Star Wars Weekends, 24 Hour Party and Shenanigans UPDATE10/16 Star Wars Sci Fi bfast

[kastoney]

Wow, Harry Potter world (or whatever it is really called) looks amazing. Having only seen a couple of the movies (yes I know I'm a walking travesty) it looks completely like it was lifted from the movie. And the rides sound amazing, but at least Disney has the brand new mine train ; ) Can't wait to visit the dark side once my daughter can appreciate it.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Yah, he's got the puppet Hedwig. It's fun to play with. I love that you call your stuffed animals sophisticated companions We have all of the Star Wars Itty Bitties from Hallmark now. I am thinking of taking them to SWW next year to hold up when we get a pic with the character or actor. DS also has a stuffed Chopper that we might bring.

I can understand about the kitty. We had to put down my cow kitty, Owsley, right before DS9 was born, right before Xmas. He looked like a Jersey cow. It's definitely hard, but over time, it gets easier to remember the good times without getting teary.

We didn't get any U-No-Poo. I wanted to, but no one else wanted any. Plus, we had spent a ton of money the previous day at Honeydukes. We did get the Fizzing Whizbees though.

I agree. I think anyone can appreciate it without having ever seen the movies or read the books. I think at least seeing the movies helps though.

The Beedle the Bard show is really cool. The puppets were so beautiful. I don't know if @yulilin3 DS was helping the day we saw it, but we did enjoy it.

Yep, sophisticated companions comes from an episode of Full House where DJ calls her pillow pet a sophisticated companion. Full house is a bit of a thing for me, Stephanie and my younger sister hahaha.

I have that same stuffed Chopper, which I think we've discussed before on the SW Weekends thread!! Yay Chopper!! Did you see the new Rebels episode yet? I thought it was amazing.

Owsley

What do the Fizzing Whizbees taste like? Never had those.

I'm late, but joining in ........

Favorite Park : MK /
HS during SWW.
Favorite Characters to Meet :
Mickey, Tinker Bell, Captn Hook, Chewbacca.
Favorite Movie: Alice, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean.
Favorite Nighttime Show : Wishes & Main Street Electrical Parade,
SWW Symphony in the Stars (WOWWEEEEEE !)
Favorite Counter Service/Snack : Frozen Banana dipped in Chocolate, Churro's, Dole Whip (now I'm hungry for those treats).
Favorite Disney transportation : Monorail to MK & to Epcot
Favorite Disney horse: Bullseye
Favorite Hotel: Caribbean Beach Resort (Dreaming of staying at AKL, GF).

It's never too late...for fun? Haha yeah. Glad to see you join in

Ahhhhh I didn't even think to say DHS when SWW is going on for my favorite park!! I know that would have been @yulilin3 's answer.

I agree with you about SITS, WOWWEEEEE is correct.

I love your HP trip report. I feel like I'm touring with you.
Yummmmm Butterbeer.....

Butterbeer....<homer simpson drool>

Favorite Park : Epcot
Favorite Characters to Meet : Mary Poppins
Favorite Movie: Cinderella (animated)
Favorite Nighttime Show : Wishes
Favorite Counter Service/Snack : Ice Cream Sundae
Favorite Disney transportation : Ferry Boat
Favorite Disney horse: Mary's Carrousel Horse
Favorite Hotel: POR

Hello! I wish they had a carousel themed after the exact horses Mary and co. ride in the movie. That would be sweet. But instead of a merry go round...OMG, best ride idea ever!! You could start off on a carousel, then the horses could go off track and you could gently bounce up and down on your horse through the English countryside and participate in the hunt and the race at the end in a dark ride. Why hasn't Disney done this?!?!

Wow, Harry Potter world (or whatever it is really called) looks amazing. Having only seen a couple of the movies (yes I know I'm a walking travesty) it looks completely like it was lifted from the movie. And the rides sound amazing, but at least Disney has the brand new mine train ; ) Can't wait to visit the dark side once my daughter can appreciate it.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter I actually think Universal had production designers from the movie come in to work on the Wizarding World. It really does feel like your in the town/city. Oh you have to go! How old is your daughter? You could start reading the books to her, that is what my older sister did with her kids. I feel like an 8 or 9 year old could most likely handle the first few if you read them together.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Day 1 Universal Part 2

What's a Cowfish?!

