Trip Report Lebeau Family Trip Report 2019: Portofino Bay, Mardis Gras and Birthday Fun - Completed

This report covers my family's recent Spring Break trip to Universal Orlando. I typically write my trip reports on my blog and then export them here. If you would like to read ahead of what is posted here, a link to the continuing trip report is at the end of this installment.

Thanks for reading!
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Lebeau Family Trip Report 2019: Universal Orlando Resort


For the last few years, the Lebeau family has vacationed in sunny central Florida. We have recently returned from our third consecutive trip to the Universal Orlando Resort. Even as I was planning last year’s vacation, I viewed this Spring Break getaway as the completion of a Universal trilogy. As with any other vacation, the goal was to enjoy a little family fun. But it was also important to tie up any unfinished business from previous trips just in case we don’t make it back to Universal for a while.

(Re-)Introductions
Before we board our flight for Florida, let me introduce all of the players for any new readers out there. I am lebeau; husband, father, blogger and narrator for this trip report. My love of theme parks is well-documented here at Le Blog. When I am on vacation, I like to do things I can’t do at home. I get restless sitting around a hotel room watching TV or reading a book. I don’t mind relaxing, but I get bored if there isn’t more for me to do.

My wife, Mindy, has very different vacation preferences. For years, she has mostly tolerated my ambitious vacation planning and commando approach to theme park tourism. When the kids were younger, we made several trips to Walt Disney World. After our last visit in 2014, Mindy had reached her breaking point with the place.

We found that Universal was a good compromise. I still had access to theme parks I could explore to my hearts’ content and Mindy didn’t have to deal with the hassles of a Disney World vacation. After our initial week-long stay in 2017, it was Mindy’s idea to plan back-to-back return trips. We bought annual passes last summer in order to squeeze two vacations out of one ticket purchase.

Our oldest daughter, Josie, is a newly minted teenager. She had just turned thirteen prior to last year’s trip and she will be celebrating her fourteenth birthday very soon. Josie is a Harry Potter fan, but not obsessive. She’s at an age where she likes thrill rides when she is brave enough to ride them, but sometimes her courage fails her. As teenagers go, Josie is usually all smiles. But she’s as susceptible as any teen to sudden mood swings.

Kara is our youngest. She’s all about relaxation. Kara has fun in the parks, but she’d be equally happy hanging out in the hotel ordering room service and binge-watching her favorite shows on Netflix. Kara’s tenth birthday was the day after our trip ended, but we celebrated it all week long. Josie wouldn’t want all that attention, but Kara eats it up. As you will see from the pictures in this report, Kara is a bit of a ham.

Travel Day
Travel days are the worst part of any vacation. One of the reasons we keep going back to Orlando is that Mindy and the kids don’t travel especially well. The two hour flight into MCO is about as much as they can handle. Sometimes we look into more adventurous vacation destinations, but so far we keep coming back to the familiar flight.

I used to like to arrive in Orlando as early as possible in order to squeeze in some park time. But I have figured out that usually isn’t worth the effort. A later departure makes it easier to handle last-minute pre-vacation tasks.

To my utter astonishment, we currently have three dogs living with us (which is mostly Josie’s fault). That meant finding someone to dogsit while we were gone. Mindy has a young cousin who was willing to stay in our house and take care of the dogs in our absence, but that meant a lot of last-minute cleaning to make everything presentable.

My dad drove us to the airport. He has it in his head that he’s supposed to take a certain exit. The only thing is, he’s fixated on the exit before the airport. More than once, he has ended up taking a detour in the opposite direction. Sure enough, he got over in the wrong lane this year. I tried to gently point this out, but he was insistent that his exit was the right one. Finally, Mindy said something from the backseat and got us back on track.

The flight was pretty uneventful. The kids were excited because the seats had built-in TV screens. Kara took my headphones so she could watch a movie. Josie watched episodes of The Simpsons. We hit a little turbulence but arrived at MCO safe and sound.

From there, I had arranged transportation to our hotel through Tony Hinds. I had read rave reviews of Tony’s company from fellow tourists. The price was definitely right. A round trip from MCO to Portofino Bay was $100. That’s about half what I usually paid for similar services. That price includes a brief stop for groceries if you want it, but since we were in a hurry to get to the hotel and didn’t think we’d need any extra provisions.

Portofino Bay
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Last year, we stayed at Portofino Bay because I was able to find a fantastic rate. This year we were paying Spring Break prices. There was no way I was going to match last year’s deal, but we were able to take advantage of the Annual Passholder Rate which presented a substantial discount. We also made the decision to upgrade to a Club Level room because the dining options at Portofino Bay outside of Sal’s Market Deli tend to be pricey even by Orlando standards.

One of the things we loved about our stay last year was our Bay View Room. We lucked out and got a ground-floor room with a quaint little patio right next to the harbor. Mindy enjoyed having breakfast outside most mornings. We were right next to a Starbucks and the little gelato shop. Everyone agreed that Portofino Bay was our favorite hotel in Orlando.

When it came time to decide where to stay this year, the choice was between returning to Portofino Bay or trying out the Hard Rock, the only deluxe hotel at Universal we haven’t visited yet. We ended up sticking with Portofino largely because we liked the pool there. The pool is important to the kids and I read that Hard Rock’s pool is unusually shallow. That was a deal-breaker.

As we pulled up to the hotel and the images of the little Italian fishing village came into view, I felt like we had made the right choice. I was looking forward to another relaxing stay in “fake Italy”. Staying at Portofino Bay is like spending a week inside Epcot’s Italy Pavilion if the pavilion had all the amenities of a deluxe resort.

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My one reservation was our room assignment. I knew that at least part of the reason we enjoyed last year’s trip so much was that we had lucked into a centrally located room with a fantastic view. I had stressed to everyone before the trip that we probably wouldn’t be that lucky again.

I researched the location of the Club Level rooms before we left. Researching fine points of a Universal vacation can be a bit frustrating at times. There are entire websites and fan communities dedicated to even the most minute details of Walt Disney World. But I found out of date information on Universal at every website I visited. And a lot of things just aren’t covered.

Information about the Club Level rooms was hard to come by. Partially, that is because Portofino is the only deluxe hotel that doesn’t have dedicated club rooms. Instead, any room can be upgraded with access to the club for a price. When you reserve a Club Room, you will typically be assigned to one of the hotel’s larger “deluxe” rooms which are scattered throughout the hotel.

This is what I wrote about the Club Level rooms in my pre-trip report:

Another factor is proximity to the lounge. Last year our room was in the East Wing of the resort. We had a Bay View on the ground floor which came with a nice enclosed patio. It was very nice. Unfortunately, we have no idea where we will be located this time around despite paying for a room upgrade.


The Club Level rooms at the other two deluxe hotels are all located on a dedicated floor near the lounge, but that’s not how Portofino Bay is set up. Instead, the lounge is in the main building and Club Level rooms are scattered throughout the resort. This allows greater flexibility to offer the Club Level upcharge to any room, but there’s no guarantee your room will be located close to the lounge.


From what I have read, most of the Club Level rooms are located in the West Wing in the general vicinity of the Villa or Beach pools. The resort is relatively compact, so I’m not terribly concerned with long walks to and from the lounge or any of the other amenities. But our room assignment enhanced our stay last year so I am hoping for a similar experience this time around.

I want to stress that Mindy read this report when I posted it one month before our trip. She even pointed out some of my typos, so I know she read it somewhat closely.

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The view from our room
I am also fairly certain that leading up to the trip I made sure to bring up the issue of room location and that I had no way of knowing where we would be located or what kind of view we would have until after we checked in. If anything, I may have brought it up so often that my warnings fell on deaf ears. Because no matter how many times I attempted to deliver the message, Mindy was surprised and disappointed by the location of our room this year.

We were assigned to a room in the Villa section of the hotel as I had expected. Our room was on the fifth floor which is a bit deceiving. The lobby is located on the third floor, so we were only two floors up from the Club and most of the hotel’s amenities.

In adhering to the theme of an Italian fishing village, Portofino Bay includes a lot of staircases, pathways and public areas. This means that while the distance from Point A to Point B may be negligible, you may end up walking quite a bit. There is often no choice but to take the scenic route. Our room was located in the heart of the Villa overlooking the Beach Pool. But getting there from the hotel lobby was about a ten minute walk through several twisting hallways.

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View of the Villa from our room
Early in our stay, we figured out that there was an elevator right around the corner from our room that made it very easy to get to the pools, the spa and the arcade. The boat dock was a little further out, but not much farther away than it was last year. We could get to and from the Club in about five minutes. But that first night as we were walking down the well-decorated corridors to our room, none of that mattered.

