Cheapness In Seattle (A 2019 PNW Trip Report - 2020 update added on 6/25

So you and Liesa @Steppesister (and I) have no clue what Bellatrix says on the Escape from Gringott's ride.

This is what I found:

At the beginning, "Bellatrix Lestrange strides out of (a) tunnel which has not been protected by a portcullis claiming that someone [actually the Trio] has broken into her vault and suspects that it may have been you and your friends."

No idea what she actually says, though. Couldn't find that anywhere.

Later, when you're in the vault, "Bellatrix, (says) "I thought I got rid of you, muggle-borns!", casts another spell onto your cart, sending it off to a lava-filled portion of Gringotts where you meet up with Harry and his friends again."


So there ya go.
 
Yup, I saw that. And... tbh, I'm not sure what I could do differently without blowing the budget sky high.

I think they probably need more vehicles, so there's definitely a cost involved. But I also feel like they need better management of those vehicles, and someone with the authority to re-route buses on the fly. It's always irritating when two Epcot buses show up to the same stop.

Good point! Every theme park needs a monorail.

Monorails, like bacon, make everything better.

I do the same... must've been cloudy? Or... maybe... I think we put stuff in a locker at the front of the park?

If you can do without it, that seems the way to go.

Nice to have a personal guide with you.

It definitely helped with my questions.

It beat out Fargo and Jerry Maguire.

How???

That's such a travesty on multiple levels.

I'll agree with that. I do tend to forget older parts of Disney and just think of newer... and they're incredible too.
I guess... I dunno… just something about Potter that, (for me) just puts it one tick higher.

That's the subjective part. Nothing wrong with that. They did a great job!

I think I might actually give Disney more points on the original stuff. Like Expedition Everest or Aulani. They didn't have a movie to look at there, just created them and the story from scratch.

Not the lines... just the walk inside the station to get to the end of the line. It's a long way.

Very long. Very, very long.

Mine are too. I wouldn't want them lost either.

They ain't cheap!

Who says the unhealthy stuff has to be canceled out???????

Well, I don't make the rules. My wife does when she sees my gut hanging over my belt.

This only happens at Uni.

Or if you're @pkondz .

I LOVE THAT!!!! Why so many freaking bag checks at Disney?! Esp with the mono going from MK?! Or over from the CR?!

:sad2: There's gotta be a better way.

So clever and accurate. I just adore this part of setting the stage for exiting this "world" and going to another. Out-Disney'd for sure on this one.

Been having this discussion with pkondz, but I can't bring myself to say it's better than Disney. I think it's every bit as good as Disney. If you like one better than the other, it's more subjective than anything to do with quality, I think.

Best weinie ever!

On the other hand, a fire-breathing dragon is probably the best wienie ever.

This was not a fun part of the experience. I think there should be some lockers that open with your wand.

Or, you know, build ride vehicles that can handle people with hats and purses.

Was that not cool or what?!

I mean...yeah. Right out of the movie.

I truly loved the queues and even if the ride has shut down just as I was getting on, I'd have been happy with the time spent in line.

So, as amazing as the details and queues are...I can't say I would have been happy not to go on the ride.
:rotfl2:

I only made it to # 4 with both. So no clue.

I do intend to read the rest of the books. Someday.

I'm as lost and confused at this as I was trying to figure out what Bellatrix was saying.

Basically, Deathly Hallows Part 1 was the worst movie.

This is my #1 goal for my next trip.

They're amusing diversions. Not sure if they're worth $50 for the wand.

No, I agree. Not worth the Express Pass cost, but if you've got one, you'd be ride it.

Exactly.

There ya go. Win for you and a double $$ win for them.

They'll always get their money somehow.

Dying to see if you do it.

:rolleyes1

Loved that about the queues at US. So much to see in them!

They were very cool.

Agree with how fast tech changes, but prefer FOP. It's jaw dropping. Every time.

So, I guess I wasn't clear in this paragraph. My point was that Forbidden Journey was state-of-the-art not long ago. Now, while it's neat to learn how it works, FoP has already beaten it. FoP is a much, much better ride.

Only if you share.

Oh, sure. Burglars are known for sharing.

That sounds perfect for your crew and amazing!! I'd like to take my kids to Uni someday and this would be what I think we'd get too.

It was easily enough for all of us.

Wait... roast chicken is adult food? So confused.

It is when you're 6 years old.

I'm with you on this one.

:thumbsup2

YES! Just... bettter.

Correct. Fast, easy, close...

Again, not quite apples to apples, but they were remarkably fast and convenient

So you and Liesa @Steppesister (and I) have no clue what Bellatrix says on the Escape from Gringott's ride.

This is what I found:

At the beginning, "Bellatrix Lestrange strides out of (a) tunnel which has not been protected by a portcullis claiming that someone [actually the Trio] has broken into her vault and suspects that it may have been you and your friends."

No idea what she actually says, though. Couldn't find that anywhere.

Later, when you're in the vault, "Bellatrix, (says) "I thought I got rid of you, muggle-borns!", casts another spell onto your cart, sending it off to a lava-filled portion of Gringotts where you meet up with Harry and his friends again."


