Lebeau Family Trip Report 2017: Universal Orlando - Completed

I'm loving reading all about your trip.........you're all having so much fun!

Glad Mindy found her minion cupcake.......they are nice.......heck I think I've liked every treat I've tried from Universal.........

Nice to see you enjoy all the rides too.....and loving the pictures too.......we always enjoy the Islands restaurant and characters are indeed a bonus........
 
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Our first two days at Universal Orlando were cut short due to rain and thunderstorms. We still had three days left to tour the parks, but the weather forecast continued to be gloomy. The girls really wanted to spend some time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter trying out their new wands. But that was difficult during the busy afternoon hours and the evening was likely to be rained out. So I set out to get an early start on our third day to take advantage of the early admission perk offered to guests at Loews Royal Pacific.


My idea was met with some resistance. Before we left on this vacation, I had promised a more leisurely pace than our typical theme park itinerary. Armed with Express Pass, we would be able to sleep in. There was no need to set an alarm clock. But I knew we would have a much better spell-casting experience if we could beat the crowds to the park.

This morning, everyone got up early enough that we could with just a little effort take advantage of the extra hour offered to hotel guests. Mindy cast a few sideways glances my way, irritated that I was hurrying everyone along. I assured her that I would only play this card one time during the trip and that it would be worth it. I don’t think she believed me on either count, but she played along anyway.

A water taxi was waiting for us when we arrived at the dock. Thanks to the superior transportation provided by Royal Pacific, we were able to get to Islands of Adventure minutes before hotel guests were admitted. In no time at all, we were marching through an empty park with our wands at the ready.

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Our destination was Hogsmeade, the only section of the park that was open early. Most guests made a beeline for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. If one were so inclined, they could ride this headliner attraction several times before the park opened to the general public.But we weren’t there for rides. We just wanted to take advantage of relative low crowds for spell-casting purposes.

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My impression that morning was that Hogsmeade was empty. Looking at the pictures, “empty” is a relative term. As you can see, there are still plenty of people wandering around. But it was nothing like the congested walkways we experienced in the afternoons. The kids were able to walk from one spell location to the next with minimal waits. Frequently, there was no wait at all.

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Kara took her spell-casting very seriously. I don’t know if it was a case of beginner’s luck, but she managed to trigger most of the effects within the first couple of attempts.

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Spell-casting locations are marked (with a couple of exceptions) by a metal plate. The plate indicates which way you should point your wand, which gestures you should make and what magic words you should speak. The words are just a flourish, as long as you make the right motions with your wand it will have the desired effect. Cast a spell properly and you never know what will happen. This one caused a pixie to appear.

(There are some unmarked spells. If you see a sensor in a store window, point your wand at it. You may be rewarded with some form of magic.)

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You can see from the look on Kara’s face that she has successfully cast another spell. Must be the Phoenix feather core she searched high and low for.

Generally speaking, the spell markers are outside of store windows. As you can see in the background, it’s not uncommon for lines to form at these locations. When the park is busy, you may have multiple children trying to cast the spell simultaneously which is more chaotic than it is fun. During early admission, we had no such issues.

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All the while, I was keeping an eye on the time. I really wanted to be among the first to get into Diagon Alley which had more spell locations. During the week of our stay, early admission was never offered at Universal Studios. The only way we could beat the crowd to Diagon Alley was via the Hogswarts Express.

There were attendants outside the station preventing people from queuing up early. I asked when they would allow people to get in line for the train and they responded that since guests were not admitted to Universal Studios until 9:00, the train wouldn’t open until then. This did not turn out to be the case.

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As 9:00 approached, Hogsmeade was beginning to fill up. While the number of hotel guests with access to early admission is relatively small, they are all herded into one location until the rest of the park opens. Some of them will disperse to other areas of Islands of Adventure, but a large number of guests were waiting for their opportunity to hop the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley.

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Our arrival outside of Hogwarts signaled that we had completed this half of our spell-casting tour. There was still about fifteen minutes left until the official park open. If we were so inclined, we could have queued up for one of the attractions. But I thought it was worth it to go back to the train station to see if they were letting guests in yet.

When we returned, the same attendants were blocking people from entering. A decent-sized crowd was waiting outside of a rope for their opportunity to ride the train. Then suddenly, with no warning, one of the attendants unlatched the rope and took a step backwards. Neither one of them said a word. The crowd didn’t move at first. Then, realizing that the entrance was no longer obstructed, there was a mad rush towards the station.

Fortunately, we were well-positioned to beat the crowd. On our way in, our tickets were checked to make sure we had admission to both parks. Since the Hogwarts Express travels from one park to the other, you can only ride with a multi-park ticket.