It became very obvious to everyone that Mindy was losing patience with the walk to our room. On a previous trip we stayed at Cabana Bay and Mindy’s biggest complaint was the walk from the main building to our room. She was having flashbacks to that experience and it was making her angry. Even the kids picked up on it.

When we got to the room, Mindy was fuming. She kept muttering about how stupid it was that the Club wasn’t on the same floor as the Club Level rooms. I didn’t disagree, but that was the arrangement and I thought everyone was aware of it in advance. I opened the window hoping for something other than a parking lot and I was reasonably pleased to see a view of the Beach Pool and some of the surrounding Villa. It wasn’t as nice as our Bay View, but it would do.

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Pool view from our room
Josie stared out the window with me and we exchanged a look. It was best just to ride this one out. No one say anything.

The room was very similar to the one we stayed in last year. It was a little larger. The extra space was mostly dedicated to the bathroom area. The room we stayed in last year had a much larger bathroom than most Orlando-area hotels, but it did not have a separate bathtub.

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This room had a shower and a tub. Next to the tub was a window that could be opened into the bedroom. The kids absolutely loved this feature. They may or may not have climbed through the window to jump on the beds. Okay, they totally did that.

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The bathroom also had an unusual feature allowing you to pipe audio from the TV into the bathroom. The kids liked to open the window so they could see the TV while taking a bath. It took some craning of your neck to actually see the TV from the bathroom, but you could definitely follow along with the audio.

While we were checking out the room, Mindy did some unpacking. She can never really relax in a hotel room until the bags have been at least partially unpacked. This helped to relieve some of the frustration she was feeling over the location of the room, but she was still pretty obviously disappointed.

By this time it was after 8:00. The parks were getting ready to close for the night, but we never planned to visit them on our arrival day. Instead, we were going to check out the Portofino Club. They served “sweet treats” from 8:00-9:00 every night and the kids were looking forward to trying out the deserts.

The Portofino Club
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The Club is located near the hotel lobby. There are signs marking the location but they are easily overlooked if you aren’t specifically looking for them. I had been to the Vacation Planning Center that is next to the club but never really noticed the signs before. When we checked in, we were given two extra key cards which opened the door to the club.

Basically the club was like a nice living room with a small buffet area attached. There was a TV which was tuned to basketball that night but was usually playing kids’ shows or family-friendly movies. There were enough tables and chairs that we never had to look for alternate seating.

At night the bar was open. Beer and wine were included and liquor was available at what I believe are reasonable prices. I’m not a drinker, so I’m not the best judge of that. Other beverage options included milk, coffee, soda and bottles of water.

The central buffet area offered up three different sweets. There was always a cookie. Most nights it was chocolate chip, but sometimes it was a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips. The girls raved about the cookies and I have to admit they were really tasty. I have a high bar for cookies and these were surprisingly soft and loaded with chocolate bits. I’m kind of wishing I had one right now to be honest.

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The other two treats rotated from night to night but usually there was some kind of tart and a pastry. There were exceptions. On our first night, they served up a berry tart (with a powerful punch of raspberry flavor) and a chocolate pot de crème.

Josie is a big fan of raspberries and chocolate mousse, so all of the desserts were big hits with her. Mindy and Kara don’t care for raspberries so they didn’t like the tart. But no matter what desserts were offered, you could reliably satisfy your sweet tooth with cookies and milk.

The desserts put everyone in a good mood. I think the walk back to the room reminded Mindy of her displeasure, but she was mostly over it. There was a Glow Party going on at the pool below including glow-in-the-dark toys and a foam pit in the kiddie pool. It looked like a good time, but we weren’t up for it. The pool-view rooms could be pretty noisy, but the party ended at 10:00 and things quieted down. Still, if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing you may want to avoid rooms overlooking the Beach Pool.

I always bring an Amazon Firestick with us on vacation because TV offerings tend to be limited in the hotels. I didn’t especially feel like hooking it up before bed. Connecting to the hotel wi-fi is a bit of a chore using the Firestick remote. Fortunately, the kids were able to find Zootopia and we watched that before bed.

I think everyone slept pretty soundly that night. That’s one of the advantages of travel days. We were all pretty worn out. After a good night’s sleep we woke ready to start the vacation in earnest.

Next: First Day at the Parks
 

maxntina

Well-Known Member
Wow...just read through your blog! Great pictures, love how the girls like to play off each other! Can't wait to read more about your trip!
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Getting Started
While the kids were getting ready, I remembered something I had forgotten to do before bed. Back home, Kara had lost a baby tooth right before we left. She dropped the tooth down the sink and was upset because she was didn’t think the tooth fairy would believe she lost it. I was surprised that at almost 10 years old she still believed in the tooth fairy, but clearly she did. So I assured her the tooth fairy would find us in Orlando whether or not she had physical evidence in the form of a tooth.

Fortunately for me, Kara didn’t immediately look under her pillow. Things got a little more complicated because in the middle of the night Kara got up and asked to switch beds with me. That made what I had to do a little easier. I hate trying to put money under a sleeping kid’s pillow. I’m always worried I will get caught. But this one was easy. While the kids were brushing their teeth, I grabbed $5 out of my wallet and slid it under a pillow in an empty bed.

Then I reminded Kara about her lost tooth and she was happy to discover cash under the pillow where she woke up. Things got easier still when Kara asked me to hold on to her money for her. The $5 went right back in my wallet, but don’t worry. Kara added it to her mental tally of souvenir money. And trust me, that $5 got spent.

With tooth fairy transactions out of the way, it was time for breakfast. Some say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If that’s true anywhere, it’s doubly so at a theme park. You need to be fueled up, but not overly full. Eat too little and you’ll be starving in a park that overcharges for food that is usually passable. On the other hand, a heavy breakfast will haunt you in other ways.

The best breakfast option from our last trip was the buffet at Trattoria del Porto. The food was good and there were lots of choices for everyone. But it cost $20 per person plus a tip. To that every day and you’re adding nearly $100 per night to the cost of your vacation which conveniently enough is about the price of the Club Level up-charge.

Of course the offerings at the Club are nowhere near as robust as those found at a table service restaurant. The Club Level breakfast wasn’t worth $20/plate. But it turned out to be a very affordable alternative to the sit-down buffet.

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Every day there were four hot dishes to choose from. Two of them were always the same; scrambled eggs and baked beans. Baked beans for breakfast may sound strange to Americans, but beans are a breakfast staple in some countries. Kara quickly adopted this tradition. She had a little bowl of baked beans every day.

The other two hot dishes rotated. There was always a form of meat and potatoes. Most days, the meat was sausage links which I found disappointing. It was a textural thing. The best way I can think of to describe the meat within the casing was “loose”. I’m sure others will feel differently, but none of us were fans. Other options included bacon and a pineapple glazed ham.

Breakfast potatoes (pictured above) were the most common starch. The also served has browns which were identical to what you would find at McDonald’s or your local grocery store. I liked the breakfast potatoes but the kids went crazy for the hash browns (loaded with ketchup of course).

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There were also hot and cold cereal options and several flavors of yogurt. The oatmeal had a little toppings bar which Mindy made use of. Fresh fruit was available along with a variety of breakfast pastries and muffins which changed from day to day. Josie picked out the bran muffin pcitured above thinking it was chocolate. I don’t think she’d ever even heard of bran before. Man, was she ever disappointed.

One of the good things about the Club was that if the kids picked something they didn’t like they could just go back up and get something else. Most days when we left for the parks everyone was comfortably full. Not hungry, but not over-stuffed either. The choices changed just enough that we didn’t burn out on anything after eating breakfast in the club for a week.

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Beverages included milk, juices, soda and coffee. There were also water bottles on hand. I made a point of grabbing 4-8 of these every time we left for the parks. That’s another roughly $20 in value on water alone.

Over the course of the first couple of days, I figured out that the best strategy for me was to set my backpack down on an empty table and make my coffee. Then help the kids with whatever they need; silverware, napkins, ketchup, drinks… there was always something they needed before I sat down to eat. Then load up my own plate last. The first morning I did this in reverse and ended up with a plate of fairly cold eggs.

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We finished breakfast around 9:00 just as the parks were officially opening. As on-site guests we had access to Early Park Admission, but we never made use of that perk on this trip. One of the things we like about Universal is the ability to take it easy and be spontaneous. Up until this morning, we hadn’t done much in the way of planning.

The weather forecast for the week was promising. There was some chance of rain every day, but that’s typical of central Florida. I wasn’t too worried about that. Early on, the chances of rain were pretty low and the high temperatures were in the sixties. Coming from Cincinnati where it still felt like winter, that was warm enough for shorts but we decided to hold off on the water rides until later in the week.