So there ya go.

Thanks! That's at least a little helpful. It's probably enough to know she's upset.
 
I think they probably need more vehicles, so there's definitely a cost involved. But I also feel like they need better management of those vehicles, and someone with the authority to re-route buses on the fly. It's always irritating when two Epcot buses show up to the same stop.
Yes! Like "Whelp, HEA is just ending, I don't think there'll be many people coming out of MK anytime soon. I think we're okay with just one bus."

How hard could it be to park 2-3 busses at each resort's bus stop after HEA? Or Fantasmic? Or...
Monorails, like bacon, make everything better.
Especially when the bacon's home made?
It definitely helped with my questions.
::yes::
I think I might actually give Disney more points on the original stuff. Like Expedition Everest or Aulani. They didn't have a movie to look at there, just created them and the story from scratch.
Now that is a very good point!
Well, I don't make the rules. My wife does when she sees my gut hanging over my belt.
:laughing:
Or if you're @pkondz .
Correct.
On the other hand, a fire-breathing dragon is probably the best wienie ever.
I'd say it's the best wienie roaster ever.
Thanks! That's at least a little helpful. It's probably enough to know she's upset.
Name a movie that Helena Bonham Carter's character is not upset in.
 
Yes! Like "Whelp, HEA is just ending, I don't think there'll be many people coming out of MK anytime soon. I think we're okay with just one bus."

How hard could it be to park 2-3 busses at each resort's bus stop after HEA? Or Fantasmic? Or...

I honestly don't know why they do that. Like you said, it shouldn't be hard to anticipate where the demand will be.

Especially when the bacon's home made?

::yes:: There's that extra sense of pride in pulling it off.

Now that is a very good point!

Hey, I got one right!

I'd say it's the best wienie roaster ever.

:rotfl2::rotfl2: Well done.

Name a movie that Helena Bonham Carter's character is not upset in.

Hmm....yeah, you stumped me there. Of courrse, she's not in too many of the movies that I would normally consider watching.
 
I honestly don't know why they do that. Like you said, it shouldn't be hard to anticipate where the demand will be.
:confused3
Hey, I got one right!
Don't let it go to your head. Even a stopped clock... wait... those are digital for the most part now... which means a stopped clock is just... off.
Hmm....yeah, you stumped me there. Of courrse, she's not in too many of the movies that I would normally consider watching.
Fight Club? Whoops! We're not supposed to talk about that one.
 
Can't wait to read the rest. LOL on the lockers. They are the reason why I have a lovely good old fashioned "fanny pack". :tongue: We were previously Universal passholders for 2 years and admittedly when you go often you lose some of the wow factor, but I loved watching people enter Harry Potter world for the first time. I've seen quite a few shed tears.
P.S. Butterbeer ice cream is much better than the cream soda version (in my opinion)!
 
Unlike our Disney World trips, I did not have a detailed plan of attack for Universal.

I am a devoted Disney lover too, but the lack of actually really needing a plan of attack for Universal is what makes it great I think. You can be spontaneous and still do stuff without (usually) waiting hours in lines.

That, of course, is the entrance to Diagon Alley. It’s so unassuming and inconspicuous, and I love it. It fits perfectly with the stories—the idea that the world of magic is hidden away, just out of sight in a mundane world. We stepped through the opening and into Diagon Alley.

I loved this. I loved that it was so discreet you could actually almost miss it. We had to follow some knowing people to actually find it.

But that leaves a choice for people like me: either my whole family goes in and we take up the entire room, or I have to attempt to juggle the various belongings of 6 people while also juggling the tickets in order to scan it and open a locker which will inevitably be on the floor several rows away from the scanner.

I couldn't agree more. Even if they need to have the locker situation, I found it stupidly placed on so many attractions. You feel like you are in a huge rush to stow everything and move on or risk losing your place in line. Also, if you have your express pass on your phone, you still need to show it after the locker point, and if you stow your phone...you are in trouble. And if you keep your phone but then have nowhere to put it, you are also in trouble. It's really dumb and you would think Universal would have thought this whole bag check thing through more effectively!

Is this one ride worth the cost of that pass? Of course not.

I was thinking about this. I wish they'd have an option to pay for just a ticket on the HWE without the park to park...or some other way you could ride it without such a huge expense. But of course...they want you to spend it and people will...so...it's working for them!
 


My daughter had spinal surgery in November of 2017. She had grown up with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and had worn a brace for 2 years, from 6th – 8th grade, in the hopes of keeping it from getting worse through puberty and avoiding the need for surgery.

I remember the story of you having to go back to a restaurant in Vegas (I think) because she left it there...has it really been that long?

Obviously, that failed, and sometime in 2017 the curvature finally got bad enough that our doctor recommended a spinal fusion. Not only that, but she would also have two titanium rods attached to her spinal column in order to help keep it straight—for the rest of her life.

I remember that too. So glad that she came through with flying colors!

So, we left a stuffed owl and a ticket for the Hogwarts Express at her seat, with a promise to take her to Universal Studios in February 2020.

Nice! What a great surprise!

In case you were wondering, her surgery was a total success, she fully recovered, and should be able to live a completely normal life

I just kind of assumed that, because of the way you and Julie post her accomplishments on FB. What I never considered was there was a risk of not being able to have children, but that makes sense being that the spine is so critical to so many functions. Just glad she's healthy and fine.

I’m surprised we didn’t get hit with a fee for having a seat cushion or one of those deluxe “transparent” windows.

When Naked Jim joined us on the FL trip he flew on Frontier. I nearly believed him when he told me that the seat cushion was "extra". As were the oxygen masks.

a nice Chrysler Pacifica, night and day better than our usual Dodge Caravan

We rather enjoy our Pacifica, but then we probably ly use it rather differently as the seats are almost always stowed in the floor. Especially now.

I’ve heard many arguments that the free Express Pass is worth the upgrade in hotels. Unfortunately, I did the math and it doesn’t work for a family of 6. In order to stay at a deluxe hotel, I’d have to rent 2 rooms. None of them could accommodate us (unless I got the Presidential Suite or something). And the cost of 2 rooms was way more than the cost of buying the Express Pass (roughly $500-600 by itself). So we went with the cheaper hotel. I was still trying to save money, so I didn’t buy the Express Pass, either. We’d just have to stand in line with the rest of the peons and hope it wasn’t so crowded that we’d be stuck there forever.

That's a lot of math, but yes, makes sense with a large family.

The lobby was insanely crowded. So much for light January crowds. As it turned out, park was hosting two nights of Christian rock groups and performing artists, and it appeared that every church in America had taken a road trip that weekend and was staying at Cabana Bay.

Yikes! Well maybe they'll all be at the concerts and not the parks.

We drove around back and struggled to find a single open parking space. We might have had an easier time of it if this guy hadn’t decided to sleep in a hotel rather than the camping trailer he’d brought along to take up 6 spaces.

:headache: I'll keep my comments DIS friendly. 🤬

So, it’s a nice room. The sofa pulls out into a bed, and we felt like there was plenty of room for all of us. Overall, I’d say it’s a very good place for a large family to stay. I’m just not wild about the theme.

That's nice that no one had to sleep on the floor.

This was before we read the sign saying to please not lean on the cars. Whoops.

Doh!

Another point in Universal’s favor is the fact that there is only one security checkpoint, and it’s far from the entrances to the theme parks.

When you stay at the RPH, they have a checkpoint along the walkway. Probably to board the boats, but I'm not sure those were scooter friendly so we never rode them.

During our early entry hour, there were exactly two (2) attractions that would be open: Minions and Escape from Gringotts. When the gates opened, we followed 90% of the crowd and headed straight for Gringotts.

That seems a little....limiting. I guess they want to beef up the queue for Gringott's from the start of the day.

For some inexplicable reason, Universal does not build any capacity into their ride vehicles for you to put common items like purses, sunglasses, and hats away while you ride. Instead, they force everyone to temporarily place all of these loose items into lockers that are unlocked through various methods (your ticket, fingerprint scans, etc.) and remain free of charge during your ride (based on the current wait time plus a grace period).

Did you know that when the Indiana Jones ride at DL goes down, the most common reason is a backpack of other item fell off the ride vehicle? Rumor has it that dropped cell phones were a big reason that RotR goes down? I guess this is their answer to that situation. Their rides are so much more jarring and shaking so they are probably trying to cut their losses with lots of guest mishaps.

Hopefully you guys are keeping track of these points, because I’m not.

Well Uni got one for security points, one for transportation, and another for room size. But I think Disney got more. If I wasn't struggling to keep up, the geeky nerd in me would go back and count cause I love statistics!

Drew was getting nervous during the build-up, so we did our usual tender and soothing encouragement to help calm him down on the way. Or we told him he’d be fine and to keep moving so we didn’t hold up the line. One of those.

Ah, just suck it up. You'll love it.

We all loved it, even Drew (just like we knew he would).

Of course he did.

I have been informed that the books are WAY better (they almost always are).

There are SO many things from the books that they outright changed. I believe it was book 4 with the tri wizard challenge where Dobby played a crucial role in the books of helping Harry past one of the challenges. Instead they wrote Dobby out of the movie and gave his role to Neville.

When the 5th one came around in movie form, a bunch of stuff also had to be rewritten because early the stuff Dobby "set up" in book 4 wouldn't work right in the 5th one. I started losing faith in the movies then. I saw them all, but wasn't nearly as thrilled and started looking for holes to poke in their story.

Visitors need a park-to-park pass to ride the Hogwarts Express, so this was a pretty brilliant way for Universal to ensure that visitors would pony up extra cash for the pass.

That first year when only IOA had HP land, tickets sales at US original park plummeted, the statistics were abysmal.

Is this one ride worth the cost of that pass? Of course not.

But you have to do it once!

Drew didn’t want to ride it, and based on what we knew of the ride we thought it probably would be scarier to him than Gringotts was.

