You are never to old to be a kid again at Universal.....Nana’s solo trip....kind of live from Universal Orlando and elsewhere in the Universe.

Robo56

Look into my eyes
Joined
May 8, 2015
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I LOVE EVERYTHING POTTER.......THANK YOU JK AND UNIVERSAL.

Welcome friends :wave2:

A little background information here.

I’am a retired RN and I loved my job. After a couple of joint replacements it was time to sadly say goodbye to my career in Nursing and retire. Once a Nurse always a Nurse. My older sister and younger sister are also Nurses.

I’am married to a wonderful man. We have the best time laughing together and enjoying life in general. As the years have rolled by and our hair has grayed ( I color mine LOL) ......He seems more handsome to me everyday. It’s funny how we look at each other sometime and say it only seems like yesterday we were married. He is the love of my life.

I started vacationing with our two youngest grandchildren many moons ago. We started doing split stays initially between WDW and Universal and then we exclusively made Universal Orlando our destination every May at the end of school.

It was my way of having fun one on one time with my grandchildren. I highly recommend it to all grandparents. It has been a great joy to me to spend time having fun with them at the parks.

M graduated with her MBA in December and just got engaged. P is Junior now and is the varsity center for his high school football team. Sadly like others I had to cancel trip with grandson to Universal in May do to Covid.

My wonderful husband knows what a kid at heart I’am and he has been supportive of my vacations with the grandchildren as well as my solo trips to my happy place USO.

My husband and I are older. I’am over 60. He is not interested in the parks anymore, but understands my need to getaway for some me time to my happy place.

While I’am here I just let the world stay outside and the little kid come out and enjoy herself. No cooking, no cleaning no grocery store runs, just fun.

I feel I need to touch on the Covid crisis a bit. As this has affected so many. I know that there have been many touched my this tragic virus. Whether it has caused you to have to cancel a trip of a lifetime or you have lost a love one like our family did.

There are many people in the parks and hotel Industry that have lost their jobs or been furloughed do to the changing economics that have been caused by the virus. It has been hard for everyone.

Things will eventually get better. We are all in this together hang in there.

I have never owned a sewing machine before and when Covid started heavy here in the States back in February I decided to start making masks and give them away. I have perfected a design of my own and have shared them with family, friends, schools and hospitals. It was my way of contributing in some small way to help others. I finished a batch of smaller children size character masks before I left for this trip. I hope it brings a smile to the faces of all the children who wear them. They were Potter character masks, Minions and Marvel Super Hero’s and NASA masks.

I believe we can all do our part in someway to help each other.

I have been attending HHN since 2016. I was so sad it was cancelled this year, but understand the need to do so by Universal. That being said Universal has tried to add some HHN touches here to help.


SOLO TRIPS TO UNIVERSAL ORLANDO

I have seen a few posts by folks on the boards asking about solo travel here on the boards.

Solo travel here is easy, safe and fun. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few people here on my vacations from the Disboards. They are other ladies like myself who travel here solo for a break from their jobs etc...just to be a kid and enjoy the parks.

The parks and resorts are secure and safe. You have to go through security screening (bags are sent through X-ray machine) before entering CityWalk from the garages, before getting on boats to leave from the Resorts to go to parks etc.

There are security people in the parks and at the Resorts.

So your thinking WoW that’s a lot of security......not at all.......they are there if you are looking for them, but they are not distractingly obvious.

Eating at the restaurants is not an issue solo.

Riding rides is not an issue solo.

Just go and have a good time.


COVID PRECAUTIONS

I have seen a number of questions on the boards about how Universal Orlando is handling Covid precautions.

The answer is.........they are doing a wonderful job.

When you check into the Resorts there is someone stationed at the door once inside that checks your temperature and you are given a wrist band designating you have been checked. The color of the bands change everyday. If you remove your band and try entering the resort for instance after returning from the parks you will have your temperature checked again and will be issued another wrist band.

Everyone is required to wear a mask.

There is hand sanitizer located everywhere for you to use.

In the parks there is a TM that squirts a small amount of hand sanitizer in your hand before you get on the rides and there are hand sanitizer dispensers for you to use after the rides.

There are blue lined markings on the ground at the rides and water taxis to help people stand the appropriate distance apart.

There are TM’s with signs in the parks making sure folks are wearing their masks appropriately.

On the water taxi’s every other bench is empty. They have plenty of boats running to accommodate seating less people on the boats.

On the rides they are spacing you far enough apart.

On Hogwarts Express families are seated together in their train compartments and if you are solo you go in one by yourself.

There are plenty of designated areas that have been set aside for you to go and remove your mask for a break. Inside these areas are TM’s cleaning tables and chairs after you leave.