So last we left off we were headed away from the Wizarding World so that we could start to make use of the Express Pass that was included with our Royal Pacific stay. Instead of bouncing all over the park like a bunch of loons we decided to pick a course and stay to it. We took a left out of London and headed to:





I'm willing to bet the answer to that question is no...no we are not alone. I also bet that very soon we are going to have to take some shots at those other creatures. Then maybe we will be alone....I think we're alone now, doesn't seem to be anyone around (Tiffany from the 80s). Wow that was a tangent. 50 hour work weeks get to everybody eventually, I guess.

We were able to walk right onto the ride with our Express Passes. I like the queue to this ride a lot. The premise is that your visiting a world's fair type building and on the inside is the MIB's headquarters.



The DIS Universal podcast said that on non-busy days you can sometimes ask to have a tour of the bottom area (pictured above) and that all the desks have forms with all the info filled out. I think Alf is on there along with other famous aliens.

This next picture is of horrendous quality but I'm including it for a reason:



That little blurry boy that if you squint you can make him out, that is Doofus. There are monitors throughout the queue that are playing a series of clips of dos and don'ts for the ride. As you could probably tell by his name, Doofus isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and he rarely does anything right.

Anyway, we get on our ride vehicle and commence shootin' some aliens. Unfortunately, I don't heed ride vehicle warnings and I had my sunglasses, unsecured, on the top of my head. And yep, those suckers flew right off while we were spinning around. Someone wasn't paying enough attention to Doofus and his warnings. So my sunglasses were on but I knew I still had a job to do so I kept on shooting. It all paid off in the end because we ended up getting the special 'suits' ending. Which occurs if you have a high average of points in your car.

I looked all through the ride vehicle for the sunglasses but couldn't find them, so they must have flew onto the ride track. The ride attendant at the end told me they walked the tracks at the end of the night so I'd have to wait until then. Yep, I officially became Doofus.

Good news was that Stephanie had bought me 2 pairs as a gift, but bad news was they were packed in the car (if anyone was wondering they were special Marvel and Peter Pan pairs. for those of you not wondering, I apologize because you most likely still read that sentence. sorry. 10 seconds you'll never get back).

We kept moving forward and soon arrived in Springfield. Brian and his mom decided to sit out once again so Stephanie and I walked onto the Simpsons ride. Once again, I really like the queue for this ride. There is one point at the end where you usually have to wait about 10 minutes but it isn't so bad because they have funny original film clips of some of the Springfield characters, like Marge's sisters, Apu and Grandpa with Maggie.

I like this ride well enough, it doesn't make me sick like it does to a lot of people and I appreciate all the theme park references in the ride. Once we were done, we came outside to find Sideshow Bob and Krusty taking pictures. Which was kind of odd, I figured Sideshow Bob didn't want anything to do with Krusty, but there they were.



To put this picture in context, I'd just chastised Stephanie for putting me next to the murderer, which is why Bob was shushing me. I look pretty happy though, it's all good.

We continued along, unfortunately none of us was hungry enough to try a Krusty burger, though I've been meaning to have one forever. We found this weird little parade thing near Mel's Diner.



All the main Spongebob characters were on little floats just sitting around, but there were employees to keep you from going up to those. You were allowed to have pictures with the roller skating fish, but we decided to pass. I'd decided that I wanted to see the Terminator 2D show, we hadn't seen it in a long time and there was a show starting in a few minutes. But first Stephanie and her mom wanted pictures with these 2 ladies:



We made it into Terminator right before it started, so we didn't have long to wait. Soon enough our very peppy Cyberdyne Systems company hostess was introducing us to Cyberdyne. Sounded like a good enough company. Super!

But then some crazy lady and her kid interrupted and showed us some bad stuff. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this, but we funneled into the big theater with everyone else like the good little lemmings we are.

As you can all imagine, everything just wrong totally to hell after that. Because seriously, on what Universal/Disney ride don't things go horrifically wrong?

I think the Terminator show is really super! And it holds up well over time. I like that there is live action and then the real actors on the video screen as well and they also provide the voices for the real life actors in the theater.

After our show let out we spent a few minutes in the gift shop that immediately came after the show. I like to call it the 'nerd' gift shop, which is perfect for me. It had plenty of Terminator, Doctor Who, Walking Dead and comic type merchandise.

When we were done in the gift shop we continued on our trek and decided that we wanted to be minions!



Usually this ride can have a bit of a wait even with Express Pass, but luckily we were let right into the pre-show area. Once again, amazing queue Universal.



This type of the queue looks exactly like the inside of Gru's house (well, if Gru installed queue lines and a 3d glasses distribution bin inside his house it would). It even had crayon drawings from the 3 girls on the wall:



It's the circle of life! Where lion eats dog eats cat eats rat! And it moves us all!






