Trip Report Our Journey to the Dark Side, plus a little bit of Disney...June 2018 Completed

We were laughing at that and telling Logan he was practicing his expressions/reactions for when he has to drive with him once he gets his temporary driving license this week!

TheMouseFan · Jul 5, 2018

fractal said:
The Harry Potter areas looks great and truly immersive. Outside of that however, Universal seems like a mishmash of different things thrown together.

That is exactly what it is! And there isn't a big variety of ride types either! It's either a coaster/thrill ride or a 3D simulator where they figure out how to squirt you with water at least once! Brian and I were talking the other night about how we would never choose to go there without the kids because of that. It's definitely worth visiting at least once, just not something I would do year after year!

Gurt · Jul 6, 2018

Great pictures, I can't believe it's been a year since your last trip that seems to have gone fast, as fast as how much the kids are growing up.

TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

Gurt said:
Great pictures, I can't believe it's been a year since your last trip that seems to have gone fast, as fast as how much the kids are growing up.

Thanks! I know, time really does need to slow down!

TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

After our morning of Diagon Alley, the kids wanted to try again to ride Fast and Furious. You pass the exit first when coming from this direction.

IMG_8228 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

There was no one around, so we had to stop and pay tribute to Jaws. The kids thought I was silly, but then they all chose to do the same thing!!

IMG_8229 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

IMG_8230 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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IMG_8232 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Brian had trouble because he was too tall to use the bar comfortably to pull himself up, so I promised I wouldn't post the not very flattering picture I got of him!

There are some nice views from the dock area:

IMG_8233 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

We then managed to make it all the way through the queue and ride Fast and Furious. My two cents: don't waste your time!! It was pretty bad, even Brian thought so and he is usually pretty accepting of things. They have you go through the walk through, then have 2 different preshow areas, then you wait in a hallway before actually entering the ride area. They could have done so much more with this ride. Oh well, we can at least say we've done it, but we don't plan on doing it again!

IMG_8239 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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Here comes our party bus:

IMG_8243 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

The kids wanted to ride Mummy again, so we headed that way. A few pics on the way:

IMG_8248 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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Everyone really enjoys that ride! It is a combination of a dark ride and Rock n Rollercoaster.

Next up was Rip Ride Rockit for me, Logan, and Lily. Owen and Brian rode Minions again.

IMG_8257 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

IMG_8259 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

We then took the "secret" exit out of Universal Studios so we could go to Islands of Adventure for lunch.

We say Hello Kitty also leaving:

IMG_8260 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

The exit takes you out to the back side of Hard Rock Cafe.

IMG_8262 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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IMG_8264 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

As we were entering IOA, the kids decided they wanted to ride Hulk before we ate lunch. Brian decided to sit this one out and just stay with our bag instead of having to get a locker.

IMG_8265 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

IMG_8266 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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IMG_8272 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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On our way to lunch, we had to stop and let these guys drive past:

IMG_8275 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

IMG_8276 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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IMG_8278 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

We had lunch at Thunder Falls Terrace.

IMG_8279 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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Brian and Owen split the ribs, Lily and I had chicken that we shared with Brian, and Logan got the bacon cheeseburger. All was delicious again this year!

IMG_8284 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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The plan after lunch was to ride Jurassic Park River Adventure right before going back to the room for an afternoon break in case we got really wet. We decided to do the Raptor Encounter first. We got to meet Blue!

20180613_121233 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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Here, the handler is telling us not to make eye contact with her so as not to upset her:

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Here, he is reprimanding Owen because he turned around and made eye contact with her!

20180613_121312 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Not sure what he said here to get a reaction out of Owen.

20180613_121317(0) by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

20180613_121326 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

He told Owen that since he had already made eye contact, he might as well turn around and do it again!

20180613_121330_010 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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TheMouseFan · Jul 6, 2018

Then we headed to River Adventure.

IMG_8293 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

We really did not get very wet, which was perfect for me because I really hate walking around wet!!
This is where we had another issue with our Photo Pass and the lady discovered something wrong with my account and had to spend forever fixing it. And I just realized that after all the time she spent, we didn't end up with our ride photo!!

We had one more stop to make before returning to the room. Lily wanted to buy a Pygmy Puff, but it was so big we didn't want to carry it around any longer than we had to, so we needed to go back to Diagon Alley for her to get it. The quickest way was to catch the Hogwart's Express. A few pics on the way:

IMG_8294 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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61605_061518_000055412 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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When we got there, they had her go through a naming ceremony. She named hers Petunia.

IMG_8308 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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I took Lily and Owen to the pool for about an hour while Brian and Logan relaxed in the room.

20180613_141135 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

MySmallWorldof4 · Jul 7, 2018

TheMouseFan said:
That is exactly what it is! And there isn't a big variety of ride types either! It's either a coaster/thrill ride or a 3D simulator where they figure out how to squirt you with water at least once! Brian and I were talking the other night about how we would never choose to go there without the kids because of that. It's definitely worth visiting at least once, just not something I would do year after year!

I love all your pictures. We have kids close in age and yes, it does go fast. One of mine is practicing for her written drivers test.

My problem with Universal is what you describe. I have one who cannot do simulator rides, and then another who loves coasters, but is too small for many at Universal. The only reason I would want to go would be just to see the Harry Potter areas, and I am not sure that that is enough reason to go. By the way, the Pygmy Puff looks nothing like I imagined. I thought they would be much smaller. Love the picture of the cotton candy, and ice cream for breakfast sounds great on vacation.

TheMouseFan · Jul 7, 2018

MySmallWorldof4 said:
I love all your pictures. We have kids close in age and yes, it does go fast. One of mine is practicing for her written drivers test. My problem with Universal is what you describe. I have one who cannot do simulator rides, and then another who loves coasters, but is too small for many at Universal. The only reason I would want to go would be just to see the Harry Potter areas, and I am not sure that that is enough reason to go. By the way, the Pygmy Puff looks nothing like I imagined. I thought they would be much smaller. Love the picture of the cotton candy, and ice cream for breakfast sounds great on vacation.

Logan just got his temporary license yesterday!! I don't even know how that is possible!

There are multiple sizes of pygmy puffs. She just felt like she had to have the biggest one! We have a mini one on a keychain from last year's visit.

We all know calories don't count on vacation, right!?!

I'm glad we got to experience all that Universal has to offer, but I think it will be a long while before we return as a family.

TheMouseFan · Jul 7, 2018

After our afternoon rest period, we decided to walk to Portofino Bay to see what it was like.

IMG_8316 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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It was beautiful, and I would have loved to go inside, but the water taxi was at the dock and the kids were wanting to get back to the parks, so off we went!

IMG_8327 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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TheMouseFan · Jul 7, 2018

First order of business was dinner. We decided to go to Cafe 4 for some meatball subs.

IMG_8331 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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Worst dining experience ever!! As we were waiting in line to order, the skies opened up and there was a major thunderstorm. Well, everyone decided to come inside and just sit at the tables, so once we ordered and had our food, there was nowhere to sit! The managers refused to help us and everyone just sat there watching us hunt for a table while they were playing on their phones or just relaxing. A family finally got up when they were finished eating so we could sit. Another family was forced to place their trays of food on top of a trash can and eat while standing there, and one of the workers had the nerve to tell them they couldn't eat there. The lady was like where do you want me to eat? They told her she could find a table outside (in the thunderstorm!!) The food was good, but would have been better hot! Owen got spaghetti and meatballs and the rest of us had meatball subs.

IMG_8335 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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TheMouseFan · Jul 7, 2018

The kids wanted to ride Forbidden Journey again, so we headed back to Hogsmeade.

IMG_8339 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

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Brian decided to try riding this again even though it made him incredibly sick last year. He did ok this time. He said it was better because he knew what to expect and was prepared. He still chose to make this his only time riding this trip!! No ride pic because the line was horrendously long.