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Old 21 Jan 20, 12:50 PM  
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It's The Greatest Hits Tour August 2018: Day 6 - US, IoA, Mythos and Sal's Market Deli

Day 6 - Thursday 16th August 2018

The alarm was set for 6 this morning. We were planning to be at Universal Studios in plenty of time for early entry at 8 am. Mat and I got ready and then I pretty much dragged the girls out of bed at 7 am. They were really struggling with tiredness this morning. We had decided to have breakfast at The Leaky Cauldron a bit later so nobody had anything to eat before we left. Mat did leave ahead of us to get coffees as he was all ready before the girls and I.

I had it in my head that we should leave at 7.30 but by the time we met him outside Emack and Bolio’s, essential coffees in hand, and set off for the park, it was closer to 7.50. Must try harder. Americano and double espresso here were $4 each. We power-walked to bag check which was nice and quick (as it always is at the CityWalk / Hard Rock security checkpoint) and were at the turnstiles at 7.55 am. My family wouldn’t let me choose a line this morning as I always get it wrong. They picked a good line and we were at the turnstile quickly. My fingerprint wouldn’t work until the fourth attempt. I really wasn’t having much luck with it this trip. As I said in yesterday’s report, I think it’s because I always have hand cream or sunscreen or some other cosmetic product on my hands first thing. It bugs me that they always say ‘Are you sure this is the finger you used?’ Of course I am .

I’m pretty sure it was only Escape From Gringotts and The Mummy that were operating during early entry while we were there. I remember thinking that it was a bit odd they had stopped operating Minion Mayhem during that hour because it meant there was nothing open for smaller than 42” children to ride, or any that are scared of Gringotts and The Mummy. I think when we went back in February 2019 all three were open during early entry but I could have this wrong bearing in mind how long ago it was now. Anyway as I recall, we believed there were only two rides operating during that time. The girls were desperate to ride The Mummy before going to Diagon Alley but I thought it was more important to do Gringotts first as I expected it to get busier quicker.

We took a quick walk round to Diagon Alley. I still had my coffee and managed to spill it down me as I always do when I walk with coffee. I had finished it by the time we got to Gringotts and we quickly bunged our stuff in lockers. The wait was only five minutes and we were given the front row. The front is so much better for being able to see the screens and feel more immersed in the action but Seren was moaning about the drop being shorter in the front. We still all love the ride though.

Then we walked back to The Mummy and got to the entrance about 8.30. The posted wait was 20 minutes but we waited less than ten. This time I sat on the right of the ride vehicle which I didn’t like as much. I think it’s a better ride on the left and there’s more to see. So I’ve gone back to sitting on the left every time we’ve ridden since (luckily no one else is bothered which side they sit.) We had really fallen in love with this ride by this point, it’s so fun.

Early entry was pretty much over once we were back outside and had collected our bags and regrouped. We took some photos on the walk back round to Diagon Alley:



























I don't think I had noticed the nod to Jaws before:



Back into Diagon Alley as it was time for breakfast.







Restroom stop.



Deathly Hallows symbol:





We popped into Knockturn Alley briefly:



My photos were terrible so I'm only sharing this one:





We had never eaten at either of the Harry Potter restaurants but I had recently read a blog post about The Leaky Cauldron being very accommodating to vegans. The writer talked about how the staff and chef had made sure they got a good meal. They’d had plenty of tasty food and it looked like a great option so I’d mentioned it to the others. Mat had commented the day before when we’d passed the restaurant how good it looked (theming wise) so we were all really excited about trying it out.





There was a little bit of a line when we arrived, and there was a Team Member directing guests. He asked if we had a reservation but being a walk up wasn’t a problem at all. We had to wait a few minutes until there was space at a register, and while we waited the guy said to the girls ‘Are you Harry Potter geeks?’ to which they replied ‘yes’. He proceeded to ask them some Harry Potter trivia which they epically failed to answer . They’ve both read all the books a few times and watched the films loads so I don’t know if it was just that their brains were in holiday mode and they’d forgotten or if the trivia was just really hard.



