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Old 6 Nov 20, 04:03 PM  
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DanLees
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Mini Trip Report - Universal, All the foods and Baby Yoda

The Vague Plan

Having gone to Orlando back in 2018 for 2 weeks during the summer, a year later it felt like the Florida itch needed to be scratched again. The idea was to go earlier in the year either February or Easter 2020. Considering we just did Disney in 2018 we would focus on Universal this time with maybe a cheeky day at Hollywood Studios. The intention was to do it with a bit of a close eye on the costs. We would stay at the nice Universal Hotels to get Express Passes but then also stay at a cheap Motel and a small but very reasonably priced Villa the rest of the time. Flying in and out of Tampa using Norwegian was a good cheap option as long as they didn’t go under. We had good insurance coverage and all but the villa was booked on a free/cheap cancellation basis.

Dan – Me, Dad, planner, organiser, keeper of the spreadsheet, Breakfast food aficionado, Star Wars and Marvel fan
Claire – Mum, Cheesecake fan, lover of tamer rides, doesn’t like losing her stomach.
Dylan – 10, Harry Potter nut, lover of roller coasters. Doesn’t do queues.
Jacob – 12, likes Marvel, Star Wars (especially Baby Yoda), Harry Potter too

Day 0 – Gatwick
Having driven down to Gatwick the night before we woke up after a pretty restful night’s sleep in the Gatwick North Premier Inn and availed ourselves of all the breakfast options at the buffet. I’m not sure if this level of service is normal for PI but the team at breakfast were super friendly and they made Dylan a special Hot Chocolate with whipped cream without even being asked. We weren’t up against it with regards to time as we had a two o’clock flight, so we were in no rush but we had parking booked in the long stay so we made our way across before getting checked in, dropping the big bags off and parking ourselves up in departures. We got a tasty meal of noodles and sushi in Itsu in departures mainly due to no knowing if the boys would like the plane food. We flew Norwegian to Tampa, in Economy. I think the seats felt a little more cramped than Virgin, Claire and the boys thought they were fine though. In-flight entertainment was so-so, but there was plenty to keep you entertained. The food was good for Claire and myself but the Kid’s meals weren’t particularly kid friendly. There was a pasta dish with capers in it. Find me a kid that actually likes capers because mine really don’t! Upon landing in Tampa, we were through immigration pretty rapidly and then it was monorails and baggage claim, not necessarily in that order as it’s all a bit of a blur, before heading to the Alamo garage. We had booked an intermediate SUV and picked a Nissan Rogue (what they call an X-Trail) from the line up mainly due to the boot size. Over the course of the holiday it was pretty decent to be honest. I didn’t get to know the Sat Nav or the entertainment system as I just used my phone for Google Maps and set the radio to the local classic rock station. It took about an hour and a half (with a quick stop for a caffeinated beverage) to get to our first night’s stay at the Monte Carlo Inn on the 192. As an aside, we found the MCI cheap and perfectly fine for a place to lay your head for a night.

Day 1 – Universal @HRH

We woke early after a reasonable-ish night’s sleep and headed off to IHOP for our standard First Day of Holiday Breakfast. Very large pancake breakfasts and copious amounts of coffee for me were very efficiently put away. Then it was off to the Hard Rock to get checked in nice and early and pick up those all-important Express Passes. Our room wasn’t ready understandably but we were in Universal Studios for the early hotel guest only hour.



We made our way through the park down to Diagon Alley and get a ride on Escape from Gringotts in early. The idea was to head over to Islands when it opens to get a return time for Hagrids and then enjoy the rest of the Harry Potter stuff in Islands whilst in the virtual queue. We are told at the Hogswart Express station in US that Hagrids is closed for filming. So slight change of plan then, we stay in US as it’s pretty quiet…We get Dylan the Wand he wants from Olivanders.



