Universal Orlando, Dec 2010 (Complete!)

[Magpie]

December 10th

This is us, all ready to head out to Universal Orlando in the Harry Potter scarves I knitted. From the left there’s my 14yo daughter, me (I don’t know why my shirt looks all spotty – I swear it was clean!), my husband and my 13yo son.

The plan is to drive across the border to Syracuse in the United States, where we’ll catch a plane to Orlando, via Detroit. It sounds complicated, but it cuts the cost of travel by about fifty percent, compared to flying out of Canada. My husband is looking more resigned than thrilled, probably because our car mysteriously died yesterday.

He kept saying things like, “IF we go to Florida...” and “We can’t exactly WALK to Syracuse...”, but we all know him well enough not to be alarmed by statements like these.

I did all the packing, while my husband sorted out the car situation. Bathing suits, check. Shorts, check. Why on earth does my son have just two ripped pairs of jeans (one of which he’s got on) and next to no underwear? What has he been wearing all school year?

The underwear situation was easily resolved, but there was no time to do anything about the jeans before we left. So if they look filthy in subsequent pictures, it’s because they are. Unlike my shirt. Which was CLEAN, darn it!

This is not a picture of my husband trying to push our car to Florida. This is our new rental car, in the snow! I can’t wait to leave this all behind for warm, sunny Orlando.

As we were dragging the bags out to the car, my daughter looked up from her computer and said, “What? We’re leaving? Tonight?” She’s bright, but not terribly observant.

The trip on the Canadian side was relatively uneventful, other than some mystery warning lights popping up in the rental car. Oil, low tire pressure... all easily fixed once we interpreted them correctly. Then we pulled up to the border and were informed that we’d been randomly selected for a vehicle search by Homeland Security. How exciting! We bounced into the building and my husband decided to take a swing by the bathroom. Apparently that’s not a good idea, because a grumpy woman immediately popped out and said, “You can’t do that!”

“He’s already in there,” I said, waving a hand at the bathroom door.

“Wait here,” she said, ushering us into a room with some benches. I tried making eye contact and smiling at her – that usually works with grumpy officials – but evidently Homeland Security aren’t allowed to be friendly. She ignored us, frowning the entire time. She wasn’t even happy when my husband reappeared.

The kids amused themselves by reading the various warning signs and giggling over the fact that snails are listed as a biohazard. It took about half an hour, but eventually they decided we were harmless and let us continue on our way.

At the Best Western in Syracuse we were offered a free upgrade to a suite. We took it, of course!

The rooms were a little worn around the edges, but everything was clean and it all worked. And the hotel offers a free breakfast! There was MSG in the pre-packaged pancake thingy, but not in the faux mcmuffin, so I just swapped with my husband and everyone was happy.

My daughter asked, “We’re taking more than one plane?” Evidently she hadn’t been listening the last dozen times we’d discussed it in her presence. She wasn’t listening any of the three times the gentleman who ferried us to airport told her not to do up her seatbelt either. Apparently those belts sometimes get stuck and can’t be undone. However, she’d already done hers up and it was too late. We debated leaving her behind as a permanent fixture in the airport shuttle.

Fortunately, she managed to escape her belt when we arrived at the airport.

To my immense disappointment, there was no special screening at the airport. Just shoes off and padding through the metal detector in our socks. Knitting needles are still allowed, even my extra-scary double pointed steel needles. Yay!

The Detroit airport has a monorail! And moving walkways! My husband and my son raced each other on the walkways, while my daughter and I maintained our dignity. Okay, she maintained her dignity. I had to run on the walkways once, too, just to see how fast I could go.

Our four hour layover was relatively painless, thanks to the entertaining surroundings. We had lunch and I played Torches and Pitchforks (a card game) with my son. He took beating me soundly with great graciousness. He sulked a bit, though, over the lack of hypoglycemic-friendly snacks in the airport. He was eventually pacified with some popcorn, which is not on the approved list, but what can you do? At least it wasn’t loaded with sugar.

The next flight did not crash into the ground (I’m always a little concerned about that happening), and we finally arrived at Orlando. It was eight thirty, we hadn’t eaten since lunch, and the plan was to collect our luggage, grab dinner at the airport and then cab over to the Royal Pacific Resort.

Unfortunately it turns out the Orlando airport is designed to shepherd you off the plane, over to your luggage and right out the door.

We were outside and climbing into a taxi before we really knew what hit us. The cab was a bit dodgy. One air freshener handing off the mirror, I can understand. Even one in the front and one in the back. But three hanging off the mirror? And FIVE in a row across the back window? I was wondering about the body in the trunk.

My husband says what concerned him wasn’t the air fresheners, it was the whether that poor car was even going to make it to the hotel. He said it sounded like it wanted to give up the ghost a couple times there.

But the price was good, and while the driver may not have known enough English to converse with us, she clearly understood where we wanted to go.

We staggered into the Royal Pacific Resort at 9:00 pm, starving. Especially the boy, as hypoglycemics don’t take fasting well at all. He was visibly drooping. Fortunately, check in was very efficient, and I remembered not only to refuse the key to the mini-bar, but also to request morning maid service, as we wanted to be able to nap undisturbed in the afternoons. My husband decided to ask for in-room internet service so we could Skype our family back home. The fellow at the desk told us internet would be 25 dollars for three days, and then directed us to a self-serve kiosk where we were able to print out all our park tickets.

We found our accommodations without any trouble – sixth floor, Leeward tower, the next to last room on the floor. The kids were agog at how nice everything looked. All they’ve ever stayed in before were Best Westerns and Econolodges, so this was definitely a new experience for them.

Me, I did my usual bedbug check and was relieved to see that it all appeared good.

Then it was down to Jake’s American Bar for dinner, for a delicious and surprisingly reasonably priced meal. Couldn’t help but notice it was a wee bit chilly as we were walking over to the Bar, but I’m sure that’s just because the sun is down.

Look, it’s Squidward’s mom!

Next: Our first visit to Islands of Adventure, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Quick Links

Dec 12: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39285827#post39285827

Dec 13: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39295658#post39295658

Dec 14: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39299893#post39299893

Dec 15: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39308984#post39308984

Dec 16: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39319523#post39319523

Dec 17/18: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39327423#post39327423

 

[stasijane]

Great report so far, and super funny. We leave for our first trip to universal this afternoon so I cant wait to hear how it is.

 

[Metro West]

Yeah...it's a great start!

 

[Magpie]

Dec 12th

First off, I just want to say that the beds at the Royal Pacific Resort are incredibly comfortable. Even my bed at home isn’t half so nice. So the fact that I hardly slept the entire night had nothing whatsoever to do with the hotel accommodations. I woke up just as I was running home through the snow back in our hometown, trying not to make everyone late for our vacation. When I sat up and looked at the clock, I realized the alarm was set to go off in 15 minutes, so there was no point trying to get back to sleep.

And as it turns out, my daughter had been quietly lying awake for the last forty minutes! She claims it was her cold that kept her awake, but I suspect she was just as anxious as me to get to the parks. Specifically, the Wizarding World.

But before we could leave, we had to eat. I’m pleased to be able to say that the Keurig Coffeemaker makes a delightful cup of oatmeal. We had packed two boxes of instant oatmeal, along with some raisins and pecans in our luggage. With the addition of a bit of hot water it made for a good quick – and cheap! - breakfast. The only glitch in the plan was that there weren’t enough plastic spoons to go around. We ended up washing and hiding the ones we had.

Then it was out the door at 7:45 – only fifteen minutes later than I’d intended.

Everything was so pretty! I tried to grab some pictures as I led my family down the shortcut behind the Green Eggs and Ham Café.

