A Post-Thanksgiving 2019 Mother/Daughter WDW TR * Completed 6/16 - New TR Link 7/23

[Disneyhanna]

Following along! looks like a great trip so far and can’t wait to read about your solo trip!

I haven’t been to Sci-Fi! The theming is right up my alley, but we’ve always done other things, so I hope to try in the future!

Thanks for joining in! I didn't feel like I took that many notes/pictures this trip but it feels like it will take me a year to finish at this rate . I'm sure I will have 100x as much content for a solo trip, I might have to write as I go to make the recapping more manageable when I get back! I'm so excited to explore the parks more since I will be able to do whatever I want, when I want!

Totally recommend Sci-Fi, there are so many great restaurants at Disney it's hard to decide which ones to try! I'm thinking about trying the Brown Derby Lounge in a few weeks for that famous Cobb salad!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Day Three - Part Four: Skyliner and the Shortest MK Visit Ever

Hey folks! In one week from now, I will be in WDW. Just a few more days of work to get through! I will for sure wrap up this HS day before I leave, but I may have to take a break until I get back since Day Four (Universal) is quite long!

By mid-afternoon on our HS day, it was quite hot when the sun peeked out, but it was pleasant when there was cloud cover. We headed towards the front of the park to try out the Skyliner for the first time.

The Skyliner was a walk-on and we rode it to Caribbean Beach, which is the first stop from HS. Our first car was wrapped, which I recommend for nervous riders because you can’t really see much out of it except through the door which isn’t wrapped.



It does move quickly, but my mom is very motion sensitive and had no issues. If you can handle the motion of a chair lift, you will be totally fine.

Look at all the cars parked at HS!



There was a good breeze flowing through the gondola, and there was no line at CBR to go back to HS. I wonder how many people are like us and just go down and back for the fun of it!

The station was really large and well covered, not sure if all of the stations are like this since we didn’t go any further. I was a little confused by how it works based on the maps, but it looks like it takes a few transfers or stops to get from HS to Epcot, so it might not be the most efficient way to get between the two parks. I recently learned you can walk (?) between the parks, I may have to look into this for my solo trip.



Always use the restroom before getting on the Skyliner, just in case...

Overall we thought the crowds at HS were very manageable, there is always the usual stroller dodging and the occasional group that you have to maneuver around, but it was a million times better than the mobs there the night before.

We headed to the bus stop at HS and a Coronado bus came within five minutes. The elevators in our Ranchos building were so speedy, we never had to wait for one. We took a break for about an hour in our room, CSR is so close to HS so I am glad I will be staying there when I have to get up early to get a RotR boarding pass soon. I for one am glad the park doesn't open until 8 instead of 7, I don't even get up that early for work!

Obviously our pool break never came to fruition, but we decided to go to MK for a little bit before heading to check out the gingerbread house at GF.

We headed to the Ranchos bus stop and decided to go back to the room for another layer for the evening, and made it back to the stop before the bus arrived. Having the wait times in the MDE app is really helpful for this, sometimes they do not show times but when they do, they are usually pretty accurate...but don't count on it.

We were lucky and we made it on the bus, it was pretty packed by the time we left the main building bus stop since people were on their way to the Christmas party. It took about 10 minutes from the Ranchos bus stop to when we left the main bus stop, and then another 13 minutes to get to MK. Part of the long trip around the resort is just that it takes time for people to load and unload sometimes.

We made it into the park around 4:50 and heard CMs saying it was a sold out party.



The castle was so beautiful as usual! Some Disney ducks were lounging around of course. It looks kind of pink here, I am excited for the new look but hoping they work quickly and only do parts at a time so people can still get their lovely castle photos!



We love walking along the bridge by the castle, there are some great photo ops there and it’s usually not too crowded compared to the front of the castle.



We had grabbed a Winnie the Pooh FP and were in line about 5:10. I was refreshing and saw BTMR amongst other FPs, even though the park was closing at 6PM for the party.



I always send pictures of the signs in the queue to my friends that also went to the University of Minnesota. Go Gophers!

We were on the ride in under 10 minutes, and soon were bouncing with Tigger!



I don’t think I rode WtP until one of my most recent trips, and I regret not riding it earlier! It may be a ride for babies and little kids, but the kid in me loves it so much. It’s one of my favorite rides because it is just so darn cute. My mom and I make sure to ride it multiple times every trip now. I like the WDW version better than in DL since it has the bouncing part, but the one advantage DL has is that it’s over by Splash and not in Fantasyland, so the line is usually very short.

We saw some very adorable Disney ducklings with a very calm mama duck!



MK was definitely busy with party goers arriving, but it was by no means crowded compared to what it can be like during holidays. Look at all that empty space!



We grabbed Fantasmic FPs around 5:30 with no refreshing needed, I’m guessing people were abandoning their evening plans, so always wait to grab a FP for when you’re done with attractions for the day.

We headed out of MK, along with 90% of the park, and almost ended up on the ferry instead of the water taxi to the Grand Floridian. Oops! I think I’ve only ridden the ferry once or twice since we always stay on property and never have a rental car.

