Category: Travel

Highlights from our Universal Orlando Resort Vacations (Summer 2018)

Highlights from our Universal Orlando Resort Vacations (Summer 2018)

Posted on by Steph

I can’t believe my two weeks vacations has come and go so quickly, but I have to say that they were awesome.

Like I mentioned in my “Looking Back and Forward to Universal Orlando Resort” that you can read here, we decided to go to Orlando again this year, because we loved it there. I will like to share with you my highlights and favorites of the trip with a little summary of each of the 5 days we spent there.

Day 1:

We arrive at the hotel around 10:00 am and they already had our room ready (that was super awesome!). We left our bags at the room, eat breakfast at Bayliner Dinner and went on to explore the hotel.

We played at the arcade, Game-O-Rama and at the bowling center, Galaxy Bowl, were I learned that I am not so good at bowling, and of course Future Hubby won.

Then had lunch, my favorite, cheeseburger with fries and a vanilla shake (I don’t know why, but I was dreaming of having that burger and shake again, which is why I had it in the first day).

After that we changed and relaxed at the Lazy River, my most favorite part of the hotel. There is so much to do, I love this Hotel.

For the evening we took out first Uber ride to Disney Springs, for a bit of shopping and dinner, all because I wanted Millennial Pink Ears for out future Universal and Disney Trip.

Day 2:

We spend all day at Island of Adventures, and when I say all day, I mean ALL DAY. We arrived at the gates 20 minutes before they opened at 9:00 am and left the park at 10:00 pm when they closed. Our first stop was Skull Island: Reign of Kong, since we didn’t get a chance to ride it last year.

We also rode all of the rides at Seuss Landing, which I have never ride before, we had a lot of fun.

We spent a lot of time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmead, where I enjoyed a couple of Butterbeers, I had my first Pumpkin Pasty and I also bought a wand at Ollivanders, I was in Magical Paradise.

But the best part of the day was riding 4 times, 3 of them in a row, our most favorite ride ever, Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges, we where definitely soaked. We ended our day at the park watching The Nighttime Lights At Hogwarts Castle.

We finished the night having a light dinner at Bread Box Handcrafted Sandwiches, which we visited last year and I really liked. I don’t remember what I had last year, but this time I had a Hot Turkey Sandwich that had smoked gouda and bacon, it was so good.

Day 3:

Day 3 was on the 4th of July, also know as our Anniversary Day and we celebrated spending the day at Universal Studios.

Our second ride of the day was Fast & Furious – Supercharged, the park newest ride, and sadly our least favorite, we thought it was definitely too fast, as in a very short ride, and we feel like the story line doesn’t make sense and you end the ride feeling confuse, because you don’t know what just happened and can’t believe it’s already over.

We rode Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster and I have to say is close to my favorites, I just love the kiddy rides, please don’t judge, they are super fun, and I prefer to be laughing all the way than to be screaming, in mute, because I am super scared and feel like I am going to die (I am talking about you Jurassic Park River Adventure, don’t ask me what happened, let’s just say the photo of the ride talk a thousand words, thank God we don’t have it).

But I must say our favorite rides in the park are The Simpsons Ride and Men in Black, and we rode them twice. In the last one we met a Future Hubby family friend and talk to him a bit, and let’s just say, working at Universal sounds so fun! I want to work there!

The highlight of the day was, after dreaming about that moment for the past year, having a Big Pink Donut from Lard Lad Donuts. They taste so good, this is a must have if you ever find yourself at Universal Studios.

At the end of the day it was rainy and we were tired so we went to the hotel and had pizza in the room, and it was a great decision, my feet where killing me, but it was totally worth it.

Day 4:

Lazy river, pool, lunch, pool, lazy river, pool; that was our day. I am so happy that we got to use more the pools and lazy river that we did last year. I really, really, really loved floating around the lazy river again and again, it was relaxing, refreshing and just perfect. I wish I could relive this day again and again.

At night we went to City Walk and played at Hollywood Drive-In Golf. We choose the 18 “Horror” holes. There we met 3 friendly guys from Minnesota, we definitely had fun and laughed a lot, specially when they decided to talk in Spanish and started using their Google Translator. Also, I redeem my self from doing badly at bowling, ‘cause I was the winner at the mini golf.

After that we went and had a super delicious dinner at Vivo Italian Kitchen. We made a reservation online for 9:30 pm, we went around 9:20 and in 5 minutes we were sitting at the table and the place was full, so I am sure that walk-in’s had a least a 15 minutes wait time. The food and the service were great, highly recommend it.

That night we tried to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, but the line was long, it was raining and I was tired, so next time.

Day 5:

In the last day we woke up early, prepared our bags as fast as we could and then headed straight to the pool. We spent two relaxing hours at the pool, before getting ready. After that we did some more exploring in the Hotel, which included playing in the arcade again. Then sadly we went to the airport and that is the end.

I think I had more fun this time than last year for two reasons: 1. We didn’t stress about doing every single ride in the parks, we already knew what were our favorites and enjoy those the most, plus we saw a lot of shows, which was great way to take a break and rest; and 2. We spent a lot of time in the pools, which was one of my priorities this year.

