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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

 

[lebeau]

A Walk to the Park

At some point in the afternoon, I had to pick up bracelets for the parade at Universal Studios. The pick-ups didn’t start until 11:00 so we weren’t in any particular hurry. The day started, as all days did, at the Portofino Club for breakfast.

This was probably Josie’s favorite breakfast plate of the trip. No one in our family cared for the sausage links served at the club, but the bacon was crisp and tasty. The girls preferred the hash browns to the breakfast potatoes and double chocolate chip was Josie’s favorite muffin. So this was a home run for her.

It was a bit cool out with a good chance of showers. We were basically winging it. Our only objective was to secure our parade bracelets during the window they were available.

Mindy and Josie wanted to continue their daily habit of walking to the parks instead of taking the water taxi. Kara reluctantly agreed to try it out partially to make her mom happy but also to see the butterfly garden along the trail.

The walking path is beautifully landscaped. As much as I enjoy the laid back boat ride to and from Portofino Bay, it’s worth checking out the trail at least once.

You’re bound to do a lot of walking at Universal whether you take the water taxis or not, so I am not exactly clamoring to get in additional steps. But the walking path is a very relaxing, enjoyable way to start the day.

The Serious Business of Souvenirs

As far as the kids are concerned, nothing is more important on vacation than picking the right souvenirs. Both girls have spring birthdays and relatives made sure to send birthday money in time for them to buy themselves something nice on our trip. When Mom and Dad are paying, trinkets can be picked out on a whim. But when the kids are spending their own money, they put a lot more thought into their selections.

After a couple of days of window shopping, Josie had settled on a pair of Simpsons dolls in the Funko Pop! style. They had the entire family available in several gift shops. Josie had enough money to pick up one and a half dolls, so we kicked in a little extra so she could pick two. She decided on Homer and Marge. Her actual birthday was still a couple weeks away so I formed a plan to pick up Bart and Lisa (and maybe Maggie) later in the trip when she wasn’t around.
This put some pressure on Kara for reasons I don’t understand. Since Josie had already found something she liked, Kara felt like the clock was ticking for her to do the same.

Fun With Green Screens

Since our last trip, Universal added a fun new option to take pictures in front of green screens. Kara had really been looking forward to trying this out. Her enthusiasm comes through the pictures.

The set-up is pretty straight forward. There are two self-serve stations with four poses each. One of the poses is a passholder exclusive. The picture shows up on a screen and suggests a pose with outlines you can follow. Then it snaps a picture and moves on to the next one.

In a matter of minutes, we had cycled through all eight poses. Since we already had a photo package, we loaded them on to our account.

Staying Dry with Autobots

It started raining shortly after we arrived at the park. The rain picked up pretty quickly as we approached Transformers. This is no one’s favorite ride. Mindy and Kara typically sit it out. But since it was close, we decided to duck in and wait out the bad weather.

As I am writing this report, it’s been six weeks since our vacation ended. There is no way I would remember enough to write-up detailed reports without creating some kind of record. I accomplish this by constantly snapping pictures. I take pictures of every single attraction we experience. A lot of time, I know the picture won’t turn out at all. I am only taking it to remind myself later of what we did.

That was the purpose of these pictures in the Transformers queue. The color is off because there were sirens and alarms going off as part of the storyline. Something about bad robots. I don’t understand what is supposed to be happening in Transformers, but I don’t really care either.
I’m pretty sure Josie is telling me not to use these pictures in the trip report. Ha!

The rain had drawn a lot of people into Transformers since it is an indoor ride. With ExpressPass, our wait wasn’t very long. But the kids enjoyed checking out the dials, knobs and switches we usually walk past when we ride this one.

The ride itself was okay. It confirmed Mindy’s opinion that she should continue skipping it except as a very expensive umbrella. Given the similarities to Spider-Man, it’s amazing to me how much more we enjoy the older attraction to the newer addition.

Window Shopping in Diagon Alley

We considered running over to the Monster Make-Up Show to dodge the rain for another 20 minutes or so, but it was starting to let up. Kara’s souvenir money was burning a hole in her pocket and she wanted to check out the stuffed animal store in Diagon Alley. So we headed over that way.

Unfortunately, as was the case all week, the Harry Potter land was jam packed with guests. The girls brought their wands with them for a little spell casting, but it was just too crowded.

We stopped at one window and waited our turn to cast a spell only to have three little boys push their way to the front and monopolize the spell. They were too young to know what they were doing and their parent wasn’t interested in helping them or asking them to step aside. The girls decided it just wasn’t worth it, so we put the wands away.

We took a chance on the Olivander’s show to see if we would have better luck in Diagon Alley than we did at the one in Hogsmeade. We were towards the front of the line and there weren’t a lot of kids in our group, so I felt like Kara had a pretty decent shot of being chosen.

Before the show, a team member named Fallon chatted with us as we waited our turn. She noticed Kara’s birthday button and asked what her favorite ride was. Kara answered that it was the Jimmy Fallon ride which is how we found out the team member’s name. She pointed to her name tag and talked with Kara about the ride some more.

 

[lebeau]

Fallon said one of her favorite things about Race Through New York was Hashtag the Panda. We said we keep missing Hashtag every time we ride and that last time he came out as soon as it was our turn to ride. Fallon told us a lot of times, after Hashtag makes his appearance in the lobby he will go downstairs so we should look for him there.

We had sort of hoped that Kara’s birthday button would catch the attention of the wand master before the show, but no such luck. Another kid got chosen which Kara was fine with. She understood it’s just random luck. After the show was over, the wand master stopped Kara as we exited for a little one-on-one chat. Mindy thinks he noticed the button too late.

Given the crowds in the alleys, the stores were surprisingly empty. We spent some time window shopping, but neither of the girls found anything they wanted to spend their souvenir money on. Eventually we ended up in the Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop. The kids picked out some snacks, but we left Diagon Alley to find a less crowded place to eat them.

The outdoor seating was all wet from the rain, so we ended up in Richter Burger which was busy but still had plenty of empty tables because it’s huge. Mindy wasn’t too happy with the idea of taking a table at a restaurant we weren’t eating at, but to my mind it was all owned by Universal and we were spending plenty of money. If we wanted to sit down at an empty table to enjoy our overpriced snacks, I figured we were justified in doing so.

At Olivander’s Fallon had listed all the different forms of Butterbeer available. When she mentioned Butterbeer fudge, she got Mindy’s attention. I had read some pretty lukewarm reviews of the stuff, but I knew better than to shut Mindy down when she was excited about something. Instead, I suggested getting more than one flavor. She ended up buying the Butterbeer fudge and some chocolate peanut butter.

The Butterbeer fudge wasn’t bad, but it has a strange waxy texture. I ended up finishing it because no one else especially liked it. The peanut butter fudge was a hit though.

Josie ordered a witch hat cupcake which was a standard chocolate cupcake with a chocolate-coated ice cream cone turned upside down for decoration. Cupcakes at Universal tend to be a bit on the dry side and this one was no different in my opinion, but Josie enjoyed it.

Kara got a caramel apple because she had recently had her braces removed and she was allowed to eat them again. For ease of eating, she had the girl at the counter slice the apple which ended up taking a really long time. But in the end, it was probably worth the wait. Those things can quickly turn into a sticky mess if you don’t cut them first.

Post-snack, we made our way to the front of the park. En route, Kara caught sight of Beetlejuice hanging around outside of Mel’s Diner of all places. The Ghost With the Most never seems to settle in one location for very long. Beetlejuice was the last of my must-do meet and greets so I queued up for a picture.
For a half a second, Kara was with me. But when she saw him up close, she decided Beetlejuice was too scary and she stepped out of line. There was only one other group in front of me, so I didn’t have to wait long.

Just before Mindy snapped our picture, Beetlejuice turned around to yell at some noisy kids behind us. Then he turned to me and deadpanned “Kids today, amIright?” I have to give Beetlejuice credit. He was every bit as animated as you would expect him to be. His antics were a lot of fun to watch.

On our way out, I ran over to the Studio Audience Center to pick up the bracelets that would allow us to participate in tonight’s Mardi Gras parade. They had me sign in and gave me some very general instructions about where and when to check in when we came back. Then we headed back to the hotel room to get ready.

An Afternoon Break

We had a little time to kill before we had to check in, so I took the girls down to the pool for a while. Our previous pool break was a bit on the chilly side, but it was a little warmer today. It was still cool enough that the beach pool was sparsely populated, but we didn’t have it all to ourselves either.

One of the reasons we chose to return to Portofino Bay over checking out the Hard Rock Hotel was that Josie liked the deep end of the Beach Pool. We spend a lot of our pool time going around the ruins. From that vantage point, I saw a family of little people having fun in the shallower part of the pool.

My immediate reaction was “That guy looks an awful lot like Warwick Davis.” Then I looked away because I didn’t want to be caught staring at a family of little people trying to enjoy their vacation. And what was wrong with me thinking all little people look like Warwick Davis anyway?

Next: Laissez les bons temps rouler

 

[lebeau]

what you did there...funny

Yeah. I am easily amused.

 

[lebeau]

A Race Against Time

When I picked up the bracelets for the parade float, I had been instructed to check in at the Barney courtyard no later than 6:00. The Club started serving hot entrees at 5:00 so we figured we had just enough time to grab a quick bite before we left. I stressed that we would have to eat fast because we could lose our spot on the float if we checked in late.

The theme for dinner was Mexican and the main dish was a chicken enchilada. It was probably the tastiest meal we ate at the club. The enchiladas were going fast. If we had more time, I could have eaten more of them, but the serving dish was emptied and we didn’t have time to wait for it to be refilled.

I had to be careful how hard I pushed. Mindy gets irritable when I attempt to enforce any kind of schedule but we were operating under a deadline here. Rushing meal time was a surefire way to make her cranky. At one point, she commented that she wasn’t sure why we were going out of our way for a parade she wasn’t all that interested in. I let that one slide and hoped that the parade would be worth it.

There was some debate over whether or not we had time to wait for the water taxis. We made it to the dock around 5:20. Mindy and Josie had established that walking was faster than taking the boats, but Kara wasn’t eager to walk again having walked to the park once already.

We asked security how long they thought it would be before the next boat came around. They estimated one would be by within the next ten minutes. That would be tight, but it was doable as long as there wasn’t a long wait to get into the park.

Just then, a boat turned the corner and pulled up to the docks.

Everyone was relieved because it looked like we would make it to check-in on time. There was still the potential for a delay that would push us off schedule, but we had built in a reasonable amount of time.
A long time ago on a Disney World trip, Kara had pouted about having to sit next to me on a boat ride to or from Port Orleans. She was tired and cranky and she’s never lived it down. So Mindy took a picture of her happily sitting next to me on this boat ride.

Pre-Parade Fun

We made it to the Barney Courtyard with minutes to spare. That is not something I ever expected to say. When we arrived, Mindy and I were handed clipboards with waivers to fill out promising we wouldn’t sue Universal if any of us should fall of the parade float. We were assigned to the Insect Float which didn’t exactly thrill the bug-averse girls.

By 6:00 we were all set for the parade. But they didn’t actually need us until 6:30 so we were told we could wander for a bit. I suspect that I was given less than accurate info at the Studio Audience Center. It sure seemed like 6:30 was the actual check-in time. Later on, I found some information that seemed to confirm this. Oh well.

Kara wanted to spend some time in the KidZone anyway. Since we were already there, we decided to swing by Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster. Kara absolutely loves this kiddie coaster. The thrill level is exactly where she likes it. Josie, as you can probably tell, thinks the coaster is pretty lame but she was willing to ride it once.
After that, I took Kara through for a second-ride through. She laughs through the whole minute-long ride. It’s a very simple amusement park coaster, but we always have fun riding it.