P.S. Pay no attention to the Dec 11th time stamp on the photo. Our camera is 12 hours behind schedule – the date won’t switch over to 12/12/2010 until noon.

And then finally... Hogwarts!

Well, okay, this is actually a shot from the back of the area. All of my “Respect the Spell Limits” entrance photos turned out fuzzy. I was probably bouncing too much.

There was already a line in front of Ollivanders, so my daughter and I jumped right in before it could get any longer. The guys weren’t interested in standing in a queue with us so they took off to go ride the Dragon Challenge.

As we waited in line, my daughter kept spontaneously hugging me. “Thank you, Mom! Thank you so much for bringing me here!” The kid was close to tears!

The guys reappeared just as we were getting to the end of the line. I tried to wave them back in line with us, but my husband refused, saying that would be “cutting line”. We spent the next few minutes shouting back and forth over about eight people’s heads. It seems I’d forgotten to bring the glasses straps, so my son decided not to ride the Dueling Dragons after all. My husband was braver, and did indeed manage to keep his glasses on his face, but was now regretting the experience, because he was feeling a bit queasy.

Ollivander’s opened, and the line began moving forward. As we arrived at the end, the TM at the door looked around and said, “Where are they? They can get in line with you now!” Unfortunately, the guys had disappeared again.

The Ollivander’s show was short, sweet, and all the more magical for having my daughter beside me just about melting down from the excitement of it all. When we spilled into the Owl Post with the rest of the crowd, my daughter decided to find out what wand her birthday would get her. She was alarmed to discover that it was a scary-looking skull-ended wand. “Is that the one Ollivander would give me?”

“I don’t know, honey,” I told her. “But no one’s forcing you to buy it, you know.”

She didn’t look convinced. I think if Ollivander handed her a wand, she would buy it, no matter what it looked like.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, I do believe that was definitely Ollivander in the shop. Even when it was a different Ollivander, it was still Ollivander. Kind of like Santa, only more random, and you have to pay for your own gifts.

We collected the guys at the Hogshead Pub, where my son was working on establishing his butterbeer addiction. And then off to ride the Forbidden Journey!

Who’s Salazar pointing at? From this angle he looks like he’s got bloody hands...

The queue was empty, which meant we pretty much raced past all the cool sights without taking any pictures. We promised ourselves we’d come back and take it slower next time. As for the ride itself... wow. It was intense! And awesome. I really felt like I was flying. We all stumbled off feeling queasy, though I found that feeling resolved very quickly. In fact, after buying house lanyards in Filches and stowing our tickets and room keys inside, the kids and I immediately hopped onto the Flight of the Hippogriff.

My husband, probably because of his Dueling Dragons experience, wasn’t doing as well as the rest of us. He sat down on a bench and waited for us.

The Flight of the Hippogriff was a sweet little coaster, but very short. My son’s comment as the ride came to a halt was, “That’s it?” Still, we all agreed that it was a fun ride, as long as there’s no line.

Here we are, with our house lanyards on! The style my husband is wearing is much better quality (stronger key loop, nicer style), but it only came in Gryffindor colours. And of course, we had to have our correct houses!

I wish I knew why my daughter always closes her eyes and tilts her head to the right in photos...

Oh, and yes, my son has a lot of hair.

Hogsmeade was starting to fill with people at this point, so we decided to head out in a search for a customer service location. I wanted to make reservations at Mythos for dinner, since the park was going to be open until 8pm that night. In Jurassic Park the kids rode the River Adventure and got only slightly splashed, while my husband and I discovered that the customer service kiosk there was closed. We didn’t mind – it was fun to watch the kids come down the final drop.

Then off around to Toon Lagoon...

We debated whether or not it was warm enough to ride the water rides, and decided we might give them a go after lunch, if it warmed up enough.

We took a quick spin on Spiderman on our way to the front of the park, but it glitched right at the end and my husband wasn’t up to a second ride. Another one we’ll have to try again later! It’s a good thing we’re here for a whole week.

Finally we arrived at the main customer service location. I stuck my head in and said, “I’d like to make a reservation for Mythos...” and a young lady immediately jumped up and exclaimed, “Oh, let me take this one! I want this one!” and then to me she said, “When do you want your reservation for?” Sadly, however, it turned out that Mythos wasn’t serving dinner. They were closing at three. I told her we’d be back on another day.

Since we were at the entrance of the park anyway, we decided to take advantage of the five dollar morning movies at Citywalk and go see the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Yes, shockingly, we hadn’t seen it yet. Because we’re fans, but we’re not the stay-up-till-midnight-queuing-for-hours kind of fans. Most of us thought it was a great movie. My son thought it dragged on a bit.

After the movie, we stepped outside and realized that water rides were not likely to happen today, as the temperature had suddenly plummeted and it was now raining buckets. So we had a quick bite at the food court and then my husband and I went back to the hotel alone for a nap. Because we’re old, and we do things like that.

We met back up with the kids at Citywalk, at 5:30, had some more fast food, and then headed back into Islands of Adventure, together. While we were napping, the kids had ridden the Forbidden Journey again, drunk more butterbeer, and tried Ollivanders a couple more times, but no luck so far. A team member had kindly told my daughter that Ollivander does not always give people their birthday wands, so she was still holding onto hope. More than that – she was determined to go back multiple times every day, however long it took to get chosen.

Seuss Landing is gorgeous in the dark! I took tons of photos, most of which didn’t turn out at all. We also rode all the rides, but our favorite was definitely the High in the Sky Trolley Ride... just so long as we remembered to take the left-hand train! That one takes you outside, and the story isn’t particularly annoying. The kids warned us not to take the right hand train, but we had to try it at least once. “Swish-swoosh caboosh!” The sound of fast!

It hurts us, it does.

Truffula Trees!

Did I mention how pretty Seuss Landing is, in the dark?

Eventually we worked our way back to Hogsmeade and noticed that the line for Ollivanders was only about one and a half shows deep. So we hopped in again, this time with my husband in tow. After all, he hadn’t seen the show yet.

My daughter and I positioned ourselves right in the middle of the pack, about one row back, while my son and husband hung out at the rear of the shop being cool. I may have been staring a bit intensely at Ollivander, because I had my fingers crossed and was thinking as hard as I could, “Pick my daughter! Pick my daughter!”

Evidently my psychic abilities need a little refining, because Ollivander looked straight at ME, and said, “Ah, yes...”

“Me?” I say, pointing at myself.

He nods, and starts in on his spiel.

“No, not ME!” I exclaimed, and grabbing my daughter by the shoulders I shoved her in front. “My daughter!”

He sort of shrugs and then announces that we’re both here for our wands. People are clearing out of our way and my daughter’s dragging me up to the front of the shop. “But... my son!” I say, looking back at the boy.

“The wand chooses the wizard!” says Ollivander, sternly. “Not the other way around!”

I silently mouthed, “I’m sorry!” at my son, who gave me a mock-angry frown in response. Then I had to pay attention to Ollivander, who was pulling out wands for us to try.

Wow, that guy is really good at doing cold readings! I mean, okay, telling a girl in a Ravenclaw house lanyard that she’s an intellectual is hardly a stretch. And I guess my loyalty to family was probably based on more clues than just my Hufflepuff lanyard. But I really have no idea how he worked out my birthday wand, when he never asked me my birthday. And happily my daughter did NOT get her birthday wand. She got a different one, made of vine, with no skull head. Whew! Our wands share heartstrings from the same dragon, apparently.

We missed the Beaubaton and Durmstrang show, but we still got pictures of ourselves with our new wands. The Gryffindor prefect told us to point our wands down at the ground, so we wouldn’t accidentally hurt anyone. She also warned us that there’d be severe consequences if we didn’t get in before curfew. She did not mention anything about my daughter’s inability to stand up straight.

