Trip Report Lebeau Family Trip Report 2017: Universal Orlando

(This trip report recently ran at my blog, so you may see an occasional reference to the site the report was originally posted to.)

My family and I have recently returned from our latest theme park vacation. When the kids were little, we made regular visits to Walt Disney World in Orlando. Following our last trip in 2014, we decided it was time for us to explore some other options. The following year, prior to embarking on our first family cruise (with Disney of course), we spent a day at Universal Studios. This year, we settled on an extended visit at Universal Orlando.

Introductions are in order. Presumably most of you know me. I’m Lebeau. My lovely wife Mindy mostly tolerates my theme park obsession. Over the course of several Disney World trips, she got fed up with the hassles of getting around Disney’s gigantic resort and found she very much preferred Universal’s compact layout. We have two daughters; Josie (12) and Kara (8). If you’ve been reading my trip reports I imagine you’re marveling over how big they have gotten.

Before we get started, I want to give you guys some background on this trip. For a while leading up to our departure, we seriously considered cancelling or at least postponing this vacation. As the school year was winding down, Kara suffered a mysterious injury to her ankle. We’re not sure exactly how it happened, but she had a break or at least a fracture that was going to limit her mobility for several months. The best case scenario was that she would be in physical therapy and an ankle brace during our trip. If you have ever visited an Orlando theme park, you know how much walking is involved.

There were other concerns. Josie got braces which are not only expensive, but they cut up her mouth for a couple of weeks. During that time, it was hard to imagine she would have a lot of fun on vacation. We had also adopted not one but two dogs. It’s a long story, but the bottom line was that we weren’t sure we would have anyone available to watch them while we were away. A month or so before we left, I was very close to scrapping the whole thing.

Obviously, we decided to carry on. Kara’s ankle healed as well as could be expected. Her physical therapist told us we were going to have to work within her limits, but that seemed feasible at a relatively small resort like Universal. Leading up to the trip, I made lots of little preparations. We found relatives to take in each of the two doggies. We ordered new luggage, picked our restaurants where we thought we might like to eat, etc.

Just before we left, we checked the weather forecast and it was foreboding. In all my trips to Florida, I had never seen such dire predictions – and we’ve been during hurricane season. Every day of our trip included high chances of not just rain but severe thunderstorms. If you’re familiar with Florida weather, you know that these storms typically come and go pretty quickly. But going in to this trip, we knew that we were going to need to be ready for rain. I was reasonably confident we could work around whatever Mother Nature threw at us this week.

Our flight in was pretty uneventful. I had scheduled an early morning flight which was later rescheduled for an even earlier time by our airline. We arrived at the Orlando airport ahead of schedule, so we had plenty of time to check in and have some fun. I had arranged car service to the hotel via Happy Limo. Although it is pricier than some options, we were happy with the service we received during our 2015 cruise and decided to give them repeat business. It’s much more convenient than renting a car or taking a shuttle.

Our driver’s name was Ashley. On the way to the hotel, we made small talk. She assured us that she had heard very good things about Loews Royal Pacific. We talked about recent additions to the Orlando scene like Volcano Bay and Disney’s Pandora. Ashley mentioned that her mother was a bartender at Animal Kingdom Lodge who had been moved to Pandora when it opened. (I mention this because it will come up again later.)

We also talked about the weather forecast. Ashley informed me that prior to our arrival, central Florida had been in the middle of a terrible drought. She said they really needed the rain. Good for them, bad for us I guess.

We would be spending the week at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort. This is one of the deluxe hotels at Universal. All of the on-site hotels include some very nice perks for Universal guests like early park admission, transportation to the parks and the ability to pick up tickets in your hotel lobby. On our previous visit, we enjoyed the kitschy Cabana Bay Beach Resort. But the allure of free Express Pass for the length of our stay was too much to pass up so this time we upgraded to deluxe accommodations.

The math on this decision is going to vary depending on the size of your party and how much you value what Express Pass has to offer. If you are paying for EP out-of-pocket, it will typically run you around $80 per person. For a family of four, that’s right around the cost of the hotel room. I was able to get a good rate so I paid less for the room than I would have paid out-of-pocket for the passes.

Of course there’s no way I would have shelled out for six days of Express Pass. So you have to factor that into your value assessment. Given Kara’s limited mobility and the kids’ impatience with lines, I put a pretty high premium on front-of-the-line upgrade. Your mileage is going to vary.

For a long time, I had aspirations of staying at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Eventually, I decided that as nice as that hotel is, I would never be able to justify Disney’s asking price. Loews Royal Pacific, however, has a similar theme with a much more reasonable price tag. It would make a suitable substitute for the Polynesian.

Both hotels feature lush landscaping and running water. But Royal Pacific has a more upscale feel to it. The decor leans towards Asian influences as opposed to the Tiki culture celebrated at the Poly. The hotel doesn’t quite make you feel like you have been transported to a far away island, but it does a nice job of evoking a sense of something more exotic than your standard hotel.

