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ceilidh1

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  1. We did some souvenir shopping, played a few more games, then headed back to the upper lot to finish our day. Last ride of the day was Kung Fu panda. Quick stop at the Hello Kitty store to grab something for DD and a duck into Hogsmeade for a butter beer to go! Headed out of the park exactly 12 hours after arriving and got a Lyft back to the hotel. Whst a fantastic day! I don’t think I would ever do universal without a VIP tour again!
  2. To end the tour, we were taken through the VIP line and secret entrance to Minions and Secret Life of Pets. Neither ride is on my top 10, but they are cute and worth doing if there is no wait. We said goodbye to Andrew (he had been with us from 9:15am to 5:15pm) and tipped him. We then used our VIP passes to do the Simpsons ride (the passes continue to get you express access after the tour, too) We then went back to Nintendo World where DS got a power up band ($46!) and played some of the mini games. To me, it looked like “playing” basically consisted of punching stuff with an “M” emblem and getting some flashing lights, but what do I know? I honestly could not figure out what was so appealing about this Nintendo World as there was only one ride and not a lot of other stuff to do, but it was wall to wall people. We made our way to Toadstool Cafe for dinner. DS was so excited. I was surprised it wasn’t more expensive (not that it wasn’t overpriced, but I actually expected it to be more overpriced) and the food was pretty decent. DS ordered a Mario Burger and a Star Lemonade and I ordered a Luigi Burger and a coke (no alcohol here). We also ordered a Beanpole for dessert (no actual clue what this was, but it was really good). The food was presented really well and came with little take home souvenirs. You could also pay extra for Mario plates/cups/etc. We didn’t. The place was cool with interactive windows but it was so loud!!!
  3. Since we had been held up on Jurassic World, Andrew arranged for a bus to pick us up and take us up to the Waterworld show so that we didn’t miss it. We had reserved seats and were in the perfect spot. That show is fabulous!
  4. After lunch, we made our way down to the lower lot and rode Transformers and The Mummy. Once again, we bypassed all lines (wait time was 75 minutes at this point) and Andrew held everyone’s bags so we didn’t need to waste time getting lockers. Next up was the ride we had all been waiting for -Mario Bowsers Challenge. This ride had a 90 minute wait and there is NO fast pass or skip the line UNLESS you have the VIP tour. In addition to getting in the ride in under 10 minutes, Andrew gave us all the tips and tricks to “win” the game. DS loved this ride. If I’m honest, I thought it was kind of “meh” (probably because I’m not a gamer and literally had no idea what I was doing). Judging by the lines I was in the minority. DS had his mind set on eating at Toadstool Cafe, which required reservations. It had nothing available and he was disappointed BUT Andrew gave us a secret QR code and told us to go to it at 12:30pm and there would be spots opening up! He was right! We snagged a reservation for 6:30pm. I know 100% we would not have got this without him. The final ride in the lower lot was Jurassic World. We love all the Jurassic movies and were looking forward to this ride. Andrew asked is we would like to get wet or stay dry -before I could stop him, DS announced he wanted to get soaked! Ugh. The VIP tour guests were provided with ponchos, so we donned our rain gear, skipped the line, and got front row seats. The ride was everything I had hoped for. And they weren’t kidding about getting wet. The first (smaller) drop we went through resulted in a wave of water that ended up in my shoes and formed a huge pool in my lap (I guess my poncho had created a little dip and it filled with water). That water was COLD. Now the fun bit comes. As you near the final drop there is a huge animatronic T-Rex roaring and snorting. For some reason, the ride broke down right there. So for the next 10 minutes or so we just sat there with the T Rex breathing on us. I had visions of us having to wade out or, worse, swim. Thankfully, it started back up again and sent us hurtling down the final drop where I got drenched. And I mean drenched. I got off that ride looking like I just stepped out of the shower!!!! So fun.
  5. By now it was lunchtime. The tour included lunch at Margaritaville. The restaurant was closed other than for VIP tour guests, so we were seated immediately and service was fantastic. In addition to the entree choices, there was a salad and dessert bar. Soft drinks were included, but of course I had to try a Pina Colada Margarita (which was awesome). For lunch, DS went with the cheeseburger and I went with the steak. Both were great! I didn’t try the salad but the dessert was top notch - mini cheesecakes, fruit tarts, chocolate cake, Bundt cake, and cookies.
  6. The studio tour dropped us off at the back entrance to Harry Potter world and this was the beginning of finding out exactly what power those lanyards had! Universal Studios was packed to the rafters the entire day. Every ride had at least an hour wait most of the day. Our lanyards allowed us to not only use the express lane but, with Andrew, we actually got to go in secret entrances to just bypass everyone and get right on the ride. Priceless! We rode the two Harry Potter rides and got lots of insights and information about Harry Potter world.
  7. Around 9:15am our tour guide, Andrew, came to introduce himself. He asked what we were interested in and if there were any “can’t miss” things. For DS it was Nintendo world and Jurassic Park. For me it was the studio tour and Waterworld. Our tour group consisted of 11 of us, so it was a decent size and felt very personalized. Our first stop was the studio tour. We got to ride in a much smaller, more comfortable tram than the regular tour uses. They gave out bottles of water and a far more in depth tour. I had done the regular tour twice before and I learned much more on this one. After we had covered the regular tour route, we went back to do the VIP aspect. This involved us actually getting out of the tram and walking around on the sets, going into the sound stages, going into the props storage and, my absolute moment of joy - getting to stand underneath the Back to the Future clock tower, I loved every second of this experience!