Since we’d pretty much been ordered back to Hogwarts, we took that as an excuse to take another spin on the Forbidden Journey. It was a walk-on, so once again we really didn’t have time to look at the queue. I felt noticeably less queasy this time, hurray!

We wandered into the Lost Continent as we were heading out of the park, and got snagged for a magic show. It was basically an infomercial, but highly entertaining nonetheless. I wish I knew how that levitating trick worked! However, I really can’t see paying 30 plus dollars to find out.

After the magic show, we staggered back to the hotel to collapse. My daughter was utterly thrilled with her wand and kept taking it out to play with. She was babbling on about what kind of dragon she thought the heart string must have come from. My son tried to control his disappointment, but it was clearly hard for him, especially when she began poking him with it and trying to use spells on him.

My last thought, as I was going to sleep, was, “One way or another, I’ve got to get that boy a wand!”

 

[Magpie]

Great report so far, and super funny. We leave for our first trip to universal this afternoon so I cant wait to hear how it is.

I hope your trip is going smoothly, and you have a terrific time!

Yeah...it's a great start!

Thanks! It's wonderful to know that people are reading and enjoying my trip report.

 

[Magpie]

Dec. 13th

Today dawned bright and COLD. Very, very cold. The TV was saying it was 25, which is something like negative three in the rest of the world... I mean, 25 is -3 in Celcius.

Being Canadians, this wasn’t enough to put us off. Bundling up in our coats and hats, we headed straight to the Wizarding World for early entry. The line in front of Ollivanders was pretty short so we tried it again, in the hopes that my son would be picked. No luck.

Then over to the Three Broomsticks for the breakfast that came with our package.

I enjoyed the subtle Christmas decorations in the Three Broomsticks. The twiggy wreaths and garlands really blended well, and lent a festive air to everything. Despite the fact that the building wasn’t well heated, the staff appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely. One server pointed out to us where we should look, if we wanted to see the house elves at work. And another server spontaneously broke into a tap routine when the music segued into a Irish-style jig. She may just have been trying to stay warm, but we definitely appreciated the entertainment!

All of us, except the girl, decided to be adventurous and have the English Breakfast. My daughter had the American Breakfast. As it turned out, my husband didn’t care for his Black Pudding, so my son and I shared his. It was a lot of food!

Stuffed, we waddled off to ride the Forbidden Journey again.

This time, we meandered through the queue, looking at everything and taking tons of pictures. We weren’t the only ones, either!

After a blissful morning (despite striking out again at Ollivanders again!) in a nearly empty Hogsmeade, we headed back to the hotel for a nap.

When we woke up, we decided it was time to check out the other park. Yes, finally Universal Studios!

The decorations were... not subtle.

Aaaah! It’s alive!

The Blues Brother’s show rocked. Literally. And Elwood mimed to me to call him after the show!

He was always my favorite.

After the show, we stuck our heads into the Mummy ride. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten our glasses straps again, and when we asked the attendant how likely it was that we’d lose our glasses, he said, “Every evening, we find people’s hats and glasses at the bottom of the ride.”

Yikes! We decided not to ride.

Then we headed over to Jaws, but as we were standing in line, the captain got on the intercom and said, “You have chosen the ONLY water ride in ALL of Universal Studios! Yes, a WATER ride. This means you will get wet. You will get soaked. You will be doused head to toe in FREEZING cold water!”

We decided not to ride that one either!

Next up was Men in Black. Whee! I got the top score! For the last time, I’m sure, as none of the rest of my family realized that they could just hold their triggers down and their guns would shoot continuously.

Oddly, I found the Simpson’s ride even more queasy-making than the Forbidden Journey. It was fun, though!

A little after five, we found ourselves a table and chairs by the curb and settled down to watch the parade, while eating hot pretzels.

I couldn’t help feeling really sorry for some of the performers. The wind had picked up considerably. My fingers were freezing as I took pictures, and some of the high school band kids looked downright miserable – especially the ones wearing next to no clothing.

As far as Christmas parades go, I’ll rate my hometown one as tops. But this one is a close second! Short and sweet, and I liked the music. It was just the right amount of Christmas cheer.

Universal Studios closed at six, but Islands of Adventure was open until seven, so we boogied back over there to try Ollivanders again. My husband and daughter stuck with us through the first try, but they were getting bored with the show so they bailed and left my son and I to keep trying on our own.

The problem is, the more my boy wants something, the less he shows it. I kept telling him to look perky, but he had on what we call his “Mim face” – named for his great-grandmother who could pull a poker face like no one else. Also he’s 5’9’’, bushy haired, and doesn’t look anything like a child, even if he only turned 13 a couple weeks ago. Another try, and another... I gave up on the boy, and started working on Ollivander’s assistant instead.

“Don’t worry!” I said loudly to the boy, as we’re walking past the assistant. “You’ll get picked eventually. Just keep trying!”

He nods, glumly.

“Persistence is a virtue!”

“I didn’t really like any of the books,” says the boy. “Except the first one.” (Sometimes I really need to muzzle that kid.)

“Fifth try, that’ll be the charm!”

Well, as it turned out the fifth try wasn’t the charm. Though it was certainly an enjoyable show. Ollivander initially picked a small boy in the front row and said, “You’re here for a wand!”

The little boy looked right up at him and said, “No, I’m NOT!”

Ollivander nodded, said, “Perhaps when you’re older, then,” and moved right on to a slightly older boy standing nearby. The little boy’s family looked aghast, but it was still hilarious.

As we were walking out of Ollivanders after that show, his assistant said to me, “Get those boys back in line as fast as you can.”

Huh?

“I only have one boy,” I said. But the assistant was gone.

“Well, let’s get back in line,” I told my son.

“I don’t think he meant us,” said my son. “He said those boys. Maybe he thinks you’re someone else’s mom.”

“You stand here in line,” I told him. “I’ll try and sort this out.”

I went back to the shop, but I couldn’t find the assistant anywhere. And then, foolishly, I tried asking the TMs by the door if they knew anything. Of course they didn’t! “Ollivander’s selection is random,” says one TM.

Well, of course, what else is he going to say?

So I got back in line with my son and told him, “Look, we’ll try again and see what happens.”

As we entered the shop, the assistant winked at me, grabbed my boy and positioned him in the front row center, then started directing people around behind him.

I had both fingers crossed as Ollivander came down the steps, and sure enough he looked right at my son and said, “You’re here for a wand...”

“YES, I am!” said my son, with great emphasis.

The assistant pulled me over to the side and indicated that I should start taking pictures. Unfortunately my brain completely shut down with the excitement of it all and I couldn’t figure out how to work the camera. Ollivander’s assistant took the camera from me, found the video function and recorded the entire show.

It’s very dark, and there isn’t much to see, but you can hear all the audio quite clearly. There’s Ollivander telling my boy to “swish and flick” in order to bring down a box from the shelf and my boy saying, “Wingardium Leviosa!” which seemed to startle Ollivander for a moment, because he paused fractionally. Probably he couldn’t read what a big fan the kid is, because the boy’s “Mim face” was still firmly in place. Ollivander then talked about my son’s independent mind and strength of conviction and ambition, before giving him a very grim looking wand with a skull and skelly on it. My son was thrilled – I could tell, because he just kept staring at it, expressionless.

Trust me, you have to know the boy. That’s what he does when he’s over the moon with happiness.

The last thing on the camera is me following my son and Ollivander’s assistant out of the shop, saying, “How do I turn this thing off? Son? Can you give me a hand here?”

In the Owl Post, I thanked Ollivander’s assistant, and he told me his name was Michael. “You could put in a word for me at guest services, if you like.”

Definitely!