We got in line at 5:35 for the GF ferry, there were quite a few people but we were optimistic. Well, a boat didn’t arrive for 20 minutes, and then it only took 10-15 people. We decided to abandon ship and try to take a bus to GF. Turns out there is no bus, agh fail! The monorail line looked terrible since the entire park was emptying out for MVMCP, so we decided to leave GF for another day and just head back to HS. Oops, we are not great at planning.

It’s good they’re building a walkway to MK from GF, I can’t imagine having to wait so long to get back around park close. Maybe the water taxi line is usually short, but there were probably 150 people in line when we left and I hoped they knew what they were in for.

We got to the bus stop to HS at 6 and were in HS by 6:20. The bag check was so slow, I understand but still, what do you think I am hiding in my mini Altoids container?

Last trip, we got seated for Fantasmic and the skies opened up and unleashed buckets of water on us, so will we actually get to see the show this time? Stay tuned to find out!

Continued in Part Five: Woody's Lunch Box and Fantasmic​

 

[disneyAndi14]

The boat to GF can be frustrating, when we stayed there, the monorail was always quicker. If you can get a boat without much wait it is super quick and you are dropped off first at GF.
I love WtP such a fun and bouncy ride!

 

[Disneyhanna]

The boat to GF can be frustrating, when we stayed there, the monorail was always quicker. If you can get a boat without much wait it is super quick and you are dropped off first at GF.
I love WtP such a fun and bouncy ride!

We will have to just brave the monorail line next time, I bet it looked worse than it actually was! The boat seems so pleasant for middle of the day rides back to the resort. I'm so excited to ride WtP again, I'm tempted to do an After Hours event just so I can ride it multiple times in a row!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Day Three - Part Five: Woody’s Lunch Box and Fantasmic

We made it to Woody’s Lunch Box by around 6:45. It was quite dark already and TSL looks so pretty at night with all the lights. Sorry for all the bad photos btw, my phone camera was struggling this trip and I have since upgraded so hopefully I will get better photos during my next trip.



Mobile order is available but we didn’t bother because there was no line. Woohoo, the parks were so pleasant this whole trip and I really wish I cherished it a bit more, sounds like 2020 has been crazy so far!



We shared the adult grilled cheese which comes with either a small tomato soup or macaroni salad, potato barrels were also an option I believe. We got the soup, because why else would you get grilled cheese!





Since there’s very limited seating, I recommend having someone in your party stake out a spot while you order if possible, my mom had to hover for a table!

The grilled cheese was so delicious, perfectly melty and gooey. Totally hits the spot, not the healthiest but you could definitely do worse! I think the secret is an insane amount of cheese. I hope Disney never adds nutritional info because ignorance is bliss!

We headed to Fantasmic around 7 according to my notes, so we must have really inhaled our mini-dinner! On our way over, we sat on a bench and watched the Sunset Seasons Greetings projection show on ToT.



The music is so loud, I bet the CMs get really tired of hearing it go off constantly all night. HS was so much more pleasant than the night before, I’d say there were maybe 25% of the people compared to the previous night (Saturday).

We picked up some cinnamon roasted almonds from a cart before entering the seating area for Fantasmic.



These were good, though be careful or you could lose a tooth on the stray pieces of cinnamon coating! We only ate half before our jaws got tired from chewing.

The crowds were not too bad for Fantasmic, it was full but we were only 2/3 of the way across despite not arriving until half an hour before the show in the FP line.



We really enjoyed the show, I haven’t seen it at WDW since I was a kid! I thought the part with the projections on the mist got a bit long but I loved being seated while watching.



A family next to us was complaining loudly when people started leaving a few minutes before the end, it was kind of annoying, let people enjoy their vacations how they want to! Not everyone wants to feel like they are in a mosh pit when the shows end.

We were able to get out within about five minutes after the show, we were only a few rows down from the top and on the end, which is a good place to sit if you want a fast exit. Also, always have a pre-planned meet up spot in case you get separated by the crowds!

On our way out of HS I saw a girl with this ridiculously funny Chewie backpack.



We saw lots of fireworks around the Chinese Theater as we left, and weren’t sure what it was for. There weren’t any shows on the schedule but maybe this is part of the Star Wars show?

The CSR bus was already there when we arrived by 8:50 and it was packed, but we squeezed on! We were having pretty good luck squeezing onto buses at the parks, definitely better than in previous years.

We made it back to the first stop at CSR in about ten minutes, and were next to a family with four young kids and a newborn. No idea how they were able to manage that many little ones!

It took another 10 minutes to loop around to the main stop at El Centro, which was pretty consistent throughout the trip.

Continued in Part Six: Exploring Coronado Springs Resort​

 

[Disneyhanna]

Day Three - Part Six: Exploring Coronado Springs Resort

Probably my last post until I am back from my trip! I'm sad that the forecast looks pretty cold, I am supposed to be escaping the cold! We had a rare 40 degree today and the thought of it being the same temperature at night during my trip is just depressing. Oh well, 40 degrees in Disney is still better than 40 degrees at home!