The overall vibe is one of serenity. Loews Royal Pacific is classy without being stuffy. The surroundings put guests in a relaxed state of mind. Some hotels feel like they are buzzing with hyperactive children and frazzled parents. Others feel too formal for you to really let your kids be kids. Loews Royal Pacific hits that balance nicely where parents can relax and the kids can have fun.

Once we arrived, we had some business to attend to. The first stop was at the front desk to check in. I was not surprised to discover that our room wasn’t ready yet. We had arrived earlier than expected. I wasn’t entirely certain what time check-in was, but I knew that if necessary we could check our bags at luggage services and get something to eat.

More often than not, the staff will greet you with a welcoming “mahalo.” I would say that the service we received during our stay was consistently friendly and occasionally exceptional. When I checked in, we were given Hawaiian leis which I think we all wore for about 10 seconds before deciding to stick them in our bags.

Our next stop was at the nearby kiosks where we could print up our park tickets and Express Passes. The Express Pass includes a photo, so everyone had to smile for the camera. I had also secured priority seating at Volcano Bay for Sunday, so I printed up those vouchers as well. With all of our park-related business attended to, we stopped by the luggage desk to drop off our bags. After the bags were safely checked, we went searching for lunch.

Next: Lunch at Jake’s American Bar

 

[lebeau]

I wanted a rematch on Men in Black. The waits for this attraction typically aren’t that bad, but with Express Pass we could walk right on. As you can see from the picture above, we were able to have a car to ourselves since most of the crowds were in Diagon Alley. This time, I was able to pull out the win but only because I scored the 100,000 bonus points at the end of the ride. Mindy has much better aim than I do. Still, a win is a win and now we were tied up.

The guy who prepared our ride photo for us cropped the picture so that my face is completely blocked by an alien tentacle. Oh well. I look so stupid in all of these ride photos that it’s probably for the best. But seriously, for what these photo packages cost, they should do a better job than this.

The plan at this point was to make our way to the front of the park and hit a few attractions on our way out. Last time, Kara enjoyed the Kang and Kodo spinner ride, so I offered to ride it with her. Josie was too big for the simple pleasures of a Dumbo-style spinner despite the Simpsons theme. So she and Mindy hung out while Kara and I took a spin on some flying saucers. Kara got a big kick out of being able to control the height of our vehicle with a joystick.

Afterwards we met Mindy and Josie by this phone. When it rings, you can pick it up to get a message from a Simpsons character. We sat there and answered the phone about a dozen times. It never got old as far as the kids were concerned.

Kara was in the mood to pose for some pictures. She asked me to take a picture of her on the bench next to Milhouse.

The signs in Springfield are loaded with Simpsons gags. You will be happy to know that the Jalapeno-Raspberry Confusion Squishee is now made with government-approved food dye.

I came up with the idea to pose the girls next to the DeLorean from Back to the Future. They are only passingly familiar with the movie mostly because Doc Brown is a figure in the Lego Dimensions video game we play. I pulled up a picture of the Back to the Future Part II poster for reference. Then I positioned Josie behind Kara and told them both to lift their glasses and look at their wrists as though they were concerned about being late for something important. As always, Kara really committed while Josie could barely stop giggling.

This is where we decided to split up. Initially, Kara thought she might like to ride Transformers since it is a motion simulator. But as we approached the ride, she decided she wanted to sit it out. Mindy wasn’t too keen on riding Transformers either, but Josie was up for it. So I walked Mindy and Kara over to the Kid Zone area where they could ride Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster while Josie and I rode Transformers. We agreed to meet up afterwards to reride Race Through New York.

This section of the park will eventually be the home of the new Nintendo-themed land which promises to be on the same scale as Diagon Alley. While I don’t have a strong attachment to Nintendo games, the concept art I have seen looks impressive.

Later, Mindy told me that she and Kara liked the kiddie coaster and the nearby play area. It’s nice to have something in the park for the younger kids. While I won’t necessarily miss the current incarnation of Kid Zone, I hope the replacement has something to appeal to this demographic.

Almost as soon as we went our separate ways, I saw Doc Brown walking around. He was just wandering around the park. Most people didn’t even seem to notice him. I figured if no one else was going to hang out with Doc Brown, I would. I stopped him and asked if he would pose for a picture. He was happy to do so. As we checked our watches (or my bare wrist) he asked where I was from. I answered “2017”. He said it was good that I knew that. I pointed out that he had an impressive collection of watches. He said he needed multiples because he was always breaking them.

On our way to the ride, we passed the Transformers meet and greet. We had previously seen one of the bad guys out. Even though I don’t especially care for Transformers, I have to admit these walking robot characters are cool. The bad guy was fun because he insults people. We didn’t stop to visit, but I did snap a picture of Optimus Prime before we made our way to the attraction.

Thanks to Express Pass, we rode with no wait. Transformers will always be a lesser version of Spider-man in my book, but I enjoyed it more the second time around. As with the movies the ride is based on, I find it challenging to know (or care) what is going on. But now that I knew what to expect, I could kind of follow along with the chaotic “story”. It’s still weak Spider-man, but Spider-man is a great ride.