We found my husband and daughter at the Hogs Head Pub having some more butterbeer. They told us they’d figured we’d probably had some luck, because we took so long to get back to them. My son showed them his wand, and then just stared at it himself for awhile, while he had a celebratory butterbeer of his own.

Since the park was now closed, we headed out, stopping at Guest Services along the way to leave a good word for Michael (of course!). Then we had a delicious dinner at the Hard Rock Café, where we very much enjoyed voting on the next musical selection.

All in all, it was a perfect day!

 

[Metro West]

Excellent!

 

[stasijane]

How awesome!! I am glad he finally got his wand.

 

[Magpie]

Dec 14th

We slept in, more or less...

My daughter tried to climb out of bed around 7:30 and promptly had to sit back down again. Her legs had seized up! After a few minutes she was able to stagger to the bathroom, holding onto the walls. I’ve been telling that girl for years that you don’t build up good physical endurance when you sit around with your nose in a book all the time.

She was worried she might be too crippled up to enjoy the parks, but I reassured her that all she needed was a warm shower and some gentle stretching.

Then my husband woke up with a head cold, after what he described as a sleepless, snorfling, cloggy night. Me, I slept right through undisturbed. Those beds are SO comfortable – I wish I could take one home with me!

Maybe I should have been a little more sympathetic to his pain, because he was very grumpy. I logged into the computer and it asked me for a password – again! It’s been asking regularly, and when I called down yesterday, the lady at the desk told me there was no record of any use on our account, even though we’ve been faithfully Skyping home every night.

My husband pulled himself out of bed, logged me back in and told it to bill our hotel bill. Then he noticed that we weren’t plugged into the wall and realized we’d logged remotely – and had a bit of a panic attack, because he was sure we’d be billed twice for our internet usage. I called the desk again and discovered that none of our usage was being logged at all. Still!

My man was not terribly gracious about being told “I told you so.”

At which point, my daughter, with impeccable timing, knocked my son’s coffee off the night table and onto the bed.

Her dad freaked, convinced he would now have to pay for cleaning the sheets. Which I told him was ridiculous, as I’m sure the hotel staff regularly see way worse than a bit of coffee on the beds. Head colds and sleep-deprivation do not make for a rational man.

I got my daughter to clean up the bed while I made some cups of oatmeal for everyone. And then – back to Universal! Whee!

We caught the ferry from the hotel for the first time, in order to accommodate our daughter, who was still having problems with her sore legs. It was very, very, very cold – even colder than yesterday! And the chill seemed to be starting to get the team members down. All over the park we saw rides being manned by depressed-looking young people with their hands in their armpits, shivering.

The Horror Makeup Show was a particular standout that morning, as was the Animal Actors show. The orangutan was wearing a sweatshirt and shorts outfit. After the show was over, I asked one of the team members how the orangutan was handling the cold weather. The woman told me that they actually pulled her out of some shows last week when the temperature had dropped too suddenly. But now they’ve got heaters in the back, and she’s warmer than the humans. Of course, they’re keeping an eye on her regardless, and if she starts to show signs of being cold, they’ll pull her out again.

My daughter had noticed during the show that some of the trained pigeons stayed in the rafters instead of flying off with the rest, so she asked the TM whether they ever lose any of their pigeons. The woman laughed and said they don’t worry about losing pigeons – quite the opposite! Apparently when they count up their pigeons in the morning (they’re all tagged) they often discover that wild ones have joined the flock during the night.

After the show we warmed up with coffee, cider and a cookie at Starbucks, where we were equally amused by both the sparrow that flew in the door to pick up crumbs from the floor at our feet, and the small British children sitting nearby who kept shouting to their grandpa to, “Look at the little dicky bird!”

Oh no, the boy was just eaten by a shark!

“Hmm...,” thinks the girl. “Will you look at that?”

We had pizza for lunch, which was quite tasty in a fast-food kind of way. Unfortunately, my husband was still pretty grumpy, and he was being pretty hard on our daughter, who was getting clumsier and clingier the more stressed and worried she got. I finally grabbed my husband out of earshot of the kids and told him he had to ease up. He looked annoyed, so I said, “Don’t say anything, just think about it.” He kept his mouth shut, thought about it, and ended up apologizing to our daughter, a few minutes later, over lunch.

This is why I love that man!

Universal Studios was SO empty!

After lunch, my husband and I wanted to ditch the kids at the parks and go back to the hotel, but our daughter said she was tired and asked to come back with us.

Her dad said, “Okay, but only for a bit and then we’re kicking you out. Your mom and I want some alone time.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” said my daughter, blithely. “You and mom can go off without me and have your alone time. I don’t mind staying behind in the hotel room.”

Sigh… We explained to her that WE wanted the hotel room. She was going to have to leave. “We’re throwing you out, kiddo.”

“Oh, okay,” she said with an “adults are incomprehensible” expression on her face.

Since we had to walk past the dock to get to the hotel, we decided to see if there was a boat available to take us. We saw the captain walking down the ramp toward us and we asked him, “Does this boat go to the Royal Pacific Resort?”

“No!,” he said. “This boat’s going to the South Seas, where it’s warm!”

“Can we come with you?”

The captain was great – we sat up front and he entertained us with tales of his trips to Canada, taking wildlife photos, and having a hilarious encounter with a moose.

Back at the hotel, everyone napped – well, almost everyone. My son read his book; “I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President” by Josh Lieb. A very good book for a Slytherin!

After we woke up, we told the kids they could go back to the parks, and we’d meet them outside Guest Services at 4:45.

“Ten more minutes,” says my son. “I want to finish my book!” Which presented us with a bit of a dilemma, as he’s not an avid reader and should be encouraged whenever possible, but my husband and I really, really wanted our alone time. Fortunately, it actually was ten minutes, and we finally got the kids out the door.

Yay!

This is the view from our hotel room!

Just before we were going to leave to go back to the parks, my husband checked his Facebook and discovered that a friend was in the middle of an emergency and needed a loan ASAP. Unfortunately Western Union turned out to be useless. They needed a second phone number to confirm who we were, but our home phone number wasn’t good enough because my mother-in-law was the only person there. My husband’s cellphone was registered to his work, and our other cellphone was a Rogers pay-as-you-go. They told us we’d have to go in person to their office, but we hadn’t rented a car on this trip, and anyway it appeared that the nearest outlet was in a convenience store which didn’t sound very reassuring. My husband ended up sending a note back to his buddy to find out if he could hang in there until Saturday, when we’d be home from our trip.

We had to jog to meet the kids back at Islands of Adventure on time, but we didn’t mind. It was good to work up a little warmth in the cold, and the path from the Royal Pacific Resort is very pretty. Plus, we’d figured out by this point that if we went out the front of the hotel and down the drive a little, there was a bit of a short cut through the trees.

The trees in Seuss Landing were all wrapped up against the frigid air!

After meeting the kids, we checked out Poseidon’s Adventure, which was a great deal of fun. The actor was amusing, and the water vortex was working, which I hadn’t expected! We got a little wet, but it wasn’t too bad.

Everyone was in a much better mood by this point.

Can you see the moon? You can tell it’s cold, because the sky is extra blue.

After Poseidon’s Adventure, we went to the Three Broomsticks for the Great Feast, which is definitely a “feast”. The menu said it was enough food for four people, but we absolutely could not finish it. I’d say there’s easily enough there for five people, six if they’re not all big eaters.

The food was tasty – especially those ribs! But the atmosphere was a bit glum compared to the previous morning. I think the cold is wearing people down. And not just the staff – I heard my first grumpy visitor at the Three Broomsticks. I don’t really understand what the man’s beef was. He seemed to be upset at how long it took to get food, but actually I thought things were moving quite quickly. Maybe his blood sugar was low. In any case, the manager was being very apologetic about it, and promising to make sure it never happened again.

