Having a Universally Good Time In Florida

Our last family reunion in San Diego was such a pain to organize that it took two more years to get  the extended family back together.  My siblings and I figured that a four day Disney cruise would be a fairly pain-free way to entertain all of the kids for a couple of days.  Since the ship would be leaving from the Orlando area, The Wife and The Big Sister, two dorky Potterheads, wanted to hit Universal Studios for a few days to visit the Harry Potter theme park.  We decided on a three-day pass from the undercovertourist website.

The plan was for all four of us Couch Potatoes to fly down with The Mother in the morning and meet up with The Big Sister, The Brother-In-Law, and their 3 kids (Thing 1, Thing 2, and The Third Wheel) later that evening.  The Big Brother, The Sister-In-Law, and their kids (Curious George and Dora) would join us the night before the cruise.

We chose to stay onsite at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort.  Although it was the least expensive of the three Universal Studios hotels, it still was a pricey $350 per night.  That high price would be worth it though. 


*****


Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Mother and all four of us Couch Potatoes flew in at noon and checked in at the hotel.  The day was still young, so we toured Universal's Islands ofAdventures.  Besides The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this park had areas with themes based on Dr. Seuss, Jurassic Park, Marvel Superheroes, Atlantis, and classic newspaper comics.

Aren't Asian people usually the ones
who are pulling the rickshaws?

They are going nowhere fast.

The crowds inside the park weren't too bad until we entered the Hogwart's area.  The place was packed, but it was mainly adults not kids.  I guess that a lot of those Harry Potter fans have grown up over the past decade.  We decided to wait until the next day to go on the rides with the rest of the family.

Instead we hit the shops to get some Harry Potter paraphernalia.  The Kids made out with replica wands (aka fancy faux wooden sticks) and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  The Boy really wanted a large plastic Wizard's Broom with sparkling lights.  However, we refused to get it for him because it was too expensive and bulky. 

A little knowledge can be dangerous.

The Girl was so scared of the "book" that she refused to stand against the cage.

Thankfully, they do not make many booger-flavored beans.

The Kids couldn't get these brooms to fly,

The Wife's priority was the frozen Butterbeer which basically tasted like a creme-soda float.  We went to the Three Broomsticks Restaurant and bought some to accompany out lunch.  It sure hit the spot because it was blisteringly hot and sunny in the Florida afternoon.  It was miserable walking around outside.

The Three Broomsticks decor...

...is based on a depressing British pub.

Shepherd's pie, garden salad, and a frozen butterbeer.

Rotisserie smoked chicken platter

Fish and chips

The sugar in the butterbeers must have started to kick in.

Even wizards occasionally enjoy a cheap mass-produced beer.

Under-aged drinkers should always have multiple fake I.D.'s.

After lunch, we wandered around the Harry Potter area, visiting the reproductions from the books and movies.

The Kids were ready to enter the Triwzard Tournament.

The view of Hogwart's Castle from
the Forbidden Forest gift shop.

Toonces drove this car.

Hagrid's hut before it got burned down by Death Eaters.

 

At the adjacent Jurrasic Park area, The Kids played interactive, educational games at the indoor Discovery Center.  Afterwards, we stood in line for an hour to do the "Pteranodon Flyers" only to have the ride be halted indefinitely due to a thunderstorm.  We didn't know whether to keep waiting or just go on our way.  We chose the former option as another visitor informed us that Orlando often has brief afternoon showers.  Ten minutes later, the inclement weather had passed and the ride was restarted. 

This simulator converted The Boy's face into a dinosaur.

That's one big omelet!

The "Pteranodon Flyers" ride lasted an incredibly lame minute.

Afterwards, we ended up just circling the park looking at the remainder of the shops. At the Toon Lagoon, the shop facades were inspired by popular newspaper comic strips.

Sadly, my fellow Southerners can relate to
Dagwood's eating habits all to well.

The army is so much funnier when you
are not being shot at by the Taliban.

Before Lief Ericson landed in Newfoundland,
Hagar the Horrible discovered Florida.

Flash Gordon, Ah-Ahhh!

The Big Sister and her family arrived late that evening to the hotel.  Instead of going over to the Citywalk to find a place to eat, we decided to just eat at the Islands Restaurant within the hotel.  Big mistake.  The place has pan-Asian inspired food which was not bad.  However, the big problem was the restaurant was understaffed.  There seemed to be only one waiter, and it was as if he had to do double duty as the cook as well.  It took forever to get any service at all, and even longer to get our food out.  With all of the young kids in our group, we were definitely frustrated.  Our server must have sensed that as he brought out a complimentary bowl of fruit that they could munch on. 

Luckily, we had plenty of iPhones to distract the hungry kids.

After dinner, we made sure we printed out our tickets to the park for the next day.  Staying at this Universal Studios-owned hotel gave us access to the Universal Express Unlimited pass.  This perk which usually costs $89/person would allow us to skip past the other regular park patrons.

*****

Friday, August 2, 2013

The next morning, we lined up outside the gates of the Islands of Adventures along with all of the other dorks for the early admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Another advantage of staying at one of the onsite hotels is that the park opens one hour earlier for these guests. 

We had an early start for the Islands of Adventure.

The line to get in was still pretty long despite it being an hour early.

Strollers, wheelchairs, and even motorized chairs were available for rent.

Following the strategies recommended by several websites, we first headed over to Ollivander's Wand Shop.  Only a small number of people are allowed in at one time for the ~ 10-15 minute show; so the line can get pretty long.

This owl is so gonna get it in the seventh movie.

There's no shortage of wands for sale.

Our second destination was the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride.  Even with the decreased crowd for the early admission, we still had to wait in a line for about 20 minutes before we made it inside.  There is a 48 inch height limit, so The Girl and The Third Wheel were too short to ride.  Luckily, they had a "parent swap" area inside.  The Girl and her cousin could still enjoy the tour of Hogwarts Castle instead of having to wait outside.  The Mother who was not keen on amusement park rides would watch the two of them. 

The monotony of the queue was alleviated by all of the Hogwarts ambiance and decor. 

The Big Sister had waited years for this moment.  That's truly sad.

It's over.  The fat lady has sung.

Wizards only.

Seriously, this is what happens to muggles.

The Boy was adamantly opposed to going on this attraction because he was very skittish about going on any amusement park rides.  The Wife and I were extremely frustrated because we wanted The Boy to overcome his fear of trying new things.  It would be a long two days at the amusement park if the kids were too scared to ride any of the rides.  Finally, we resorted to a bribe compromise.  The Boy would go on the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" in exchange for us buying the wizard's broom that he greatly coveted the day before.  The Sister and The Brother-In-Law let Thing 1 and Thing 2 off from having to try the ride. 

Initially, The Boy was upset that
he had to go on the "Harry Potter
and the Forbidden Journey" ride.

However, The Kids were eventually all smiles.  After all, they are on vacation!

When The Boy finally went on the Forbidden Journey ride, he absolutely loved it.  There were big screens that showed video footage immersing the riders in the Harry Potter world.  The creators tried to project a first-person perspective as the viewers were Harry in a quidditch match or fighting giant spiders or dementors. The Boy was not scared at all.  After finishing the ride, he used the parent swap room to our advantage.  He jumped right back in one of the seats, this time with The Mother who we cajoled into riding with him.  The Wife and The Big Sister even rode again.  Personally, I didn't think Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was all that impressive.  The visuals were impressive, but the ride wasn't very exhilarating.  We just got jerked around in almost every direction.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for traditional roller coasters which get your adrenaline up with speed and G forces.   

The compromise was worth it.  The Boy would not be afraid of trying any rides for the rest of the weekend.  The only downside is that for the next six days, we were now stuck with a huge plastic broom that didn't fit in our luggage.

When we had first entered the park, the air was still fairly cool.  By now, the sun had made it unbearably hot.  Afterwards, we went next door to ride the much tamer introductory roller coaster "Ride of the Hippogriff."  The Girl could at least go on this one. 

Thankfully, there was no crying or pouting on this roller coaster.

We took a break to have breakfast at the Three Broomsticks Restaurant.  Afterwards, the family spent the next hour shopping for way too much Harry Potter paraphernalia.  Instead of having to lug all of purchases with us, the park offers a service where we could pick them up at the entrance on our way out.  Since we had a need for speed, The Big Sister and I were able to sneak off briefly to ride the high-speed "Dragon Challenge" roller coaster. 

This place is magical indeed.  The snow never melted despite the heat.

The Mother is ready to board
the Hogwarts Express.

The Kids goof around with each other.

Once we finished the Harry Potter World, we backtracked to the Lost Continent area.

Although Islands of Adventure has been around for only
15 years, the structures are already starting to crumble.

The message to parents: spend more.

We decided to go to the "Poseidon's Fury" attraction mainly because it was indoors with air-conditioning.

 

The kids couldn't wait in line for a few minutes without playing games on our iPhones.

"Poseidon's Fury" is basically a show with lots of special effects and loud noises.  It's supposed to depict a battle between Poseidon and his enemy Lord Darkenon.  Frankly, it wasn't very interesting.  It was also so loud that The Big Sister's skittish kids got upset and made them leave about five minutes into the show.  My family stuck around, but I think we got the short end of the stick.  "Poseidon's Fury" wasn't very interesting.  The plot was confusing and it wasn't interactive.  They did have a pretty neat tunnel of swirling water that you can walk through.  Nevertheless, if I had to wait an hour for this show, I probably would have been upset.

After taking in the show, we reunited with the rest of the extended family and took refuge from the heat.

The kids were trying to overdose on...

...butterbeers and giant sized cookies

Our next stop was Seuss Landing.  The kids really enjoyed this area the most.  The rides were much tamer than the Harry Potter area.  The Boy and Thing 1 must have gone on the "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" ride at least ten times.  The Express pass was useful as they only had to wait about five minutes between each trip.

The kid-friendly "High In the Sky Seuss Trolley Train
Ride" gave us good views of the surrounding park.

The Third Wheel loved the carousel the most...

...I think his father did too.

The Wife refused to ride, so The Girl went with The Brother-In-Law.

A little cool water on a hot day never hurt.

There were also opportunities to meet Dr. Seuss characters. 

I couldn't understand the attraction of this ride until I got refreshingly soaked with cool water while on it.

After doing a couple more kid rides and shopping for more souvenirs, the children were exhausted.  

The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins.

But, too much fun can be exhausting.

On the way out, we stopped off at the nearby Hard Rock Cafe for a mid-afternoon lunch.  The Wife and I usually try to steer clear of these chain restaurants.  It had probably been about 20 years since I had gone to a Hard Rock Cafe, but I have to admit, their Local Legendary Burger was damn good.

The Local Legendary Burger at the Hard Rock Cafe Orlando was stuffed with fried macaroni and cheese.

We took the free water taxi back to our hotel.

We were now owners of a large broom that cannot sweep.

The gardens surrounding the canal were well kept.

After a brief siesta, we took all of the kids swimming in the hotel pool.  The pool area was big enough that families had plenty of room to play and swim without running over anybody else.  We tried to avoid the same pitfalls from the previous night, so we took the water taxi back to the Citywalk.  The only problem is that we waited so late in the evening that every restaurant was packed with wait times at least an hour long.  The Big Sister capitulated to whining kids and got food from the Panda Express.  The @#!@4%# Panda Express!  They are from Los Angeles so they should know good Asian food.  Yes it is "Asian."  But, "good" the Panda Express is definitely not.  Whether it is "food" is still up for debate. 

The Wife and I at least held out for the casual Fusion Bistro Sushi and Sake Bar.  It's a fancy name for what is essentially food court sushi.  It wasn't that bad.  At least our food didn't take an hour to be prepared unlike the night before.

After we ate, we watched a couple of really tall street performers.

*****

Saturday, August 3, 2013

The next morning we headed over to the Universal Studios Florida park located next to the Islands of Adventure.

The first thing that all of the kids wanted to do was the "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem" attraction.  It's a pretty entertaining 3-D show.  

Sign me up

This usually means speed up.

The waiting area had several entertaining knick-knacks pertaining to the movie.

Afterwards we split up from The Big Sister and her gang because The Boy and I wanted to do some of the more popular rides.  The line for the Transformers 3D ride was pretty long even with the express pass.  Just as we were about to board, the whole ride shut down for 15 minutes.  It was frustrating not knowing what was going on.  Eventually, the problem was fixed, and we enjoyed the attraction.  Although I used to be a huge Transformers fanatic when I was a kid, the experience would have been much better if any of us had actually seen the recent spate of movies.

We did get a photo with the new creepy version of
Bumblebee.  I like the old cartoon version better.

We proceeded on to the Shrek 4-D movie which The Girl really enjoyed.  When the attraction exited into the gift shop, all of the other parents were smart enough to just keep walking.  We browsed around and were stuck buying a stuffed Fiona doll for her. 

Since we were in the area, we stopped by to see the Terminator 2 show.  Like most testosterone-laden teenagers, I was a huge Terminator fan...20 years ago.  The show was outdated but still okay.  At least the waiting area was air-conditioned.

On the way out, we stumbled upon the Despicable Me parade.  The Girl was thrilled to meet "Agnes."  It was only a few years ago that anybody in a character suit would cause her to cry from fear.

It was only a few years ago that anybody in a character suit would cause The Girl to cry from fear.

After rendezvousing with The Big Sister's group, we headed over to Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone.  We stopped by the E.T. Adventure ride, which is the last remaining original ride at Universal Studios Florida.  Amazingly, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were scared off by the darkness and ran back out the entrance with The Brother-In-Law in tow.  The rest of us continued on to help E.T. save his dying planet.  After seeing the grotesque appearance of E.T.'s friends, I figured we would be best off letting their species die out.

The kids entertained themselves at the playground area while we waited for the next attraction to start.

Preferably dead

I'm not sure I'm happy having my son waist deep in balls.

The Boy = Thing 1 + Thing 2

After awhile we headed over to the "Animal Actors On Location" show to start.  This production incorporated several trained animals, some of which have had brief unmemorable stints in even less memorable movies.  The show was entertaining for the whole family and the animals all performed on cue.

Watch out! I think he was in Cujo.

Everybody was hungry by then.  The Mother insisted on going to a full service sit-down restaurant, so we went to Lombard's Seafood Grille.  So much for getting a Krusty Burger.  I thought we would have to wait forever to get a table, but it only took less than 15 minutes.  The food wasn't cheap, but it was definitely much better than the typical hot dogs and pizza found in the quick service shops.  I enjoyed the lobster macaroni and cheese.  At the end, the server brought around a tray of scrumptious-looking deserts.  

The Kids all had parfait because you know what everybody likes? Parfait.

I thought that The Kids would be entertained by their giant saltwater aquarium.  I was wrong--back to the iPhones

After lunch The Wife and I backtracked to the mock town of Springfield.  Although The Simpsons had jumped the shark in the early 1990's, we both were still nostalgic about the show.   We took photos with all the props and perused the gift shops.

Ay, ay, ay!

It's worse than the Double Krusty Burger.

Who loves the Kwik-E-Mart? We do!

Is Mr. Freely there?  Freely, first initials, I.P.?

The Girl sits with Bart's weird friend.

Mmm...donuts...

Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff!

I don't know what was so gross.  I didn't use any tongue.

Despite the clever items with amusing allusions to the cartoon, we bought nothing because, at the end of the day, it was still junk.  While we were occupied in Springfield, the rest of the family was busy winning prizes at all of the carnival games.  We ended up having to lug around a huge Krusty the Klown stuffed animal for the rest of the trip.

The Mother kept paying for games until all of the
boys had won a prize.  So much for my inheritance.

At that point we were all very tired so we decided to call it a day.  Unfortunately, all of the kids had their heart set on getting a stuffed Despicable Me purple minion.  The only problem is that they were not available for sale.  We discovered that they can be obtained by one way only--winning a game at the Islands of Adventure.  Unfortunately, the tickets that The Wife and I bought did not allow us to go to two different parks on the same day.  Like the trooper that he is, The Brother-In-Law went over there on his own to fulfill that quest.   He said that the game was the old-school test your strength with a sledgehammer.  Despite him being no slouch, it took him a ton of tries to win those five purple minions.  He said that, at one point, he was so frustrated that he almost bribed a well-muscled patron to play the game for him.  At the end of the day, The Brother-In-Law spent so much money that he could have raised a whole giant army of purple minions.

The Big Brother and his family arrived that afternoon.  After 2 days of fiasco, we finally got our act together and made a reservation at the Pastamore Restaurant at the Citywalk.  We were able to get a semi-private room in the back that was perfect for a our large group.  It was good for the restaurant as all of our little tykes made plenty of noise.  The food was decent Italian fare of pasta and pizzas.

Maybe we were short one chair.

We returned to the hotel and packed our bags to get ready for the Disney Cruise the following day.