When I asked the kids what they wanted to do on their first day, everything they named was in the Studios park. That park was hosting the last concert of the Mardis Gras season, so we had decided to avoid it in the evening. But it would be fine to start our day there.

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Before the trip, the girls all bought sunglasses. As we waited to board our first water taxi, they posed for a picture. Mindy told them to look “tough” but they couldn’t stop grinning and laughing.

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Kara decided to put on a gun show to convey her toughness.

Simulators in the Morning
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A short boat ride later and we were headed through the arch into the park. Mindy was carrying her own passes and I had keycards for myself and the kids. As we entered the gates, I handed out passes. I gave Josie’s to Mindy and acted like I didn’t have hers. For just a second, she bought it and then we all laughed. I repeated this joke every single time we went to the parks and if you ask me it just got funnier every time. Josie didn’t seem to think so though.

One item on our to-do list was to get a birthday button for Kara. Her tenth birthday was actually the day after our trip, but we planned to celebrate it all week long. Josie tends to shy away from the spotlight, but Kara thrives on it. She was looking forward to the extra attention the birthday button would bring.

Unfortunately, there was a long line at guest services where the buttons are distributed. I was constantly amazed by the lack of preparation some people did before spending a lot of money on a Universal vacation. One of the first rules of theme park tourism is to buy your tickets in advance and yet there were always people crowded around the ticket booths waiting in long lines they could have avoided and paying top dollar for their tickets. We just sailed on by them into the park.

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As this was our third consecutive week-long trip to Universal, there weren’t all that many things we hadn’t done before. Especially in the Studios park which is where the kids tend to gravitate. Since this was also possibly our last Universal trip for a while, everyone wanted to prioritize new experiences. Sure, we would revisit our favorite attractions. But we were also going to check off any remaining boxes just in case we don’t get back to the parks.

There aren’t all that many attractions at the Studios that we haven’t experienced at least once. But one of those attractions was right there at the front of the park. Every time we had been to the Studios we walked right past the Shrek 4-D. That’s not without good reason. The Shrek attraction doesn’t come highly recommended these days and yet it always seems to have a long line. Unlike the Minions, who my kids have grown up with, Shrek just isn’t all that relevant any more.

Despite all that, we decided to give the big green ogre a try. But first, we were going to ride Minion Mayhem because the line wasn’t long at all and we figured it was only going to get worse from here.

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We have done Minion Mayhem plenty of times before. It’s a reliably fun simulator that everyone can enjoy. The pre-shows are funny enough that the jokes are still entertaining despite the fact I have heard them all several times.

Thanks to Express Pass, we were morphed into Minions in no time at all. After the completion of our training, we exited into the dance party where some Minions were waiting to meet with us. The first time we came to Universal, all Kara wanted was to hug a Minion. But now she was ready to walk past them without so much as a wave.

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Shrek 4-D was right across the street and as always it looked like it had a very long line. I explained to the girls that it was really more like a movie than a ride and that when the next show started that line would completely disappear. We were able to enter a shorter line with our Express Passes, but at the end of the day we were all going to be seated at the same time.

The attraction debuted at Universal just a couple years after the first movie was released. This was before a steady stream of increasingly ineffective sequels soured audiences on the once lovable ogre and his talking donkey sidekick. Shrek 4-D assumes that you still love all of these characters and remember the running gags from the first movie.

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It was also made at a time when you couldn’t just go to your local cineplex and buy a ticket for a 3-D movie. There are some in theater effects to enhance the experience, but the 3-D is the main selling point here and it is no longer remotely novel. The seats move around quite a bit as Shrek and Donkey go on a quest to once again save Fiona, but it falls short of being a ride. Odds are your local zoo or museum has a something similar.

Afterwards, everyone was glad we did Shrek once. I don’t imagine we will queue up for it again unless it’s an especially hot day and we’re looking to beat the heat. In just over 15 years, Shrek 4-D has become dated, but it isn’t yet obsolete. There’s still some fun to be had before Universal inevitably decides to replace it with something else.

As we exited, we saw Shrek and Donkey doing meet and greets. Mindy had never seen Donkey out before and she was interested in paying him a visit, but the kids weren’t having it. We hung out for a while and listened to Donkey prattle on. He was very funny, but the girls would not budge and Mindy wouldn’t go without them.

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One of the kids’ must-do’s for the day was to have lunch at Fast Food Blvd. Josie had been looking forward to a chicken and waffle sandwich since our last trip and Kara was craving a Krusty Burger. So I started my next running dad-joke by continually planning the day around lunch at the Classic Monsters Cafe.

We almost always end up stopping in the place to use the facilities, but we have never actually eaten there. From the reviews I have read, we’re not missing much when it comes to the food, but I do genuinely enjoy checking out the monster stuff. Mindy makes a lot of pit stops and this is usually one of them, but we didn’t make it into the Cafe this year. Definitely have to drop in next time. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll even grab a bite!

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Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to check out Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon or Fallon for short. We all like this simulator enough to ride it once, but none of us are Jimmy Fallon fans. Kara really likes the ride despite having no familiarity whatsoever with The Tonight Show in any of its many incarnations. It’s her speed.

The problem with Fallon from our perspective is that Express Pass isn’t much of a help. It gets you into the waiting room without having to schedule a return time, but once you’re there you are stuck waiting with everyone else. It’s air conditioned and there is entertainment, so that’s not such a big deal. But it’s impossible to just ride the ride. It’s always going to suck up around twenty minutes of your day.

This time around, the waiting room was almost empty. The girls grabbed a table in the lobby and I played video games I assume. I went into the theater where the Ragtime Gals were performing a set for about a half dozen people. They did a medley of songs about butts including Baby Got Back and Bootylicious. It was fun stuff.

Our color was called as soon as the performance ended which was good timing. Before the ride, guests line-up in a long hallway. This is the worst part of the whole experience. Guests charge the podium where the cards are collected and jostle for position in line. If you’re not in the right place at the right time or you’re not especially aggressive you can end up spending a fair amount of time waiting in that hallway.

I had to meet up with the girls which took a second. We never seem to end up at the front of the line, but thankfully it wasn’t busy so we didn’t have to wait too long for our chance to ride either. As soon as we queued up, there was an announcement that Hashtag the Panda was coming out. This has happened to us more than once. Somehow we always seem to miss Hashtag’s appearances.

I’m not sure why the kids want to see Hashtag. They don’t know him from any of the other characters in the park. Josie is a huge Simpsons fan, but she has no interest in meeting those characters. But Hashtag for some reason they want to visit Hashtag. Go figure.

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The ride was the ride. There are “jokes” but I don’t think any of them are remotely funny. Even so, it’s sort of fun. We can all ride together and the kids like it. Naturally the ride exits into the gift shop where the kids clowned around trying on hats. I can’t imagine anyone being such a big fan of The Tonight Show or the ride that they would want to buy a Jimmy Fallon souvenir, but those people must be out there because they sure have a lot of merchandise.

Next: Lunch at the Monsters Cafe Springfield and Animal Actors
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Lebeau Family Trip Report 2019: Universal Orlando Resort – Part 3
We were just hours into our first day at Universal and we had already experience one new-to-us attraction. After a trio of simulators, we were starting to think about lunch. The kids wanted Fast Food Blvd so we started heading over to Springfield. But we made some stops along the way.
Because You’re Not on Vacation Until You Meet Doc Brown
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First we ran into the Secret Life of Pets float. We have never stopped an watched the Superstar Parade, but we have seen all of the floats many times. Throughout the day, the floats will come out individually surrounded by characters who do meet and greets. You can see the entire parade in pieces throughout the course of your day and interact with the characters and performers.

Since all the characters in Secret Life of Pets are animals on the non-anthropomorphic variety, there are no walk-around characters to accompany this float. All the dogs, cats and bunnies are animatronics. So instead of meeting Max and Duke, guests get to hang out with some street performers. The kids weren’t real sure they wanted to get involved, so I didn’t give them a choice.
“We were waiting for you!” one of the performers announced when I gave the girls a gentle push forward. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting the kids into. I thought they were just going to take a quick picture in front of the float but first the performers had them run through a couple of dance moves.

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Mindy can dance. Kara gets her rhythm from Mindy which is good for her. Unfortunately for Josie, she takes after my side of the family. We are frighteningly uncoordinated. Kara also enjoys the spotlight, so this was really up her alley. Josie played along because she wanted me to buy her a chicken and waffle sandwich.

After busting a couple of moves, we continued on our way to Springfield for lunch. As we crossed the bridge, we saw a familiar face.

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We have run into Doc Brown at this same location on the first day of our trip three consecutive years now. The first two times were exactly one year apart. This year, the coincidence was a little less impressive since it was Spring Break instead of the end of May. Every time we have seen him, Doc was wandering around by himself.

