Silver Anniversary Trip, Day 1 Universal Resort

[spencem]

Sunday Jan 12th, Our Anniversary in Universal

This was our actual wedding anniversary and Julia’s birthday as well, yes all you husbands out there I was smart enough to schedule our wedding so I only have one date to remember each year.

In a rare move for us we were both awake about 4:15, normally we don’t suffer from the whole ‘awake in the middle of the night’ thing but for some reason today we were both wide awake this early. We tried to go back to sleep, but gave up just before 5 and opened our cards.


Not a bad haul, not sure what housekeeping made of it all.

I had a look at my phone and there was an email from the visitor toll people sent in the dead of the night saying everything is set up correctly with the license plate of our hire car in it, glad I didn’t go out to the parking lot last night.

We napped a bit more before unpacking a few bits and getting ourselves ready for the day. Just before we left the room I called and reported that despite running all night our fridge was still room temperature. When we had gotten to the room yesterday it wasn’t running at all and I’d had to fish around behind it and plug it back in. I thought a light sleeper had unplugged it to shut it up, but it seems it had more problems than that.

We left the room about 8:10 and once again took the boat over to the parks.


I sent this to my sister warning her to bring her hay fever medication with her.


It was a lovely day, promising to be rather hot later.

We had early entry privileges from staying on site, but I’ve read that you cannot use Express before the official park opening, so there was little point in us rushing off to Diagon Alley to join the standby line with everyone else. For us the first order of the day was breakfast. We did think about The Leaky Cauldron, but the last time we tried that it was being used for some exclusive breakfast event. We were rather going to go to our old standard of Starbucks when I noticed that the Today Café was open. Since this is new since we were last at Universal we thought we’d give it a go.


Oh look wall to wall coverage of a 31-year-old moving out of his gran’s house.

We’d eaten here when it was the old Hollywood Hills Boulangerie and I have to say the latest version is much better. Julia had a bagel creation, but asked for all the toppings on the side while I had a bowl of fruit and then helped with the bagel. One of the toppings was a Nutella spread that worked very well on my strawberries.

Once we’d done with breakfast we walked across the road and straight into Minions.


Not much of a queue even in standby at quarter past 9.

There was a little kid in the queue on his own who confused the Team Member putting you into rows no end. She couldn’t work out if the kid was with us or the people in front of us, in fact he was on his own, until his parents appeared much further back in the queue. The poor kid was quite put out when he was called back out of the holding lines to stand with his parents waiting for the next show.

Minions is much better without the 3D glasses but does still throw you around quite a lot, Julia isn’t keen to return to it ever. From there it was back across the street and into Shrek for another bouncing seat, all be it these ones don’t move as far. Princess saved once more the lure of Potter got too much for Julia and so bypassing Mummy we walked to London.


I’ve still no idea what a Jimmy Fallon is.


The general park wasn’t at all busy this Sunday morning.


This reveal never gets old does it?


The view the other way is just as good.

Gringotts only had a 15minute standby line, but that didn’t stop us using our Express passes to bypass it. To be honest I don’t think the pass saved us any time at all as Bills office wasn’t even half full when they started the show in there.


This lobby is stunning, you’d be forgiven for thinking that is real marble and not the highest quality set painting.


These two are still processing my loan application.

For reasons of jet lag, or travel shock as I prefer to call it, we were both really hungry despite it only being 11 o’clock and so we thought we’d beat the lunchtime rush in the Leaky Cauldron. I was sad to see that they’ve stopped doing the individual ploughman’s lunch and so I had to have the sharing platter to myself. Julia had the chicken sandwich that I’m always amazed J K Rowling let them put on the menu. Julia had one of the fizzy peach teas while I ordered a pumpkin juice expecting to get the small bottle you see on the carts. What I got was a pint of what I think was slightly diluted pumpkin spice latte syrup, it certainly had enough sugar in it to set a dentist up for life.


The theming in here is absolutely top notch, that smoke stain above the fire looks like it has built up over centuries.


This really needs some butter for the bread, no I didn’t finish it all.

By the time we finished eating the place was getting seriously busy with only the odd empty table. Stepping outside Julia decided that if I went with her she could be brave enough to properly explore Knockturn Alley for the first time. We must have spent a good half hour poking about in the gloom. Once your eyes properly adjust to the darkness there is some amazing detail in there.

As I’ve said Julia lost her mother back in November and got friendly with the lady in our local undertakers (who were amazing) while sorting everything out. It turns out she is going to Florida for the first time in February and so lots of tips have been passed along. When we found the undertakers in Knockturn Alley pictures were sent back.


Vicki is apparently putting in for a transfer from the CoOp.

Not being in a rush to do anything or be anywhere with the next three days booked to be at Universal we continued our wanderings out in the sunshine poking around the various shops, especially the ‘pet shop’ where miraculously nothing was purchased. We strolled over to the market area and decided to stop a watch the singing show. The poor guy they pulled out of the audience was a real sport and hilarious with joining in as best he could.


Almost but not quite Brough Market.


That guy at the front shouldn’t have stood so close, I knew better and was on a bench at the back with my wife shielding me on my lap.

Show over our thoughts turned to our afternoon nap, with a plan to maybe visit IOA later, or maybe come back to Studios, like I say we were in no rush to go anywhere in particular. We had left Julia’s ECV by the Leaky Cauldron. While she sorted herself and it out I stood watching the people coming into the alley. The looks on their faces when they saw everything for the first time were simple amazement, from little kids just stopping and saying wow to adults mouthing something a bit stronger it was clear who was seeing things for the first time. I saw more than a few tears in those couple of minutes, that more than anything tells you how good a job Universal made of this land.

We decided to make a lap of the park and so turned left out of the theatre and went over the lagoon bridge to Springfield. Nothing there caused us to pause, but we do appreciate how well it is all themed. Continuing on into Hollywood I took a picture of how quiet it was.


Don’t you hate crowds?

As we passed by I remembered we could visit the passholder lounge and collect this month’s free badge, to be honest the lounge itself is not great at all, just a couple of uncomfortable looking sofas, a few stalls at a high bar around the edge of the room and some drinks in a fridge to buy. We did at least get our badges and had a look at the exclusive passholder clothes on offer.


Get more than 25 people in there and it would fell crowded.

We called into the main studio shop on the way out to look for the t-shirt I’d seen the night before. Seeing only XXXL again I asked about smaller sizes and it was very politely pointed out I was looking at the oversize clothing rack, normal sizes were on the rack behind. When we got to the till the TM asked where we were from while ringing everything up. Shockingly when we said Northampton he said he knew it, bizarrely he said he knew the town because of Vinnie Jones, but I don’t know of any connection between him and the town?

We walked back to the hotel, not bothering with the boats. I did take a look in the door of Voodoo Donuts, but the long queue put me off doing more than that. Our room had been done and the fridge replaced, also the half-used carton of warm milk that had been in the old one had been replaced with two new icy cold ones. Our afternoon nap was very early at around 1:30, I blame the Travel Shock.

Nap over and a cup of tea with our fresh milk drunk we headed back out to IOA about 3:15 on the boat again. With where the boat dock is and the ramp heading off in the direction of the Studios we didn’t walk any less than we would have done going direct from the hotel to the park and decided not to bother in future.

As is normal Julia’s fingerprint didn’t work at IOA, having an annual pass rather than a normal ticket the girl on the gate asked for photo ID straight away. Once Julia fished her driving license out she was let straight in.


Port of Entry looks fantastic, take your time to look properly.


We turned right at the lake.

Hagrid’s was showing as a 90 minute wait in the Universal app, much better than the opening day 10 hours, but still a bit long. We thought we’d do some kiddie rides and see if it changed at all before deciding to ride or not. First up was the Trolly ride in the Sky for the elevated views of the park.


IOA wasn’t busy either this January weekend.


The new coaster construction was still at the ‘make holes in the ground and push dirt around’ stage.


Hulk was only running a couple of trains and neither put an appearance in at the right time.

There was no one waiting for the Caro-Seuss-el so we thought we’d give it a go.


One of us is more excited than the other.

Having not been in there for about 13 years we thought it was high time we revisited Poseidon. When we got there it looked like a tour had just started and the wait time was showing as 20 minutes. Rather than stand there we walked off for a restroom stop and then stopped at a kiosk for a drink and a cookie. I’m happy to report that in a recent change the kiosk was able to process my annual pass discount.

Returning to Poseidon the wait time was still showing as 20 Minutes, thinking about it I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it any lower. After a quick picture we joined the Express queue anyway and walked the really long line to find just half a dozen people in the standby queue next to us. We only waited a few minutes before the next show started, by which time a decent number of people had joined us in both queues.


This has a very impressive frontage to what must be a sizeable show building behind.

Our actor was very good and we both enjoyed the show, not sure I’d wait longer than the default 20 minutes, but I’d happily go back before another 13 years lapse. There are some impressive effects in the walk through, especially the water vortex and the disappearing walls in the final room.

We talked about Hagrid’s again and thinking that for this ride 90 minutes wasn’t a bad time at all decided to tough it out. Being responsible adults we visited the bathrooms before our long journey, also it was an excuse to visit perhaps Universal’s oddest attraction, the Moaning Myrtle Restrooms.


That roofscape is incredible and from this far back the scale of Hogwarts works well.

Just after we joined the line the announcements started that they were experiencing delays. Since the line was still moving well and we could hear the odd test train going around we stuck with it.


Not the best view, there should be motorbikes somewhere on that track.

Sure enough we soon started seeing a regular procession of empty trains and then as we moved on from where we could see track we saw a steady flow of people coming out of the exit, having ridden the ride. The queue did stall for a while around Hagrid’s hut as the static part of it from the breakdown worked its way back to us.


The queue offers some great views of Hogwarts through the trees.


We got a few extra minutes to admire Hagrid’s home.


It was getting dark by the time we entered the castle.


There are some lovely touches in the queue, these have something living in them from the noises and the odd rustle they make.

Something had gone wrong with the timing on the pre-show room, we entered at the back when it was nearly finished and then once it did finish there was only just enough space for us in the next room. We then didn’t really move and so when the doors opened for the group behind there was nowhere for them to go. After a while we started shuffling forward again and continued all the way down to the actual station room.


This is one of the best fake fires I’ve ever seen.

As with the earlier Potter attractions there is loads to look at in the queue and so long as they continue moving at a steady pace most fans will love finding all the details. We had just been pulled to one side to park the ECV up when suddenly the queue started going backwards as trains were unloaded due to another breakdown. We stuck with the queue for quite some time, but knowing they would empty the line anyway once the park officially closed at 7pm we took the offer of instant re-ride tickets and left the queue about ten minutes before 7.

Walking out of the land I looked back and saw that there was a projection show running on the castle, despite there being no mention of one in the times guide or on the app. We paused to watch it from the rocks in front of the station.


The show looked impressive even from back here.


We took a slow walk out of the quiet park.

I was hungry, even if Julia thought she wasn’t and so we tried to get into Toothsome, however on checking in I got told there would be an hour’s wait. I showed my room card from the hotel and got told it would be just 50 minutes instead. Not wanting to stand around that long we walked away thinking we’d try one more place and then head off site to find food instead. The other place we tried was the Big Fire Grill, where there was no wait at all even without flashing a room card.



Julia was just going to have an appetiser, but then I spotted they did a half chicken and said I’d just order the salad and then ‘help’ Julia with her chicken. Well I’m glad I had the small steak with my salad because Julia made short work of demolishing her chicken. Granted it wasn’t a family sized bird that had been halved, but there was a lot eaten by someone who wasn’t hungry.


I didn’t finish my half a lettuce.


I did get a little of this chicken, along with some of the unidentified ‘roasted vegetables’.

Julia had her normal hot tea and I tried the Big Fire Amber Ale, this was nice but probably not $10 nice. We both really enjoyed our meals and would happily return to Big Fire. Including the 20% tip the total was only $66.

Rather than walk all the way through City Walk and almost to the studio’s entrance for the ramp to the boats we simply took a slow stroll back to the hotel, getting back around 8.30. We were in bed before 10, with Julia beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable with what she thought was indigestion….


Back to the index

[Palm trees]

What a fabulous day. We've not been to universal on our family trips (I went 20 years ago!) But I'm seriously tempted for our next trip, it looks amazing in your photos!

[mick]

A great day congratulations to you both and Happy Birthdays to Julia


Joan

[Tinkermom]

Brilliant way to spend your anniversary ☺️

[disneywiseowl]

Really enjoying your trip report. So much detail & lots of info. Thx.
Like Julia, fingerprint scanners don’t work on me (arthritis, replacement joints etc). A few years ago, I got so fed up with staff not believing me & insisting on trying multiple times despite the huge queues, that I complained at Guest Services & they immediately put a sticker on my pass. Now I just hand over my pass n driving licence & I’m quickly through. It looks like this (with sticker over my name):

[spencem]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

What a fabulous day. We've not been to universal on our family trips (I went 20 years ago!) But I'm seriously tempted for our next trip, it looks amazing in your photos!

See more...

I would imagine loads has changed in 20 years, I know it has in the 15 years since my first visit.

Originally Posted by mick

A great day congratulations to you both and Happy Birthdays to Julia


Joan

See more...

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Tinkermom

Brilliant way to spend your anniversary ☺️

See more...

Thanks, we had a great and very relaxed day.

[spencem]

Originally Posted by disneywiseowl

Really enjoying your trip report. So much detail & lots of info. Thx.
Like Julia, fingerprint scanners don’t work on me (arthritis, replacement joints etc). A few years ago, I got so fed up with staff not believing me & insisting on trying multiple times despite the huge queues, that I complained at Guest Services & they immediately put a sticker on my pass. Now I just hand over my pass n driving licence & I’m quickly through. It looks like this (with sticker over my name):

See more...

Thanks for that, a very useful tip.