Our Universal Spring Break Trip

Since I started with the whole Universal thing for an entry or two, I figured I might as well let you know how the trip went.

We started out by heading up to Orlando late Wednesday morning. After the 180 mile trek on the Turnpike with a stop for lunch, we first went to Downtown Disney, then went to the hotel. At DD, we bought Lizzie a new "Belle" doll, since she lost her other one. We also got the passholder pin, and saw a new store called "Tren-D." Tren-D is very similar to Vault 28 in DD in Anaheim. We saw the shirt that I got for Brenda in California, we also saw a dress that I told her I was considering getting for her, but didn't want to guess on the size. She tried it on and loved it, so we got it. When we got to the hotel, I could have sworn I specifically booked the Holiday Inn across the street from Universal so we could save on the parking expense. When we arrived at the hotel the desk clerk told me I was not booked there and I was booked at the Holiday Inn Express which was about 1/2 mile away. I was sort of upset but after re-looking at the confirmation, I realized I was incorrect.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn express about a minute or two later, and checked in without a problem. The room was nice enough, and big enough for the four of us. The room was a typical suite, two double beds, fold out couch, table, microwave, mini-fridge, and a coffee maker. The bathroom was kind of small, and the sink was out in the main room. One good thing was the wireless internet was free, so we were able to get on-line with Brenda's laptop.

I checked out the restaurants at City Place and made reservations at Pastamore, so we could have something to eat before going to see the Blue Man Group show. We got to the Universal parking attendant at 5:48, and saw that the rates were $3.00 after 6:00, but before 6:00 it was $12.00. When we pulled up, the attendant told us it was $12.00, we decided there was no way we were going to pay $12 for parking when it would be 1/4 of that in 12 minutes. So, Brenda told me to just valet. The valet rate was $20. I then proceeded to drop them off and just wait the extra 9 or so minutes to save the $9.00. I realized there were about 20 or so other cars waiting in line for the same thing. Once 6:00 rolled around, people started going through the gate. I didn't realize they were such sticklers for time at Universal.

I met up with Brenda and the kids at the restaurant. Brenda had already ordered some bruschetta and a glass of wine. Turns out, the bruschetta was the best part of the meal. Brenda got the pesto pasta with chicken (it was a very crappy creamy pesto sauce, and I'm not sure what kind of pasta it was), I got the Chicken Picatta (it looked like a very bad fried thin chicken breast with a little sauce on it and some pasta). The kids both got pizza. The portions were small, and they had no taste. I would not suggest going there if you have a choice when at City Walk. The bill with tip came to $81.50, it really wasn't close to being worth it.

We then went to the Blue Man Group show. There were some elements that were slightly different from their other permanent shows in Vegas and Chicago (I have not seen the NY show). The show overall did not disappoint, and the kids loved it, so if you have not seen them, you definitely need to go.

The first full day, we went to Islands of Adventure with express passes in hand. We first turned in our flyers that we received from the Super Bowl ads without a problem. We got our meal plan tickets as well. As an aside, the meal plan is only worth it if you purchase one adult plan, or one adult and one child. Since we purchased two adult and two childrens meal plans, we did not save any money. In addition, we paid extra for the refillable drinks. The meal plan allows you to go through the line as many times as you would like throughout the course of the day at one of three different restaurants. If you buy one for everyone in your party, you would need to eat at least three times during the day to make it worthwhile, unless you only buy one and the same person keeps going through the lines multiple times to get meals for everybody.

At Islands, we started by going to Spider-Man and stood in the regular (10 minute) line so we could use our express passes later. After Spider-Man, we went to the Pteredon flyers in Jurrasic park, because we thought the kids would like that. The problem with that ride, it has three "flyers" which are two seats each, and the entire ride lasts 1m10s. So, even at that early part of the day, there was still a 45 minute wait. From there, we went back to Dudley D0-Rights ripsaw falls, Shane loved it, but Lizzie was not quite tall enough. So, Shane went twice, once with Brenda then once with me. Since we were already wet, we then went on Popeye and Bluto. Once again, the comparable rides are better at Universal, you get much wetter at Popeye and Bluto then you do at Kali River Rapids. We then decided to have lunch. After lunch, we tried to get the kids on the Jurassic park river ride, since they like water rides, they just didn't want to do it, probably because of the fake dinosaurs, go figure. Brenda then went on Dueling Dragons, and took the kids to the Seuss area. When they left, I went on both sides of Deuling Dragons. I like "fire" a little better because you seem to get weightless, where "ice" has more twists and turns. Either way, they are both good. We went on the Cat in the Hat, and the train ride. Brenda took the kids to the Seuss playground, and I went on the Hulk, twice. When I got back, Brenda went. We then grabbed something else to eat just to try and make use of the meal plan, then went on Spider-Man again. From there it was back to the hotel to relax for a bit, grab a light dinner, then go to sleep.