Apparently I hammed it up quite a bit. Mindy and the girls are still making fun of the fuss I made over Doc. I outstretched my arms as though I couldn’t believe what was happening and called out to Doc Brown as we approached. To hear the girls tell it, I was pretty over-the-top. I told Doc that he may not remember, but that we had met him in this spot several years in a row and made plans to meet up with him again this year.

“And here I am!” he said. We chitchatted a bit. He talked to both the girls. Josie opted to take our picture rather than pose with us. Doc suggested we do a “thumbs up for science.” Then he congratulated Kara on her excellent work and Josie for being our director. Before parting we agreed to meet him here again next year although I’m not sure we’ll be coming back that soon. Whenever we return, I’ll be looking for Doc.

“See you in the future!” he said as we walked away.

Lunch in Springfield
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As we approached Fast Food Blvd, Kara asked if we could eat in Moe’s Bar. It was just before noon, so I didn’t make any promises. The Simpsons food court can be a chaotic mess during lunchtime, but fortunately the place was surprisingly empty. Going into the week, we were concerned about Spring Break crowds. Looking around Moe’s it was obvious that for whatever reason the crowds hadn’t shown up today.

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Josie wanted a chicken and waffle sandwich from Cletus’ Chicken Shack. Kara wanted a Krusty Burger. We had to order from two separate lines, so we split up. While Mindy and Kara were ordering at Krusty Burger, Mindy asked me to order her a grilled chicken sandwich.
For most of the vacation, we would grab bottles of water from the Portofino Club, but I hadn’t done that today. Lacking drinks, the kids ordered the “combo” instead of the “platter”. The combo comes with a milkshake but you can substitute a soft drink if you prefer. Of course milkshakes cost more so the “combo” pricing kind of encourages that purchase.

At the far end of the food court is the line for Moe’s. Even at the peak times, this line usually isn’t very long. They had a tray out with cups of ice water already poured out which was very convenient. Since I wasn’t eating, I took all the trays to a table, got all the napkins and condiments and four cups of ice water while everyone else got settled.

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The kids were very pleased with their food as you can surmise from Kara’s thumbs up. Although I didn’t order anything, I didn’t go hungry either. The kids tell me it makes them sad when I don’t order anything for myself, but the meals are huge and they never actually finish what they ordered. I can easily fill up on their leftovers which is what I did here. Those expensive milkshakes were largely untouched which helped motivate me to always grab extra bottles of water going forward.

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When we were done eating, the girls wanted to try out the love tester. We had walked past the the thing several times without realizing it actually did anything. Turns out, it wasn’t working right. Everyone who tried got the same result; lovelorn.

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The plan was to double back to KidZone to see the Animal Actors show. We had a little time to kill so the girls took a restroom break. I used the time to snap a few pictures. Everyone gets a picture with the DeLorean from Back to the Future, so I decided to snap a shot of the train from the third movie. It’s not nearly so iconic as the time traveling car, but it’s still kind of cool.

Not-so-secret Life of Pets


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Considering the kids’ love of animals, it’s kind of a mystery how we have gone so long without seeing the Animal Actors show. Up until recently, we have not made a point of including shows in our schedule. We just never bothered looking to see when they started.
Although we had passed the banners outside the show numerous times, I don’t think Mindy or the girls ever realized that there was a show that went with the cute pictures. When I told them Animal Actors existed, it became a very high priority for everyone.

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Thanks to Express Pass we got seated right away, but it didn’t really matter. The seats didn’t start to fill up until right before showtime. The premise is pretty simple. A trainer brings out a bunch of cute animals who perform various tricks.

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The cast of critters includes several dogs of course. There are also some cats, a pig and an otter. Some of the most impressive tricks were performed by birds who would swoop over the audience or land on volunteers.

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A couple of kids get in on the act. One gets a big kiss from a St. Bernard. There are lots of jokes as the animals misbehave. The girls didn’t realize a lot of the acting out was scripted. But there were a few times when the show really did not go as planned.

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The girls absolutely loved the show. No surprise there. It’s a funny show with cute animals. It really couldn’t have been more tailored to Josie and Kara’s tastes. Afterwards, the audience can come down and meet some of the stars. Naturally the girls didn’t pass up the opportunity to pet a dog.

Splitting Up in Springfield

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After the show, Josie wanted to ride The Simpsons Ride. Sideshow Bob was doing meets nearby and there was no line whatsoever. I tried to get the girls to take a picture but they refused. I wasn’t going to push the issue. Bob is a bad guy so he’s kind of scary. He’s also insanely tall. But one of my goals for this trip was to see more of the characters so I visited Bob by myself.

Kara almost came with me by accident. She was feeling brave about riding The Simpsons and thought that’s where I was going. When she realized I was going to meet Sideshow Bob, she immediately turned around. I told Bob’s handler that my kids abandoned me because they were afraid Bob might try to murder them. Everyone agreed that was likely. Then we posed like we were plotting revenge.

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While I was posing with Sideshow Bob, Kara changed her mind about riding The Simpsons. Josie and I rode it by ourselves while Mindy and Kara walked ahead to Men in Black. They decided to get in some target practice before we joined them.
Josie is a huge Simpsons fan. She watches the show just about every night and has for years. When she goes to sleepovers at friends’ houses, she watches The Simpsons on her iPad before going to sleep. The ride captures the show’s sense of humor perfectly so it’s not surprising that Josie loves it. Unfortunately the motion simulator is more than Mindy can handle so we almost always split up in Springfield.

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When we were done riding, we headed towards Men in Black. We ducked into the little Coke store so I could show Josie the animatronic alien inside. Mindy and Kara caught up with us there.

That’s when the kids noticed the stations where you could type your name and have it featured on a bottle of Coke. Josie kept trying to sneak in the kinds of dirty words that entertain little kids. She’s rediscovered the comedy potential of the word “poopy” recently and was very disappointed when the word was blocked.

There were actually some people waiting to use the device so when I realized Josie was still trying to find a variation of “poopy” the machine would accept, I made her move on. She typed in her real name quickly and gave Kara a turn. Kara was happy enough seeing he name without trying to sneak in a poop joke.

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Men in Black is a family favorite. It’s one of the few attractions everyone enjoys riding without hesitation. Mindy’s pretty competitive. She always plays to win. Neither of us got the bonus points this time (the guy sitting next to me hit the button at the right time), but she still beat me on points. I’m going to chalk that one up to her practice round while Josie and I were riding the Simpsons.

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The little girl who was sitting behind Josie looked to be around seven years old. She rode completely unaccompanied. I kept an eye out for adult supervision and never saw them. I’m sure someone somewhere was watching over this kid, but we were a little worried all the same.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Checking Out the Annual Passholder Lounge

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Usually we would head back to the hotel for a break in the afternoon. But the crowds were light and the weather was less punishing than we were used to in the summertime. Those factors combined with the fact that it was our first day in the parks lead to us sticking around through the afternoon which is not something we usually do.

Even so, we were ready to get off our feet. While it wasn’t as hot as it was last June, the kids were ready for some cold drinks. Kara really wanted a slushy. I had shown the kids pictures and videos of the new Annual Passholder Lounge and they wanted to check it out.

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The big attraction here was the Arctic Coke machine which allows guests to buy a Coke and freeze it into a slushy. As soon as we entered the Lounge, the kids were picking out drinks. Josie got a Powerade and Kara coke a regular Coke. They were freezing them before I even knew what was going on. The girl at the register was looking around to make sure someone was going to pay for the drinks, so I whipped out my wallet.

The end results were a little disappointing. Josie’s drink didn’t freeze at all. Maybe she didn’t follow directions correctly. The process is a bit complicated. It involves turning the bottle upside down and I don’t know what else because the kids jumped into making the drinks without my help. Kara’s turned out better which may be because she followed directions better or may be because the machine handles carbonated drinks better than sports drinks. I don’t really know.

Initially, Kara’s Coke had a few ice crystals. The girl at the register said it would continue to freeze up after we had opened it and that was initially true. At one point, the Coke was about half frozen. I know this because Kara lost interest in it pretty quickly when it didn’t immediately turn into the perfect slushy she had envisioned. The ice crystals disappeared pretty quickly reverting the Coke into a normal cold drink within about 15 minutes.

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The lounge itself was nice. I plugged my phone and Josie’s into charging ports while we were there. There were free granola bars and samples of flavored Diet Coke available. The girl who poured the Diet Coke samples bonded with Josie over her Panic at the Disco T-shirt.
What the girls enjoyed the most were chalkboards posted with various questions like “What is your favorite ride?” and “Where is your favorite photo opportunity?” They enjoyed leaving their answers written in chalk for posterity. Josie may or may not have written “poop” on one or more of the chalkboards. Okay, she definitely did.

