The TMs are Starting to Recognize Us! September 2018 TR *NEW TR LINK 4/8

Somehow I missed your last update!

Cute pics with Puss & Boots! Sounds like it was a good morning :)

I had to laugh at the pic of the kids playing by the pool in the rain. Those poor workers!

Sounds like a great evening. Yay for renewing your APs!
 
o I just got the caramel corn. It was NOT good, and definitely not worth the extra charge. We ended up throwing most of it away.
That's too bad. Bagged popcorn is never that good.
The only caramel popcorn I enjoyed was at Karmel Kuche in Epcot, since that's pretty fresh, I think.

We were able to swim for about 45 minutes or so when it started raining pretty hard so DH and I took cover under the umbrellas. DS decided to join in with the poolside games, which were still happening despite the rain. Props to those girls running the games!
Wow, I'm surprised the games were still going on. Disney shut everything down back in August if there was a sniff of rain - or more importantly lightening - in the area. I bet the kids had fun playing in the rain though.

We decided to stop in City Walk for dinner at NBC Sports Grill & Brew since we had enjoyed that a lot last trip.
Interesting, I haven't heard much about that place. It's good to read a positive review on it.
 
What a disappointment with the caramel corn. Fresh is the best and I feel like it's one of those treats you only get when you're on a trip, so you want it to be really good!

The NBC Sports Grill's burgers are actually pretty good. Probably a great dinner choice for you guys.

I bet Hulk in the dark was pretty awesome.

An extra 3 months for renewing your APs seems like a decent deal. And how were you guys gonna resist not returning next year for interactive magic fun and refillable icees? :laughing: (But in all honesty, it does seem like Paxton loves his trips to Universal, and they always sound fun!)

For the premium price of the refill, it was even MORE disappointing. We'd just recently had an event at work before this trip where a local specialty popcorn placed had been giving away their products and their caramel corn was absolutely delicious and what I was expecting when we got it in the parks. Won't make that mistake again!!

We are simple eaters, so a good burger goes a long way for us! :thumbsup2

We have really had a GREAT time on these Universal-only trips, and with our Disney cruise taking such a big portion of our vacation budget for 2019, it was hard to resist the renewal incentives and knowing we could make a couple of returns to Universal without spending a fortune. It will be tough to adjust to staying offsite with no early entry or express pass, but it's better than not going anywhere at all!

Somehow I missed your last update!

Cute pics with Puss & Boots! Sounds like it was a good morning :)

I had to laugh at the pic of the kids playing by the pool in the rain. Those poor workers!

Sounds like a great evening. Yay for renewing your APs!

Puss in Boots is one of my favorites, and we always pass him by because DS is not interested, but this time I told him I was meeting characters, dang it! lol It was a very cute interaction too. He plays up his cat instincts well.

I felt so bad for those girls, but they didn't seem to be bothered by the rain! The kids were having a blast with them despite the weather.

Very excited to be making a couple of return trips to Universal this year!!

hat's too bad. Bagged popcorn is never that good.
The only caramel popcorn I enjoyed was at Karmel Kuche in Epcot, since that's pretty fresh, I think.

It really isn't, especially when we had been enjoying the fresh popped butter popcorn that week for a fraction of the price of what we paid for that stale bagged caramel corn. I was really bummed!! I haven't tried any from Karmel Kuche yet, but maybe I'll have to next time we are in Disney for some REAL caramel corn. A local place does some that is really delicious, and it's all I had on my mind when we passed the popcorn cart in the park and I really wanted some! Such a disappointment.

Wow, I'm surprised the games were still going on. Disney shut everything down back in August if there was a sniff of rain - or more importantly lightening - in the area. I bet the kids had fun playing in the rain though.

That's kind of crazy that they would shut everything down just for rain?! Lightning...definitely understandable. The kids were having a blast and barely seemed to notice the rain. I mean, I guess they were already soaking wet from the pool so what's a little more water? lol

Interesting, I haven't heard much about that place. It's good to read a positive review on it.

I had a really delicious chicken mac & cheese dish last year, and they offer a lot more than just burgers, but they really hit the spot that night. Sometimes you just want a good burger!
 
Day 7: Friday September 21st

Suddenly, our very last day was here! We were up early to finish packing and brought our suitcases down to the car so we could check out, because we wouldn’t be back in the room. We wanted to spend as much of the day in the park as we could and soak up our last few hours of Universal!

We took the boat over for one last early entry morning. The sun was just starting to come up as we pulled up to the dock.


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We went over to Diagon Alley, of course.


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We went right on to Gringotts, but it took awhile because the ride was having issues, so we didn’t try to get back on a second time. Instead, DS wanted to do some magic spots before it got too busy.


After some magic, we were ready to head out of Diagon Alley for a bit.


We headed over to help protect the universe with the Men in Black.


We actually did that one twice in a row. Then we went over to one of DS’s all time favorites, Transformers.

He requested Fast & Furious Supercharged again, which surprised me. It seemed to be one he really enjoyed! I just can’t make myself hate it as much as other people seem to. :laughing:


They have a cute little nod to Brian’s & Mia’s son over in the corner of the family room that I hadn’t noticed before.


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We still hadn’t caught a full Tale of the 3 Brothers performance of Beedle the Bard, and we knew one was coming up, so we headed back over to Diagon Alley. They had a sax player at the King’s Cross station entrance that I thought was pretty cool. It made it feel very authentic!


We had a few minutes to kill before the 10 am show time, so of course, we had to put that interactive wand to use again!


There was a funny moment when I took DS to the women’s restroom with me, and he saw the machine on the wall and asked me, “You have to pay for a napkin?!” I busted out laughing and all I could think to answer was, “It’s not that kind of napkin, it’s just something for ladies.” He thought he had figured it out and said, “Oh, like a handkerchief?” Oh, son…

Then we went over to watch our favorite show, the Tale of the 3 Brothers!

After the show, we went over to do Gringotts again since we’d only been able to do it once during early entry. After the ride, we came out and were able to catch the end of the Celestina Warbeck performance, which we always seem to miss, so we stopped to watch that.



Continued in next post...
 
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Day 7 Continued: Friday September 21st

We decided to head over to Springfield to ride The Simpsons. I always end up doing this and regretting it, but I decided to give it a try this time.


For the first time ever, I came off of this ride without feeling sick to my stomach, so that’s a win! Since we were right near our favorite lunch spot, we decided to stop in at Fast Food Boulevard for some food.

I had another Krusty Burger, DS decided to go for a kids pizza, and DH had another chicken & waffle sandwich. We like what we like!


I had been texting back and forth with Courtney, a fellow DISer who has relocated to WDW after doing the college program there, and we have managed to meet up with her every trip when we can since she’s been down there. She had messaged me the night before to let me know her and her dad would be in the park today before going to HHN that night. I used to love reading her TR’s which usually included her dad, so I felt like I knew him already! After lunch, we walked back over to London to catch the Hogwarts Express over to IOA to meet up with them. First we decided to take a closer peek at the Knight Bus.


Then over to King’s Cross station.

As soon as we got off of the train, Courtney & her dad were already there waiting for us! We didn’t take any pictures of our meet, but it was so great to see Courtney again, and to meet her dad for the first time! He greeted us right away with hugs like we’d known him forever. They are the sweetest! We had some fun catching up with them, but then we parted ways. They were heading over to ride the Hulk and we were heading into Hogsmeade.


DS did some magic spots, then we rode Forbidden Journey followed by Flight of the Hippogriff. After riding, we walked through Jurassic Park because DS wanted to stop at the River Adventure shop to buy a megalodon tooth replica to go with his T-rex claw.

Belle took her picture with a T-rex to send to DD.


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We passed by Skull Island but decided not to ride because the wait was 45 minutes so we figured the express would be backed up too. Finally we made it over to Marvel Superhero Island before we were able to ride something else when we went on Spider-Man. After the ride, DS wanted to go over and meet him.

I always love doing this meet when we are at Universal. Spider-Man always spends so much time talking to each kid, it’s never just a quick drive by to get a photo and say hello. DS really enjoys it.

While I was taking a bathroom break, they spotted Alex from Madagascar meeting over where we had met Po a couple days earlier, so they decided to stop and say hello.

UP NEXT: The TMs are Starting to Recognize Us!
 
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The last mornings are always the hardest, but it looks like you guys were cramming a lot into your day. I think you guys might've ridden Fast and Furious more times than anyone else in one trip. :rotfl2: Good to hear the Simpsons ride didn't hit you too hard.

Man, I had to look forever to spot Belle in that T-rex shot. :rotfl:For some reason, I just couldn't find her, and then it became a game of "Where is she?!" (I did eventually see her on the fence post.:laughing:)

Pretty awesome that you got to have a DISmeet in Universal. They're such a fun way to add a little more fun to a trip.
 
There was a funny moment when I took DS to the women’s restroom with me, and he saw the machine on the wall and asked me, “You have to pay for a napkin?!” I busted out laughing and all I could think to answer was, “It’s not that kind of napkin, it’s just something for ladies.” He thought he had figured it out and said, “Oh, like a handkerchief?” Oh, son…

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: That is hilarious!

Sounds like you were packing a lot in on your last day! And even a DISmeet!!
 


The last mornings are always the hardest, but it looks like you guys were cramming a lot into your day. I think you guys might've ridden Fast and Furious more times than anyone else in one trip. :rotfl2: Good to hear the Simpsons ride didn't hit you too hard.

Man, I had to look forever to spot Belle in that T-rex shot. :rotfl:For some reason, I just couldn't find her, and then it became a game of "Where is she?!" (I did eventually see her on the fence post.:laughing:)

Pretty awesome that you got to have a DISmeet in Universal. They're such a fun way to add a little more fun to a trip.

We probably did!! :rotfl: Most people who have mentioned it have said it was a "one and done" for them, but we liked it for what it is.

Haha she was pretty small in that pic. It was harder to remember to take her out during this trip for photos than I realized it would be, and I honestly don't think DD cared that much. :confused3

It was great getting to meet up with Courtney. We have been able to meet up with her almost every trip for the last couple of years.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: That is hilarious!

Sounds like you were packing a lot in on your last day! And even a DISmeet!!

Poor DS, he had NO IDEA why I was laughing at him so hard while trying to come up with an explanation!! :rotfl2:

Yes, we always stay busy till the last minute!!!
 
Day 7 Continued: Friday September 21st

Once we had met back up, we went over into Seuss Landing.


We did Cat in the Hat first, then the Trolley Train Ride.


We knew our day was starting to wind to a close, and we wanted to finish out our trip in the Studios, so we caught the Hogwarts Express back over to the other park, saying farewell to IOA for good for this trip.

We enjoyed a few minutes of the Beat Builders when we exited the train station.

Something really funny that prompted the title of this TR happened as we were walking down the street. To set it up, I mentioned to DH a couple of days prior that maybe we had been here too frequently and too long when I started to recognized a lot of the TM’s working in the parks and remembering our interactions with them from our previous trip. DH had responded, “Nah, we’ve been here too long when THEY start to recognize US.” On another day, we’d had a moment that made us giggle when a TM standing outside interacted with us a bit when she hollered “Nice hat!” to DH. DS had automatically replied, “Thank you!” and we all kind of laughed because we knew the TM had been talking to DH, but she said, “Well I really like yours too, but I was talking about the Saints hat!” Today as we were walking past that same shop, the same TM saw us, told DS happy birthday, then asked if our day was going good. I replied, “Yes, but we are sad because we are leaving today.” She said, “Oh but you guys have been here awhile, I remember his hat!” So it had finally happened…the TMs were starting to recognize us!!

By that time, we realized we were down to our very last ride. So we gave DS his pick, and he wanted to do Minion Mayhem.


Then…it was time to leave!

We stopped at the restrooms near the exit and noticed the shop name near us fit our feelings perfectly.

We made one more stop for a photo op at the globe.


We decided to walk back to HRH, and DS wanted to make one last pass through his “short cut.”


After hopping in the car, we made the drive over to where we were staying for our last night, our timeshare Wyndham Bonnet Creek. The best thing about staying there was that even though we weren’t staying at a Disney resort, we still got to pass under this beauty!


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It was around 4:15 pm when we arrived to check in. While DH got our parking pass and explained over and over again why we didn’t want to do an owner’s update, DS had me take his photo around the lobby.


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We finally got into our room at 4:30. We were on the 11th floor of Tower 5, and we were right over the lazy river pool! We chanced into our bathing suits and went right down to the pool and spent a good long time making laps around the lazy river.

DH tried several times to take a selfie of us but they all kept coming out like this because he didn’t realize he still had it zoomed in! lol

Then he finally figured the camera out!! Hahah


We went over to the regular pool for a little while so DS could swim and show us some tricks.