Of course, being in Hogsmeade and all, we had to ride the Forbidden Journey one more time. That ride just gets better and better, every time I go on it! Afterward, my husband and my daughter headed back to the hotel while my son and I stayed behind for another spin on Flight of the Hippogriff. Which my husband still hasn’t tried... we’ve got to get him on that before this trip is over!

I noticed that the girl running the Flight of the Hippogriff looked very cold, so I said, “Those costumes look warm, but...”

She didn’t even let me finish before wailing, “There’s no insulation in these jackets! NONE!”

Poor thing. I’ll bet a lot of the TMs will be putting thermal underwear on their Christmas wish lists this year.

Okay, this is not a good picture, but I thought the sign in Dervish and Bangs was hilarious.

As we were strolling back to the hotel, my son asked, “What did you and dad do while we were in the parks?”

“We hung out,” I said.

“Did you go for a walk?”

“No, sometimes we just like spending time together, alone.”

He looked puzzled, but thankfully let it drop. For teenagers, my kids really can be amazingly clueless at times.

My son also told me that he’s now decided he’d rather work at Universal than Disney. He says the staff are funnier and that they also appear to be having more fun. (When they aren’t freezing their tuckuses off, anyway.) He has a theory now that Disney staff aren’t allowed to be snarky. I don’t know about that, but certainly he’s never been teased so much, or had so much individual attention paid to him before at a theme park.

Personally, I'm just glad the boy's got some idea what he wants to do after high school. He's always been a puzzle, especially compared to his sister, whose big dilemma is whether to go to medical school or veterinary college.

We ended the day curled up cozily in our hotel room watching a holiday NCIS special together. Despite a rocky start, it was a good day!

 

[Magpie]

How awesome!! I am glad he finally got his wand.

Are you in Universal right now? How's your trip going? Is it warm?

 

[xApril]

Are you in Universal right now? How's your trip going? Is it warm?

It's another cold snap right now. It was warm like two days ago but now it's back to highs in the 50s/60s with lows in the 40s.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying your trip report so far. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Metro West]

It's another cold snap right now. It was warm like two days ago but now it's back to highs in the 50s/60s with lows in the 40s.

Yup...I'm beginning to hate winter in FL. I remember when it was in the 70s and 80s all the time and no cold weather. But what do you do?

 

[stasijane]

Are you in Universal right now? How's your trip going? Is it warm?

Yes we are here right now and having a blast. It has been a little chilly in the mornings and afternoons, but still great compaired to the temperature being in the teens like it has been at home, althought I wish I had brought a warmer jacket. This is our first time to Universal, (we have only went the Disney route before) Since this is our first vacation with out my Daughter we wanted to experence something new together. I think today we will head to the HP section of the park. We tryed to stay clear of that yesterday but after reading your reports of the Ollivanders I figure we need to check that out. I am not a Harry Potter fan (I am sure the books are good but I work for the Book company with the big red dog that distributes HP so I cant bring myself to read it after being forced to see it all day every day) so going to that part wasnt a big concern for me althought I do want to try out the rides.

 

[Magpie]

Dec. 15th

We slept in again on Wednesday. My husband woke up better rested as his cold was easing up a bit, and my daughter was happy to discover that her legs didn’t hurt as much. She announced she’ll start playing Dance Dance Revolution when she gets home, to try to stay a little more fit. I think she was embarrassed by the fact that none of the rest of us were suffering from having to walk all over the parks.

Back to Universal Studios! I’m worried about the way Shrek is looking at me...

Horton could probably hear his Who quite clearly today, as the parks continued to be quite empty. We grooved along to the Christmas music as we wandered through the streets. My daughter and I had pretty much memorized the “Hippopotamus” song by this point, so we were belting it out together, to my son’s great embarrassment.

We discovered that the Mummy eats lanyard rings, as my son’s ticket and room key nearly fell off during the ride. Luckily the TM at the Mummy souvenir shop was able to find us a replacement.

And then, somehow, my husband managed to rip his pants. Fortunately, it was a small wardrobe malfunction, and not visible under his jacket, so he stuck around to have lunch with us at Finnegans. The waitress apologized because the heating was off, but we found it actually quite comfortable. It was warmer today than it had been at any point during the last two days. And the soda bread was warm and fresh and delicious.

By the time we were done with lunch, the Beetlejuice show was just about to start, so we convinced my husband to watch that with us, as well.

More great music to rock along with! Kind of like Halloween in December.

After the show my husband took off back to the hotel to get a new pair of pants, while the rest of us rode the Mummy and Men in Black again. We just can’t get enough of those rides.

Well, okay, I can’t ride the Men in Black multiple times back-to-back the way the kids can. All that spinning makes me queasy. I still love the ride, though!

My daughter’s favorite ride is the Mummy. She bought herself a caduceus necklace, since it’s a symbol of medicine, and she plans to be a doctor someday.

Or possibly a vet. She hasn’t ruled out biomedical research, either.

Something in the field of medicine, anyway.

She can send this picture in with her college applications!

We met my husband at Citywalk, and together we all headed over to the theatre to see the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. As we approached the woman at the turnstile, she looked at my husband’s lanyard and said, “Griffindor? You get to go first.” Then she looked at me and said, “Hufflepuff? You’re next.” To my daughter, she said, “What house are you?” And when the girl said, “Ravenclaw,” she said, “Excellent! In you go.” Finally, she looked at my son with obvious distain and said, “Oh, all right, Slytherin. I suppose you can go in now.” She was hilarious!

I enjoyed the Voyage of the Dawn Treader immensely, but my husband thought it was cheesy and predictable. Just wait until they get around to making the Silver Chair. Now, THAT was cheese!

After the movie we went over to Islands of Adventure to finally check out Grinchmas. Islands was noticeably busier today, but still easy enough to navigate.

Everything is so pretty in Islands of Adventure! I love the whole look of the Port of Entry area. It’s even better after sundown. I tried to take some pictures of it lit up at night, but none of them really captured the feeling of it.

It’s a Who! They were all over the place, and immense fun to interact with. I thought their faces would be kind of freaky to look at, but when the actors are actually moving and talking you quickly forget what they look like. They’re just awesome!

Overall, I was quite taken by the diversity of people I saw working for Universal. There were team members of all ages and sizes. Old, young, fat, thin... I saw a couple team members in wheel chairs and one who was a... is dwarf a polite term, or has it changed? I’m not sure. Anyway, they were all great!

We saw the How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and enjoyed the show very much. It was far more appropriate for the season than the Beetlejuice show, and left us feeling all Christmassy.

And then – of course – back to Hogsmeade! We stopped at the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeers. My son bought a souvenir mug full of the frozen variety, so we all tried a sip - I prefer the regular, personally. That was followed by a spin on the Forbidden Journey, since there was no one in line. This time my husband and son mentioned that they could see the dragon sitting on the roof of Hogwarts, so I'm going to have to keep an eye out for that the next time we ride.

After the Forbidden Journey, we explored Jurassic park in the dark and noticed that all the jeeps had “Joop” written on them instead of “Jeep” – guess Chrysler doesn’t do business with Universal.

We ate dinner at the Comic Strip Café and then doubled back to ride the Forbidden Journey again. (How many times has it been? I've lost count.) While we were wandering through the queue, looking at the props, a fellow asked us where we got the house scarves we were wearing.

My husband pointed at me and said, “She made them!”

The guy and his friends seemed very impressed, and more than a little envious, so I mentioned that the shops also sold house scarves.

“Yeah,” he said, “But they’re not as good!” Which was quite a nice compliment!

I missed the dragon at the end. Have to keep looking!