Although the Arctic Coke machine was a disappointment, I liked the lounge overall. It’s a nice place for passholders to unwind a bit. In retrospect, we probably would have been better off going to the American Express lounge instead. The have complimentary bottled water there instead of shelling out $3 or $4 for a semi-frozen soft drink. Oh well. Either way we got the midday break we needed.

Next: Marilyn, the Mummy, ET and donuts
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
I'm in! (well after I wrote this I went straight to your blog since it's quiet around here today) Read all that's up.... and now I'm impatiently waiting.
 
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lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Our first day in the parks was going so well that we decided not to take our usual afternoon break. The crowds were lighter than we anticipated and the weather was warm, but far from the oppressive heat we were used to in the early summer months. Rain was expected later in the evening, so we decided after a quick stop in the Annual Passholder Lounge to keep on going through dinner.

Mummies, Make-up and Marilyn

Kara really wanted to go see the Horror Make-Up Show again. Everyone enjoyed it last year when we saw it for the first time. Josie and I saw it twice during that trip whereas Mindy and Kara had only seen it once. While Josie liked the show enough to watch it twice in one trip, she didn’t feel like watching it again this year. So we split up again.

We decided to go ride Revenge of the Mummy while Mindy and Kara went to thes how. Then we would meet up again in the Spongebob Store where Josie wanted to do some shopping. As we were going our separate ways, I spotted a meet and greet I wanted to do quickly.

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Marilyn Monroe was high on my list of meets this year because she is one of the few characters we had never interacted with before. The kids tend to resist meeting characters even when there is no line but I decided this year to check a few boxes if the wait wasn’t too long. And Marilyn was one of them.

Josie refused to get in the picture with me but she was willing to serve as our photographer. She doesn’t know the first thing about Marilyn Monroe, so she couldn’t appreciate the spot-on Monroe impression. Marilyn commented on my unkempt hair asking how I got my curls. When I said they were natural she told me I was a lucky boy and that she spent hours with her hairdresser. I said I could tell and she laughed uncomfortably. “I hope that’s a compliment,” she said. I assured her that she looked like a movie star and we parted ways.

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Revenge of the Mummy is one of my favorite attractions in Orlando. It hits just the right mix of thrills and special effects without shaking you up too badly. Josie has run hot and cold on the ride. The first year we rode it, she loved it. The next year it didn’t live up to her expectations. This year, she enjoyed it again but it doesn’t seem like one of her favorites. She’ll ride it with me, but I don’t think she would ask to go on it.

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We got to Spongebob Storepants before Mindy and Kara did, so we spent some time looking around. Josie did her best impression of Spongebob’s perpetually annoyed neighbor, Squidward Tentacles, next to the replica of his house. She spent a lot of time in the store last year which may be why she finished shopping pretty quickly. By the time Mindy and Kara arrived, Josie had already decided to spend her souvenir money elsewhere.

Josie walked her sister around the store showing her what she considered to be the highlights. We spent some time looking at the products with names on them, but we can never find anything with the names Josie or Kara. Lots of Joses, Joeys, and Caras but never the names we are looking for.

Nearby the Trolls were doing meet and greets including Guy Diamond, the troll who farts glitter. Prior to the trip, the girls were very psyched to see Guy do his stuff. But we had missed his entrance and he wouldn’t fart again until the end of his set. They didn’t want to wait around for that and the line was deemed “too long”. I would guess it was no longer than 10 minutes, but the girls don’t wait in lines if they can avoid it.

E.T. Needs Our Help

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We decided to end our first day in the parks with a ride on E.T. Adventure. Previously, the girls were very underwhelmed with this ride. Kara and Mindy refused to ride it last year and Josie only rode it to humor me. But their interest was renewed when I told the girls about the practice of making up fake names for E.T. to say at the end of the ride.

While we waited to be admitted to the preshow the girls giggled over ideas for silly names to give the attendant at the entrance. I decided to be Homer so Mindy settled on Marge. The girls went with Maggie and Lisa to complete the Simpsons theme. Then everyone decided they had to go before me because once I said my name was Homer, the attendant would likely figure out the joke.

Sure enough, I was the last to give my fake name and I couldn’t do it with a straight face. Coming after Maggie, Lisa and Marge, I chuckled midway through Homer. The girl who handed me my Intergalactic Passport fought hard not to roll her eyes but I don’t think she was entirely successful. Oh well. It was worth it to hear E.T. say “Goodbye Ho-Mer” at the end of the ride.

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I have always found E.T. to be a charming if flawed dark ride. I will put it up against Peter Pan’s Flight at Walt Disney World any day. Midway through the ride, Mindy turned to me and asked “Why didn’t I like this again?” I think it’s just a matter of expectations. Once everyone knew what they were in for, they were able to sit back and enjoy riding flying bikes through air conditioned weirdness.

There was one thing that distracted me a bit this time around. Shortly before we left, a boy was injured on E.T. when his foot dangled over the side of the ride. Now that I was sitting on the bike, I could see how the injury happened. Kara and Mindy were sitting in the middle bikes so they weren’t in any danger. But Josie was on the end and theoretically her legs were long enough that she could get hurt. So I kept an eye on the placement of her feet.

As we approached the end of the ride, I leaned over to Mindy and told her to have Josie put her feet on the pedals. I didn’t want to say why because I didn’t want to worry her. I needn’t have bothered. Post-incident they had changed the unload procedures for the ride. The attendants weren’t taking any chances. They stopped the ride vehicles just before landing to make sure everyone had their feet out of the danger zone. I have to imagine Universal will implement a more permanent fix in the future.

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After helping E.T. save his planet, we stopped into the gift shop to take advantage of the photo opportunities. Josie didn’t want to do the bike picture again, but Kara did. Then we posed for a family photo with E.T. in the toy closet. Mindy really liked this one. Every time I post a trip report I get in trouble because of pictures she considers unflattering, but she liked this one enough to get a print of it.

This is probably as good of a time as any to comment on our photo package. The packages are offered by a third party, Amazing Pictures. In a previous report, I said I didn’t feel like the packages were worth the money unless you could get a discount. Fortunately, Amazing Pictures frequently runs sales for those who plan ahead.

Last year, I bought the Mardi Gras annual passholder package which was good for one full year of pictures. We were able to use the package for two trips at a cost of $130. It also included two prints. Not a bad deal at all. You do have to know where the photo opportunities are because there aren’t as many photographers out as there are at Walt Disney World. But it’s pretty easy to get your money’s worth at that price over the course of a year’s worth of trips.

Voodoo Dounts

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As we were leaving the park, the kids wanted to stop for a snack. Kara was still in the mood for a slushy having been disappointed in the Arctic Coke she received at the Annual Passholder Lounge. The thing is, Kara always wants frozen drinks, but she rarely ever drinks them. Having spent a few bucks on semi-frozen Coke products that mostly went to waste, I wasn’t eager to buy more slushies. So I suggested a stop by Voodoo Donuts instead.

This girls agreed enthusiastically. Mindy had planned to hold out until dinner, but changed her mind when faced with the possibility of a maple bar.

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It was 4:00 in the afternoon so the line for donuts wasn’t bad at all. Mindy and Josie already knew what they wanted, but Kara wasn’t sure. Last year, I bought a baker’s dozen and Kara took a bite of just about all of them without especially liking any of them. She loved the icing on the Voodoo Doll but didn’t care for the jelly.

I told her I was pretty sure it was the same chocolate frosting on the plain old chocolate ring, but she didn’t believe me. So we agreed that if I verified the frosting was the same, she would order a simpler donut instead of licking the frosting off a jelly-filled Voodoo Doll.

As it turns out, the day after I ordered our donuts last year, Voodoo Donuts introduced the Creamsicle Donut which was unique to the Orlando location. Kara loves Creamsicles – or so she says. We have an uneaten box in our freezer as I type this. The point being, she wanted to try the Creamsicle Donut but I was fairly certain she wouldn’t finish it.

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We ended up with a box of dounts that included Josie’s Voodoo Doll, a Maple Bar and Oh Captain, My Captain for Mindy and Kara’s Creamsicle and a Chocolate Ring. I also ordered two seasonal donuts for everyone to try; the Mardis Gras themed Beignet Donut and a spring donut that looked like an Easter egg.

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The Beignet Donut was covered in powdered sugar with purple green and yellow sprinkles on one half. It was filled with something called Bavarian hickory which was a coffee-flavored cream. It was less dense than I am used to for a cream-filled donut. Frankly, it was a bit weird but Josie and I liked it.

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The Spring Donut was filled with a strawberry-marshmallow cream that was very sweet an gooey. You definitely got the marshmallow flavor. There was also an artificial strawberry aftertaste. I was glad we tried these specialty donuts once, but I don’t think I would order either of them again. Next time I am back to the tried and true Memphis Mafia.

The girls gave Mindy a hard time over how she ordered her Captain Crunch donut. She was quite dramatic about the Oh Captain My Captain. Josie hasn’t seen Dead Poet’s Society, but apparently she has seen the clip at the end where Robin Williams students stand on their desks and use the phrase as a show of solidarity. They compared Mindy’s order with that scene. Also, she apparently had one to many “captains” in the name.

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We took the donuts back to the Portofino Club where we could eat them with complimentary milk. The club was in between serving afternoon snacks and dinner, but we were pretty sure milk would be available with the other beverages. Fortunately it was offered all day long because we needed something to wash down the sweet snacks.

Josie did not share her Voodoo Doll with anyone. That thing was gone in a matter of seconds. The rest of the donuts were more or less communal. Mindy was pleased with both of her choices although she said the cereal was a bit stale. Kara quickly abandoned the Creamsicle after picking off all the decorations which was exactly what I expected would happen.

We ended up tossing the equivalent of two donuts in the trash, but everyone was happy with what they got to sample. With the annual passholder discount, it came to around $16 which I thought was a decent price for a theme park snack for a family of four.

Back at Portofino Bay

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By the time we finished, it had started raining lightly. If we had wanted to, we could have gone back to the parks. The rain wasn’t bad at all, but we were ready to settle in for the night. The Studios was hosting the last of the Mardis Gras concerts for the year and the performer was unfamiliar to us. We decided we’d rather avoid the crowds. Islands of Adventure could wait until tomorrow.

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The kids wanted to go to the hotel’s arcade. I do not enjoy these places. It just feels like wasted money to me. The kids love it, but I think they have a better time when I’m not around. A long time ago, Mindy starting taking them to the arcade without me. It started as a running gag that the girls would say they were going for “a walk” and I wasn’t allowed to know where they were going.

Then Kara slipped up and said something about going to the arcade. I feigned shock. “You’re going to an arcade?” They quickly covered the slip-up by saying they were going to “our cave”. At no point did anyone actually think they were fooling anybody, but for whatever reason the kids get a trick out of telling me outrageous lies.

Over time, the story of Our Cave has gotten progressively more ridiculous. I will act like I am suspicious and start asking questions about where they are going and they will laugh at the absurd answers they come up with. I couldn’t possibly remember the full back story of the arcade at this point, but I know there is a bear in the cave named Jocelyna who awards them the prizes they sometimes bring back to the room.

I actually walked to the arcade with them this time just in case Mindy needed access to the credit card. She had left hers back in the room. Once they were all set up, I went back to the room and hooked up the Amazon Firestick to the TV. We were going to be staying in for the rest of the night and didn’t want to rely on the hotel’s TV line-up.

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When we were ready for dinner, we went back to the Portofino Club. They were serving barbecue chicken, roasted cauliflower and mac and cheese. There were also various salads, rolls, etc. I decided to scoop a little potato salad on my plate as well.

The food was good. In fact, every night we ate at the club, the entrees were better than expected. Some of them were downright delicious. Everything on my plate was good although I am not a huge fan of mac and cheese. I find it bland after the first couple of bites. So I spiced it up with a little Tabasco sauce.

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Instead of little ketchup packets or a dispenser, the restaurants at Portofino Bay have tiny little condiments. The kids were amazed by the single-serving bottle of hot sauce. It was smaller than Josie’s little finger.

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Later that night, we went back to the club for dessert. The sweet treats offered that night included red velvet cake, key lime tarts and a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips. The girls preferred the traditional chocolate chip cookie to this one, but both cookies were good. The red velvet cake was Mindy’s favorite dessert of the trip whereas the key lime tart was probably my favorite.

I say probably because all of the desserts at the club were good. There wasn’t a bad sweet in the bunch. But it’s hard to beat key lime when you’re in Florida.

After having enjoyed breakfast, dinner and dessert at the club, any reservations I had about the Club Level upgrade disappeared. This won’t be for everyone, but for a family of four that spends a lot of time at the hotel, Club Level can be quite a good deal.

Next: Islands of Adventure
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That pinkie is very curved! I love little condiments!

It's funny you mention that. It's a family trait on Mindy's side of the family. Mindy's are even more curved and her grandfather (whom Mindy loved dearly) had very crooked pinkies. The first thing Mindy asked about when Josie was born was whether or not she had curved pinkie fingers.
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
It's funny you mention that. It's a family trait on Mindy's side of the family. Mindy's are even more curved and her grandfather (whom Mindy loved dearly) had very crooked pinkies. The first thing Mindy asked about when Josie was born was whether or not she had curved pinkie fingers.

That's an interesting trait! I thought maybe it was broken and not reset properly at some point!
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That's an interesting trait! I thought maybe it was broken and not reset properly at some point!

You should have seen Pepe's finger! It was at an angle! I can see where you would think it was broken, but it's genetic. And both pinkies look that way.

following along again..

never stayed at portofino bay..may have to check it out..

monster make up show is kinda neat -O
moes tavern is always a hoot

Welcome aboard again.

We really like Portofino Bay. It just has the right combination of amenities and theme for us. All the deluxe hotels are great, but of the two we have stayed at so far, Portofino is our favorite. We may have to give Hard Rock a try next time. We came really close this year, but everyone enjoyed PB so much last year we wanted to go back.

Couldn't agree more about the Monster Make-Up Show and Moe's. Great stuff.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
funny but i have never heard my name at the end of the ET ride for some reason lol..it may be due to sensory overload from singing aliens? i dunno

I have heard my name - or at least the name I gave as my own - but I have never been able to make out all four of our names. Someone (usually multiple someones) always gets left out or is unintelligible. Sensory overload is as good of an explanation as any. ET's home world is one weird place apparently.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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The Adventure Begins

As I mentioned previously, I have always viewed this year’s trip as a continuation of last year’s summer vacation. We employed the same Annual Passes and photo package for both trips. Our previous vacation ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. Mindy really wanted to ride the Jurassic Park River Adventure. Ideally, she wanted us all to ride it as a family but the kids had reservations.

In order to motivate the girls, we bought them some big stuffed animals in exchange for boarding the boats for a dino cruise. Long story short, the kids didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Mindy was a little miffed when things didn’t work as as she hoped and for the last nine months the kids have been reminded that they still owe her a ride. With that in mind, we wanted to check off the River Adventure relatively early in the trip to avoid running out of time again.


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But first, we had to fuel up. As we did every day, we had breakfast at the Portofino Club. The menu was more or less the same with slight variations. This morning, the potato dish was a hash-brown similar to what you’d get at McDonald’s or the frozen food section of your local grocery store. The ones at the bottom had absorbed a lot of grease but the ones on top were relatively edible. The kids loved them.


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Mindy had been walking quite a bit to prepare for the trip. She was mildly obsessed with her daily step count. And by “mildly” I mean completely obsessed. Hitting her steps really wasn’t going to be an issue at Universal, but Mindy still wanted to keep up with her daily walks. So she decided that rather than riding the water taxi to the park, she was going to hoof it.

Josie was frequently Mindy’s walking buddy at home. She decided to accompany her mom on her trek. Kara was less enthusiastic about the plan. The typical park day was already more walking than she was accustomed to, so the water taxi seemed like a good idea to her. I rode the boat with Kara while Mindy and Josie hiked the trail.


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We met up at the docks and marched over to the park entrance where I once again pretended not to have Josie’s pass. This joke got funnier (for me) every time I did it. Josie was less amused which only made added fuel to the dad joke fire. While Mindy made her morning potty break, I ran into Guest Services and got Kara a birthday button. She was very excited to let everyone know she was celebrating her 10th birthday.
Make Mine Marvel


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We didn’t have much of a plan for the day beyond hitting up Jurassic Park. Josie wanted to spend some time in Cartoon Lagoon doing the photo ops. Beyond that, we were going to go where the day took us. When we reached the fork in the road at the end of Port of Entry, we made our way into Marvel Superhero Island.


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On previous trips, we spent the majority of our time on the Studios side of the parks. We have neglected Islands of Adventure a bit. Josie and I spent a little time here last year, but Kara still hadn’t experienced a lot of attractions including a couple of kid-friendly rides that were right up her alley.

With that in mind, our first stop of the day was Storm Force Accelatron (aka the X-Men themed teacups). Mindy can’t handle spinning rides, so she sat this one out.


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The ride attendant noticed Kara’s button and clarified the pronunciation of her name. Before the ride started, she made an announcement that Kara was celebrating her birthday today. It was very nice and Kara ate up the attention. There would be countless birthday wishes to follow. I would say the majority of Universal team members we interacted with made a point to wish Kara a happy birthday.