We were starting to get hungry, so we left the pool and started walking in the direction of the pool bar we saw on the map. We stopped at another pool that had a water slide so DS could go down it a few times. And just in time, because it closed only a few minutes after we had gotten there.

We ended up over by the sister resort, the Wyndham Grand Orlando, where we found the B.B. Pool Bar & Grill. DS got a kids hot dog, and DH and I decided to order the chicken tenders app with a side of fries to share.


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DS getting the hang of the selfie taking

After eating, we contemplated stopping at the lazy river again, but ultimately we decided to go back up and get ready for bed early. It was 6:30 pm by then, and we were planning to get up at 5 am to start the drive home, plus we were pretty wiped out after almost a week in the parks. We showered and went to bed early, but it was the longest, most uncomfortable night ever. The air conditioner kept turning off and wouldn’t kick back on unless someone got up and hit the button to turn it down. And the fan in our room only had 2 speeds: barely on, or spinning so fast it looked like it was going to come flying off the ceiling. We had put it on the lower speed at first, but halfway through the night we were so hot I turned it up to high and hoped for the best.

Our drive home was thankfully uneventful. Long, but uneventful. We picked DD up from my parents, then made it home around dinnertime that evening.

UP NEXT: Final Thoughts
 
Hahah love the story about the TMs starting to recognize you!

Spending your last night at the pool at the timeshare sounds like a relaxing way to end your trip!
 
I would love Seuss landing if the rides were so...kiddie oriented. Now that our DD has outgrown such things it's really just an area we pass through and look around, but I AM a HUGE Seuss fan (Grew up very near where he lived in Springfield, Mass, and he was very revered there.) And it's too bad the main ride is the Cat in the Hat because that's the only Seuss thing I really can't stand - we rode it once on our trip in 2017 and we got stuck for 15 minutes which made us never want to ride again. I never noticed the Sneeches out in the Lagoon - that's pretty cool.

That's nice that you used your timeshare to extend your stay while saving some money. That's what we ended up doing for Memorial day. We are flying out at 10 PM on Monday, but we are actually booked through Tuesday. The extra day cost so little that it was worth it to not have to worry about our bags or anything. Hopefully the resort we are in is nice- it's a Hilton Grand Vacation Club and they are all typically very top notch.

When are you guys finally going to use your DVC points? Did you follow along with the recent issues with the 2020 points charts? Also, don't know if you saw they restricted resale even further, so a good thing you bought in when you did. (Any new resorts will be excluded from use for future resale contracts.)
 
How funny that the TMs started recognizing you guys. That's great.

Is Paxton wearing earplugs in the lazy river photos? I don't know much about kids' earplugs but those looked really neat.
 
Hahah love the story about the TMs starting to recognize you!

Spending your last night at the pool at the timeshare sounds like a relaxing way to end your trip!

It was really funny & poetic given that I had mentioned to DH recognizing so many of the TMs from our trip the year before!

Originally we booked the timeshare planning to spend the whole day Friday hanging out at the pool since our passes expired the day before, but the temptation to renew was just too strong! It was still a nice way to end our last park day and relax a bit before the drive home.

I would love Seuss landing if the rides were so...kiddie oriented. Now that our DD has outgrown such things it's really just an area we pass through and look around, but I AM a HUGE Seuss fan (Grew up very near where he lived in Springfield, Mass, and he was very revered there.) And it's too bad the main ride is the Cat in the Hat because that's the only Seuss thing I really can't stand - we rode it once on our trip in 2017 and we got stuck for 15 minutes which made us never want to ride again. I never noticed the Sneeches out in the Lagoon - that's pretty cool.

I'm glad DS still enjoys the rides, and soon we will have DD joining us, and I'm sure that will be an area we visit a lot more for her. But I can see it phasing out of our park trips as the kids get older, for sure. They don't have that same nostalgic quality as stuff like Peter Pan or Small World like at WDW.

That's nice that you used your timeshare to extend your stay while saving some money. That's what we ended up doing for Memorial day. We are flying out at 10 PM on Monday, but we are actually booked through Tuesday. The extra day cost so little that it was worth it to not have to worry about our bags or anything. Hopefully the resort we are in is nice- it's a Hilton Grand Vacation Club and they are all typically very top notch.

That will be nice to have access to the room your whole departure day!