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We made it through the queue in time to see the first train of the day pull into the station. Everyone applauded. There was genuine excitement in the air as though we were about to embark on a real journey.

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The train has a large capacity, so everyone who participated in that mad dash was able to board. We had previously experienced the train ride going in the opposite direction, but this was our first time traveling from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley. The experience is different depending on which way you are traveling.

Next: Diagon Alley
 
I'm loving reading all about your trip.........you're all having so much fun!

Glad Mindy found her minion cupcake.......they are nice.......heck I think I've liked every treat I've tried from Universal.........

Nice to see you enjoy all the rides too.....and loving the pictures too.......we always enjoy the Islands restaurant and characters are indeed a bonus........

Thanks for the kind words. I have to say, my pictures pale in comparison to yours. I contemplated buying a nicer camera just for this trip report, but I ended up just sticking with the camera on my phone which is three years old and not in the best shape. It doesn't do well at all under low light conditions as you can see.

Mindy is a Universal convert. She never wants to set foot in Disney World again, but she would go back to Universal tomorrow. The cupcakes are only a small part of that. ;)
 


Can't wait to read more! This is one of the best trip reports (Disney or Uni) that I've ever read. Very helpful for trip planning!
 
Can't wait to read more! This is one of the best trip reports (Disney or Uni) that I've ever read. Very helpful for trip planning!

Glad you're enjoying it. I write my trip reports for my blog where readers aren't as familiar with the Orlando attractions as people are here. So I try to include enough information that they can follow along along with helpful tips for anyone who is considering a vacation of their own.
 


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When we arrived at the train station in Diagon Alley, I had to take this picture. The last time we were here in 2015, the station was packed. But since the park had just opened to the general public and we were on the first train over from Hogsmeade, there was no one else here yet. It wouldn’t last long. Guests were already making their way past the front gates and most of them were headed our way. But for a short while, we had Diagon Alley all to ourselves.

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Our primary goal for the day was to visit the spell-casting locations so the girls could continue using their interactive wands. But since the area was empty, we decided to squeeze in a quick ride on Escape from Gringotts first.

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On our previous trip, we had early admission to Universal Studios. Like just about everyone else, we headed straight for Diagon Alley’s headliner attraction. On that day, we had a fifteen minute wait which I considered to be pretty good. I was mildly disappointed that during this trip, we only had early admission at Islands of Adventure. But as it turns out, getting on the first train from Hogsmeade gives you an even bigger advantage than early admission to the Studios. We walked right on to Gringotts with no wait whatsoever.

(Rumor has it that Universal is considering lifting the Express Pass limitation on all Harry Potter attractions. If that happens, it will increase the value of this perk for hotel guests or those willing to pay out-of-pocket. But for the time being, I definitely recommend beating the crowd via the Hogwarts Express.)

Another difference from our previous experience with this attraction was that we were all able to ride together. Last time, Kara decided to sit out and we had to do a child swap. But this year, she was brave enough to ride with us and she loved it. After escaping from the goblin bank, I retrieved our wands from the nearby lockers and the girls resumed their spell-casting.

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As the girls were casting spells around Diagon Alley, I kept trying to get a picture of the dragon on top of Gringotts as he was breathing fire. There are tons of pictures of the dragon online, but I wanted to try to get my own picture just because its something tourists do. But it seemed like every time we would hear the dragon’s telltale roar, we were at some awkward angle and I missed the picture.

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Eventually, I managed to snap this one. Maybe the worst picture ever taken of the Gringotts dragon breathing fire, but at least I had done what I set out to do.

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Mindy decided to take a load off while I followed the girls from one store front to the next. You can see her sitting on the bench in the background.

Some of the spells are more difficult than others. Universal staff wanders around offering assistance to spell-casters as needed. It prevents the experience from ever becoming frustrating. With help and minimal practice, everyone with a functioning wand should be able to get the desired effect.

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This umbrella lights up and makes storm noises before rain comes pouring down from the sides. As the girls were casting this spell, I stood underneath the umbrella. They were greatly entertained by the thought of making it rain on daddy. Of course I was safely under the umbrella, so I didn’t actually get wet but the girls were tickled all the same.

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And here come the crowds. Believe it or not, this is still a light crowd for Diagon Alley. We were more than halfway done with our spell-casting, so we would be leaving before the place was packed.

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We took a brief break from casting spells for this popular photo-op.

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As we finished up the spell-casting spots, we stopped into Gringotts to see the interactive goblin banker. He asks questions whether anyone answers or not. The girls did not want to talk to this guy, so we were in and out pretty quickly.

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Before we could leave Diagon Alley, we needed to try out Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Before we left home, I had shown the girls all of the exotic flavors of ice cream available and they were looking forward to giving them a shot.