This ride is ok to me. Its another motion simulator but this one is in 3d. I'm not the biggest Despicable Me fan (yes, ladies and gentlemen, we've finally found something that I'm not an obsessive fan over), but the ride is still entertaining. The best part is at the end. Before we get funneled into the gift shop there is a minion dance party and we get to take pictures!



These minions have THE. BEST. FACES. EVER. Seriously. Here is another shot in a different light.



I love them. Their faces look like the ones that I usually make.

After our pictures we realized that there was a torrential downpour going on outside. So we killed some time in the gift shop, and about ten minutes later there was only a light sprinkle. We braved the sprinkles and briskly walked over to the Mummy, which is one of my favorite rides here. Brian and his mom once again sat out. We don't have any pictures here, Stephanie and I again were able to walk right on with our passes. A good time was had by all, except maybe Brendan Frasier. Have you seen any recent pictures of him? Not pretty.

Once off the ride everyone was pretty hungry for lunch. I'd really been wanting to cry Cowfish at City Walk and seeing as how we were near the exit of the park anyway we took a nice short walk over. Since it was around 2 pm there was no wait for the restaurant and we were seated right away. I really like their logo:





This handsome yellow gentleman is the titular cowfish himself:



Stephanie and I both immediately ordered a Smores milkshake (great minds think alike)



As you can probably tell by my face in the background I was in love.

I really enjoyed this restaurant, except our waiter disappeared and we had to wait a really long time for our food, which the bartender ended up bringing out. I was wondering if maybe our waiter had finished for the day, because we never saw him again. Anyway, we finally got our food which I think everyone enjoyed.

Brian got a burger:



His mom and sister shared a few things:





And this beauty was my box:



Soooo delicious! I didn't know what the cucumber stuff was, but it was sooo incredibly good. I got my favorite sweet potato fries and a mini burger and sushi!! Ahhhh all my favorite foods in one little box!

Afterward Brian and I went downstairs and designed some fish:



That one was mine, and the one below is Brian's:



You designed them on the computer and then you could let them free in the tank, whereupon they would swim across the screens above the bar upstairs in the restaurant. Oooh, which reminds me. There were actually 3 floors to this place. The bottom is where you designed fish and checked in. The second floor was the main area with the bar and the tables. The third floor is where the restrooms are and there is another bar area up there. The bathrooms were so hilarious! They had on a how to speak a foreign language teaching thing called Moonshine and Sake sessions. But instead of regular phrases it would say completely ridiculous ones. I wish I wrote them down but ugh I can't remember any, but so so funny. Trust me, if you get the chance go to the bathroom at Cowfish.

After we were done designing our fish and letting them go off to adventure, we decided to head into IOA since we'd finished most of our must dos from Universal.



I really enjoy the port of entry at IOA, makes me ready for some adventure! But not too much adventure...Stephanie and I decided to skip the Hulk since we were stuffed from lunch. Instead we headed to super hero island to peruse some gift shops.



I won't lie, I also did some perusing of Thor and Captain America.



After looking around for a bit I saw the super heroes arrive outside!! I went running off by myself like a 5 year old and got some random person to take my picture with Rogue:



She is my favorite Xmen. In the comics/old cartoons anyway, don't much care for the movie version. I like my Rogue tough and sassy, not whiny and wimpy.

Everyone else soon came out to join me and we continue to meet more super heroes!



Wolverine, appropriately hairy.

Brian was being weird and didn't want any character pictures. He loves character pictures at disney. I'm not sure if he wasn't feeling the universal character love or if it takes him a day or two of vacation to warm up to it.

And then Storm.



Storm really enjoyed talking to Stephanie and I. She asked me if I was a wizard and I said yes, Stephanie said she was not. Storm then went on to talk to us about powers for about 5 minutes. Brian later told us that a big line was forming while we chatted and the dad behind him was being very grumbly and rude about Stephanie and I taking so long with Storm. Its ok though, Brian said his wife hit him and told him to stop being a *******, hahahaha.



So Storm was very awesome.



Next up we got into a very long line for Captain America. But he is the Captain, so we had to wait. We were a little nervous because at Universal they don't cut off lines for roaming characters like this, they just kind of up and leave when the signal is given. Even with those fears, I wanted my own meet because I have a bit of a crush on the Captain. Here is Stephanie and her mom with their picture, you can see little old me waiting impatiently off to the side.



Then it was my turn! I had made a very special purchase in the gift shop before running out into the street to meet Rogue, and here it is!



