I Can Spot Frozen Fireworks Anywhere! Aug. '14 TR Updated 7/12

[Wood Nymph]

Back to VGF, where Michelle came in for a tour. She loved it (and said it was way nicer than the Marriott World Center, where she and my dad were staying).

We stayed there once, and it was nice, but it wasn't Disney.

I would think that the new VGF would beat out a lot of off site hotels. I would love to stay there one day.

 

[tdashgirl]

It was good, not as mind blowingly great as that first ride you had on Forbidden Journey. The new scenes they filmed for Gringotts were amazing and the queue in the bank itself is exquisite. But the actual ride part is more “meh” than I expected. It’s very much like Spiderman or Transformers where you’re in a car that bounces and spins, but you’re basically just moving from screen to screen.

October 2014 was our first and so far only trip to Universal, so we experienced both of the "big" HP rides at the same time -- but ITA with you! We thought the theming of Gringotts was great and the ride was fun -- but the Forbidden Journey we thought was amazing!!!! One of the best rides we'd ever been on.

 

[Missyrose]

Hi, I have been following along. My daughter and I were at WDW and US in November. We loved DA and Escape from Gringotts. FJ in Hogsmeade is still our favorite over the two.

We also loved the train ride. I really like your reports and the great pictures. We are heading back to Disney in April and we will be at the BCV so really excited. I am following your other trip report as well where you all are at the BWV.

Thanks! We'll be back to Disney in April, too. When are your dates?

While the Harry Potter stuff is largely lost on me, the theming is clearly amazing. Will have to check it out I in the nearer term and even more so now that I know there is a margaritaville. Love a fellow parrot head family ; ) my daughter is 3 and already loves uncle jimmy ; )

The theming for the Harry Potter lands is spectacular. I would dare to say it's done better than any themed land at Disney! Margaritaville is a lot of fun for any parrothead, well worth the trip to Universal!

Loving your reviews and such amazing pics. We're going in August and were planning on a possible day to Universal. Would you say the one day is worth the $500 + in tickets that I'm gonna spend for my family of 4? I'd like to do a dual park ticket to experience both HP worlds and there are several rides in both parks I'd like to hit. Do you think it's possible to do this in a full day? Thanks.

You won't see everything in one day, but you can come darn close. You can easily explore both Harry Potter lands, plus pick your must-dos for the rest of the parks in a full day there.

We stayed there once, and it was nice, but it wasn't Disney.

I would think that the new VGF would beat out a lot of off site hotels. I would love to stay there one day.

Funny story. Growing up, my dad traveled a lot for work. So he had a bazillion Marriott points, so that is where we stayed when we went to Disney. We went to Chef Mickey's one time and I asked where we were. My Dad replied "Mickey's hotel." I looked at him, mouth agape, and said "Mickey has a hotel and we're not staying there?!?!?"

I think I've more than made up for that with my DVC contracts.
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[Missyrose]

We last left off arriving back in the Disney bubble after a fabulous day exploring Diagon Alley. We had about enough time to shower and change before jetting off for dinner. Where were we dining, you ask? Just one of our favorites!

We met my dad and Michelle at the restaurant. Turns out, they’d already checked in and had beaten us to the bar!

Franklin ordered the cucumber fizz, knowing I’d want to share it. He’s the cutest.

We took Chelsea out to the balcony to show her the spectacular view!

And soon we were seated at a table that afforded us a lovely view of the park.

The waiter brought the bread basket first (lavender-flavored focaccia and whole-wheat sourdough).

Michelle started with what looks like the world’s most beautiful salad (in reality, I think it was a summer watermelon salad).

And Dad started with the Caesar salad.

Franklin and I split the goat cheese ravioli.

Michelle’s entree was the scallops.

Chelsea chose the goat cheese ravioli as her main course.

Dad enjoyed the oak-fired filet (though he says it was a smidge overcooked).

Franklin and I apparently wanted to eat our weight in sushi: We ordered the Spicy Kazan roll, Pork Belly Nigiri and the oshizushi.

I couldn’t believe any of us had room for dessert, but we did! The table shared the blueberry cheesecake.

I’m not going to lie. The service at California Grill on this night was slooooooow. Our meal took just shy of three hours. We’ve had long meals at Cali Grill before, just not quite this long. We had just finished up dessert when it was time to head for the balcony for Wishes.

We weren’t the only ones with that idea.

Franklin would like me to warn all of you that he shot Wishes that night without his trusty tripod, so the results aren’t quite as spectacular as he’s used to.

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[Missyrose]

That spectacular meal and beautiful fireworks display is where this Disney day ends. But stay tuned, we’ve got some Grand Floridian fun coming up next!
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[kastoney]

Despite the slow service you meal looks delish. That sushi especially looks amazing, will have to try that out next trip. And franklins pics are great as always, tripod or not

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think the "issue" with Gringott's is that people were expecting it to exceed FJ, and when it didn't it left a lot of people disappointed.

I like the ceramic red solo cup!

Sounds like a nice dinner but 3 hours is a bit much. Love, love the spicy Kazaan roll. Thought the pork belly roll was very good but think in my head it was going to be even better.

Those are pretty good "not the best" firework photos. Love the view from there!

 

[Shazzasmd]

Caught up! Great report, as always.

I had a trip to Universal scheduled for December - but had to cancel. Hoping to get there first quarter of this year. We are at VGF in Feb, and your photos have me excited to get there!