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Like everything else in Diagon Alley, the ice cream shop is heavy on whimsy.

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Here’s a shot of the menu. Beyond the usual offerings like chocolate and vanilla, there are exclusive flavors like butterbeer and sticky toffee pudding. You can also choose from soft serve of hard packed ice creams.

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Here’s a look at some of the hard packed flavors. I got a scoop of strawberry and peanut butter. It was good, although our scooper needed a little more arm strength. For what you’re paying for this ice cream, you want a healthy scoop. He struggled a bit which resulted in somewhat anemic cones.

The pink color of the ice cream lets you know that strawberry is the star of this flavor. Peanut butter is present, but it’s subtle. If you didn’t tell someone the name of the flavor, they could mistake it for regular strawberry ice cream.

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The girls opted for soft serve. As you can see from their cones, the ice cream is actually plain vanilla. The flavor comes in the form of those colored swirls. Josie got chocolate and Kara ordered orange marmalade. I sampled both and I was surprised that the flavoring completely masked the vanilla despite covering only a small portion of the overall surface area. Kara’s orange marmalade tasted like a Creamsicle.

We took our cones by the stairs behind the motorcycle and sat down for a rest. Diagon Alley was getting crowded, so we decided to take our leave when we finished our snack.

Next: Men in Black Rematch, Back to the Future and Transformers
 
Thanks for the kind words. I have to say, my pictures pale in comparison to yours. I contemplated buying a nicer camera just for this trip report, but I ended up just sticking with the camera on my phone which is three years old and not in the best shape. It doesn't do well at all under low light conditions as you can see.

Mindy is a Universal convert. She never wants to set foot in Disney World again, but she would go back to Universal tomorrow. The cupcakes are only a small part of that. ;)

Yours are fabulous. We had 3 cameras last year as 1 kept freezing with the heat.....if that makes sense.....lol.....dh had the good camera......too big for me, I like a simple point and shoot.

So glad to hear your wife loved Universal........


Your new update is so much fun to read too.........nice to see the girls enjoy the spells and nice you all got to ride Gringotts. Such a fun ride.

You've convinced me to try the strawberry peanut butter ice cream........I detest peanut butter, but love strawberry ice cream........

The girls ones do look nice.
 
Yours are fabulous. We had 3 cameras last year as 1 kept freezing with the heat.....if that makes sense.....lol.....dh had the good camera......too big for me, I like a simple point and shoot.

So glad to hear your wife loved Universal........


Your new update is so much fun to read too.........nice to see the girls enjoy the spells and nice you all got to ride Gringotts. Such a fun ride.

You've convinced me to try the strawberry peanut butter ice cream........I detest peanut butter, but love strawberry ice cream........

The girls ones do look nice.

You are too kind. Some of the pictures were actually taken by Josie. Her camera is better than mine, but she got low on space and deleted several of the better ones she had taken. I agree, I like a point and shoot at Universal. I'm by no means a photographer, so I want something convenient. Especially at Universal.

When we were there in 2015, Kara wasn't quite ready for Gringotts. It was just a mental thing. She was convinced it was too scary, so she wouldn't have enjoyed it no matter what. This year, she was ready and it was a blast. I'm looking forward to being able to use EP on the Potter attractions next time, but we lucked out with them this year. No waits at all despite EP not being accepted at the time of our trip.

The peanut butter component of the strawberry and peanut butter ice cream is very subtle. It's there, so if you detest peanut butter that could be an issue. I love peanut butter and was a little let down the flavor wasn't stronger. I had to look for it in order to taste the peanut butter. The strawberry all but overwhelms the peanut butter which should work out well for you.

The girls enjoyed their soft serve. In retrospect, I shouldn't have ordered my own cone because I ended up finishing theirs too. That was the end of me ordering sweets this trip. Instead, I spent the rest of the trip eating the girls' leftovers. Although next time, I do want to try butterbeer ice cream. So I may give that a whirl.
 
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I wanted a rematch on Men in Black. The waits for this attraction typically aren’t that bad, but with Express Pass we could walk right on. As you can see from the picture above, we were able to have a car to ourselves since most of the crowds were in Diagon Alley. This time, I was able to pull out the win but only because I scored the 100,000 bonus points at the end of the ride. Mindy has much better aim than I do. Still, a win is a win and now we were tied up.

The guy who prepared our ride photo for us cropped the picture so that my face is completely blocked by an alien tentacle. Oh well. I look so stupid in all of these ride photos that it’s probably for the best. But seriously, for what these photo packages cost, they should do a better job than this.