Back to Coronado Springs, we loved our stay and didn't spend a ton of time exploring, but here's a few random photos. Love that Disney has kids sinks at the resorts!



This is the “old” public restroom in the original CSR check-in building, very run of the mill. I will post a picture from the Gran Destino tower restroom in my next post, you can just imagine how nice the tower is based on the restroom upgrade.

They still decorated the old building very nicely, I hear they use it to check in conference guests to keep wait times down.



We decided to check out the view from Dahlia Lounge, and had to take a few more photos in Gran Destino tower.

Another shot of the tree, which looks tiny in this photo compared to in real life!



I'd like to try Barcelona Lounge, I didn’t see a lot of people there during this trip but it seems like a peaceful spot to end the night. They have a fridge with snacks to the right of the bar, including a fruit platter that was much nicer than the one we ended up with on this night!



We went up to the top floor to Dahlia Lounge, which is opposite of Toledo. A few others were checking it out too, so don’t feel like you are intruding if you’re not buying any drinks. The bar is not at the entrance but the door to the balcony is, so it doesn’t feel weird at all.

We could see Galaxy’s Edge and Tower of Terror ahead, and Spaceship Earth way off to the left. We weren’t able to see any fireworks from Epcot but I think you can see some of the HS fireworks. The view is still really cool so it’s worth a trip up at night especially.





We walked back to the dining hall and grabbed a sad little fruit cup and a pasta with chips. Just plain marinara, they offered chicken but no meatballs? They scooped the noodles out of a big heater drawer and just ladled on the sauce, boy there is a really big profit margin on Disney resort pasta .





The pasta was huge, nothing special but the nighttime Disney hunger after a long day is too real! People say you walk enough to eat what you want at Disney, but I'm pretty sure my 2nd dinners at 10PM would beg to differ!

We noticed that the little cereals they sell are not even a full serving size, what a rip off! They are $3 with a little carton of milk, you’re better off buying a box of cereal from the gift shop along with milk if you want to have cereal more than once during the trip.

Overall 21k steps for our HS day, no pool time for us since we were just too busy! The rest of the trip was going to be quite chilly but we are not swimmers so it was no big deal for us.

That’s it for Day Three folks! I feel like I need to pick up the pace or I will still be writing this report in 2021.

Continued in Day Four - Part One: Universal IoA and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure​

 

[Disneyhanna]

Hello all! I’m back and settled in from my solo trip, and it was so amazing! I need to hurry up and finish this TR (long way to go ) so I can start the solo TR, I can’t have two going at the same time or I’ll never finish! I took about 1000 photos so I need to figure out a better way to host photos so I’m not limited to 10 per post...

But anyways traveling solo was a very different experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who is unsure. I never felt alone because Disney is so busy. I rode RotR twice in one of the first boarding groups both days and it was awesome, let me know if anyone reading wants me to write up some spoiler free tips while they are still relevant, by the time I get to that TR I’m sure Disney will be doing something different .

I plan on getting back to this TR very soon so stay tuned!

 

[amuse-bouche]

@Disneyhanna, I really enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to hearing about your Universal day. We are Disney regulars but have our first Universal trip (9 days at Royal Pacific Resort) planned for this fall. We know very little about Universal so I'm trying to read everything I can find.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Day Four - Part One: Universal IoA and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

** All Hagrid's queue photos will be hidden in my posts so no spoilers unless you are interested! **

We started our day around 8AM and were out the door by about 8:50. We really are not morning people, we consider this getting up really early for vacation !

They have the donuts in Cafe Rix and next door in El Mercado de Coronado, one of my favorite parts about CSR.



Mom got the kids pancakes, which featured two large pancakes and some bacon that was much crispier than the bacon from the adult station! It also came with a full sized OJ and the tiniest orange quarter ever.



I ordered the biscuits and gravy, which were pretty decent. I have only ever had continental breakfast biscuits and gravy though, so keep that in mind! The home fries were pretty crispy, I’d definitely prefer hash browns and butter though.

All of the food was a bit cold, El Mercado is definitely not as busy as I remember the food court at POP being, so the food suffers a bit with less turnover.

We noticed a lady order just a bowl of scrambled eggs and some cheese on top, so I suppose you can always ask to see what the CMs can do for you if you don’t find anything on the menu!

In case you’re already questioning our knowledge of southern foods, my mom called my biscuits “grits” .

We walked through the hallway to Gran Destino Tower for our Uber to Universal, and made a pit stop at their restrooms. Look how nice this looks compared to the one in the old El Centro lobby!



Okay moving on! I love getting picked up at GDT since it’s right off the main road and drivers have no trouble finding it. I’ll never forget our last stay at POP, where every single driver ended up either at AoA or just completely lost.

Our driver was super talkative, drivers in the Disney area really seem to be. At least compared to drivers in MN! He talked about golf with my mom pretty much the entire time. He also talked about how he only drinks his wine with ice, so there’s that.

We were dropped off at the nice new rideshare drop-off and pick-up spot at Universal, and were into Islands of Adventure by 10:10AM. It was only $15 because I was lucky enough to have 25% off rides that week!

We always start at IoA because we like starting with Hogsmeade. It was really windy and chilly when we walked in, the area with the moving walkways is such a wind tunnel.

Hulk had a bit of a line if I remember, so I decided to skip since I knew I would be going to an Orlando Informer meetup event at Universal only a few months later. I hate making my mom wait, and the Hulk single rider line can be so slow!

Spider-Man only had a 10 minute wait, and I had never ridden before so we decided it would be worth the wait. It’s often been 30 minutes during our past visits so why not! I read ahead and knew my mom couldn’t ride, but she went through the queue with me since it wasn’t too long a wait to be standing.



I wasn’t expecting such big carts and thought it was a pretty enjoyable ride! The 3D rides at Universal are plentiful, but I thought the screens were really clear. Disney could really upgrade the video quality on FoP in my opinion!

I definitely see why many find it motion-sickness inducing, so skip if you are prone to that. Lots of feeling like the cart you are in is being tossed around at all heights. Tom Holland is my favorite Spider-Man though, I wish he could be the one narrating the ride. Perhaps in Disneyland soon? I can dream!

King Kong was next on our loop around IoA, and standby was only 15 minutes. This line can get crazy long and my mom can usually survive riding it, so we went ahead and got in line. The queue is actually pretty interesting, full of scary elements and during this trip, live actors in the walls!



We were on in a little under 15 minutes, so the morning was off to a pretty good start. I love the Kong animatronic at the end, even if the ride is just so-so, it’s worth it to see Kong. (Disney, where is my working Yeti?!)

We had to make a quick restroom stop in Thunder Falls Terrace, and I got a picture of the cute Christmas trees they had.



At this point I was getting anxious about riding Hagrid’s and I had read that around lunch time was the best bet. It was after the initial morning rush, so we went into Hogsmeade and right to the queue, where the wait time was posted at only 75 minutes.



Knowing that it can get a lot longer than 75 minutes, I made the call to get in line at 11:14AM and stick it out! I made my mom come with since I knew there was a lot to see and I didn’t want her to be sitting around somewhere for an hour. Plus, then I could just leave my bag with her!

Since not everyone wants to be spoiled, I have hidden all of my photos from the queue in the next few posts. I will link Part Two when it is available, if you would like to skip all Hagrid's spoilers!

Spoiler: Some Hagrid's outdoor queue spoilers

I got some pictures of the track at the beginning of the queue, it doesn’t go very high or have any big drops but the track is huge!









You can even see where they painted the buildings in the distance to blend with the sky. I was getting so excited, the bikes really zoom by and the weather was chilly but beautiful and sunny, so I was hopeful that I would get to ride!

Hagrid's queue photos continued in my next post.​

 

[Disneyhanna]

** All Hagrid's queue photos are hidden in my posts so no spoilers unless you are interested! **

Spoiler: More Hagrid's outdoor queue spoilers

There were fans in the queue for the outside portion, they weren’t on that day but I imagine they are very necessary in the summer, even though there are some nice shaded parts with all of the trees they planted.

The wooden animals were really cool, I’m not sure if they have any backstory but there are so many things to look at.





Hagrid’s Hut had so many pumpkins in various states of decay!



There’s a Hagrid’s Hut in the Flight of the Hippogriff queue, but you can get much closer to this one. Plenty of photo opportunities if the line is slow!



The line actually was moving at a good pace, which makes it go a lot faster.

There were bird houses all over throughout the queue, let me know if these are for a certain type of bird.



Oooh, something got to that pumpkin!



If you’re hungry or thirsty and the line is long, you are in luck, they sell treats in the queue! This was a popular cart for sure.



Finally I was almost into the castle! I believe it is an abandoned castle that you go through? I’m not entirely sure, but it was beautiful.



I hear this was the most expensive roller coaster ever built, and I can believe it with the queue alone. Some of the rides at Universal don’t have anything interesting to look at in the queues, but the Harry Potter rides have shown that they can do some really amazing theming!



I did not read or watch any spoilers prior to riding, so I had no idea how far along I was at this point. But since we were pretty much moving the entire time so far, I had a good feeling!

We were quite comfortable outside in long sleeves and a vest, the sun made it feel much nicer.

Even more Hagrid's queue photos continued in my next post!​

 

[Disneyhanna]

** All Hagrid's queue photos are hidden in my posts so no spoilers unless you are interested! **

Spoiler: One last post of Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure photos!

I was finally inside the castle after about 22 minutes, and you are initially greeted by some beautiful art on the walls.



Again, more bird houses on the ceiling? These might just be for decoration, not sure.



There was a pre-show at this point if I remember right, where you are sprayed with water in typical Universal fashion!

I entered what I am calling the “egg room” since there were eggs on the side walls. It takes a bit of time to get through this room since the queue goes up and down.



At this point there was a recorded announcement about stowing loose articles, at first I was worried that it was going to be about a ride delay!