Probably a wise choice.

Disney has surpassed it on motion simulation with Flight of Passage. It’s pretty amazing how quickly technology evolves.

And without giving too many spoliers, I'm pretty sure the last component of RotR involves motion simulators, but its so seamless that I never thought about it until this discussion. I bought into the storyline so much that I never gave it any thought of how they pulled it off. But that has to be it, no other way it could be done. And its even more impressive than FoP. You're not strapped into that torture device!

Julie and Drew met us for lunch back in Hogsmeade at The Three Broomsticks. Drew was bouncing up and down, having had a great time on the Dr. Seuss rides. Julie was…ready for lunch.

I loved the Dr. Seuss rides! Before they had even announced the HP lands, that was one of my reasons for going to check it out!

Rather than ordering separate platters for everyone, we ended up ordering “The Great Feast”, which consisted of a family-style platter with salad, rotisserie chicken, ribs, potatoes, and corn on the cob.

That looks really good! A ton of food, but tasty!

The Great Feast actually turned out to be a good deal. It says it feeds four, but it ended up feeding all 5 of the adult diets in our family and we didn’t even finish the food on the tray.

Let me guess the broccoli and peppers? :confused3 Am I right? :hyper:

I think I might actually give Disney more points on the original stuff. Like Expedition Everest or Aulani. They didn't have a movie to look at there, just created them and the story from scratch.

Both Joe Rohde projects....I don't know the names of too many Imagineers, but that man is a legend. And he has a very interesting back story....
 
Fight Club? Whoops! We're not supposed to talk about that one.

I've actually only seen bits of that movie. Never watched the whole thing.

Can't wait to read the rest. LOL on the lockers. They are the reason why I have a lovely good old fashioned "fanny pack". :tongue: We were previously Universal passholders for 2 years and admittedly when you go often you lose some of the wow factor, but I loved watching people enter Harry Potter world for the first time. I've seen quite a few shed tears.
P.S. Butterbeer ice cream is much better than the cream soda version (in my opinion)!

I think the novelty wears off anything if you see it often enough. That's why we only do Disney once every few years (the full theme park experience, I mean).

I am a devoted Disney lover too, but the lack of actually really needing a plan of attack for Universal is what makes it great I think. You can be spontaneous and still do stuff without (usually) waiting hours in lines.

I felt like we still needed a bit of a plan, since we didn't have the Express pass. But there were also fewer "must do" experiences.

I loved this. I loved that it was so discreet you could actually almost miss it. We had to follow some knowing people to actually find it.

It's a great touch.

I couldn't agree more. Even if they need to have the locker situation, I found it stupidly placed on so many attractions. You feel like you are in a huge rush to stow everything and move on or risk losing your place in line. Also, if you have your express pass on your phone, you still need to show it after the locker point, and if you stow your phone...you are in trouble. And if you keep your phone but then have nowhere to put it, you are also in trouble. It's really dumb and you would think Universal would have thought this whole bag check thing through more effectively!

Juggling the various tickets was annoying. And some of those locker rooms were hard to find the first time around. I really didn't like that part of the experience at all.

I was thinking about this. I wish they'd have an option to pay for just a ticket on the HWE without the park to park...or some other way you could ride it without such a huge expense. But of course...they want you to spend it and people will...so...it's working for them!

As long as people are paying up, there's no incentive for them to change it.
 
I remember the story of you having to go back to a restaurant in Vegas (I think) because she left it there...has it really been that long?

Good memory! That was indeed in Vegas, way back in 2014. Wow, we're old.

I remember that too. So glad that she came through with flying colors!

You and me both!

I just kind of assumed that, because of the way you and Julie post her accomplishments on FB. What I never considered was there was a risk of not being able to have children, but that makes sense being that the spine is so critical to so many functions. Just glad she's healthy and fine.

Thanks, Alison. It's pretty amazing that you wouldn't have any idea if you just watched her go about her day.

When Naked Jim joined us on the FL trip he flew on Frontier. I nearly believed him when he told me that the seat cushion was "extra". As were the oxygen masks.

:rotfl2: He's not wrong.

We rather enjoy our Pacifica, but then we probably ly use it rather differently as the seats are almost always stowed in the floor. Especially now.

It's a nice van. I would LOVE to have the seat-stow option in mine.

That's a lot of math, but yes, makes sense with a large family.

I feel like math is half of my planning work.

Yikes! Well maybe they'll all be at the concerts and not the parks.

If only...

I'll keep my comments DIS friendly.

Probably wise. But not as much fun.

That's nice that no one had to sleep on the floor.

Always a bonus for the kids!

When you stay at the RPH, they have a checkpoint along the walkway. Probably to board the boats, but I'm not sure those were scooter friendly so we never rode them.

Anything to make the checkpoints as fast as possible is a good thing.

That seems a little....limiting. I guess they want to beef up the queue for Gringott's from the start of the day.

:confused3 Maybe they don't want to pay overtime for too many team members?

