Disney Word/Universal Studios Trip

Having missed the Great October Snowstorm of 2019, we have returned home from our Florida vacation, as if the storm never happened. The only inkling of any wintry turmoil was the sad state of one of our bushes in the backyard. I think the heavy snow was too much for it and it split some of the branches. I had heard from a couple of my co-workers that they had the same thing happen to them with trees.

Before we left Brynn was working furiously on school work to get ready to leave for our trip. I hesitate to even share this on here because I feel like a bad parent for having her stay up this late, but she was up with Dana until midnight the Monday night before we left finishing school work. Brynn had been working to stay ahead the weekend before we left, but I don't think I did enough to help her realize how much she needed to get done on the weekend. Hence things kind of came to a overloaded head come Monday. We went to her parent-teacher conferences on Tuesday which was great timing to button up any last-minute questions Brynn had before being gone and to see how her teachers felt she'd been adjusting to middle school. We received good reports from her teachers, which is always a relief, and we'll just keep working on organization and supporting her as she learns the ways of middle school and continues to transition. I am happy to share that we learned during the trip that she earned a 100% for the 'Holes' book recommendation project on which she had worked so hard. Ok! On to the trip!

Our flight departed at 7:00 AM on Wednesday the 9th, so we all rousted around 5:00 AM to get out the door. That was no problem for me since that is normally the time I get up on a weekday, but some others were a bit slower moving. But, we were off on our first flight with less than an hour layover in Minneapolis where we met up with auntie Christel and uncle John for smooth sailing the rest of the way to Florida. Clara did really well on the plane and was more excited than scared for her first-ever flight. She was able to catch the new Aladdin movie en route which seemed like good timing for meeting the characters at Disney. Clara and I sat together and Brynn with Dana. I think Brynn watched some movies and Dana listened to some podcasts.

Last time we were at Disney with Brynn and my family, we stayed at the Art of Animation, one of Disney's park resorts. We really liked that one and wanted to stay there again, however when I went to book the rooms awhile back, Animation was already sold out for the dates of our stay. So, we ended up at All Star Movies, one of three All Star Disney resorts which also includes Music and Sports. The rooms seemed smaller than at Animation and not as 'themed' as the Ariel room we had stayed in there. Christel and John stayed at one of the other Port Orleans Disney resorts. It works out so nicely to stay at one of the Disney resort as that allows you to hop on a shuttle bus which will take you to any of the Disney parks and back again.

After we got settled, we met up at Disney Springs with Christel and John for dinner. Disney Springs has a lot of neat places to shop and eat; we settled on an Irish pub that featured dancing and singing. Unfortunately it was quite a long wait and the kids were pretty hungry and tired by the time we were seated and got our food; even with getting Brynn a smoothie to help tide her over. The entertainment was fun, though, and the food was really good.

Lego Dragon!

 

Our first full day was at Magic Kingdom. I guess I was too slow in getting to the shuttle bus as the fam left me behind to find my own way. Ha. I did have a nice, quiet ride to the park anyway. I met up with the girls and Dana right away and we went on to greet some of the princesses and do some rides, like the tea cups. Clara and I headed back to the resort for swimming while Dana and Brynn stayed at Magic Kingdom to go on more rides, including Brynn's first trip on Splash Mountain! I love the pic of her and Dana on that ride. I thought she was scared when I first saw it, but she later told me that she just didn't want to get water splashed in her eyes. I took in the outdoor movie the resort was showing and very fitting for this time of year: 'Hocus Pocus' which I had never actually seen before. I settled onto my lawn chair with my hotel blanket and was promptly offered a full large bag of white cheddar popcorn all for myself! The movie was so-so and my butt got tired of sitting on the plastic lawn chair after an hour and a half, but it was still fun.