 

[Ceryssa]

Wow I got way behind somehow. Now you've got me thinking again that I need to try 'Ohana for dinner. It gets such mixed reviews, but then I see that bread pudding...I can't resist bread pudding in any form! I'll have to consider it some more

Oh, those Frozen fireworks. When I went in July I declared them my favorite fireworks, ever. People told me just wait til I saw Wishes. Having now seen Wishes, Illuminations (both of which are spectacular in their own ways) and Fantasmic! I still say they're my favorite. I think like you said it's the added element of how well the stage show and the music integrate with the fireworks display. Even now, after hearing "Let It Go" so many times that I could recite it backwards in my sleep while standing on my head, it still gives me chills and I often tear up. The Frozen fireworks were just perfection, period.

No matter how many pictures of the Harry Potter area I see it still looks just amazing. I can't wait until it works out for us to go. And I LOVE eating at Margaritaville. Just such a fun place, I'll have to check out the one at CityWalk whenever we do make it to Universal. My husband totally does not get my love of Jimmy Buffet (they had live music where we were eating dinner over the weekend and playing Jimmy Buffet songs and I was positively giddy; he looked at me like I'd grown another head lol.) Whatever, my dad also raised me right .

California Grill looks amazing. I love living vicariously through your TRs when you visit all the signature restaurants. My kids are more wild animal than human at this point so we haven't attempted any, but that sushi looks tempting enough to make me chance it! And is there anything better than watching fireworks from your own balcony, wherever you are? That's just the best

 

[JulieODC]

Mmmm....butterbeer and fries!!

Looks like a fun lunch!

Gorgeous sunset from CG -- and your food does look yummy. Our last meal there was not a good experience, so we're taking a break...but it's hard to pass up that sushi, so I'm sure we'll be back again soon!

 

[BridgetR3]

Your pictures of Diagon Alley and all the Harry Potter stuff are awesome. I really want to go to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff but I wouldn't be able to ride most things there because even Star Tours makes me sick. lol....

I would love to see the bus with the talking shrunken head!

 

[khertz]

So many great updates while I was away from the DIS!

First off, I LOVE your HP shirt! I don't know if I noticed it in your first group of US updates. I have subsequently read similar reviews of Escape from Gringott's, but I am still excited to get to check it out myself later this year. I am really amazed at how Universal has managed to bring the books and movies to life in their HP areas.

Dinner looks fantastic! And despite the lack of tripod, I still think Franklin did an incredible job with the pics.

 

[RachelNinja]

Love love love all the HP updates! I love seeing all the details that were included.

 

[Missyrose]

Good morning friends! Franklin and I have some BIG news...

We're proud to introduce Magic of Main Street, our brand new blog devoted to all things Disney.

Need trip planning tips? We've got you covered. Want to plan a Food and Wine Festival trip and you want to read about our past F&W adventures? All of our past (and current) trip reports will now be at your fingertips.

We want this new blog to be a place where you hang out, have fun talking about upcoming trips, hear the latest Disney news and enjoy all things related to the Mouse!

We hope you'll join us at www.MagicofMainStreet.com

Don't fret though, Franklin and I will still be here on the Dis and the Facebook page will still be hopping (we've got big plans for that, too).
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[bama belle]

Sounds great, Missy! Can't wait to check it out!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Lovin the blog

 

[Missyrose]

Sounds great, Missy! Can't wait to check it out!

Lovin the blog

Thank you both so much!
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[Missyrose]

We last left off with a delicious meal at California Grill and Wishes from the top of the Contemporary. After a few days of being on the go, Franklin and I relished the chance to sleep in a bit. Chelsea, you see, is in vet school on the island of St. Kitt’s. So on this morning, she and her mom ran a few errands to get her stuff she can’t normally find on the island. With everyone else out shopping, Franklin and I had most of the day to ourselves. We started with a leisurely stroll from the villas to the main Grand Floridian lobby.

Richard (who has worked at GF since it opened) was helping a bride make her way through the lobby that morning.

We were headed for the cafe on this lovely morning.

We both enjoyed our GFC “usual.” Franklin had the lobster eggs benedict.

After breakfast we headed back to our villa to change into our bathing suits, it was pool time! We really, REALLY enjoyed the Beach Pool. It wasn’t too crowded -- we easily found a couple of chairs. And that’s where we stayed for the next couple of (photo free) hours. This pool has easily the most gorgeous surroundings of any at Walt Disney World. GF is just so beautiful by itself. And then to add the monorail cruising by and Contemporary in the distance, I could have stayed in that pool for days. But our hunger eventually got the best of us. I wanted Casey’s corndog nuggets and Franklin wanted a churro. Luckily for us, Magic Kingdom was just a quick monorail ride away.

With the first Halloween party slated for the following Monday, the fall decorations had started to go up at the park. And I was convinced it was solely to taunt me (this would be the first year we’d missed MNSSHP and the Food and Wine Festival in the past six years and I wasn’t handling that fact well).

We split up as we walked up Main Street, I headed for Casey’s, while Franklin veered into Adventureland.

He called an audible and got the churro AND a Dole Whip, which was pretty melty by the time he got back to Casey’s.

But this very snack outing is the very epitome of why I enjoy the resorts that are close to the parks so much -- you can just pop in whenever the mood strikes.

We had been texting with our friend Katt, she was at MK too. After we finished our snacks, we joined her in Frontierland for an impromptu viewing of Festival of Fantasy. Franklin was especially excited because this was his very first time seeing the parade!

Anna was doing the robot, I loved it!

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[Missyrose]

Okay, does anyone think the writers of “Maleficent” should have told the Disney parks people how useless they were going to make Prince Phillip before the parks built a million-dollar parade around him?

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[Missyrose]

Needless to say, Franklin LOVED the parade. There are so many beautiful details for him to photograph. And the performers are just fantastic, they really play to the crowd! And that beautiful display of color and fun is where we’ll end for now. But stay tuned because we have a evening outside the parks coming up!
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