Post-Vacc Revenge Travel! April 2021

[princessebird]

About Us and Pre-Trip Planning

We are 40 somethings with a 9yo DD. We have been to UOR several times in the past 10 years, but we haven’t been since early 2018. I was fully vaccinated at the end of February, and when DH got scheduled for his first shot in March, I got that “revenge travel” bug that everyone has been chatting about.

I quickly saw that Universal was having a three-month bonus on AP. And then I saw that the week I wanted had rooms at premier hotels for $220 with the AP rate. And THEN I saw that if we left really late on a Monday in late April and returned home really late on a Thursday, I could get us RT airfare for less than $100 per person. Right now, I am working remotely, DD has asynchronous school, and DH has more PTO than he knows what to do with. I decided if there was ever a time for mid-week travel, this is it.

I am typically a massive travel planner. I plan vacations months-to-years in advance. When I told DH that I had planned a mid-week trip for two weeks after he got his second shot, he was shocked that I did something somewhat spontaneous.

Once we were certain that we were going to go (everything was refundable except the AP, but that was good until we activated it), I emailed with Tony Hinds to get transportation between MCO and Royal Pacific set up. And since I only booked a few weeks out, we left before we knew it.

I debated making it a true “Surprise! We are going to the airport right now!” kind of trip for my DD. But I know her well enough that she would NOT enjoy that. Therefore, two weeks out, I made a scavenger hunt for her around the house highlighting all our pandemic purchases (e.g., air fryer, hand weights, Clorox wipes, etc.), and the final reveal was that we were going to go to Universal. She was so excited. For the next two weeks, she would just randomly hug us and say “Thank you!” She's an only, and, despite some tweenish moments, she's a sweetheart. She had been to UOR before but not since she finished reading the Harry Potter books and watching the movies. She started doing YouTube research to find hidden easter eggs and determining which rides she definitely wanted (and did not want) to ride.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Following! My eldest DS is also 9 and our upcoming trip will be his first one to UO, and he loves everything HP.

 

[schumigirl]

Yay! I love a spontaneous trip!!

Your daughter sounds a sweetheart.....looking forward to reading along with you on your trip.

 

[princessebird]

Following! My eldest DS is also 9 and our upcoming trip will be his first one to UO, and he loves everything HP.

How exciting! He's going to LOVE it.

 

[princessebird]

Day 1: Travel Day

Like I mentioned, I was able to score us some super cheap flights: less than $100 RT pp. The trick was that our flight didn’t leave until late and didn’t arrive at MCO until even later. So we spent Monday working, schooling, and doing the last minute packing. I decided after lunch that with our late arrival it would be fantastic if we could not check our luggage, so I spent more time than I should have putting liquids in 3oz containers. DH was impressed when I managed to get everything all packed in just two carry-on roller boards and our backpacks. DD was a great help in packing. She was so excited; she was just oozing nervous excited energy.

I realized that I hadn’t heard from Tony, so I texted him to find out the protocol since we'd never used him before. He wrote me back about half an hour later explaining that I was just to text him when we were curbside, and he would be to us in 5 minutes.

We left our house early expecting rush hour delays, but we got to the parking garage in just about an hour. This was our first flight in 18 months, and it was a little sad to see so much closed at the airport. About half the stores were closed (though they had merchandise inside, so maybe they just aren’t open at 6pm on Monday nights). About a third of the restaurants were closed. The restaurants that were open were packed.

We were on SW, and we managed to pull an A boarding group (we were madly clicking two phones and two computers). It was supposed to be about a 2.5 hour flight, with us arriving at 11. So imagine my surprise that at 1.75 hours we were being told to put our tray tables up! Apparently, we had one heck of a tail wind helping us out. I was excited to arrive early, but I realized that Tony probably wouldn’t be there until 11 or later.

We landed a little before 10:30, and we were standing curbside at 10:45 (yea front of the plane seats and no checked luggage!). I texted Tony figuring he’d tell me he’d be there around 11:15, but nope! He was already at the airport and would be picking us up in 5 minutes. He was so nice! He told us he was watching TV at home, and then checked on our flight and realized it was coming in very early, so he jumped in the van and headed our way. We ran into some construction on the way to the hotel, but that seems to always be the case in Orlando!

Tony dropped us off at 11:15, and we walked over to check in. We have stayed at Royal Pacific multiple times but not since they updated the lobby. It’s very pretty. I had checked in the day before online, and as we walked in I kicked myself for forgetting to request Tower 3. Note to fellow travelers: Always request Tower 3! When we arrived, I figured that there would be a desk where I could just pick up the keys since I did the mobile check-in. But there wasn’t, so I stood in line. When we got to the front, we were given our keys from a box behind the counter and sent to our room. Nothing about park hours. Nothing about pool hours. Just an abbreviated welcome, which was fine since we were tired, and a wave in the general direction of Tower 2 (which is my least favorite tower).

We went to our room and found a toilet plunger and a wrench on the floor of the bathroom. Lovely. We were too tired to deal with it. DD had reached that deadly combination of tremendous excitement and extreme tiredness, so she needed to begin her wind-down routine pronto. So we just carefully moved the tools, and I cleaned the floor. In the past I had gotten a text from the hotel telling me to text if I had any issues. When I did mobile check-in, they asked if I wanted to opt in for the texting service, and I indicated I did. But I guess that service isn’t actually functional right now? The plunger and the wrench would have been the first of a handful of times I would have texted guest services if that service had been functional.

While DD reviewed her list of “must-dos” and started to wind-down, DH and I quickly unpacked and got ourselves to bed to get a little bit of rest before our busy days ahead!

 

[princessebird]

Day 2, Morning: Universal Studios

All right. Now we get into the good stuff! Our plan was to wake up early and go to Hagrid’s during early park admission. But as we laid in bed on that first night, jittery with excitement about our trip, we realized that might not be a good idea. The rainy weather that we thought might hit later in the day looked to be moving in earlier, and the last thing we wanted to do was wake up super early only to find Hagrid’s closed.

So we punted and decided to sleep in a little. We woke up at 7:30, ate a breakfast bar that we brought with us, and then headed to the water taxi dock at 8:10. As we were waiting, the rain picked up. We were thankful we were wearing waterproof shoes (hiking boots for DH and me that kept our feet nice and dry; crocs for DD) and our rain coats. Some people like ponchos, but we like our lightweight raincoats with vented panels.

We got on our taxi at about 8:20, and we were on our way…until something went wrong with the water taxi GPS. Yeah, I know, it’s a pretty straightforward path from RPR to Citywalk. But apparently unless they get the green light on their GPS AND on the lights on the side of the canal, they can’t go through. So we bobbed there for a while and watched it rain buckets. Finally, a supervisor gave our captain the “all clear.” But it took us 20 minutes to get to Citywalk, though luckily the rain had eased by the time we arrived. When we arrived, the line to enter US was back to Cowfish.

To my family’s embarrassment, I plowed forward past all the people in line. We needed to redeem our annual passes, and I knew we needed to see Guest Services to do that. I hauled us up there, and, amazingly, there was no one in that line. I walked up to a TM and in about 3 minutes she had our passes ready to go. DH escorted DD to the bathroom while I did this, and they found that they were admitting people far around to the right (essentially right behind Guest Services). We got in line and got through very quickly, probably because they were not scanning fingerprints at this location.

At this point we activated our Coke Freestyle cup from eons ago. It’s at least 4 years old. I *think* it’s more like 6 years old. And it still works! We bring separate bottles with handles that we attach to our backpack via carabiners. We refill the cup, pour the contents into the separate bottle, walk a little ways, and then get whatever the next person wants. Yes, we end up carrying a lot of bottles, but it works for us. It was a little harder to drink this time as you must be stationary to remove your mask and drink, but it was not a deal breaker.

We then did Simpsons and MIBx3. MIB is the best ride in Orlando. Don’t come at me. Then we bought a tasting lanyard. I LOVED the tasting lanyard. We paid $65 for 15 items with our AP discount. We ended up buying 2 and using 22 items over the course of our stay. Even by not using 8, it was cheaper than buying the items separately. And we can use the lanyard again at future tasting events or for things such as popcorn or pretzels whenever we aren’t at an event. Our favorites were the risotto balls, the pork schnitzel, the carnitas arepas, the beef empanadas, and the shrimp boil. They did not skimp on the shrimp!

After having our first snack, we moved on to the Mummy and Jimmy Fallon. I can remember that it was 11 when we were on Jimmy Fallon because I clicked while we were riding to get us a Virtual Queue for Hagrids. I only clicked one and it worked! I was able to get us a spot at 2:30. So we had a few more snacks, and then we worked our way over to Diagon Alley. At this point, it was raining pretty darn hard, and we were worried about whether or not we’d be able to ride Hagrid’s at all.

Diagon Alley is always such an amazing place. Every time we walk in through the brick wall, I can’t believe how much it feels like we are actually in Diagon Alley. As we walked in DD said, “Wow. It feels like coming home.” First, we went on Escape from Gringotts twice, and then DD pulled out her wand (purchased on a previous visit) and started doing magic. We realized that the wand only worked when we got really close to the window. So DD and DH took the wand into Ollivanders (the store, not the show), and a little “wand repair” was done, and then her wand worked MUCH better.

It was still raining really hard, but we decided we’d better head over to Hogsmeade. The wait for the Hogswarts Express was 45 minutes, but we had Express Passes like we had in the past, so we expected we’d wait about 10 minutes or so. We were wrong. Hogswarts Express’s capacity is severely hampered by the fact that they are (rightly) only putting one party in each cabin. We were about the 8th party in the Express Pass line. We could see the merge point from where we stopped in the queue. And I counted that the TM would put 25 standby parties through, and then one EP party. 25 standby parties. Then one EP party. It took us 25 minutes to get to Platform 9 ¾, and then we waited another 10 minutes to get on the train. The ride was lovely as usual, but I was not thrilled about the wait.

 

[princessebird]

Day 2, Afternoon: IOA

We arrived in Hogsmeade at 2:30, and it was still raining but not quite as much as it had been in the previous hour. My VQ for Hagrids converted to a one-time use express pass anywhere, and I chatted with a TM who confirmed that even though it said Hagrids was excluded, we could use it as a VQ pass (not an EP) for Hagrids should it come back up. She told me that Hagrids was typically the last of the outdoor rides to come back up after a weather delay.

DD and DH did more magic. Now that DD is a bit older, she loves to lean in and help the younger ones with their magic. So if you were there last week and a lanky tween kept telling your 7yo where to point, apologies! They then bought some candy at Honeydukes while I sat under the Owlery near Hagrids official entrance. I refreshed my phone and saw that the Hulk came back online and then Flight of the Hippogriff. When Rip Ride Rocket came back up, I noticed that the 8 TMs who had been standing at the front of Hagrids started to move. Two went to the locker banks. Two moved to the start of the line and unofficial entrance over in the Lost Continent. Two moved back into the attraction. And then I heard Hagrid’s motorbike. So I gathered my people and got us in line in the Lost Continent. No more than 10 minutes later, we were let in. We were about the 30th party to enter after the delay. Then we walked quickly through the queue and were on the motorbike within about 10 minutes.

What a fun ride! DD got off and immediately wanted to do it again. She said it was even better than practicing her magic in the windows. We had successfully avoided spoilers, so we didn’t know what we were in for, and it didn’t disappoint.

After Hagrids, we did the Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Kong, and then decided to call it a day.

We walked back to RPR and grabbed a table at Jake’s. We were tired, so the food tasted good. Nothing special, but it did the job. After dinner, DD and I headed back to the room so she could get started on her schoolwork while DH went over to the pool to pick up towels for the next day and stopped at the market to pick up some very expensive milk for DD in the morning.

When DD and I arrived at the room, neither of our room keys worked. Again, this would have been a time in which I would have texted the hotel to find out what was going on. But instead, we schlepped back to the front desk, stood in line to get new keys, finally got them, and then went back to the room. When we were at the desk, the guest assistant asked us if we wanted someone to come to the room to change the batteries in the lock mechanism. I said that if the keys worked, no. I would call if I needed it. But 10 minutes after we were back in the room, we got a knock on the door and maintenance was there to change the batteries. It took him about 10 minutes to complete the battery change. I don’t think the battery was the issue. I think the cards had been programmed wrong. But oh well.

At that point, we all did some work and got cleaned up. I should say that the wifi worked great in our rooms. We went to bed early. But we all woke up twice in the night when our toilet loudly flushed or at least refilled the tank loudly (which was maybe why there was a toilet plunger and wrench were in our room?). Maybe it did it the night before, but I don’t think so. Again, we would have texted someone about it, but we just mostly wanted to get back to sleep so that we would have energy for our next full day!

 

[princessebird]

Day 3, Morning: Volcano Bay

Day three was Volcano Bay day. We had some trepidation about Volcano Bay because we’d never been there before! I double checked that I had added a credit card to our Universal mobile app account, and we headed to the shuttle around 8:20. The shuttle showed up at 8:40, and everyone who had been in line made it onto the bus…barely. They carefully count how many people can be on the bus at once. We quickly arrived at VB, and we were the first shuttle bus of the day to get there. At 9am, the security line opened up, and then we made our way to the entrance line. They had everyone line up in a single line for about 10 minutes, and then they announced that all the turnstiles would open. We ended up the third party in our particular line. The gates opened exactly at 9:30, and it took us about 5 minutes to get through and get our tapu tapu.

We had read a lot on here before we went, but the actual “doing” is always more complicated. After we went through the turnstile, DD and DH gave me their shoes, masks, and lanyard, and they darted off to Krakatua. My plan was to drop the bag and shoes at an open chair and then get a locker in the bank on the left path to put the critical stuff in and then meet them in time for the second ride of the aqua coaster.

I got a chair no problem, and then headed over to lockers on the left side of the park, but I was stopped by a TM who said that portion of the park was closed. So now I had to scurry back over to the locker bank on the right side of the park. I was in the process of getting the locker when someone else swiped their tapu tapu. So I had to get a TM to help us get things straightened out. Then I scurried over to the aqua coaster. I caught up with DH and DD. They had already been on the coaster twice (they were the second party of the day to ride!), and I joined them for the third ride. We tried to hurry and get on again, but now it had gone to a virtual line. DD decided that 3 rides was enough, but in retrospect we could have swiped the tapu for the 20 minute wait because most everything was “ride now” (though we didn’t realize it).

We then walked over and did the raft rides on the right hand side of the park. (The names of these rides are kinda confusing, so I don’t remember what anything was.) We then did the raft rides at the back of the park (and I noticed that the locker bank at the back of the park was also closed). Then we did the raft rides on the left side of the park. All of these raft rides were “ride now.”

At that point, we decided we were hungry and thirsty. So the plan was that I would go get the bag with our drink cup in it and activate it while DD and DH went to get some pizzas. I got the cups and tried to pay for the activation with my tapu tapu, but the TM informed me that even though I added my credit card, I hadn’t added my ticket. I had assumed that because the seasonal pass had shown up in the app prior to the trip, it would be good to go once I activated it. Turns out, I needed to separately add the pass to a different section of the app. Sigh.

So I caught up with DD and DH and I knew they wouldn’t have pizzas because they only had the tapu tapu to pay. Turns out they didn’t even get that far because, even though the restaurant is entirely outdoors, a mask was required to enter the line and I had put the masks in the bag. So then I walked all the way back over to the lockers on the right side of the park to get the credit card out. We were then, with our masks on, able to order the pizzas and activate the drink cup. It was slightly after noon and there was no line to order the food.

After we got fueled up, we dropped our bag on the lone empty chair by the lazy river and took a few laps on that. Then we walked over to the fearless river and did a few laps on that. As a group, we much preferred the fearless river to the lazy river. At that point, DD decided she wanted to do one more thing and then head out to do her schoolwork and maybe try to ride Hagrids again. We walked over to the rafts on the left side of the park and the tapu tapu read “ride now.” We literally walked 10 feet and stood in line behind 5 people and the tapu tapu changed from “ride now” to “10 minutes” and we weren’t allowed to enter the line. That was incredibly frustrating. So, we decided that DD and DH would wait, and I would bail on the ride and work on collecting our stuff that was scattered throughout the park. DD and DH were allowed to join another group when they didn’t weigh enough to go on the raft. I walked back over to the lazy river to pick up our bag (and noticed that the restaurant that had no line at noon now had a line spilling out of the queue at 1pm), and then went to the lockers to pick up our valuables, and then filled up our cups at a freestyle machine. I got 2 of the 3 cups filled before I met up with DD and DH. And we worked our way to the shuttle and back to RPR by 2pm.

Some takeaways from VB. 1) It appears that things to the right are open early and things to the left are not. 2) My shins were killing me from walking so much without shoes on. I should have used the shoe racks that were at the entrance of every attraction. 3) The tapu tapu is cool in theory, but in practice we failed in being able to pay for anything. Yes, that was user error, but I they should make it so incredibly easy to use that user error isn’t a possibility (I’m a UXer). And we didn’t use tapu tapu for but one attraction. Maybe it would be different at a different time of year. 4) Early admission is critical if you want to ride the aqua coaster multiple times. 5) It’s definitely one of the nicer water parks I’ve been to, but at some level a water park is a water park. The aqua coaster was super cool, but most of the other elements are similar to what we find at our local water park, though decidedly not as nice.

 

[policycobb]

Enjoying your trip report.

 

[princessebird]

Day 3, Afternoon: Universal and IOA

We arrived back in our room a little after 2pm, so we missed the 2pm Hagrid drop (we didn’t take our phones with us to VB). DD then worked on her schoolwork while DH and I worked on packing and answering emails. At around 3:00, DD was itching to get back in the parks. On the way to the water taxi, I stopped at the front desk to ask if we could delay our check out until noon. They agreed without question.

When we arrived at Universal, we engaged in more snack eating. I think we had the poutine, the Nutella donut, the Belgian waffle, and a beer that time around. We danced at some floats to get some beads, and we rode on MIB again (which is still the best ride in Orlando). Then we went into Diagon Alley to do some magic. At 4pm, I was able to get a Hagrid VQ for 5:15-5:45. When I read that the VQ spots went quickly, I was honestly slightly unprepared for how quickly those slots go. I got lucky the day before when I clicked once and got it. This time I had to click a couple of times to get a slot, and then when I wanted to change my time, everything was gone. It dawned on me too late that if we got a spot closer to close, then we could spend park time doing things and then stand in line while the park was closed. We took a look at the Hogwarts Express, but the wait was 90 minutes, so we decided that, even with our Express Pass, we better walk over to IOA. We, of course, had to stop for a few more snacks on our way out of US.

We hobbled over to IOA with our sore feet and legs and got in line around 5:40. We were in the outside queue for about 40 minutes and then in the inside queue for about 20 minutes. It was still super fun. I rode in both the side car and the motorcycle, and I think both have their charms. We then darted on to Forbidden Journey shortly before the park closed at 7. The weather was so much more pleasant in the evenings; it would have been really nice to have the parks open a little bit longer. US closing at 6pm with the Mardi Gras entertainment was a shame.

As we exited the park, I placed a mobile order at the Hot Dog Hall of Fame. It worked really well. We got a table, filled up our cup at the freestyle machines on the CityWalk, and then ate our dogs outside. After dinner, DD wanted ice cream, so DH and DD went to Menchies, only to find that it’s not open on Wednesdays. We contemplated Cold Stone but decided it was better to just go back to RPR. We stopped in the Tuk Tuk market to see if they had ice cream sandwiches (which they did), but they also had hand dipped ice cream as well. DD got strawberry while DH and I shared peanut butter. It was really good and no line!

We then headed back to the room to get cleaned up, pack up, and to complete schoolwork and work work. I also texted with Tony to figure out when we needed to be ready for him the next day. We also madly clicked on the SW app to get our boarding passes and scored group A again!

 

[princessebird]

Day 4: Hagrids and Home

We got up early (or so we thought) on our last day. We walked over to IOA and were in line at 7:10 for the 8am open. It was a bit of a cluster. We were in line in the ticket queue. The middle line was capped. The line to get in was over the bridge at 7:20. At 7:40 they opened something and people were syphoned off to the left and the right. At 7:55 they opened the gates. Honestly, I have no idea what line was the best line to be in. I think some people who got there early got screwed and some people who got there late got lucky. I guess I’d have to say to pack your patience.

Once we got through, we followed the herd to Hagrids. DD REALLY wanted to do Hagrids twice more before we left. We entered the line at 8:12, and we exited at 8:45. DD and DH immediately broke to return to the line, but I stopped and asked a TM how long would we wait if we entered the line right now. He said 120 minutes. A few yards later I asked a second TM. She said 135 minutes. So I told DD that we just couldn’t do that. She was a little sad, but said she completely understood. To soothe her disappointment, we went over to Voodoo Donuts. We got a handful of donuts. It was a cool morning, and we sat by the lagoon and had a nice chat about all kinds of things, silly things that we never talk about at home but things we will remember for a long time to come. We then meandered down and took the taxi back to our room.