Soon after we were directed to a register. I asked the cashier for an American breakfast with no meat (for the girls to share) as there wasn’t a vegetarian version on the menu. The American breakfast is meat (not sure what, probably sausage), egg, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes and ‘peasant bread’ which is actually a croissant. The cashier asked if we wanted extra egg or extra potatoes instead of the meat. Seren said extra potatoes. All good so far (or so I thought.)

Then I asked for a vegan version as that is what the person writing the blog post had asked for. The cashier said we’d be better off ordering the items as sides (I assume financially.) So I looked at the American Breakfast on the menu and ordered everything in it that Mat and I could eat: breakfast potatoes (the blog post had said these were vegan), beans, mushrooms and tomatoes. Bizarrely she actually put it through as an ‘English breakfast’ at the same price as the girls’ American Breakfast so no idea why she said to order it as individual side dishes. There was another Team Member assisting the cashier and she was trying to get us to order a fruit plate saying ‘we have a fruit plate, that’s vegan’ even after I had told them what we wanted which was annoying. My experience certainly differed from what happened in the post I read where the Team Member went out of their way to make sure the blogger got a good vegan meal. It was all just a bit of an awkward faff. I’ve said it before but nine times out of ten, restaurant staff are great at dealing with our dietary requirements but every trip we have a couple of experiences that don’t go as well. I think this was the only one at Universal though.

Once you’ve paid at Leaky Cauldron, someone seats you. The dining room is lovely and once we were sat down and taking it all in, I shook off my minor annoyance at the exchange at the till. We took some photos while we waited for our food.









Freya is not great (understatement) when she hasn’t eaten for like more than two hours, so she was getting hangry. I find it hard to imagine that we hadn’t stuffed something in her mouth in the two and a half hours she’d been up by this point or else we’d have been having a fairly unpleasant morning. So we had probably placated her with a cereal bar or something sometime between her waking up and waiting for our breakfast. I seem to recall people around us were receiving their food quicker than us and that was winding her up, but eventually our meals arrived.

So as I said, we had ordered one American Breakfast and one English Breakfast, both modified so one was vegetarian and one was vegan. The girls’ plate when it came was just egg, potatoes and a croissant, there were no mushrooms, beans or tomatoes for some reason. Ours at least was as ordered. But neither portion was very big for $16.99 each. We probably should have complained about the girls’ plate not having half the things it should have on it, but we’d already waited quite a while and we were wasting precious park time. Plus the girls weren’t too bothered. Mat and I ate some of the girls’ potatoes as they didn’t like them and in exchange we gave them some of our beans, tomatoes and mushrooms. We tried to make sure pretty much all of it was eaten as we didn’t want any of it to go to waste with it being so expensive. The meals also came with a drink included so Mat and Seren both had an apple juice.





Continued below...
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Old 21 Jan 20, 12:54 PM  
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...continued

We certainly wouldn’t go back for breakfast because of the poor value for money, and the food was pretty average, but it was nice to do it and we thought the theming was great.





























It was time to take the Hogwarts Express over to Islands of Adventure.



At the ticket checkpoint I had to do my fingerprint about five times as it wouldn’t work. In the end the Team Member asked me questions about when we had entered the park today and which parks we had been to so far so she could let me through.











I got my best walking-through-the-wall pictures so far (they're not great, just better than my previous fails)...









and we got a carriage to ourselves this morning which was nice.









US to IoA is also my preferred Hogwarts Express journey, I like the bit with the Dementors.













Sneaky peak through the fence at the then under construction Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure:















Next up was Forbidden Journey.



[

The lockers were a nightmare. Team Members were trying to enforce the ‘only enter the locker area if you are holding a bag’ rule but of course most people were ignoring that. The FJ lockers are just so much worse than the others we use in the two parks (The Mummy, Men In Black, Gringotts). When it’s crowded it’s just so difficult to get close to your locker or the rental screen. And they seem to fail to open here more than the other locker areas. When someone can’t re-open their locker and they’re just kind of standing there near the screen trying to get help, it causes such a backlog because there just isn’t enough space. And it is really annoying when a whole family are standing around taking up space and putting just one bag in a locker.

