Category: Travel

I so can’t believe this is our last day. It’s gone slow and fast at the same time.

We were all up by 7am this morning to get ready for the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter.  We were out the door by 7.30am and headed back to Sal’s Diner to get a quick breakfast, most of which was eating on the boat on the way to the park.

We arrived just on 8am, which is the early entry opening time, and quickly walked around the Hogsmead. Isn’t it amazing? It definitely has to be seen to be believed as the pictures really don’t do it justice. The attention to detail is incredible. And as you can see the crowds much less than they were the other day.

We headed straight for Ollivanders Wand Shop (as recommended). A cute show for sure but one I wouldn’t have wanted to wait very long to see.

We then headed to the castle. Oh, my. Breathtaking

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The ride was amazing. Though unfortunately for Kevin it was another partial simulator ride. I thought it was very innovative in how it was done and you really did feel like you were flying though a Harry Potter movie. Guess what happened next? Christy rode again. Amy wasn’t feeling good so opted out. If it hadn’t been for the LONG walk to the start of ride we both would have ridden again.

We then rode Flight of the Hippogriff. A cute kids coaster. And they even have Hagrid’s cabin.

Time for a toilet break. I don’t normally mention this but in these toilets you can hear Moaning Myrtle. Too cute.  We then rode Dragon Challenge – which was an excellent coaster – I remembered that we loved it – and it was super smooth.  The girls rode again (no suprise there).

Kevin and I checked out the post office – complete with owls (and owl droppings) – and a Monster book which moved.  We got the girls to go have a look when they got back, before we went to Honeydukes. So fun. Kevin got a caramel apple and the girls some fudge.

One last stop – to buy Pumpkin Juice and frozen Butterbeers – and we headed back to the front of the park. The girls went to ride the Hulk one last time and Kevin started to feel VERY sick. Poor thing.

When the girls got back we headed out, but Kevin felt so bad we had to stop for  a bit. The girls and I went to look at some shops while he tried to recover. When he felt a bit better we headed out and back to the resort.

Kevin headed straight to bed, hoping a sleep would see him feeling better. Amy went to shower and Christy and I went to the beach pool. We only had about 30min there but it was so lovely. The water was lovely. I had a dip, the laid out soaking in some last Floridan rays, which Christy swam and went on the waterslide. It would have been so lovely to spend more time here but at least we got to experience it a little.

I loved that towels, sunsreen, lemon water and magazines were all provided. Not to mentioned the cushioned lounge chairs. Total luxury.

Unfortunately we only had about 45mins to enjoy the pool before heading back to the room to shower and finish packing (which involved quite a bit of shuffling and weighing of bags) before our late check out of 12.30pm. Actually it was more like 12.40pm. When our car was bought round to us, we were offered some water for the drive home, which I thought was a lovely touch and a sweet finish to our stay here. If we stay here again I’m definitely booking 3 nights so we enjoy the pool and the whole resort.

Since we didn’t have to be at the airport till 5.30pm we headed back to The Florida Mall (since it is right near the airport). We went back to Macy’s to get some extra luggage cabin bags for the trip home.

We saw this sweet poster. Too cute.

It was back to the food court for lunch, but the whole place was SO MUCH busier than a few weeks ago (guess it is just one week to Christmas). Kevin and I shared THE most delicious sub. Just grilled onions, mushroom and capsicum, topped with 3 different cheese and loaded onto a bun with salad. Will have to try and recreate this at home.

 

We also stopped at Godiva for some presents and another peppermint iced chocolate.

A quick visit to Sephora and Microsoft and it was off to the airport to return our car. Hmmm…. do you think we have enough luggage. To be fair  – 3 out of the 11 bags were small on board bags :-).

We got checked in with no problems (thanks to pre-weighing all our luggage) with our bags going all the way through to Sydney. Then it was one last ride…. on the monorail.

We were early enough to have time for a leisurely dinner at Ruby Tuesday.

I got the soup and salad bar, though the soup was a little too cheesy.

At 7pm our first flight to LA took off, with a photo bomber on board.

 

In LAX we had the long (and very cold) walk to the international terminal where we got checked in with Qantas. One advantage of arriving just one hour before take-off…. no lines. I have NEVER seem the terminal so dead.