We walk onto The Fast and The Furious, Transformers and Rockit Roller Coaster. Claire opts our of RRR but we’re having a great time. It’s so great to be in warm (and occasionally sunny) Florida and not in rainy UK. We grab an easy slice of Pizza each from Louie’s as we’re not particularly hungry but we don’t want to risk me getting the Hangrys. By this point queue for the Hogwarts express was starting to build so we decided it was time to head over to Hogwarts. Hagrids was still closed for filming so we wander through Hogsmeade taking lots in, casting spells with Dylan’s wand and heading up towards Forbidden Journey.



We get on pretty quickly skipping the vast majority of the queue. It’s a really great ride! We join the Express Queue for the Flight of the Hippogriff which seems to take forever. It’s fun but not worth the wait to be honest. We then head through Islands popping onto rides as we pass them, Jurassic Park River Adventure (we get wet, we don’t care), Skull Island, Ripsaw Falls (we get wetter) and Bilge-Rat Barges (we are now soaked.) At this point we get a message that our room is ready so we walk towards to the hotel slowing drying off. By the time we get there we’re reasonably dry. We have a bit of pool time before having a little bit of quiet time before dinner. This the first time since leaving the UK that I feel like we have “stopped”.



It’s really nice to lie on a sunbed and just relax in the sunshine. After we’re all dried off and made presentable we head out to dinner at Bubba Gump, which we all enjoyed but it’s not cheap!




The $15 drinks probably didn’t help though! We head back to the hotel absolutely dog tired but having had a great first day.




Day 2 – Universal @HRH

Up bright and early again (a theme for this holiday) and we’re packed up and down in reception to leave our bags with the Hotel for another day of fun in the Parks. We need a reasonably riced breakfast and having done a bit of research we head to Cinnabon. We fill up on Cinnamon Rolls and these little Pastry Sausage bite things and I get my caffeine fix. It’s not the healthiest but we’re on holiday, right?!The plan today was to get on Hagrids and do anything else we missed yesterday. First up Rip Ride Rockit, as there is no queue. The boys and I do it but Claire opts out. They boys want to do it again, so I let them do another lap whilst we wait to get over to IOA. By the time the boys have done their second lap it’s time to head over but by the time we get there the queue for Hagrids is already over an hour so we get a return time. We do Forbidden Journey again and Dylan waves his wand at various signs and shop windows casting spells. Right then, time for Hagrids! We get sent down a special entrance that allows us to skip probably 90% of the queue and a cast member inserts us into the queue in the bit where it’s like you have the Beasts on the ceiling above you. The ride is great and our favourite ride of the holiday so far. The boys get the motorbikes and Claire and I have to go in the sidecars. Lunch is at the Three Broomsticks, the food is great and as Theme Park food goes not bad value. We spend the afternoon making our way through both parks doing stuff that we didn’t get to yesterday. We start the afternoon in IOA doing the Marvel themed rides (Hulk Coasted is a Top 5 Ride of the holiday) and then Dr Seuss stuff which to be honest is wasted on us as I’m the only one that really remembers the kids’ books. To finish the day we head over to the other side of the lake in US.







Do the Simpsons ride, have a look at the shops and do Men In Black. Everyone is getting tired by this point and it’s time to head home to the Villa.

Day 3 – Volcano Bay



We love a Waterpark day in our family and VB doesn’t disappoint. We had been a bit worried that it would be closed due to the “cold” but thankfully it wasn’t an issue, in fact I think the fact it was only something like 22C meant that it kept the crowds down. We stopped at a WaWa (gas station/convenience store) for plenty of snacks on the way. Once we got in and collected our Tapu Tapu bands, we basically had the run of the place and only queued for the Krakatau Aqua Coaster which is also probably the only place we got cold all day. We were generally able to walk on to slides straight away and when we needed a rest from slides we just had a few snacks and laps of the lazy river. Really great day and I think we might have found our new favourite waterpark.