It's a Captain America pillow shield!! It is the softest pillow ever and it even has a little strap at the back so you can hold it up! Captain America spent way too long trying to teach me how to hold the shield correctly. I completely failed, as you can see. But hey, it's hard to comprehend things when I'm imaging Chris Evans under there. Am I right?!

After our meets we used our passes to walk onto Spiderman! Geez, talk about great queues, Spiderman has one too. You go through the news office and see all sorts of shenanigans. I also still love this ride. It has such a classic comic book feel to it. There isn't any other way to describe it. Such a great, fun ride with your friendly neighborhood Spiderman!


OK. I'm at my picture limit and it is about half an hour past my bedtime, so I'll leave off here. Up next, we finish up Universal. Will I ever see my beloved Squidward??! Seeing him was a big goal of this trip and I hadn't seen him. Trust me guys, it's a big deal. Squidward is my boy.

 

[soniam]

I have that same stuffed Chopper, which I think we've discussed before on the SW Weekends thread!! Yay Chopper!! Did you see the new Rebels episode yet? I thought it was amazing.

Owsley

What do the Fizzing Whizbees taste like? Never had those.

I haven't watched the new Rebels. It's sitting on Tivo. DS went to the grandparents last weekend, and I think I was feeling a little guilty about watching it without him. Plus, we are about to head out of town to Santa Fe, so I've been busy prepping for a mini-vacation. I might watch it next week without him anyway though.

The Fizzing Whizbees (sp?) are really good and funky. We got them from the Weasley shop. It's fruit flavored pop rocks covered in milk chocolate and shaped like a bee. It's a really weird combo. If you don't eat them soon after opening though, they get kind of stale and the center isn't as fizzy anymore.

I'm willing to bet the answer to that question is no...no we are not alone. I also bet that very soon we are going to have to take some shots at those other creatures. Then maybe we will be alone....I think we're alone now, doesn't seem to be anyone around (Tiffany from the 80s). Wow that was a tangent. 50 hour work weeks get to everybody eventually, I guess.

I remember Tiffany

Anyway, we get on our ride vehicle and commence shootin' some aliens. Unfortunately, I don't heed ride vehicle warnings and I had my sunglasses, unsecured, on the top of my head. And yep, those suckers flew right off while we were spinning around. Someone wasn't paying enough attention to Doofus and his warnings. So my sunglasses were on but I knew I still had a job to do so I kept on shooting. It all paid off in the end because we ended up getting the special 'suits' ending. Which occurs if you have a high average of points in your car.

I looked all through the ride vehicle for the sunglasses but couldn't find them, so they must have flew onto the ride track. The ride attendant at the end told me they walked the tracks at the end of the night so I'd have to wait until then. Yep, I officially became Doofus.

Good news was that Stephanie had bought me 2 pairs as a gift, but bad news was they were packed in the car (if anyone was wondering they were special Marvel and Peter Pan pairs. for those of you not wondering, I apologize because you most likely still read that sentence. sorry. 10 seconds you'll never get back).

No, those suckers are gone. It's pretty amazing the spin factor on that. It's not as bad as Storm Force Acceletron. I can save money on alcohol by just riding that.

To put this picture in context, I'd just chastised Stephanie for putting me next to the murderer, which is why Bob was shushing me. I look pretty happy though, it's all good.

We continued along, unfortunately none of us was hungry enough to try a Krusty burger, though I've been meaning to have one forever. We found this weird little parade thing near Mel's Diner.

All the main Spongebob characters were on little floats just sitting around, but there were employees to keep you from going up to those. You were allowed to have pictures with the roller skating fish, but we decided to pass.

The Lard Lad Donut sundae is really good. It seems very disgusting, but I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, we split one between the 3 of us. I am craving one right now. The tacos at the Bumble Bee Man truck are good too.

We saw this parade too and ran away as quickly as possible.

I think the Terminator show is really super! And it holds up well over time. I like that there is live action and then the real actors on the video screen as well and they also provide the voices for the real life actors in the theater.

We were really impressed too. They did a good job. The only thing I don't like is that we never could find the right schedule for it without talking to one of the workers.

It's the circle of life! Where lion eats dog eats cat eats rat! And it moves us all!

This ride is ok to me. Its another motion simulator but this one is in 3d. I'm not the biggest Despicable Me fan (yes, ladies and gentlemen, we've finally found something that I'm not an obsessive fan over), but the ride is still entertaining. The best part is at the end. Before we get funneled into the gift shop there is a minion dance party and we get to take pictures!

These minions have THE. BEST. FACES. EVER. Seriously. Here is another shot in a different light.

I love them. Their faces look like the ones that I usually make.

I like the Minion ride a lot. The whole thing, ie queue, pre-show, ride, is cool. Despite my avatar, I am not a Minion fanatic. I got that childsize hovering Minion balloon for DS birthday party. It was so cute, and I lost my Cheshire cat avatar to the web software change. So, I decided to stick with the Dave the Minion. I don't know if that's really his name, but that's what I call him. I never noticed the rat/cat/dog/lion head I keep meaning to stop for pictures with the dance party Minions. They are so cute, but we get distracted by the gift shop.

Stephanie and I both immediately ordered a Smores milkshake (great minds think alike)

As you can probably tell by my face in the background I was in love.
...

Soooo delicious! I didn't know what the cucumber stuff was, but it was sooo incredibly good. I got my favorite sweet potato fries and a mini burger and sushi!! Ahhhh all my favorite foods in one little box!

OMG! That shake looks awesome so does the mini burger and the bento box. I thought this place sounded weird, but after seeing those, I am really thinking about trying it next trip.

I won't lie, I also did some perusing of Thor and Captain America.

I like perusing Thor

Storm really enjoyed talking to Stephanie and I. She asked me if I was a wizard and I said yes, Stephanie said she was not. Storm then went on to talk to us about powers for about 5 minutes. Brian later told us that a big line was forming while we chatted and the dad behind him was being very grumbly and rude about Stephanie and I taking so long with Storm. Its ok though, Brian said his wife hit him and told him to stop being a *******, hahahaha.

That's awesome

We really liked a lot of the queues at Universal too. I also like that you still get to see stuff in a lot of them, even with the Express Pass.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I haven't watched the new Rebels. It's sitting on Tivo. DS went to the grandparents last weekend, and I think I was feeling a little guilty about watching it without him. Plus, we are about to head out of town to Santa Fe, so I've been busy prepping for a mini-vacation. I might watch it next week without him anyway though.

The Fizzing Whizbees (sp?) are really good and funky. We got them from the Weasley shop. It's fruit flavored pop rocks covered in milk chocolate and shaped like a bee. It's a really weird combo. If you don't eat them soon after opening though, they get kind of stale and the center isn't as fizzy anymore.

I didn't read all your reply yet, I just had to excitedly say we are going to Santa Fe too!! We're going over the long 4th of July weekend! I think. Brian put off reserving a campsite to go camping with our dog and now we can't really find one, so we might just have to do a hotel. We have the road trip pretty well planned out, but have no idea what to do when we get there. What are your plans?! What should we do there?

 

[soniam]

I didn't read all your reply yet, I just had to excitedly say we are going to Santa Fe too!! We're going over the long 4th of July weekend! I think. Brian put off reserving a campsite to go camping with our dog and now we can't really find one, so we might just have to do a hotel. We have the road trip pretty well planned out, but have no idea what to do when we get there. What are your plans?! What should we do there?

I'll let you know what we did when we get back on Monday. We are at DFW airport right nowHowever, I got a little sad when they announced the gate next to ours is going to Orlando SWW 2016 seems so far away.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I'll let you know what we did when we get back on Monday. We are at DFW airport right nowHowever, I got a little sad when they announced the gate next to ours is going to Orlando SWW 2016 seems so far away.

Aww I kind of hoped you guys were going next weekend too, maybe we could have met up. Ooh well, have a great time!

Oh, I'm also 'homesick' for sww, especially sheet seeing the new rebels.

 

[LizardQueen8]

Oh, I'm also 'homesick' for sww, especially sheet seeing the new rebels.

I'm not going to manage SWW next year, but I did tweak my dates so I'll be there on May 4th . Between that and Star Wars Day at Sea, 2016 is apparently my Year of the Lightsaber.

Also I'm enjoying your Universal updates. One of these years I'll get there.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I haven't been back to Universal since 2010...your posts have reminded me that I really need to make a trip back there. It's so hard to choose between WDW and Universal and usually WDW wins...that's what happens when you have limited vacation time and Disney on the brain all. the. time. I will make it back there one day!

I have heard great things about Cowfish! Your bento box looks delicious! I love all the things you mentioned...sushi, burgers, sweet potato fries...yum. Definitely wish I could eat that right now!