Did you know that when the Indiana Jones ride at DL goes down, the most common reason is a backpack of other item fell off the ride vehicle? Rumor has it that dropped cell phones were a big reason that RotR goes down? I guess this is their answer to that situation. Their rides are so much more jarring and shaking so they are probably trying to cut their losses with lots of guest mishaps.

I can understand that. But that has to be due to riders not properly putting their things away, right? I bet half the cell phones are from people dropping them while trying to take photos/video.

Well Uni got one for security points, one for transportation, and another for room size. But I think Disney got more. If I wasn't struggling to keep up, the geeky nerd in me would go back and count cause I love statistics!

They're neck and neck so far!

Ah, just suck it up. You'll love it.

Pretty much.

There are SO many things from the books that they outright changed. I believe it was book 4 with the tri wizard challenge where Dobby played a crucial role in the books of helping Harry past one of the challenges. Instead they wrote Dobby out of the movie and gave his role to Neville.

When the 5th one came around in movie form, a bunch of stuff also had to be rewritten because early the stuff Dobby "set up" in book 4 wouldn't work right in the 5th one. I started losing faith in the movies then. I saw them all, but wasn't nearly as thrilled and started looking for holes to poke in their story.

Is Dobby a sympathetic character in the books? Because I'll be honest, I really didn't like him in the movies.

That first year when only IOA had HP land, tickets sales at US original park plummeted, the statistics were abysmal.

I believe it!

But you have to do it once!

Oh, for sure. Especially if you're only there for the Harry Potter stuff.

And without giving too many spoliers, I'm pretty sure the last component of RotR involves motion simulators, but its so seamless that I never thought about it until this discussion. I bought into the storyline so much that I never gave it any thought of how they pulled it off. But that has to be it, no other way it could be done. And its even more impressive than FoP. You're not strapped into that torture device!

Man, I can't wait to see that ride. Too bad it'll be a few years....

I loved the Dr. Seuss rides! Before they had even announced the HP lands, that was one of my reasons for going to check it out!

Well, I'm glad one of us enjoyed them! :rolleyes1:rotfl:

That looks really good! A ton of food, but tasty!

That was a really, really good meal.

Let me guess the broccoli and peppers? :confused3 Am I right?

Actually, I ate some of the broccoli. It was more just leftover food in general.

Both Joe Rohde projects....I don't know the names of too many Imagineers, but that man is a legend. And he has a very interesting back story....

He does some great work, and I figured there was a story behind the ear thing. I also get the sense he might not be the easiest guy to work for.
 
Sooooooooooooooo......................yeah. Hi again. Remember me? I used to be a faithful reader/follower, then, I dunno.....had a kid or something that sucked up all pretense I ever had of free time.

And then I went back to work, struggled with Postpartum Anxiety, and then, oh YEAH a pandemic hit so we've been slammed with people in the drive thru who think that depositing their $5 check or buying a birdhouse is "essential."

Ahem.

Sorry.

Anyway!!! Finished the whole Pacific Northwest version, thought it was fabulous, snorted with laughter a couple of times. Just finished the Universal portion, and have these thoughts (because I'm too lazy to quote today):

The last time I went to Universal it was 1999. I think they were building IOA. I had a loose tooth and didn't want to eat anything because I hated feeling it wiggle, but wouldn't let my mom anywhere near my mouth. Everything scared me, including ET. The only reason I'd wanted to go was to see Nickelodeon Studios, and after about 30 minutes I was done and wanted to go back to the pool and swim. Mom was determined to stay until her "cost per hour" came down to a reasonable level. And then we got separated on Fievel's playground and both of us were traumatized and crying. We have not been back since, I think because we both needed years to recover. I am dying to see all the Harry Potter stuff though, because I am one of those crazy-obsessed people.

Fun side-story: The coworker I was training and I got to discussing Harry Potter one day, and I mentioned I was in love. She made the comment that she bet I was a Gryffindor. I sighed sadly and said no. She guessed Ravenclaw. No *pout* I wanted to be. She says "Oh no you're a Slytherin!" and I kinda gave her a look. She starts laughing and goes "A Hufflepuff?!?!?" And I admit that I'm still not thrilled with my sorting result, I'm slowly embracing it. She laughs. She goes home that night and decides to take the quiz.....and gets sorted into Hufflepuff. We now have matching Hufflepuff lanyards.

As far as the "book trumps movie" rule, I have found one exception: Stardust. Now, to be fair, I saw the movie and then read the book, but honestly I felt the movie was much better and fleshed out more scenes than the book did. It's the only time I've felt that way. I'm still angry about Ella Enchanted, and I fear that they've done the same thing with the upcoming Artemis Fowl movie.

Wanted to pop in and say I've missed you and hope that maybe I can get on again before my daughter's first birthday in August. We'll see.
 
Or if you're @pkondz .

Yeah, that too.

Been having this discussion with pkondz, but I can't bring myself to say it's better than Disney. I think it's every bit as good as Disney. If you like one better than the other, it's more subjective than anything to do with quality, I think.

Yes, I can agree with that. And for completeness, I'd say, Pandora, SWGE, and HP areas (both) would be the top 3 for best-themed lands. But you already knew that. And yes, while equal in technical terms, you're right, each would rank differently perhaps, according to subjective appeal.

On the other hand, a fire-breathing dragon is probably the best wienie ever.

Agreed!!

Or, you know, build ride vehicles that can handle people with hats and purses.

Well, okay, that too.

So, as amazing as the details and queues are...I can't say I would have been happy not to go on the ride.
:rotfl2:

ok, so there was a bit of hyperbole in my statements. ;)

They're amusing diversions. Not sure if they're worth $50 for the wand.
No, but $50 for several hours of entertainment is.
 
Didn't care for it? Or just stumbled on it here and there?

Probably a bit of both. David Fincher movies don't seem to be my cup of tea. I saw some scenes on TV just flipping channels but never had the desire to watch more.

Sooooooooooooooo......................yeah. Hi again. Remember me? I used to be a faithful reader/follower, then, I dunno.....had a kid or something that sucked up all pretense I ever had of free time.

And then I went back to work, struggled with Postpartum Anxiety, and then, oh YEAH a pandemic hit so we've been slammed with people in the drive thru who think that depositing their $5 check or buying a birdhouse is "essential."

Excuses, excuses!

I mean, uh...welcome back, Annie! Good to hear from you.

Ahem.

Sorry.

Anyway!!! Finished the whole Pacific Northwest version, thought it was fabulous, snorted with laughter a couple of times.

Thanks for reading it! I appreciate it.

The last time I went to Universal it was 1999. I think they were building IOA. I had a loose tooth and didn't want to eat anything because I hated feeling it wiggle, but wouldn't let my mom anywhere near my mouth. Everything scared me, including ET. The only reason I'd wanted to go was to see Nickelodeon Studios, and after about 30 minutes I was done and wanted to go back to the pool and swim. Mom was determined to stay until her "cost per hour" came down to a reasonable level. And then we got separated on Fievel's playground and both of us were traumatized and crying. We have not been back since, I think because we both needed years to recover. I am dying to see all the Harry Potter stuff though, because I am one of those crazy-obsessed people.

So...that sounds terrifying. I am totally on board with your mom's "cost per hour" valuation, though.

Fun side-story: The coworker I was training and I got to discussing Harry Potter one day, and I mentioned I was in love. She made the comment that she bet I was a Gryffindor. I sighed sadly and said no. She guessed Ravenclaw. No *pout* I wanted to be. She says "Oh no you're a Slytherin!" and I kinda gave her a look. She starts laughing and goes "A Hufflepuff?!?!?" And I admit that I'm still not thrilled with my sorting result, I'm slowly embracing it. She laughs. She goes home that night and decides to take the quiz.....and gets sorted into Hufflepuff. We now have matching Hufflepuff lanyards.

Awww...Scotty is there with you. All 4 of my kids took the quiz and got sorted into different houses. True story.

I gotta say it, though. "Hufflepuff" is a terrible name. Even Slytherin is cooler. Come on, J.K.

As far as the "book trumps movie" rule, I have found one exception: Stardust. Now, to be fair, I saw the movie and then read the book, but honestly I felt the movie was much better and fleshed out more scenes than the book did. It's the only time I've felt that way. I'm still angry about Ella Enchanted, and I fear that they've done the same thing with the upcoming Artemis Fowl movie.

I can't say I know anything about Stardust, book or movie. I've seen many books ruined by the movies though. A couple of notable exceptions:

The Hunt for Red October
The Martian

Wanted to pop in and say I've missed you and hope that maybe I can get on again before my daughter's first birthday in August. We'll see.

I've missed hearing from you too! At least we can keep up on FB.

Yes, I can agree with that. And for completeness, I'd say, Pandora, SWGE, and HP areas (both) would be the top 3 for best-themed lands. But you already knew that. And yes, while equal in technical terms, you're right, each would rank differently perhaps, according to subjective appeal.

It comes down to whatever floats your boat!

ok, so there was a bit of hyperbole in my statements.

Maybe a little, but I understand the sentiment.

No, but $50 for several hours of entertainment is.

From what I saw, I think your entertainment would be greater as a young child. I could see most adults doing 1 or two and then getting bored. It's similar to the Agent P gags in Epcot.
 
Bonus Chapter 3: Obligatory Fact-Finding on Non-Harry Potter Attractions

To recap, we’d just finished lunch at the 3 Broomsticks. We’d managed to experience the Escape from Gringotts, the Hogwarts Express, Ollivander’s, and the Forbidden Journey as well as duck into a few shops. So we’d done just about everything you could do in the Wizarding World that didn’t require a 4-hour wait. Feeling satisfied with our progress, we took the Hogwarts Express back to Universal Studios to see what else the park had to offer.

I believe the decision to switch parks again was based solely on the wait times for rides shown on the app. At that moment in time, the waits all seemed to be lower in Universal Studios.

Once we emerged from King’s Cross Station, we took a left and headed over to the Men In Black: Alien Attack! ride. Remember that 5-year period in the 90’s when Will Smith was the biggest star on the planet and could do no wrong? That feels like ancient history now. I guess I’m dating myself. Anyway, the ride sounded fun, like a souped-up version of Buzz Lightyear, and more importantly, Drew would be able to go on with us. So that made it a fairly easy decision.

The original Men In Black holds up really well as a movie. I liked it when it first came out, and the oil-and-water chemistry of Smith and Tommy Lee Jones (an American treasure) is still great. Very entertaining. (The sequels…not so much.)

The ride is supposed to be for your training to become one of the Men (or Women) in Black. You ride around shooting different aliens, getting different points depending on how good your aim is. Some aliens require multiple hits before you get any points. Also, your ride vehicle may spin around occasionally if another group shoots the target on your vehicle, which is a nice touch. Another nice touch was that all 6 of us could fit into one ride vehicle. That’s a rarity.

We really had a lot of fun with it. Mostly, we were terrible, although I thought Dave and I acquitted ourselves well—we both ended up with something in the 96,000-point range, which I think was pretty good for our first try.

Ok, fine. Dave beat me. BARELY.

And we all forgot to hit the big bonus point button at the end. Whoops.

Drew absolutely LOVED this ride. He had a blast with it. And, I totally get it. You ride in a car, you spin around, you shoot things with a laser gun. What’s not to like? It’s good, solid fun.

Next we walked to Springfield (state undetermined). I was looking forward to seeing the Simpsons stuff. I’m a huge Simpsons fan. It might be the funniest TV comedy ever. I’m completely certain no show has more quotable lines. If you can watch the "Lisa the Vegetarian" episode and not laugh out loud at least a half-dozen times, I don't know if we can be friends. So I was hoping the theme park area did the show justice.

And for the most part, I think it did. There are lots of inside references all around. It’s cute if you’re a casual fan, and nicely done if you are a real fan of the show. We got in line for the ride and enjoyed the buildup in the queue—there are little short clips playing with an eye on poking fun as theme park experiences. This ride used to be the Back To The Future ride, and one of the little clips involves Homer taking over the experience from Doc Brown. It’s fun.

Once inside the building, there are a lot more funny advertisements to take in, several taking shots at Disney.

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They were having some issues with the ride so we ended up waiting a little longer than we wanted, but we finally got through and got into the simulator. You can see how they repurposed the old Back to the Future ride for this one—the doors to the ride still open and swing up just like a DeLorean.

Universal is known for leaning heavily on motion simulators for many of its rides—this is the result of having limited real estate and trying to cram in as many attractions as possible. That’s a lot easier to do with simulators than with rides that actually have to travel somewhere. The Simpsons is one of the oldest simulators at the park…and, sadly, it shows.

The actual story is really fun, and there are lots of great gags and laughs during the ride itself. Unfortunately, the screen is very, very dim. And the projection is very blurry, and that creates a huge problem when your brain is trying to keep up with the action on the screen. So, despite some hard work on the part of Universal to capture the spirit of the Simpsons, we all exited the ride having bad headaches and not feeling our best. Stay away if motion sickness is a problem for you.

We all decided we needed to give ourselves a bit of a break after that one, so we looked for something that would be a tamer experience. And that’s easier said than done at Universal, but we finally settled on the E.T. ride. Surely that would be easy to handle!

Well, it was easy. And don’t call me Shirley.

The E.T. ride has been there forever (or at least since I was in college, which is almost the same thing). It’s a standard-issue dark ride where you get to ride a bike with E.T. in the basket, just like in the movie. You have to help him get to his home planet or something so he can help his friends heal their world with the power of love and better gardening or something along those lines. I dunno, I wasn’t really paying attention. The “hook” for the ride is that you give your name to the team member at the entrance, and he gives you a card that you turn in when you get on the bike, and E.T. will thank you personally at the end of the ride for your help.

We did notice a slight difference between Universal (of the past) and Disney in the queue. If you looked straight ahead, it was amazing. It looked like the forest from the beginning of the movie, really well done. And then we looked up at the ceiling and saw…stage lights. Took us right out of the illusion.

I first saw E.T. in the theater when I was in 3rd grade. It was the very first movie that ever made me cry. Not out of fear, but sadness. At the very end, I really didn’t want E.T. to leave. I wanted him to stay with Elliott forever so they could be friends. It was almost as if I had a subconscious need to prevent him from going back home, one that I couldn’t fully understand at the time.

Well, now I’ve been on the ride, and I finally understand. The first part of the ride is impressive for a dark ride. It’s almost ripped straight from the movie. You move through the woods, escaping policemen and scientists, and then take a glorious flight across the sky with the moon behind you. Great stuff. Then you travel through space to E.T.’s home planet, and…hoo boy, does this get weird in a hurry. You move through various scenes of aliens that I guess look related to E.T., including his cousins and friends Lumpy, Tinkle and Buttface. They all sing a version of the E.T. theme that sounds like it’s being played on 1,000 kazoos. And the scenes all look like they hired Tim Burton’s production designer and said, “Stop holding yourself back like in the movies…REALLY try and go over the top this time. Build the Peter Pan ride, but what they would see after they dropped acid.”