There are plenty of characters out in the parks, but they are on stage mostly. There are designated areas marked on the ground were you can stand for selfies with the characters in the background.

Universal is doing a wonderful job of doing everything they can do to make sure your vacation here is as safe as possible. This Retired RN is very impressed with the measures they have taken.


Now onto the trip report

Tuesday......September 29th

Yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check in day.

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My usual home away from home Resort is Portofino Bay. We all have our favorites. I also like staying at Sapphire Falls, but they are both closed. So I changed my plans to stay at Royal Pacific. I have stayed here before and it is a beautiful Resort. I’am so glad I had the opportunity to stay here again.

I haven’t stayed here since the remodel and they did a wonderful job. It’s beautiful.

Some pics of Orchid Lounge

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Check in was a breeze. Masks are required everywhere unless you are eating and drinking or are in your room. As I noted above you have your temperature checked at the door on your arrival and you are given a colored paper wrist bracelet to put on. Then you go to check in desk. There is plexiglass between you and desk staff. Hand sanitizer is on the counters for your use.

There are no bellmen to help with your bags. There are plenty carts for you to use to transport your luggage if needed. You are able to pull your vehicle up in the front under the covered loading areas to unload and load your luggage conveniently.

On check in a nice young man named Nicholas was very kind and helpful. My room was ready shortly and I went up and got settled in.

While you are here the maids will not enter your room. You place used towels and bagged garbage outside your door and it is collected every morning.

The hallways are clean, the rooms are spotless.

If you need additional towels etc....all you have to do is call Star services on your room phone and they are put in bags and delivered outside your door.

The maids will not enter your room until you check out. Fresh linens will be delivered in a bag outside your room when requested as well as fresh towels, shampoo, shower gel, lotions, soap, coffee pods, creamer, extra coffee cups etc...just call Star Service and it will be delivered in a bag and hung on your door.

Everything seems very well thought out and running smoothly.

After I was settled in room It was time to hit the parks.

I went to Universal a Studios and then decided it was lunch time although a little late for lunch. I was near Lombards and decided to have lunch there. When I walked in the guy at the counter said, I see your an AP holder (I wear a lanyard). He told me the upstairs dining room was specifically designated for AP holders during AP appreciation days and to the upstairs dining room I went.

I was the only one there.

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I had the fish tacos and they were very good. The clouds opened up and it started pouring outside. I was happy to be inside for sure.

After I finished lunch and the rain had subsided I ventured out to go to one of my favorite places Diagon Alley. No matter how many times I walk through the wall into Diagon Alley and see the Dragon on top of Gringotts bank I’am always amazed. It’s fun watching other people waiting for the Dragon to breath fire for the first time. I remember timing it once and the Dragon breathed fire every 10 minutes. I have heard it can vary between 10 to 15 minutes. You can hear it churning up before it goes so keep those cameras ready.

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The park was closing at five so I decided to take the Hogwarts Express over to IOA. It was not busy at all. Once you reach the platform you see there are distancing markers on the floor to keep everyone spaced apart. Once you reach the row assignment the TM squirts some hand sanitizer in your hand and then tells you which row to stand in.

I looked over once I was in my row and saw a fellow SANS thread poster Lynne in the distance. We were boarding and once I was in my compartment I texted her. Lynne, my younger sister K and myself were in one of Macs VIP RIP Tours together 3 years ago at HHN. It was a haunted house evening full of fun. If you are a fan of haunted houses you would love HHN.

We met up after the train unloaded. It was so nice to see her again. We walked over to Kong and basically walked on. Again the TM’s squirt hand sanitizer in your hand and then you are assigned a row to stand In until you board the the ride. I really like Kong. One of my favorite things to do is remove the 3D glasses at the end and look at the huge Kong head. The animatronics are awesome.

After this ride it was time to leave the park and head back to Resort. Lynne and I parted ways once we returned to Resort and I was ready for a shower and a rest. It was hot and muggy and I was looking forward to getting into the air conditioning and removing my mask.

I have seen people on the boards asking about wearing the masks in the heat. My answer is, you get used to it.

Take breaks from wearing the masks in the assigned U-Rest areas in the park, drink plenty of fluids. There are cups of ice water for free in the parks.

To be continued.
 
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Great start! Hope you enjoyed your visit. It’s indeed been a rough year


Welcome Keisha :wave2: Hope you and your hubby are having a wonderful vacation here in sunny Orlando.


Looking forward to reading more Robbie.......

Welcome Schumigirl :wave2: I always love reading your trip reports. I’am sure you have been the inspiration for many like myself to share their love of Universal with others.