Last year, the Curious George playground was a pleasant surprise. We spent a lot more time in Curious George than I would have guessed. This year, Kara wanted to go back. Josie agreed on the condition that she didn’t have to get her hair wet in the splash zone.

We made our way carefully past the water sprays into the Ball Factory.

Mindy likes Curious George because she can sit on a bench while I take the girls for a while. I like it because I can more or less let them run around. Unlike some of the other pay areas, it’s easy to keep an eye on your kids without having to chase them up and down chutes and ladders.

We had just enough time in the Ball Factory. Right around the time they were starting to lose interest, it was time for us to check in for the parade.

Feet Don’t Fail Me Now

Once we checked back in, things happened pretty quickly. Everyone was asked to gather in the Barney Courtyard according to their respective parade floats. One by one, our leaders (“bead captains”) led us to the backstage area.

We weren’t allowed to take any pictures backstage but honestly it wasn’t all that exciting. Aside from seeing all the parade floats lined up, most of what we saw were warehouses and production facilities.

With only thirty minutes until the parade started, Yuri, our bead captain, handed out our uniforms and loaded us onto the float. She showed us where the beads were located and the preferred techniques for throwing them to guests without causing injuries. Then a photographer came by and took pictures before the parade got underway.

Yuri was very sweet and attentive. She spent a little extra time with our family because this was our first time in the parade and we were from out of town. Most of the float riders were Orlando locals which makes sense since you have to be an annual passholder to reserve a spot. During the parade, she was constantly refilling our supply of beads.

Throwing beads to strangers turned out to be a lot more fun than I was expecting. These people really wanted their beads! You would pick someone out from the crowd and really do your best to get a strand of beads to them. I generally tried to make eye contact with someone to make sure they were ready to receive the colorful beads I was tossing.

The difficulty level varied along the parade route. Sometimes the crowd was allowed right next to the floats and other times they were more distant. When you were able to get beads to someone who really seemed to want them, it was strangely rewarding. They were just so happy!

When the parade was over, Kara immediately asked if we could do it again. We had been selected to participate on the last night of Mardi Gras, but I wasn’t sure if we would want to do it more than once. But all of us had a blast and we were looking forward to riding on another float in a couple of days.

Dessert Party at the Club

The parade ended with just enough time for us to get back to the Portofino Club for dessert. In case you hadn’t noticed, the kids really enjoyed the nightly sweet treats. Tonight saw the return of strawberry cheesecake with a delicious chocolate tart and both flavors of cookies; chocolate chip and white chocolate chip.

By the time we got to the Club, they were starting to wind down desserts. You would expect the staff to be in clean-up mode, but they noticed Kara’s birthday button and decided to do something special to end the day. They came out with a special dessert plate for her decorated with candles and confetti.

It was a very sweet (literally) gesture on the part of the club staff and a perfect way to end a very memorable night.

Next: I go solo

 

[lebeau]

Morning in Portofino

Before we went our separate ways, we all went to breakfast at the club. I had stopped taking food pictures by this point because there wasn’t a lot of variation in the breakfast offering. I typically had scrambled eggs, maybe some fruit and a muffin. Coffee was my primary concern.

Josie takes her role as my back-up photographer pretty seriously so she continued taking pictures of most of her food plates. But she’s a picky eater which is why a lot of the plates pictured are pretty sparse. Any day they had double chocolate chip muffins, Josie was happy.

We don’t have pictures of Kara’s plates, but she had baked beans every morning. Mindy ate a lot of oatmeal because she had been on a low carb diet all year and hadn’t had oatmeal in months.

During breakfast, I spotted the family we saw at the pool the day before. You know, the one where the dad resembled Warwick Davis. Once again, I did my best not to stare.

After breakfast, the girls wanted drinks from Starbucks. Afterwards, they were just going to hang out. Josie wanted to have lunch at Fast Food Blvd again. She was craving her favorite chicken and waffles sandwich. But the girls didn’t have any burning desire to get to the parks before lunch time.

I asked if anyone would mind if I visited the parks by myself. No one objected. I know them well enough to know they needed a break. They know me well enough to know I needed to keep going. We all knew that splitting up was the best way to keep everyone happy.

The point of this kind of vacation is to spend time with your family. But there are definitely advantages to flying solo. I didn’t have to worry about anyone’s preferences but my own. I could go wherever I wanted spending as much or as little time as I pleased. I decided to spend a little time exploring as I made my way to the water taxi.

We had spent quite a bit of time at the family-friendly Beach Pool, but I had never visited the Villa Pool despite its close proximity. Since I didn’t have anywhere I had to be, I dropped in and took a few pictures.

The focus of the Villa Pool is quiet relaxation. There are hammocks, a bocce ball court and cornhole bag-tosses. It definitely seems like a great place to unwind if that was your thing.

My thing was getting to the parks and experiencing some of the attractions I was less likely to do when the kids were with me.

Wandering Through the Port of Entry

At some point in the afternoon, I was going to meet the girls for lunch at Universal Studios. But I decided to start my morning off at Islands of Adventure. It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear. It was warm, but not oppressively hot.

I took my time in Port of Entry. It’s such a beautifully themed area, but we rarely take the time to enjoy it. Early in the day, we’re rushing towards the attractions and on our way out we are too tired to explore. With no pressing obligations, I stopped into some of the shops. I made a mental note that the Simpsons dolls Josie wanted were available here.

Doomed

The first stop on my tour was Marvel Superhero Island. The park was pretty busy, but rides weren’t a major priority. I planned to squeeze a few in when the wait times weren’t bad. But mostly I was just taking in the sights. As a comic book fan, there were a lot of little details for me to revel in.

Spider-Man looked busy. With Express Pass, I probably wouldn’t have waited very long to ride, but I decided to pass it up this time. Instead, I made my way back to Dr. Doom’s Fearfall. Mindy rode this one last year, but I had yet to experience it myself.