Friday took us to EPCOT. Just like last time we went, we did the princess breakfast at the Akershuh Royal Banquet Hall in Norway. Clara thought it was great that the princesses came right to your table to personally greet you. She was a bit hesitant to jump into the princess processional, but ultimately joined up with them. She and I had booked a FastPass for the Frozen Ever After ride near there, so we were off to do that while Dana and Brynn met up with Christel and John for their Soarin' ride. I think that ride ended up to be a favorite for all of them. After Clara's and my ride, we shopped a little bit which is when Clara purchased Sven and some lefse. Yes, we traveled all the way to Florida for some lefse. Haha. It was the real deal, though, with butter and cinnamon and sugar and all. Dana, Brynn and John went on more rides while Christel, Clara and I found Mickey and Minnie and just hung out a bit. Soon it was time for our dinner reservation at the German restaurant, Biergarten. We had a front row seat to the entertainment while we enjoyed the schnitzel, beer cheese soup and more German goodies. Dana and Clara headed back to the resort while Brynn, Christel, John and I finished up in EPCOT with a ride or two and then headed over to Hollywood Studios where I almost died on the Tower of Terror. I had not been on it before, but it's Christel's fav ride. She was trying to explain to Brynn about what to expect while I didn't know myself either. After I realized that I had successfully lived through the experience and we were walking to the next ride, I started laughing hysterically (nervous laughter?) as I realized the pic the ride captured of us was the most generous possible (I merely look like I'm clutching my pearls) and least embarrassing. Had it caught more of the ride, it would have shown me clutched to the side of the death trap we were strapped into with my eyes shut wondering when it was going to end (the ride, not my life...I was hoping). The gist of the ride, if you've not been, was a broken down elevator in this old hotel (Hollywood Hotel). So the contraption you're sitting in ("the elevator") brings you up the very top where it opens out so you can see that you're able to view out over the entire Hollywood Studios park. Just when you're realizing how stinking high up you are, it closes, goes dark and you plunge down to the bottom...and then up and down a couple more times. Brynn managed okay with the actual ride portion, but very much disliked the story of the ride which seemed to be based on The Twilight Zone series.  So, she and I are both scarred from that ride, just for different reasons. I felt really badly, though, as I didn't realize she would be that scared of it, not knowing what it was like.

Brynn was super excited to meet Baymax from 'Big Hero 6' which she had just watched before we left on the trip.

 

Saturday was the day Brynn had really been waiting for which was day one of Universal Studios. As I'm sure I've mentioned on here before, she is a super fan of all things Harry Potter. She's read all the books several times as well as watched all the movies multiple times. There are two parts to Universal Studios: the regular/original area and then Islands of Adventure. Each has a Wizarding world of Harry Potter; Diagon Alley is in the original part (and apparently is where the old Jaws ride used to be) and Hogsmeade is in the Islands of Adventure. You can take the Hogwarts Express between the two. All these (foreign to people who've not read or seen Harry Potter) names are actual places and things from the books.

Since Universal is not a Disney park, we took an Uber over which was still really handy albeit more expensive than the free shuttle bus. Brynn, Christel and John headed straight to Diagon Alley in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the Escape from Gringots ride. Dana, Clara and I followed into Diagon Alley upon which Dana promptly left with Clara after she freaked out when the dragon statue spewed real fire out of its mouth. They headed to Kids Spot where Clara had a good time doing the activities for younger kids until Brynn and I met up with them to ride the Hogwarts Express over to Islands of Adventure. I enjoyed my time in Diagon Alley with Brynn. The level of detail that they put into basically recreating the scenes from the books and movies was incredible. We were able to visit all the same shops that are in the books and score ourselves an authentic butterbeer. It was pretty tasty! After we ate our sandwich lunch that we had packed, Clara and I spent the rest of the afternoon in Seuss Land and Brynn and Dana checked out Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure. After we got back from Universal, we got some serious pool time in back at the resort.

Puss (from the Puss in Boots movie) and me.

We spied the Grinch from inside the book store.