I believe the caves were next, you spend a bit of time in them so if you are claustrophobic, it could be a problem.

I checked the Universal app at 11:50AM and Kong was up to 50 minutes, Spider-Man at 35, and Hagrid’s down to 60 minutes. That was a good sign!

Finally out of the caves, we were in a cool room with a lot of posters and various items, including tubes of...Unicorn blood?



There were some TVs showing how the ride vehicles worked, and it seemed like if I wanted the bike (as opposed to the side car), I should load first.



My mom departed the line at 11:56 AM by the test seats in the last room before the ride loads, where it looks like a bike is driving on the roof. This room has a long and winding queue, so it can take a while even once you reach this room. She had waited 42 minutes at this point.

Once you are through this room and into the hallway where you see this sign above, it is almost your turn!



I’m glad they have lots of instructions to keep the loading process faster. By the second TV with the loading photos, a CM asked how many in my party. It was 12:02 at this point, so about 48 minutes into my wait.

I made it onto the ride at 12:05 for a total wait of 51 minutes, well under the advertised 75! Since I waited in the regular line, I got to choose the bike in the FRONT ROW and they put a single rider in the side car. I’m not sure if the single rider line is always open, so definitely ask. You do miss a lot of the queue from what I’ve heard.

I don’t have a ton of thoughts from that first ride since so much was happening other than it was absolutely awesome! Easily the most thrilling ride I have done at Disney or Universal, since it’s a truly fast coaster but also has awesome theming. There are actually a lot of parts where you mostly see tracks, but this is where some of the accelerations occur and it is just unlike any other coaster I have ever been on.

I’m a major coaster enthusiast to the point where the big drops don’t do much for me anymore, so this ride was really unique and used more unique ways to provide the thrill factor. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but if you are nervous about the drop track, it’s very predictable and doesn’t drop very far. No worse of a feeling than the drop on Splash Mountain!

Spoilers over, right now Hagrid’s is my favorite theme park ride, it’s such a refreshing break from screen rides and it’s impossible to not have a huge smile on your face the entire time. I don’t usually have the patience to wait in long lines, but I’d say this one is worth waiting for!

I was lucky and the line never really stopped moving, it would be tough to wait it out if it went down though, so try earlier in the day since the ride has a lot of moving parts and will tend to close early if the line is long and they have a lot of people to get through. I think it closed mid-afternoon on this day.

Phew, not much else to say other than go ride this ride! No matter how the rest of our day at Universal went, I was so happy to have gotten to ride the one thing I was looking forward to most for this trip.

Continued in Part Two: Butterbeer, Diagon Alley, Leaky Cauldron​

 

[Disneyhanna]

@Disneyhanna, I really enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to hearing about your Universal day. We are Disney regulars but have our first Universal trip (9 days at Royal Pacific Resort) planned for this fall. We know very little about Universal so I'm trying to read everything I can find.

Universal is great! We are a bit fatigued by it because we have gone to Universal quite a few times in only a few years, and since my mom can ride very few things it's not quite as fun for her. But the first time is especially magical, since you will see everything for the first time and get to take it all in, not just rush from one thing to the next like we seem to!

I think having a long stay will give you the best experience, there is a lot to explore (and eat) just like at Disney, and we have never given ourselves enough time to relax and enjoy it. We tend to be pretty frantic at Universal for this reason! I hope you have an awesome visit! If you are HP fans, you will be in absolute paradise!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Day Four - Part Two: Butterbeer, Diagon Alley, Leaky Cauldron

Hello all! Hope you are all staying safe and keeping busy amidst this crazy time.

Here in MN we have already closed all schools and colleges, my company has made working from home mandatory with no end date, and restaurants are also closed for the month. A few weeks ago I never would have believed that WDW and DLR would be closed as well, but here we are.

I am in a career where I have to take professional exams of similar calibre to the MCAT or CPA exams, and my late April exam was just cancelled today. Oh well, just have to carry on. So I am finding myself with a bit more free time, and I plan on trying to get a few posts out a week to move this TR along!

Back to our Universal Orlando day, starting right after my successful ride on Hagrid's coaster!

We headed to Hog’s Head for our favorite drink, Butterbeer! It was chilly so we were happy to get hot Butterbeer, which I think is my favorite. I haven’t had cold Butterbeer in quite a while though, so I don’t know if anyone should listen to me!



There was a bit of a line and we ended up waiting 5-10 minutes, not sure why they were so slow. Usually the Butterbeer barrel carts outside have a long wait but they may have been faster on this day, oh well!



So delicious, they never do fill the cups full but this was so sweet and tasty. Mom and I always share so it’s the perfect amount. They are quite sweet and imagine a creamy chai tea latte, but butterscotch instead!

As we walked around, we noticed there weren’t that many kids around. Perks of traveling right after a school holiday!



We passed by Hagrid’s at 12:40 and the wait time was up to 90 minutes so I think lunch time is a good thought, especially on the early side since people won’t want to be waiting in line when they are starting to get hungry.