We had a bit of time before boarding so went to Qantas club where we had some supper.

Our flight ended up being delayed by about one hour, which was a pain but eventually it was time to board for the 14 hour flight home.

Everyone managed to get a bit of sleep, though Christy scored the most as she was able to lie on Kevin and I. And she had her hippo to cuddle.

After getting a few hours sleep I watched a few episodes of The Gourmet Farmer, which I really enjoyed. Then 3 hours out of Sydney we were served breakfast – which was surprisingly good.

 

We got to enjoy night turning into day as we fly high above the clouds.

 

Unfortunately we when arrived in Sydeny we discovered that 3 of our bags were not on board. We had to fill out the relevant paperwork before walking right through customs (I was so pleased as our bags would have exploded (figuratively) if we’d had to open them as they were stuffed full). Finally we were out and met by our driver for the trip home. Because of our flight delay and baggage problem Mum & Dad weren’t home when we arrived but we were met by two very excited puppies, who were happy to back hanging out on the couch (they aren’t allowed at Nan & Pop’s).

We made some jaffles for lunch then spent the afternoon pottering about unpacking some stuff, doing the washing (that would be me). Later we had Vietnamese for dinner with Nan & Pop before heading to bed hoping for a good nights sleep.

Though still a bit tired we felt much more refreshed this morning, and also knew we were in for a much easier day (with lots of sitting time during shows). We got up and ready and off to the boat for a day at Universal Studios. We arrived just on opening so headed right for Riptide Rock-It. A pretty new coaster with a vertical start. So fun. I went on once, Kevin twice & Amy (who was still not feeling the best) and Christy three times….before we told them it was time to move on.

We headed back towards the entrance to get some breakfast but found lots of characters to have photos with

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We then had some breakfast at the Patissere. Mine was surprisingly delicious.

Next was Despicable Me (which we had no idea was such huge movie here in the USA). This was really fun and Amy bought herself a minion t-shirt (as you’ll see her wearing in the rest of the photos).

 

Shrek in 4D (which we’ve seen numerous times) was next, but Kevin & I opted to sit it in the stationary seats as Kevin gets rather motion sick.

We then watched Twister. I remember being so excited to see this the first time (as I had REALLY loved the movie) and being very disappointed in this exhibit. Today was okay as I wasn’t expecting much :-).

Then came The Mummy. Another of my fav. movies (as I love Brenden Fraser) and this one did not disappoint. I had totally forgotten was a dark roller coaster so it was  fun suprise. The girls loved it too and after buying a few things in the shop, went to ride again.

Don’t you love my expression? 🙂

Kevin and I went across the road to Finnegan’s Irish pub which I had selected as our lunch spot. I was able to order for the girls so just after they got back, our lunch arrived.

There was some Irish Soda bread to start.

Then I had leek and potato soup and a basket of fried onion & potato strips. So naughty but SOOOO yummy.

With full bellies we headed off around the park.

We did a movie making thing which was really well done (so much better than the one at Hollywood Studios). I think this was pleasant surprise for all of us.

Next was Men in Black. So fun. I remember we really liked this last time. Not surprisingly the girls wanted to ride again.

I’m pretty sure we were concentrating not bored :-).

I got some popcorn and we did The Simpsons ride. One thing about Universal is that there a lot of simulator rides. Poor Kevin. He had to shut his eyes for most of this one.

We then headed into the kids area, where we rode ET and Christy had a ride/play on some other rides. The rest of us had a little break.

Then it was time to watch the Macy’s Parade. This was fun, and very different for us who have never seen the Macy’s parade. Best of all we only had to wait around 15mins.

After the parade we went to watch the Horror Makeup show. This was really great – so much better than we expected. And so funny. Amy really got a kick out of it.

Then our last show of the day – Terminator 3D. We loved this before and it was great again. Love how they have real actors as well as those on screen. Not sure how much the girls got though as they haven’t yet seen the movie.

One last little look in the shops, and we headed out not long before closing at 6.40pm. We decided to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe as Amy had expressed interest in eating there.

We had a really lovely last holiday meal. Kevin and Amy got some fun drinks.