Locker ordeal over, we walked straight through the queue to the loading area using our Express Passes. As per usual, I was left with the ‘dragon seat’, being the least scared of the dragon’s fire (smoke) breathing out of the four of us. Unfortunately today I got a blast of smoke in the face from the dragon and it did something to one of my contact lenses. It was really uncomfortable and I felt like it had moved position or folded in half in my eye. I was worried it had fallen out (I wear 30 day lenses so even though I had a spare, I didn’t really want to have lost it) but to be fair if it had fallen out it wouldn’t feel uncomfortable like it did. So I spent the second half of the ride not really being able to see and with a pretty sore eye. It was actually pretty uncomfortable for a few hours. I fiddled with it a bit as the morning went on and kept getting it back into position but it was still uncomfortable. I think the blast had dried the lens out or something. My family still make me sit in the dragon seat, but now I make sure my eyes are closed when we get to the dragon part of the ride.

Continued below...
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Old 21 Jan 20, 12:56 PM  
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...continued

After Forbidden Journey, we went on the Hippogriff. I sat with Mat and the ride was even more uncomfortable with him pressing into me. I wrote ‘never again’ in my notes but I’ve already broken that. I just wish it was a bit less sore.

















It was time to buy some of my beloved grapes from The Magic Neep cart ($7.98 for two bags.) We took them to the benches behind the covered bench area and scoffed them. We also drank a few bottles of the water we were carrying while they were still nice and cold. Seren was very kindly carrying our little drinks cooler around the parks, she had named it Caspar. She carried Caspar again every day on our February trip, and when we suggested ditching it at the end of the trip because it’s a bit worse for wear after about four Florida holidays, she was having none of it as she’s very attached.

















We happened across the Frog Chorus as we passed the stage so we watched that for a moment.



The girls don't look especially amused here but they were enjoying it honestly:







The girls wanted to do some water rides next so we walked round to Jurassic Park.





The girls went off to get changed into spare clothes, rain jackets and flip flops ready to get wet. Freya wasn’t overly convinced about riding this one as she’s not a huge fan but luckily for Mat she agreed. I don’t do water rides and certainly not flumes, they terrify me and I haven’t done one since 2012 when I reluctantly took Seren on Splash Mountain. Mat and I sat on the wall opposite the ride in the shade and I caught up on some notes. The girls didn’t have to wait long with Express Pass and they loved it so much they wanted to ride a second time which was fine with us as we were enjoying our shady rest.

Next up, Toon Lagoon.



In 2017, Seren had loved Ripsaw Falls after doing it for the first time with a school friend we had met up with. She had then dragged Mat on very reluctantly as no one else would ride it again with her. Luckily for him, Freya was now really keen to ride. She loved it. They had to wait a bit longer for this one and when they came off it was almost time for our lunch reservation. Luckily they hadn’t got too wet on the ride so didn’t need to get changed.



We walked round to Mythos arriving a couple of minutes after our 12.15 reservation time.



We arrived in a bit of a state with me carrying Seren and Freya’s trainers and the girls still wet from the ride. Our table was ready but we asked for a second just to get sorted out before we went in. The girls needed to switch back into their trainers and we needed to pack away their flip flops and rain jackets. The hosts were great, they said to sort ourselves out in the waiting area and just let them know when we were ready to go through, which we did.

We had been to Mythos once before, in 2014, and had enjoyed it but weren’t that bothered about coming back. But I had read it was a great option for vegans and with not many vegan quick service options in the park in 2018, the idea of a good table service lunch appealed. Going in I was a little concerned it was going to end up disappointing after our experience earlier with The Leaky Cauldron. I needn’t have worried. Our server was Eric and he was great. We explained that Mat and I were vegan at the beginning of the meal and he was excellent at explaining what was available to us.