The name “Fearfall” creates certain expectations. From a distance, Dr. Doom looks like a typical freefall attraction. But it’s not. Rides like Tower of Terror generate thrills with fast drops that hit you in the pit of your stomach, Dr. Doom does the opposite. It shoots riders quickly into the air and then lowers them down gently.

It’s a pretty weird inversion of a theme park standard, but I enjoyed it. It was strangely relaxing for a thrill ride. When it was over, I texted Josie to tell her that it wasn’t scary at all. She texted back that she still wasn’t riding it despite the fact her mom really wanted her to.

The ride exits into the Villains Arcade which my kids would love. Guests walk past Dr. Doom’s throne where he used to do meet and greets. Apparently, this location was too inefficient and Dr. Doom started meeting guests out on the street with all the other heroes and villains. It’s a shame they can’t open the gate and let guests experience sitting in the Latverian throne. It’s more plush than I would have expected.

The arcade is themed like a hideout for the Marvel baddies. It’s pretty standard for a Universal arcade with banners depicting some of Marvel’s most memorable villains. I think the kids might give Dr. Doom’s Fearfall a try if they knew it emptied into this place.

Hammer Time

Some people are critical of Marvel Superhero Island because it isn’t as immersive as the Harry Potter lands. Instead of creating a realistic version of a New York populated by superheroes, the land is inspired by comic book art. That meant a lot of two-dimensional cardboard cutouts which makes a certain kind of sense if you are thinking in terms of sequential art.

Twenty years after the opening of Islands of Adventure, the bar has been raised on theme park immersion. I suspect if a Marvel-themed land was being designed today, it would be a lot less cartoony and more inspired by the cinematic designs. But the current land is very reflective of the way Marvel comics were viewed in the 1990’s.

here is still a surprising amount of detail if you take the time to look for it. One thing I had missed on previous trips was Thor’s hammer sticking in the window of Captain America’s Diner. You can see it from the outside looking in.

Inside the restaurant, you can see Mjolnir as a giant 3-D prop lined right across from the cut-out of Thor who has hurled it through the window. Pretty cool, right?

I have yet to eat at the Captain America Diner. Reviews tell me there are better places to have a meal insider the parks. But I do enjoy the wall-to-wall Avengers.

 

[lebeau]

Scouting Toon Lagoon

Most of my time in Toon Lagoon is spent following the kids as they race from one photo op to the next. Since I was on my own, I was able to slow down a bit and take in the sights.

The transition from comic books to comic strips is a pretty easy one. We’re still looking at a lot of colorful, mostly two-dimensional decorations. Superhero Island benefits from pop culture relevance. Only old folks like me will feel nostalgic for the Sunday funnies featured in Toon Lagoon.

The problem with Toon Lagoon isn’t the musty intellectual property (although that is a factor). Even if you’re not familiar with the larger-than-life characters featured in the land, it’s still visually appealing.

Toon Lagoon features two terrific water rides. On a super-hot Florida summer day, Dudley Do Right and Popeye’s Bilge Rat Barges are can’t-miss fun. But if you’re not in the mood to get soaked to the bone, there’s not much else to do. The land used to feature a show, but that theater has sat unused except for special events.

I wasn’t planning to get wet today, but I decided to check out the Bilge Rat Barges anyway.

Next: Popeye, Potter and Pets

 

[lebeau]

The girls were taking a break from the parks halfway through our Spring Break trip. I took the opportunity for a solo tour of Islands of Adventure. On my own, I was able to slow down and enjoy the detailed theming. It was a beautiful day and the Spring Break crowds were out in force. Rides were less of a priority than exploration, but I did have a couple of attractions I wanted to squeeze in.

Ahoy, Matey

The only attraction left on my must-do list was Popeye. I thought about taking the plunge and riding it myself, but I didn’t want to get that wet. Tentatively, we were planning to ride as a family one on of the last days of the trip when the weather was expected to be warmer.

I wasn’t going to ride Popey’s barges today, but I thought I would take some time to explore Sweet Haven. The area around the ride is practically a land with Toon Lagoon. It’s really remarkable that this much effort was put into a relatively obscure cartoon character.

Islands of Adventure has a couple of fast food locations that are rarely if ever open. Wimpy’s is one such establishment. It’s a shame, but the location is a somewhat remote. I don’t imagine all that many soaking wet customers feel like sitting down to a burger.

I walked around the Popeye area partially to see what we were in for. I had heard that it was more or less impossible to stay dry on this ride. That was quickly confirmed as I saw rafts passing under what amounts to a waterfall. Partially, I wanted to confirm that this was a ride the kids would enjoy. No huge drops or anything like that.

The rafts circle around Popeye’s ship, The Olive. Guests can actually board Popeye’s boat which contains a modest play area for kids and some nice themeing.

Inside the boat is a color-coded piano on which even a musical novice can plink out Popeye’s theme song.

You would think a lifelong sailor like Popeye would take better care of his ship. The Olive has a massive hole in its side. Hardly seems sea worthy. The guests lined up along the side are manning water cannons with which to spray the riders below.

I knew I would be back before the end of the trip so I decided to move on. I figured I would make my way to the back of the park and take the Hogwart’s Express over to Universal Studios where I was supposed to meet the girls for lunch.

From Toon Lagoon, I entered Skull Island. Kong is a ride I like well enough, but I won’t wait in a long line for it. The girls aren’t huge fans which makes it a perfect candidate for a solo experience. Unfortunately, the line for Kong is almost always longer than the ride warrants and that was the case today. I scoped out the EP line and it was all the way back to the end of the queue. I figured it would be a half hour even with Express Pass, so I moved on.

We had already spent some time in Jurassic Park and Kara was keen to come back and check out Camp Jurassic, so I pushed right on through to Hogemeade. As expected, the Wizarding World was even more crowded than the rest of the park. This had been the case every time we poked our heads into a Harry Potter-themed land during Spring Break.