Sunday was our day at Animal Kingdom. We had not done that park last time we went and everyone had said how good it was. Dana and Brynn met Christel and John at the park early to go on the Expedition Everest ride...four times. Ha. They did have a FastPass for it, but since they got there right away, it was pretty quiet and they were able to ride several times. I think it was the third round that Brynn came to love it and I think ended up to be one of her favorites, if not favorite. Clara and I hung out at the resort and received our second grocery order (Yup, I didn't originally order enough food and we were already running out come Sunday. We typically would pack sandwiches and such to have lunch at the parks as a way to save some time and money versus sitting down at a restaurant each day). Clara and I arrived at Animal Kingdom in time for the safari adventure. Both girls seemed to really enjoy that experience and getting to see rhinos, hippos, lions, giraffes and more. Clara was losing steam after lunch, so she and I headed back to the hotel for a nap that never actually materialized. (shocker. :-/) Once Dana and Brynn got back, Dana rested and I took the girls swimming. We had dinner reservations with John and Christel at the Italian restaurant in the Italy World Showcase at EPCOT, but Clara wanted to stay behind and eat at the resort dining hall and swim some more, so just Brynn and I met up with John and Christel. After dinner the four of us went on Mission: Earth in Spaceship Earth (which is what the silver sphere in EPCOT is called). John and I really enjoy that ride, so I'm glad we made it on that one. After another ride or two more, Brynn and I headed back to the resort for the night.

Clara and I bringing grocery order number two back to our room.

Clara and I also noticed this skywriting on the beautiful Sunday morning.

Monday was day two at Universal. We did a lot of the same activities and such as the first day we were there, but got there nice and early and were so glad we did. I was able to get Clara on some rides in the Seuss Land that she really ended up liking and there were no lines to meet Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. Brynn joined up with us in the Seuss Land for a bit while Dana went on some rides with Christel and John and then Brynn and I headed back to Diagon Alley so she could make her final purchases with her gift card. I was surprised she never ended up buying a wand as they are interactive for both Harry Potter worlds and you can perform different spells around the shops and such. She really contemplated one, though, but seemed to have some sticker shock over how much everything cost at Disney and Universal. She ultimately ended up getting a beverage tumbler, shirt, earrings and some treats at the sweet shops. We found Dana and Clara over in the Kid Spot again. Clara was completely drenched after having fun in both splash areas that day. She didn't seem to mind though since it was so hot. We saw the Trolls characters waltzing by to come out for a meet and greet, so Brynn did that before we headed over to Disney Springs for dinner. I had never eaten at a Planet Hollywood restaurant before, and actually thought it might be a bit lame but ended up pleasantly surprised. It was pretty fun and the food was really good. The girls even got a scoop of ice cream with their meals which actually ended up to be more like a dish of ice cream. We did a sing-a-long to 'Sweet Caroline' with Neil Diamond and did the YMCA with the Village People. Dana spied some memorabilia from my favorite movie, so I had to snap a pic of that.

Our last day brought us back to Magic Kingdom. As we did many of the other days, we planned to use Clara as our natural alarm clock. However, that morning it backfired on us a bit because she was so excited for her princess makeover at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, she was awake at 5:00 AM asking if it was time to get up yet. We tried to go back to sleep for a bit longer and even with still rising early, only made it to the park by 7:00 or 7:30 that morning. But, again, it was nice and cool and quiet when we first got there. We got our big family picture taken at the entrance and then made our way up Main Street Disney toward the castle. We had a little time before Clara's makeover appointment, so we went to meet Ariel in her grotto which is normally quite a long wait, but was manageable at that time of day. Brynn opted out of a princess makeover this time, so it was Clara's time to be pampered. They've seemed to really up their game at the boutique and now take you through their little store (so you can try to fork over more of your money to Disney) before you pick out your hairstyle and everything. They had the Elsa boots that Clara had found over at EPCOT and she still had money to spend on her gift card. For her hair she chose a simple bun with a tiara as I think she thought that would best match Cinderella, whose dress she was wearing that day. They used a bun maker stuffed in her hair to create the bun, but otherwise it was all her own hair. She loved every minute of it. She declined the polish when they offered to apply, but was able to take it home along with the leftover makeup. After she was done there, Brynn and Dana went on some rides while I took Clara to see Cinderella and Mickey again. She was absolutely so excited to see them again, even after having already met them the previous days. Cinderella was so sweet and gave Clara a kiss on her forehead and took her in her lap for the picture.