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The plan at this point was to make our way to the front of the park and hit a few attractions on our way out. Last time, Kara enjoyed the Kang and Kodo spinner ride, so I offered to ride it with her. Josie was too big for the simple pleasures of a Dumbo-style spinner despite the Simpsons theme. So she and Mindy hung out while Kara and I took a spin on some flying saucers. Kara got a big kick out of being able to control the height of our vehicle with a joystick.

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Afterwards we met Mindy and Josie by this phone. When it rings, you can pick it up to get a message from a Simpsons character. We sat there and answered the phone about a dozen times. It never got old as far as the kids were concerned.

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Kara was in the mood to pose for some pictures. She asked me to take a picture of her on the bench next to Milhouse.

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The signs in Springfield are loaded with Simpsons gags. You will be happy to know that the Jalapeno-Raspberry Confusion Squishee is now made with government-approved food dye.

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I came up with the idea to pose the girls next to the DeLorean from Back to the Future. They are only passingly familiar with the movie mostly because Doc Brown is a figure in the Lego Dimensions video game we play. I pulled up a picture of the Back to the Future Part II poster for reference. Then I positioned Josie behind Kara and told them both to lift their glasses and look at their wrists as though they were concerned about being late for something important. As always, Kara really committed while Josie could barely stop giggling.

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This is where we decided to split up. Initially, Kara thought she might like to ride Transformers since it is a motion simulator. But as we approached the ride, she decided she wanted to sit it out. Mindy wasn’t too keen on riding Transformers either, but Josie was up for it. So I walked Mindy and Kara over to the Kid Zone area where they could ride Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster while Josie and I rode Transformers. We agreed to meet up afterwards to reride Race Through New York.

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This section of the park will eventually be the home of the new Nintendo-themed land which promises to be on the same scale as Diagon Alley. While I don’t have a strong attachment to Nintendo games, the concept art I have seen looks impressive.

Later, Mindy told me that she and Kara liked the kiddie coaster and the nearby play area. It’s nice to have something in the park for the younger kids. While I won’t necessarily miss the current incarnation of Kid Zone, I hope the replacement has something to appeal to this demographic.

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Almost as soon as we went our separate ways, I saw Doc Brown walking around. He was just wandering around the park. Most people didn’t even seem to notice him. I figured if no one else was going to hang out with Doc Brown, I would. I stopped him and asked if he would pose for a picture. He was happy to do so. As we checked our watches (or my bare wrist) he asked where I was from. I answered “2017”. He said it was good that I knew that. I pointed out that he had an impressive collection of watches. He said he needed multiples because he was always breaking them.

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On our way to the ride, we passed the Transformers meet and greet. We had previously seen one of the bad guys out. Even though I don’t especially care for Transformers, I have to admit these walking robot characters are cool. The bad guy was fun because he insults people. We didn’t stop to visit, but I did snap a picture of Optimus Prime before we made our way to the attraction.

Thanks to Express Pass, we rode with no wait. Transformers will always be a lesser version of Spider-man in my book, but I enjoyed it more the second time around. As with the movies the ride is based on, I find it challenging to know (or care) what is going on. But now that I knew what to expect, I could kind of follow along with the chaotic “story”. It’s still weak Spider-man, but Spider-man is a great ride.

Next: Marilyn, The Mummy and Mario
 
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Since we got through Transformers so quickly, I asked Josie if she wanted to try Revenge of the Mummy before we met up at Race Through New York. Josie had been non-committal on a few of the bigger rides that she thought might be scary, but I guess I asked at just the right time because she agreed to ride.

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On our way over, I texted Mindy to let her know our change of plans. We were passed by Marilyn Monroe and her back-up singers on their way to a show. The iconic movie star blew us a kiss as she drove by.

We also saw the Bluesmobile on its way to the Blues Brothers review. Universal Studios has a lot of these little shows to entertain guests in between attractions. We didn’t stop to take many of them in, but it’s nice that they are there.

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I hadn’t ridden Revenge of the Mummy in almost a decade so my memory was fuzzy. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I remembered that it was a hybrid coaster not entirely unlike Gringotts with physical effects instead of screens. I knew there were sudden stops and a backwards section and to the best of my recollection the Mummy stuff was more cheesy than scary. Part of the reason I wanted to revisit the attraction was to reevaluate it.

The ride was shorter than I remembered. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a fun, zippy coaster with some good drops and surprises. *spoilers* There is one part of the ride where it appears that it is over. Josie was getting ready to lift her restraints when the car took off again. I had forgotten all about this fake-out. Like I said before, it’s cheesy but we both had a lot of fun. Josie decided The Mummy was her favorite ride at Universal.