Next: Marilyn, The Mummy and Mario

 

[lebeau]

Since we got through Transformers so quickly, I asked Josie if she wanted to try Revenge of the Mummy before we met up at Race Through New York. Josie had been non-committal on a few of the bigger rides that she thought might be scary, but I guess I asked at just the right time because she agreed to ride.

On our way over, I texted Mindy to let her know our change of plans. We were passed by Marilyn Monroe and her back-up singers on their way to a show. The iconic movie star blew us a kiss as she drove by.

We also saw the Bluesmobile on its way to the Blues Brothers review. Universal Studios has a lot of these little shows to entertain guests in between attractions. We didn’t stop to take many of them in, but it’s nice that they are there.

I hadn’t ridden Revenge of the Mummy in almost a decade so my memory was fuzzy. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I remembered that it was a hybrid coaster not entirely unlike Gringotts with physical effects instead of screens. I knew there were sudden stops and a backwards section and to the best of my recollection the Mummy stuff was more cheesy than scary. Part of the reason I wanted to revisit the attraction was to reevaluate it.

The ride was shorter than I remembered. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a fun, zippy coaster with some good drops and surprises. *spoilers* There is one part of the ride where it appears that it is over. Josie was getting ready to lift her restraints when the car took off again. I had forgotten all about this fake-out. Like I said before, it’s cheesy but we both had a lot of fun. Josie decided The Mummy was her favorite ride at Universal.

Once we had survived the Mummy’s revenge, we met up with Mindy and Kara at the entrance for Race Through New York. As we were walking up the stairs to the upper level, Mindy noticed some camera men. She wondered aloud what that was all about. I reminded her that we had seen Extra recording at the entrance yesterday and joked that Mario Lopez was here to tape a segment on the ride. Someone nearby said that was exactly why the camera crew was there.

The next thing I knew, there was A.C. Slater in all his glory. Mario Lopez was smaller than I expected, but I had to admit his dimples were impressive. Mindy, who grew up on Saved By the Bell, lost her mind. If she had been faster to respond, she would have tackled him to the ground and we’d have been escorted out of the park by security. Instead, she started slapping my arm and yelling for me to grab my camera.

Under the best of circumstances, I wasn’t going to get a good picture on my three-year-old Samsung Galaxy phone under the green lights. By the time I had my phone out, the best I could do was get a picture of the back of Mario’s head. Mindy started messaging everyone she knew to tell them about her brush with fame. She also had Josie follow Lopez on Instagram so she could track his whereabouts for the rest of the week. Mario Lopez, if you’re reading this, watch your back man! Your fans are crazy!

I suspect that a big part of the reason Kara wanted to return to Race Through New York was that on our previous visit, she didn’t get to play with any of the game tables. This time, the lobby was crowded, but some young people sitting near one of the kiosks said that they weren’t using it and made room for our kids to play. We were very appreciative.

Like I said before, the games are nothing special. The kids have cooler apps on their phone. But there’s something about playing them on a table-sized tablet that makes them more appealing. The girls took turns playing and invited some other kids to share. Just as they were starting to lose interest, the lights changed and it was our turn to ride.

Once again, everyone enjoyed the attraction. Having done everything we set out to do, we decided to head back to the hotel room. But something was up. Kara seemed mopey. I asked what was wrong and she said she was hungry. That’s easy to fix. We are surrounded by food choices. Just about anything she could possibly want was close by. I asked her what she wanted and then I got the one response I dread. “I don’t know.”

I started listing off all the kinds of food available in the park and at CityWalk. There were several things I knew she liked, but nothing “sounded good”. When she told me “they don’t have anything” I knew we were in trouble. It doesn’t happen often, but when Kara reaches a certain point, there is no making her happy. We had reached that point.

We had plans to meet some of Mindy’s friends for dinner, so we didn’t want to load up on a late lunch. CityWalk has a small food court that includes Burger King, Panda Exprss and Moe’s. We figured with burgers, Chinese and Mexican, there had to be something Kara would want. But she was still moping. Mindy ordered herself a burrito, but Kara wasn’t interested. Her mom took her over to the Burger King line and Kara reluctantly agreed to eat a cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles.

There was a bit of a line and Mindy’s food was getting cold, so I offered to take her place and let her eat. About five minutes later, I was placing my order for a cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles only, an order of chicken fries and an order of mozzarella sticks. I figured the side items would get gobbled up by the table.

The girl who took my order could not have been less interested in her job. This was the first bad service we had encountered during our stay. Of course it was at a Burger King, so what do you expect? The guy who brought me my food was almost too eager to help. I guess it evened out.

When I got back to the table, Kara’s burger didn’t have enough ketchup on it. Easily remedied. I grabbed a handful of ketchup packets. Then I was told they forgot the pickles. I went back to the counter and the overly helpful guy handed me a cup full of pickles. Kara likes a lot of pickles on her burger. I think she loaded it with 16 dill chips. Once she started eating, her mood started to improve. Slowly.

