Cat in the Hat vs The Hulk - Day 3 - 12.04.19

[Rescuer]

Part 1

Index

We slept a little longer this morning and we Left the hotel around 8.30am to walk into Islands of Adventure. I generally always refer to walk from RPR if we are going into IOA and like the boat if we are heading into Universal.

First order of business was food and drinks.

Breakfast was at croissant moon. We were starving again. We reactivated the old mug for df and got it a new straw as the old one had broke. we also bought a new one.

We all had croissants for breakfast.

Ds had ham, cheese and egg, df bacon, cheese and egg and I had bacon and cheese. All 3 were really nice and a perfect start to the day.

Whilst eating we began the debate over rides. Df and I wanted to start with Hulk and as you know this was the one ds had challenged himself to ride, no disrespect to ds but everyone was hugely sceptical this would happen. There was no pressure on him other than that he had to come in the line with df and I and he could ride or sit in the family room. He didn’t want to start with this so we headed into the park via Suess Landings.

On our way in we saw the Grinch and Sam I Am. These are my 2 favourite Dr Suess books and I was wearing a newly purchased ‘resting grinch face’ T-shirt so there was no question I was meeting them!

Ds wanted to ride the Cat in The Hat, remember the days when this ride used to spin crazily? I did love it so much more then. Being primary teachers df and I know this story so well so we didn’t complain too much. I was obviously so excited with myself that I left the refillable mug in the pocket of the ride. Thankfully since we were the only 3 people other than staff in the building it was not a problem and I got it back fairly quickly.

Next up we walked around to Hogsmeade. It was quiet on the way in

.

Here we rode Forbidden Journey twice. The line was a little mental in that everyone joins the same line for lockers then the line splits inside. This was ok as the park really wasn’t that busy but I was reading on the passholder page that people were waiting over 30 minutes to get into the lockers. I love this ride.

We refilled the mugs again in Jurassic Park and thought about the Raptor encounter but the 25 minute wait in the heat put us off.

Kong was up next the wait according to the sign was 15 minutes however, touring plans was predicting it to be 20 minutes.

The express pass was about the same length of time. The line in this attraction is always a pain in the bum. I like the ride and it’s worth doing but once per trip is enough. Df had never done it before and she enjoyed it.

Onwards round to Marvel Superhero Island... would ds ride Dr Doom again or even Hulk?

Spider-Man was first and with express it was walk on. I do like this better than Transformers.

Dr Doom was also walk on with express pass. It was a no from ds and he sat at the exit.

Hulk was showing a 20 minute wait also and again it was walk on for Express Pass. And again to was a no for ds. He came through the line and crossed the coaster into the family room.

On the way out we filled up the cups with Icees.

We were not to keen on having quick service on the park today so since we’d already decided that we would switch parks we thought Panda Express would be a good option.

Ds was happy with a kids meal as long as he got some extra. He had noodles, orange chicken and a Fanta.

I had the plate with 3 entrees. I had rice, orange chicken, black pepper chicken and wok fried shrimp. It was all lovely.

Df had the plate with 2 entrees. She had chilli chicken and chicken with mushroom. She really enjoyed both and split a chicken egg roll with ds.

A much more reasonably priced lunch.

We passed Vodoo Donut on our way to Universal, there was no line so it seemed rude not to go in and have a wee sweet treat to finish off lunch.

The choice in there is so good. We decided that ds and I would share the Universal orange cream popsicle as this was our favourite last time and df decided to have the little pink. Both were delicious.

[Rescuer]

Part 2

After the delicious doughnuts we headed into Universal Studios. We walked around through Hollywood, I always think this area is quite spooky for some reason. It reminds me of the Tower of Terror and the Shining.

Anyway we saw the passholder lounge and ds and I went in for a nosey, df was just going to wait for us but the team member invited her in too. It’s not much but it’s got lovely air conditioning, comfy couches and charging points for your devices.

We spotted Beetlejuice outside and there were these little teeny girls squealing at him, he was hilariously deadpan shouting back at them!

Time for another Icee. If anyone is interested there is a mimosa bar by cafe LaBamba, it was there for Mardi Gras and they seem to have kept it open for the time being.

We were chatting with one of the NBC reps, they were looking for Americans of a certain age to view a comedy show and were offering vouchers in return. They do this fairly often and are normally targeting a specific demographic, I’m not sure if that ever includes British people but you never know.

I had seen on Facebook that there are now new backgrounds for the ET bike pictures and ds was keen to try out a different one so we headed around there. There is the moon one, a cityscape and a green planet one. We also got the toy closet photo.

Afterwards we did the ride. It’s so dated but so sweet.

Something else df and I were eager to do was meet the Trolls, especially Guy Diamond. They were great but I’d have expected more glitter when he pumps. There were a couple of make a wish children who got to meet them first, the characters were fantastic and spent ages interacting and dancing with these kids, it was lovely to watch.

Ds was keen to ride the Simpsons as we hadn’t done so yet. He loves this ride.

Another stop off at MIB for me. I asked about taking the Immigration tour and we were really lucky today and were allocated Courtney as our tour guide. It was great to get to see downstairs and Courtney was so lovely and helpful and full of tips about the ride that we messaged universal to say how great she was.

We got taken back on to the ride at the end of the tour. Now we had all improved so much we got ‘galaxy defenders’ for the first time.

Ds was desperate to go back on the Mummy now that he had conquered this ride. He loved it again - were we finally getting somewhere with the coasters?

We knew some of the Grad Bash people would start arriving at 4pm so with our cups filled with yet another Icee we left just before 4pm and took the boat back to our hotel for a rest.

When we first planned this holiday it was our idea to do some pool hopping today and we’d planned to go swimming at Portofino and then eat pizza at Sals, however, Harbour nights was on at Portofino do that knocked that idea in the head.

It was after 7 by the time we could be bothered going anywhere so we decided we’d just head into Citywalk on the boat for dinner either at Cowfish or Vivos. The sunset was lovely.

There was extra staff out and there were lines set up in the middle of Citywalk for Grad Bash kids but most must have already been in the park and we only saw the odd few stragglers.

Cowfish was our dinner of choice this evening. We waited till well after grad bash had started. It was to be a 20-30 minute wait for a table and they promised to text when it was ready. We wandered round the shops and it was about 10 minutes till I got the text.

We were seated on the top floor which had a lovely view.

I’d agreed with ds he could have an adult meal here if he contributed his days spending money $10 towards it, harsh I know but it at least makes him think about the value of things, so he decided this was a good use of his money. He ordered the Firecracker Roll*

Shrimp tempura, kani inside coated with tempura flakes, topped with yellowtail, salmon, spicy mayo, masago, tobiko and scallions. Served with ponzu dipping sauce. he absolutely loved it, he shared some with me in return for some of my food.

I had the What's Shakin' Tuna Bacon Sandwich* this was really good.

Seared rare blackened yellowfin tuna, applewood bacon, iceberg, jalapeños, tomato salsa, slaw and spicy mayo, served between grilled spring roll wrapper "buns" filled with kani and sushi rice. Served with house seasoned fries.

Df had The Boursin Bacon Burger*. She thought this was amazing.
Beef burger, garlic & herb boursin cheese, applewood bacon, sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, onion roll

Our server was a little over eager and was asking us if we wanted a dessert when we were half way through our mains and our bill was out seconds after we declined. I sent it back so he could add the Passholder discount.

He looked utterly shocked when we left him a tip as he seemed to be expecting us not to tip him.

We had a bit of debate if we should try golf or the cinema but we were all shattered and we agreed that what everyone really wanted to do was take another trip to Vodoo donuts, It was a little busier than yesterday but no line, we decided to get a selection for breakfast.

Afterwards another trip to Vodoo donuts was in order. It was a little busier than yesterday but no line, we decided to get a selection for breakfast.

Ds and I got the glazed old fashioned, the peanut cake and the Vodoo doll. The glazed old fashioned was my favourite out of the 3, ds thought the Vodoo doll was his favourite but we both love the orange universal one the most.

Df got the cinnamon and the chocolate frosted cake. She thought they were both amazing but preferred the chocolate frosted one and thought both of these were better than the big pink.

Very reasonable I thought. Ds also bought himself a wee voodoo doll magnet.

voodoo doll magnet.

We caught the boat back to the hotel and collapsed into bed again.

[Goldia]

A fab day today. I want to meet the trolls too! They looked so cute. Poor DS sounds like he is really unsure about the big rides, sitting out hulk, I thought he might do it after liking the mummy, but it does look very intimidating from the outside at least with other rides you can't see it all so much. I preferred hulk to rip ride rockit, even though I know rip ride doesn't go upside down I just hate that first vertical climb. I'm glad he was keen to go on mummy again today.

The immigration tour is another thing I'm keen to do, I think I first heard about it on a Tim Tracker vlog. It looks fun, you all did well to get those high scores on the ride too.

I still can't believe how quiet it was first thing, it looks quite hot though in some of the photos. Was the weather good for the whole trip?

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Goldia

A fab day today. I want to meet the trolls too! They looked so cute. Poor DS sounds like he is really unsure about the big rides, sitting out hulk, I thought he might do it after liking the mummy, but it does look very intimidating from the outside at least with other rides you can't see it all so much. I preferred hulk to rip ride rockit, even though I know rip ride doesn't go upside down I just hate that first vertical climb. I'm glad he was keen to go on mummy again today.

The immigration tour is another thing I'm keen to do, I think I first heard about it on a Tim Tracker vlog. It looks fun, you all did well to get those high scores on the ride too.

I still can't believe how quiet it was first thing, it looks quite hot though in some of the photos. Was the weather good for the whole trip?

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The Trolls were so cute. Its worth getting there a few minutes before they come out as they all arrive dancing and Guy Diamond does his little pump

The thing about being able to see the ride was his reasoning as well for not riding.

The immigration tour was great, we needed to ask at the end of the ride a few times until we were able to do it. You need to look for the little parking meter with the lit up eyes, I think they are red and change to green when you shoot him or the other way round

It was pretty hot, it was weird though because it was often windy but unlike the summer this didn't seem to mean there was a storm coming. A couple of nights late on we felt a little chilly but overall it was lovely weather, some days it felt as hot as the summer especially the one super humid day we had.

[minnie29]

Looks like you’re all having fun so far!

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by minnie29

Looks like you’re all having fun so far!

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It was great.

Hopefully you will love your stay at Royal Pacific as much as we did. I’d really recommend tower 3 if you are planning on putting in a room request.

[Floridafour]

Really enjoying your report, we were there the same time 5/4-15/4 it was lovely as always. we normally visit in July/Aug so really appreciated how much more pleasant the weather is in April. I look forward to reading more 🙂

[mrsstitch]

Really enjoying your report and photos! Thank you for posting.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by Floridafour

Really enjoying your report, we were there the same time 5/4-15/4 it was lovely as always. we normally visit in July/Aug so really appreciated how much more pleasant the weather is in April. I look forward to reading more 🙂

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Thanks for reading. July is normally when we visit as well, You are right it was hot but only one day was it a bit sticky and humid. What we found really weird was the wind without a storm, I just couldn't get my head round that.

Originally Posted by mrsstitch

Really enjoying your report and photos! Thank you for posting.

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Thanks for reading.

[Cinderella]

Great day👍