Once we had survived the Mummy’s revenge, we met up with Mindy and Kara at the entrance for Race Through New York. As we were walking up the stairs to the upper level, Mindy noticed some camera men. She wondered aloud what that was all about. I reminded her that we had seen Extra recording at the entrance yesterday and joked that Mario Lopez was here to tape a segment on the ride. Someone nearby said that was exactly why the camera crew was there.

The next thing I knew, there was A.C. Slater in all his glory. Mario Lopez was smaller than I expected, but I had to admit his dimples were impressive. Mindy, who grew up on Saved By the Bell, lost her mind. If she had been faster to respond, she would have tackled him to the ground and we’d have been escorted out of the park by security. Instead, she started slapping my arm and yelling for me to grab my camera.

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Under the best of circumstances, I wasn’t going to get a good picture on my three-year-old Samsung Galaxy phone under the green lights. By the time I had my phone out, the best I could do was get a picture of the back of Mario’s head. Mindy started messaging everyone she knew to tell them about her brush with fame. She also had Josie follow Lopez on Instagram so she could track his whereabouts for the rest of the week. Mario Lopez, if you’re reading this, watch your back man! Your fans are crazy!

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I suspect that a big part of the reason Kara wanted to return to Race Through New York was that on our previous visit, she didn’t get to play with any of the game tables. This time, the lobby was crowded, but some young people sitting near one of the kiosks said that they weren’t using it and made room for our kids to play. We were very appreciative.

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Like I said before, the games are nothing special. The kids have cooler apps on their phone. But there’s something about playing them on a table-sized tablet that makes them more appealing. The girls took turns playing and invited some other kids to share. Just as they were starting to lose interest, the lights changed and it was our turn to ride.

Once again, everyone enjoyed the attraction. Having done everything we set out to do, we decided to head back to the hotel room. But something was up. Kara seemed mopey. I asked what was wrong and she said she was hungry. That’s easy to fix. We are surrounded by food choices. Just about anything she could possibly want was close by. I asked her what she wanted and then I got the one response I dread. “I don’t know.”

I started listing off all the kinds of food available in the park and at CityWalk. There were several things I knew she liked, but nothing “sounded good”. When she told me “they don’t have anything” I knew we were in trouble. It doesn’t happen often, but when Kara reaches a certain point, there is no making her happy. We had reached that point.

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We had plans to meet some of Mindy’s friends for dinner, so we didn’t want to load up on a late lunch. CityWalk has a small food court that includes Burger King, Panda Exprss and Moe’s. We figured with burgers, Chinese and Mexican, there had to be something Kara would want. But she was still moping. Mindy ordered herself a burrito, but Kara wasn’t interested. Her mom took her over to the Burger King line and Kara reluctantly agreed to eat a cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles.

There was a bit of a line and Mindy’s food was getting cold, so I offered to take her place and let her eat. About five minutes later, I was placing my order for a cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles only, an order of chicken fries and an order of mozzarella sticks. I figured the side items would get gobbled up by the table.

The girl who took my order could not have been less interested in her job. This was the first bad service we had encountered during our stay. Of course it was at a Burger King, so what do you expect? The guy who brought me my food was almost too eager to help. I guess it evened out.

When I got back to the table, Kara’s burger didn’t have enough ketchup on it. Easily remedied. I grabbed a handful of ketchup packets. Then I was told they forgot the pickles. I went back to the counter and the overly helpful guy handed me a cup full of pickles. Kara likes a lot of pickles on her burger. I think she loaded it with 16 dill chips. Once she started eating, her mood started to improve. Slowly.

Meanwhile, Josie had claimed the chicken fries as her own. She scarfed those things down. They both were grabbing mozzarella sticks. I snuck in a few of those myself because up to this point I hadn’t eaten anything but ice cream. But I didn’t get many because I wanted to make sure the girls got their fill and no one left hungry.

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After lunch, we hopped a water taxi back to Royal Pacific. Kara and Mindy went swimming at the hotel pool. It’s very nice. There’s a play area shaped like a cruise ship with Kara enjoyed. Josie and I hung out in the room since she wasn’t swimming.

Originally, we were going to spend the day with Mindy’s friends, Larry and Janelle. They live in Florida and wanted to drive in to Orlando to hang out with Mindy and the kids. But since we had Express Pass and they didn’t, it didn’t make a lot of sense for them to join us in the parks. We decided instead to meet them at CityWalk for dinner. Mindy sent them a few menus and they decided they wanted to try Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

Next: Dinner at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium
 
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This restaurant does not take reservations, so Josie and I went over early to put our name on a list. It turns out, there was no list. They could seat us with no wait. But Larry and Janelle were stuck in traffic, so we hung out in the gift shop for a while.