One more round on High in the Sky Trolley (so much fun at night!) and then back to the hotel, to lie around and watch TV. The pool was still closed due to “extreme weather conditions”, which didn’t bother us as we had no intention of swimming in the cold anyway.

That evening I pulled out the two-park map and made a list of everything we hadn’t seen yet – it was surprisingly long, considering we’d been here four days!

My husband checked in with the desk and discovered that there’s nothing on our room bill yet with regards to internet. So he got online and found out from his buddy that waiting until Saturday wasn’t going to work out. They spent the evening setting up a Paypal account for him, in the hopes that that will work better than Western Union.

Tomorrow – breakfast with the Grinch! And many, many photos of the parks.

 

[Magpie]

Dec 16th

We woke up early despite our intention to sleep in until our 9am breakfast with the Grinch, and so ended up wandering into the Islands of Adventure just after 8.

It was quiet this morning and for the first time we noticed the sound of cats meowing. We looked around and finally spotted these guys up on a balcony.

To our delight, a TM at the entrance to the Confisco Grille informed us that we didn’t have to wait for our 9am seating, we could just walk right in and have breakfast.

We were seated right next to the buffet table, which was loaded with plenty of food. My son was pleased to see that there were plenty of low-carb, high-protein choices. Me, I was utterly charmed by the Green Eggs and Ham, and the little Rice Crispy Christmas trees. Those last were very pretty, but they didn’t taste as good as I remember Rice Crispy squares tasting... Still, it’s been decades. Maybe I just don’t have the palate for them anymore.

I definitely enjoyed all the rest of the food, though! And the character interaction was great. Besides the Grinch, we also had the Cat in the Hat, and many, many Whos.

There was a family with several small children sitting next to us. When the Grinch came by their table, the little girl asked him, “Where’s Max?”

With a most grinchy grin, the Grinch said, “He’s right there, on the buffet table!”

The little girl looked confused.

The Grinch leaned down and said, “He’s this year’s roast beast!” And then he straightened up and walked away rubbing his belly and making lip-smacking sounds.

The little girl turned to her mother and said, “Is Max really on the buffet table?”

“No, honey, he’s not!”

Too funny!

I’m beginning to think my son is right in his assessment of these parks. I adore Disney – my son’s been there three times, and the rest of us have been there twice. I hope to go again in a couple years. But the snarkiness at Universal is just awesome.

We’ll be hard pressed to decide between the two, when our next family vacation comes around. I guess it’ll all come down to what’s new and shiny and a “must-see”. A Wizarding World expansion would definitely tip the scales toward Universal!

After breakfast we strolled through Marvel Island, took some pictures and rode Spidey again. It didn’t glitch this time, which definitely made the ending a lot more exciting!

The details in the Spidey queue are worth taking the time to check out. The signs, especially, are hilarious.

Lots of survey takers were out, but every time we said we were from Canada they moved on to someone else. I guess they weren’t looking for Canadians.

I loved taking pictures in this land!

I have no idea what these pillars are supposed to be about, but my family did enjoy trying to identify all the superheroes on them.

It’s all the little details that make Islands of Adventure so marvelous!

Over in Toon Lagoon we noticed that the word balloon sign near Shoe had changed. The kids are convinced they change it every day. If we had more time in this park, they’d like to come back every day to take stock of all the signs and see if any others are regularly swapped around.

It was still FAR too cold to risk getting wet!

Billy, of Family Circus, had wandered into a Mark Trail cartoon. And thanks to the Comics Curmudgeon, my kids actually know who Mark Trail is. They had fun following Billy's trail all over Toon Lagoon.

These word balloons seemed particularly appropriate, considering that we had to drive down to Syracuse in a rental car, since ours was kaput.

After Toon Lagoon, we headed up to Jurassic Park. Since it was so quiet, we decided to see if there was any chance we could ride the Pteranodon Flyers. Sadly, no, it seems we were stuck unless we could somehow acquire a small child from somewhere. Since that seemed unlikely, we decided to explore the playground instead.

It was gorgeous! And everything was scaled in a way that allowed both adults and children to ramble around.

We climbed to the very top, admired the view, and then my son decided to go down one of the twisting tunnel slides.

All we could hear from the top was, *slidey sound*, “Ow!”, *slidey sound*, “Ow!”

“Is it a tight fit?” we yelled down.

“No!” he yelled back. “Try it!”

So my husband shrugged and got in the slide after him. “Ow!”

“What’s wrong?” I called down.

“Nothing! Come on down!”

My daughter went next, and then so did I. They were right – it wasn’t too tight of a fit (though it was snug enough in places that ‘persons of certain body dimensions’ might want to think twice about trying it). It wasn’t too fast or bumpy, either. What it was, was extremely static-y!

I was zapped every time I rounded a corner. And look what it did to my daughter’s hair!

My men are evil.

Ohh... shiny!

After the park my husband and I decided it was high time we tried the Jurassic Park river adventure. It was fun, and we fortunately were only lightly sprinkled with water. As we were wandering through the park, we stumbled across the “Triceratops Encounter and Discovery Trail”.

My family were iffy about standing in line – this was the first actual line we’d encountered all vacation – but I insisted.

And even spoiled as we were, the wait was not terribly onerous. Team members came out to entertain and educate us with fossils and factoids. They were all terrific, and a hundred percent in character.

Finally we were taken down to a row of large sheds, and when we walked into the last one we found ourselves looking at a giant triceratops in a paddock. Her allergies were acting up, according to the scientist, and she was sneezing all over people.

See that fellow leaning on the fence post? In about thirty seconds he’s going to jump way back!

The scientist was very funny and also very informative, taking questions from the crowd and telling us all about the triceratops, including some bits I recognized from the movie (about the dinosaurs missing some enzyme and all being female). She took a sample of snot off of the guy who'd been sprayed.

That was the only encounter we saw, but a team member told us that there were more, and they're all different. If we went through again, all we had to do is alert a team member, and they'd make sure we were directed into a different shed. Sadly, we didn’t manage to do that on this trip.

On our way out of the show we volunteered for one of the surveys and this time they didn’t seem to mind that we were Canadian! I noted that there was an "if you saw a baby triceratops" section on the survey, so there may be a baby lurking around somewhere. I hope this show is still around for our next trip.

We then spent a little time exploring the Discovery Center. I could have stayed longer, but the rest of the family wanted to move on to Hogsmede. Which was – to our eyes, anyway – utterly packed. What a surprise, especially compared to the rest of the week!

I noticed people were settling in to wait by the show area in front of Dueling Dragons, so I convinced my family to wait with me. A few minutes later we got to see the Frog Choir!

I was making excellent progress on my “things we haven’t seen yet” list.

The Frog Choir didn’t just sing well, they had a whole subtle comedy routine going on while they were singing. The Slytherin girl kept trying to push herself to the front and seize solos, while the Gryffindor boy kept trying to make her behave. Meanwhile the Ravenclaw singer was doing a great Pavarotti impression. It was all very amusing!

The crowd was almost as much fun to watch as the performers. There was a very small boy in the front flapping his hands the entire time, like a little round sparrow trying to take flight.

After the show the performers split up for pictures. I expected my daughter to go with the crowd heading for the handsome Gryffindor boy and the funny Slytherin girl, but she made a beeline for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw singers instead. In my first picture she was all tilted, so I shouted, “Stand up straight!” and took another picture.

Now the picture itself is tilted, but not my daughter, so I’m happy.

When my daughter came back she said, “I told the Ravenclaw guy that I thought his voice was marvelous, but he didn’t say anything.”

“What could he say?” I said. “I was taking pictures. He probably didn’t want to ruin them by having his mouth open. I’m sure he appreciated the compliment, though.”