Anyway, at the end, E.T. said his goodbyes and thanks to every member of my family: Glenn, Alice, Ryan, Timothy, Marie, Joey, and Zeke.

That’s 0 for 6, E.T. Guess he was smoking whatever the production designer had.

Dave told me later that if we ever ride it again, he wants us all to give the same name, like “Andy”, and see if that works. Even if they mess up the assignments for the ride vehicle, it would still be hilarious for some other family.

It was about mid-afternoon now, and we felt like we’d done pretty well for our first day. Plus, we still had headaches from the Simpsons ride. We started making our way back to the entrance in order to go to the hotel and get ready for dinner. We did stop along they way to get Drew a Slytherin sweatshirt so he could match his siblings and their house attire.

Yes, Drew is a Slytherin. You can’t really be surprised by this.

As I mentioned before, the bus was right there waiting for us when we got back to the transportation hub. So we had that going for us, which was nice.

We got back to the hotel and retrieved our minivan. Everyone was getting pretty hungry, so it was time to head to dinner.

A word or two about our dinner plans: I really struggled trying to find places at Universal that really appealed to us. We’d eaten at the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it, but at the same time it wasn’t a “must do” for us. From what I could read, there wasn’t much in the two theme parks that was worthy of a visit, and most of the places at Citywalk are chain restaurants. Not that I’m really against chains in particular, but there was nothing that made us say, “Wow, we should try that!” When I suggested various places to the family, the reaction was typically, “Whatever. I could probably find something to order.”

The closest I came was Cowfish, which appeared to have some interesting burger combinations on the menu.

But then I was struck by a bolt of inspiration: we had a minivan. I was already paying for the rental, so why not put it to use? Why not head to Disney World for our dinners and get a little Disney fix while we’re so close? This plan was met with approximately 483 times more enthusiasm.

Since both Sarah and Drew had birthdays coming up soon, we let them choose where they wanted their “birthday” meals and then I went about making reservations.

And if you’re accusing us of being hopelessly addicted to Disney World, to the point where we’d use any excuse to spend a little time there…well, you’re not wrong.

Even though Sarah’s birthday is after Drew’s, we ended up doing her dinner choice first. We drove to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a night at Boma.

I’ve written about Boma before, so I won’t go into a ton of detail rehashing it. Suffice it to say that we first tried it a few years ago and it fast became one of our favorite dinners at WDW. Combine that with the fact that the Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of the most spectacular buildings on property AND we didn’t need a park ticket to enter, and it was easy to say yes to this one.

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Julie is in love with their “fufu” dish, which is a simple combination of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. I usually just park myself by the carving table where they have the spiced beef strip loin. They also have a peanut-butter-rice dish that “slaps”, which my kids say is a good thing. And you can get POG juice to drink, always a good thing. Julie also loves their zebra domes for dessert (I think they’re just ok, but I have a keen interest in making Julie happy). Anyway, dinner was great. Sarah made an excellent choice.

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Drew liked the rolls.

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It doesn’t matter how young you are, theme park touring can really sap your energy.

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We took our time wandering the lodge after dinner. This is such an amazing building. I love it there.

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We went out back to walk along the path that goes a bit into the savanna. You get some nice views of the lobby from there.

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We also wandered around the pool in order to find the small area by the fence in the back. Cast members are stationed there with night-vision goggles so you can see some of the animals wandering around. It’s a neat little perk that most people don’t know about. I assume you’re supposed to be a guest in order to take advantage, but nobody asked us for a Magic Band or room key. So we got to take a peek, and spotted some ankole cattle hanging around. It’s pretty neat.

We finally did the slow walk back to the minivan. Even if you’ve only spent a couple of hours there, it’s so hard to leave Disney property. My feet felt like anchors as we trudged through the parking lot. But we needed our rest. We needed to get up early so we could ride some motorbikes.

Coming Up Next: Rope Drop always works!





…..right?
 
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It's a nice van. I would LOVE to have the seat-stow option in mine.

That was what sold us on it. We had just bought our Expedition (2003) when we found out about the stow and go seats. We had decided when we replaced that car, we would go with that option and it is so nice. Our van is pretty much one big cargo van!

I can understand that. But that has to be due to riders not properly putting their things away, right? I bet half the cell phones are from people dropping them while trying to take photos/video.

Yes. For sure.

Is Dobby a sympathetic character in the books? Because I'll be honest, I really didn't like him in the movies.

Dobby was a much different character in the book. I don't think they even included his little girlfriend in the movies. He played a much larger role, and helped Harry out a lot. They sort of skipped over some of the storylines and merged them into larger plots to make up for the absence of his role.

He does some great work, and I figured there was a story behind the ear thing. I also get the sense he might not be the easiest guy to work for.

I don't know anything about the ear thing, but I saw him at a panel at a D23 event, and when he was asked about how he became an Imagineer, he told a story about high school. He joined either the musical theater department or drama because he needed something to keep him out of Juvvy or jail. He ended up doing set design and that's what led him to eventually become and imagineer....
 

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