Meanwhile, Josie had claimed the chicken fries as her own. She scarfed those things down. They both were grabbing mozzarella sticks. I snuck in a few of those myself because up to this point I hadn’t eaten anything but ice cream. But I didn’t get many because I wanted to make sure the girls got their fill and no one left hungry.

After lunch, we hopped a water taxi back to Royal Pacific. Kara and Mindy went swimming at the hotel pool. It’s very nice. There’s a play area shaped like a cruise ship with Kara enjoyed. Josie and I hung out in the room since she wasn’t swimming.

Originally, we were going to spend the day with Mindy’s friends, Larry and Janelle. They live in Florida and wanted to drive in to Orlando to hang out with Mindy and the kids. But since we had Express Pass and they didn’t, it didn’t make a lot of sense for them to join us in the parks. We decided instead to meet them at CityWalk for dinner. Mindy sent them a few menus and they decided they wanted to try Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

Next: Dinner at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium

 

[lebeau]

This restaurant does not take reservations, so Josie and I went over early to put our name on a list. It turns out, there was no list. They could seat us with no wait. But Larry and Janelle were stuck in traffic, so we hung out in the gift shop for a while.

Even if you’re not eating at the restaurant, the gift shop is worth a look. There are branded souvenirs like T-shirts and coffee mugs. There’s also tons and tons of sweets. Whatever kind of candy you are into, they have it. One display featured all kinds of crazy flavors of candy floss (cotton candy to us Americans). And of course, there are lots of different kinds chocolate.

While we looked around, Mindy was getting updates from Janelle. We were planning to eat at 6:00 but the weather and traffic had them running behind. They reached the parking garage just before 6:00 and realized that if they waited a little while they could avoid the parking fee. I figured between parking and walking through the garage and CityWalk, they would arrive around 6:30.

At 6:10, I asked how long the wait was for a table. The hostess told me it was about 20 minutes, so I put my name in. She told me I would get a text when my table was ready. Three minutes later, I got a text telling me my table would be ready soon. I assumed that there would be a second text since I was told there was a 20 minute wait. Either way, my party wasn’t all together yet.

Larry and Janelle arrived right about 6:30 as expected. We said our “hellos” and then went to check on our table. The host told me we were listed as a “no-show”. I explained the situation with the texts and he promised to seat us at the next table and encouraged us to look around. By this point, Josie and I had been looking around for over an hour. So, we were ready to be seated.

This is the ground floor dining room. There are multiple floors. We were seated on the second floor which is brighter. Appropriately enough for a restaurant at Universal, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium employs video screens.

The girls posed for a picture with Larry and Janelle while we waited on our table to be ready. I checked back with the host to make sure he hadn’t forgotten us. It had been about 10 minutes. He assured me that someone was preparing our table. Then I’m pretty sure he looked for a table. We were seated soon after.

The menu is very diverse and there were a number of things I considered. But ultimately, I went with the Blue Plate Burger. The half pound patty is smothered with grilled meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, sweet corn and a Bordelaise sauce. This stuff was good. Next time I may just have to order the meatloaf by itself.

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, we were visited by Penelope, the “owner” of the Emporium. She’s part Willie Wonka and part Mary Poppins. Penelope asked everyone what they ordered and congratulated us on our good decisions. She told me the Blue Plate Burger was wonderful because “you don’t have to choose.”

Mindy ordered the nutella and banana crepes of the brunch menu. Penelope’s assessment, “It’s like you’re having dessert for dinner.” Mindy agreed. This was one sweet dish, but she enjoyed it.

The girls ordered off the kids menu. Kara got chicken fingers which I did not get a picture of. Josie ordered a waffle and gave me her bacon. They both enjoyed their meals.

While we ate, we were visited by Jacques, the chocolate robot. He’s supposed to be made of chocolate. Kara was convinced this guy was the real deal and opted not to pose for a picture with him. Josie did so reluctantly. Jacques was cool. I watched him walk from table to table and he never broke his mechanical stride. He also had some kind of robot voice. According to the restaurant’s backstory, Jacques is responsible for all the specialty shakes. He was pleased to hear that we had ordered some for dessert.

As tempting as the dessert menu was, the adults all shied away. But the girls each ordered a massive brownie milkshake. The shakes are served in a plastic mason jar which you get to keep. They are $13 each, but at least you get a souvenir.

The brownie shake includes dutch chocolate ice cream and a milk chocolate swirl. It’s topped with a big fudgy brownie and served with an extra-wide straw.

The straws need to be that wide in order to facilitate drinking the thick shakes. But since they had been poked through brownies, the straws were all clogged up. I used a fork to clear out the brownie bits. After that was done, the girls were able to drink their shakes. I tasted them and they were good. Extremely chocolaty as one would expect.

Service at Toothsome was on the slow side, but we were taking our time visiting Mindy’s friends so we weren’t in any hurry. Eventually, the kids were ready to head back to the hotel, but Mindy still wanted to hang out with her friends a while longer. They had driven an hour to see her, so she wanted to make the most of the opportunity.