Years ago I agreed to date the man who would become my husband because I loved the timbre of his voice. While I’m sure house loyalty plays into it, I wouldn’t be surprised if my daughter isn’t the same way.

The Frog Choir was followed shortly by the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton spirit rally. My husband enjoyed the Durmstrang portion immensely, as he recognized several of the staff katas from his days when he used to train in Kung Fu.

I suspect this portion of the show was organized, and performed, by the Beaubaton PTA.

After lunch at the Fantastic Four Café, my husband and I sent the kids off on their own, and went back to the hotel with their jackets for a nap. It was getting quite warm by this point, which was giving me some hope that I might get to try to water rides on our last day.

Something funny I heard on the way to the lobby: A woman and her child are heading out to the parks, when the Mom suddenly says, “Oh my goodness, I forgot to call your school!”

That's my kind of mom! I wonder if she ended the day like the other woman I saw, who was collapsed in the corner of the Seuss shop, asleep with all her shopping bags around her and two small children playing at her feet. I was tempted to take a picture of her, but I'd have to wake her up and ask first, and then I wouldn't have anything to take a picture of anyway.

Back in our room, we checked in with my husband’s buddy and it seems the money transferred okay and the crisis was averted. Also, it seems our internet is still not being recorded on our room bill. I’m not complaining!

After a nice nap, we met up with the kids in Islands of Adventure. We braved the lines in Honeydukes to pick up a cauldron cake for my daughter. She'd been wanting one for awhile, but when we'd tried the previous evening they'd already sold out. The lines weren't terribly bad - not compared to what I've read about on these boards, anyway.

Look! Cauldron cakes have little feets!

That evening we went to Margaritaville for dinner. I would have put some pictures of it in here, but apparently I'm only allowed to post twenty-five at a time.

What a terrific party! Stilt walkers, balloon hats, everyone in the room chanting, “Salt! Salt! Salt!” and an erupting volcano of margarita mix... It was definitely worth the twenty minute wait.

Back at the hotel, though, my son stumbled into the corner of the dresser and hurt his back. Then he accidentally made caffeinated coffee instead of decaf, and so couldn’t drink it right before the bed. At which point he had a bit of a meltdown – I think he was very tired and being off his diet was starting to catch up with him. We’ll have to start watching his blood sugar more closely.

Still, it was another great day! And sadly there’s only one more left...

 

[Magpie]

Yes we are here right now and having a blast. It has been a little chilly in the mornings and afternoons, but still great compaired to the temperature being in the teens like it has been at home, althought I wish I had brought a warmer jacket. This is our first time to Universal, (we have only went the Disney route before) Since this is our first vacation with out my Daughter we wanted to experence something new together. I think today we will head to the HP section of the park. We tryed to stay clear of that yesterday but after reading your reports of the Ollivanders I figure we need to check that out. I am not a Harry Potter fan (I am sure the books are good but I work for the Book company with the big red dog that distributes HP so I cant bring myself to read it after being forced to see it all day every day) so going to that part wasnt a big concern for me althought I do want to try out the rides.

Any luck with Ollivanders? What did you think?

Personally I loved it and I found it fascinating to watch multiple times, but I still have to agree with everyone who says it's not worth waiting forever in line for. It's such a tiny little show.

 

[BrerMama]

Wonderful trip report... really enjoying seeing it through your eyes. We've got about 150 days till our trip and my whole family is so excited!

 

[MouseGirl]

Absolutely loving your trip report - sounds like you went at a great time of year for crowds and the pre-Christmas atmosphere. We are planning at few days onsite in March 2012 and reading your report makes me want to be there right now!!

Thanks so much for posting...

 

[Magpie]

Dec 17th (and 18th):

Our last day!

We woke up early, had porridge, and walked over to Hogsmeade to ride the Forbidden Journey again.

I’d planned the previous night to do my shopping at park closing, but there was some sort of private event going on in Hogsmeade that cleared everyone out. So, this morning, I poked my head into a shop to ask a TM if there were going to be any private events tonight, or would the shops be staying open past park closing, the way they usually do? Because I’d noticed that they were really empty then, so it would be a great time to get our shopping done.

The girl I spoke to didn’t seem to understand what I meant. “You want to do your shopping now, because there’s going to be lines just to get into the shops in another hour.”

“No, I want to do my shopping later, when it’s emptier.”

“But it’s going to get busier.”

“No, I mean when the park closes.”

“The shops close when park closes.”

However, while I was confusing that poor girl, a nearby woman – not dressed like the other TMs in Dervish and Banges, but clearly a park employee and apparently in charge of these ones – asked me, “Are YOU a team member?”

I blinked, and said, “No.”

“Funny you should notice the shop closing procedures,” she said, a bit suspiciously.

I said, “I’ve been here all week. I’ve been paying attention!”

At which point she seemed to relax and told me that the shops in Hogsmeade stay open until the park security finish their sweep, then the doors are locked and everyone is encouraged to finish their purchases and leave. “Depending on what end of the park security starts from, and how long it takes them to get to us, you’ll have between fifteen and twenty-five minutes after park close to do your shopping. And yes, it’ll be very quiet. There are no private events planned for tonight.”

“Thank you!”

She then tried to convince me to use delivery to the front of the park, but the store was already filling up more than I like, so I wasn’t inclined to stay and shop right then. "I'll be back later!"

The shop windows in Hogsmeade are worth a second (and third!) look. When this skinny fellow raises his hat the crow reaches down and pecks out his eye, which rolls down and then pops back into his skull a moment later. My kids found it very amusing!

Since Hogsmeade was filling up quickly, we decided to work on our list of “things we haven’t seen yet”, one of which was the Zoo in Seuss Island.

It was empty, except for a friendly attendant, so my teenagers had the run of the place. They very much enjoyed making things pop up and spin around, discovering fun little nooks and crannies in the zoo. One of these days I expect they’ll get too cool and grownup for this sort of thing, but it hasn’t happened yet.

They even decided to take a ride on the bouncy cow.

Unfortunately, the Velcro holding the bouncy cow together isn’t really designed to withstand teenager-sized bouncing. Oops!

“I’ll just casually drink my butterbeer, while you fix that. I hope no one notices!”

Joe challenged the kids to a game of Tic Tac Toe. They seem to be taking it very seriously.

On our way out of Seuss Island, we spotted a family of ducks!

Mama led her babies around to one of the closed snack stands, to pick up crumbs. I think we were the only people who noticed them, as everyone else was making a beeline to Hogsmeade.

Us, we went the opposite direction, over to Universal Studios to keep working on the bucket list.

First up – Jaws! It was finally warm enough that we were willing to get a little wet. And wouldn’t you know, we came out bone dry. Not even a splash. Huh, we thought, that captain must have been having a little joke on us the other day. This may be a water ride, but it sure won’t soak you in bone-chilling cold water! (More on that later...)

Our tour guide in Jaws was hilarious. “I promise not to tell anyone about your inappropriate laughter, if you don’t tell anyone I peed my pants.” I’m so glad we didn’t miss this ride!

We wanted to get our pictures with the Penguins, as we have a friend who is a huge fan, but unfortunately we walked up at the very tail end of their meet-and-greet. Still, it was fun to watch them interacting with the little kids!

Took a few more spins on some old favorites (Men in Black and Mummy), then walked through the regular queue in ET so I could get a closer look at the forest (which smells really musty and a little like mildew, but looks great). That ride is seriously like Small World on acid. We enjoyed it more the second time, since we knew what to expect. The first time we were sitting there going, “What the heck is this?”

It was time now to head back to IOA, in order to make our lunch reservation at Mythos. We almost didn’t get a reservation at all! Unlike the first day, when the TM was all excited to book a table for us, last evening when I stopped in at Guest Services and said I wanted a reservation for Mythos, the TM looked worried. “That restaurant’s been fully booked for days,” she said. “Let me see if there’s been any cancellations.”