Day 4 – Manatees

Each holiday we (read: I) like to do something wildlifey or educational. On the previous trip we went Gator/bird spotting in the swamps and went to Kennedy Space Center, this time we were at the right time of the year to swim with Manatees. We had booked with Fun2Dive out in Clearwater and had to be there at 0715 and it’s about a 90 minute drive so we had packed everything we needed the night before and had caffeinated beverages on stand by. Thankfully the drive was relatively straightforward and we were there in time for a coffee before the Manatee Manners instructional video and hopping in a van to the boat.Fun2Dive have a great set up and really good staff who really look after you and make sure you have the best experience possible. We too the boat down to the springs where we were lucky enough to see a Mother and her Calf and the boys decided to dive to the bottom of a massive pool, because, well boys. This area was then getting busier with other groups so the call was made to head back into the harbour area where there was one swimming about apparently. The water was very gloomy here so only I decided I wanted to head back in. I followed our guide and she took us over to it. The visibility in the water was probably only a few feet and coming up on a massive aquatic mammal in their environment definitely gets the heart rate going no matter how docile they are. Whilst I was in the water the boys and Claire enjoyed the free snacks and hot chocolate to keep warm. On the way back the Captain even let Dylan drive the boat which to be honest made Dylan’s day!





The rest of the day was spent back at the villa relaxing by the pool or watching a bit of sport.

Day 5 – Outlets & Cheesecake Factory

Ah – Presidents Day, according to all the planning tools heading to any park today would be a big No No unless you really really like queuing, so an day off was planned. After a quick google and brief family meeting (read: persuading Dylan to leave the Villa) it was decided that we’d head to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch after spending a bit of time and money at Premium Outlets at Vineland. We were there reasonably early so there was no drama getting parked. We did a lap of the “standards”, Nike, Old Navy and Reebok. We didn’t spend a ton of cash but new footie boots, shorts and trainers for the kids and weight lifting shoes and jeans for me. Under Armour was shut due to an incident involving a firearm at a different store earlier in the week. Off to the Wife’s favourite restaurant for lunch – too much food and far too much cheesecake.





The afternoon was spent in the pool and in front of the TV. COVID is being mentioned on News reports. Worrying…

Day 6 – Universal @ RPR

Oh look another early start! This time we were off to Universal Royal Pacific for a night and 2 more days of Express Passes. We grabbed a nice big breakfast at Denny’s on the way to tide us over. Our room was ready this time around and we were able to drop the bags off in the morning after checking in. We started with IOA this time as we were running a little later than previous days. We started at Hulk and worked our way round doing rides and character meets as we went.



After that it was Hagrid’s again using the return time system plus anything else people fancied.





By this point I needed coffee so I popped to Starbucks (Venti Nitro Cold Brew with Sweet Cream was my go-to ‘Bucks order this trip), was my whilst the boys did LAPS of Rip Ride Rockit, they went round 4 times! I have no idea why you would want to do that but they were enjoying themselves! I then dragged Claire and Jacob into the Mummy, I suspect Jacob would have preferred to hang out with Dylan in the Kid Swap area. RRR 4 times fine, scary Mummy face not fine apparently… After a few more rides we headed down back to the Hotel earlyish for some pool time and cheeky beverage.



Tonight we were out for beads! We headed back to US and found a good spot for the Mardi Gras parade and waited for it to start. It was well worth the wait, the dancers and floats were amazing and we collected a metric ton of beads!











Once we were weighed down with beads we wanted to get dinner at Cowfish. We put our name down for a table and were told they would text when it was ready. We browsed the shops whilst we waited and sure enough the text came through. We are big Sushi and big burger fans in our house, so Cowfish was perfect. We really enjoyed it, it was probably my favourite meal of the trip.





Day 7 - Universal @ RPR

Slow start this morning after last nights fun. We got our fairly minimal bags left with left luggage and got checked out. I needed coffee and we all needed food so we headed back to Cinnabon for a sugar, caffeine and grease injection. Today was greatest hits at both parks and I wanted to see the Animal Actors show because well why not… We started in US and headed for Diagon Alley before it got busy so Dylan could do more wand stuff.