Excellent info you have shared with all!
Many thanks for helping all the readers with current info.


Welcome Mac :wave2: so glad to see you here. You have been instrumental in building a lovely group of posters together into a family on your Sans thread. Thank you.

You are the queen of HHN. I believe you alone have been responsible for many people like myself attending HHN year after year. You have shared your helpful information and years of experience with everyone. Thank you.
 
Tuesday, September 29th continued.

After a shower and a snooze. I was ready for some dinner.

Wait let’s go back to the shower. The showers here at RPR are the best ever. There is a stationary shower and then there is a height adjustable shower head that can also be removed.

Parents with little ones would be able to easily shower their children with these without problems.

Also people who are shorter can adjust the height of the shower. Nice touch RPR. Definitely worthy of a photo.

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Received a text from Lynne about meeting up for dinner and we chose Jakes downstairs at RPR.

The tables Jakes were spaced appropriately apart and we had a very nice waiter. I had the meat pizza and the tropical sunrise drink it was very good and there was plenty of pizza to share for leftovers. Lynne had the burger and fries and her food looked good also.

After some nice food and conversation it was time to say goodbye.

If you haven’t tried Jakes before give it a try. The food and drink there is very good. The service is excellent.


I had a good sleep. My bed was very comfy.


Wednesday, September 30th

Up bright and early this morning. The rains yesterday and yesterday evening brought cooler temperatures in. It was 64 this morning. Looked at the temperature on my phone for the next few days and it showed Temps in the 60’s in the morning warming up to high 70’s to low 80’s during the day. I will take that.

Pulled back the curtains in my room and saw a guy cleaning the walk by the pool in a heavy jacket.

After a quick shower I decided to forgo a sleeveless shirt and put on a shirt with short sleeves. That would give me a little cover on this cool morning, but I new it would warm up so did not want to be lugging even a thin jacket around.

Towels tied up and put outside the door. Face mask on and off I went.

I stopped for my temp check and received my bracelet for the day.

I was on a mission this morning. Lynne had told me she had tried the UOAP donut at Voodoo donuts and it was very good. I’am not a person who is very fond of sweets, but I wanted to try this donut.

Voodoo donuts is a fun place to go into. I purchased my donut and headed to Starbucks for my morning coffee fix.

I really really like Starbucks coffee. It is good coffee and it’s my morning treat. My usual is the sugar free cinnamon dolce cappuccino with fat free milk, but in celebration of Halloween and Fall and all things pumpkin. I have been switching my regular favorite with the pumpkin cream cold brew and it’s delicious.

Starbucks has distance markings on the floor as well as hand sanitizer for use. Tables are distanced as well as signage about social distancing.

Coffee in hand and donut in bag. I found a table outside Starbucks and sat down for my morning breakfast.

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The donut was tasty and light. Not a heavy cake donut. It had a strawberry lemon cream filling that was very good.

Not sure if the picture shows it very well but this donut is huge. It can easily be shared by two. I could not finish it all, but it was tasty.

My other mission of the day was to get on Hagrid’s coaster.

IOA had early entry this morning and I know how popular Hagrid’s has been so I wanted to make sure to get on.

I don’t usually do early entry, but this was the exception. I cannot stand in one place for long periods do to my issues with my legs and back so getting there early I have heard was my best bet.

Early entry was for 9 am. When I arrived at 8:30 the courtyard was already filled.

They opened the gates at 8:55 and we were off.

It was a nice slow pace in line at Hagrid’s. There were social distance markings on the ground and everyone was doing a great job of distancing.

Hagrid’s has beautiful scenery inside and out.

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When I reached the moving walk I chose the motorcycle to sit on. Wow........ what a coaster ride. Wicked comes to mind on describing this coaster. Coaster fans will not be disappointed.

This is a very fun coaster. I wish my sweet grandson was here to experience this.

I will bring him for a vacation next May if all goes well.

to be continued
 
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Wednesday, September 30th continued

After Hagrid’s I decided to go into Honeydukes.

I always enjoy looking at the colorful treats inside the store.

The witches hat cupcakes were cute.
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I had not seen these new frog ornaments before. The ones on top I had seen before and the frog smells like chocolate, but the frogs ornaments on the bottom were new to me.
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Hello DLP. Good to see your post. Hope you and the family had a good flight home and you all had a wonderful trip at Universal.



Thank you “J’aime Paris. Welcome.


Thank you! We did have great flights on both ends, we all said we won’t want to go back to the old way of traveling aside from wearing a mask most of the time, although I was thinking I’d get annoyed by that......nope!

We did have a wonderful trip actually a FANTASTIC trip I should say!