Drinks were ordered. I had Prosecco, Mat had a vodka and tomato juice, Seren pineapple juice and Freya ordered a Fanta, promising us she would drink it this time. She occasionally asks for Fanta claiming to like it, but always after a few sips she stops drinking it. Neither of the girls like fizzy drinks and obviously we don’t enjoy ordering one for her which she then doesn’t drink. Which is what happened again today.



Mat and I shared the mezze platter to start which was modified to make it vegan. Eric was very knowledgable right off the bat that we would need to have it without the baba ganoush. So it was pitta, houmous, celeriac and olives. It was really simple but very tasty.





Bread didn’t arrive until after the appetiser which the girls weren’t happy about as they were desperate for it and neither of them were having appetisers. Eric had told us the bread was vegan and he brought olive oil and balsamic vinegar for us as well as butter for the girls. When it arrived, the bread went down very well.





For entrees, I had vegan pad Thai which I believe was ‘vegan as is’ on the menu. Mat had a vegan risotto. Both our dishes were really simple but good, although the portions weren’t very big. Mine tasted like a sweet and sour. Eric had asked us about allergies at the beginning of the meal, and just like with our vegan requirements, he was brilliant at knowing what Seren couldn’t have. She wanted the salmon with wild rice, zucchini and mushrooms which came with a romesco sauce. Eric said she couldn’t have the sauce because it contained nuts. She didn’t like the rice, she said it was too spicy but she ate all the salmon and zucchini, and passed the mushrooms over to her sister who unlike her, loves mushrooms. Freya had a kids’ cheese pizza which was enormous, and a side of fries. Both girls also devoured a side of corn on the cob. Freya ate all her fries and half the giant pizza. We took the other half with us in a box and threw it away later when she said she didn’t want to eat the other half.











[

We all agreed we had enjoyed Mythos. It’s definitely not a ‘must do’ for me but it was a good meal. The check was $110.87 which I guess isn’t too bad for a theme park restaurant considering Mat and I both had an alcoholic drink and there was an appetiser and three sides as well as the four entrees. And Eric was an excellent server.

The girls wanted to go back on Ripsaw Falls again after lunch so we walked back round for them to do that. We managed to find a bench to wait for them, but some woman came and sat pretty much on top of me round the back of the bench so I moved to the floor. Luckily the girls didn’t have to wait so long this time. They love this ride and were gutted when we went to Universal in February and it was closed for refurbishment.

Next Mat agreed to go on Jurassic Park with them. For some reason he was grumpy at this point, complaining that we ‘weren’t doing anything’ because the girls were riding a few rides without us and he didn’t enjoy waiting around. So even though he doesn’t especially like the Jurassic Park ride, he went on to avoid waiting around for them any longer. I am quite happy to chill and wait when the others do rides I don’t want to do. It’s my choice to wimp out and I’d rather that than ride something I don’t want to. I’m perfectly happy relaxing and catching up on notes, knowing that they’re having loads of fun on whichever ride they’re on. Usually it would probably only be one ride we would have to wait for, but I just thought it would be easier for the girls to do the water rides all together a few times. And they were having such fun!



He came back after they had ridden, soaked, and said the girls were going on one more time as the line was short.





I think at this point we went into Jurassic Outfitters which we’d never been in before. Freya looked so funny in the T-Rex mask, we were all laughing so much.



She would have stayed playing with these little dinosaurs all day if we had let her:





So cute:



Seren got a Jurassic World pez dispenser for her boyfriend and we all thought it was a cute little shop.

Then it was time for us all to ride something together: Kong. I’m not a huge fan of the Express Pass line for this ride which ends up in a long dark quite narrow corridor.



When it’s moving really slowly it can feel a bit claustrophobic especially when people around you get a bit close. However I do really like this ride. I was sat towards the back on the right hand side and I definitely think the right is the best side to sit.