 

[Disneymoon09]

I'm so glad I found this! I LOVE HP and your TR's, even if I've never seen Star Wars

Favorite Park : Magic Kingdom
Favorite Characters to Meet : I haven't met many, but Tinkerbell was fun!
Favorite Movie: Toy Story
Favorite Nighttime Show : Wishes
Favorite Counter Service/Snack :
Favorite Disney transportation : Boat
Favorite Disney horse: Bullseye
Favorite Hotel: Stayed at: Pop, visited and want to stay: AKL

 

[kastoney]

How old is your daughter? You could start reading the books to her, that is what my older sister did with her kids. I feel like an 8 or 9 year old could most likely handle the first few if you read them together.

She's only 4 so we have a few more years before we start venturing into Harry Potter land.

I think we're alone now, doesn't seem to be anyone around (Tiffany from the 80s).

Why do I have a sudden urge to move my hand up and down next to my face and under my chin ; )

To put this picture in context, I'd just chastised Stephanie for putting me next to the murderer, which is why Bob was shushing me. I look pretty happy though, it's all good.

Creepy alert!

I love them. Their faces look like the ones that I usually make.

These are the best faces ever and your faces almost look the same ; )

Soooo delicious! I didn't know what the cucumber stuff was, but it was sooo incredibly good. I got my favorite sweet potato fries and a mini burger and sushi!! Ahhhh all my favorite foods in one little box!

How totally cute. I love mini food and the little container is adorable. Though I have to ask how sushi and a milkshake pair? ; )

 

[stacy~**]

I'm working on my geekdom but sooo many of the Universal stuff is foreign to me. Haha!

So is Universal a lot of simulators? I would love to check it out one day but I am a bit worried since I have a pretty low simulator tolerance. I can't imagine doing more than a few a day (and plenty of time between them to avoid queasiness).

Jealous of the Captain America meet! I can totally understand why it might be hard to focus.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I'm not going to manage SWW next year, but I did tweak my dates so I'll be there on May 4th . Between that and Star Wars Day at Sea, 2016 is apparently my Year of the Lightsaber".

Also I'm enjoying your Universal updates. One of these years I'll get there.

What happens on Star Wars day at sea? I've never done a Disney cruise, or any cruise for that matter. I hope they do stuff for May 4th next year! I heard this year they had characters out and about and sometimes they rode Star Tours with people!

I haven't been back to Universal since 2010...your posts have reminded me that I really need to make a trip back there. It's so hard to choose between WDW and Universal and usually WDW wins...that's what happens when you have limited vacation time and Disney on the brain all. the. time. I will make it back there one day!

I have heard great things about Cowfish! Your bento box looks delicious! I love all the things you mentioned...sushi, burgers, sweet potato fries...yum. Definitely wish I could eat that right now!

I know how hard it is to choose between the two. Usually when I'm at Universal I wish I had more days there, but then when I'm at Disney I wish I had more days there. Sigh, life is tough.

I know, cowfish has everything I love!! How can you go wrong with that?!

I'm so glad I found this! I LOVE HP and your TR's, even if I've never seen Star Wars

I'm glad you found my TR too! Do I even have to say it...you HAVE to watch Star Wars. Not so much the prequels...but at least A New Hope!! You'll watch it one day and be like 'ooooh that is where that's from' about 20 times.

She's only 4 so we have a few more years before we start venturing into Harry Potter land.


Why do I have a sudden urge to move my hand up and down next to my face and under my chin ; )


Creepy alert!


These are the best faces ever and your faces almost look the same ; )


How totally cute. I love mini food and the little container is adorable. Though I have to ask how sushi and a milkshake pair? ; )

Sushi and a milkshake actually pair quite nicely. Especially when your waiter disappears so your food takes about half an hour longer than your milkshake which you happened to gulp down in about 2 minutes hahaha.

I'm working on my geekdom but sooo many of the Universal stuff is foreign to me. Haha!

So is Universal a lot of simulators? I would love to check it out one day but I am a bit worried since I have a pretty low simulator tolerance. I can't imagine doing more than a few a day (and plenty of time between them to avoid queasiness).

Jealous of the Captain America meet! I can totally understand why it might be hard to focus.

It is a decent bit of simulators. Just off the top of my head...Simpsons is one, Despicable Me is a 3-d one, Mummy is a rollercoaster/dark ride, Spiderman Forbidden Journey and Transformers are ride vehicles that move around with real backgrounds and screens to show some action, MIB is a shooter game like Buzz, Gringotts is a ride vehicle and screens, Hogwarts Express is a train, Hulk is a coaster, Storm Force is a spinny ride, dueling dragons is a coaster, flight of the hippogriff is a kiddy coaster, there are a bunch of shows,some with ride vehicles. It is definitely worth going to, even if you don't like the sims. I know some people say that Universal isn't as well themed or immersive as Disney, but I have to disagree. I'd go just to walk around the different areas.