I offered to take the kids home and let the other adults hang out in CityWalk for as long as they liked. Once again, I appreciated the convenient transportation offered on property. After a short boat ride, we were tucked in for the night and watching Zootopia on Netflix. Mindy was able to enjoy a drink with Larry and Janelle before calling it a night.

Next: Volcano Bay

 

[lebeau]

Up to this point, we faced some challenges during our Orlando getaway. After a long drought, central Florida was getting such much-needed rain. Unfortunately for us, we arrived just in time for daily thunderstorms. My youngest daughter’s ankle was on the mend which limited her mobility and our oldest wasn’t going to be able to partake in any pool-related activities. We were just past the half-way point on our trip and we had weathered the storms reasonably well. So of course when I woke up on the morning of the fourth day of our vacation, I had a sore throat.


Before we left, both Mindy and Kara had cases of strep and bronchitis, so I was concerned that I might be coming down with something. I felt well enough to carry on, so I put my scratchy throat out of my mind. Kara rolled over in her bed and asked me if we were still going to visit Volcano Bay at some point during our stay. I reminded her that Josie couldn’t swim, but if she wanted to go to the water park, I would take her.

Kara had really been looking forward to Universal’s new water park. Rides aren’t really her thing, but she loves to swim and play in the pool. She’s also interested in Hawaiian culture which is celebrated at Volcano Bay. The place was right in her wheelhouse, however, I wasn’t sure she would want to go without her big sister. After thinking about it for a while, she decided we should go.

Before we left, I called to see if there was any priority seating available. There was not. I wasn’t surprised. I knew from previous phone calls that they were sold out for the next couple of weeks. I had gotten lucky once before so I figured I would try again. The girl on the phone told me to try again in person. She said they held back a few chairs for guests at the park.

Unfortunately, Royal Pacific does not offer a water taxi to Volcano Bay. It’s located right next to the Cabana Bay Beach Resort which is a nice perk for that hotel. You could walk to Volcano Bay from Royal Pacific if you were so inclined, but the hotel offers a shuttle. We had a short wait at the shuttle stop. Less than five minutes. It felt a little longer than it was because there was no signage indicating that we were waiting in the right spot and the only other family there spoke no English. But in no time at all, we boarded our bus and were on our way.

When the water park opened, they were offering a form of Express Pass just like the theme parks. However, it was not included as a perk to hotel guests. That’s understandable because Volcano Bay is relatively small and if everyone staying at the deluxe hotels could skip to the front of the line, the waits would be unbearable for everyone else. Universal very quickly did away with Express Pass at Volcano Bay due to operational issues we will talk about in a minute.

As guests at Royal Pacific, we did get one hour early admission to the park. This is a huge advantage if you are planning to visit Volcano Bay. Later in the day, people will be searching high and low for any loungers they can find, but we had our pick. We set our stuff down in a pair of loungers under an umbrella right in front of the wave pool. We were also able to get a locker long before they sold out. The lockers were accessible using the Tapu Tapu wrist band we were provided at the entrance, so there was no need to hang on to any of our personal belongings other than our sandals and beach towels. With early admission, there was no need to spend money on expensive priority seating.

This was the view from our loungers. Volcano Bay is an absolutely beautiful water park. It’s small and along the edges you are aware that it borders the Florida highways. But it’s easy to give in to the illusion that you are actually on a tropical island. If you are looking to relax in between visits to the theme parks, Volcano Bay is a great place to unwind.

Kara’s primary interest was the wave pool, but I wanted to explore a bit before the park opened to the general public. After a quick dip in the wave pool, we started to walk around the park. I had read that the new water coaster was a must-do experience and that lines would get long later in the day. So I kept my eyes out for that attraction. Unfortunately, I had no idea what any of the names meant. They are all in Hawaiian, so the signs weren’t of much use.

When we found the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, it was listed as “ride now” which meant we didn’t need to schedule a return time. Just as we were stepping in line, that changed. We were now told that we needed to use Tapu Tapu at the nearby kiosk to schedule a return time to ride. No big deal. Our return time was only ten minutes out.

In the meantime, we decided to check out the Kopiko Wai Winding River – that’s a fancy name for a lazy river. In addition to the standard circular floats, there were several that resembled floating recliners. Let me tell you, this was one relaxing ride. Unlike a lot of lazy rivers, there was always something to see. At one point, the river passes through the volcano which is all kinds of cool.

By the time we had winded along the lazy river, Tapu Tapu was telling us to report to the water coaster. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean you get to experience the ride right away. We had about a 15 minute wait. I heard a staff member saying that they were supposed to keep the wait times under 20 minutes. The park had opened less than a week ago and they were still figuring a lot of things out.

Kara was uncertain about riding a water coaster, but I was confident she would enjoy it. She loved the Aquaduck on the Disney Dream which is a similar experience on a more modest scale. The fifteen minute wait was a bit much for her, but she perked up when it was our turn to ride.