Friday, we did not purchase the meal plan, but we did get express passes again. The day started out kind of rainy, but once we got in the park, it wasn't bad. We went to Universal, we started on Jimmy Neutron, which was actually a kind of cool ride. It is a "movie" ride, where you sit in seats in a car that bounces around and moves to the movie, kind of like Star Wars at MGM, or The Simpsons. After Jimmy Neutron, we went to Shrek, then Twister. From Twister, we started watching the Blues Brothers show, then I took off to ride the Mummy. When I was done, the show was too, so Brenda rode the Mummy. After that, Lizzie and I did the Disaster Movie ride. For some reason, Shane did not want to go, so he and Brenda stayed outside. We then rode Jaws and grabbed lunch. After lunch, Lizzie insisted on getting her picture taken with the shark, so we did that then rode Men In Black. Shane and I then rode the Simpsons, when he told Lizzie about it, she decided she wanted to go as well. So, Brenda took Shane to the Curious George water park, and Lizzie and I rode the Simpsons. When I met up with Brenda and Shane, Lizzie already had her bathing suit on, and they played around there for a while. We then got them dry and rode ET. After ET, we used our express passes to ride Jimmy Neutron and Shrek again, then went back to Islands to ride the Seuss rides again. Spider-Man had a 45 minute wait, so we decided to skip it. We had reservations at Margaritaville and had dinner there. After a couple of Margaritas, and a Cheeseburger in Paradise, we went back to the room.

We drove home Saturday to get Shane home in time for his hockey game. Overall, we had a great trip, and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

By the way, I had posted riddles Shane had to answer during spring break. I'm reposting the riddles with our answers and the correct answers. Shane came in 2nd in number of correct answers for the class.


What is green and sings?
Our answer: Michigan J. Frog
Correct answer: Elvis Parsley
What do you call a cow on a roller coaster?
Our answer: Milk Shake or Beef Jerky
Correct answer: Milk Shake
What did you use yesterday but made today?
Our answer: Time
Correct answer: your bed
What can go up the chimney down but not down the chimney up?
Our answer: umbrella
Correct answer: umbrella
What is more astounding than a counting horse?
Our answer: a spelling bee
Correct answer: a spelling bee
What goes up and down but stays in one place?
Our answer: Temperature
Correct answer: escalator or elevator
What keys are too big for your pocket?
Our answer: The Florida Keys
Correct answer: The Florida Keys

Skating, Spring Break, Disney and birthday

If you read Eric's blog as well, you'll have a good idea how we spent our day today, 3/29/2009. After getting to bed late last night, we got up and had breakfast at the OPH. After we went skating on what Johnny described as late season pond hockey skating, because the entire ice was wet, with very large puddles on one end of the ice. Pines should have said something about the chillers not working before we paid to get in, but of course they didn't. Even if we checked out the ice first, we probably would have seen that it was wet and thought that for once they actually ran the Zamboni over it before the public skate. The slush was terrible, and I'm looking forward to trying out Glacier's public skating tomorrow.

Speaking of Glacier, Shane got to the locker room for his first game yesterday and found out he had been traded from the Panthers to the Lightning. He didn't mind, all he wanted to do was play a game. He ended up scoring a goal, and got a goal in the shoot-out. The final score was Lightning 12, Panthers 6. A shoot-out wasn't necessary, but they have one at the end of every game anyway. Brenda taped the game, and I'm going to try to put some "highlights" together and post up to YouTube. Unfortunately, Brenda realized too late that it would have been better to sit in the penalty box to get a better video. We'll try that next time. I didn't go to Shane's game because I took Lizzie to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.

I have this week off work because it is the kids' spring break. We are going skating tomorrow, then Shane has hockey practice. On Tuesday it is haircuts an oil change for Brenda's van, and the Panthers/Senators game (I don't know why I am putting myself in the situation of going, but I'll hope for the best). Wednesday we are heading up to Orlando and going to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. We'll see how the kids like those parks, it's something different for them, and Brenda and I will be able to ride the cooler roller coasters again. I'm still debating whether or not to take the kids to see Blue Man Group. This is something I haven't even suggested to anyone, but it may be a cool little show for them.

Speaking of Orlando, I think we are going to let our Disney season passes expire, then renew them (or get new ones) after the summer. We like being passholders, and we really enjoy going to the parks with the kids, we just have other things coming up that need to be paid for and we would be blacked out all summer anyway. So, we'll just change our anniversary date to make it more reasonable regarding the blackout dates, and when other things such as the Dolphins and Panthers are due.

I'm researching various trip ideas for Brenda's birthday, I've thought about Vegas (Venetian, Phantom), London, and Dublin, or a cruise for everyone. I'm just trying to get an idea of what she really wants to do, and the cost and time involved in each of the options. I am also holding off while we wait for Barbara to get better.

Speaking of which, please donate either money or join my team for the "Light the Night Walk" for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in October. Just in case you can't click on the above link, please go here: http://pages.lightthenight.org/pb/BocaRatn09/studyaid