Once he had made every shop window move we headed round the lake to Animal Actors. So we’re sitting in the crowd and they ask for volunteers and Jacob sticks his hand up, and gets picked! He has to go up on stage and be part of the show with the dog fetching laundry, very funny!





We do a few more rides and walk through the parks hopping on to rides when we fancy.



After a final ride on Hulk we decide we’re probably done.



On the way back to the boat we grab donuts from Voodoo, which lived up to the hype.



Day 8 - Volcano Bay, Disney Springs & Target

It’s always good to have a day where you have no plans and today was that day. The weather looked lovely so it was decided we would spend the morning at Volcano bay as Dylan and I had unfinished business with a couple of the big slides. Breakfast was at IHOP and we had packed plenty of snacks so we could stay as long as we liked. We did all the slides we loved from last time and skipped the slightly mediocre ones. Dylan and I headed to the top of the Volcano with the intention of doing to the big Kala and Tai Nui slides. Having got to the top Dylan wasn’t keen but I felt would regret it if I didn’t try it once. It was pretty intense and whilst glad I did it, it’s not something I felt like repeating as especially as the force of my 100kg hitting the water at great speed blew my Tapu Tapu off my wrist. Off to guest services and they got it all sorted out pretty quickly. Once we had our fill of watery fun we decided we should head over to Disney Springs as Jacob wanted to see if he could find some Mandolorian/Baby Yoda merch. He was thrilled when he found a phone case in the Star Wars shop. We had a nice browse round the shops and picked up some stuff for the member of the family we left back in the UK, our Goldendoodle Nala. We got her a lovely Lilo & Stitch “Ohana” collar and Star Wars and Harry Potter Bandanas. On the way back to the Villa we dropped into Target where we found some Mandolorian T-Shirts. The boys wanted to spend their money on a few other things and Claire and I grabbed some stuff for dinner and a few bits for ourselves.

Day 9 – Hollywood Studios

After 4 Park days that required basically no planning whatsoever, we were off to Hollywood Studios with the hope/plan/intention of getting on the new Star Wars rides. Smugglers Run is a queue up and wait affair, that’s fine as Dylan has a DAS in place so we can get a return time for that. We have a reasonable bunch of Fastpasses considering the projected busyness of the Park - Star Tours, Aerosmith Rock n’ Roller Coaster and . The forecast looked drizzly and borderline cold so Hoodies added and Joggers swapped in for the shorts. A cool theme park can be the coldest place on earth in the wrong clothes… The plan was to get up in plenty of time to get up, get there and parked. Then into the park and be ready and online waiting for official park opening time to bag the all important Boarding Group for Rise of Resistance.
The first part of the plan ran completely smoothly, we even had time to go to guest services to sort out Dylan’s DAP. The GO time seemed to take an age to come around and when it did it was possibly the most stressful 90 secs in recent memory. The app seemed to take forever at each stage and people all around us were getting Boarding Groups with the associated whooping. The App finally chucked out Boarding Group 106. Uggghhhhh. Everyone went very quiet for about 30 secs. Right then – Toy Story Mania! I’ll not lie, Hollywood Studios was not the Happiest Place on Earth for us that morning. We were having fun but the Boarding Group number loomed over us. We did a couple of our Fast Passes after we grabbed a Smuggler’s Run DSP return time.



Smugglers Run was great fun, the boys did the flying and managed to not crash most of the time. We had a really good look round Galaxy’s Edge, it really is amazing as it looks.







During the morning I was quietly keeping an eye on the Boarding Groups and how quickly they were getting through them. Judging by my mental arithmetic we would get on at about 5pm, if the ride kept running. Which was a big IF back in February. After Smugglers Run Dylan and I had Hollywood Tower of Terror whilst Jacob and Claire had the Beauty and the Beast Singalong. Poor Jacob! The plan for lunch was PizzeRizzo but before that I dragged the Family into MuppetVision 3D which is old and everything but it still makes me laugh! Quick check of the App and more mental arithmetic, suggest it might be nearer to 4pm we get on RTR…hmmm. I tell the boys that it’s looking like we might just do it. A couple more rides and shows and I was in dire need of caffeine and the boys were pestering for Mickey Pretzels (which are now apparently a tradition).