We decided to try Leaky Cauldron for lunch, since last time we were at Universal we had the chicken and ribs from Three Broomsticks, which we loved. But we were all about trying new things this trip so Leaky it is! (Side note: the best HP meal I’ve had was the Sunday Roast in Universal Hollywood, but it’s not served in Orlando. )

We took the Hogwarts Express of course, which thankfully had no wait. The Hogsmeade side rarely has a line while the Diagon Alley side always seems backed up, wonder why that is?



We were on the train a little after 1PM, and the entire ride is about six minutes. I’ve never gone between the parks any other way so I’m not sure if there is a faster way or not, but this is certainly the most fun way!

I took mom’s photo with the Knight Bus driver, who loves to talk. So does the shrunken head!



Make sure you enter Diagon Alley from this side to get the cool brick sound effects.



Lots of garland everywhere for the holidays, I really wish there was a Harry Potter hotel here.



Continued in next post.​

 

[Disneyhanna]

Time for a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron! This is the first Harry Potter restaurant I ever ate at back in 2017, mom had the fish and chips and I had a chicken sandwich, both of which I believe are still being served.



I love that they have cases showing all of the food options, as an indecisive person who always has food regret, this is very helpful to me!



We only had to wait 10 minutes to order, which isn’t bad for the HP restaurants.

As we were brought to our seat after ordering, I had to take a picture of the Leaky Cauldron herself, obviously!



We were sat at a tiny two person table even though it wasn’t that busy, classic.



There’s our lampstick that you put on your table for them to bring you your food, like the roses they use/used at Be Our Guest. Look how small the table is!

The ceiling is so high at Leaky Cauldron, make sure to look up for some cool theming. It really is very immersive and it’s worth checking out both restaurants.



We waited about 10 minutes for our food, mom got the cottage pie (Savory combination of beef and chunky vegetables in a potato crust served with a garden salad) and I got the beef, lamb, and Guinness stew (Served in a warm, crusty bread bowl). These were $16 each, phew!



The salads come with the theme park staple, Ken’s dressing (ick), and a stewed tomato that looks gross but tastes okay if you like tomatoes. The lettuce was nice and fresh even though there wasn’t much of it.

I’ll start with my stew. This was pretty terrible. It was hot and there were a lot of large chunks of lamb, but they were pretty tough and the stew had a weird flavor I couldn’t get past. The bread bowl was more like a cheap dinner roll, and cannot compare a tiny bit to the delicious and freshly baked sourdough Boudin bread bowl I had for $12 at California Adventure (Disneyland Resort) last summer. Perhaps my standards were too high but I thought this was pretty awful. I think if you like the flavor it would be fine, but it wasn’t for me.

Next up is mom’s cottage pie. Here’s what it looks like inside, sorry that none of these photos are particularly appetizing.



It comes in a small single-serve tin, so enough food for an average eater. I tried some and thought it was pretty blah, again it had a unique flavor that wasn’t my favorite. It was basically some ground beef and peas with mashed potatoes on top, but overall I wasn’t a fan. I don’t think cottage pie is really a thing here in MN so perhaps this meal just wasn’t to my tastes!

Overall we regretted our choices and wish we had stuck to Three Broomsticks or the fish and chips and sandwich like our first time at Leaky. But it’s always good to branch out a bit! Plus everyone has different tastes so you can't always go off of recommendations. Someone out there might love these dishes, so don't let me scare you off!

As we went back into Diagon Alley again, we caught the Tale of the Three Brothers puppet show. We had only seen the Fountain of Fair Fortune show (multiple times) so I was excited to see something new.



These puppet shows are so amazing and the team members do such a great job, it is definitely worth seeing these if you have the time.



I loved this show and there were some really funny parts, I do wish there were a few more benches near the stage, especially since it’s a pretty open area.

Diagon Alley was quite pleasant and quiet compared to busy times of year, we seem to luck out with fairly low crowds on all of our Universal trips. It’s never been as busy as Disney and I’d say that the crowds were particularly low this day even if the lines weren’t that short.



Continued in Part Three: More Universal Fails and Toothsome Treats​

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m sorry the food wasn’t the best at Leaky Cauldron! I think we had a chicken sandwich there last time and it was okay.
I love the train both ways, it is such a neat way to experience more of Harry Potter!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I’m sorry the food wasn’t the best at Leaky Cauldron! I think we had a chicken sandwich there last time and it was okay.
I love the train both ways, it is such a neat way to experience more of Harry Potter!

The chicken sandwich is definitely one of the better meals there! What I would give to be able to ride the Hogwarts Express right now! We are thinking about doing a HP movie marathon, it's been a few years so it is probably about time...

 

[Disneyhanna]

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I'm adjusting to the stay-at-home life and haven't had the energy to write. Definitely feeling bummed about everything right now, feeling sad for a lot of friends/family out of work and though I am thankful I can still do my job from home, it's tough to be motivated and separate work and personal time when you're confined to the house!

Luckily I am not at my small downtown apartment, I decided to temporarily move back in with my mom until things look up. It hurts to still be paying rent when I'm not there, but I think I would go crazy being there all alone. We have been watching a lot of Project Runway and have almost run out of seasons on Hulu, I'm not sure what we will watch next!

