Day Three: Universal Studios and Loews

We weren't at Disney World for very long but on a tight one-week schedule, we had to move. We took a taxi to Universal Studios in the morning, checked our luggage at the bell desk and headed upstairs to the Royal Pacific Resort's club floor for breakfast. Then we headed out the Universal Studios. We didn't buy a Park Hopper and would do one park a day and it only made sense to do the bigger, better Island of Adventure the next day when we had early entry to Harry Potter. If you don't have time, skip this park but DO NOT miss IoA!

This is taken after the Terminator show which was okay. We were glad we went. Hiro is a big Terminator fan so he was excited and knew the storyline. The kids didn't. It was sort of low-tech, live action but it worked. Rio preferred the Shrek 4=D animation better... I think the rest of us liked Terminator more.

This is an indoor roller coaster in the Simpsons area... Since my family are BIG time thrill riders, they didn't want to bother with a medium sized coaster so we never ventured in.

They did the Mummy roller coaster twice and liked it. I skipped it. After Expedition Everest and Aerosmith at Disney, I decided not to do anymore coasters. Call it aging...

This is taken in the front the canal that separates the two parks from Citywalk, the major restaurant and entertainment area at Universal. There were a bunch of restaurants that turns into nightspots I really wanted to check out: Latin Quarters and Bob Marley specifically. But like at Disney, we got too sleepy from jet lag and tired from the parks to head out. Our hotel was a short boat ride away or a ten minute walk but.... it seems too far. Reina and I wanted to hang out at the hotel while Rio and Hiro did the roller coaster one more time.

We stayed in a Club Level room which enabled us to have two free continental breakfast buffets (first one when we checked in and the one the next day which was great because we didn't have to hunt for breakfast before going to Harry Potter... Hiro complained about the lack of eggs and meat. We also had supper here which was salad and Rope Vejas, Mexican rice and stewed beef, cheese and veggie plates. It included three beers for Hiro and I had a glass of wine. At night, there was a dessert buffet where we got Costco-like sweets and cookies. For an additional $100, it was a cost saver but we felt kind of tied down... so next time, we probably won't do club floor and explore our food options.

What some (most normal and sane people) do on vacation is stay at one hotel and rent a car to go to different places. I wanted to avoid driving, parking fees, long parking lot walks, etc... so we stayed at 4 hotels. It was incredibly manageable, fun and convenient! There are benefits of staying at a Disney resort when at Disney: free shuttle from airport, great Disney internal transportation, close proximity to everything Disney AND grocery delivery service. The benefits of staying at an Universal property are even greater... The biggest benefit and why many people do it is because everyone in your room gets unlimited FastPasses on all the rides (except the two newest attractions). The kids loved being a VIP. The other benefits are early entry to Harry Potter (though Partner hotel guests also have this privilege) and a short boat ride to the parks. To ensure an enjoyable time, we decided to splurge.

Reina braved the cold spell and took a dip in the pool. The water was warm but it was cold getting out...

Another view from the boat launch. You can see the Hollywood Ripping Rockit Coaster in the background.

The seaplane in the background is real... The resort has an Asian/Polynesian feel...

Pool side games. We also played billiard on deck which was fun.

This was a very deluxe hotel and the kids LOVED it. We missed a few things like the poolside movie and the Polynesian dance show because Rio lost his wallet and the big search for it took up time.. (He found it the next day). We may stay here again or try the Hard Rock next time if we decide to do Universal again... I tried to catch the Orlando Magic versus Chicago Bulls game on tv but fell asleep at half-time... Everyone else were goners before 9pm.

Day Two: Park Hopper, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom

This is the Wizard's Hat that symbolizes the Hollywood Studios theme park. If you didn't know (like me before the trip), there are four Disney parks in Disney World. They are all really far apart, unlike the two Universal Parks or the two Tokyo Disney Parks. Magic Kingdom is very much like Disneyland elsewhere except here they have more restaurants, shops and different shows. The fireworks spectacular Wishes though a major attraction as is a winter castle light up show. But since all the major rides are the same as the ones in Tokyo, this park was not on our agenda since we were only doing the Disney Parks in ... one day. What? One day to do Disney parks on a week long vacation???

We are not huge Disney fans and the kids are only really into the thrill rides and there just aren't that many of them. I snuck in a few shows but one day was enough.

This is the Tower of Terror, the same ride as Disney Sea, but the theming is Twilight Zone versus... Haunted Hotel... I think the storyline of the one in Tokyo better. It is an awesome ride though.
Don't have any pictures of the Aerosmith roller coaster but the family loved it. Hiro was pumped!

Gotta explain about Rio's odd pose. He did this on Tower of Terror and thought it was a riot and decided it would be his theme... A couple of days and a zillion photos later, Hiro and I begged him to stop which he finally did and when he was his own animated self, he looked back at these ones and said, "That was so immature!" Got to love preteens.

Star Wars ride... not great if you are not a Star Wars fan... but it's the new version, not like vomit ride like the old Star Tour. The Indiana Jones show is great. A must do.

This is Animal Kingdom, the second theme park we went to. Surprisingly, the clan did not enjoy Expedition Everest, the biggest roller coaster of any Disney Park. I loved the Yeti theming! Since we mostly do roller coasters and they have great singles lines, we could have done it again but no takers. Animal Kingdom has wild animal safaris and bird shows (Reina detests birds) but my kids had little interest. They didn't like the... smell. Whatever. Without reserved tickets, it would have been too late to see the Nemo show so we did Lion King Festi. I liked the singing but the other stuff ... meh.

Indiana Jones Stunt Show was awesome. It was a great place to rest because you can sit in the stadium before the show instead of lining up.

Photos got out of order again. But this is the Tusker House restaurant which serves an exotic buffet. Cous cous and African chicken, samosa and Malaysian curry. They had roast sirloin and chicken with gravy for those with simpler palates.  Fabulous food. Originally, I booked it thinking it would give us reserved tickets to the Finding Nemo show but apparently my Internet research was old news. A few weeks back, they stopped show reservations and made it a Character Dining.... My kids are so not into Disney characters... it was almost painful to watch them diss the dolls.

Reina's much more conservative plate. One thing on this trip that we didn't do was eat that well. To save time, we usually ate breakfast in our hotel room instead of wasting time fighting the breakfast crowd. In addition, we were usually too sleepy or tired to eat much dinner. This was actually our most expensive and elaborate meal of the entire meal.

My original plan was to really do the Park Hopper and head to Epcot Center to do the Test Track coaster ride and see the fabulous Illumination show, but the clan wanted to go back to Hollywood Studios again. So we got to see the Osborne Dancing Lights which was okay. Some people freak out over it. We enjoyed the walk through it but spent less than five minutes here. We had Fast Passes to the Toy Story Carnival Ride which is THE most popular attraction here. At noon, we got a 6:30 pm time slot which I thought we would forgo for Epcot but since we were back, we went. OMG, we loved it. Oh, next time THIS will be the ride we go first thing in the morning before the crowds and FAST PASS for. It's the ultimate shooting game. You can't go back to Buzz Lightyear or Men in Black after doing this ride.

A real life toy soldier from Toy Story. He gave us directions to the bathroom without saying a word. Awesome dude!

It was a fun-filled day. The biggest disappointment was how tired we got at around 7pm... It happens when you've been flying for 20 hours, then walk around two theme parks. In theory, we would still had time to do Epcot but we were so pooped. I just couldn't imagine myself staying awake until IllumiNation which begins at 9 pm, then fight the crowds to bus back to the hotel after 10pm. We were back in our comfy room at 7:30pm. The other thing I wanted to do was to see the Bob Jackson piano comedy show at the lounge in the hotel. It was 5 mins away and FREE but still I could not get out of bed to even take a peek... The kids enjoyed Mr. Young on the Disney Channel like they watched TWO episodes...  There are so much other Disney resorts I want to try. I felt we "wasted" our stay at the Riverside because we missed so much here. The solution maybe to book ourselves at the Port Orleans French Quarters next door... We will be back!!

Day One: Downtown Disney

 Sorry, sorry, the photo order of this post is very... goofy. Here is the order from for the duper American sweet sweets you can mix and match to make. Goofy mirrors and these test tubes of sour powders are a huge hit. You get to fill up how much of whatever flavor you want...

This is my favorite blurry photo of all-time plus one of my favorite Disney cast member of the trip. He is the spice guy. Disney spice mixes?? He was the ultimate Disney employee, always smiling, friendly, helpful. What I get the biggest kick out of are the Disney "designer leather" handbags... They will never take over Louis Vuitton...

My photo order screwed up but this is the infamous Goofy's Candy Factory where you get to "design" your own seriously sweet snack. You check off what you what and they make it for you.

 Other places we visited were the huge Disney store and the Lego Imagination Center. The displays are spetacular but... having been in Legoland in San Diego, both the items for sale and the displays paled. Still Rio bought a long sought after set. Reina made a leather charm bracelet at the Disney shop.
We ate at Earl of Sandwiches which is an amazingly yummy sandwich, salad and soup place. Everything is made when ordered, including the best Caesar salad, Hawaiian chicken sandwich. There are lots of other cools places here that we DIDN'T visit and we were there almost four hours. We missed the last boat and took the bus home. It was a closer walk.

Day one: Disney Port Riverside Resort

 This certainly doesn't fit into most people's image of what a Disney resort would look like. But I think that's the beauty and my fascination with the Disney hotels in Orlando. The moderate and deluxe resorts are all thematically based on some popular US holiday destination. Port Riverside is the scenic south, right out of Gone with the Wind and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn... Being a huge fan of southern culture, I was so psyched to find a great deal on this resort.

 The gazebo where a couple got engaged the night we got in. This is considered one of the most romantic Disney resorts...

 This is our building, the Oak Manor. Port Riverside is a huge resort and the major criticism of it is that some buildings are located so far away. We got one of the best locations, cross a bridge, walk pass the scenic pool and we are at the main building already...

 This is the Disney Magical Express Bus that takes guests from the airport to their Disney resorts. Honestly, it saves us the $70 taxi ride and there is almost no waiting time. You have to reserve your tickets though. A truly pleasant ride.

 We got a renovated room which meant queen size beds instead of doubles and a flat screen tv. The beds were a true blessing. If we did not stay in this fabulous room in a great location, maybe we wouldn't have loved Riverside so much but it was so gorgeous.

Crappy photo I know but it was so beautiful to see the waterwheel of the food court at night...   I forgot to take photos of the lobby, the restaurant, the lounge and the pool... Bad blogger. Check out www.portorleans.org/ for the best photos and information on this resort.

Another blurry photo taken in excitement!! This is the view of night time Downtown Disney from the boat. We hit Orlando during a cold spell and the boat ride was freezing... Because of our four hour delay in Washington DC, we had to miss out on the campfire and Smores AND the view of the Sassagoula River during sunset... (my original plan). We couldn't really see the other resorts well but suddenly Rio pointed out the hot air balloon and we saw all the lights from the distance... We are all getting excited.....

Of all the people I know who have visited Orlando, most do not stay at a Disney resort because they are overpriced. They are. And the rooms are small. But it's the theming that I adore. Actually I love the hotels more than the parks. I could do an entire trip here hotel hopping without going to the parks.
But that's just me. I can't imagine being here and NOT staying Disney.