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Even if you’re not eating at the restaurant, the gift shop is worth a look. There are branded souvenirs like T-shirts and coffee mugs. There’s also tons and tons of sweets. Whatever kind of candy you are into, they have it. One display featured all kinds of crazy flavors of candy floss (cotton candy to us Americans). And of course, there are lots of different kinds chocolate.

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While we looked around, Mindy was getting updates from Janelle. We were planning to eat at 6:00 but the weather and traffic had them running behind. They reached the parking garage just before 6:00 and realized that if they waited a little while they could avoid the parking fee. I figured between parking and walking through the garage and CityWalk, they would arrive around 6:30.

At 6:10, I asked how long the wait was for a table. The hostess told me it was about 20 minutes, so I put my name in. She told me I would get a text when my table was ready. Three minutes later, I got a text telling me my table would be ready soon. I assumed that there would be a second text since I was told there was a 20 minute wait. Either way, my party wasn’t all together yet.

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Larry and Janelle arrived right about 6:30 as expected. We said our “hellos” and then went to check on our table. The host told me we were listed as a “no-show”. I explained the situation with the texts and he promised to seat us at the next table and encouraged us to look around. By this point, Josie and I had been looking around for over an hour. So, we were ready to be seated.

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This is the ground floor dining room. There are multiple floors. We were seated on the second floor which is brighter. Appropriately enough for a restaurant at Universal, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium employs video screens. ;)

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The girls posed for a picture with Larry and Janelle while we waited on our table to be ready. I checked back with the host to make sure he hadn’t forgotten us. It had been about 10 minutes. He assured me that someone was preparing our table. Then I’m pretty sure he looked for a table. We were seated soon after.

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The menu is very diverse and there were a number of things I considered. But ultimately, I went with the Blue Plate Burger. The half pound patty is smothered with grilled meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, sweet corn and a Bordelaise sauce. This stuff was good. Next time I may just have to order the meatloaf by itself.

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, we were visited by Penelope, the “owner” of the Emporium. She’s part Willie Wonka and part Mary Poppins. Penelope asked everyone what they ordered and congratulated us on our good decisions. She told me the Blue Plate Burger was wonderful because “you don’t have to choose.”

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Mindy ordered the nutella and banana crepes of the brunch menu. Penelope’s assessment, “It’s like you’re having dessert for dinner.” Mindy agreed. This was one sweet dish, but she enjoyed it.

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The girls ordered off the kids menu. Kara got chicken fingers which I did not get a picture of. Josie ordered a waffle and gave me her bacon. They both enjoyed their meals.

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While we ate, we were visited by Jacques, the chocolate robot. He’s supposed to be made of chocolate. Kara was convinced this guy was the real deal and opted not to pose for a picture with him. Josie did so reluctantly. Jacques was cool. I watched him walk from table to table and he never broke his mechanical stride. He also had some kind of robot voice. According to the restaurant’s backstory, Jacques is responsible for all the specialty shakes. He was pleased to hear that we had ordered some for dessert.

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As tempting as the dessert menu was, the adults all shied away. But the girls each ordered a massive brownie milkshake. The shakes are served in a plastic mason jar which you get to keep. They are $13 each, but at least you get a souvenir.

The brownie shake includes dutch chocolate ice cream and a milk chocolate swirl. It’s topped with a big fudgy brownie and served with an extra-wide straw.

The straws need to be that wide in order to facilitate drinking the thick shakes. But since they had been poked through brownies, the straws were all clogged up. I used a fork to clear out the brownie bits. After that was done, the girls were able to drink their shakes. I tasted them and they were good. Extremely chocolaty as one would expect.

Service at Toothsome was on the slow side, but we were taking our time visiting Mindy’s friends so we weren’t in any hurry. Eventually, the kids were ready to head back to the hotel, but Mindy still wanted to hang out with her friends a while longer. They had driven an hour to see her, so she wanted to make the most of the opportunity.

I offered to take the kids home and let the other adults hang out in CityWalk for as long as they liked. Once again, I appreciated the convenient transportation offered on property. After a short boat ride, we were tucked in for the night and watching Zootopia on Netflix. Mindy was able to enjoy a drink with Larry and Janelle before calling it a night.

Next: Volcano Bay
 
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Up to this point, we faced some challenges during our Orlando getaway. After a long drought, central Florida was getting such much-needed rain. Unfortunately for us, we arrived just in time for daily thunderstorms. My youngest daughter’s ankle was on the mend which limited her mobility and our oldest wasn’t going to be able to partake in any pool-related activities. We were just past the half-way point on our trip and we had weathered the storms reasonably well. So of course when I woke up on the morning of the fourth day of our vacation, I had a sore throat.