We have been taking a lot of walks in our neighborhood, and I have been trying to run 3x/week. All of my races have been canceled and I don't have high hopes for my October race, so that's definitely made it hard to motivate. We had some nice weather (it hit 60!) and then the next day it snowed, it figures!

I've written the rest of my posts for our Universal day, so I plan on wrapping that up shortly so I can move on to the rest of the Disney days!

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, and that you are all taking care of yourselves!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Day Four - Part Three: More Universal Fails and Toothsome Treats

Gringotts standby was 40 minutes and my mom wasn’t feeling up to riding, so we headed out of Diagon Alley to explore a bit outside of the Wizarding World. We saw some percussionists that I believe are the “Beat Builders” doing a show which was neat to watch.



We walked around a bit, there sure are a lot of facades and Universal. It’s even true in the Harry Potter areas, it makes me a bit sad that there are so many storefronts that aren’t real.

The park was pretty empty and it was definitely a lean operation, there are so many cast members at Disney that there is always something to look at, whereas on this Universal trip I hardly saw any team members apart from those working in attractions/shops or selling food.

We passed by ET and it was sadly 40 minutes! It’s one of the few rides my mom can do and we both love it, but we are not patient people so we passed. So sad! I’d shell out for an express pass but since my mom could only benefit for like 2-3 rides, it’s just never felt worth it to us.

I ended up getting in line for Simpson’s around 2:30 as standby was only 20 minutes. I had never ridden before, and hear it’s one of the most motion-sickness inducing rides ever.



The wait ended up being about 30 minutes and was so slow! Neither of us watch the Simpsons (sorry) and the pre-show takes forever. Mom took the chicken exit but I was happy she waited in line with me, a lot more fun than being alone in line.

What I can say about the ride is now I understand why people get so sick! I felt fine and enjoyed it for the first 90%, and then the last 10% I was definitely ready for it to be over. I was in the back row and the ride was just very warm, and so much longer than I expected. I didn’t feel sick but my head definitely felt off and I would never ride it twice in a row.

Overall I recommend trying it if you have a strong stomach! It was definitely a well-done ride, I think the extended time in front of the same screen is what really does people in since there’s no break like cart rides that move between multiple screens. I think I've already said it, but Universal's screen rides are much more high-def than at Disney.

We were going to try to make it to the horror make up show but got stuck behind performers and couldn’t cross the street. People just 10 seconds ahead of us made it and we were cut off from entering! Bad luck for us on this day!



Passing by ET again, still 40 minutes! Not sure why it was so popular on this day, the park wasn’t busy at all overall. When we rode last trip I think we walked right on!

Had to get a picture of Grimmauld Place on our way back into Diagon Alley. It’s funny how many people take pictures in front of Number 13!



The building next to King’s Cross was decorated very nicely for the holidays.



Back into Diagon Alley, I go back and forth about which HP area I prefer. I think Diagon is more fun, but nothing beats seeing Hogwarts!



The Gringotts standby was 55 at this point, I decided to just skip the nice queue and do single rider. I’ve had hit and miss luck with single rider on Gringotts, I’ve waited an hour before and I’ve also basically walked right on. I find the Forbidden Journey single line much shorter.



I ended up waiting a little over 20 minutes, not terrible but not that quick. I love the music in the HP queues so much, even if there isn’t much to look at in the single rider lines, it still is much better than other ride queues.



The drop at the beginning was much more thrilling than I remembered! I love this ride a lot, the screen usage is so minimal, I am still amazed my mom survived riding this once because it’s pretty intense for a track ride!

I find it funny and cute how the team members at Universal always clap when riders return to unload! Riding Gringotts definitely brightened my mood, we really were not accomplishing much on this day (five rides in six hours?) and I think we were just tired of waiting around.

At 4PM, I noticed on the Universal app that Hagrid’s had reached capacity for a 7PM park close. I was very glad I rode it when I did! I overheard lots of grumbling from people throughout the day about it being closed so early. If you do a small amount of research you would have known ahead of time, but many people just think they can wing it like a regular amusement park...not quite the case sadly!

Continued in next post.​

 

[Disneyhanna]

The Hogwarts Express back to Hogsmeade (this direction always seems like it has a longer wait) said 40 minutes, we figured oh well and got in line around 4:10. The scanners are finicky and everyone with paper tickets could not get through, so scan your tickets into the app everyone! Getting in line for the HE always makes me miss the ease of magic bands.



Isn’t this poster in the sixth movie, I think? I haven’t watched the last three movies as many times so I forget some of the smaller details. I'm sure I miss most of the Easter Eggs, I will have to look more into that since it would be fun to know where they are so I can look for them on our next visit.



Lots more decorations! This side has the better queue, for sure.



Anyone else want to cry thinking about Hedwig? I think that was the first time I cried while reading the books, I remember reading Deathly Hallows the day it came out (pretty sure I went to the midnight release) and having to put the book down for a while when that scene happened. Can’t believe that was 2007!