I have been on a few water coasters before, but Krakatau was by far the best. Guests ride in four-person canoes which are pulled uphill by magnets. You get a surprising amount of speed every time you go up. The ride consists of several dips, turns and splashes plus another trip through the volcano. It’s also a much longer ride than you would expect. It’s no wonder that this is an incredibly popular attraction. Make a point to ride it first thing.

After our ride, Kara was gushing about how much she loved it. We made an appointment to come back. The wait time was already over an hour, but we didn’t mind. Kara was getting hungry, so we stopped at one of the restaurants and got her a footlong hotdog and a bottled water. After we ate, we returned to the wave pool to wait for our turn to ride again.

As it turns out, Kara had so much fun in the wave pool that when it as time for us to go back to the water coaster, we decided not to. Tapu Tapu held our place in line for several hours, but eventually it did drop us. That was fine. We spent most of the day rolling with the waves. Occasionally, we went back to our lounger for a break. Kara enjoyed playing in the sand just like you would at a real beach.

All in all, we had a terrific time at Volcano Bay. And everywhere I looked, I saw lots of people having fun too. So I was surprised when I returned home to read scathing reviews of the new park on sites like Trip Advisor. Here’s the thing. Universal clearly rushed this park to open by Memorial Day Weekend. Even now, weeks after our vacation, finishing touches are being put on the park.

Not only was the park unfinished when it opened, management was still figuring out the complex virtual queue system and operations for all the rides. Guests who arrived in the afternoon were facing extremely long wait times for most of the slides. Understandably, they weren’t happy about that.

But for our purposes, Volcano Bay was a wonderful break from touring the theme parks. And I’m sure as the season progresses, Universal will work out the kinks in their new system. I hear the elimination of Express Pass plus more efficient ride loading has already cut down the wait times significantly. And Universal has already announced plans to expand the park which will add to its capacity.

By mid afternoon, we were getting tired and decided to head back to the hotel. Before we left, we wanted to try the pineapple upside down cake I had read about. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember which of the strangely named restaurants served the dessert and none of the employees I asked were sure either. We ended up circling the park before we finally found what we were looking for.

As you can see, it’s a chocolate cake with caramelized coconut flakes, pineapple and a chocolate-covered maraschino cherry. Kara and I each ordered one and we agreed that they were good. Maybe not “walk all around the park” good, but very tasty.

When we got home, the combination of spending all day in the sun plus my encroaching cold had me feeling pretty tired. I did something I don’t do very often. I took a nap. The girls woke me when they wanted to get dinner. This is where we ran into our biggest complaint about Loews Royal Pacific. They have four table-service restaurants and a pool bar, but they don’t have any fast dining options. When it’s raining and the pool bar is closed, you either have to get a table or leave the hotel.

Since it was raining, we didn’t want to leave the hotel. It didn’t help matters that I was feeling lousy. Food didn’t sound appealing at all. We visited each of the table service restaurants just to check out the wait times. Emeril’s Tchoup Chop had a reasonable wait time of 30 minutes, but it seemed a bit fancy. We really just wanted some kind of grab-and-go option.

Earlier in the day, a flyer had been left under our door for a local pizza place, Orlando Pizza Express. I suggested, hey, why don’t we just give that pizza place a try? Big mistake. I called at 8:00 and right off the bat I got a bad vibe from the place. The woman who took my order was extremely rude like she didn’t want to be bothered. We were told our food would arrive in about an hour.

Ninety minutes later, Mindy called to see what was going on. The same rude woman answered the phone. She said that there had been an accident which had shut down traffic on a main road and that our order would be there any minute. One by one, we each went to sleep. At 11:30, three and a half hours after I had placed the order, I was awakened by the hotel phone. The pizza guy was in the lobby. I told him we had all gone to sleep. “So you don’t want it?” he asked. “No,” I said. Even if we were awake, which we weren’t, there was no way that pizza was anything but ice cold.

The next day, I checked my credit card. Sure enough, they had charged us for the pizza. I called to ask for a refund and was told that there were no managers in that day and someone would call me back on Monday. No one ever did. I ended up disputing the charges with my credit card company. don’t order food from places that advertise with flyers under your hotel door – especially Orlando Pizza Express.

Next: ET, Donuts and Dragons

 

[lebeau]

I hadn’t slept very well that night. My throat was feeling better, but I was very congested. That suggested to me that at least I didn’t have strep. So, that was a good thing.

When Josie got up, she told me she wanted to get a Big Pink Donut from Springfield. Yesterday, while Kara and I had been at Volcano Bay, Mindy and Josie went to the hotel gift shop looking for a Big Pink. Usually, they have them in stock but as it turns out they were all out. So this morning, Josie and I were going to the park to get one.

Mindy and Kara decided to hang back at the hotel. They might join us later, they weren’t sure. Mindy has family in Florida and her cousin Becky wanted to meet up with us. She has an annual pass to Universal, but without Express Pass it would be difficult to hang out in the parks. Eventually we settled on meeting up in Citywalk for lunch.

That morning, Josie and I had a funny captain on our water taxi. Most of the captains stuck to just driving the boat. A few offered commentary and a couple told jokes. This was by far the silliest captain we encountered. He played music and lead cheers. When we passed another boat, the captain insisted all of his passengers chant “We’re number one!” Josie thought he was hysterical.

We arrived at the park entrance just as they were starting to let people in. There was a big crowd, but I assured Josie that the vast majority of them would be headed to Diagon Alley. Since we weren’t, we would have the rest of the park mostly to ourselves. That turned out to be true as you can see from the pictures above.

I asked Josie what she wanted to do today. This would be our last day at the parks, so I wanted to make sure she had seen and done everything that interested her. At the top of her list was reriding Revenge of the Mummy. So we headed that way first figuring it would be better to eat afterwards.

We walked right on to the ride. As you can see from our ride photo, our vehicle wasn’t even half full. The second ride through cemented my opinion that The Mummy is a really fun attraction that serves an important function. We were starting to suffer motion simulator fatigue and The Mummy was the perfect antidote.

Another old fashioned ride was E.T. Adventure. This attraction had been closed for refurbishment for most of our stay. Mindy and the girls weren’t especially impressed when we rode it in 2015, but I wanted to give it a second try. So Josie and I stopped in on our way to Springfield.

E.T. is a strange ride that relies heavily on nostalgia for a movie that has fallen out of cultural relevance. The highlight of the ride, for me, is the first half in which you ride a bicycle over a Spielbergian suburb and soar past the moon. Once we get to E.T.’s planet, it’s all pretty weird.

This isn’t a ride you should wait in a long line to experience. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait at all. Josie got to sit in the bike with E.T. on the handlebars which is always fun. Since we had prepurchased the photo package, we stopped posed for pictures with E.T. afterwards. Josie was mostly humoring me so we could try to get some value out of the expensive package.

After E.T., we went to Lard Lads in Springfield. I was impressed by the variety of donuts offered. Mindy wanted a maple-bacon donut which you can see back in the back. I texted her this picture to let her know they had them. Time permitting, I promised to swing back around and pick some up for her. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Josie got her Big Pink Donut which we managed to finish off between the two of us. The glaze is a bit too thick and sweet for me, but it was a good donut. A Homer-sized pink donut is undeniably fun.

After we finished, we decided to hop on the Hogwarts Express and ride over to Islands of Adventure. Diagon Alley was busy, but people weren’t ready to go to Hogsmeade yet so the train station was empty.

We were able to walk right on to the train with no wait whatsoever. It’s really amazing what you can do when you tour against the flow of traffic. Crowds flow in predictable patterns. If you know where the crowds are going to be, you can cut down on your overall wait times by going where the crowds aren’t.

When we passed Hogwarts, we saw the wait time for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was non-existent. I asked Josie if she wanted to give it a try and to my surprise she was game. We walked through the queue and right on to the attraction.

In 2015, I had experienced some motion sickness on this attraction. But this time, I was fine. I was glad we revisited this ride because it’s really spectacular. The blending of the physical effects with the screens is mostly seamless. As a result, you don’t need the 3-D glasses to feel like you’re actually soaring around Hogwarts.

Afterwards, we tried out Flight of the Hippogriff. This is one I really hoped Kara would get to ride since it seems like it is exactly her speed. Josie thought it was a kind of lame, though she liked seeing Buckbeak. It’s a solid kid’s coaster for guests who aren’t quite ready to tackle some of the bigger rides yet.

Our next stop was Fury of Poseidon. This is an odd attractions in that it’s not a ride, I guess it’s a show. You walk through what is supposed to be ancient ruins guided by an archaeologist. There is a storyline involving Poseidon and an evil wizard. It’s all pretty cheesy, but it’s air-conditioned and there are a few neat effects. If you’re looking to get off your feet, Poseidon’s Fury won’t help you. But it will get you out of the heat for a while and it offers a change of pace from motion simulators. It’s strictly filler and I probably wouldn’t do it a second time, but I was glad I experienced it once.

Next: Mutants and Cowfish

 

[lebeau]

We were getting close to lunchtime and I had a couple things I wanted to do in Marvel Superhero Island before we left. I was hoping Captain America would be out for meet and greets. We had seen a lot of characters out this morning, so I thought the chances were pretty good.

As we walked through the area, all of the X-Men were out; Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Cyclops. That boded well for my quest to meet Cap. They all came out at the same time. I knew Cap tended to appear by the diner that is named after him, so I lead Josie in that direction.

When I saw that Captain America was there, I got entirely too excited for a middle-aged man. There wasn’t much of a line, so I queued up to meet my favorite Marvel hero. For the person in front of me, he did a pose where he settled in behind his shield like he was preparing for battle. I thought it was a really cool pose. But for mine, he did the Uncle Sam “I want you” finger point. I followed suit, but unlike Cap I hadn’t done this pose a million times. Once I saw the picture, I realized you need to bend a little at the elbow to avoid blocking half your face. Still, I got to meet Captain America which was definitely on my must-do list for the trip.

