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Old 10 May 20, 01:39 PM  
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A Universal Adventure February 2020 - Day 5: IoA, US and Sal's Market Deli

Day 5 - Wednesday 19th February 2020

This morning we were moving to the Hard Rock to start our time in the parks. Because we still had a bit of packing to do when we got up we decided not to put ourselves under pressure to get to Universal Studios for the early entry hour at 8. We would be able to make use of it for the next three days so decided to just try and get over as early as we could. We all got ready and I finished the packing. We decided not to ask Luggage Services to come and help with the bags or take them to the Hard Rock for us as we concluded it would take longer. We have had them move our stuff between Universal hotels before though. Like I’ve said repeatedly, the luggage guys at Universal are so friendly and the only slight issue we’ve had was when our almond milk went missing during the transfer from Sapphire Falls to Hard Rock in 2018. Only being here for a week this year meant we didn’t have too much luggage (although we had already picked up a fair few extra bags of shopping) so we knew we could get everything to the car in a couple of trips.

Mat and Freya made a trip to the car and the plan was they would come back up and then we’d all leave with the remaining stuff together. However about five minutes after they left, Seren and I were completely ready and realised we could manage all the bags that were left. So I texted Mat and Freya to tell them what we were doing and told them to meet us in the lobby.



When we got down there, they were nowhere to be seen and hadn’t picked up my messages. I then realised that neither of them have data in the US (unlike Seren and I) and wouldn’t have been on the hotel WiFi in the parking garage. So I had visions of them having headed back up to the room and completely missing us. However, after a minute or two of us being in the lobby they came in from the parking garage surprised to see us. It was just after 8 when we were ready to leave. Check out is so efficient at Universal hotels now. My bill had been emailed to me overnight and I had a couple of options to complete check-out, including replying to the email with my name and room number which is what I did as we drove out of Sapphire Falls. We were all feeling sad to be leaving one of our favourite hotels but knowing we would be back at some point in the next few years as we can’t stay away.

We drove round to the Hard Rock Hotel...





...and as always we were greeted with a super friendly welcome as we pulled up and got out of the car. Just like at Sapphire Falls on Saturday, Mat and Seren sorted out the luggage and parking the car with Luggage Services while Freya and I went to check in.



There were only a few people about inside with it being so early so we didn’t have to wait to check in. Jonathan was great, really friendly. Again, in our experience of staying at Universal hotels over the past six years, it really is the exception when you meet a member of reception, concierge, luggage services or bar staff who isn’t very friendly, enthusiastic and professional. As soon as we walked in we had noticed there were new pictures behind reception and concierge / luggage services. Jonathan said all of them were new but the only one that had really jumped out at me as new was the Taylor Swift one, it was beautiful. Long-time readers will know we’re big Taylor Swift fans so it was a lovely welcome back for us.



I was sure that the John Lennon one was there before but apparently not. Jonathan also said that the Velvet Lounge bar had been refitted and had only opened a month or so before. I’ve never actually been inside the Velvet Lounge as it’s over 21s only so since we can’t all sit in there, we’ve only used it when Mat’s popped in to grab cocktails for us to have in the room.

While Jonathan was sorting everything out we talked about how Presidents’ Day had been quiet and he said ‘Yeah, I don’t know what happened there, it’s not usually like that on Presidents’ Day.’ He also said he hadn’t been to Volcano Bay and we said he should go.

The room key printer wasn’t working properly and it printed a blank key. He said ‘Did you know we make old keys into guitar picks?’ He used a sort of hole punch to press it out and managed to get Harry Potter’s face as the pick. Freya took it even though she doesn’t play guitar. Seren plays guitar but it’s typical that Freya would keep it and not give it to her. Jonathan tipped out some more picks from a pot on reception and told us to take them so we picked those up and gave them to Seren.



In her defence, Freya did give the Harry Potter pick to Seren when we got home. We were given our room keys complete with Rock Royalty stickers which Jonathan said we would need to show to the concierge on the 7th floor for Club Level (we never did) and then we were ready to hit the parks.