And we all had a yummy meal. So sad we couldn’t take any leftovers with us.

Such a fun venue (they even played Bruce Springsteen). I’m sure we’ll be checking out more of them out now. Amy is such a music fanatic and really loved it here. Of course, she had to buy a top on the way out. Back to the boat and back to our resort and room.

Stopping to photograph the huge Christmas tree on the way. How gorgeous is that?

Amy went to have another bath and the rest of us got ready for bed. I did some packing, ready for our departure tomorrow. I think it was lights out for the girls (Christy was now starting to feel unwell) by 9pm and Kevin & I by about 10pm.

We were up pretty early this morning with everyone showered and dressed, bags packed and farewells said to our room attendent, A.C (who was so attentive to the girls – she even referred to them as “my girls”).

With our few remaining bags in tow we headed to Windjammers for our last breakfast on board. And shortly afterwards we were able to disembark at 7.15am.

It was very easy to find our bags and get a porter to take the bags to our car. It had started sprinkling but we were hopeful it would clear up when we reached Orlando. A quick 60min drive and we were arriving at Universals’ Portofino Bay Hotel.

We got checked in and were able to get into our room straight away, which was great as we needed to do a bit of sorting before heading out for the day. I had booked a bayview room but to get a room right away we had been upgraded to a pool view (which is a bigger room). The room was lovely but due to the short nature of our stay (only 2 nights) we never got to use our little patio.

After getting bags (and sides of the beds…. by the girls) sorted we used a kiosk to get our express passes and headed down to the water to catch the boat to Universal. 10min ride and a short walk and we were entering the park just after 9.30am.

The kids were dying for a thrill ride so first up was the Hulk. We didn’t think Christy would be tall enough but she just made it. And was so excited.

I’d forgotten how great this ride is but Kevin and I are getting old and usually one ride was enough for us. The girls always wanted another ride.

Next we did something Storm. Then Spiderman – which is really cool. And Fear Fall. I have done a ride like this once but once was enough.

After some thrills we had a change of pace and visited Suess Landing. I love how this whole area is themed for Grinchmas.

First stop was Green Eggs and Ham as Kevin was hungry.

We then rode The Cat in the Hat (can’t say we really enjoyed this but it was okay),

then one fish, two fish (which is just like Dumbo), and the Carosuessel (which was VERY uncomfortable).

We then got to meet the Grinch himself.

And we had to try and replicate this photo from 1999.

Let’s play spot the difference 🙂

From here we entered The Lost Continent and headed to our lunch reservation at Mythos. Amy was very excited to here and saw lots of (accurate) representations of Mythological Gods and creatures.

Our meals were all delicious and the bread they served was so fresh and yummy. My stirfry was amazing. So sad I could only get through half of it.

After lunch we saw/did Psosiden’s Fury which we felt was waste of time. The water tunnel was pretty cool though.

We then walked though the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter, which has to be seen to be believed. It was very crowded (being the middle of the day) so our plan was just to walk through (as we were coming back for early entry in two days). But we did stop to get a frozen Butterbeer – and it was amazing. We all loved it. But don’t ask me to describe it – just get one if you ever visit.

We walked on to Jurassic Park where the girls and Kevin rode the River Adventure. I was feeling a bit sore and didn’t want to get wet so sat this out. Kevin & Christy opted to go the poncho route. They all seemed to enjoy it.

Kevin’s thought of the day….

The girls then went on the other two wet rides, before we got some Dippin’ Dots – which I love and are very hard to come by in Australia.

Then it was back through the Comic area and out of the park.  We had a wander around City Walk trying to find somewhere for dinner but didn’t have any luck. We made a few purchases then caught the boat back to the hotel. We got to enjoy a stunning sunset.

We ended having dinner at Sal’s diner – which is so very cute. The girls and I shared some pizzas. We over-ordered though and could easily have had one. We were all pretty tired and really just wanted to be in our beds. It was about 8.30pm and had been a VERY long day.

We went back to our room. Amy had a bath. She had been feeling poorly all day with body aches and pains but had been a real trooper. The girls were quickly off to sleep and I must admit I fell asleep with my glasses and headphones on (while I was watching some YouTube) :-).