 

[Dugette]

Joining in! Enjoying your report so far!

 

[LizardQueen8]

What happens on Star Wars day at sea? I've never done a Disney cruise, or any cruise for that matter. I hope they do stuff for May 4th next year! I heard this year they had characters out and about and sometimes they rode Star Tours with people!

2016 is the first year DCL is doing the Star Wars day, so I only know what they publicized so far. They are going to screen all the movies, have meet and greets, there is going to be a special fireworks show, etc.

...I'm pretty sure I would punch a baby if it meant I could ride Star Tours next to a character...

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Ugh too much OT! I want to keep updating but I need to keep working OT so I can pay for my next trip. You guys get me, right? Lol

Joining in! Enjoying your report so far!

Hey! I remember you, welcome back!!

2016 is the first year DCL is doing the Star Wars day, so I only know what they publicized so far. They are going to screen all the movies, have meet and greets, there is going to be a special fireworks show, etc.

...I'm pretty sure I would punch a baby if it meant I could ride Star Tours next to a character...

BAHAHAHAHA I love that. Poor baby hahaha. Just a figurative baby though. That cruise actually sounds amazing....sigh.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Still haven't been to Universal to see the HP stuff ... need to do that one day. My kids haven't gotten into HP at all (my oldest hates any type of conflict in any story so she refuses to read them or watch the movies) but hopefully soon they will and we can include a side trip to Universal

The level of detail really is amazing and I definitely appreciate the effort at the food locations for the options to fit the location and just be different ... that Stew Bread Bowl looks amazing!

Do the wanted posters in Knockturn Alley move/animate like in the movie?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

wow - that is impressive to flow from MIB to Tiffany! Bummer about losing your sunglasses ... I am sure you were saying "(I want you back) Yes I do now (I want you back) Ooh ooh baby" ..... Not Tiffany, Jackson 5 was best I could do on short notice

I totally want to get a picture with Sideshow Bob!

That's a good point how many themepark rides are structured around something going wrong!

It's funny how the queue has developed. It was basically Disney that invented the switchback structure and then the idea of a mural or something attractive being added and now they are all over the top and themed, etc. Universal definitely does some good ones.

It's kinda weird how you can still meet the Marvel Characters at Universal in Orlando ... but then on Disney Cruise ships and other parks. Also, fully aware it is me, not them - but I still can't get into super hero meets the same way I can with like Disney Characters or even things like the Minions. I don't know - for some reason I can go along with the Belle you meet in Disney being the "real" Belle, but not that it is the "real" Captain America.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Still haven't been to Universal to see the HP stuff ... need to do that one day. My kids haven't gotten into HP at all (my oldest hates any type of conflict in any story so she refuses to read them or watch the movies) but hopefully soon they will and we can include a side trip to Universal

The level of detail really is amazing and I definitely appreciate the effort at the food locations for the options to fit the location and just be different ... that Stew Bread Bowl looks amazing!

Do the wanted posters in Knockturn Alley move/animate like in the movie?

They most certainly do! There is one over at IOA at Hogsmeade of Sirius that moves, that one is probably my favorite.

wow - that is impressive to flow from MIB to Tiffany! Bummer about losing your sunglasses ... I am sure you were saying "(I want you back) Yes I do now (I want you back) Ooh ooh baby" ..... Not Tiffany, Jackson 5 was best I could do on short notice

I totally want to get a picture with Sideshow Bob!

That's a good point how many themepark rides are structured around something going wrong!

It's funny how the queue has developed. It was basically Disney that invented the switchback structure and then the idea of a mural or something attractive being added and now they are all over the top and themed, etc. Universal definitely does some good ones.

It's kinda weird how you can still meet the Marvel Characters at Universal in Orlando ... but then on Disney Cruise ships and other parks. Also, fully aware it is me, not them - but I still can't get into super hero meets the same way I can with like Disney Characters or even things like the Minions. I don't know - for some reason I can go along with the Belle you meet in Disney being the "real" Belle, but not that it is the "real" Captain America.

I'll certainly take Jackson 5. Whatever song your thoughts flow into is A-ok with me. I was trying to come up with a song lyric for that but I failed. Its hard

I really appreciate the themed queues. Forbidden Journey still has the best queue ever, you basically have a Hogwarts castle tour while you wait in line. There is the portrait hall room where the 4 Hogwarts' founders' portraits are having a discussion, Dumbeldore appears in his office and talks to you, the trio show up in the defense against the dark arts classroom and talk to you and make it snow.