Afterwards, we decided to use our remaining time to reride Spider-man one more time. As we exited, Josie spotted the Green Goblin hanging out by the single rider line.

We also passed Dr. Doom near his Fear Fall attraction. All the Marvel characters were out, but we were in a hurry to get to Citywalk for lunch.

I had hoped I could talk Josie into riding The Incredible Hulk coaster as our last ride, but she wasn’t having it. She offered to let me ride alone, but there was no way I could enjoy the ride while leaving her unattended. So instead, we decided to check out Storm Force Accelatron.

This is basically the Tea Cups with an X-Men overlay. Hey, it’s a fun ride. That’s why you will find attractions like this at amusement parks across the country. The Universal version includes some mutant flourishes, but at the end of the day it’s all about spinning. The girls enjoy trying to spin me as hard as they can and I always play it up.

On our way out, Josie told me that if we came back after lunch, she would ride the Hulk with me. But we didn’t end up making it back to the parks. Oh well. That gives us something to look forward to next time.

For lunch, we decided to try out Cowfish. This chain restaurants serves burgers, sushi and dishes that fuse the two.

None of us are sushi-eaters, but we had reviewed the menu and found things we wanted to try out. I ordered the High Class Hillbilly which is basically a big pile of barbequed pork served with curly fries and cole slaw made up to look like sushi. It was good, but I was too congested to fully enjoy it.

The table shared an order of edamame as an appetizer. The girls had too much fun popping beans out of pods into their mouths. I think about half of Kara’s ended up on the floor.

Mindy ordered the Burgerushi at the recommendation of our waitress. It looks like sushi, but tastes like a Big Mac. She really loved this dish partially because it was lighter than eating an actual burger.

The kids’ meals were served like a bento box. Kara got brave and ordered the vegetable sushi. She wanted to eat healthy so she got apples and orange slices as sides. Josie got her standards, mac and cheese and french fries. Both meals came with dessert sushi which consists of a rice krispie treat topped with a Swedish fish. Those Cowfish guys are clever.

After lunch, the girls hung out with Mindy’s cousin. They did some shopping and got frozen yogurt. I went back to the hotel room and napped some more. For dinner, we went back to room service since it was raining again. I went to the hotel gift shop and paid entirely too much money for NyQuil so I could get a good night’s sleep. I also picked up a Big Pink Donut for breakfast the next morning.

As you can imagine, the packaged donuts aren’t nearly as fresh as the ones served in the park. This was not quite stale, but not nearly as good as the one Josie and I had in Springfield. Once we had packed our bags, we dropped them off at the luggage service, checked out of our room and took a water taxi to Citywalk. We did a little souvenir shopping and then grabbed lunch before our flight.

Originally, the plan was to eat at Vivo Italian Kitchen which is right nextdoor to Cowfish. I sensed some apprehension, so I told everyone to look over the menu and make sure that’s what they wanted. No one said anything, but I could tell they wanted to go to Cowfish again instead. When I floated the idea, they all immediately jumped on it.

The girls all repeated their orders from the day before. I went with the Single Hunka Love which is a scaled down version of The Cowfish Has Offically Left The Building (A.K.A. The Hunka, Hunka). As the name implies, it’s an Elvis-inspired dish with peanut butter and a friend banana. The full pound burger sounded like too much for me, so I got a single half-pound patty which was quite filling.

After lunch, we went back to our hotel to await our driver. I got a text message from Pierre letting me know he was ready to pick us up. On the way to the airport, Pierre was very chatty. He’s a comic book collector and he was really excited about having met Stan Lee at a convention recently. When we started talking about theme parks, he mentioned that his girlfriend’s mother was a bartender at Pandora in Animal Kingdom. Turns out, Pierre was dating Ashley, the girl who drove us to our hotel at the beginning of our trip. I told you that would come back around.

So that was it. Another vacation in the books. We faced some obstacles which could have derailed the trip, but we were able to manage them. Mindy has since proclaimed this to be one of her favorite vacations of all times and says she can’t wait to go back. I figure we’ll probably wait a little while for Kara to grow into some of the bigger attractions. That will also give Universal some time to make some new additions as well. But I can say with some degree of confidence that we will be back. Hopefully it will rain less next time.

 

[lebeau]

Thanks to everyone who has been reading along. If you're interested in reading more, here are some links to previous trip reports:

2015: A Day at Universal - We stay at Cabana Bay Beach Resort and hit the highlights of both parks.
2015: Disney Dream Cruise - A 5-day/4-night Bahamas cruise in the concierge level
2014: Disney World - We stay in a Princess room at Port Orleans, check out New Fantasyland and Star Wars Weekend
2012: Disney World - My mom comes along for a Fall trip. This time we had a Lion King suite at Art of Animation
2010: Disney World - Kara's first trip. We stayed at Port Orleans for the first time. The kids were so little!

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report.

 

[lebeau]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report.

Thanks, glad you liked it. We had fun and made some memories.