Easter, Eats and Eggventures: Universal April 2019 *Complete*

[iheartwdw]

Originally Posted by Shkyler

Loving this, thanks so much for posting and bringing back some excitement

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I'm glad it's helping to bring back some excitement!

Laura Xx

[iheartwdw]

Day 3: Bart, Bananas and Bob
Friday 20th April 2019

We managed to sleep until 6:00am today, go us! It was the last day during our holiday that IOA was opening for early entry, which is why we were off to visit Hogsmeade again this morning. Whilst waiting for me to get ready, Nathan polished off the last Voodoo doughnut we picked up yesterday for his breakfast.

A bit of deja vu morning, as we went straight to ride Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff before the park officially opened. Whilst we were riding Hagrid’s coaster, it had technical difficulties and stopped for a while, as we were at one of the high points. We managed to sneak a selfie before we blasted off again.

We said hello and goodbye to the express conductor, as we headed towards the front of the park again for Nathan to get his adrenaline fix. I also picked up a croissant for my breakfast, which was very reasonably priced at around $2 with AP discount for theme park food.

I sat in my usual spot and enjoyed my croissant and the sunshine, whilst Nathan rode the Hulk and Dr Doom again. When he got back, we noticed that Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda were out with no queue, so went over for some pics and to keep them company.

The park was now getting very busy, so we walked on over to Universal and the Simpson’s area. I honestly had no idea how many doughnuts Nathan had consumed over the last 24 hours and should probably consider re-naming our trip report to Doughnut boy, as you will never guess what Nathan decided to snack on whilst here?!… Yup, the Simpsons ‘Big Pink’. I would hate to go back and count how many doughnuts this would total!

I actually had some of this one and it was surprisingly really good. I thought that it was going to be heavy and stodgy, as it is the size of a person’s head, but it was actually really light and fluffy. There was plenty of icing and I much preferred it over the Voodoo doughnut I sampled yesterday. It cost us $8 and they didn’t accept our AP discount here. We sat on the picnic tables outside of Mo’s and enjoyed people watching, while eating our calorie count for the day.

The obvious thing to do with a belly full of sugar is to ride the spinning MIB! I actually remembered to write down who won this time, as it was me! I managed to hit the red button!

Back in the Simpson’s area, the family were out and very excited to see that we were wearing them on our tops. Marge even stroked the Homer on Nathan’s tee, as he bizarrely wasn’t out with the rest of them and was blowing him kisses. Bart was a big fan of my cami and gave me a big excited hug.

We also bumped into the Madagascar penguins around the corner. We don’t normally meet that many characters, especially at Disney as the queues are just too big, but there was no-one waiting for any of the peeps that we saw out today.

We were by the lake when the announcement went off saying that the water fountain show was about to start, so settled down on a bench and really enjoyed watching this. I was really loving the mix of rides and time that we spent in the park this morning, sitting down and taking in the atmosphere. It is definitely my favourite way to experience a park.

Nathan rode RRR, which again is a ride that is way beyond my coaster limits before we headed to City Walk to grab me a cold drink. I went for another pink colour drink, the mango dragonfruit cooler, Nathan also had the same. We noticed that even without our AP discount, the Starbucks was cheaper here than at Disney Springs. Our drinks came to $9.50.

After a quick change and chill in the hotel room, we headed back out to Millenia Mall, mainly so I could get some Cheesecake Factory cheesecake! As we got there, the Floridian rain started. Nathan was a true gentleman and dropped me near the doors before he found a car parking space, so I didn’t get too wet. As I was waiting, I saw this terrifying Easter Bunny scaring children - honestly, there were so many kids around crying!

We did well again and didn’t end up buying too much. I picked up some make-up bits in Sephora and candles in Bath and Body Works. We could hear the thunder and lightening as we were in the mall, so decided to get our lunch at the foodcourt. We opted for a plate to share from China Max $8.50. We had the lo mein, General Tso chicken and honey chicken to share. As always, it was greasy but good. We also had a side of egg rolls, which weren’t that nice, as they were just full of cabbage and no real flavouring. Nathan added some of the hot sauce to give them some taste, but it was a little hotter than he was expecting and led to some funny spluttering and watery eyes .

I was too full to eat my cheesecake straightaway, so got my favourite banana cream $8.50 to take-away. It was as tasty as I remembered, creamy and not too sweet, with a lovely banana flavour.

There was still lots of thunder and lightening as we were leaving. We didn’t fancy heading anywhere else with the weather, so took some time to relax and watch some of the programmes we had downloaded on our iPads in our hotel room.

We had an exciting evening planned and something that we have done on every trip. In fact, someone I have been watching since I was 12 years old - we were off to see the Legend that is Yeeha Bob! For those who don’t know, Bob is a performer at Port Orleans Riverside. He plays the piano, sings songs, tells jokes and loves audience participation. It is a really fun evening. We arrived at POR for 7:30 and as our tradition goes, we get some drinks and a table in the bar, while the other goes to the foodcourt to get a giant pizza for us to share.

The pizza cost $14 and I had my fave Shirley Temple, Nathan’s non-alcoholic beer was clearly not picture worthy. The pizza was yummy and cheesy, I managed two slices and my human disposal system polished off the rest. Bob started at 8:30 and was as brilliant as ever. Nathan even got a shout out, which he was very chuffed about.



The show finished around 10:30 and we drove straight back to the Rosen Inn, after washing and getting our stuff ready for the next day, we were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Thanks for reading,

Laura Xx

[Disney Planning]

Great update, those pizzas from the food courts are cooked fresh surprisingly good.

[mrsdjh]

Oh what a treat to read a report - I’m so pleased you came back to finish it. Nathan is definitely doing well with the doughnuts 🍩 I didn’t really think much of the Voodoo ones either.

[Shkyler]

Mouth is watering!

[iheartwdw]

Originally Posted by Disney Planning

Great update, those pizzas from the food courts are cooked fresh surprisingly good.

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They really are! Nom!

Laura Xx

[iheartwdw]

Originally Posted by mrsdjh

Oh what a treat to read a report - I’m so pleased you came back to finish it. Nathan is definitely doing well with the doughnuts 🍩 I didn’t really think much of the Voodoo ones either.

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Thank you!

He must have an extra doughnut stomach, I don't know where he puts them all?

I'm glad I'm not the only one, I still don't get the hype.

Thanks for reading,

Laura Xx

[iheartwdw]

Originally Posted by Shkyler

Mouth is watering!

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Mine too!

Laura Xx

[iheartwdw]

Day 4: Porches, Poly and Pools
Saturday 21st April 2019

Today was the first lay in of our trip, which was much needed. We mooched around the room and took our time to get ready, we also packed an overnight bag as we would be staying at the Poly for one night - a mini holiday, within a holiday! The Poly has always been my favourite hotel, I love the theming, the location, the different foods they offer and of course, Trader Sams!

When we were finished packing, we headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We had never eaten here before, but after seeing so many drool worthy pictures and fab reviews on the Dibb, it made the must eat list for this holiday. There was a small wait, so we got to enjoy the porch and rocking chairs for a bit.

We had a great server, who was helpful and not over the top. Nathan ordered eggs in baskets $9 and she took the mickey, when he had a bit of a moment and tried to order his eggs as poached, in fried bread?! I think he was reverting back to his normal IHOP order! He also had a goo goo cluster latte $3, which he loved and said was worth the visit alone. The nougat in the goo goos was delicious as it melted and although the latte was strong, the sweetness of all of the extra toppings balanced the flavours.

The bread was fresh, the patties that came with the breakfast had a subtle smokey taste, as did the bacon that came with my egg sandwich ($5 + $1 for bacon), I thought the hash that came with Nathan’s looked a little undercooked at first, but it wasn’t and was really tasty. It had a cheesy and slight onion taste.

From Cracker Barrel, we headed straight to the Poly and were checking in not long after 10:00. We knew that our room wouldn’t be ready, so made sure that our swimwear was easy to grab and changed by the pool. We tried to settle at the Lava Pool (main) first of all, but it was super busy. CMs were coming around to check that everyone was a hotel guest and giving out extra paper wristbands to wear. We ended up moving to the quiet pool, near the DVC area, as an extremely rude family based themselves on the loungers behind us. The adults kept on nudging me on the way out, as instead of walking around they were cutting across the plant bed I was next too and they seemed to need to come and go constantly. The kids kept on leaning on the back of our loungers whilst talking - it wasn’t very relaxing!

The Oasis pool was much calmer, so we were able to read, listen to music and relax. We also had a walk along the beach and Facetimed our families. I picked up a refillable mug with lunch from Captain Cooke’s, we shared the legendary Disney nuggets and fries $7.50, as we wanted to save room for our dinner at Ohanas later. The nuggets were as amazing as always.

We could see our room was ready around 2:00, so we checked it out and unpacked a little. We were both a little pink, despite it not being very hot, there had been a deceptive breeze, which had caused us both to end up a bit wind burnt. After changing, we caught the monorail to the Grand Flo, so we could check out all of the amazing Easter eggs on display. They were fantastic, the detail is so intricate and amazing. Nathan brought me an Easter egg from the pop up shop for $9. It was thick dark chocolate and full of jellybeans. We also sat and listened to the GF band for a bit, before heading to the Contemporary on the monorail.

We couldn’t find the eggs in the Contemporary, as they weren’t in the main lobby area, they were hidden away a bit downstairs, but were just as amazing as those at the GF. There was one where you had to use a UV light to see character autographs.

To get back to the Poly, we walked to MK and took the boat, for a more scenic route. We were originally thinking of going to Trader Sam’s, but the wait was really long, so we had some drinks in our room on the balcony. Nathan had picked up a grape soda from Cracker Barrel ($1.50) this morning he was eager to try and really enjoyed.

Our reservation for Ohana’s was at 8:00, so before we checked in we looked around the shops and picked up a Maui Christmas tree decoration.

I have to be honest, as this wasn’t our favourite Ohanas experience. It was Easter weekend and you could tell they were fully booked and eager to get people in and out, we felt very rushed. However, the food was still great. The noodles and steak in soy were my favourite and Nathan devoured pretty much all of the won tons, as he was loving them so much - he had 10 in total! He also said that the shrimp was tasty, with a nice smoked BBQ flavour. We both thought that the skewered chicken and chicken wings were not as flavourful as normal, maybe because they were so busy they hadn’t had a chance to marinate for long.

A monumental occasion happened, as we actually managed to finish the devine banana foster pudding. We were also given some rice crispy treats from our server, but we were too stuffed, so he boxed these up for us.

We had planned to watch the fireworks from our table, but when they started the music wasn’t piped in? Luckily, we had just paid, so we watched them walking along the beach instead and from the balcony on our room block. We could hear the music throughout the resort and it was a lovely warm evening, so it was the perfect way to watch the display .

I was making the most of my refillable mug during the day, I got another refill to have in the room, bringing my total to 7 that day!

More Poly and Disney food adventures tomorrow for Easter Day!

Laura Xx

[orlandoamber]

Your day at the Poly sounds like a little slice of heaven right now!