After grabbing the pretzels we head over to Starbucks at about 3pm and stand in the longest and slowest moving queue of the whole day! Whilst waiting for our drinks my phone goes off. It’s the Disney App telling me we have been called for our Boarding Group! [Insert excited Jonah Hill GIF here].



To say that we were excited would be an understatement and the ride did not disappoint.





It’s not a ride though, is it? It’s a 20 minute immersive experience! We were buzzing coming off and we still had another Smugglers Run DAS Pass! After we did another slightly more successful Smuggler’s Run and a trip to the biggest gift shop (I like to bring back holiday related drinkware) we were done!



Everyone was tired and getting cold, so we grabbed a quick burger at Culvers on the way home to top off an epic rollercoaster of a final full day.

Day 10 - Drive to Tampa

Heading home today…We had a late flight time in Tampa so the plan was a leisurely drive across to Tampa, a nice final lunch and a bit of shopping before heading to the airport. We had to be out of the Villa by 10-ish and we were reasonably organised so we had no issues being out on time. We had a nice drive over to Tampa and it was nice to do that drive in the daylight rather than in the dark and jetlagged. We decided to head to the International Plaza and Bay Street as it’s close to the airport and more
importantly it has a Cheesecake Factory!



We had a great lunch but decided to go with slightly smaller plates so we could finish both our mains and our cheesecake. Well, everyone else did, I had a massive plate of Fried Chicken and Waffles and then finished my cheesecake.



Chicken and Waffles falls in the “unless you have tried it you won’t get it” bucket and now it’s pretty much a must order if I see it on a menu. Delicious! After lunch we had a nice stroll around the mall. The boys had a good look and sit in the Teslas in the Tesla “store” much to the annoyance of the salespeople. The credit card was unscathed until we stumbled upon the Tervis (insulated drinkware) store. They had Baby Yoda Tumblers! So naturally we spent a small fortune in there on new insulated tumblers for everyone plus a variety of lids and straws. After a Starbucks break to kill some time, it was time to get the car back to Alamo and head into the airport. We hung out before security as we were tipped off that there isn’t much after security, they boys spent their remining cash on some snacks and I got my now traditional Florida Departure Lounge Chick-Fil-A fix. After wile we headed through to the plane and our holiday was over…

Summary

Looking back now we feel soooooooo lucky to have managed to get this holiday in before COVID struck, the parks were shut down about 2 weeks after we got back which was really weird to see on social media. The close eye on costs didn't really happen, price per day was higher than the last trip. More eating out, hotel stays, higher flight prices even with Norwegian and 10 vs 14 days probably did that. The credit card bill was a bit painful but especially due to what we've all gone through since I wish we had gone for it a bit more!
Hopefully we'll all be able to head stateside next year!
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Old 6 Nov 20, 09:32 PM  
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Kcstyle
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Fantastic report, so jealous you got one last trip in! Sounds like you had a great time!
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Old 6 Nov 20, 09:40 PM  
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mick
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Sounds like you all had a great time and as you say lucky to fit a trip in!

Thanks for taking the time to do your trippie

Joan
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Old 7 Nov 20, 11:05 PM  
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Loobylou_82
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Sounds like you had a great time. Love cheesecake factory too.
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Old 8 Nov 20, 09:45 AM  
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natanddaz
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Loved reading this we have our first universal trip booked for august and fingers crossed it goes ahead 🤞.
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Old 11 Nov 20, 05:13 AM  
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flo-tinka
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Wow you just sneaked that in, looks like a great trip. Good use of FOLPs
Thanks for sharing
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Old 11 Nov 20, 08:49 AM  
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vegboatride
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Great trip report, happy days!
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