We used the lovely restrooms and the girls did a mini photo shoot in there (teenagers) with me trying to hurry them up so we could get to the parks.





We went down the stairs and through the pool area to CityWalk, leaving the hotel just after 9 am.













We had decided to go to Islands of Adventure first since we had missed the early hour at Universal Studios and had also had a little bit of time at the other park on Monday. Once we got to CityWalk we went through the Hard Rock / CityWalk security which was nice and empty (as it usually is) and walked past Hard Rock Cafe and Toothsome Chocolate Emporium to get to IoA.



The turnstiles weren’t too busy.

[

We got in line about 9.20 am and it only took a couple of minutes to get into the park.









As we walked towards the lake we immediately noticed that they’ve taken down a lot of trees or fences around the lake so everything is now very open. It looked very different to how it had a year before which is a bit disorientating. You know how it is when you know something looks different but you can’t exactly remember how it was before and so can’t exactly work out what has changed.

We walked round past Seuss Landing as we walked through Lost Continent we could see the extended queue for Hagrid’s out by the old Simbad theatre. I think the posted wait time was about 140 minutes. When the line is this long Universal break it into chunks so it doesn’t block the entire pathway and fill all of Hogsmeade. The next section is outside the Hogwarts Express and it looks to be well supervised to make sure everyone is in the right place and the whole thing flows as well as it can.

We walked up to Forbidden Journey but it was down. There was a short line outside and a senior Team Member was telling guests we were welcome to wait but they didn’t know how long it will be closed for. Honestly we have experienced more down time / technical problems at this ride than any other in Florida I’m sure. Rather than wait for however long for it to open, we decided to carry on walking. When we got to Jurassic Park we became very aware of the construction going on here. I hadn’t really been following any news about upcoming projects here so finding out they were building a new ride was a nice surprise for us.





The construction walls are on the lake side so it seems the ride is going to be right by the lake. We did some research and found that apparently the new ride is going to be a Jurassic Park roller coaster. Maybe it will go right over the water and maybe spray riders with water like Manta or something. I do like how Universal don’t actually announce new rides until they’re pretty much ready to open. Seren wanted to ride JP so her and Mat went off to do that. Freya and I sat on a wall. A man was smoking nearby which was annoying as it wasn’t a smoking area. With the trees and stuff removed it was so much more open around Pteranodon Flyers, Hogwarts, Kong and all around the lake.

They only had to wait a couple of minutes. They got really wet so that was amusing. They were sharing with three larger people and could barely get the bar down which freaked Seren out a bit.





Next was Kong: Skull Island. The posted wait was 20 minutes and we only waited a few minutes with our Express Passes.



I always go on the right hand side of the truck on this one and when you’re Express you’re always in the back half. Mat had another large friend and her son next to him and she liked being sat close to Mat rather than using the space the other side. We all found this a lot more funny than Mat did.

I do like this ride but only feel the need to do it once per trip now. Mat isn’t a big fan. I also find it difficult to stay on the seat as there is a gap between the seat and the side of the vehicle and not a lot to hold onto. It is fun though.

We carried on towards Toon Lagoon and had to wait for a few minutes for construction traffic just where the Jurassic Park area becomes Toon Lagoon. Team Members had put a rope across the path in both directions to stop guests walking into the path of the trucks. Someone commented we were at a ‘rope drop.’

As we walked through Toon Lagoon we realised Ripsaw Falls was completely closed behind construction walls. Freya had been really excited about riding it as it had been closed for renovation last February and the girls hadn’t been on since our previous trip in August 2018. I had been checking the renovation schedule and it hadn’t said it was going to be closed this year so I was really surprised and Freya was really annoyed. We had downloaded the Universal app this morning (all of us except Mat whose phone was full) so we checked and could see it was closed for another week or so. I have no idea why it hadn’t shown as a closure on the website a week or so before we left when I’d last checked as it was clearly properly shut for a month or so.



We stopped at the restrooms just before you get into Marvel Superhero Island and then went to SpiderMan which is one of our favourites. The posted wait was 45 minutes and we were on in less than ten with Express.



We were given row two. We never seem to get row one on this ride or Transformers. The family behind us were excitedly commenting and whooping all the way through, they were so excited. When we got off the lady said ‘Sorry, we’re loud’ and I said ‘No, don’t worry, it’s fun.’

Mat refused to go on Doctor Doom with Seren (the same as last year) so there was a minor stress about that. We walked past Seuss Landing again and saw the Green Eggs and Ham kiosk open for the first time in forever. As we walked through Lost Continent we saw King Julian was meeting guests. The girls were very excited about this so joined the line of about four people. It was a lovely little meet and they came away happy.







Puss in Boots was also meeting guests but the girls weren’t bothered about meeting him although he was cute.



We decided to get burgers from Burger Digs and have an early lunch and then get into the Hagrid line. I said that we were just going to have to do it at some point. I had read on The Dibb a week or so before that it was still having a lot of technical problems and that the lines were still crazy long so we were at least prepared for that beforehand. The wait had gone down from 150 minutes or so at park open to 120 to 95 so we thought it was a good time to ride. I mean an hour and a half is nothing to stand around in line for, right?

As we passed Doc Sugre’s Desert Kebab House I checked Universal Orlando Vegan Wiki (such a helpful page) and saw they had houmous with pita and vegetables. I knew that Seren would be interested so I asked her if she’d prefer that to the burger which she did.







So Mat went with her to get that and then we carried on to Burger Digs.

The burger here was chickein and avocado. I had mine without cheese. I also got some onions from the toppings bar. Mat had his as it comes. Freya had fries and Mat got Seren a fries which she hadn’t asked for and didn’t really want so the three of us shared them.





Once we were all done we walked round to Hagrid’s. I'm sure this view is also more open than it used to be:

















The wait was still posted at 95 minutes which meant it wasn’t now backed out of the entrance. We entered the line and walked a little way up...



...and then a woman also in the queue told us all our stuff needed to go in lockers. It was weird because we hadn’t actually passed a Team Member at the entrance who I guess would have told us to drop our stuff off. So we went back and used the lockers to the left of the entrance. I had taken my sunglasses off, none of us had sunglasses and the sun had just come out. We also had no sunscreen on as it hadn’t been particularly warm or sunny yet. But of course now we were stood outside in the line the sun was beating down. Pretty much as soon as we hit resistance in the line an announcement came across that the ride was experiencing problems. Everyone groaned but at that point we thought it would restart quickly. We didn’t have phones or anything as we’re old school and put all loose items in the lockers like they ask. I had a bottle of water from lunch but that was gone pretty quick. They have a little trolley in the line selling water, beer, pumpkin juice and lemonade, and crisps and the girls wanted some stuff but we just said we didn’t have anything to pay for it with (even though Mat had his room key, not sure if they took it there.)

The family in front of us were saying they had booked this trip especially to ride Hagrid. I expect technical problems must be causing a lot of complaints when it’s basically just not open during someone’s trip. It seems pretty unreliable still and not to give too much away but there were a few days during our trip where it more or less didn’t open all day. If you were coming for just a day or two it could definitely be the case that the ride wasn’t operating during your time there.

The messages were still coming across that the ride was down but we were still moving gradually. People were already leaving the line. We kept stopping in the sun and were really keen to get inside to wait.

We were a bit fed up as we’d already been waiting just under an hour. We weren’t sure whether to keep waiting as more people were leaving and the announcements weren’t really giving anything away but didn’t sound particularly positive. We decided to wait until we got to the inside portion of the queue where we would hopefully feel more comfortable and maybe there would be more to look at in there. We hoped we could work out how much further we had to go once we got inside so we could make a decision. Eventually we made it inside so we were at least out of the sun.

Once inside, guests are very close to the preshow room. However the preshow wasn’t running and the stage was empty. We got most of the way through the next room and people were still leaving through the emergency exit doors. I suggested we just get into the next room and see what happens but I had started to think we should just leave, When we were nearly into the next room another message came over and said basically that they don’t know when the ride would be up and running again and that we were free to please exit the line. At that point we decided to go, 70 minutes after getting in line.

We used the emergency exit doors along with quite a few other people and ended up backstage. There was an employee returning to work who looked a bit surprised to see so many guests wandering about back there (although with Hagrid’s reliability I’m guessing it happens a lot.) We went down a slope and then through a door back into the queue building which was labelled ‘return to park.’ A long line of people were filtering through and Team Members were apologising.

So we came back out to the front of the ride by the lockers, got our stuff and could see the wait time sign said ‘brief delay.’ We were obviously a bit peed off and disappointed at this point because we hadn’t been able to ride and had wasted over an hour of our day. There was a TM manning the entrance and we quickly realised there was a group of around 30 people stood just under the sheltered area to the left of the entrance all waiting to enter when the ride came back up. They were talking about getting into the ride when it re-opened. They didn’t realise that there were still a hell of a lot of people inside and even if they did get through the entrance, they would be behind all of those. I thought about telling them and also saying that the announcement hadn’t sounded very positive but then decided against it. I did think the staff out front should have made them aware though because it seemed they really thought they could make a run for it and be first on if the ride re-opened. Which it didn’t for the rest of the day so I’m so glad we didn’t spend any more time inside than we had.

We decided instead to ride Forbidden Journey.



Now we all know that the locker rooms here are the worst across both parks and obviously as we got inside the TMs started shouting that only one person per party needs to enter the locker area and that everyone else should wait to the left. I totally agree that the entire party doesn’t need to go into the locker area (although so many people abuse this) but we all carry a park bag plus a small coolbag for water and as the free lockers are tiny we need three lockers between us. So only Freya could wait to the side. If they really don’t want too many people in the locker area maybe they should have kept the big lockers free of charge and then one person would have been able to put everyone’s bag inside one. And I also don’t understand why this is the worst locker area and yet it is the only one that still uses fingerprints (all the others use park tickets). Fingerprints are far less reliable because the machines and fingers get dirty as we all know from the turnstile scanners. Both mine and Seren’s failed once when we came out, whereas our park tickets would have worked straight away as they do at all the other lockers. It makes me think this locker area may finally be getting a proper overhaul if they haven’t yet switched them over since we returned home.

We made it out of the squishy locker room, collected Freya and headed for the Express line. The TM said ‘hold up’ and looked at us all. She said Seren could go first (Gryffindor lanyard), then Freya (Gryffindor lanyard and top), then me (Ravenclaw lanyard) then ‘the muggle goes last’ which was funny. (Mat had nothing Harry Potter, his lanyard is Simpsons.) Not sure why Seren got to go ahead of Freya with her double Gryffindor, maybe the TM could sense Seren’s Slytherin qualities (she is a Slytherdor, with much more Slytherin than Gryffindor.)

In the line there were announcements about how Forbidden Journey was running at limited capacity. Not sure what that actually meant but it continued throughout the two days we were at IoA and the wait was always 70 minutes or higher, hitting over 100 at times. We waited less than ten with our Express passes and were grateful that the Harry Potter rides now have Express. Roll on the day when Hagrid’s is included in the Express passes too.

Seren agreed to take the dragon seat (third from the right as you sit in the bench) and I was on the end. I got most of the dragon blast though so we are now rechristening the end seat the dragon seat. If you’ve read my 2018 trip report you may remember the dragon blast affected one of my contact lenses that trip and it was uncomfortable for hours so I now always close my eyes on that part of the ride.

I do like this ride a lot. In 2014 and 2015 it was the ride available during Early Entry and it felt like we kind of overdid it then but now we do it a couple of times a trip and I appreciate it more. I much prefer the screen parts though, I know everyone moans about Universal rides being all screens but I think it really works well here compared to something like Fast and the Furious (ugh), Kong or even Transformers (if you’re not in the front row there.) And whereas I get bored of the pre-show and elevators faff at Gringotts, I like that you’re straight on here (once you’ve made it though locker room hell.)

Speaking of which, we exited the ride and took a deep breath to go and retrieve our stuff. The same shouty TM was on the door to go back in and he shouted ‘If you like crowded rooms come on in’ which made us laugh.

We sent Freya to wait just outside the shop exit. As I said earlier our fingerprints failed the first time when we went to retrieve our stuff, and Mat took even longer so not sure what went down there.

Once we were all back outside we had some water from our trusty cooler (Caspar, who Seren kindly carries around) having not had a drink since our early lunch before the Hagrid wait, and finally got the sunscreen on.

The girls wanted to ride The Hippogriff and we couldn’t be bothered so we stayed where we were in the shade while they went off. After about five minutes we questioned whether they would have remembered to use their Express passes rather than join the posted 35 or 40 minute queue. Luckily they did and I’m sure we have Freya to thank for that as she’s the sensible one.

There was also some sort of problem with this ride and they were sending every other car round empty. The girls were off pretty quickly though.



We decided we were pretty much done with IoA for the day as we’d done everything we wanted to do. We much prefer hanging out in US as we think it’s much a much prettier park, we prefer the theming and our preferred rides are there too. Plus I wish IoA wasn’t a loop so you have to go all the way around one way or the other to get somewhere as it feels like you’re repeatedly covering the same ground whereas US has different paths you can take to get somewhere.

So it was time for Hogwarts Express. I’ve said before I’m not a huge fan of this because there’s a lot of faffing and I don’t like sitting in that little carriage with other people. It used to be more fun when it first opened and you could have a carriage to yourselves.



There was a constant stream of people all the way through the line, the TM was controlling the queue by the elevators but there was no time to stop for a through the wall photo so we didn’t bother. I’ve said this before but I really think this cool effect is wasted and could be managed better.

Continued below...

Edited at 04:18 PM.
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Old 10 May 20, 01:42 PM  
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...continued

We only had to wait for the next train and then we were off to King’s Cross. It was about 2.30 pm by this time.







Once out of the station we headed into Diagon Alley. It was so good to be back in DA, it still feels magical going back each trip.



Of course we were headed to Gringotts for the first time this trip. When we got to the locker area there was a line to get in with switchbacks. We noticed quite a bit this trip that the locker areas for all the rides were so busy and sometimes there were barely any lockers free so people were wandering around the locker rooms trying to find a station with an available locker. I guess this is what happens when the parks are really crowded but I don’t remember it from last February when the parks were definitely busier.

Mat and Freya managed to both get in to the locker area together but when Seren and I got to the front of the line the Team Member said we couldn’t both go in and that I should go in with both bags. I said we needed two lockers and I couldn’t do that with one park ticket. He said I could (which isn’t true) but then he immediately said ‘you can use one of these for the second one’ and gave me a fake park ticket. So I went in and got two lockers for me and Seren.

We regrouped outside and then got in the Express line. I think the standby line was about 60 minutes at this point. We were into the pre-show in just over five minutes.

We were allocated row six. It had been a long while since we’d been sat at the back because Freya had been scared for a few years of sitting anywhere but the front because of the bigger drop. The back row is fun though, especially the drop, and after being randomly allocated it today we requested the back row for the rest of the trip.

We do love Gringotts, it’s lots of fun. Definitely my joint favourite Universal ride with The Mummy. We left Diagon Alley again straight after the ride and it was quite hot so we decided to get an ice cream from Schwab’s Pharmacy.













We walked round there and Seren and I had our fingers crossed that they had pineapple dole whip as I’d read that they ‘sometimes’ have it there.







While we were waiting the girls took a seat at the end of the counter. Shaggy from Scooby Doo wandered in and was asking if anyone had seen a brown dog and also if anyone had any spaghetti or would share their food. He asked Seren directly which was funny as she’s the typical embarrassed teenager in that kind of situation that doesn’t want all eyes on her (which they were.)



Mat decided to get raspberry sorbet which was another vegan option but Seren and I stuck with the pineapple dole whip as there aren’t many opportunities to have that. Freya got cookies and cream ice cream in a cone and the rest of us had ours in cups. It took quite a while to get the ice creams and then pay for them (they were melting while we were waiting to pay which was annoying.) Not quite ten out of ten for presentation:







All the while Shaggy was popping in and out of the store, announcing that he was looking for a dog and asking for leftovers and spaghetti.

Because it was such lovely weather and I love the look of Universal Studios so much, I decided to stand outside the store and eat my ice cream whereas the others stayed sitting at the counter. Outside were the rest of Scooby Doo’s human friends and the Mystery Machine and they were meeting guests, as was Beetlejuice.

Once everyone had finished their ice creams we walked round to The Mummy.



I think we did it twice as it only took a few minutes each time with Express Pass plus it’s everyone’s favourite or joint favourite. I’m really proud of myself for getting braver; three years ago I was too scared to ride this but now I love it.

We had decided to go back to the hotel as we hadn’t yet gone to our room or anything and I’d had a text a little while earlier saying it was ready.



As we walked past Rip Ride Rockit we spent some time trying to convince Freya to ride with Seren. Seren had ridden by herself last February as none of us would ride with her (I’m getting braver but I’m not that brave.) Freya had said she wouldn’t ride RRR and we had tried bribing her with cash so Seren wouldn’t miss out since she didn’t want to ride alone again but she still said no. As we passed the ride today she hesitated like she was a little bit interested so we asked her again. I had a feeling she would really enjoy it if she actually did it. At that point we intended to come back to the park in the evening and Freya said she would ride when we came back later. So we headed towards the exit and we were still saying ‘You may as well ride now’. Somehow she suddenly agreed to do it so they ran back up towards the ride and we followed with the bags.

With Express passes it was pretty much a walk-on. Freya said afterwards she would have preferred a longer queue to prepare. Anyway they were off again in just a few minutes and she said she had enjoyed it. They had both listened to I Will Survive and the Team Members at loading had asked them to tuck their Express Pass lanyards into their t-shirts. Freya was really proud of herself for riding and said she would do it again but not today.





We left the park feeling like it had been a really good day. We hadn’t got that much done really but we’d enjoyed doing our favourite rides and just being in the park. Because we’re lucky enough to go to Orlando most years and always have Express passes, we don’t feel like we have to do every single ride every year. We do the rides we love as many times as we fancy and we also like just chilling out and appreciating the fact that we’re there.



It was about 5.30 pm when we got back to the Hard Rock. The walk between US and HRH is one of my very favourite parts of Universal. I love that the hotel is so close to the park and the walk is so short but so pretty and peaceful. It always makes me feel so grateful that we get to stay at the beautiful Hard Rock Hotel.





We were able to go straight up to our room because the text I’d had from the hotel gave me the room number (7012.) Jonathan had told me at check-in that we’d need to use one of our room keys in the lift to get to the 7th Floor as only Club Level guests can access that floor. It worked fine and we headed up.

When we got out of the lift we were right by the Club Lounge and the little bar table set up outside it. It was right in the middle of evening reception time (5 pm - 7 pm.) As we passed it would have been rude not to grab a drink. Mat and I spoke to the lovely lady, Nan, who was doing the drinks. She offered us red or white wine, Prosecco or mimosas. There may have also been beer. We both got a red wine (choice of Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir). I think we both had Cabernet. She even offered for us to taste the wine first which was a nice touch seeing as it was free.

The girls wanted to see what the food situation was so we popped in. There were a couple of hot options but they were no good for Seren (being vegan) or even Freya (being pescatarian). Seren got some focaccia and some carrots. Freya got the bread, carrots, cheese and crackers and we took it all back to the room for a little picnic.

Continued below...
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Old 10 May 20, 01:44 PM  
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...continued

The room was lovely. It seemed a little bigger than the rooms we’ve had before at the Hard Rock but the dimensions don't appear to be any different to the standard rooms. It was the other way around to the other three rooms we’ve had here so that messed with my head a bit.













And we had a view of the parks which was fab. We could actually see people walking along the street around the San Francisco area of the parks. And we could watch Rip Ride Rockit and the Hulk going round. It was amazing.





We called down to get the luggage sent up and enjoyed our drinks and snacks. Mat and I had lots of snacks left from when we went to Target on Sunday so we poured out a bowl of jalapeño Kettle Chips (my favourite, we always have to get some when we’re in Florida or New York) and some sriracha almonds and we were good.