Hmm, that is weird about the super heroes. I was the same way when Brian's mom and sister met Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe. I was just like nope, no thanks that is weird. Yet the next minute I'm over talking to Storm excitedly about super powers and magic.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Day 1 Universal Part 3

Hold onto your butts!

We then moved on towards Jurassic Park (everyone instantly get the music in your head??) we ended up bypassing Jurassic Park even though I kind of wanted to ride. Then we took this gem of a photo series:







Then Stephanie wanted a picture with the T Rex so this happened:



It was pretty funny, while she was doing this a group of people who were walking by started shouting 'No! Not the pygmy puff!' Then others joined in and Stephanie quickly pulled Pommy the puff away and was like no she's ok she didn't get eaten! And I was like nope, that puff totally got ate.

After the T-rex had her snack, we were back in Hogsmeade and the band decided to split up (we're the band if you didn't get my weird attempt at a joke).

Stephanie and her mom were tired from their road trip and had spent part of the day before at Universal anyway, so they decided to head out and relax at the Royal Pacific's pool while they waited for us. We had originally thought we'd stay until closing, which was 9 pm. We were all worn out though and the next day was the 24 hour day at MK so we wisely decided to leave before closing. Brian and I still had a couple must dos left, so we stayed.

We headed immediately for the Hogwarts Express. I was still on a mission to meet Squidward, earlier in the day an employee told us to check back around 5. Taking the Hogwarts Express was probably a mistake, we had a 20 minute wait which was our longest wait of the day.



Hedwig was ready to go!


We finally boarded our train. We enjoyed a quick trip back to London and headed under the sea.



That is a lovely face I'm making, isn't it?

We had a few minutes to wait and then my squid arrived!!



I think we were going in for a hug here, but it kind of looks like Squidward is about to throttle me.





Squidward is the best, we even share the same laugh. If you want a perfect example of Squidward's Squidwardiness (I looked for a clip on youtube of this for like, 10 minutes and couldn't find it), there is the first Christmas special they had. In it, Squidward is doing his funny laugh at Spongebob and starts slapping his butt and laughing at Spongebob (who just found out Santa isn't real and is devastated) and then he turns into a braying donkey. I just love Squidward, he is so mean.

So with that accomplished we figured we'd take the train once again so we could finish Universal at Hogsmeade. On our way to the train we passed back through Springfield and I wanted a picture with Millhouse:



Looks like everythings coming up Millhouse! (my favorite quote from Millhouse).


We were once again back in Diagon Alley and we decided to get some drinks before we boarded the train.



Brian got a delicious orange drink:





We enjoyed our drinks on the train and when we arrived we decided to head out of Hogsmeade for a few minutes to watch the talking fountain.




The fountain is Brian's favorite. This day it was trying to lure a group of young children close so that it could use it's jets to soak them. Good times for all. If your not familiar with the fountain, there is a guy that sits up in one of the windows overlooking the fountain and he talks and interacts with all the guests and he can control the fountain's water jets. The fountain is always clever and very funny.



After we had our fill of the fountain we headed into Hogsmeade to finish our shopping.









I spent a good deal of time shopping around, I could look at the HP stores forever. I took a few minutes to gaze at Fred and George's wands (ugh, that sentence made me cringe a bit, but I'm leaving it haha). One day I will buy those!



The owelry:





I love these sweaters so much:



They're made to look like the sweaters that Ron's mom knits every year for Christmas. H for Harry and R for Ron. However, R also stands for Rachel, and I would really love that sweater but it costs $60. Boo.

They also have the marauder's map where people actually move around:



Room of Doom sounds pretty ominous.







It took a lot of willpower not to ride Forbidden Journey again, but we really had to rush. To make up for that disappointment though, we walked onto Flight of the Hippogriff.





We bowed to Buckbeak and he bowed back, so we were good to go on our little rollercoaster ride.



For those of you who aren't students at Hogwarts the proper procedure when one meets a hippogriff is to respectfully bow. If the hippogriff returns your bow that means you are allowed to approach and pet the hippogriff. If the hippogriff does not return your bow...then GTFO quick.

I'm always able to get some good pictures of Hogwarts castle while on Flight of the Hippogriff.







It was finally past time to leave so we stopped at the Hog's Head bar for our last drinks:





And yes, that puts my butterbeer tally for the day at: a lot.