ToffPrincess
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2017
UNIVERSAL AGAIN
So, as I mentioned on my last post, we spur of the moment decided to do Universal again. We decided to get an early start so we were there pretty much for park opening. This time we wanted to do Islands Of Adventure first then Hogwarts it over to the other side to shake up our thing from last time.I don’t know if we are cursed on Universal days but again it was so, so cold. We had to double our jumpers!! It was FREEZING! We get there and there are no real crowds. We split teams.. DS and I go to Seuss Landing and DH & my uncle do rides.
I soon discover that Suess Landing is something you can easily do entirely in 30-45 minutes. It is incredibly beautiful visually but a little limited because it is aimed at such small guests. I actually think we covered it with our last visit and am pretty crushed to see aside from a Grinch to take photos with there is no Grinch ride! We do the rides and train thing and all last only a few minutes. Then we play in the playground and buy DS some books. We try to watch a live reading with characters that happens randomly in one area of the street but it is so cringe-worthy even DS looks at me like, ‘Lets go!’ so we head to the Harry Potter part and try Butterbeer (cold this time) and buy a few sweeties for DS. I really like the Butterbeer both ways. Most people say it’s too sweet but I LOVE it. I’m sure it’s not good for you at all but its not like I can have a whole one. I think together DS and I only managed a third. But we enjoyed every sip!!
About 45 minutes later the other two joined us soaking head to toe. SOAKING! They look happy but they also say that something is lacking at Universal. It has all the components of a great park but we can’t decide if it’s the rudeness/lack of interest of the employees or if there is something atmospheric that just doesn’t work for us personally as a family. We all agree that if it wasn’t for the amazing Harry Potter parts, which truly are amazing, we would not come back. (& maybe Seuss landing for DS as he is so young!)
We take the Hogwarts express (so much better this way around the visual was stunning!) and we hit the crowds.
It was now 12.30pm and people were all walking around frantically. We tried to explore the Simpsons and Barney Dinosaur etc parts but the crowds just kept getting heavier so we decided to call it quits for the day around 1.30pm. We are talking can't move, can't breathe crowds.. something we did not experience at all last time. Then again we did Universal first then Islands of Adventure last time. We debated what to do for lunch and decide on Bubba Gump as it’s not too full and near the exit. Food was.. interesting. DH is a bit of a food snob and I think at one point when his ‘juice’ arrived flashing he almost fainted. Let’s just say we won’t be back. Not really our thing.
We get back to the resort and slept a bit as we had a late night dinner reservation at California Grill for the fireworks that we want to be awake for. When DS woke we played a bit in the room and before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We got all dressed up and made our way there. We were seated and ordered our stuff to share as last time we found the mains way to big to eat alone. We got the flatbread, cheeseboard, 3 sushi rolls, a salad and a scallop dish and it was just enough for 3 adults.
They spaced it out perfectly so we could watch the fireworks on the terrace. DH managed to stand there and film the whole 16 minutes.. the rest of us lasted about 5 minutes. Truly a stunning view inside and out! With the added music it really is magical
I have to say the food was not as good this time around. Not close. The first time we went it was easily 10/10 this time not even a 7. The salad, flatbread, cheeseboard and scallops were amazing but this time the sushi was pretty weak. It's hard to put a finger on it but aside from again being oversized (photos don't capture how massive each roll is) they all were so bland there may as well have been one kind of roll. So disappointing especially as we wanted to show my uncle what we had spent a week talking about.
We then collapse into bed excited at the idea of HALLOWEEN!!
Next day HERE
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