 

It was a hot afternoon again and after six days of non-stop everything, everyone was pretty tuckered out. Brynn made it on Splash Mountain with me while Dana and Clara found Tomorrowland where they rode the people mover a few times...and then a couple more times with Brynn and me. I had  booked a dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle ahead of time (we had wished we would have booked that one when we were there last time), but by 4:00 PM everyone was rather ready to be done and go back and swim. I wasn't able to cancel our reservation and Clara did still want to do it, so we stuck it out until 5:25 when we were able to go in to eat. We were met by Cinderella yet again before we ascended the stairs to the dining hall where were presented with star wands for us ladies and a sword for Lord Daddy. (Seriously, the waiter kept calling Dana 'my Lord.' Haha.) The princesses came around to take pictures and greet us again like they did for our breakfast. Our meals, which included an appetizer, entree and dessert, were very good. Everyone ended up glad that we stayed and were able to eat there. It was really fun. We had promised the girls they could swim one last time before we left the next morning, so we hightailed it out so they could have some pool time while I started to get everything packed up.

The Magic Carpet ride which Clara kept referring to as 'magic mat.' haha.

Haha - Paws off, Aladdin.

On our way out of the park, Magic Kingdom was getting ready for the Mickey's Not So Spooky Halloween Party. The park was actually pretty decked out in Halloween decor, and they have this Halloween event several nights throughout the week. The tickets to attend are $100 each and we didn't feel it was something we wanted to spend the money on. Seeing people arriving for the event dressed in Halloween costumes confirmed our decision as I think Clara would have been scared by some of them. As we were approaching the shuttle station to go back to the resort, a park employee was nearby calling out where the different buses were for each of the resorts and the like. Right after we had gotten past him, we heard him say just a little quieter, "the platform for Hogwarts Express is at 9 3/4." Meaning - he noticed the Hogwarts (from Harry Potter) sweatshirt Brynn was wearing and thought quick enough to make mention. (In the books where you get on the Hogwarts Express to go to the school of wizardry and witchcraft is located at the train platform number 9 3/4). I got such a kick out of that, especially because Harry Potter is Universal, not Disney, so the fact that he thought to make that comment was super cool to me.

Our flight home left at 7:40 and 4:00 AM came really quickly! We had to get up extra early as the free airport shuttle was taking us and that can take longer if they stop at the other resorts. We had a good, uneventful flight home, and of course Clara conked out on me on our Minneapolis flight...the shortest one, of course. She rested a bit more after we got back home and was asleep for the night by 7:00.

Brynn had Thursday, Friday and Monday off of school so she was able to work on getting caught up on schoolwork before heading back at it. We were all glad to get home and were thrilled that we came back to no snow! The fall colors definitely appeared while we were gone.

Dana and I both thought in the end that with the heat and how much the girls enjoyed our resort pool that we should have planned to go early to each park (which we did still basically do) and do the rides, attractions, meeting the characters, etc. while it was quieter and cooler and then swim and rest in the afternoons and then head back for dinner and maybe more rides. It was hard to know that it was going to be so warm, though, and what the girls would gravitate toward the most. Swimming didn't seem high on Brynn's priority list back when we went last time, but it definitely was a different dynamic with both girls this time, Brynn being older and their age gap. We ended up needing to split up a bit more than I would have liked or had anticipated, but it really became necessary to get the most out of our time at the parks. Clara was most interested in the characters while Brynn has moved on from that and was more into the rides this time. We still had an awesome trip, though, and were so grateful to be able to go and with John and Christel.