Look forward to reading more and Thanks for offering a lot of great info to many!
 
I went around the back of Three Broomsticks to get a view of the new Velocicoasters progress.

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I saw some workmen being lifted up high in the sky to do some work. They are brave souls. This coaster looks like it will be a nail biter for sure.

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This was a pic from the High in the Sky Trolley in Suess Landing
 
Wednesday, September 30th continued

It was a gorgeous day and I wanted to make the most of it as you can see from the pictures above.

Well like the heading of this trip report says You are never to old to be a kid again at Universal. I decided to head over to Suess Landing.

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It is fun and colorful. What kid would not like this.

My first ride in Suess Landing was

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This was my fish. I will call him Henry. Sorry I like to name things…LOL

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This was my control lever on Henry. Why do you say is that important well it just is.

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Did I get wet?.....yes I did. After the ride I went to the a U-rest area right next to the ride for a mask break and to return a call to my younger sister.

I told her I was pretty wet from my ride on the kids fish ride at Suess Landing. She laughed and asked me if I had listened to the music as the ride was going. I told her no. I was just making the fish go up and down whenever I wanted.

She laughed again and told me the secret to not getting wet was to listen to the songs instructions on making the fish go up and down to prevent getting wet.

Sheldon Cooper comes to mind here.

I had wondered why the little kids behind me were dry as they walked past......LOL

my next ride was the
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Sorry to who ever sat on the seat after me on this ride. I was still a bit wet, but I will blame it on the fish. That’s my story and I’am sticking to it.
 
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What a wonderful time! I did an accidental solo trip (friend had emergency) at DL, and had a blast.

I am loving every word and every picture! Thank you so much for sharing with us!
 
Wednesday, September 30th continued

Your probably thinking will her Wednesday ever end......LOL......it was my first full day in the parks and I was loving it.

It was around 11:45 and I decided to have lunch. My choice was

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I had given Confisco a miss the last couple visits do to a poor experience there in past, but Lynne a fellow SANS member told me what a great meal she had there so I decided to give it a try.

I’am so glad I did. As soon as I came in they saw my AP in my lanyard. They were very welcoming. I was taken to the upstairs dining room that has been set aside for AP holders during AP appreciation days.

AP appreciation days if I remember correctly usually end August 30th or early September, but they have extended it to October 31st. I have never been here for AP appreciation days so this is nice.

The upstairs dining area was very nice. They asked if I wanted to sit out on the balcony. There are some nice tables out there, but I chose to sit inside.

My waitress Jenn was fantastic. She was very friendly and welcoming. They have a card that you can scan to get the menu. If your phone will not scan the bar code they have paper menus to give to you.

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This is a theme throughout the park in the sit down restaurants. A way of limiting touching menus.

I decided to sample the hummus and nachos.
These are appetizers that could easily be sampled by 3 people, but if you are just one sample them anyway.

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I did not get a pic of the hummus.

The nachos were delicious. The chips were crip and all the ingredients were fresh and tasty.

The hummus came with grilled warm pita and crisp brown fried pita? Not sure on that one, but it was good. The hummus was good.

Jenn was attentive and so nice. I had other people who worked there stop by to make sure I was enjoying my meal.

I didn’t take pictures of the upstairs dining room as others were now coming up for lunch. As I did not want to infringe on their privacy.

Jenn brought me a soda in a takeaway cup when I paid to enjoy as I walked around the park.

Everyone was so welcoming and nice. The food was delicious. Service top notch.

I had a wonderful experience here and I will be back

I wanted to touch on the feeling here at Universal Orlando.

Everyone I have come into contact with from the time I stepped into the resort at RPR and was welcomed by the staff here to the security, water taxi Captains, the park TM’s all of them have been happy and so welcoming. You feel that they are genuinely happy you are here.

They are all amazing.

There are plenty of well thought out U-rest areas for you to go and take your mask off for a break.

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There are TM’s in there wiping down tables and chairs after you leave.

Universal had done a fantastic job of thinking about your comfort and safety. I’am so impressed with the effort they have put into making sure everyone has safe experience while vacationing here.

After lunch I headed through Marvel Super Hero Island.

My days of riding the Hulk are over, but I do like to stop and enjoy others who are enjoying the ride.

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Loving the pictures as usual!
Seuss Landing is one of my favorite lands! I like it so much better than Fantasyland at MK especially when decorated for Christmas!

I love the one on one trips with your grandkids. Have done a few of those with my girls (son hasn't been super interested- he used to get super anxious about new stuff) Now that they are both off to college/grad school it will get harder.

I wonder if they will keep the AP dining areas past the Appreciation Days...
 

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