Through Toon Lagoon again:



We carried on round to Marvel Superhero Island and popped into a couple of the shops there as Seren was trying to find a set of Marvel figures for her boyfriend we’d seen on our first day which we hadn’t seen since (guess the ‘buy it when you see it’ rule applies to Universal as well as Disney.) No luck here and we didn’t come across it again during the trip. She did get him a SpiderMan pressed penny while we were here though. This was autographed by Paul Rudd and was $2000:



We joined the Express line for SpiderMan and pretty much walked on. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I flipping love the SpiderMan ride and it never disappoints or gets old. We left the ride happy and decided it was a good time to call it a day. Obviously we had to visit the ‘big shop’ on the way out though. Seren bought the green Slytherin t-shirt with ‘Malfoy’ on the back as she’s that way inclined for some reason (just under $40 with tax) and then we took a walk back to the Hard Rock. It was after 5pm at this point. We had been considering returning to the park in the evening but decided instead to shower, get dressed up and spend the evening at Portofino Bay.

Continued below...
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Old 21 Jan 20, 12:57 PM  
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...continued

The walk round to Portofino seemed quicker than usual, it only took five minutes. Dodgy apostrophe that Mat felt the need to take a photo of:



We were possibly walking super fast because Freya had developed a fear of alligators in the waterways around Universal and she didn’t want to hang about near the water, bless her.









When we got to the piazza at Portofino, we grabbed a nice table between Starbucks and Sal’s Market Deli. This was our third time getting food from Sal’s and relaxing on the piazza and I’ve said before that I would definitely recommend it. We stayed at Portofino Bay in 2014 and didn’t really enjoy staying there (we much prefer the Hard Rock) but the piazza is beautiful and the food at Sal’s is lovely. So we try and take a walk over there when we’re at Universal if we can fit it in. There’s also a Starbucks and a bar out there so it would work for a coffee or drinks stop too.





We went inside the restaurant and asked what they had that was vegan and they said they could do their vegetable pizza without cheese. Perfect. Mat and I got the large primavera to share and also ordered garlic bread sticks for the girls to share. They weren’t particularly hungry or in the mood for pizza so Seren also got a pasta salad from the chiller cabinet and Freya got some salt and vinegar crisps. We got a little bottle of merlot each and enjoyed those while we waited for the buzzer to go off to collect our pizza. The wine is really good here. $48.70 for the food and drinks.









The pizza was really good and we were having such a lovely relaxing evening we decided to get a second glass of wine (just over $15 for two). The girls got an apple each at the same time which were $4.24 for both. There’s a little Universal shop next to the Starbucks and a bit like some of the resort shops at Disney, you sometimes see things in there you haven’t seen in the larger shops at the parks. Seren bought a cute Ron Weasley pin and she was really pleased with it.



At 8.30 some opera singers performed from one of the balcony windows above Sal’s for about half an hour. The atmosphere was good, the wine was lovely and the girls were having a great time messing about playing Top Trumps. The singers played a mix of proper opera and pop songs in an opera style. I have a video of us enjoying the evening and the singers were singing Perfect by Ed Sheeran at the time. It was just one of those moments of the holiday where you feel so lucky to be there.









Eventually we took the walk back to the hotel against the tide of people walking back from the parks. One of the hotel boats passed us and the skipper was leading everyone in a singalong of Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. Perfect end to a fantastic evening.
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Old 21 Jan 20, 06:20 PM  
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Sounds like a fab day!

I love the nod to Jaws! As much as I love Harry Potter - Jaws was a classic ride that I still show my girls on youtube 🤣

I also have a daughter who needs to be feed constantly or her mood drops 🙈 🤣

I know what you mean about waiting for people - it's quite nice to have a bit of time in the shade while the kids are off having fun!

Your evening sounds lovely- a perfect end to the day.

We are torn between Hard Rock and Royal Pacific for our next trip but the walk from Hard Rock sounds super convenient!
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Old 21 Jan 20, 10:59 PM  
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Finally found someone who takes as many photos as me 🤣

Fantastic day thank you for sharing
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Old 23 Jan 20, 10:27 PM  
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Glad you’re back on the trippie! A great day x
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