conan617
04-02-2015, 12:05 AM
Cast of Characters
Me - Big Daddy - that's the name on my magic band :mickey:
DS - Turning 14 while in FL
DD - Turning 11 in Jan but celebrating in WDW
Day 3 - Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios
A coworker of mine was also in FL and staying at the same hotel so we met up and had breakfast with Gru and the Minions before we hit more rides - Shrek (ehh), ET (cool 20 years ago, now - meh), Twister (forget it) Simpsons again, MIB again and then it started raining. We were by Transformers so we just kept riding until the rain stopped. I think we rode 4 times. Sidebar - the express pass unlimited is awesome. It doesn't work on HP rides, but everything else is a walk on. We were spoiled by the express pass and while it probably isn't necessary in Sept, it was still nice to bypass 20-30 min waits. We watched the parade and then we went back to the hotel for a rest at which time my daughter broke her glasses. So we drove over to Walgreen's so I could buy some glue. Glasses fixed, we went back to Islands of Adventure and used our fastpass we got yesterday from Gringotts to ride Forbidden Journey (My favorite ride at Universal!!!!!), did some shopping, played with the wands that only work in the parks :thumbsup: and headed back to hotel to swim. When the pool closed at 10PM, my son said he was hungry so we went back to CityWalk and ate at Hard Rock, did a little more shopping and then rode the boat back to the hotel. We packed up in preparation of our transfer over to CSR tomorrow.
Final thoughts on Universal
The Loews Royal Pacific hotel is beautiful! It was themed nicer than CSR (our next stop) and was a 10 min walk to CityWalk. The unlimited express pass was included in the hotel package and I thought it was totally worth it. The early entry was not necessary for us because all you could do was Diagon Alley. A year from now, I don't think it will matter when the hype from the new ride wears off. It would have been nice to have a few other attractions open during early entry - maybe spread the "crowd" out a little. You can't use the express pass on HP rides (unless you get a special one cuz your ride broke down....TWICE). Two days at the parks is about 1/2 day more than needed to ride all the rides if you have express pass in September, but there is so much to see in Hogwarts and Diagon Alley alone that it was nice to take our time and enjoy the atmosphere. We had some great food at Hard Rock and The Three Broomsticks. Butterbeer - regular and iced versions are YUMMY! For some reason, the wand we bought didn't work outside of the park. :thumbsup:
Me - Big Daddy - that's the name on my magic band :mickey:
DS - Turning 14 while in FL
DD - Turning 11 in Jan but celebrating in WDW
Day 3 - Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios
A coworker of mine was also in FL and staying at the same hotel so we met up and had breakfast with Gru and the Minions before we hit more rides - Shrek (ehh), ET (cool 20 years ago, now - meh), Twister (forget it) Simpsons again, MIB again and then it started raining. We were by Transformers so we just kept riding until the rain stopped. I think we rode 4 times. Sidebar - the express pass unlimited is awesome. It doesn't work on HP rides, but everything else is a walk on. We were spoiled by the express pass and while it probably isn't necessary in Sept, it was still nice to bypass 20-30 min waits. We watched the parade and then we went back to the hotel for a rest at which time my daughter broke her glasses. So we drove over to Walgreen's so I could buy some glue. Glasses fixed, we went back to Islands of Adventure and used our fastpass we got yesterday from Gringotts to ride Forbidden Journey (My favorite ride at Universal!!!!!), did some shopping, played with the wands that only work in the parks :thumbsup: and headed back to hotel to swim. When the pool closed at 10PM, my son said he was hungry so we went back to CityWalk and ate at Hard Rock, did a little more shopping and then rode the boat back to the hotel. We packed up in preparation of our transfer over to CSR tomorrow.
Final thoughts on Universal
The Loews Royal Pacific hotel is beautiful! It was themed nicer than CSR (our next stop) and was a 10 min walk to CityWalk. The unlimited express pass was included in the hotel package and I thought it was totally worth it. The early entry was not necessary for us because all you could do was Diagon Alley. A year from now, I don't think it will matter when the hype from the new ride wears off. It would have been nice to have a few other attractions open during early entry - maybe spread the "crowd" out a little. You can't use the express pass on HP rides (unless you get a special one cuz your ride broke down....TWICE). Two days at the parks is about 1/2 day more than needed to ride all the rides if you have express pass in September, but there is so much to see in Hogwarts and Diagon Alley alone that it was nice to take our time and enjoy the atmosphere. We had some great food at Hard Rock and The Three Broomsticks. Butterbeer - regular and iced versions are YUMMY! For some reason, the wand we bought didn't work outside of the park. :thumbsup: