Finally! A four week adventure! Week One

[Malificent]

Love reading about your adventure so far. Have the best time!

[Buggles94]

Wow - you have had such a busy trip already - so glad you are safely in Orlando. I think it cooled down a lot today - yesterday was incredibly hot in the parks. I’ve heard NYC is very hot at the moment so sounds like you are acclimatised already 😀

[Rac20]

Day 4: Volcano Bay and I Faced My Fear!

I slept really well last night. The first time since we arrived which means I must finally be over my jet lag! Yay!

DS13 was so excited for today’s trip to Volcano Bay - he was literally bouncing!

We didn’t have breakfast but had some breakfast biscuits that I’d bought for a pound in B&M before we left and we headed to join the early entry queue. It was rammed - even at 8:45.

I love the access straight from Cabana Bay to Volcano Bay - so easy! And it came in handy later.

If you’re going to get towels from the resort to take with you, make sure you get them the night before as the pool doesn’t open until 9. We didn’t do that and so were without towels today. 😬

After depositing our things in a locker ($20) we headed to Krakatoa as that is supposed to be the best ride (according to DS13). It’s like a rollercoaster on water. We tapped in with our tapau tapau bands and went off in search of what we could ride now. We found a tube slide and joined the queue. It was great fun.

There’s no way I’ll remember all of the names of the rides. I spent all day getting lost. 🙈

Krakatoa was a great ride. 👍🏻 The next ride the boys wanted to ride was the one that drops you through the middle of the volcano. There’s was a ridiculous wait time for that and so we spent a lot of time in the rapids and the pool. The rapids are my favourite! Mainly because the water was warm!

Whilst waiting for the volcano ride, we bought the boys some nachos which came to $24 for two portions and soon it was time to head to the ride.

I thought DS13 might chicken out but he impressed me! And even said it wasn’t that scary.

We tapped to go on a ride that you shoot off the end with a four foot drop and left DH and DS16 in the wave pool whilst DS13 and I went in search of more ride now rides. We found a tube ride and went on that. Whilst queuing, it started to drizzle and when we got off, we headed to the rapids because the water was toasty warm. We managed two laps before we got told that we had to leave. ☹️

And that was the end of our trip to Volcano Bay. The weather looked set in and we didn’t fancy sitting round waiting for the slides to reopen and so we headed off back shivering and wet back through the Cabana Bay entrance! I was very grateful to be a resort guest! No queuing for buses - just a short walk back to our room.

The sky about two hours later - not sure the rides ever re-opened.

Once showered and a little warmer, DS13 and I headed off to explore. DH wasn’t feeling too great so had a rest.

I took some photos of the theming:

And DS13 found the games room! 😊
$10 for 60 credits. Most games were between 6 and 8 credits and we had a few games before we headed back.

We had booked Cowfish for tea which is a restaurant I’d been to before and enjoyed. Apart from DS16 who apparently tonight didn’t like anything on the menu.

The waitress was really attentive and spent a long time teaching DS13 how to use chopsticks.

DS16 had calamari to start - sorry no picture and DH and DS16 had burgers. DS13 had a bento box with a mini burger and sushi. I had the heavenly veg burger. With three cokes and one water, it came to $111.

We headed into Universal to ride Rip Ride Rocket. The reason being that I promised myself that if we made it to Orlando this year then I would ride it and not chicken out! And I did it! Yay! So did DS13 who was also feeling nervous about it. This is his first year doing “big” rides. My lasting impression is that it really hurts your head!

The queue was long and so by the time we got off, the park was closed. We headed back to the hotel where I used my free drinks vouchers from Virgin. DS16 and DH headed back to the room and DS13 and I camped by a fire pit

and chatted about our day.

Volcano Bay - we will definitely have to return to. It’s just so busy even with early entry that you barely get anything done and the weather in July doesn’t help.

Tomorrow, we are heading over to Loews Portofino.

[Leia77]

What a great trip so far! Really enjoying reading along x

[ClaireNJ]

Shame about the water park closing
Hope Hubbie is feeling better today
And well done you for doing Rip Ride Rocket 💪🤩not for me 😳😫

[Th1nkT1nk]

Really loving reading along, you’re making me feel very excited about our trip next year! Such a shame about the water park, you must have felt frustrated. Thanks for the tip about the towels, I’ve made a note about that! Looking forward to reading more

[Loobylou_82]

Yep, rip ride rocket does that to you. I always feel like my brain is being shaken about! Won't go on it anymore. Like Cowfish, your food looked good. Hope DH is feeling better.

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by Rac20

I don’t think the humidity was too bad. It felt more like dry heat. Orlando still feels cold in comparison. Been to Volcano Bay today and at 1:30 they shut the pools and slides. It’s now after 4:30 and they are still closed.

See more...

Universal are quick to close and rarely reopen pools and slides. It can be very frustrating.

[hipthehippo]

Just caught up with your report - you've done so much! Hope that your DS and DH start to feel more settled soon.

[Rac20]

Day 5: Loews Portofino Resort

Today was another early start as we had to check out of Cabana Bay for our one night stay at Loews Portofino Hotel.

The theming is really beautiful here and I thoroughly recommend it.

Check in was easy and our room was ready when we checked in which was great because it meant that we could leave our bags there and head straight for the parks.

Even though we got to the park for 8:15, we still weren’t early enough to ride Hagrid’s without an 180 minute wait. No thanks!


DH and DS16 headed off to ride the new Jurassic ride - velocicoaster

and DS13 and I decided to ride Forbidden Journey instead - which we did twice in a row with our front of line passes.

We then went on Flight of the Hippogrith before meeting up with DS16 and DH to ride the hulk. DS13 was super scared but he braved it and was proud of himself that he achieved it.

After, it was time for breakfast. I’ve noticed that DS16 is eating like a horse currently. So much cheaper when he was 11 when we came!

Breakfast came to $60 for three coffees, one coke, two croissants, two sandwiches and a chocolate cake thing.

After, we headed back to Hogsmeade and had a butter beer. Three butter beers cost $25.

We then rode Forbidden Journey again before heading to Jurassic Park.

We rode the River Journey ride and got a little wet but not as wet as we got when we went on the Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Absolutely drenched! And so we decided to go on Bluto’s barges just to get a little more wet!

I forgot - we also rode Kong! That threw you around a bit!

Being very wet - we decided to head back to the hotel and go in the hotel pool.

I treated myself to a cocktail and DS13 had a mocktail. They were both very nice.

For tea, we ordered pizzas and mozzarella sticks and DS16 and I shared a piece of cake.

DS13 and DH have headed back to the park and I’m relaxing in the room reading and writing my report.

Tomorrow, we pick up the car and head to the villa we have rented at Windsor Hills.