The Mad Hatters in Florida May/June 2018 - Day 10 – IOA/Universal/Bread Box/Red Robin

[Mad Hatters]

Hello and welcome to my very first trip report

So we are the Hatfield’s: Adam (Me), Grace (Wife), Joshua (Oldest Son), Trayvon (Youngest Son), Mick (My Dad) and Sue (My Mum).

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Sunday 27th May: Day 10 – IOA/Universal/Bread Box/Red Robin

Today’s plans were to spend most of the day between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Tactically planned in was a visit to Bread box as we walk between the two parks.

The day started off with Grace being the first one of us up at 6:20am. I was up a half an hour later at 6:50am and then the boys at 7:05.
My notes say that the weather looked just like at home, so obviously another miserable day

We headed down to breakfast at 7:30am. I didn’t make many notes about this, but can tell who ate what.

Grace had sausage, potato and a toasted bagel.


Trayvon had eggs on toast.


Joshua had a mickey waffle, with syrup, chocolate chips and cream.


I had a regular waffle with chocolate chips and cream. No idea why I didn’t get a mickey one


After our breakfast we headed out to the bus stop. The time was 8:10am, so we had a little wait for the 8:32am scheduled bus. Luckily, it arrived slightly early, at 8:28, and we were on our way to IOA

The bus made a couple of other stops, but didn’t take too long and we arrived at 8:55.

See what I mean about the weather?


The adventure begins….


And a couple of pictures as we were walking in.



As it was nice and early, there was only a short wait for the incredible Hulk rollercoaster, so this was chosen as the first ride of the day. My Mum would never ride this and the boys were not tall enough.

I had been having a massive internal debate/argument when walking up to the ride, as to whether I had the balls to go on it I manned up and decided to just go for it, so my Dad, Grace and I headed to get into line. I was unfortunately told that due to my splint, I wouldn’t be able to ride it. Gutted

After all that build up, i couldn't go on it. Have to say, i was pretty disappointed.

Anyway, my Mum, the boys and I headed to have a little look in the shops near Spiderman while we waited. After about 10 minutes Grace and my Dad came to meet us. We thought they had been very quick, but it turned out that they had to leave the line too as my dad had his phone in his pocket Silly man!

They decided not to bother re queuing up for it and to leave it for now.

This will be conquered………..


The time was now 9:20am and after wasting a small amount of time, we got on to our first ride of the day. Spider-man. This was a walk on, so we were on nice and quick, which was good. We all really enjoyed it. Definitely a favourite of ours.


Next up was Dr Doom’s Fear Fall. Grace had got Joshua to go on this with her. We tried to get my Dad onto it, but he was having none of it. He won’t do vertical drop rides after hating ToT years ago. It was only 9:35am, so they only had to wait about 5 minutes.



We met up with them in the little arcade and when Joshua came out he looked scared . He said he liked it, but wouldn’t do it again which means he didn’t actually like it at all. Grace enjoyed it though.

Love the theming in this area


We had a little nosey in some of the shops and made our way round towards another first for us; Skull island: Reign of Kong.




This had a 10 minute wait posted, but we actually just walked on. This is where one of the funniest moments of the holiday happened.
As we were walking through the line I was on my phone making a few notes. One of the live actors jumped out at Grace and she screamed super loud, which for some reason made me launch my phone down to the ground No idea why that was my reaction, but we laughed for ages about it.

Thankfully my phone was still in one piece and we got onto the ride. I have to say that I really enjoyed the ride. We all agreed it was well done and the theming was brilliant. Trayvon was a little scared though.

Some of the things in the queue that didn’t make me throw my phone….




We were off Kong at 10:15am and, as it was in the area, we decided to take the boys on Pteranodon Flyers while my parents waited near the gift shop. Grace and Trayvon had never been on this so another first there. The wait was posted as 15 minutes, but it was only 10 minutes.

The boys loved this and it was nice to do it again after quite a few years. You do get a nice view around the area on it.


As we headed in to the Harry Potter area I made a pit stop for a yummy butter beer. I never got one last time and regretted it as I think they are super yum. I ended up sharing it with the boys. Trayvon especially loved it.



Some pictures of the WWOHP area as the area is brilliant, so why not




We nipped into one of the candy stores to pick out a sweet treat to try out. I’ve often bought the fudge here, but last year we got a chocolate frog. We wanted to try something different and picked out the caramel Cobwebs this time.

In the candy store.





And our Swag, the caramel Cobwebs.



These were Yum according to my notes. They were really nice and had a good burnt caramel flavour. Definitely come recommended to try them

The rain started absolutely bouncing it down now. Awesome. It wasn’t looking like it was stopping anytime soon, so we donned our ponchos and headed into the Seuss landing area.

It was just after 11am now and heading towards our lunch time. We thought we would have a little ride on the Cat in the hat which was a Walk on pretty much. We had done really well with the wait times this morning

Tray really liked Cat in the hat and he said it was one of his favourite rides.

That was us done with IOA for today. We were ready for our food now and as planned, made our way to Bread Box.

We will be heading here at some point in the holiday


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[Mad Hatters]

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We arrived at Breadbox at 11:30am. It was nice and quiet in there and we were served pretty much straight away.

Grace chose the 4 Cheese sandwich with tater tots and got the boys one to share. We used our refillable cups for drinks of Coke zero i think. The boys had some water.





I got the NY style Pastrami sandwich with the tater tots.


Mine took a fair while to come out and Grace had near on finished hers before mine showed up.

The cost for ours. Not bad really


My Mum and Dad ordered the Roast Beef platter sandwich with fries to share, A Stella for dad and a diet coke for mum.



When it came out they brought out the Patty melt by mistake. My parents didn’t realise until I pointed it out to them that it wasn’t what they ordered We told the manager as he had come over to ask how everything was anyway. They brought out the correct sandwich even though we said it was fine.

I ended up helping with the extra sandwich as they were getting a little full Turned out that they preferred the wrong sandwich anyway, so it worked out well.

Obviously there were a couple of hitches, but it wouldn’t put us off returning as the food was really nice and something a little bit different. One to try in our opinion

With full stomachs, it was time to make the walk in to Universal Studios.

We were through the gates at 12:20pm and ready for another first for us; Race through New York starring Jimmy Fallon. We got some virtual tickets for 12:40pm and decided to have a look in the gift shop while we waited.

Hashtag panda made an appearance, so the boys got some pictures taken with him.





Got to be honest, none of us were up on the tonight show and didn’t know what hashtag panda was

The time had come for our virtual ticket, so we made our way in and walked through. We were given an orange pass, so had to wait for our colours turn to come up. There was music playing in the area and some games that can be played to pass the time while you are waiting.


We were off at 1:03pm. We all really enjoyed this ride. It’s very daft but is good fun and one we will certainly be looking forward to doing again.

Random pictures.






It was 1:10pm and as we were walking, noticed that the new fast & furious - Supercharged ride said it was only a 20 minute wait. We fully expected not to be riding this, this time as it was only just open and we were ready for huge queues.



We got straight into line and made our way through the building. There are lots of things on display and if you’re a petrol head like me, will find it pretty cool in there.










It was quite disorganised when we neared the ride vehicles, which is to be expected with a newly opened ride i guess. I am sure it’s working better now and running smoother.

We were off the ride and out of the building at 2pm. A fair bit of a wait compared to the posted wait time.

Have to say, and we all agreed, it was a bit of a disappointment. It just didn’t work for us. The storyline that they went for just seemed quite lame really. It felt like it could have been so much better and is a bit of a missed opportunity. Would we ride it again? Yes, but only if there was next to no queue. Such a shame

Never mind. Onto a couple of the classics for us. The Simpsons ride. This was posted as a 30 minute wait. We were actually off the ride within 20 minutes which was brilliant

Trayvon in the magic mirror haha



Next was one of my Mum’s favourites; the Men in black ride. We got there at 2:45pm and were off it just after 3pm. Another ride where we waited less than the time posted. We really did do very well on the wait times today. This was great fun as always and always makes me want to watch the film after being on it.

That was us done for the rides for today, but not quite finished with Universal.

We saw these guys somewhere along our way round Universal haha




On our way out of the park, we noticed that Scooby and the gang were out, so the boys went over to get some pictures with them.




Hard Rock Cafe. We didn’t eat here this trip, but will likely eat there again in the future as its one we enjoy.



Time for something that I had been super excited about since hearing of it being built. The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.



The plan was just to grab some milkshakes as we had already eaten not that long ago. I did consider purchasing some of the chocolates on display as they looked really good, but managed a little self-control Next time though haha.


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[Mad Hatters]

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Grace chose the confetti milkshake. She was going to share this with Trayvon, but he was flat out asleep.


Me and Joshua went for the cookie milkshake. I wanted the Red velvet or the Nutella one but Joshua was having none of it



Mum and Dad shared a cookie milkshake too.

These were really nice but pretty sickly. Definitely a sharing size and that’s coming from me who has a major sweet tooth.
We had a good look in a few shops on our way out of City walk and took a few pictures along the way.





We arrived at the bus stop at 5:10pm. The bus arrived not too much later and we were on our way back at 5:30pm. We discussed our evening meal plan, which was to go to Red Robin. As it’s only a very casual place, we chose to go straight there when we got back, and have baths and showers after.

We arrived at Red Robin at 6pm and we were greeted to a restaurant that was rammed

There was some type of comic convention going on at the Orange County Convention Centre and it seemed that everyone had chosen to eat here tonight haha. We were told it would be around a 30 minute wait. Thinking that most other places would be probably just as busy and that we actually wanted to eat here, we decided to wait.
We were rewarded with only having to wait 20 minutes. Not too bad at all.

If you haven’t been to Red Robin before, it’s a “gourmet burger” type restaurant. Grace and I went there for the first time in 2016 and absolutely loved it. It smells delicious when you walk past it too.

We ordered up some drinks first of all. Diet coke for Mum, Grace and Trayvon. I had a Sprite, Dad had a Coors and Joshua got a Dr Pepper. Joshua’s Dr Pepper tasted funny, so we sent that back and got it replaced. Grace and I both thought our first drinks were a little watery too.

Anyway, onto the food.

I knew what I was having as I nearly got it last time we were here. I went for the Prime Chophouse burger (Sautéed mushrooms, horseradish-infused gourmet steak sauce, Provolone cheese, Country Dijon Sauce and crispy onion straws on an onion-ring-topped onion bun)


Grace chose the Smoke & Pepper burger (A ½ lb. of Black Angus with Alderwood smoked sea salt topped with black-peppered bacon, extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, lettuce, dill pickle planks and house-made Smoke & Pepper ketchup on a toasted ciabatta bun).


Mum went for fish and chips as she wasn’t fancying a burger.


Dad went for the Black & Bleu burger (A ½ lb. Black Angus patty with sautéed and blackened portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, house-made Bleu cheese sauce and Bleu cheese crumbles, lettuce and Country Dijon Sauce on a toasted ciabatta bun)


At Red Robins when you order burgers, you also get bottomless fries. So if you really want to eat loads of fries (steak cut chips), you can just keep on requesting more and more haha.

Trayvon had mac n cheese.


Joshua had pepperoni pizza. He wanted Meatballs, but unfortunately they had run out.


We all enjoyed our food, well, except for my Mum. She just found it very average.

The service was a little slow, probably due to how busy it was. Our server was ok though, attentive, but not particularly friendly.

Our receipt.


We got back to the hotel at 7:52pm. Everybody had there baths and showers and then we settled in for a few games of dominoes and a couple of beers for my dad and I. We probably nibbled on some snacks too

We got to bed at 22:14pm and were shattered after a busy day

Total steps for today: 24,112.

Thanks for reading

[caitlinsmummy]

You've had rotten luck with the weather, I hope it improves!

Now that is a cardinal sin, you MUST have a Mickey Waffle when in Disney!

Oh no way, what a shame after all that build up as well. I guess it's just another excuse to go back again

at the Kong incident, your lucky, my luck the phone would have been smashed to pieces. I've read loads about live actors in here but we didn't see any at all.

Another treat to add to the list, we got the chocolate frogs too, in fact ones still in the fridge.

I love the refillable mugs, they're awesome and that grilled cheesey looks amazing, I love a good grilled cheese.

I have no idea who hashtag panda is either but Trayvon getting a hug is just too cute!

The Scooby Gang pictures are lovely

I can't wait to try Toothsome, I can definitely see how sickly they can be.

I've never heard of Red Robin I'll have a look into as that food looks lovely, shame that your mum didn't think the same though.

Another fab day keep the report coming xx

[Mad Hatters]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

You've had rotten luck with the weather, I hope it improves!

Now that is a cardinal sin, you MUST have a Mickey Waffle when in Disney!

Oh no way, what a shame after all that build up as well. I guess it's just another excuse to go back again

at the Kong incident, your lucky, my luck the phone would have been smashed to pieces. I've read loads about live actors in here but we didn't see any at all.

Another treat to add to the list, we got the chocolate frogs too, in fact ones still in the fridge.

I love the refillable mugs, they're awesome and that grilled cheesey looks amazing, I love a good grilled cheese.

I have no idea who hashtag panda is either but Trayvon getting a hug is just too cute!

The Scooby Gang pictures are lovely

I can't wait to try Toothsome, I can definitely see how sickly they can be.

I've never heard of Red Robin I'll have a look into as that food looks lovely, shame that your mum didn't think the same though.

Another fab day keep the report coming xx

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Got to admit that we were unlucky with the weather. My dad moaned the most as he is a real sun worshiper haha.

I’d avoided a lot about the new rides so had no idea about the live actors lol. Could have been much worse haha.

We went for chocolate frogs last time. They were nice, but difficult to eat we thought.

Red robin is definitely a great place for burgers. Would definitely recommend.

Thanks for reading along.

[Goldia]

After building up the courage to go on hulk what a shame they turned you away. I am by no means a ride junkie and often have to have my eyes closed all the way round, but I found hulk better than rip ride rock it. It felt like a much smoother ride and I enjoyed hulk a lot more. So, I hope you get to ride it one day.

It sounds like a really packed day and you got loads done, Also some really tasty looking food.

[Eccle]

Great day and you did well with the queues. Those milkshakes look amazing, and huge. Red Robin isn’t somewhere i’ve really heard of, I will look out for it on our next trip

[Palm trees]

Another one here who'se never heard of RedRobin but those burgers look amazing! Sounds like you're having a great holiday despite the weather.

[Mad Hatters]

Originally Posted by Goldia

After building up the courage to go on hulk what a shame they turned you away. I am by no means a ride junkie and often have to have my eyes closed all the way round, but I found hulk better than rip ride rock it. It felt like a much smoother ride and I enjoyed hulk a lot more. So, I hope you get to ride it one day.

It sounds like a really packed day and you got loads done, Also some really tasty looking food.

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I couldn’t believe it, it was something I had been building to to for ages. I was pretty gutted not going to lie. I’m definitely going on there next time.

Thanks for reading along.

[Mad Hatters]

Originally Posted by Eccle

Great day and you did well with the queues. Those milkshakes look amazing, and huge. Red Robin isn’t somewhere i’ve really heard of, I will look out for it on our next trip

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The wait times were brilliant, we were very lucky.

The shakes were good, definitely a revisit required there next time.

Red robin is worth a visit for sure. Hope you try and you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading.