Trip Report Will it ever stop raining? Our June 2017 trip

Hi, all!! I've finally had a chance to start going through my photos and thought I would get started on my trip report! For those of you not familiar, here is my pre-trip report:
Adventure is out there...June 2017
If you don't want to read the PTR, here is a brief synopsis before I get started:
Who: Me (Amy), DH (Brian), DS Logan (14), DD Lily (12), and DS Owen (9)
When: June 2-17, 2017
Where: Universal Studios (Hard Rock Hotel), Disney (Art of Animation), and SeaWorld

For those of you who followed along with the live portion of my PTR, I apologize that some of the photos will be the same. I'm too lazy to go back and remember which ones I used!

I experienced one of the longest days of my life on Friday, June 2!! We left Dayton, Ohio before 5am.

Neither one of us drinks coffee, but we definitely needed some caffeine to start our morning! We stopped for the best Coke in the world!!

McDonald's!!
We had a little delay in Cincinnati because I-75 was closed both directions and we had to take a little detour.:eek:
We waved @LisaBelle and @21stamps and any other Cinci friends as we finally drove over the bridge and entered Kentucky!

We made sure to get past Lexington before morning rush hour, and stopped in Richmond for breakfast.

The kids had never had Chick fil A for breakfast, so we had to correct that!
 
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TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
LisaBelle said:
I can't believe the wait time was only 15 minutes! That is awesome! On our visits the wait has always been at least 30 minutes which really isn't bad. My complaint is that they usually stack everyone up in the greenhouse area and then once you finally get into the air conditioned castle you are rushed through the queue. I agree about moving so quickly through the queue that it is hard to get any good pictures.

I felt just like Brian on our last trip. I realized just before we boarded that I'd forgotten my dramamine. I tried to convince myself that it was just mind over matter, but it's not :depressed:. Now that I am older I cannot ride anything that spins and other "rough" rides are starting to do me in if I forget the motion sickness meds.

Frozen Butterbeer is sooooo delicious :hungry:! I didn't get to drink any on my last visit because I was still so queasy from the Hogwarts ride :(.
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The wait time was longer every day during early entry than it was any other time through the morning. It worked out well for us!

I definitely have more issues with rides now than I ever had when I was younger. Logan wants to ride the rollercoasters at Kings Island over and over again, and I have to have a break in between now! He gets frustrated with me!

That stinks that you couldn't consume a frozen butterbeer!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
LeighM said:
Finally caught up on your trip report. I've been looking forward to this:) I'm hoping to visit Universal in 2019 so I get really happy whenever I see trip reports there. Next year is a short 4 day WDW / 3 night DCL on the Wonder. Can't wait to read more about your trip!
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You definitely need to try Universal! We really enjoyed it! I'm so jealous you have a cruise planned!
 
LadyBelle

LadyBelle

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Doc Disney said:
For some reason Florida water doesn't bother me which is weird because I know it tastes bad haha
BTW loving the Universal pictures! Someday I will get to Universal I just can't ever seem to totally convince myself to go.
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If I were to go, it would strictly be to see HP. Universal has never really appealed to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Oh really?! Thats super interesting and makes total sense haha
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Doesn't it also have to do with McD receiving their supply in the aluminum canisters and not the bags that everyone else gets them in?
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next, we hit the area Owen was most interested in:





Nothing too exciting, but it was a nice little diversion!
Nice view out the back doors, though!





We skipped Jurassic Park River Adventure because we had plans to ride it the next day, but I couldn't help but take a picture of the outside!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next up was Skull Island:Reign of Kong.




I've heard mixed reviews, but we all enjoyed it! It was one of the few rides that the kids asked to ride multiple times.
Then we all kind of hit a wall! It was time to go back to the hotel and rest. We headed back into Hogsmeade so Lily and Owen could buy a wand. They asked all morning, but I didn't want to carry it around all day, so we promised we would stop on the way back to Hard Rock. Lily purchased Draco Malfoy's wand and Owen got the interactive Elder wand. We also ended up with some chocolate frogs!







 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We got back to the room, and it hadn't been cleaned, but the carts were right by our room, so we decided to go swim for awhile. The pool looks nice, and we had a good time listening to the DJ and watching all the games and dancing, etc, and the kids liked the slide, but they later commented on how boring the pool itself was because there wasn't really any deep water! Apparently, my expectations were a little too high based on the pictures I had seen online. No big deal, but a little disappointing! We spent about an hour, then returned to our still uncleaned room! We just grabbed more towels and kept the housekeeping tip for the next morning. One more snack for me! Then Brian and I napped while the kids had showers and played on their electronics. After our refreshing nap, we walked back over to Islands of Adventure for dinner. A few pics on the way:



Uh oh! That sky doesn't look promising!

I loved their height measurement sign:








 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I didn't manage to get a picture of the sign, but we ate at Thunder Falls Terrace.

We ordered two of the chicken and rib combos and one of the chicken platters to share between Brian, Logan, and Owen, and myself and Lily got mac and cheese. Brian said these were the best ribs he had the entire trip, and he and Owen had ribs quite a few times!


We got the brookies, a key lime cheesecake, and a banana cream tart to share for dessert. All were delicious!



No big surprise, but it began to pour while we were eating! We tried to wait it out for awhile, but it just wasn't letting up, so we decided to head out of the park, stopping along the way to do a little shopping, and, of course, stopping for some photo ops!!





The rain let up a little as we were walking back, but it continued to rain all evening and into the night!



So, for those of you keeping track, this was day 2 of rain on our trip!
 
12in12

12in12

Well-Known Member
I have a confession to make... I hate Harry Potter! I read the first book (had to at Uni) and have seen bits and pieces of the movies but :depressed:. One of the main reasons I don't go to Universal is because of all the HP stuff.
Feels good to finally get that off my chest. ;)
Loving your TR and your photos of Universal regardless of my hatred off all things HP.

PS, hadn't seen photos of that King Kong ride before. Reminded me of the killing fields in Cambodia :cry:
 
amjt660

amjt660

Premium Member
RedNoseMickey said:
I have a confession to make... I hate Harry Potter! I read the first book (had to at Uni) and have seen bits and pieces of the movies but :depressed:. One of the main reasons I don't go to Universal is because of all the HP stuff.
Feels good to finally get that off my chest. ;)
Loving your TR and your photos of Universal regardless of my hatred off all things HP.
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Hey that's cool
Different strokes for different folks

Personally I am a fan and loved going to IOA and USF to see both additions.

Max
 

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