(If these pictures convey a sense of motion in the background I want to point out that is just the focus on my cell phone camera. These pictures were snapped prior to the ride starting because we follow safety rules unlike some people we encountered.)


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During our Disney World days, the girls enjoyed the teacups ride. Specifically they liked turning the wheel as fast as possible trying to make daddy dizzy. I would play up my distress while also turning the wheel to make the teacup spin. A few years later, not much has changed. They still had a blast trying to torture their dad in a spinning ride.

The girls had so much fun, they decided to ride it again. Mindy debated riding The Incredible Hulk Coaster while we took another turn on the not-teacups. I held on to her stuff so she could walk right through the metal detectors. Once she was safely through the Express Pass checkpoint, we joined Storm in the battle against Magneto or whatever is supposed to be happening during that ride.


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After two rides, we decided to give Storm Force a rest. We waited for Mindy outside of the Hulk. While we were waiting, Kara decided to try out the test seats. We didn’t have to wait long for Mindy to join us.
Her final verdict on the Hulk was similar to my own. It’s a great coaster, but maybe a bit too thrilling for us. I would consider riding it again, but neither of us is in any hurry to do so. Maybe some day when the kids are ready for seats that actually move.


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With half of the attractions in Superhero Island under our belts, we decided to take on The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. On our way, we saw a team member with a sign directing guests to the Spider-Man meet and greet. In the past, we have always visited Captain America but we hadn’t gotten around to seeing ol’ Webhead yet. So that was a priority for me.

Teaming-Up With Spidey


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There was a modest wait to see Spider-Man, but only a few minutes. I decided to take the opportunity to snap a picture of the Spider-Man facade across the way. It wasn’t a very good picture because my view was obstructed by a tree.


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Josie decided to photobomb me by jumping up in front of my camera. She was unsuccessful, so I took another picture allowing her to time her jump just right. She was pretty proud of herself.

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As expected, the Spider-Man meet and greet was worth the wait. Spidey spent a lot of time talking to everyone and cracking lots of jokes. He noticed Kara’s birthday button and directed a lot of his questions to her, but she kind of clammed up a little. She doesn’t know Marvel characters all that well and wasn’t sure how to answer Spidey when he asked her who her favorite superhero was.

He asked Kara about the creature on her shirt. “Is that a cat and a unicorn? A Unikitty?” She nodded. “That’s cool. She must be one of the X-Men, right?” When it was time to take our picture he said, “Come on over, Fantastic Four” and then he said “Cheese” all by himself when the picture was taken. “It’s okay if you’re lactose intolerant,” he quipped. “You were born that way. You didn’t have a choice.”

Afterwards, Spidey signed his name on a little card with space left for us to collect other autographs if we so desired. I imagine a lot of little superhero fans enjoy the free souvenir, but one Marvel meet and greet was all I would subject the girls too.


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The stand-by line for Spider-Man was sizable, so we were glad to have Express Pass. There was a bit of a hold-up at the facial recognition checkpoint but once that was sorted out we were able to walk right on. We were seated in the back this time, so we were barely visible in the ride photo. Kara is just an arm behind someone’s head. As always, we enjoyed swinging through the streets of New York with Spidey.

Cartoon Lagoon Antics


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We followed-up our superheroics with some cartoony photo ops. Sometimes I think the girls have more fun goofing off than they do riding rides. Cartoon Lagoon gives them lots of opportunities to interact with over-sized props.


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The girls posed as dogs in Spike’s doghouse. Mindy got in on this one using her lanyard as a leash.


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Kara hopped on Broom-Hilda’s broom for this one. The witch has crash-landed and can be heard muttering from the bushes. The girls have no idea who most of these comic strip characters are and they don’t really care. They have come to know some of them (Betty Boop and Popeye) through their experiences at Universal. Others are just funny characters to them. It really doesn’t matter.


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I grew up reading the funny pages in the 80’s. But that concept is lost on my kids. They have never had a newspaper delivered to the house much less pulled out the comics. Even having read a lot of the comic strips this land is based on, my memories are pretty vague on a lot of them. I had to Google the name of the witch for example.


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The kids did the mushroom pizza gag last year. But they posed for it again this year. Any chance to pretend to be nauseous.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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When I took this picture I thought it was a stack of coins. But looking at it closer now, it appears to be used word balloons. I guess that makes more sense. I always wondered why there was a stack of coins there.


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Josie likes the ones where she gets to look annoyed with her sister. She has mastered the teenage eye roll.
Here are a few more poses from our time in Toon Lagoon.


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Next: Jurassic Park?
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
im not familiar with the facial recognition at spidey.
how does that work?

also a big fan of the "funny papers"
the sunday ones especially, at least when that was a thing:confused:

Universal has been using facial recognition scanners with EP for at least a year now. I forget exactly when they were introduced. They don't always use them, but they have become pretty frequent.

After you scan your EP, you have to stand in front of a machine that takes your picture and compares it to the one they have on file. It will flash a light if it recognizes you and then you can proceed. Kind of like the biometric scans, they don't always work as intended and sometimes there can be delays. I don't know exactly what was happening in the Spider-Man queue because they got it sorted out quickly and the machine was working by the time we got to it, but there was temporarily a bottleneck.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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At long last, Jurassic Park!

On our way to Jurassic Park we passed Skull Island: Reign of Kong. I asked if anyone was interested in riding. They said they would if I wanted to, but no one seemed enthusiastic about the idea. The wait time was on the long side so I figured there would be a decent wait even with Express Pass. The queue is dark and narrow and the girls don’t handle that combination well so I decided to skip Kong for now.

Once we entered Jurassic Park, we headed straight for the River Adventure. There was no backing out now. With Express Pass we were able to walk on to the ride. Right onto the front row of the boat. This was worrisome because the girls didn’t want to get wet. I had experienced Jurassic Park a couple of times in the past and never gotten more than a light spray of water. But then again, I never sat in the front of the boat before either.

There wasn’t much we could do about it. I suppose we could have asked to be seated further back, but we didn’t want to be that family. So we strapped in for what we hoped would be a fun and relatively dry adventure. Josie, who has never liked dinosaurs, was immediately wary of the entire enterprise but Mindy and Kara were having fun.

As a dad, I am obligated to annoy my children as much as possible. So I kept assuring Josie that this was a gentle cruise through the sections of the park featuring vegetarian dinosaurs and that nothing could possibly go wrong. “Well, that doesn’t seem right,” I observed when the boat went off course. She was not amused. Not remotely.

The ride had just reopened after its annual refurbishment and the dinos were looking pretty good. The T-Rex at the end is always a showstopper and the final plunge did not disappoint.

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It did, however, drench us. Seconds after this picture was snapped a tidal wave of water was dropped directly on the front row. I think everyone behind us got wet too, but we were soaked.

Kara actually loved the whole thing. She would definitely ride again. Mindy enjoyed it as well, but maybe not as much as Kara. Josie didn’t hate it. At least I don’t think she did. She might say otherwise, but I think she’d ride again if everyone else wanted to.

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Of course the ride exits through a gift shop which very conveniently sells beach towels just in case you got drenched during your river adventure. On a warmer day, that wouldn’t be a problem. But it was just chilly enough that we decided to buy each of the girls a beach towel to dry off.

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Kara wanted to visit the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. We had watched a few videos on YouTube and she noticed that they had a dinosaur egg nursery. So she wanted to check that out. The girls were drawn immediately to the nursery where you can run diagnostic tests on incubated dinosaur eggs.

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Everything in the Discovery Center is twenty years old, but the effects mostly hold up. Kids can take the eggs and place them in a slot for scanning. Then they adjust dials and push buttons resulting in different reports flashing on the screen. The girls were excited when there X-rays revealed baby dinosaurs inside their eggs. I think they knew this was all fake, but from their reaction I wasn’t 100% sure.

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The whole time they were playing around with the eggs, I was keeping an eye on the incubator. I knew that sooner or later an egg would hatch. Unfortunately, I suspected it might be a while. Soon after we arrived I watched the scientists clear away broken shell from the last hatched egg, Then they put a new egg in the empty slot and waited and waited.

Eventually the egg started hatching. They made an announcement before the show started and kids came running from all over the center to watch. I make a point of letting kids get in front of me, so you’ll see the tops of heads in my video above. After the egg hatches, the scientist removes the egg and does a little demonstration with the baby dinosaur. All the kids, mine included, were eating it up.



By the time the hatching show had ended, we had spent about 20 minutes in the Discovery Center and everyone had dried off from the boat ride. The kids were starting to get hungry, so I suggested grabbing lunch at Cowfish. Mindy and the girls have never turned down an opportunity to eat at Cowfish and they weren’t about to start now. So we made our way to the front of the park.

Super-people on Parade

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As we passed through Marvel Superhero Island, they were clearing the central pathway. I knew that had to mean the superheroes were coming through on their motorcycles which I had never seen before. So I pulled over to the side to get a good look as Spidey and the X-Men rode on by (Captain America had already passed on foot.)

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The whole procession took less than five minutes. It may have taken longer to clear the street than it did for the superheroes to ride by, but I thought it was a pretty cool way for them to make their entrances and exits. The girls, who were thinking about lunch more than mutants, weren’t as impressed as I was.

Lunch at Cowfish

When we go to Universal, certain things are a given. Cowfish has been a family favorite since we “discovered” it a couple of years ago. Leading up to a trip, all three of the girls will rank Cowfish highly as one of their must-dos. Since I knew we were going to eat there eventually, I figured why not get it in early.

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It was just a little after noon and we were seated immediately. Considering it was lunchtime, the place was pretty empty. I don’t suppose a lot of people leave the parks for lunch, but they don’t know what they are missing out on.

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Every time we have ever eaten at Cowfish, Mindy has ordered the same thing, the All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburgooshi. She likes it so much she has never been tempted by anything else on the restaurant’s large and eclectic menu. The burgooshi did not disappoint. I am sure we will be back in the future and Mindy will order this dish again.

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The kids always order the Bento Boxes. Technically Josie is too old to qualify for the kids’ menu, but no one has ever raised a fuss over it. The customizable kids’ meal lets kids choose from several picky-eater-friendly options. Josie always gets mac and cheese, fries and edamame. It comes with “dessert sushi” (a crisp rice treat with a Swedish fish on top).

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The Bento Box also includes a temporary tattoo which the kids always apply at the table. It’s funny the little things that get them excited.

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I wanted to try something new but I wasn’t feeling quite brave enough to sample real sushi. So I ordered the Taste Explosion Roll which our waitress confirmed was her favorite thing on the menu.

It’s very similar to Mindy’s Cheeseburgooshi in that it contains angus beef and applewood bacon. But rather than the flavor profile of a Big Mac, the Taste Explosion Roll has a little kick thanks to jalapeños and spicy mayo. The heat is tempered by a cashew cilantro pesto, pepperjack cheese and a Roma tomato. All in all, it was very flavorful.

We were all happy with our lunch choices which were filling without weighing us down. The prices are reasonable for a sit-down restaurant especially when you factor in our Annual Passholder discount. Unfortunately for me, I somehow left my pass behind when I used it for the discount. I’m not sure if our waitress forgot to give it to me or I just didn’t take it out when she returned the bill. Either way, I walked out of there without it making this the second trip in a row in which I lost my pass.

Pool Time at Portofino

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One of the deciding factors in our choice of hotels was the pool. Of all the hotel pools we have enjoyed in Orlando, the Beach Pool at Portofino Bay was our favorite. We spent quite a lot of time there during our trip last year and expected to do the same this time. However, it turns out it was significantly colder in April than it was last June.

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If I remember correctly it was somewhere in the mid-sixties that day which wasn’t freezing. But once you had been in the pool, you definitely felt a chill when you got out in the open air. The kids wanted to do the waterslide, but once each was all Mindy and I could handle. Kara went down the slide a couple of times by herself or with Josie.

On the upside, we had the pool almost entirely too ourselves.

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Eventually we ended up in the hot tub which was plenty warm and relaxing. But once you had adjusted to that temperature, there was no going back to the regular pool.

The girls could have spent more time there than we did, but the weather was supposed to warm up as the week went on so we promised to bring them back.

Next: Suess Landing and Hogsmeade
 
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lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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After a dip in the hotel pool, we were ready to return to Islands of Adventure. The kids wanted to spend some time in Seuss Landing and we were hoping to take in the projection show on Hogwart’s Castle. Our opportunities to do so would be somewhat limited due to other plans we had made. But before we could go back to the park, there was some business to attend to.


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Ooops!, I Did It Again…

Whenever we left the room, I would quickly account for all 4 passes and room keys. Only this time, there were only three passes. Mine was missing. I realized I must have left it at Cowfish when I used it for a discount at lunch. It was a good thing I noticed. I would have to get it replaced before we went to the park.

We were going to get dinner at the Portofino Club so I planned to stop at the Vacation Planning desk right outside. The girls went inside to start eating. Every time we passed the desk, there were people standing there buying tickets, adding options or just asking a bunch of questions. I was frequently surprised by the lack of planning. The people standing in front of me didn’t seem to be aware that Universal included multiple parks.

Eventually, I got tired of waiting on this family to complete their transaction so I went into the club and gulped down dinner. The entree was jerk chicken which was tasty, but I was too distracted to take a picture. Josie took a photo of her plate instead.


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Two rolls and some coconut rice. This is fairly typical of how Josie eats. Lots of white food and starches. The girls aren’t the most adventurous eaters, so they didn’t exactly fill up on the Caribbean-inspired dishes but there was enough that they didn’t leave hungry either.

After a quick plate of food, I went back out to the desk where they were able to replace my pass without much of a fuss.


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Once again we split up with Kara and I taking the water taxi to the park and Mindy and Josie walking the trail.


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There is often a line at Voodoo Donuts both to get into the place and to sit on the donut throne outside. The kids always want to get a picture, but they never want to wait for the opportunity to do so. There was no one on the throne when we arrived in CityWalk, so we stopped for a sweet photo op.

Seuss Landing


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The projection show was scheduled to start “at dusk”. We weren’t sure exactly what that meant but the sun was starting to set so we figured we should make our way towards Hogsmeade if we wanted to check it out. The kids also wanted to spend some time in Seuss Landing. The rides in this land are pretty simple, but the girls like them. And you can’t beat the colorful environment.


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We lined up for the Cat in the Hat dark ride. When the ride attendant saw Kara’s birthday button he made an extremely elaborate announcement singing a very Seussian birthday song. I don’t remember any of the words but it was jam packed with rhyming nonsense. Kara ate it up because she loves that sort of thing. Josie would have been mortified.

Everyone enjoyed the Cat in the Hat. It’s a modest attraction, but it’s grown on me over multiple visits. I wouldn’t mind if Universal added more dark rides like this one and E.T.

The Crowded World of Harry Potter


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We marched through the Lost Continent to the entrance to Hogsmeade. It was immediately obvious that this was where the Spring Break crowds were hanging out. The place was packed!

In the past, we have spent a lot of time hanging out in the Harry Potter-themed lands. This year, the Wizarding World was constantly crowded so we ended up spending more time in the parts of the parks we had previously neglected. That suited us just fine.


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Our primary objective for our visit to Hogsmeade was to check out the Flight of the Hippogriff. Last year, Josie and I had ridden in without Mindy and Kara. It was a bit short and tame for Josie, but we thought it would be right up Kara’s alley. As expected, the mild thrills were perfect for our timid rider. The twists, turns and drops were just the right size for her. Kara loved it and the rest of us enjoyed experiencing the ride with her.


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Another goal for the trip was to have Kara be chosen for the wand show at Olivander’s. Josie, who hates that sort of thing, was chosen on our very first visit to Universal and Kara has been wanting to participate in the show ever since. We explained to her that there was no guarantee of being chosen, but we hoped that her birthday button would increase her chances.

Alas, she was not picked this time around. It’s a relatively short show and entertaining enough that we don’t mind repeat viewings. We told Kara we’d keep trying as often as she wanted.


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My recollection was that the projection show generally started at 8:00 when we visited last summer. If that had been the case, we figured we had just enough time to watch the show and hightail it back to the hotel before they stopped serving desserts at the club. It would be close, but we thought we could make it.

I verified with a team member what time “dusk” was considered to be. It seems the show starts a little later in April than it does in June which makes sense I guess. With an 8:20 start, there was no way we would make it back to the club by 9:00. I asked the girls whether they wanted to see the show or get back in time for desserts at the club. To my surprised, they were more interested in the desserts. Perhaps I should have seen that coming.

Retreating to Desserts


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With that decided, we turned around and started heading back to the front gate. We had enough time that we could stop and enjoy our surroundings on the way out.

On the boat ride home, I speculated as to what desserts might be offered. It seemed to me that we hadn’t had a cheesecake yet. I figured that had to be on the rotation. And I knew from watching YouTube videos that one of the desserts was a cannoli, so I thought there was a pretty good shot tonight would be the night.


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Turns out I was right on both counts. The kids had watched the YouTube video with the cannoli and they were looking forward to trying it out, so I’m glad we didn’t miss it. Josie really liked the cream-filled dessert, but it wasn’t one of Kara’s favorite. The cheesecake was strawberry. It was all delicious.

Next: A little rain never hurt anyone
 

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