the trek to the room with our grocery bags in tow.

Now back to today. We grabbed the HHN tickets and met up with the ladies at Diagon Alley. Man, I know it's only been 24 hours since I last saw it but it'sso amazing. After we met up we hended to MiB to show folks how it's done. Next, the ladies hit the Simpsons while Justin and I went to E.T.. Today was the second day in a row that the boarding pass system for E.T. wasn't working.

We got the front row so we got to see E.T. up close. The ladies met back up with us afterwards and we hit E.T. again and got the second row. Then they went to ride RRR, Transformers and Mummy while Justin and I headed to do Twister and Shrek. Well, we're currently held up in the second pre show room of Twister waiting on "technical difficulties", so I guess I'll update you folks later on in the day.

 

[draybook]

BTW DRAY...
i see ur Steelers r tied with the Cleveland Manziels.

Unfortunately, since the in laws showed up early to take us to the airport I was rushed and forgot my Polamalu jersey at the house. And imagine this, it's not easy finding one of his jerseys down here in the Orlando area. The wife is talking about buying some iron on letters and doing that with a blank jersey or shirt. Better than nothing I suppose.

 

[DisneyVet3369]

After the makeup show we split up so they could hit the thrill rides while Justin and I hit Men in Black 4 or 5 times. We're pretty good at it, usually averaging around 430 per ride. I think my top score today was in the mid 600 range.

MIB is awesome, my wife and I hit it at least 4-5 times a day WITHOUT the express pass. Normally we average in the 400's to 600's, but I've been known to hit 990 a time or two.....the best source of points is after they take your picture and you split sides with the other car....when you can shoot the light on top of the car across from you, just keep shooting it. Don't worry about the other stuff, just keep hitting that light...you can rack up hundreds of thousands of points that way! Just a friendly tip...

We check in for 2 weeks this Saturday and we'll be at UNI on the 16th, 18th, and 20th. Maybe we'll be able to match high scores!

Likin' the trip reports! Keep em coming! Question....how come RPR over HRH? Asking because we're staying at UNI for a week in December and we're still deciding which one to stay at, so any input on the resort is welcomed.

You and your family have a blast! We'll be there soon too!

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

Your Steelers had a better day than my Ravens. I'm enjoying you Universal trip report, looking forward to my WDW/Uni trip next March.

 

[draybook]

Quick update for the night. It started raining around mid day and never let up but wasn't heavy. They were unable to fix Twister at that time so Justin and I got one time use Express passes which we gave to a couple walking by since we had EPs via the resort.

We ate lunch at Mel's again and hit the usual rides. Dinner was at Three Broomsticks, with outdoor seating to enjoy the view. After that we finally made the trip from Hogsmeade to King's Crossing. We enjoyed that trip more than the other.

On our last round of MiB, Justin and I averaged 576k, not too shabby. We met the gals back at Diagon Alley to pick them up from Gringott's and grab some butterbeer on the way out. We just came back from the pool and they're dragging me back to Walmart.

Just an observation, but we don't plan on being here again if it's going to be a Rock the Universe event for that day. Those groups are almost as loud and obnoxious as the Brazilians. More to come over the next 18 days, so stay tuned and thank you for following along. I'm still not sure how to post pics without having to copy the link so I promise to have some up as soon as we get home if not sooner. Goodnight folks!

 

[draybook]

Day 3: Our last(kind of) Universal day.

Again, we slept in a little. Again, we swam and went to Walmart...yuck. Unfortunately, we have to go back there tonight because the universal adapter battery charger we bought for our Nikon didn't have the one adapter that fits our battery.

Anyhow, we put all of our lugg age in the car before hiking here so all we have to do is leave after the parks close. We're over here at Diagon Alley and man I can't get enough of this place. As a matter of fact, we just found Knocturnal Alley and the details of this land are plain bonkers. Seriously, the detail in this land should be the industry standard.

We're a few minutes from regular opening so I'll post later. Oh, and did I mention that today is our wedding anniversary? Yep, that makes 13 years down, and way too many to go. So please feel free to wish a happy anniversary to @Runmyhorse !!

 

[mrdrift]

What a great start to the trip report. Sure wish we could see some photos of Diagon Alley and Knocturnal Alley. I haven't seen any of those sites trying to avoid youtube videos of those areas. It always seems like we always forget something for the trip and Walmart here we come. Oh well, sounds like the family is having a wonderful time and thats all that counts. Following along.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

@draybook I think @DisneyVet3369 was asking a question, even though it was posted wrong . I will Fix it

After the makeup show we split up so they could hit the thrill rides while Justin and I hit Men in Black 4 or 5 times. We're pretty good at it, usually averaging around 430 per ride. I think my top score today was in the mid 600 range.

After we met back up we hit the Springfield food court for some pizza and Krusty burgers! Then it started.....The all too familiar rainstorm. Since it was already 5:30 I decides to make a break for the hotel room to get our ponchos but I didn't make it back before the cutoff, as tonight was a 6 pm close due to Rock the Universe. I got absolutely soaked and wouldn't you know that it's barely drizzling now? But it did run off a lot of the crowds, which have been surprisingly large for this time of year. Thanks goodness for these Express passes....

So, we're waiting for the girls to get back from the Forbidden Journey and then we're going to do Seussland before we leave and hit the resort pool.

All in all it's been a great day. I have a handful of photos if I can figure out how to post them without having to copy the img link, seeing as how I'm using my phone for this report.

Stay tuned...!!

FROM @DisneyVet3369 MIB is awesome, my wife and I hit it at least 4-5 times a day WITHOUT the express pass. Normally we average in the 400's to 600's, but I've been known to hit 990 a time or two.....the best source of points is after they take your picture and you split sides with the other car....when you can shoot the light on top of the car across from you, just keep shooting it. Don't worry about the other stuff, just keep hitting that light...you can rack up hundreds of thousands of points that way! Just a friendly tip...

We check in for 2 weeks this Saturday and we'll be at UNI on the 16th, 18th, and 20th. Maybe we'll be able to match high scores!

Likin' the trip reports! Keep em coming! Question....how come RPR over HRH? Asking because we're staying at UNI for a week in December and we're still deciding which one to stay at, so any input on the resort is welcomed.

You and your family have a blast! We'll be there soon too!

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Wow, 13 years. Happy Anniversary to you both. Sounds like you guys are having a blast.

You should give Gringott's a try, it really is very mild ride wise. And it simply is a visual tour due force from the entrance to the exit.