Before we left, both Mindy and Kara had cases of strep and bronchitis, so I was concerned that I might be coming down with something. I felt well enough to carry on, so I put my scratchy throat out of my mind. Kara rolled over in her bed and asked me if we were still going to visit Volcano Bay at some point during our stay. I reminded her that Josie couldn’t swim, but if she wanted to go to the water park, I would take her.

Kara had really been looking forward to Universal’s new water park. Rides aren’t really her thing, but she loves to swim and play in the pool. She’s also interested in Hawaiian culture which is celebrated at Volcano Bay. The place was right in her wheelhouse, however, I wasn’t sure she would want to go without her big sister. After thinking about it for a while, she decided we should go.

Before we left, I called to see if there was any priority seating available. There was not. I wasn’t surprised. I knew from previous phone calls that they were sold out for the next couple of weeks. I had gotten lucky once before so I figured I would try again. The girl on the phone told me to try again in person. She said they held back a few chairs for guests at the park.

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Unfortunately, Royal Pacific does not offer a water taxi to Volcano Bay. It’s located right next to the Cabana Bay Beach Resort which is a nice perk for that hotel. You could walk to Volcano Bay from Royal Pacific if you were so inclined, but the hotel offers a shuttle. We had a short wait at the shuttle stop. Less than five minutes. It felt a little longer than it was because there was no signage indicating that we were waiting in the right spot and the only other family there spoke no English. But in no time at all, we boarded our bus and were on our way.

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When the water park opened, they were offering a form of Express Pass just like the theme parks. However, it was not included as a perk to hotel guests. That’s understandable because Volcano Bay is relatively small and if everyone staying at the deluxe hotels could skip to the front of the line, the waits would be unbearable for everyone else. Universal very quickly did away with Express Pass at Volcano Bay due to operational issues we will talk about in a minute.

As guests at Royal Pacific, we did get one hour early admission to the park. This is a huge advantage if you are planning to visit Volcano Bay. Later in the day, people will be searching high and low for any loungers they can find, but we had our pick. We set our stuff down in a pair of loungers under an umbrella right in front of the wave pool. We were also able to get a locker long before they sold out. The lockers were accessible using the Tapu Tapu wrist band we were provided at the entrance, so there was no need to hang on to any of our personal belongings other than our sandals and beach towels. With early admission, there was no need to spend money on expensive priority seating.

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This was the view from our loungers. Volcano Bay is an absolutely beautiful water park. It’s small and along the edges you are aware that it borders the Florida highways. But it’s easy to give in to the illusion that you are actually on a tropical island. If you are looking to relax in between visits to the theme parks, Volcano Bay is a great place to unwind.

Kara’s primary interest was the wave pool, but I wanted to explore a bit before the park opened to the general public. After a quick dip in the wave pool, we started to walk around the park. I had read that the new water coaster was a must-do experience and that lines would get long later in the day. So I kept my eyes out for that attraction. Unfortunately, I had no idea what any of the names meant. They are all in Hawaiian, so the signs weren’t of much use.

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When we found the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, it was listed as “ride now” which meant we didn’t need to schedule a return time. Just as we were stepping in line, that changed. We were now told that we needed to use Tapu Tapu at the nearby kiosk to schedule a return time to ride. No big deal. Our return time was only ten minutes out.

In the meantime, we decided to check out the Kopiko Wai Winding River – that’s a fancy name for a lazy river. In addition to the standard circular floats, there were several that resembled floating recliners. Let me tell you, this was one relaxing ride. Unlike a lot of lazy rivers, there was always something to see. At one point, the river passes through the volcano which is all kinds of cool.

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By the time we had winded along the lazy river, Tapu Tapu was telling us to report to the water coaster. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean you get to experience the ride right away. We had about a 15 minute wait. I heard a staff member saying that they were supposed to keep the wait times under 20 minutes. The park had opened less than a week ago and they were still figuring a lot of things out.

Kara was uncertain about riding a water coaster, but I was confident she would enjoy it. She loved the Aquaduck on the Disney Dream which is a similar experience on a more modest scale. The fifteen minute wait was a bit much for her, but she perked up when it was our turn to ride.

I have been on a few water coasters before, but Krakatau was by far the best. Guests ride in four-person canoes which are pulled uphill by magnets. You get a surprising amount of speed every time you go up. The ride consists of several dips, turns and splashes plus another trip through the volcano. It’s also a much longer ride than you would expect. It’s no wonder that this is an incredibly popular attraction. Make a point to ride it first thing.

After our ride, Kara was gushing about how much she loved it. We made an appointment to come back. The wait time was already over an hour, but we didn’t mind. Kara was getting hungry, so we stopped at one of the restaurants and got her a footlong hotdog and a bottled water. After we ate, we returned to the wave pool to wait for our turn to ride again.