We were onto the train in only 20 minutes. Fake Hermione’s voice always gets me!

Back to Hogsmeade, we really do spend most of our time in HP. Oops!



I love the fake snow in Hogsmeade, it really makes this Minnesotan girl feel at home!



The Forbidden Journey entrance said 30 minutes but the app said 60, weird! I gave my mom my bag and she wandered around in the shops while I did single rider. We’ve done the castle walkthrough in standby a few times so I usually do single rider for FJ since it’s so quick.

Not much in the single rider queue but I snuck a quick picture of the portraits as I passed quickly by.



Once you get to the Sorting Hat, you’re almost on!



It was basically a walk-on, there were maybe a dozen people ahead of me once I caught up to the front of the queue.

The ride felt a bit queasier than usual, I think I was still feeling the Simpsons a bit. I always close my eyes for the Dementors, it still scares me even though I know what to expect. Also with the spiders. Closing my eyes probably made it worse since I felt even more thrown around, oops!

I finished the ride and my mom asked if I wanted to go again since it was so quick, no thanks I didn’t want to lose my lunch!

I took my usual photo of Hogwarts, I must have 100 of these on my phone by now.



Even though Universal does not compare to Disney for me, I will always be amazed by Hogwarts. I think it is the most memorable the first time, and we tend to breeze through things now since the merchandise doesn’t change up that much. But if you take a moment to pause and take everything in, it really is incredible what Universal has done with Harry Potter. If you have never been, it is 100% worth spending a few days there (with a two-park ticket so you can ride the train) just for HP alone.

I wasn’t feeling 100% after FJ so we decided to get a snack. We had a late reservation at 7:30 for Cape May and needed something to sustain us!

The Seuss train was 40 minutes at 5:10 so we skipped it. That line is the worst! There were a ton of walls up near Jurassic, I think they are building a new coaster?

We ended up at Cinnabon near the entrance and got some delicious BonBites. Cinnabon is my favorite type of cinnamon roll...so soft and fluffy.



My mom was going to get coffee at Starbucks but the line was crazy long so, surprise, we did not get any coffee. I felt so much better after the Cinnabon, maybe my blood sugar was getting low? Is that possible on a theme park vacation?

Continued in next post.​

 

[Disneyhanna]

I wanted to go to Toothsome for some (more) sweets and we were mobbed by survey people on our way out of IoA. I think we answered a few questions, gotta help them improve the parks!

Here are some pictures of the truffles, macarons, and other sweets from Toothsomes. They are so beautiful and there are no prices so be careful! I wanted to buy everything and I’m not even that big on chocolate.







Look at these fun characters, I’m not sure of the story behind Toothsome but they were funny to listen to.



I ended up getting a box of six macarons for $21. I got blackberry tea, mango raspberry, passionfruit, pistachio, chocolate nutella, and caramel macchiato.



These were huge, way bigger than macarons usually are. They were so pretty I didn’t want to eat them. Lots of fruity flavors, which are my favorite. I ended up eating them slowly throughout the trip, and they all sort of tasted the same to me. Nice and chewy though, I would definitely get a few again (maybe just 1-2 for a snack though, since six was kind of a lot for me since they aren’t my mom’s favorite).

I would love to work in a bakery if I could pick any job to do for fun. I’ve only tried making macarons twice and neither time was particularly successful, it’s so hard to get them the same size! I usually just buy them from Trader Joe’s where you can get a dozen for $5 and I just keep them in the freezer!

Anyways, we got back into the park really quickly with our tickets in the app.



The entrance to IoA is so pretty at night, we always start on this side and have never entered the park through the Universal side

I wanted this stuffed snowman, it’s the one from Hogsmeade!



We thought Seuss Landing was one of the most decorated areas of the park.



At 5:55 the Seuss train said 10 minutes, so we got in line! It took 20 minutes, ugh! We were getting a bit anxious since the castle light show was happening and we wanted to see it before leaving for dinner.



The train is such a fun little ride, they only had one train running which is why the line took so long. We weren’t that far back but the train doesn’t load very many people. The seats are so small and hard to get into though!



We arrived at 6:20 for the Hogwarts light show and they had blocked off people from going near the castle until 6:40...the times guide just said “ongoing” so we were confused why they were restricting traffic so strictly. We had our dinner reservation at 7:30 so we really could not hang around any longer.

Oh well, we had luckily seen the light show the previous year and so it wasn’t the end of the world. It put a bit of a damper on our Universal day though, obviously everything was our fault for not planning well but it didn’t feel like we had accomplished that much despite the park having such low crowds. We don’t love Universal enough to want to do multiple days, but there’s really no way to do it all in a short time unless you have Express passes.

I had already purchased tickets for the February Orlando Informer meetup event for my solo trip at this point, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t enjoy myself. Oh well, I would just have to keep my expectations low and go in with a good attitude!

Thanks for tagging along for this long Universal day that has taken me forever to finish...hopefully I will be faster with my updates now that we head back to Disney!

Continued in Day Four - Part Four: Cape May Cafe Dinner​