When are you guys finally going to use your DVC points? Did you follow along with the recent issues with the 2020 points charts? Also, don't know if you saw they restricted resale even further, so a good thing you bought in when you did. (Any new resorts will be excluded from use for future resale contracts.)

We can access our points in June this year, I think, but the Disney Cruise put a big dent in our vacation budget. We are planning to bank those points and take a big trip next year, maybe with some grandparents or something, and getting bigger accommodations or two DVC rooms.

I did see the changes to the resale contracts, so we definitely bought at the right time. Thankfully it went through when it did and we didn't have to keep trying and fall under the new rules!

How funny that the TMs started recognizing you guys. That's great.

Is Paxton wearing earplugs in the lazy river photos? I don't know much about kids' earplugs but those looked really neat.

It was very funny! I wonder if we will be seeing any of those same TMs on our upcoming trips??

Yes, he is! They look a little funny because they actually have a string that connected them, but last year when he started free swimming at summer camp, we cut the string because I was worried about him or another kid getting tangled up in it in the pool. His last ear tube finally came out so he doesn't wear them anymore.
 
We can access our points in June this year, I think, but the Disney Cruise put a big dent in our vacation budget. We are planning to bank those points and take a big trip next year, maybe with some grandparents or something, and getting bigger accommodations or two DVC rooms.

What do you mean by "access your points"? Was the contract you bought depleted and you don't have points until June 2019 UY? Or was it one of those contracts where they can't complete closing until after a certain date?

If you are thinking of going next year - might want to consider Riviera - new resorts are sometimes easier to get into with a 7-month advance booking because there's more rooms declared than there are owners.
 
What do you mean by "access your points"? Was the contract you bought depleted and you don't have points until June 2019 UY? Or was it one of those contracts where they can't complete closing until after a certain date?

If you are thinking of going next year - might want to consider Riviera - new resorts are sometimes easier to get into with a 7-month advance booking because there's more rooms declared than there are owners.

The contract we purchased was stripped. Able to get a better deal that way since we didn't have a need for points right away and could save one 1 year of maintenance fees.

Still in the planning stages for the next trip. so many options for which resort to try and get with our first DVC stay on our own points. It's tough to choose just one. Since we are staying at AKL for our pre/post cruise nights I feel like we will try for something different.
 
The contract we purchased was stripped. Able to get a better deal that way since we didn't have a need for points right away and could save one 1 year of maintenance fees.

Still in the planning stages for the next trip. so many options for which resort to try and get with our first DVC stay on our own points. It's tough to choose just one. Since we are staying at AKL for our pre/post cruise nights I feel like we will try for something different.

We always end up doing split stays it seems. DVC opens up so many more resorts that we couldn't afford otherwise. Though I don't mind the moving - we keep saying we should just stay in one place, then we don't. Next trip is probably next February - and we are maybe going to stay in one place - BUT we might try and get into Riviera for half of it. (Part of the trip is during Princess Marathon, and if you travel during the marathons, if you need a studio you better book your home resort!)
 
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I got back here just in time for you to wrap up your report! How funny that the TMs really did start to remember you and recognize you! They see so many people, I'm sure, so you must have made an impression :) Your DS is such a cute funny guy that I'm sure he's hard to forget!
 
OP, your family has the sweetest smiles.......!

Thank you!! You are too sweet!

I got back here just in time for you to wrap up your report! How funny that the TMs really did start to remember you and recognize you! They see so many people, I'm sure, so you must have made an impression :) Your DS is such a cute funny guy that I'm sure he's hard to forget!

It was pretty funny that I had the random thought of us recognizing the TMs and then one of them remembered us!! And from such a quick interaction, at that.
 
Well, guys, I very fully intended to come on back here and wrap up with some final thoughts about this awesome Universal Orlando vacation, but so much has happened since then...a longtime medical issue I've been ignoring flared up for the beginning of February and kind of wreaked havoc, then we spent the rest of the month getting ready for our first Disney Cruise! We had an absolutely incredible time!! When we returned, it was kind of crazy at work (our hospital was bought out by another hospital, and the change took effect my very first day of vacation), and then that health issue ended up needing surgery. I'm home recuperating from that right now, and haven't had as much time as I'd like to DIS. But instead of worrying about doing final thoughts on this trip, I just decided to continue right along with my Disney Cruise Line TR. If you're interested, please check it out!

 

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