Last Train to Potterville

The line for Forbidden Journey was intimidating, but I decided to take a chance on single rider anyway. The entrance was extremely chaotic with the new locker system. There was no clear flow of traffic and the team members seemed a bit overwhelmed directing guests to and from the new lockers.

I asked where the single rider line was and a team member told me it split off inside the queue. So I entered the Express Pass line and then jumped into single rider closer to the boarding zone. I’m not sure if that was how it was supposed to work or not, but I ended up waiting about 10 minutes to ride.

Last year, my lanyard popped off while I was riding Forbidden Journey which is how I lost my annual pass. So this year, I tucked all my documents into my pocket before I pulled down the safety bar on the ride vehicle. And then I kept a hand over my pocket just to be sure nothing slipped out.

I believe this was my first time experiencing Forbidden Journey since the ride was upgraded with a higher quality projection system. I’m not sure I would have noticed if I wasn’t the kind of guy who follows this sort of thing, but the overall quality of the ride was terrific. Last year I was distracted by the fact I had lost the contents of my wallet so I was glad I got to enjoy Forbidden Journey again this year.

It was just past noon and I was supposed to meet the girls in the Studios park for lunch, so I headed over to the Hogwarts Express. On my way, I checked out construction on the new Hagrid ride. It was coming along nicely, but soft openings were still a ways off. There was no chance we were going to experience this attraction before we left.

Express Pass was a lifesaver when it came time to take the train to Diagon Alley. The standby queue was full, but I practically walked on. One relaxing train ride later and I was in Diagon Alley. The place was absolutely packed, but I was getting hungry.

I thought about stopping in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Fish and chips were starting to sound really good and I was starting to think the girls were going to be a no-show on lunch. Just as I was beginning to seriously consider eating alone, I got a text that the girls were entering the park.

They wanted to eat at Fast Food Blvd again. I’ll admit, that wouldn’t have been my first choice. I was quickly burning out on the Simpsons food court, but Josie wanted another chicken and waffles sandwich. So I told the girls I would meet them there.

Another Lunch in Springfield

It was quarter to one and I was hoping that the lunch rush would be dying down. No such luck. The crowds were here in full force and the place was a madhouse. There was a 20 minute wait just to wait in the individual lines before lining up a third time to pay at a register. I hate dealing with this sort of thing.

I went ahead and got in line and told the girls to text me their orders. Kara and Mindy weren’t sure what they wanted, so I sent them pictures of the menus. I saw them enter the food court while I was still in the first of three lines. They texted that they were going to get a table because there weren’t many available.

By this point, I was pretty close to the front of the first line and I would be able to order soon. But Josie wanted a sandwich from Cletus’ Chicken Shack, Mindy and Kara wanted Krusty Burgers and I was looking at the fish and chips. That would mean waiting in three separate lines to order food. Ultimately, I decided to throw a Hail Mary pass in the form of using the Mobile Order feature on the Universal app.

This proved to be a fantastic idea. I highly recommend placing a mobile order any time you face a lunchtime rush. The app lets you customize your food and it’s much more clear than the intentionally deceptive menus which try to push you into buying a combo with a milkshake.

Less than five minutes after I hit the “Prepare Food” button, the entire order was ready for pick-up at a central line. It was so much faster and more efficient than waiting in the queues. The only downside was that we weren’t able to make use of our annual passholder discount for this meal. But that trade-off was well worth it.

The girls enjoyed their meals. They had eaten these sandwiches several times before, so there were no surprises. My fish fillets were gigantic, but there was entirely too much batter for my tastes. I ended up peeling off about half the breading, but the fish was tasty and there was still enough food for me to fill up on.

I substituted grapes for french fries because I wanted to eat something fresh. Those were the tastiest grapes I have ever eaten in my life. I’m guessing that’s a function of how much junk food I had eaten so far this week.

By the time we finished lunch, it was approaching 2:00. We had plans to meet some of Mindy’s friends for dinner tonight. Larry and Janelle are Florida residents who live about an hour’s drive away from Orlando. They have stopped down to visit us during our last several trips.

Last year, we brought them back to check out Portofino Bay. Larry was very impressed with the resort. So much so, that he wanted to go back. So the plan was for all of to grab dinner at Sal’s. The thing is, Portofino Bay charges an arm and a leg for parking if you’re not staying at the hotel. Even if you are a hotel guest, it’s still pretty pricey to park in the lot. So we were going to meet them at City Walk.

City Walk stops charging for parking at 6:00. So I figured we could meet Mindy’s friends around 6:30. That left us with about four and a half hours to kill. We could go back to the hotel, but that would mean coming back to City Walk and then back to the hotel again. It was a lot of back and forth for nothing. At least that’s how I saw it. To me, we were better served hanging out until 6:30.

In the KidZone

Josie didn’t love my plan. Despite having eaten one of her favorite meals for lunch, she was getting a bit crabby. No matter what I suggested we do, she didn’t like it.

We ended up going back to E.T. The primary selling point was giving fake names for the extraterrestrial to call out at the end of the ride. This time, we were Kim, Kanye, Saint and North. I’m pretty sure I saw the girl roll her eyes when I told her my name was Kanye. I didn’t hear E.T. call me Jeezy, so I’m not sure she actually entered it.

We timed our ride with ET so that we would be nearby when the next Animal Actors show started. Josie strongly disapproved despite having enjoyed the show previously. She had adopted a firm “I don’t rewatch shows” stance that wasn’t serving us well. I was confident that her mood would improve once the cute critters showed up on stage, but until then I was doing my best to prod her out of her funk.

Meanwhile, Mindy was following some commotion in the front rows. I was too busy with Josie to pay much attention, but there was a family of little people seated up front. Nothing strange about that, but Mindy said these people were being treated like royalty. There were people running all over bringing them drinks and snacks. Whoever they were, they were getting the VIP treatment. If I had looked, I would have recognized them from Portofino Bay.