We then finished up our packing while DD worked on her schoolwork. Though it wasn’t really in our plans, DH and I conspired to try to get a VQ for Hagrid at the 11am drop. And we got one for 12:30. At 11:45 we took our bags down to luggage services, and then took the water taxi back to the CityWalk. When we started walking to IOA, DD said “wait, we’ve done everything there!” That’s when we told her we got another VQ pass for Hagrids. She was so excited that she literally jumped up and down. That kind of joy on your kid’s face? Well, that’s just utterly priceless.

We meandered through Toon Lagoon, and she showed us some of the Easter eggs she had located on YouTube. We got in line for Hagrids at 12:40, were inside at 1:10, and were off the ride at 1:35.

We then checked out the Hogwarts Express. The wait time was 135 minutes. So again, we decided to walk over to Universal. This was Thursday, and it was decidedly more crowded everywhere as compared to Tuesday and Wednesday. Once we arrived, we, of course, ate some more goodies. Then DD and I went on the Mummy again before we all went on Jimmy Fallon. Then we headed over to Diagon Alley once again for a little more magic and another ride on Escape from Gringotts.

We then decided to end our trip with the same ride we started on…The Simpsons. We waited about 20 minutes with our Express Passes, and then our ride vehicle malfunctioned during the ride. They were able to get us in another vehicle during the next cycle. We then grabbed a few snacks and walked back to RPR. We changed into some clean clothes. We tried to check on a few emails and such, but the wifi in the lobby was terrible and we couldn’t get any cell service. Both the wifi and our cell service in the tower was just fine, but in the lobby both were abysmal. I actually took an elevator to the 4th floor just so I could text Tony and let him know we were ready whenever he was.

We met Tony outside a few minutes later, and he had us to the airport in 20 minutes! I’ll definitely be hiring Tony next time. We then walked over to the TSA Pre check-in and my jaw nearly dropped. There was literally no one in line. Not a soul. I’ve been at MCO before when it would take us 45 minutes to get through TSA Pre. And here we were, through security in no more than 2 minutes.

We then found a little food because we knew we’d be hungry eventually. Boarding was easy, and, though our flight was delayed slightly, we made up for it in the air. DD was so exhausted she actually slept on the flight, something we hadn’t seen her do since she was a toddler. We got back to our car quickly and made it back to our home by midnight.

 

[princessebird]

Final Thoughts

• Universal is always so much fun! I love not having to plan every second of our adventure six months in advance. We barely did anything in IOA besides Hogsmeade, so we are thankful we got the Seasonal Pass and will be on the lookout for cheap airfare again in the next year. With revenge travel, I’m not sure that will be possible.
• The tasting lanyard was an amazing value. We all tried things that were outside of our comfort zone and didn’t feel guilty if they weren’t for us. The TMs at these carts were kind and the most friendly in the park. I doubt that the Flavors of Carnival will be extended again after May 2, but I hope they consider another festival like this. To me, this was way better and way more fun than any of the Epcot festivals.
• I’ve had friends go to WDW recently and talk about how “low key” or “dead” it felt without much entertainment. I was really impressed with Universal’s Mardi Gras float entertainment along with the handful of outdoor shows we came across. It gave the atmosphere a “happening” vibe.
• I was really impressed with the vigilance and the kindness of the guest experience TMs. They do not have an easy job, and they did great. I only saw one disruption, and they handled it beautifully.
• The only issue we had with masks was when we were on attractions (such as Gringotts, Jimmy Fallon, and Kong) where the mask caused the 3D goggles to fog up. DH and I ended up pretty much not wearing our goggles, as a blurry screen without goggles looks a lot like a foggy screen with goggles.

It felt so great to get out into the world again! We are already trying to decide when we should return. Thanks to everyone on the boards who gave such helpful hints, particularly for Hagrids and VB.

 

[asuburbanman]

Thanks for sharing! We go in July.

 

[angryduck71]

Great report! I am hiring Tony Hinds for about the 3rd or 4th time for our trip coming up in a couple of weeks! He's the best! We are making Hagrid's a priority this trip. Nice to hear how great it is.