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As it turns out, Kara had so much fun in the wave pool that when it as time for us to go back to the water coaster, we decided not to. Tapu Tapu held our place in line for several hours, but eventually it did drop us. That was fine. We spent most of the day rolling with the waves. Occasionally, we went back to our lounger for a break. Kara enjoyed playing in the sand just like you would at a real beach.

All in all, we had a terrific time at Volcano Bay. And everywhere I looked, I saw lots of people having fun too. So I was surprised when I returned home to read scathing reviews of the new park on sites like Trip Advisor. Here’s the thing. Universal clearly rushed this park to open by Memorial Day Weekend. Even now, weeks after our vacation, finishing touches are being put on the park.

Not only was the park unfinished when it opened, management was still figuring out the complex virtual queue system and operations for all the rides. Guests who arrived in the afternoon were facing extremely long wait times for most of the slides. Understandably, they weren’t happy about that.

But for our purposes, Volcano Bay was a wonderful break from touring the theme parks. And I’m sure as the season progresses, Universal will work out the kinks in their new system. I hear the elimination of Express Pass plus more efficient ride loading has already cut down the wait times significantly. And Universal has already announced plans to expand the park which will add to its capacity.

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By mid afternoon, we were getting tired and decided to head back to the hotel. Before we left, we wanted to try the pineapple upside down cake I had read about. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember which of the strangely named restaurants served the dessert and none of the employees I asked were sure either. We ended up circling the park before we finally found what we were looking for.

As you can see, it’s a chocolate cake with caramelized coconut flakes, pineapple and a chocolate-covered maraschino cherry. Kara and I each ordered one and we agreed that they were good. Maybe not “walk all around the park” good, but very tasty.

When we got home, the combination of spending all day in the sun plus my encroaching cold had me feeling pretty tired. I did something I don’t do very often. I took a nap. The girls woke me when they wanted to get dinner. This is where we ran into our biggest complaint about Loews Royal Pacific. They have four table-service restaurants and a pool bar, but they don’t have any fast dining options. When it’s raining and the pool bar is closed, you either have to get a table or leave the hotel.

Since it was raining, we didn’t want to leave the hotel. It didn’t help matters that I was feeling lousy. Food didn’t sound appealing at all. We visited each of the table service restaurants just to check out the wait times. Emeril’s Tchoup Chop had a reasonable wait time of 30 minutes, but it seemed a bit fancy. We really just wanted some kind of grab-and-go option.

Earlier in the day, a flyer had been left under our door for a local pizza place, Orlando Pizza Express. I suggested, hey, why don’t we just give that pizza place a try? Big mistake. I called at 8:00 and right off the bat I got a bad vibe from the place. The woman who took my order was extremely rude like she didn’t want to be bothered. We were told our food would arrive in about an hour.

Ninety minutes later, Mindy called to see what was going on. The same rude woman answered the phone. She said that there had been an accident which had shut down traffic on a main road and that our order would be there any minute. One by one, we each went to sleep. At 11:30, three and a half hours after I had placed the order, I was awakened by the hotel phone. The pizza guy was in the lobby. I told him we had all gone to sleep. “So you don’t want it?” he asked. “No,” I said. Even if we were awake, which we weren’t, there was no way that pizza was anything but ice cold.

The next day, I checked my credit card. Sure enough, they had charged us for the pizza. I called to ask for a refund and was told that there were no managers in that day and someone would call me back on Monday. No one ever did. I ended up disputing the charges with my credit card company. don’t order food from places that advertise with flyers under your hotel door – especially Orlando Pizza Express.

Next: ET, Donuts and Dragons
 
Great report! Looking forward to updates.

Thanks for reading along. I always enjoy sharing and reliving these kinds of vacations through trip reports.

Fun times! Makes me miss the place all over again!

We're looking forward to going back in the not too distant future. Mindy got excited about the announcement of the new Harry Potter attraction. I'd like to go back when the kids are just a bit older and more daring with respect to some of the bigger rides.
 
I read about those pizza flyer companies! They sneak in without hotel permission. Hopefully, your credit card will strike it for you.

The charge was successfully disputed.

I should have known better than to order from such a place. Not sure what I was thinking. I had seen some pizza boxes in the hallway outside a neighbor's door and thought that seemed like a good idea. But this place was a hustle. I got a bad feeling as soon as they answered the phone. I should have hung up right then and there.
 
Volcano Bay -- we went there about a week after it was open. We were lucky enough to have the express passes, but even with them, we had some quite long waits the later it got. They were some of my favorite rides though. I hope they figure out how to manage the crowds soon!
 

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