Sure enough, Josie lit up as soon as the animals started doing their tricks. Never underestimate the power of cuteness. Especially where teenage girls are concerned.

The show ends with the opportunity to pet some of the animal performers. The dog closest to us was a big Saint Bernard. Josie really wanted to pet this dog, but there was a family in front of us that would not move along. Mindy was getting ready to give them a piece of her mind or maybe a knuckle sandwich. But fortunately, our kids were able to squeeze in to see the big dog before it was too late.

The show ended at 4:00 leaving us two and a half hours left to fill. But 4:00 was also significant because that was when the Mardi Gras booths opened up. It was time for us to cross another item off our list.

Next: New Orleans, New York and Italy

 

[jaques21]

could that LP family at the show really have been Warwick Davis that you spotted at Portofino Bay?!?!

 

[lebeau]

could that LP family at the show really have been Warwick Davis that you spotted at Portofino Bay?!?!

Spoiler alert: Later we found out that yes, that was indeed Warwick Davis staying down the hall from us.

i spent 4 minutes mentally playing the popeye theme with this

Just seeing the notes puts the song in your head, doesn't it?

 

[DRD]

Glad to hear the mobile ordering worked out well for you this trip. Agreed...Simpsons' Food Court is a madhouse and anything they can do to make it less so is an improvement.

Enjoying the TR very much!

 

[lebeau]

Glad to hear the mobile ordering worked out well for you this trip. Agreed...Simpsons' Food Court is a madhouse and anything they can do to make it less so is an improvement.

Enjoying the TR very much!

Thanks for reading!

I have heard of some people having problems with the mobile ordering when their phones couldn't get a signal. But I think that has more to do with your phone/coverage than the app. We used it twice and it was a life-saver both times.

 

[lebeau]

We were midway through our Spring Break getaway at Universal Orlando. By this point, we had checked most of the boxes on our must-do lists. Today, we were taking it easy with limited park hours. The girls met me at Universal Studios for lunch and we were basically killing time until we were supposed to meet up with some of Mindy’s friends for dinner. While we waited, there was one more must-do we could cross off our list.

One of the advantages of traveling to Universal during Spring Break was the ability to check out their version of Mardi Gras. This was an entirely new experience for us and we wanted to make the most of it. Last night, we had participated in the parade as bead tossers, but up to this point we had not yet sampled the New Orleans cuisine.

Leading up to the trip, I had grand plans of enjoying the many Mardi Gras snacks. Universal offered a tasting lanyard which allowed guests to prepay for samples. It seemed like a good idea until I realized that the girls wouldn’t eat most of the items offered and I couldn’t possibly eat enough po boys and étouffée to justify the purchase on my own. I would be better off just buying the girls what they wanted, beneigts.

For the uninitiated, beneigts are basically puffy powdered donuts. Universal served them with a choice of dipping sauces; strawberry, chocolate and caramel. Before the trip, we had worked out who wanted which sauce. We were going to need one of each. Pictured next to the beneigts above is Universal’s take on a king cake. These had been on our must-do list until reviews came in indicating the cakes were often dry.

We would have sampled the beneigts earlier in the trip, but the booths didn’t open until 4:00 in the afternoon. We had been otherwise occupied during the hours that the booths were opened. But now we had time on our hands and we were facing a late dinner so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to cover our faces in powdered sugar.

Since Universal doesn’t have an area themed to New Orleans, the Mardi Gras booths are located in the middle of New York. Sure, why not? It made for a convenient place to sit down and eat some sweets. We got three orders, one with each sauce. Kara wanted strawberry, chocolate for Josie and caramel for Mindy. Each one thought their sauce was the best, but I’m giving a slight edge to the chocolate which was darker and richer than I expected. They were all tasty though.

While the girls were enjoying the beneigts, I took the opportunity to wander around New York. It’s a wonderfully themed area of the park that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic due to the lack of rides.

If shopping is your thing, there are some terrific opportunities to pick up souvenirs in the New York section. I’m not much of a shopper, but I did enjoy ducking into a few of the stores here. I appreciate that there are unique items to be found. Certain T-shirts, mugs and toys are common to a lot of stores, but there are also items that can only be found in specific locations.

Prior to our beneigt break, Josie had been in a bit of a mood. The sugar helped improve her mood a bit. Mindy and Josie decided to hang out on the stoop while Kara and I hit up the Film Vault nearby.

The Film Vault is a great store for old school movie fans like me. There are sections devoted to Jaws, Back to the Future, E.T. and Gremlins. We also found souvenirs featuring The Breakfast Club, The Goonies, Universal Monsters, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuiceand Psycho.

I could have spent a lot of money in there, but I ended up leaving with just one item – a free Annual Passholder pin featuring The Mummy. Universal has been giving out new pins to passholders on a monthly basis but you have to go to the parks to get them and they frequently run out. As an infrequent guest, I was happy to get my free pin, but I won’t be starting a collection.

The Mardis Gras activities were picking up steam. There were performers roaming around interacting with guests. We weren’t going to be in the parks tonight to enjoy the festivities, so we decided to soak in some of the atmosphere before we left.

A live brass band was out on the corner playing toe-tapping jazz standards. The party wouldn’t shift into high gear until the sun went down, but everyone was definitely getting into the spirit of Mardi Gras.

One of the performers saw Kara’s birthday button and started talking to her. She asked Kara if she wanted to dance. Kara’s a dancer, so of course she said yes. They went out into the street and joined the party with stilt walkers and other revelers.

They were joined by some other performers who formed a circle around Kara.

She was having a blast as the street performers showed her one dance move after another. By the time Kara had finished making friends and strutting her stuff, we were getting pretty close to our dinner appointment. We still had time for one more ride, so we decided to squeeze in Race Through New York since it was close by and it was something everyone could ride.

As we exited, we saw the ever-elusive Hashtag the Panda doing meets out on the street. Another box checked.