  8. Now the negative is out of the way, let’s talk about the amazing VIP tour of universal studios. Now I’m normally quite budget conscious, and these tours don’t come cheap, BUT I applied some girl math to the situation and decided it would be worth it. I am SO glad I went this route! We got to the park around 8:40am and went to the VIP check in, where they gave us our lanyards and let us know who our guide would be. We were then invited to go upstairs to the VIP lounge to enjoy breakfast and refreshments while we waited for our guide. Breakfast offerings included smoked salmon croissants, breakfast sandwiches, and ham and cheese croissants, pastries, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and a fancy coffee machine with lattes and cappuccinos. I was glad I skipped breakfast at the hotel this morning!
  9. Before I share our epic day at Universal, I’m going to share a negative and have a little whine… To get from our hotel to universal I used Lyft. I use Lyft all the time and have never had any negative experiences or problems. This morning I put in our destination as universal studios and trusted that the Lyft app would do its thing (why would I think any different?) We were picked up and off we went. Bear in mind that I’m not from this area and have no idea where anything is or what direction we should be going. 15 minutes later, we turn into a random motel on sunset boulevard (right after passing through a sizeable tent city). I was confused and asked why we were there. To which the driver replied that was the drop off address. Again, I put universal studios as the drop off and that showed clearly on her app, too. For some unknown reason Lyft had assigned a random address to it. However, here is my frustration and gripe - the driver obviously saw universal studios, regardless of the address. She saw a mom and kid get into her car. Could she not have at least asked if we were, in fact, going to universal rather than a pay-by-the-hour motel in a dodgy part of town? She became quite aggressive when I tried to ask what the protocol was for this obviously incorrect ride. She insisted she had done her job and got us to the address. I didn’t even try to reason with her. Just got out and immediately booked another Lyft - instead of it being the $10 it should have cost it ended up being an additional $21 on top of what I had already paid for the first ride. I did try to dispute the charge but no joy from Lyft. Ugh. Here is what shows in my ride history for the ride - that did not end anywhere close to universal!
  10. Things I wish I had packed part 1 - Toiletries: DD is very particular about what products she uses so we always come equipped with shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, etc. Since she isn’t with us this time I figure I would just use whatever is provided. Bad mistake. The hotel has tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner and a tiny hand soap bar. Nothing else. The shampoo produced no suds. I’m a total lather up your head gal. Shopping is in my future. - Slippers: there is no carpet and the laminate floors make for a skating rink when wearing socks. DS and I both almost wiped out last night. I refuse to walk near foot cause who wants my gross feet on their laminate floor?
  11. Good morning from sunny Hollywood! Today is Universal so we are up bright and early. Planning on getting an Uber from the hotel - currently priced around $12. The hotel serves breakfast at 7:30am so I will check that out, though I believe as part of the tour there are pastries and such… Had a decent night sleep - we have the ground floor with the parking lot next to the window so I worried about noise but it was fine. I did hear the folks in the room above walking around a few times but that was before we went to sleep so no worries there. The rooms don’t have carpet - it’s all laminated floors so no sound protection. It wasn’t an issue last night. The shower needed an engineering degree to figure out. Three large taps but none labeled. After much turning and varying combinations of turns I think I figured it out. I felt like a safe cracker and expected it to rain money on me once solved. Alas. Just water. Part of the problem was that it took a really long time to heat up so initially I was turning the hot water up but it was still cold. The temperature was very hard to get right. I prefer hot, scalding your skin type showers but I was only able get either peel your skin right off or take a plunge in the arctic type temps. I went for the peel your skin off and instead of standing underneath I just sort of sucked and weaved under the spray. That shower served several purposes- mental math to figure out how to work it, cardio and stretch to keep from blistering or frostbite, and I came out semi-clean. Not completely clean as there is no body wash/shower gel provided. I always travel with this but not this time (duh). CVS is in my future. I may or may not have screamed out loud this morning. I woke to go to the bathroom and didn’t realize DS had closed the bathroom door. I also didn’t realize said door had a full length mirror. In my semi awake state, in a dark room, walking towards the bathroom…I see some old lady walking towards me. I screamed. Loudly. DS shot up, thinking we were being attacked or something. Then I realized the old lady was just my reflection in the mirror. Oh, how we laughed (spoiler -we did NOT laugh.)
  12. The Midnight Library is one of my favourite books. In fact, anything by Matt Haig is fabulous. He writes kid books too. Any they are equally as awesome.
  13. We are now back at the hotel and chilling for the evening. Early start tomorrow for our day at Universal. While DS is trying to find something to watch on this tv, I’m getting texts from my guests staying at my place in Vancouver saying they can’t work the tv! lol.
  14. And truly in my happy place right now!!! (Forgive me. We don’t have target in Vancouver) Picked up some snacks, White Castle sliders to microwave, Mr Beast chocolate, and most importantly mom drinks (hello peach mimosa and lemonade moscato)
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