I am glad we had this opportunity and that we had so much fun. Of course, you know it, we are already planning our next trip to Orlando, hopefully for 2020, since our 2019 trip will be our Honeymoon I want to do something different and more relaxing and that it doesn’t involve to much walking, so will see.

I hope you enjoy this post, I know it was a longer than usual, but there was a lot to tell, and there’s still more, maybe I will do another post about Universal Orlando Resort in the future.

Never stop dreaming,

♥ Steph

Looking Back and Forward to Universal Orlando Resort

Looking Back and Forward to Universal Orlando Resort

Posted on by Steph

Want to know what was my favorite part of summer last year ? Our Universal Orlando Resort Vacations!

I don’t even remember how it all came to be, maybe Future Hubby remembers, but on January 2017 we went to Travel with Sears to booked our first vacations together that summer. We chose Universal Studios Resort, because those are my favorite parks, and we wanted something fun, it was the perfect choice.

The best part of everything is that we are going back this year! I am so happy Future Hubby liked the parks as much as I do. So today I want to share with you my favorite rides, food and experiences from last year and what I am most looking forward to this year.

Faves From Last Year:

Cabana Bay Beach Resort – We chose to stay in property, first because it was my first time going to Orlando without my dad and I wanted to make things as easy and relaxing as possible, and I didn’t want to worry about transportation from the hotel to the parks. And then we learned that we could enter the parks an hour before it opened and we were sold. But besides that, this hotel retro look is beautiful, colorful and fun. My favorite part was the room view to Volcano Bay and the lazy river.

Toon Lagon at Island of Adventures – This are my all time favorite rides at Island of Adventures. I love everything that has to do with water, so I fine this rides extremely fun. In my opinion this are the perfect ride to do at the middle of the day when the sun is out and you are feeling super hot. My favorite is Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges, where is almost guaranteed that you will come out of it soaking wet. (Tip: bring a pair of flip flops to switch to when you are going on this rides, there is nothing fun about walking the rest of the day in soaking wet shoes)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios and Island of Adventures – Of course I had to mentioned Harry Potter. Since last year I have been obsessed with Harry Potter. Before it I hadn’t seen the movies, but decided that I wanted to understand The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the parks, and so I saw all of them, and to my surprise I loved them. My favorite rides are the ones in Island of Adventures, Forbiden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff. Walking thru Hogsmead and Diagon Alley with a Frozen Butterbeer in hand is perfection. My favorite stores are Honeydukes in Island of Adventures and Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes in Universal Studios. (Tip: the perfect place to cool off in Universal Studios is at Knockturn Alley, is shaded and it has A/C, yes please!)

Springfield at Universal Studios – I love The Simpsons Ride, I think it may be because is my Dad’s favorite, but I enjoy this ride so much.  This year since I spent more time in the parks than in previous visits I got to explorer a bit more and, apart from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this is my favorite part of the parks.  The food is really good, I am all in with the carnival games and of course, last but not least, The Big Pink donut, OMG! If I have to choose an area of the park to live in for a week, without going anywhere else, this will be it.

The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Feast Kitchen – Of the places we went to eat at City Walk, I will say that I like this one the most.  The service was great, we had a bit of trouble getting a table, but they made up for it with the service once we where seated.  The food was really good, specially the chocolate bread, the place looks so nice and the chocolate store is to die for.  They also have a milkshake bar, where you can go and get one, without having to eat at the actual restaurant.  I tried the Red Velvet Shake it was so yummy.  We wanted to try more, but so many things to see and try we didn’t find the time to go back.

The Cowfish – This one was my second favorite place to eat at City Walk.  We got a table at the terrace with an awesome view to City Walk and the parks.  The service was great, and the food was really good.  My favorite where the fries, they were so good! The hamburgers, mine had peanut butter were so yummy.  This restaurant has a cool concept, they specialize in burgers and suchi, and since Future Hubby loves burgers this one was a must, and I can speak for both of us that we do not regret this choice.

Our To Do List this Summer:

We didn’t get to do everything we wanted to last year, and there are other things we want to do again, which is way we are going back this year. Here is the list of the things we want to check off the list this time around.

  • King Kong Ride at Island of Adventures – since this ride was new last year the wait line was impossible and this is the only ride at both parks, apart from rides only for children, that we didn’t ride.
  • Get a wand at Ollivanders – I was so close to getting one last year but didn’t and I regret this decision so much, this year is one of the first things I will do when I get to the parks. 
  • Have a cold Butterbeer – I always go for the frozen version, but I decided this year I want to try the cold one to see how that tastes. 
  • Play at Hollywood Drive-In Golf at City Walk 
  • Play at Galaxy Bowl Restaurant at Cabana Bay Beach Resort
  • Go pool hopping at the different hotels – When you stay in property you can visit the other hotels, and this is something we didn’t know last year, so I want to take advantage of it this year.
  • Eat at Voodo Doughnut – Donuts! Do I need to say more?
I am so excited and counting the days until I get to have all kinds of fun at Universal Studios Resort Orlando.
What are you most excited for this summer? Have you been to the parks? If so, what are your favorite things (food, rides, show, etc.?  If you haven’t, what has gotten your attention the most out of what I shared? I will love to know your thoughts, so leave me a comment below.
Never stop dreaming,

♥ Steph