 

[lebeau]

We were scheduled to meet Mindy’s friends in City Walk and then ride over to Portofino Bay with them in a water taxi. We had allowed ourselves enough time to take care of another one of out must-dos at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

The girls are mildly obsessed with sweets in general and French macaron in particular. Before we left, they wanted to swing by Toothsome for a box of the fancy cookies.

We bought a box of twelve which was about $30 after applying our passholder discount. The girls picked six flavors each. Kara had been looking forward to the lemon-blueberry for months. She also got creamsicle, strawberry-lemonade and peanut-butter and jelly. Josie’s flavors included red velvet, chocolate-covered strawberry and cotton candy.

They each sampled one right away and then saved the rest for later. I tasted a couple of the cookies and they were good. Were they worth $3 each? Not for my money. But the kids enjoyed them.

The blue fuzz between the girls on the bench was Kara’s souvenir. She finally settled on a big Spongebob Pillow and a stuffed Thing #2 (pictured). For Halloween one year, Mindy and Kara had gone as Thing #1 and Thing #2 which is why Kara selected the second Thing specifically.

It was shortly after 6:00 which meant that Larry and Janelle would be parking soon. They would have to hike through the dreaded parking garage which we knew would take a while. So we looked for a relatively shady spot where we could sit down and wait for them. Unfortunately, there weren’t a ton of options.

Red Brick Oven had lots of unused outdoors seating, so I took a seat away from all the paying customers. Mindy and Josie didn’t approve. Since we weren’t spending any money there, they sat across the way on a sloped ledge. Kara split the difference with a photo op.

Before long, we met up with Larry and Janelle and hopped a water taxi back to Portofino Bay. We had a very pleasant visit as usual. Dinner was at Sal’s Market Deli. On our way, we stopped by the club and grabbed drinks for everyone.

Mindy loves the Margherita pizza, so we ordered one to share.

I wanted an alternative, so I decided to try the Prosciutto pizza. It was topped with white ricotta cheese sauce, caramelized onions, prosciutto and shaved Parmesan. The ricotta sauce and caramelized onions gave the pizza a very sweet flavor.

Larry and Janelle ordered a third pizza. I believe it was the Farm Pesto but it may have been a Primavera. I didn’t want to snap a picture of their pizza because that would be weird, right?

I was worried that we had ordered too much food and I didn’t want it to go to waste. At home, that wouldn’t be a problem, but even with a refrigerator in the room I knew we wouldn’t eat leftover pizza. Fortunately, Larry started talking about his love of cold pizza. So we packed up all the leftovers in a to-go box and sent them with him.

One of the reasons Larry liked Portofino Bay so much was that he and Janelle had been to Italy. He said he didn’t care for the authentic Italian pizza, but he loved gelato. So for dessert, he wanted to treat at the gelato shop nearby.

The girls were more than happy to oblige. I was a bit burned out on sweets by this point.

We sat outside eating gelato and catching up until it was time for Larry and Janelle to head home. We were a short walk away from our room and were quite ready for bed.

Next: Soaked by Poseidon

 

[Dumbo2675]

Thanks for posting your great pictures and your great family trip. I enjoyed reading and following along on your trip. Glad you had a great time.

 

[lebeau]

YES!

I'll send you a slice. Sal's is great pizza at a reasonable for Orlando price.

Thanks for posting your great pictures and your great family trip. I enjoyed reading and following along on your trip. Glad you had a great time.

Thanks for reading! So glad you enjoyed the TR!

 

[lebeau]

i had no idea portofino bay was so nice...i usually stay at cabana bay
stayed at the aventura once but aside from the cool rooftop bar, wasnt as enamored

and be sure to pack that slice in dry ice b4 sending ?

We stayed at Cabana Bay when it first opened and liked it a lot. The theme is a lot of fun. Lots of terrific amenities for a hotel in that price range. Now that Volcano Bay is right next door, it's just that much more appealing. If we were willing to forego Express Pass, we would go back to Cabana Bay in a minute.

We stayed at Royal Pacific as our introduction to the Deluxe hotels and it has a lot to recommend it. But once we tried out Portofino Bay we were in love. It's just a really fantastic hotel. I compare it to staying inside the Italy pavilion at Epcot. We keep thinking we will give Hard Rock a try, but Portofino Bay keeps pulling us back.

 

[lebeau]

oh yeah i stayed at hard rock once.. loved it..

the speakers in the pool were cool and a novelty..

They have a similar set up at the Big Blue Pool at Art of Animation. Pretty cool stuff. Ironically, it was the pool that lead us to return to Portofino Bay over Hard Rock. The pool at HRH is apparently very shallow and Josie likes that PB's pool has a deep area. As it so happens, we didn't spend as much time in the pool this year due to the cooler weather. Which is why we're looking at HR if we go back for another Spring Break trip.

 

[lebeau]

The end of our trip was fast approaching. This would be our last full day in the two main parks. We had experienced just about everything we set out to do, but there were still a few smaller objectives on our list. It was the final night of Universal’s annual Mardi Gras celebration and we were selected to participate in the parade.

After breakfast in the Portofino Club, the kids decided they wanted to take it easy. They climbed back into bed and whipped out their devices.
The one ride everyone wanted to experience before we left was Popeye’s Bilge Rat Barges. This is a water ride notorious for soaking guests. There is really no avoiding getting wet. We had put off riding this attraction because the weather continued to warm up as our trip progressed. The first couple days were a bit too cold for getting drenched.

It had gotten warmer, but no one wanted to walk around the park in wet clothes. So we came up with a plan to bring along a change of clothes and store them in a locker. We had learned our lesson from the Jurassic Park River Adventure earlier in the week. Be prepared.

The first order of business was to pick up the bracelets for the Mardi Gras parade at Universal Studios. They would be available starting at 11:00. So I packed up the spare clothes and headed out to the parks solo. The girls would meet up with me later when they were ready to ride.

Over the course of our trip, I was constantly surprised by how little preparation other tourists had done. Every morning, there were long lines of people who needed to pick up their tickets. That’s no way to start your day. It pays to take care of that before you leave home.