As luck would have it, there was a table available at 12 noon. Whew! So we definitely didn't want to be late.

Of all the places we ate this week (okay, mostly fast food joints, but we did stop in at the Hard Rock and Margaritaville), this is my favorite. The food was delicious, our server was terrific, and the atmosphere was gorgeous.

I can see why this place keep winning awards!

After lunch, my son and I decided we had to ride the Bilge-Rat Barges and Dudley Do-Right rides. My husband and daughter chickened out, claiming that it was still too cold to get soaked. Bah!

Well, okay, it probably was too cold. But it was still a heck of a lot of fun, even if I screamed like a little girly girl every time one of those rides dumped a bucket of freezing cold water on my head.

Those logs on Dudley Do-Right are a tight fit! Neither my son and I are big people, but we still felt squeezed. The man behind me leaned forward and said in a heavy South American accent that I could feel free to put my elbows on his knees. I wouldn’t have agreed, but there wasn’t anywhere else to put them! I felt like I’d made a new friend by the end of the ride.

And that Popeye ride is the wettest thing I’ve ever been on. Luckily I had the good sense to keep my feet up, though, so my sneakers only got wet – not soaked!

Sopping wet, my son and I squelched back to the hotel with my daughter and husband. After a change of clothes and a nap, we all headed back out together to make the most of our last day.

This young lady was taking pictures of people with her parrot, out in front of Margaritaville. She let us hold the bird and admire it, and even let us take pictures of the bird by itself, but she wouldn’t let us take pictures of ourselves with the bird. She then went ahead and took pictures of the kids, even though we said we wouldn’t be buying anyway. “If you change your mind, I’ll be here all day!”

If I bought every photo people tried to sell us on this vacation, I'd have gone broke this by point. As it is, we still ended up with one a picture of ourselves with Spongebob and another of ourselves visiting the Hard Rock Cafe. None of the Forbidden Journey photos turned out satisfactorily (though several were hilarious in all the wrong ways), so we didn't buy any of those.

In our nice dry clothes, we headed back over to Universal Studios for another few rides. Men in Black, yay! My son somehow got 350,000 on one round. And I noticed that not only did they have both tracks running for the first time, but I could shoot at the other cars and make them spin! Whee!

We didn’t think twice about taking another ride on Jaws, either, since we were convinced all those warnings about getting wet were total lies.

Erm... evidently not. Everyone else came out dry, but look at me!

Totally soaked! Fortunately my fanny pack is semi-waterproof and my camera survived.

We’d originally planned to have dinner at Bubba Gump (which my son and husband had taken to calling Bu-Gump due to the sign being partially burnt out one night), but when it came right down to it, we all really just wanted to spend our last evening in Hogsmeade.

So we went back and had dinner in the Three Broomsticks instead. We didn’t order another Great Feast, though – that was just too much food! We ordered separate plates instead. Everyone seemed happy with their dinners (my shepherd’s pie was oddly crunchy, but still tasty), except my daughter. She liked the Cornish Pasties well enough, but there wasn’t enough there for dinner. And she’s not even a big eater!

One last spin on the Forbidden Journey – I finally spotted the dragon sitting on the top of Hogwarts at the end. And then we popped into the now almost empty shops to pick up a few final souvenirs.

I’m guessing security must have started at the near end of the park for once, because exactly 15 minutes later they were locking the doors and blocking off the entrance to Hogsmeade. Luckily 15 minutes was all we needed, but it was odd to find ourselves swept around the long way through Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and Marvel Island, instead of being ushered out through Seuss Island.

I expect they were refining their procedures in advance of the Christmas week crowds.

Back at the hotel, we spent the evening packing. There was a moment of panic when the Christmas gift my daughter had bought for her dad disappeared. We searched all the drawers and bags in vain. Then my husband (he’s an engineer!) thought to search inside the dresser, behind the drawers. He pulled drawers all the way out, off their tracks, and sure enough, there was his present, still in the shop bag. It had slipped behind the drawer.

Based on the amount of dust, those dressers don’t get taken apart very often. So if you ever lose anything in the hotel, that’s one really good place to look.

The next morning, we checked out before dawn, and were shocked at the number of families heading out to the parks at the same time. Islands of Adventure was opening at 8am, which meant early entry was at 7am. It was 6:40am, and there was already a steady stream of people walking over!

We all felt very fortunate to have been able to enjoy nearly-empty parks all week. In retrospect, it was like having a private preview. And we were charged only ten dollars for our entire week's use of the internet in our room. It was probably due to a computer glitch, but it was a nice Christmas present, nonetheless.

The Orlando airport was a lot more crowded this time, but extremely well organized. The TSA agent who looked at our passports did a double take when he saw my son, then cracked up. My son’s passport picture was taken three years ago, when he was a ten-year-old with a buzz-cut. “You’ve changed a lot!”

Then he looked at my passport picture, in which I had long hair. “So have you!” Shaking his head and grinning, he stamped us both through. “Merry Christmas!”

The lines were long, but moving quickly. There was a young woman behind us who was in bad shape. She was crying and shaking, and a friend of hers was leaning over the barricade, calling out, “It’s okay! It’s just a vacation! You deserve a vacation!”

“But radiation is bad for you!” the girl wailed.

“It’s okay, it’s just a vacation!”

Poor thing. I really wanted to give her a hug, but I didn’t think she’d welcome it. No one should be that scared to go through airport security. Especially since the only security in sight was the plain old metal detectors, and some clear Plexiglas booths.

When I walked through the metal detector, something went ping, and the TSA agent told me that I’d been selected for “special screening”. She had me stand in a booth and wait. Yay, I thought. Finally, I get to find out what this is all about! Will I be patted down? Will I get a naked scan? I was really excited, but sadly, all they did was swab my palms with a Q-tip soaked in alcohol.

A little disappointed, I collected my luggage and joined my waiting family. As I looked back, though, I could see the panicky girl from our line being attended by a TSA agent, who was helping her collect her luggage from the end of the conveyor belt. She looked a lot happier, and I was glad to see that she’d got through security okay.

We changed planes in Washington, which was a nice airport, but not nearly as impressive as Detroit.

See this photo? This photo is a lie. The Syracuse airport fills its lounges with tropical plants and palm trees, but outside it’s just grey skies and snow.

All in all, this was a fantastic vacation. The ambient music in all the lands really added a lot to the experience. I’d love to get a CD of the Lost Continent’s soundtrack.

Six full days on site, and we still didn’t see everything. We never got around to walking over to any of the other hotels, we didn't go swimming in any of the pools, and we didn’t check out any of CityWalk's offerings (karaoke!). We’re definitely going to be back some day.

If I could pass anything on to other travelers, it’d be, “Don’t forget to use your CAA/AAA card. Ten percent off practically everything!” Also, “If you’re walking against the crowd, then you’re headed in the right direction.”

When we got home, there was a surprise waiting for us. The garage had discovered what killed our car. It seems someone (me) had left a full water bottle under the passenger side seat. It leaked. Soaked into the floor and drenched the electrical system. Whoops!

Yes, I killed our car. Luckily the garage was able to resuscitate it. So, all is good again!

The End.

P.S. A big thank you to everyone who’s commented on my trip report! It’s really nice to know that you’re enjoying it.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Over in Toon Lagoon we noticed that the word balloon sign near Shoe had changed. The kids are convinced they change it every day. If we had more time in this park, they’d like to come back every day to take stock of all the signs and see if any others are regularly swapped around.

The word balloon over Shoe actually changes at regular intervals. It's on a rotating block, so you could just stand there and wait. IIRC, there are four different sayings.