When the luggage arrived I jumped in the shower and Mat and I unpacked. The three of them went back to get more food and another glass of wine and found that the olives had been restocked so I was happy when they brought some back for me. The bowl had been empty on our first visit...Club Level guests are like vultures.



We also got about eight small bottles of water so that we had water to drink in the room. We drink a lot of water and this was so handy because usually we end up making a couple of Target trips to restock the water. Now we knew we’d have enough for the rest of the week and wouldn’t end up buying any in the parks either so it would save money.

This was one of the few evenings of the week where we didn’t have a dinner booking and as much as I love going out to dinner on holiday, it was nice to be able to make a last minute decision. At some point we said we weren’t going to go back out to the parks as there wasn’t a lot of park time left anyway with them closing so early this week.

We decided to go to Sal’s Market Deli at Portofino Bay instead. We’ve been there a few times and we really enjoy chilling out on the piazza having pizza and wine.









It took just about ten minutes to walk round there and we arrived just before 7.30 pm.













The plan was to get two vegetable pizzas without cheese for the vegans to share and one Margherita for Freya. We got one of the vegetable pizzas without olives and mushrooms as Seren doesn’t like them because she’s crazy. Mat and I also got a glass of cab sav each. The wine is really nice here. Total for three pizzas and two glasses of wine was $71.33.











The pizza wasn’t actually as nice as it’s been on previous visits, I think they’ve changed it, but it was still nice and so lovely to sit out and eat and drink in the beautiful surroundings. While we were there the Universal fireworks happened.



We were all done within about an hour and because it wasn’t that warm we decided to walk back to the hotel getting back about 8.40 pm.





Mat decided to get a cocktail from Velvet Lounge but I didn’t want one. He got an Old Fashioned and it took him ages to choose and ages for the bartender to make it.



He also took some photos in the bar and of some of the memorabilia in the lobby so he was gone a bit longer than expected. Maybe he just wanted some alone time .





I wrote some notes and we were all asleep earlier than most other nights of the trip.

Edited at 05:04 PM.
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Old 11 May 20, 10:10 AM  
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Another great day, shame about Hagrids though. It brought back memories of us waiting for Kong back when it soft opened. We did eventually get on but it broke down part way through and it was so not worth it! Havent been back to Universal for a while now but I dont think it will ever be one of our favourites lol.

The kids had been on the water rides just before they opened the queue and they were not amused after standing there wet for hours instead of going back to Hard Rock to change as we had planned. Good times lol!
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Old 11 May 20, 02:16 PM  
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Another brilliant trip report
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Old 14 May 20, 01:23 PM  
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Another great day


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Old 18 May 20, 05:11 PM  
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Originally Posted by scottishgirl1 View Post
Another great day, shame about Hagrids though. It brought back memories of us waiting for Kong back when it soft opened. We did eventually get on but it broke down part way through and it was so not worth it! Havent been back to Universal for a while now but I dont think it will ever be one of our favourites lol.

The kids had been on the water rides just before they opened the queue and they were not amused after standing there wet for hours instead of going back to Hard Rock to change as we had planned. Good times lol!
Oh no! That sounds rubbish, especially for the kids being cold and wet . I remember when I was a teenager having a similar experience with Jaws when it first opened. We went to the park several different times and queued for a long time but it kept going down. I know Jaws was a particularly problematic ride when it first opened but technical problems do seem quite common with new Universal rides. We had a happy ending with Hagrid’s the following day when we managed to ride it after another long wait and it was definitely worth it. But I couldn’t help thinking there must be people that visit for Hagrid’s but don’t get to ride it because of the technical problems and long lines.

Thanks for reading and commenting .

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Another brilliant trip report
Thanks so much .

Originally Posted by mick View Post
Another great day


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Thank you Joan, it was .
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Old 28 Jun 20, 09:49 PM  
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That was a busy day, and you did loads. Shame about the wasted time in the queue for Hagrid's - I hope you get on it another day.
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Old 4 Jul 20, 11:29 AM  
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Brilliant day! Shame about the issues at Hagrid. But it sounds like a really lovely day
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