I was carrying around a big sack of clothes as well as a drawstring back with bottles of water and other essentials. I was going to be somewhat limited in what I could do until I dumped this stuff in a locker. Especially with Universal’s new ride locker policies. This stuff wouldn’t fit in the small, free lockers.

The couple in front of me at the Studio Audience Center were even more weighed down than I was. I’m not sure what they were doing, but they were each carrying hiking backpacks. You know, the ones that are about four feet tall. They opened the packs and were going through them in line. They had several changes of clothes, books, devices, snacks and who knows what else. It looked like they were planning to live in the parks for a few days.

It took a while for this couple to do whatever it was they were doing. But when they were done, I was able to get the parade bracelets. This time, we were going to be riding the Gator Float. I texted the girls to let them know we were all set. They were excited to ride again.

I stored the bracelets somewhere safe and walked over to Islands of Adventure to get ready for Popeye. Originally, I planned to store the clothes in one of the all-day lockers at the front of the park. But the more I thought about it, the less I liked the idea. I knew the girls would want their dry clothes as soon as they got off the raft ride. So I continued carrying my bags instead.

Mindy had expressed an interest in a red velvet cupcake. It was a craving. So I popped into the Croissant Moon Bakery to see if they had any. They didn’t have any cupcakes, but the baked goods were appealing. I took a picture for reference so I could show the girls if they wanted a snack later on.

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day and the park was very crowded. Since I was weighed down with bags I was being very selective with rides. Anything that required a locker was out. I wasn’t in any big hurry. I didn’t expect the girls to arrive for a while. So I was mostly just hanging out and enjoying the atmosphere.

I was headed towards Toon Lagoon. I wanted to make sure that our bags would fit in the ride lockers right next to Popeye. I was reasonably confident, but you can’t be too careful. I also wanted to finish exploring the themed walkways around the ride.

There are so many little details around Sweethaven that most guests probably never see.

I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to see Popeye’s mailbox, but the walking trails afforded some terrific views of Islands of Adventure and the attention to detail was a lot of fun.

Although the park was busy, I had these little trails almost entirely to myself. If you have extra time in Islands of Adventure and you just want to get away from the crowds for a bit, this is a great place to relax and unwind. The park actually has a surprising number of semi-hidden areas like this to explore.

It was just about noon and I figured the girls would be headed to the park soon for lunch. The line for Kong was longish, but it was the shortest I had seen it all week. With Express Pass, I figured I was in for a ten-to-fifteen minute wait. I texted Mindy to let her know I would probably be unavailable for a little while and hopped in line.

I enjoy Skull Island and I think it gets a bad rap from fans who dismiss it as a motion simulator. Fifteen minutes is about as long as I am willing to wait to ride it and that’s about how long I spent in line. I was glad I was able to squeeze it in this year, but I wouldn’t have been disappointed if I had skipped it.

By the time I exited Kong, Mindy and the girls were in the park. They texted from Seuss Landing. I told them I would meet them there and we would figure out next steps. To get to them, I cut through Hogsmeade which was insanely busy. I got to see a little of the Frog Choir show as I passed, but mostly I was just concentrating on getting through the crowd.

When I got to Seuss Landing, I saw that there was no line at Honk Honkers. I knew Kara wanted to get some cotton candy, so I stopped in to see if I could surprise them. Unfortunately, they weren’t making cotton candy today. They were just selling the pre-made stuff.
I met up with the girls near Cat in the Hat which they had just finished riding. Not surprisingly, the girls wanted lunch. I started running through some options nearby. We decided it was finally time to check out Mythos.

Mythos has a reputation for being one of the best restaurants inside a theme park. That reputation is fueled by the restaurant’s multiple awards from Theme Park Insider. They proudly display a banner over the entrance proclaiming their title. I had long wanted to dine at Mythos to see if it lived up to this claim, but we rarely ever eat sit-down meals in the parks.

Despite the crowds, there wasn’t much of a wait for a table. They told us ten-to-fifteen minutes but it was more like five. We were glad for the air conditioning and the cups of water available in the lobby.

The restaurant is themed to the Greek god, Poseidon. There are fountains and cool sculptures everywhere. The overall decor feels like Greek mythology by way of coral reefs and conch shells.

We were seated very quickly and our server was attentive. She let us know that the chef could work around any allergies we might have.

Our drink orders and bread service came out right away.

 

[lebeau]

The girls were impressed with the molded butter. It’s the little things.

I ordered the pad thai based on several reviews I had read online. It was very good. There was a good amount of chicken and shrimp. The rice noodles gave the dish a crunch you don’t typically get from pad thai.

The girls ordered burgers. Mindy likes her beef medium rare and she said her Mythos burger was cooked perfectly. The portions were huge. None of the girls was able to finish their sandwiches. But they really liked them.

Our waitress brought Kara a free dessert in a shotglass to celebrate her birthday. We were all stuffed, but we each sampled the chocolate dessert. The small dessert was packed with layers of cream, cake and chocolate shavings. There was a lot of flavor in that little glass. For $1.75, these mini desserts are a great option if you want to end your meal with something sweet.

All in all, everyone really enjoyed our lunch at Mythos. I think it helped that everyone was really hungry. The girls decided they would definitely want to eat here again.

Next: Bilge Rat Barges and Gator Floats

 

[lebeau]

molded butter..is that a thing..?.

talk about fancy shmancy

i thot we was bros?

It is a thing. The picture doesn't do it justice because the butter is on its side but it is in the shape of the Universal logo.

Mythos is fancy-ish. The prices aren't bad at all, the place is filled with tourists and the menu includes burgers and fries. So we're not talking fine dining here. I believe that was the original intent of the restaurant but it became clear that wasn't what Universal guests were after. So they found a sweet spot serving elevated sit-down meals in a super-themed fancy-shmancy building with molded pats of butter.

Definitely worth checking out, bro!